The blue flames, emitting a malevolent aura, spread directly towards Ringo, striking him squarely, but Ringo ignored it, the power of those flames barely tickled him, and the pollution that was trying to infiltrate his body was immediately nullified.
Ringo's genes were like pieces of steel, vibrating with the polluted blood trying to corrupt them, but showing no sign of change.
The smile on Tolaen's face deepened, but the next moment Ringo appeared in front of him, still surrounded by the demonic flames that clung to his body like glue. However, before Tolaen could get excited, Ringo's movement was simple, his mouth opened as the blue flames were quickly sucked inside, turning completely black the next moment.
A wave of concentrated flames shot from Ringo's mouth straight back towards Tolaen, his eyes still wide with shock as he was engulfed by the demonic flames.
Although he had strong resistance to fire and demonic energy, the concentrated power directly destroyed his shields, and his skin was covered in deep burns.
Tolaen roared as he fled, his eyes no longer showing any desire to continue the fight, only a deep fear, he ran away.
Ringo realized that this guy wanted to escape, and sped after him, two 'meteors', one red and the other purple, crossed the galaxy extremely fast.
When Ringo frowned and was about to teleport away, Tolaen had already completed a spell, He transformed into an incorporeal form until he vanished completely, he escaped.
Ringo frowned as he stopped, he hadn't foreseen this, literally. He tried searching for Tolaen around using his energy, but the man's soul had completely vanished.
It wasn't invisibility, whatever Tolaen had done, it had managed to cloud even his vision of the future.
Some kind of magical item? A spell? A teleportation scroll made by an S-Grade player?
There were many options.
Ringo had already sensed that the chance of catching Tolaen was slim, but even so he couldn't say why, now it seemed that this guy still had some cards up his sleeve.
Pursing his lips, Ringo sneered slightly, then turned and teleported back to the Tolaen ships.
The group were pirates, so the moment they realized Tolaen had escaped, they had already prepared to flee. Ringo could hardly have chased a ship in Hyperdrive, but he had already left a nightmare clone behind.
Before the group could even move, the purple energy enveloped the entire fleet, each of them falling swiftly like raindrops, into a deep sleep.
When Ringo arrived, no one was awake anymore, not even Black Dog, Mercer, who had been unconscious after his escape attempt, had fallen into an even deeper sleep.
Ringo didn't bother waking these guys up, he separated two more Nightmare Clones while they went to invade these guys' dreams to discover their objective.
He, on the other hand, approached the ship that was transporting the Black Dog.
In a sealed cell covered by walls of psionic energy, a battered figure lay in a capsule filled with green liquid. His body was naked, covered in deep wounds, but the liquid seemed to be doing its job, keeping him alive.
Mercer had short black hair and the explosive physique of a Pugilist geared towards strength. Ringo narrowed his eyes as he separated a clone to invade his mind, but the moment the clone transformed into its energy form and invaded, he frowned.
As expected, this guy's mind was protected, the clone was destroyed as soon as it entered, without even having time to scream.
Clearly something only a Grade S could do.
Fortunately, Ringo's precognition gave him a hint about the danger, and he didn't go in himself.
Ringo wasn't surprised because he already knew who the 'boss' of the Black Dog was.
Secret Master, a member of the Ancient Ones, just like Aesop.
Although he was from the same group as Aesop, their strength was incomparable. Aesop is merely a Super Grade B with an incredibly long life. The only true requirements to be part of that group are being old and having enough renown. Don't underestimate old Aesop for looking like an elderly man in a nursing home, the old man was already extremely influential in his time. The Secret Master, on the other hand, is a fully-fledged BGA.
He is known for his special magical engraving techniques, being a master of runic inscription, as well as manipulating luck, being able to create spells that reduce the luck of his targets, which is why the number of BGAs who want to fight him is quite low, even though he hardly falls into the 'strong' category.
Fighting him is like consuming the luck they spent countless years acquiring, how could they possibly be satisfied with that? Only a bastard like Han Xiao could stand in front of him and laugh without a second thought.
Having the luck of a 1 is truly a source of joy for Han Xiao at times like these, not only is the Secret Master unable to attack him through luck, but he would also be extremely disgusted to see such an 'unlucky' individual.
In the world of TLM, there is no such thing as negative luck, bad luck here is simply luck inferior to that of your opponent. Therefore, it's no exaggeration for the Secret Master to say that Han Xiao is the unluckiest person he has ever met.
If you are not a player and can invest points in luck, your luck slowly increases over time as you progress along your path.
An average person wouldn't see an increase in luck throughout their entire life, but an advancement in power or position is enough to make their luck grow.
That's why when Nero was born, Bennet's son, he received an advantageous fortune, after all, he was the son of the leader of a planet's civilization and had a godfather like Han Xiao.
Nero's luck was boosted precisely by being born in the right place, to the right person, and at the right time.
So, when the Secret Master saw Han Xiao's good fortune, he was completely confused.
How can someone who rises to Grade S, leads a huge army, is a hero on their own planet, and has friends of a similar level be so unlucky?
It doesn't make sense! It makes absolutely no fucking sense!
If Ringo were the Secret Master, he would doubt life too.
The most ironic part was that Han Xiao loved it when people said he was lucky, the Secret Master was the only one who truly knew the 'truth'.
Well, that would have to wait for the future, for now, Ringo focused on how to deal with this guy, Mercer.