Chapter 66: A String
Rose’s strike was incredibly fast. Su Xiao clearly had no time to dodge. He angled his longsword, placing it just in front of his throat. If Rose continued her kick, Dragon-Slaying Flash would sever her foot.
Before the battle, Su Xiao thought Rose fought with a war scythe, but it was actually more troublesome than that. The scythe wasn’t wielded by Rose herself, but by the two blood-colored phantoms that could absorb enemy health and restore themselves.
Just as Dragon-Slaying Flash was about to slice through Rose’s foot, she suddenly froze mid-air, completely defying the laws of physics. A closer look revealed dozens of blood-red threads wrapped around her. She had apparently sensed the sharpness of Dragon-Slaying Flash.
Rose didn’t kick toward Su Xiao, but his blade didn’t stop. Dragon-Slaying Flash tore through the air with a piercing screech, slashing toward Rose’s legs.
“Surprise!”
The tips of Rose’s shoes lifted, and two blades popped out from her heels, shooting toward Su Xiao’s head like bullets.
The sharp blade tips pressed toward Su Xiao’s eyes. He tilted his head back with all his strength while lifting one leg.
Bang!
Su Xiao kicked Rose squarely in the lower back. She grunted and was embedded into the ceiling.
Su Xiao thudded to the ground. As it turned out, he couldn’t replicate Rose’s bizarre contortions—it would be far too easy to twist his waist.
As Su Xiao hit the ground, Rose also fell with a thud. She sprang up with a kip-up, grimacing in pain.
“My waist…”
Rose held her lower back with one hand, slightly hunched, looking like a little old man.
Su Xiao had also stood up. A bloodstained cut appeared on his face, the wound numb. The two blades had been coated with poison—a potent one.
Fortunately, Su Xiao’s stamina attribute was high enough to avoid the embarrassing fate of instant death. But the numbness had already begun spreading from his cheek and would soon engulf his entire body.
As the poison invaded his body, the Cyan Steel Shadow Energy within him surged forward, halting the spread of numbness and rapidly compressing the poisoned area.
Rose noticed the wound on Su Xiao’s cheek. Just as she thought he would lose mobility, he charged at her instead.
Before Su Xiao could close in, several blade auras had already reached Rose.
Rose once again displayed her inhuman flexibility, twisting into a bizarre yet almost comical pose to dodge the blade auras.
Clang.
Dragon-Slaying Flash struck. Rose dodged desperately, but she wasn’t fast enough.
Pfft.
Blood splattered. A wound appeared on Rose’s forearm, nearly reaching the bone.
Cyan Steel Shadow Energy invaded Rose’s body, making her grit her teeth in pain as blood seeped through the gaps.
In close combat, being hit by Su Xiao’s blade was a nightmare—because the follow-up attacks would be relentless.
Blade light flashed. Relying on her exceptional perception and flexible body, Rose dodged Su Xiao’s slashes one after another.
Pfft.
Another wound appeared on Rose’s abdomen. Seizing the moment, she punched toward Su Xiao.
Bang!
An energy shield blocked Rose’s fist. The ground beneath Su Xiao shattered into large pieces. This time, Rose was smarter—she immediately covered her head and retreated.
The energy shield burst, and sharp fragments left shallow cuts on Rose’s body.
Rose had barely retreated a few steps when her arm went numb. Another deep, bone-deep wound appeared. She silently thanked her luck—if she hadn’t retreated quickly, her entire arm would have been severed.
Each time Rose was cut, she suffered terrifying damage. She glanced at the battle log, and her expression darkened.
[Prompt: You are being eroded by an unknown energy. Your Blood Source has been devoured by 205 points.]
[Blood Source conversion ratio: 70% Health + 65% Mana. Current Blood Source: …]
[You have taken 328 points of True Damage (unknown energy) + 64 points of True Damage (Demon Mark) + 240 points of Defense-Ignoring Damage (Life Severing) + 196 points of Edge Damage + 107 points of Slash Damage.]
…
The destructive power of a single slash from Su Xiao was enough to be horrifying. With Rose’s physique, she could withstand at most three slashes before dying—the True Damage was simply absurdly high.
Yet Rose had already been hit several times. Not only was she still alive, but she was also bouncing around, trying to land a few punches on Su Xiao.
The reason was the two blood-colored phantoms. As long as they fought enemies, the higher the enemy’s stamina attribute, the faster Rose’s health recovered. Unless Su Xiao could hit her three times in a row, Rose wouldn’t kick the bucket.
Rose’s ability seemed invincible, but in reality, she was like a dancer on a blade’s edge. One misstep, and Su Xiao would cut her into pieces.
That wasn’t even the biggest problem. Due to a slight speed difference, she occasionally got hit by Su Xiao. The terrifying damage she could handle, but the devoured Blood Source was an urgent crisis.
Blood Source was Rose’s core energy, like Su Xiao’s Mana. Without it, she couldn’t maintain the two blood-colored phantoms.
The blood-colored phantoms had two weaknesses: high consumption and a limited range from Rose.
It was worth noting that Su Xiao hadn’t triggered the Soul Electrocution effect yet. Once it triggered, Rose’s death was sealed. In fact, among the slashes that hit Rose, one had triggered the Soul Electrocution effect, but the control effect was transferred to the blood-colored phantom. Control immunity was a must-have for any solo fighter.
Blade auras crisscrossed. Within five minutes of the battle, the Dawn Organization’s base was a wreck, walls covered in slash marks and craters.
The slash marks were naturally Su Xiao’s doing, while the craters were Rose’s handiwork.
This girl seemed fragile, but she was actually a violent woman. Even with Su Xiao’s physique, a punch from her would at least break bones as a standard injury.
Boom.
A loud crash echoed. Su Xiao crashed into a wall, a 300-point energy shield blocking in front of him, with a hole the size of a bucket in it.
Rubble fell. Su Xiao stood up from the large crater in the wall, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
“Huff, huff, huff…”
Heavy breathing came from Rose, whose arms hung limply and whose clothes were torn in large patches.
“You… are way too tough… Today… I swear… I’ll… kill you.”
Rose gasped out the words, then rushed a few steps toward Su Xiao. He didn’t hold back, slashing down at her head.
“Solidify!”
Rose shouted. Blood-red threads immediately wrapped around Su Xiao.
Su Xiao was prepared for this move. He exerted force all over, snapping the threads with a crack.
Just as he continued his slash toward Rose, she used the pause to lunge forward, grabbing his sword arm with both hands.
Su Xiao bent his knee and drove it into Rose’s abdomen. She nearly passed out. Then, she did something completely unexpected.
Rose grabbed Su Xiao’s sword arm with both hands, stretched her head forward, opened her mouth, and her four small, sharp canine teeth seemed to gleam with cold light.
Crunch. Rose bit down on Su Xiao’s hand. She chose a tricky spot—right below his little finger, where there was plenty of flesh and the hand bones were weakest.
Su Xiao often bit Xianglin to recover from injuries, but now, he was getting a taste of his own medicine.
Rose, a top-tier third-rank contractor and inheritor of the Fallen Blood Angel, would bite when cornered…
Although biting was rare in battles of this level, Su Xiao was surprised to find that Rose severely hindered his sword swing. Even if he swung now, he probably couldn’t hit her.
Worse, Su Xiao’s left arm was broken and unusable in combat.
While biting Su Xiao, Rose punched his chest. She knew she would die here today—after taking several more slashes, her Blood Source was nearly depleted, and the two blood-colored phantoms had vanished three seconds ago.
Bang. A small fist slammed into Su Xiao’s chest, breaking at least three of his ribs.
“I’ll fight you to the death!”
Since she was still biting Su Xiao’s hand, only she knew what she said.
Crunch. Another biting sound came—Bubu Wang had sunk its teeth into Rose’s thigh.
Bubu Wang shook its head, its eyes seeming to say, “You little bitch, biting my master? Let me show you what real bite force is.”
Compared to Bubu Wang’s arrival, Amu was more direct. He had regained consciousness and grabbed one of Rose’s calves with one hand.
Seeing Amu’s skilled technique and familiar posture, Su Xiao and Bubu Wang both sensed trouble.
“Wait, it’s a string now. This woman is almost…”
Before Su Xiao could finish, he felt a dizzying spin, pain in his hand, and Bubu Wang in mid-air looked helpless. If it could speak, it would have roared, “Amu, you idiot! It’s a string now—don’t swing!”