Chapter 971: Equal Confrontation

After the 【Lady of Charm】 and the 【Stalker in the Darkness】 died, perhaps because the storytelling only needed to focus on one person, extensive environmental and psychological descriptions appeared in the narration of the black-robed Keeper.

Iruna did not care about those psychological descriptions that were clearly nonsense; she was certain that Xia De knew the current situation perfectly well and might even already know the characteristics of the 【Dice Story Collection】.

This was not only trust in Xia De but also trust in Luweiya. On the path of pursuing the Chosen and the great prophecy of the "Whispering Poetry," sometimes Iruna Beiya felt that she, the genuine Chosen, was actually the unnecessary one.

All actions were executed by Xia De, and all information was provided by Luweiya. Sometimes, she would doubt her position among the three. But this self-doubt also precisely proved her trust in Xia De and Luweiya.

No matter when, she would not doubt Xia De's combat power; no matter when, she would not easily question the information provided by Luweiya.

"Since I am leading this event, I will not let them down. I am not like Xia De who can always be unexpected, nor like Luweiya who knows all kinds of information, but at least, I can do my own things well and fulfill my duties..."

Amidst the steam whistles and bell chimes, the light of the brass ring illuminated the darkness. The Fate Ring transformed into a dark golden scale, its light shining in all directions. Amidst the surprised expressions of everyone, the power of the Chosen shone onto the tabletop under the light.

"I cannot bring you victory, but I will use my wisdom, at least so that you will not lose this game."

"Entering combat round, please roll the dice for a 'Boxing' check."

With a muffled 'Boom—', the punch Xia De threw was blocked by raised arms, and then a fist wearing a black glove also swung toward him; Xia De similarly used his arms to block.

After a brief clash, the two engaged in a brawl at close range using only fists and arms. Although Xia De had never systematically learned boxing, his outstanding physical fitness was his most powerful weapon, and that guy wrapped in black clothing, whose face under the hat was in shadow from every angle, clearly had strength and physical fitness on par with Xia De.

The acquisition of the 【Strength】 Spirit Rune itself increased strength, and Xia De also had the relic 【Impure Dragon Blood】 on him. When Doctor Shi Nai De and the other three arrived at the door, they happened to see the scene of the two swinging their fists and hitting each other's arms. As a professional psychiatrist, Bill Shi Nai De had received professional combat training during his studies and could see that neither side knew boxing; they were merely swinging fist shadows based on strength, and for a moment, neither could stop the other.

The action pattern of 【Jack the Phantom Thief】 was not inclined toward brawling, so after becoming entangled with Xia De, it immediately tried to move toward the window.

"Surround them!"

The doctor said in a low voice, rushing into the room together with Priest Ao Gu Si, "Xiao Miya," and Luweiya.

Priest Ao Gu Si moved the slowest, so he blocked the direction of the door and the window; Doctor Shi Nai De had the fastest pace and preemptively blocked the direction leading to the dining room and the side bedroom; "Xiao Miya" and Luweiya walked side by side, blocking the direction leading to the master bedroom and the study. The four formed a triangle, surrounding the two swinging fists from afar.

As Xia De fought while retreating, he and the thief officially moved to the center of the living room.

Under the light of the gas lamp, the shadows of the four people around them stretched into long lines, as if forming a triangular cage.

Of course, because the four did not directly affect the story and were just standing there, the people on the second floor of the Prophecy Society who were conducting the last part of the story could only see two puppets swinging fists at each other, not knowing that this scene actually had four other onlookers.

"No, we can't catch him like this!"

Priest Ao Gu Si spoke up to remind them. Although the old priest was only at the Second Ring, he was quite knowledgeable. He said with a solemn expression:

"【Jack the Phantom Thief】 grows stronger as the enemy grows stronger. Xia De, this won't work; you can't win against him by boxing. If this continues, you will eventually make a mistake, but it won't."

"We must think of a way. Since we have forced this thief to this extent, we cannot let him escape!"

The doctor said immediately after.

"Xia De absolutely cannot use the power of a Ringed Shushi, otherwise the Church will immediately know he is a Ringed Shushi."

Luweiya and "Xiao Miya" stood together. The blonde Miss looked slightly nervous:

"Cannot use supernatural power, perhaps the means of ordinary people can work. 【Jack the Phantom Thief】 is suppressed by the 【Dice Story Collection】; perhaps we can let Xia De touch additional symbols to increase his additional check points."

"I can almost hear the sound of the dice falling continuously now!"

Xia De squeezed the words through his teeth. The enemy in front of him had equally terrible boxing skills, but his strength and speed were extremely astonishing. Priest Ao Gu Si's worry was actually redundant; even if Jack the Phantom Thief grew stronger as the enemy grew stronger, the relic did not have "another me." At this moment, the gentle woman's voice in Xia De's ear was helping him correct his punching direction, striving to ensure he at least would not fall behind.

"Even if we find additional symbols, Jack the Phantom Thief grows stronger as the enemy grows stronger, so it will also become stronger."

The doctor reminded them, but Luweiya already had an idea; she was the one most familiar with the 【Dice Story Collection】:

"Jack the Phantom Thief grows stronger as the enemy grows stronger, meaning when encountering an enemy, it is definitely stronger than the stronger one."

"In the real state, encountering Jack the Phantom Thief, it is stronger than the strongest of the two, so no one can stop it, because the power exerted by the two fighting together is not equal to the sum of their strength. But in the 【Dice Story Collection】, as long as the two are in a cooperative relationship, the points can be added, and Jack the Phantom Thief is still the points of the 'strongest' person. This is also the reason why the other two characters in the beginning actually found 【Jack the Phantom Thief】 by cooperating in the investigation!"

She said this, and both Xia De and Princess Lei Qianya suddenly realized. Although the doctor and Priest Ao Gu Si did not know what they were talking about, they also knew that a method had been found.

"So that's why the professor of the 【Ringed Shushi】 gave up the mission directly after one character died!"

The blonde Miss also understood:

"That makes sense."

"In that case, there is only one way to make Xia De win: help him find someone who can cooperate with him and add points."

Priest Ao Gu Si guessed, and the blue-eyed psychiatrist then suggested:

"Anate, can I take a step to help Xia De? Even if I appear in the story because of this, I can say I happened to visit him."

"No, only characters manipulated in the story meet the rules for assisting in addition. We are just background characters in the story; even if we help Xia De, there is no rule effect of the 【Dice Story Collection】. On the contrary, with the punching speed Xia De is currently showing, without showing supernatural power, who among us dares to go up and help directly?"

Luweiya shook her head immediately. Doctor Shi Nai De glanced at the two swinging fists and understood her view.

"Can 【Summoning Undead】 work? Wake up the corpse, manipulate the undead."

Priest Ao Gu Si said quickly. Although the people in the group knew more or less that this old gentleman knew undead sorcery, it was still surprising that the priest said such things so carelessly.

"No, the other two have already exited, and their corpses are now also story backgrounds."

This time it was "Xiao Miya" who gave the answer. Among the people here, she was the only one who saw the game process with her own eyes.

"No need to worry, I feel I can hold on for a while longer. But the whisper elements seem to be getting stronger; the power of the 【Dice Story Collection】 is affecting us."

Xia De said in a low voice. Although the crackling sound was exaggerated, it was indeed the result of swinging fists at each other. Xia De never knew he could throw punches so fast; this could be considered his first attempt to fight with his fists with full strength without holding back. This experience was very interesting and useful.

"In other words, only Xia De himself can help Xia De himself, but this is a paradox; any power applied to him, Jack the Phantom Thief will also possess."

Doctor Shi Nai De said, but suddenly frowned again:

"It must be a part of Xia De or belong to Xia De to meet the game rules of the Angel-level relic 【Dice Story Collection】; but it cannot be the power of Xia De himself and his items, otherwise the Sage-level relic 【Jack the Phantom Thief】 will grow stronger as the enemy grows stronger... Belonging to him, but not him, and must be able to cooperate in rolling, belonging to a part of the story."

"Luweiya's guess is basically the same as my initial thought; it grows stronger as the enemy grows stronger, but when it encounters 100 people, it cannot become the sum of the strength of 100 people."

Xia De laughed, staring intently at his opponent, swinging his left and right fists alternately, blocking a kick from the opponent with his right foot, and slamming his head toward the opponent's hood:

"Belonging to me but not me, and it possesses its own traits, skills, and characteristics, and can cooperate with me. Xiao Miya, throw it over!"

"... Due to the characteristics of 【Jack the Phantom Thief】, its boxing points are exactly the same as Xia De Hamilton's, and its basic strength and speed are exactly the same as Xia De Hamilton's. The battle is tied; please continue to roll the dice for the next round of battle."

The familiar voice sounded again. Iruna, who had already rolled the dice three times for this battle, reached out and took the two dice again.

"This won't work."

The people around also knew whether they could capture 【Jack the Phantom Thief】 tonight, and this was the opportunity. Even Princess Ajelina and Princess Margaret became nervous.

Miss Green behind Iruna gently patted Iruna on the shoulder:

"No, if this continues, you rolled 53 the first time, 54 the second time, and 55 the third time. Even if you can roll the dice like the last two times, with each roll larger than the last, Mr. Hamilton will eventually lose."

During the check, the first points of 【Jack the Phantom Thief】 were consistent with Xia De's, and the last two times maintained the extreme value of the previous number.

Iruna also knew this truth. At this moment, the dark golden scale above her head was radiating light, and the power of 【Balance】 enveloped the tabletop, directly affecting the relic with the power of the Chosen, barely controlling the points. This was the reason why she made the points increase one by one. After the opponent died, Iruna also grasped the key to the game. Although she had no sacrifice, she herself was balance.

But the maximum points of the dice were 100; she would eventually let Xia De's check points reach the true extreme value. Iruna knew Xia De was thinking of a way, and what she could do was to delay for a longer time.

————Side note————

PS1: To add, although Luweiya saw Princess Lei Qianya's Fate Ring in the previous chapter, because she was focused on confronting 【Jack the Phantom Thief】, she did not notice that the runes on the Fate Ring were different, just roughly glanced that it was a Five-Ring. Therefore, she did not discover that "Xiao Miya" was not Xiao Miya at this time.

PS2: What kind of traits and list would the pet cat - Little Mia have in its normal state? ===== CHAPTER 972 =====