The twin bosses Oni Princess and Yaksha had actually appeared in the original Streets of Rage as well. Back then, though, they had been much more plain, with slim, well-proportioned figures. They were nothing like their redesigned third-generation selves: punk women in skintight outfits with explosively curvaceous bodies.
Their combat abilities had undergone a drastic transformation along with their figures.
As the game iterated and its assets were updated, they gained more agile jumping abilities than in the original, immensely explosive kicking techniques, highly synchronized combat coordination, textbook Ground Wave releases, and a Fusion Skill that could only be used when both twins were present.
Whether in reality or in games, twins always had some strange connection. As a result, some skills originating from Game Blueprints could only achieve better results when used by genuine twins—preferably identical twins.
Clearly, the two women who had changed their Chosen IDs to Oni Princess and Yaksha were that type.
They had successfully acquired, through what amounted to bargain hunting at the market, the Fusion Skill ability dropped by the Oni Princess Yaksha twin bosses—an ability that could make one plus one greater than two. Yet this ability, which should have been enough to turn the tables at the last moment, had been exposed by Cheng Tian in a single breath.
Cheng Tian had only uncovered their secret by piling up keywords and searching: purple bodysuit, twins, female, Ground Wave. Then his brain had automatically pinpointed Streets of Rage. This judgment was as natural as eating and drinking to him, yet no one else in Chosen Space could accomplish it.
They simply could not possess Cheng Tian's vast store of gaming knowledge, as though he had been born for Chosen Space and could practically generate a Mind Palace.
The twin players' already fragile psychological defenses completely collapsed. The word "run" now filled both sisters' minds.
If a Veteran Player had seen through them, they could at least explain it away as the other party being experienced. But being exposed at a glance by a complete newcomer who had theoretically only experienced their second Chosen Instance? What that represented was beginning to make them shudder.
How was Cheng Tian some child flaunting gold through the streets? This was clearly a trap prepared in advance specifically to hunt the two of them!
Which guild had invested so heavily!?
Crimson Dawn? Blue Flame Brotherhood? Or Card Player Supreme? It couldn't possibly be Sword and Magic and Crossdressing Mountain, could it?
Several Player Guilds they had offended directly or indirectly flashed through their minds. Under the gaze of Cheng Tian, whose lowered arms swayed slightly, and Eileen, who had drawn her bow and aimed again, they began inching backward almost in sync.
The twins had completely lost their will to fight.
Even though they still possessed Innate Skills and equipment skills capable of causing Cheng Tian major trouble, the only thought left in their minds was escape.
Cheng Tian's position cut off any chance for the twin sisters to reunite. Neither of them had the thought of staying with her sister even in death. Instead, they decisively chose to flee separately and find an opportunity to regroup later.
"Hm? Trying to run?"
The twins turning to flee caught Cheng Tian, who had quietly adjusted his equipment, slightly off guard. Then his right hand cracked through the air like a swung Vampire Killer, and the next second, Captain America's Shield, which had been embedded in a trash can, sprang back into Cheng Tian's hand on its own.
Meanwhile, Oni Princess had already darted more than ten meters away. Her movements were erratic as she ran, jumped, and kicked off walls, growing faster and faster.
This was Cheng Tian's first time properly witnessing a player specialized in high agility. He immediately realized that with Flash Charge on cooldown, there was no way he could catch up using just his two thick legs enhanced by a mere 12 Agility.
The projectile from Polymorph not only required one second of casting preparation, but also had a flight trajectory. The odds of hitting her were too low. Thus, all Cheng Tian could do was throw Captain America's Shield again, its throwing speed clearly faster than before.
Still, Cheng Tian did not have much hope for it.
Sure enough, younger sister Yaksha had a damage-taking safety move like the God of War Style Cyclone Kick, while older sister Oni Princess also had a damage-taking safety move called Yellow Cyclone, based on the move used by Mustafa Cairo—the character players commonly nicknamed "Yellow Cap"—from Dino Crisis.
Just as the shield was about to slice open the back of Oni Princess's head, the elder twin, who had not slowed down at all, leaped into a Yellow Cyclone—no, it should have counted as a Purple Cyclone—and kicked away Cheng Tian's thrown shield on the spot.
Having been thoroughly traumatized by the main quest, they might not have had many other skills, but they certainly had plenty of safety moves and escape methods.
Cheng Tian did not continue wasting time chasing them. Against high-agility enemies like this, killing them was indeed difficult without a suitably enclosed environment. And Cheng Tian, who had only completed the Novice Trial, truly did not have more methods to restrict their escape movements.
So this was the gap between me and Veteran Players? Chosen Space really was interesting~
Unaware that he had scared his opponents out of their wits, Cheng Tian was visibly smiling. Rather than feeling discouraged, he immediately added plans and ideas for "how to restrict agile units" to his daily agenda.
Players were not afraid of enemies they could not handle. As long as players were given a chance to go back and review the fight, that enemy would inevitably be countered to death.
However, just as Cheng Tian decisively gave up on the futile pursuit, the Tragic Beauty Girl archer directly abandoned her hiding place and leaped down from a height of eight stories. Just as her shapely, muscular thighs were about to turn into snapped sugarcane, a fierce gust suddenly arose, blowing her into the air for several seconds before she landed lightly.
The fresh scent of nature instantly reached Cheng Tian's nose from the emerald-green longbow in Eileen's hands and the quiver of equally emerald-green arrows on her back.
Eileen nocked an arrow, then curled her lip at Cheng Tian, signaling for the bastard to get lost and stop interfering with her aim. The muscles in her arms and thighs immediately tensed, their bulging contours becoming strikingly visible beneath clothes that had not originally shown off her figure. She then drew the bow to its fullest, aiming the arrowhead carrying nature and death at Oni Princess's retreating back.
The next second, a critical strike wrapped in a storm shot forth—
Fusion Combat Skill! Storm Power Strike!
Having sensed some danger, Oni Princess had chosen to use the "True Word Shield: Enchantment Scroll" from her inventory in advance. A golden shield capable of absorbing damage enveloped her body, but she only had time to feel a powerful push from behind before her vision sank completely into eternal darkness.
Oni Princess's corpse, her chest completely opened up, was nailed to the tightly shut gates of the Abandoned Factory. The storm carrying her body evenly splattered scattered blood across the gates, forming a strange crimson whirlwind pattern. It made the dead Oni Princess look more like some sort of sacrifice. The entire scene was extremely bloody and visually intense, even carrying a faint air of philosophy.
Then, a scarlet-colored treasure chest emerged from Oni Princess's corpse and fell down alone.
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