Chapter 29: The Broken Female Assassin
Inside an alternate space, a woman in a hood was crouched on the ground. She had maintained this position for 10 minutes and 53 seconds, not daring to move even a single finger.
The reason for this was that all around her were tadpole-shaped black patterns. She didn't know what they were, but her intuition told her that touching them would be fatal.
If given another chance to choose, the female assassin would never have struck that blade, never.
She didn't dare move, didn't dare make a sound, and could only breathe in shallow breaths. If not for her occasional blinking, one might mistake her for a statue.
The female assassin's mental state was utterly shattered. This scene reminded her of a character from some game, and her situation was strikingly similar to that character's.
Outside, Su Xiao still sat on the large rock. He had used various detection and stealth-countering methods, but none had revealed the target's whereabouts.
The ground within a three-hundred-meter radius was covered in Alchemy Bombs, and space was sealed off, with Realm Severing Threads forming numerous traps.
For that assassin who had struck and then hidden, Su Xiao naturally wouldn't let her off easily.
The most effective method now was "mental attack." This so-called mental attack was essentially verbal provocation—using words to taunt or insult the enemy.
Unfortunately, Su Xiao wasn't skilled at verbal sparring. He excelled at cutting people down, but as for trash talk, forget it.
The situation thus remained deadlocked, though neither side had suffered any substantial losses.
The Apostle's Eye floated in midair, detecting any disturbances in the surroundings. Even if a mouse appeared nearby, or a mosquito flew by, it would be instantly annihilated.
"Slashing attacks have no effect, and large-scale explosions from Alchemy Bombs are also useless. It must be a space-type stealth ability."
Su Xiao had already conducted a scorched-earth attack on the three-hundred-meter area, yet the assassin still hadn't revealed herself.
Su Xiao pressed the spool beneath his wrist, retracting the Realm Severing Threads. The scattered Alchemy Bombs also converged toward him, eventually forming a cluster.
After putting away the Realm Severing Threads, Alchemy Bombs, and Apostle's Eye, Su Xiao signaled Bubu Wang to stop tracking. If the opponent was a space-type stealth user, there was likely no good solution.
Space had countless layers of dimensions. Who knew which layer's crevice the enemy was hiding in? Or perhaps she had retreated into an alternate space entirely, making it even more hopeless.
Rather than wasting time here, it would be better to head to the vicinity of the East Gortoa Kingdom's capital and see what was happening there. He had just killed Youbi here, and the other two direct guards along with the Ant King might appear. This place was not safe to linger.
Su Xiao left with Bubu Wang and Amu. Over ten minutes later, the spatial seal around the area dissipated.
Inside the alternate space, the female assassin let out a long sigh of relief.
"I'll remember you."
The female assassin gritted her teeth. When she said she remembered Su Xiao, it wasn't a threat. She meant she had memorized his appearance and would stay far away from him from now on. That assassination attempt would never happen again, never.
The alternate space began to warp. The female assassin had already stayed here for half an hour, and this space was unstable. She had to leave immediately.
The female assassin didn't actually want to leave the alternate space right away, but the surrounding space was collapsing. If she got caught in those fragmented spaces, she would die without a doubt.
The female assassin appeared out of thin air.
Crack.
A crisp sound came from beneath her feet.
"Damn it."
Hearing the sound underfoot, the female assassin immediately crouched down and used her short blade to dig a pit in the ground. Beneath her foot was an anti-gravity magnetic mine, typically used against heavy mechs or large tanks.
"This lunatic."
The female assassin quickly identified what was under her. This item was common in Reincarnation Paradise, costing about 400 Paradise Coins each. It had immense power but a long trigger time and limited application range, hence its low price, and it was only suitable for field combat.
Earlier, the female assassin had been watching Su Xiao the entire time. She hadn't seen when he buried this magnetic mine. In fact, this mine was planted by Bubu Wang.
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep...
The electronic sound beneath her foot grew more urgent. Stepping on a mine didn't mean staying still was safe—that only applied to pressure-release mines.
Gritting her teeth, the female assassin leaped to the side.
Boom!
Mud and severed limbs flew into the air. A broken leg was blasted over ten meters high.
The female assassin was thrown several meters sideways by the explosion. Her right leg was completely shattered from the knee down.
"This lunatic!!"
The female assassin was covered in dirt and grime. She propped herself up with one hand on the ground.
Crack. She stepped on another mine.
"Hahahaha."
The female assassin's laughter was unhinged, her expression broken. Gone was the cold, mysterious demeanor from when she had struck that blade. If she knew Bubu Wang had buried 14 magnetic mines around her, her laughter would have been even more deranged.
A few seconds later, another explosion rang out. One of the female assassin's arms was blown off, and her left eye's vision dropped by over 90%.
As she was flung into the air by the blast, a ridiculous thought crossed her mind: would she actually be blown to death here? Stepping on two mines in a row meant the magnetic mines around her were arranged in a chain, with angles and positions precisely calculated.
The foolish Bubu Wang couldn't achieve this, but with Su Xiao's guidance, Bubu could pull it off.
The thrown female assassin landed with a thud, and another crack sounded from under her rear.
After stepping on the third mine, the female assassin began to doubt her life. If she hit five mines in a row, she would be blown to death.
Sitting on the third magnetic mine, the female assassin tore off a necklace from her neck and crushed it. Her body gradually faded and then disappeared.
Boom!
The third magnetic mine exploded, but the female assassin was already gone. This unfortunate assassin girl was named Chi Mei, ranked 1876th in the third-tier arena, a formidable figure among third-tier combatants.
Two kilometers away, Su Xiao heard the distinctive explosion of the "magnetic mines." But due to the distance, he didn't return. She had stabbed him once, and he had rewarded her with a few "magnetic mines." If he knew the female assassin was nearly "broken," Su Xiao would have been in an even better mood.
"I hate space-type assassins."
Su Xiao had suffered virtually no loss this time. As for the "magnetic mines" Bubu Wang had buried, they were high-imitation fakes. Disarming them wasn't actually difficult; they just used the magnetic mine name to bluff. Each cost no more than 30 Paradise Coins to make, filled with Alchemy Bombs as explosives. As Su Xiao's Alchemy skill improved, the cost of Alchemy Bombs kept dropping.
If the female assassin knew those magnetic mines were all fakes, who knows what expression she would have made.
Twenty minutes later, Su Xiao arrived near the East Gortoa Kingdom's capital. Calling it a capital was more like calling it a palace built on a wilderness.
The palace was square in shape. As the residence of the hereditary royal family, it was naturally built to be grand and magnificent.
Surrounding the palace was a wall over ten meters high. The entire capital covered an area of about eight square kilometers. To cross the capital, one would have to travel at least three kilometers, showing how large the palace and its surrounding courtyards were.
In such a vast courtyard, it was now eerily silent. There were no Chimera Ant guards in front of the palace, nor any Contractors nearby.