"Hint: Apostle of Destiny 'Black Blade' has been deployed. Do you wish to enter the apostle's perspective?"
"Hint: Currently in apostle's perspective mode."
On a dimly lit rooftop, a figure clad in black stood tall.
To Fang You, this was akin to a third-person game perspective.
However,
He couldn't fully control this Apostle of Destiny.
He could only issue commands, partially controlling the apostle's actions.
There were several options such as 'Train', 'Rest', 'Combat', 'Standby'.
"This isn't bad, with Black Blade's physique and speed, it would definitely be very fast. If I had to micro-manage it, I might be a bit shaky..."
This wasn't a game.
It was reality.
He hadn't prepared any commands.
Because Black Blade had already moved on his own. He smelled a foul presence, and killing intent seemed to erupt from his eyes.
Black Blade used the skill 'Foulness Tracker'!
In front of him,
Within his vision, scattered gray-black spots appeared.
Like foul winds, intermittent, winding into the stairwell.
Fang You saw this scene as well.
He stroked his chin, "Looks like this is a clue-finding skill, similar to Elemental Sight or Survival Instinct?"
The target was inside the building.
Black Blade walked directly to the iron gate at the entrance of the rooftop. He paused, his gaze shifting downwards.
A rusty iron lock had sealed the iron gate.
This,
According to fire safety regulations, rooftops should not have private iron gates and locks!
But their rooftop was indeed locked.
Fang You hadn't been to the rooftop in years and was unaware of this.
His brow furrowed.
Black Blade only paused for a moment.
"Clang!"
His saber was unsheathed. The snow-white blade cut through, and the rusty iron lock snapped in half.
Black Blade re-sheathed his saber, casually pushed open the iron gate, and with a creak, he entered the increasingly dim and lightless stairwell.
Fang You: "..."
I was worried for nothing.
But why were you so skilled, Black Blade!
Entering the stairwell, the gray-black spots in Black Blade's vision increased. The more clues of foulness there were, the closer he was getting.
He went all the way down.
The eighth floor, the seventh floor. Dim yellow lights cast shadows in the stairwell, illuminating Black Blade's emotionless eyes.
The gray-black spots ahead rapidly increased, vaguely outlining the silhouette of three-clawed footprints.
A monster with three claws?
Was this the foulness?
Fang You mused, and suddenly heard a "thump, thump, thump" sound, originating from the game.
No, not just from the game.
He pricked up his ears.
It was also sounding outside his own door, the sounds gradually overlapping.
But this time, the foulness was not knocking on his security door, but on the one opposite.
Fang You held his breath, his eyes fixed on the game screen.
Following Black Blade's vision, slowly moving upwards.
Above the black claw marks, in front of his neighbor's security door...
There was nothing!
Only a faint gray-black, wisps of foul wind swirling – this was a scene only visible with 'Foulness Tracker'.
Yet, even with this special vision, the foulness remained unseen.
Only two dark claw prints,
And the mechanical thudding of knocking.
It stopped abruptly!
For some reason, Fang You had the sensation of being watched.
No, it should be Black Blade being watched!
Even through the game screen, he felt a chill run down his spine.
Was this the foulness!
Yet, even now, he still didn't know what kind of monster it was. He couldn't see it. Without the 'Foulness Tracker' skill, he couldn't even see the claw prints!
He didn't know the monster's appearance.
Whether it had a physical form.
Its combat style, its weaknesses, all unknown!
How could this be fought?
Was this something a human could fight?
Fang You gripped his phone, his palms sweating slightly.
On the screen, Black Blade suddenly dodged, moving a few steps back in the wider area at the corner of the stairwell.
Thump!
A loud noise.
The sound was deafening.
Still no shadow was seen. Only after the loud noise did claw prints begin to appear on the ground, and some gray-black spots on the wall at the corner.
Did Foulness Tracker lag far behind this 'three-clawed monster's' movement?
Fang You's heart leaped into his throat, he didn't dare to breathe.
But Black Blade showed no signs of panic. His hand remained on the hilt of his saber, his gaze sharply fixed ahead.
Another step shifted.
Accompanied by a "thump" sound, his saber was unsheathed.
Fang You saw a red blade light, piercing his eyes with pain.
It was blood-red!
The snow-white blade was covered in a faint red, whistling towards the air two steps ahead.
It stirred up gray-black mist.
It was like a blade cutting through seaweed, slicing apart clumps of seaweed threads, which broke off in mid-air.
Did he hit it?
The foul wind in the scene seemed to have faded significantly.
Black Blade retreated two steps, took a moment to recover, and gripped his saber with both hands. A faint red light once again emanated from the blade.
Blade Slash!
A red glow streaked across, slicing out large swathes of gray-black mist. Fang You seemed to see a faint shadow appear and shatter.
Disappearing completely.
He wasn't sure if it was an illusion.
But in Black Blade's Foulness Tracker vision, the three-clawed footprints rapidly faded, as did the foul wind swirling around.
Until it disappeared entirely.
Black Blade deactivated the 'Foulness Tracker' vision.
The sharp saber was re-sheathed. He stood in the stairwell, his gaze calm, as if killing a foulness was a trivial task with no change to his demeanor.
But Fang You noticed that Black Blade's breathing was a little rapid, and beads of sweat had appeared in the areas not covered by his mask.
He wasn't as relaxed as he appeared.
But regardless, he had killed it.
First Kill!
"Ding!"
"Hint: Apostle of Destiny 'Black Blade' has killed the foulness 'Doorknocker'. This foulness has been recorded in the bestiary."
"Hint: First kill of a foulness. Dispatch Template has been unlocked. Destiny Points +2."
"Hint: Apostle of Destiny 'Black Blade' has independently killed a foulness. Mystery +0.1."
There was a lot of information.
Dings and dongs popped up on his phone continuously.
As Fang You was about to review them one by one, he suddenly remembered Black Blade still in the stairwell.
The commotion earlier had been significant.
The two loud "thump! thump!" sounds were more exaggerated than smashing a door with a sledgehammer, likely startling many residents.
He couldn't let Black Blade stay here... Black Blade was an 'object of suspicion' with an unknown identity and peculiar attire.
He switched to Black Blade's perspective.
At this moment,
The Apostle of Destiny had returned to the rooftop. Seemingly unsure where to go, he sat on the ground to rest and await instructions.
"Hint: Deployment status remaining 57:15. Do you wish to end the deployment of Apostle of Destiny 'Black Blade'?"
"Yes!"
A faint light descended.
Enveloping Black Blade in his black attire, in the blink of an eye, Black Blade vanished without a trace.
Killing the foulness and vanishing, taking his merit and fame with him.
Fang You also put down his phone, stretching his hands which had become stiff from tension.
He opened his door and stepped out.
Outside in the stairwell, he heard human voices.
It was the doorman, Uncle Qin, who had come to inquire after hearing the loud noise, along with two kind neighbors.
"I was startled by the loud noise too."
Fang You shook his head.
Soon, he returned to his own home.
Taking his merit and fame with him.