Chapter 23: Life or Death
The ghoul wearing the clown mask slowly retreated, his eyes full of threatening intent, seemingly very confident in the Moon Mountain Family’s status.
Su Xiao knew a bit about the Moon Mountain Family. The Moon Mountain Family held great influence in both politics and business, with extensive connections and abundant resources.
If it were an ordinary person, they might fear the Moon Mountain Family, but would Su Xiao really care about some Moon Mountain Family?
Not to mention the ghoul before him, even if it were the Moon Mountain Family’s young master, Moon Mountain Xi, he would kill him without hesitation.
Moreover, the most terrifying force in the ghoul world was the CCG, which Su Xiao belonged to, though most people were unaware of this.
“The Moon Mountain Family, truly chilling.”
Su Xiao’s tone was flippant as he held his long blade and slowly approached the ghoul.
The clown ghoul became alert.
“I’ll give you ten billion yen. Let me go.”
As expected of someone from the Moon Mountain Family, rich and generous, offering ten billion yen right off the bat.
Su Xiao continued walking forward slowly. The clown ghoul wasn’t stupid and immediately realized Su Xiao had no intention of letting him go.
“If I don’t die today, I will definitely mobilize the family’s forces to hunt you down until you wish you were dead.”
The clown ghoul’s kagune appeared—it was a tail kagune.
Two fiery red kagune, each as thick as a thigh, but not very long.
Tail kagune ghouls had balanced attributes overall, though they lacked explosive power, with relatively strong lower limbs.
The clown ghoul clenched his fists, holding them in front of him, adopting a brawling stance.
Ghouls skilled in using tail kagune were mostly martial arts experts, but the clown ghoul before him clearly wasn’t in that category. One look showed he was a spoiled young master, not very adept at fighting.
From his constantly scanning gaze, it was obvious he couldn’t even focus during a fight.
Finish the fight within a minute, because there were tougher enemies waiting for him.
Most of the fleeing ghouls in the auction hall had stopped, staring at him with murderous intent.
Su Xiao tapped the ground lightly with Dragon-Slaying Flash to distract the clown ghoul, then charged at him without warning.
The clown ghoul’s body stiffened noticeably, and he seemed at a loss.
A gleaming blade light appeared before the clown ghoul, who cried out in surprise and instinctively blocked with his kagune.
But Su Xiao’s slash was just a feint. His free left hand clenched into a fist and punched the clown ghoul in the stomach.
The hard fist sank into his abdomen. The clown ghoul’s body curled up as he let out a strange cry.
“Woo~.”
A sobbing sound came. Su Xiao was a bit stunned—this ghoul was actually crying from his punch? What a spoiled brat. How did he even become an S-class ghoul?
The enemy’s weeping earned no sympathy from Su Xiao. He kicked the clown ghoul’s shin.
“Crack.”
Bone snapped, and pale white broken bone pierced through the muscle.
“Ahh~~!!”
A scream like a woman’s rang out. The clown ghoul, terrified by Su Xiao’s two strikes, turned and began limping away.
Not to mention that the auction hall was already sealed off, fleeing in the middle of a fight was simply asking for death.
“Pfft.”
Su Xiao’s blade pierced through the clown ghoul’s back. The ghoul’s escape came to an abrupt halt.
The mask slid off, revealing a handsome face tinged with some wickedness.
“I don’t want to die. I still have so much money~.”
With a thud, the clown ghoul collapsed face-first. Aside from contribution points, no treasure chest dropped.
Such a waste. It was normal for no chest to drop. Su Xiao suspected this guy couldn’t even beat an experienced B-class ghoul.
Su Xiao pulled out Dragon-Slaying Flash, flicked off the bloodstains, and removed his night vision goggles.
The auction hall was now ablaze. Some ghouls had set wooden chairs on fire, forming a bonfire.
Su Xiao turned to look at the gathered ghouls.
“Well then, let’s have some fun.”
A smile curled at the corner of Su Xiao’s mouth. His pitch-black eyes flashed with a red gleam in the firelight.
There were about a hundred ghouls on the field, most of them B-class, with over twenty A-class. If they all rushed him at once, he risked death as well.
“Kill him! Even if we can’t escape today, we’ll take one down with us!”
“Yeah, this whole mess is that bastard’s scheme!”
The hundred or so ghouls all revealed red eyes, their kagune emerging.
Wing kagune, armor kagune, scale kagune, tail kagune—every type was present.
There were many enemies. Su Xiao could use other methods to eliminate them, but that would be time-consuming and yield little contribution points.
The CCG investigators outside could rush in to support him at any moment. Such an opportunity wasn’t common.
He wanted to test his current limits.
“Enough talk. If you want to fight, let’s fight to the death. If you can kill me, you might still have a chance to live.”
The hundred ghouls revealing their kagune was a truly shocking sight.
“Go! Kill him!”
Some ghoul shouted the lead, and all of them surged forward.
Su Xiao took a deep breath and charged into the hundred ghouls.
“Clang~.”
With one slash, he cut the leading ghoul in half at the waist and plunged into the crowd.
[Azure Steel Shadow] activated. He pushed his blade technique to the maximum, fighting at full power.
Pale blue energy enveloped Dragon-Slaying Flash, arcs of electricity dancing along it, making the white top-tier weapon even sharper.
“Pfft, pfft, pfft~.”
Three slashes passed, and three heads flew.
Su Xiao’s red-glowing eyes locked onto a ghoul, who was startled into a daze.
One slash to the throat, and Su Xiao sought his next victim.
Suddenly, a heavy blow struck his back, sending him stumbling forward a few steps.
He couldn’t confirm which ghoul had hit him, but he had sensed the attack. However, too many ghouls were attacking him simultaneously, making it impossible to dodge completely.
Blood seeped from Su Xiao’s back. He simply tore off his already shredded shirt.
That blow had cost him 6% of his health. The injury wasn’t severe.
Surrounded by ghouls, Su Xiao managed to evade most of their attacks, only taking hits when there was no way to avoid them.
His agility was a full 13 points. Agility not only increased speed but also enhanced neural reflexes.
Compared to the injuries he sustained, the ghouls’ casualties were far greater. Anyone struck by his blade was either dead or crippled.
Driven by the fear of death, all the ghouls became hysterical.
“That’s the smell of human blood! He’s human! His stamina will run out sooner or later!”
“He’s hurt again! Don’t give up!”
During the fight, the ghouls formed a temporary alliance.
Barely dodging an incoming kagune, Su Xiao grabbed a ghoul by the neck. With a crack, his 13-point strength snapped the ghoul’s neck.
Holding the ghoul’s corpse in his left hand as a makeshift shield, he continued the slaughter.
Three minutes later, over seventy ghouls remained. Su Xiao had 72% health left.
Five minutes later, over forty ghouls remained. Su Xiao had 46% health left.
Ten minutes later, over a dozen ghouls remained. Su Xiao had 28% health left.
Su Xiao breathed heavily, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Being besieged by a hundred people was completely different from fighting a single SSS-class ghoul—it was a whole other concept.
Surrounded by a hundred enemies, there were blind spots behind him. He had to rely on instinct and sound to dodge attacks.
If the hundred ghouls had attacked head-on, Su Xiao wouldn’t have been so battered. A few times, he had nearly died.
That was how battle worked. The slightest difference could mean life or death.
This was Su Xiao’s first experience with such a group fight. His inexperience showed, but growing through battle was a rewarding feeling.
The remaining dozen or so ghouls stared at Su Xiao in terror.
“No, don’t come closer! We surrender!”
These ghouls had been broken by Su Xiao’s slaughter and actually wanted to surrender.
But the battle had already reached this point. There was no possibility of surrender. It was either you die, or I die.
Su Xiao raised his blade and charged forward. After a chorus of wails and the sound of flesh being cut, the auction hall fell into dead silence.
(Requesting recommendations and favorites.)