Chapter 73 - Role Playing the Dark Horse Character

Chapter 73: Hello Watchdog As soon as the voice rang out, Illusory Reality activated, and Li Li swiftly pulled away, creating a significant distance from her original spot. "Boom!" The ground caved in, houses collapsed, recreating the events that once occurred in the Desolate Dragon City. It was Dan! Li Li immediately recalled his name, along with the indelible impression he had left on her. From the darkness emerged a 'girl' with short white cowlick hair and heterochromatic gold-blue eyes, wearing a black puff-sleeve dress, clutching a life-sized rabbit doll. Yet, his voice was distinctly that of a clear young boy. "Don't come near here." He stood beyond the cracked earth, on the intact land of District Thirteen. Those mismatched eyes watched Li Li retreat, and unlike his calm and indifferent tone, his attacks didn't cease after one strike but instead intensified. He was extending the range of his ability! This wasn't a warning but an explanation of his reason for acting. From the moment he attacked, he hadn't intended to simply repel but to pursue until he killed the intruder in his territory! Even as she moved backward through the air, Li Li outwardly maintained her calm demeanor, yet internally she couldn't help but think—he really did seem like a rabid dog whose territory had been invaded. Or perhaps a guard dog protecting its food? Despite his expressionless, doll-like face, Li Li saw a soul roaring with ignited fury in those heterochromatic eyes. He was in a frenzy, disregarding streets, houses, roads—his focus solely on Li Li, yearning to tear her apart. Li Li remembered him vividly. Dan, a tricky high-level ability user she had once encountered and fought in the Desolate Dragon. He appeared in the late stages of the Desolate Dragon as a high-level concept-type, a formidable hunter who monopolized this type of ability by preying on and killing other concept-type users, as mentioned by Qing Yuchen. Despite his delicate, doll-like exterior, Dan's actions were brutally savage. Li Li remembered his powerful ability and the overpowering pressure that she could scarcely resist back then. She also recalled that Dan only unleashed his large-scale deadly moves after being provoked by her. This time, merely stepping one foot into District Thirteen had prompted him to instantly alter the atmospheric pressure. Though the range wasn't as extensive as back in the Desolate Dragon, it matched his behavior when provoked. Despite the disadvantageous position, Li Li's mind remained agile. Dan's ability, Error Correction, and Li Li's ability, Illusory Reality, were both subjective abilities. Yet Dan's had a broader range, capable of achieving more, casually altering pressures and ignoring physical laws. How much could he deem as 'errors' to correct? Could human life also be considered an 'error' to him? Her heart pounded at the chest, as memories of being suppressed and heavily wounded lingered in her mind. A fellow high-level ability user and a powerful concept-type hunter—Li Li hadn't expected to encounter him again in the Dyed-eye City. Would she retreat? Facing him was irrational, Li Li knew. But this was Dyed-eye City, dubbed the City of Order by day, where abilities couldn’t be used freely. And it was nine minutes until five in the morning. "So enthusiastic, aren't you," she spoke, "Good doggy." Without a doubt, Dan was the fiercest mad dog she had ever seen. Li Li's crimson eyes twinkled, narrowing slightly as if she was smiling. She did have a soft spot for training dogs. Enormous pressure swept forth, causing the ground to sink and rubble to fly. It resembled the cataclysmic chaos that occurred in the Desolate Dragon, an apocalyptic scene destroying the city. The quake-like sounds echoed through the disorderly night, covering half a block with dust. Ahead of the swiftly advancing ground fissures, Li Li’s lips curled into a smile. As violent winds swept around, she raised a hand and sharply snapped her fingers. "Snap." A wide-range hallucination unfolded, instantly enveloping the entire street. Her figure vanished into the night, while an apparition appeared in the air—a young man with black hair standing amid the chaos, seemingly unbothered by the surrounding turmoil, remaining composed. "This isn’t your Domain; you can’t stop my advance." Li Li was misleading Dan. Back in the Desolate Dragon, she used her own face, but now she wore 'Hei Ge’s' facade. Perhaps Dan was unaware of her true ability, or maybe he knew. Thus, she used the word 'Domain' to probe whether he recognized her as the concept-type from Desolate Dragon. Additionally, she had another matter to ascertain—the possible flaws in Dan’s abilities as per her deductions. “As of now, it looks like this.” With blinding speed, her form flickered and darted amidst the dust, almost too fast for the naked eye to track. The shadow’s attire fluttered with the breeze, positioning herself before Dan. Dan lifted his head, their mismatched eyes locked with crimson ones. "Only you are trapped in this Domain," the apparition taunted, seemingly to fuel the ire of the white-haired youth further, "Need a chain?" The more his anger blinded him, the less control he had over his actions, and the more openings he revealed. "A trapped watchdog?" she suggested. Their clothing billowed with a sharp breeze, and the shadow’s grin deepened. Suddenly, Dan clutched the rabbit doll tighter, retreating slightly, instinctively shielding the toy. It was a subconscious reaction. Then Dan realized, speaking, "This space cannot be used by Domain-type ability users." He deemed ‘Domain-type ability users being able to establish their domains and freely move in this space’ as an error and corrected it. This was Dan’s ability. Concept-type power, ‘Error Correction.’ Upon activation, the correction of atmospheric pressure didn’t vanish; instead, it layered a buff targeting Domain-type ability users on this current state. An ability nearly invincible in strength and sufficient to monopolize the life of concept-type ability users. He didn’t recognize her. Li Li mused. In the night, a black crow circled in the distance, its crimson eyes witnessing the conflict from afar. That was Li Li’s main body, long since withdrawn from the primary battlefield. Before Dan, a mere illusion stood, recklessly lingering within the S-rank ability’s range, facing a high-level ability user with a soft chuckle, audibly querying, "What are you afraid of?" Though it was just a momentary response, it was enough for Li Li to discern Dan’s weakness. This was her chance. In Dan’s now widened mismatched eyes, the illusion vanished before him. Instantly at his side, her slender fingertips skimmed the rabbit’s drooping ear, as if clutching his very heart. The illusion turned her head slightly, a smile that seemed to challenge and indicate total control spreading across her lips. Li Li now knew it all. The weaknesses of his ability and, currently, Dan’s vulnerable point. Her illusion’s positioning remained unaffected, as Dan’s earlier ability application was ineffective against a concept-type like her! Dan’s ability could only work on a precisely defined target; any object confusion rendered his ability ineffective! This wasn’t a broad, subjective target but a precise, objective one without errors! This was his ability's limitation. "Afraid of losing this?" Li Li whispered, the illusion’s fingertip lightly tapping the rabbit’s long ear. The exposure of a concept-type’s restrictions being discovered dramatically altered their threat level. Ability activated, and the rabbit doll in Dan’s arms seemingly vanished from sight, reappearing in the illusion’s possession. Dan looked dumbfounded at his now-empty embrace, lifting his head. It appeared he understood what had just transpired. The Illusory Reality ability succeeded in transferring Dan's rabbit doll into the illusion’s hands. Dan’s doll-like face began to transform, infused with life, becoming agitated and uneasy—and fearful. "Give it back..." the white-haired boy reached out, desperately attempting to reclaim his rabbit doll. "Give it back to me!" Now, seven minutes remained until five o’clock. His heterochromic eyes reflected the rabbit doll ahead, seemingly trembling. Dan stepped forward, his voice dominating over the cracking ground. "Those who take her shouldn’t live!" he exclaimed, his voice trembling and shouting, "Correct the error, make him, make the one holding her now, disappear from this world!" In the night, the shadow smiled at Dan among the glowing lights, disappearing the next moment, seemingly with no resistance under the S-rank ability. Dan could directly erase a designated target, viewing it as an 'error' to be removed. The rabbit doll, unsupported, fell from midair, and Dan stumbled over, his round-toed shoe scuffing along the rubble. He reached out, attempting to gather the rabbit doll of immense importance to him. Just as his fingers nearly brushed against the delicate plush, right when his face almost revealed a look of delight— The doll’s descent was halted. A hand clad in fingerless gloves caught the rabbit by its ear, lounging as if seated on thin air. The expression on Dan's fractured face was met with a mischievous smile. The target of Error Correction was flawed; only the illusion was corrected, not the true master of Illusory Reality, Li Li. "Be a good boy and pick up your toy all by yourself," she remarked, casually lifting her hand. "No..." Dan murmured. The rabbit doll was tossed far away, receding from Dan’s wide, mismatched eyes, veering towards darkness, away from District Thirteen. In a heartbeat, Dan hunched his back, darting over the rubble he himself had created, reaching towards where the doll was lost. It was as if everything had been ripped away from him. The young man with black hair lowered his eyes slightly upon achieving this. "Good boy," she said. In the night, beneath her smiling face, her crimson eyes brimmed with cold indifference.