The Devil Of Probability-Chapter 57: But A Clone

"Are you Elliot Grayson?"

(That same line again...)

Something had struck Simon’s mind, and without hesitation, he responded:

"Yes, I am."

That only seemed to raise the monkey’s killing intent, as he was faster than before. Simon could barely track its movements at this point, his body reacting before his mind.

The monkey became bloodlusted in just a few moments, confirming Simon’s suspicion.

(The monkey is here to kill Elliot! What is Project Icarus hiding from him?!)

He could barely think to himself, as most of his brain power was spent comprehending the monkey’s next move. Luckily for Simon, the monkey did not try to feint him this time.

However, every good deed must come with a bad deed, as mentioned before.

Thus, every swipe of the monkey’s staff was meant to kill!

A strike to his shin, a butt to his nose, and a chop to his neck. Simon blocked all of them with an amazing amount of effort behind each one, but still wasn’t able to find an opening.

"Damn it!"

Simon had no choice but to back up and watch its attack pattern. However, the more he dodged, the more he realized — there was no pattern! There was nothing but killing intent!

At this point, every swipe of the monkey’s staff came with a swift sound.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Simon dodged a swing aimed at his head, ducking under it before slashing the monkey’s knee. The slash cut deep enough to slice half of its bone, allowing Simon to retreat off the platform.

The minute he stepped off the platform, the monkey stopped and returned to the center. Simon was relieved to see this, leaning against the wall as he caught his breath.

There was no way this monkey was a robot, so what was it? Simon could only ponder what to do as the monkey sat on the staff. Then, Simon took another look at the staff.

Had it become enlarged? Maybe it wasn’t that the monkey’s strength hadn’t increased, but the staff’s had. This made him want to disconnect the staff from its owner even more.

He sat there with a rather envious look. After all, how was he going to take it away from the monkey in the first place? Simon bit his bottom lip, staring at the monkey with hatred.

He grunted, stopping the action immediately as he noticed he had broken the skin on his bottom lip.

(How annoying. The minute I think I have something figured out, this damn monkey has another trick up its sleeve!)

He knew there would be consequences to stepping on the platform again, but anger was taking over him at this point. The number of imperfections in his plans had just caused him a near-death situation.

In truth, he knew he was mad at himself deep down, but couldn’t bring himself to say so.

"Are you Elliot Grayson?"

"No."

This time, Simon didn’t let the monkey dash towards him. With the jagged dagger, he manipulated the air around him, making it seem toxic.

(This will give me time to disarm him!)

The monkey could not comprehend visual illusions, but this would mess with all of his other senses. Simon stabbed at the monkey’s stomach before retreating from the offense.

With this motion, he had successfully pierced its lung.

This way, the monkey would have to waste its energy to reach Simon one way or another. Either this, or it would die from holding its breath for so long. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Simon kept his range from it, walking in a slow circle around it. He could tell it wasn’t breathing, the wound in its stomach noting it was taking much longer to heal.

(So it’s getting its strength from the air?)

Simon thought this at first, but it couldn’t be the case. If it were, then it would not explain the rare case of the golden fur. That meant that there was something in the air that it must have been channeling.

Like animals from the real world, Hollow Beasts had specific traits based on their environment. For the monkey to have golden fur, it would not line up with the traits of Hollow Beasts that derive from air habitats.

First off, he would have wings, and secondly, none of his abilities showed the traits of Cloud-Based Hollow Beasts.

Although physical prowess was the only thing it had showcased so far, Hollow Beasts that hailed from air-based habitats were known for being shifty, not powerful.

This led Simon to believe one thing — the monkey must be from a Sun-Based environment. The tired monkey rushed towards him, its movements surprisingly sloppy.

In just a few dodges, Simon had the monkey exactly where he wanted it. He stabbed the monkey in the eye, sweeping its feet, then piercing its head.

The movements were quick; if any regular human were to watch this, they would not see anything but a blur. However, Simon had no way of knowing if the monkey would revive, so he took its staff before retrieving his blades.

He stepped off the platform before letting the illusion of the toxic air release. In just a few moments, the monkey had shrunk back to normal and ran away from Simon with screams.

"Haaa! Haaa! Haaa!"

Simon ignored the monkey’s cries, taking a closer look at the staff. At the butt of the staff, he noticed a small sigil in the form of two crosses. There was a star in between the crosses, placed alongside an atom.

(What does this mean?... I’ll have Alina inspect it.)

He knew he couldn’t exactly bring this out into the real world with him and carry it to her, so they would have to meet later for this.

Simon then scanned his surroundings, looking at where the monkey’s healing factor came from. This staff only increased its physical prowess, meaning the healing factor was its innate ability.

It didn’t take him long to look up, taking another look at the yellow opal. In just a few seconds, he had realized his mistake.

"Sunstone?!"

Simon was now terrified, although his face did not show it. A cold sweat ran down his neck as he took another look at the monkey.

There were only a few animals that hailed from Sun-Based dimensions, so this only meant one thing.

And from the Sun-Based dimensions, there was only one monkey, as the rest had been slaughtered.

What stood in front of him was not a Hollow Beast at all, but something much more horrid.

What stood in front of him was a clone.

(A clone of Sun Wukong?!)