Chapter 50: A Moment Between Life and Death
The Realm Severing Thread was pulled taut, one end held in Su Xiao's hand, the other wrapped around Buck's neck.
Although no muscle contours were visible on Buck's neck, his skin was extremely tough. The sharp Realm Severing Thread couldn't cut through his skin, and suffocating Buck in a short time was impossible.
Realizing this, Su Xiao pulled the Realm Severing Thread diagonally, causing the locking mechanism at its tip to open and close.
Just as Su Xiao retracted the Realm Severing Thread, Buck threw the short axe in his hand.
The short axe whistled as it flew straight toward him. Su Xiao had already experienced this spinning axe technique, so instead of dodging, he activated his Instinct ability to its fullest, tracking the flight trajectory of the axe.
With a hum, the world around Su Xiao slowed down. The spinning short axe became clearer, a stream of air wrapped around it.
Capturing this scene, Su Xiao's nervous system and dynamic vision endured an immense burden. He slowly raised the long blade in his hand, gripping it with both hands—a rare sight.
The short axe spun, the long blade thrust out, precisely piercing through the gap beneath the axe head.
The muscles on Su Xiao's arms bulged slightly as he lifted the long blade upward.
Sizzle!
A harsh scraping sound rang out. The short axe Buck had thrown was deflected into the air. Su Xiao stumbled back several steps, his arms numb.
Buck's monstrous strength was terrifying. In truth, Buck's fighting style was somewhat similar to Su Xiao's—no flashy abilities, just axe strikes.
When strength and technique were perfectly fused, any flashy tricks would only end up being crushed into the ground.
The short axe vanished from sight in an instant. Buck was clearly stunned—this was the first time someone had deflected his spinning axe strike without being affected by the force behind it.
Though he paused for a moment, Buck immediately lunged at Su Xiao. He was certain that Su Xiao, who had deflected the axe, was far from comfortable.
And indeed, Su Xiao's arms were numb, and the cobblestones beneath his feet had shattered into fragments from the impact of the force.
With a whoosh, Buck closed in on Su Xiao, bringing a gust of wind pressure. He raised the short axe in his right hand high above his head.
At that moment, Su Xiao had a strange sensation—Buck's figure seemed to have magnified several times, standing before him like a giant, with what appeared to be forests and raging waves behind him.
"Ha!"
Buck clenched his steel teeth, and the fat-laden muscles of his right arm finally bulged.
Su Xiao's pupils contracted. Buck was off—no, to be precise, he was seizing the moment when Su Xiao's arms were numb to end the fight.
Buck swung his axe down. There was no burst of light, no ferocious aura—just a single axe strike. At that instant, Buck was like a lumberjack about to fell a massive tree.
A layer of energy shield with 800 points of strength slanted in front of Su Xiao. Dodging was impossible, and meeting Buck head-on was unwise.
With a crack, the short axe cleaved into the energy shield. Cracks spread across the shield, but it didn't shatter, successfully blocking Buck's strike.
Buck instinctively raised his other arm, forming his left hand into a blade to chop at the energy shield. Under normal circumstances, Buck would have followed up with a second axe strike from his left hand. His right arm had just delivered a full-force blow, and he needed the left arm's strike to buy time.
A full-power strike from the right arm, immediately followed by the left arm, suppressing the enemy. When the right arm recovered, he would deliver the heaviest third strike. These three strikes had felled countless enemies for Buck.
Bang!
The palm strike hit the energy shield. Buck's left hand twisted and deformed instantly, but he didn't care. He raised his right arm to deliver the heaviest third strike.
At the same time, Su Xiao received a flood of notifications.
[Notification: The Hunter is affected by the Force Penetration effect. Your physical defense is temporarily reduced by 70%, lasting 5 seconds.]
[You have taken 678 points of shock damage + 79 points of True Strength penetration damage + Strong Knockback effect.]
[Strength attribute judgment in progress...]
[Judgment passed. Strong Knockback effect negated.]
...
The energy shield exploded in front of Su Xiao. This shield, with 800 points of strength, had held firm against one axe strike and one palm strike from Buck—remarkably resilient.
Buck's third axe strike was already descending. Su Xiao stared intently into Buck's eyes. His Instinct ability allowed him to read Buck's body movements, and by locking onto his eyes, he could guess what Buck was thinking.
Diagonal slash!
Before the short axe fell, Su Xiao began to lean his body to the side.
Swish! A chilling sensation ran across Su Xiao's right shoulder and arm as a large chunk of flesh was cleaved off by the axe.
Pfft.
Blood splattered. Su Xiao staggered a few steps to the side as blood gushed from his shoulder, a piece of flesh falling to the ground.
Buck was still in the pose of delivering his final strike. His eyes shifted to look at Su Xiao, the light in them gradually dimming.
In that instant, Su Xiao and Buck had decided life and death. Su Xiao had predicted where Buck would strike, so he risked dodging early. If his prediction had been wrong, he would have willingly thrown himself into Buck's axe.
The result was that Su Xiao didn't fully dodge Buck's strike. As Buck's short axe sliced through Su Xiao's right shoulder and arm, Su Xiao's long blade cut through Buck's forearm holding the axe. After severing the forearm, the blade continued through Buck's throat.
Thanks to the sharpness of the Legendary-grade, +13 enhanced Dragon-Slaying Flash, Buck's neck was severed in one stroke. In a clash between close-combat experts like Su Xiao and Buck, victory or defeat was decided in an instant. Grand-scale ultimate moves were nearly impossible—anyone who dared to unleash an ultimate without preparation would face a barrage of attacks from the opponent, likely getting chopped into minced meat before the move even activated.
With a thud, Buck collapsed face-first. His head rolled to the side, his expression showing neither fear nor surprise. The guy was grinning, baring his steel teeth.
[You have killed Buck.]
[Buck was a guard of the Divine Envoy Dubois. You have gained 28 Reincarnation Paradise Merits.]
[You have obtained a Treasure Chest (Legendary Grade · War World Drop).]
...
Su Xiao lightly flicked the long blade in his hand, blood scattering onto the cobblestones. He sheathed the blade and walked over to Buck's corpse.
After a moment of hesitation, Su Xiao tossed Buck's body and head into a stone pit, covered them with cobblestones, and planted the remaining short axe upright on the grave mound.
"I won."
Su Xiao crouched in front of Buck's grave, a smile spreading across his face. The advantage of talking to the dead was obvious—they couldn't talk back, nor would they suddenly power up and jump up to counterattack.
Su Xiao lay flat on the ground. Every bone in his body felt like it was falling apart, aching everywhere. The wound on his shoulder was bleeding profusely.
Lighting a cigarette, Su Xiao forced himself to sit up. He took out a bottle of No. 1 Potion, applied it externally to the wound on his shoulder, and drank the remaining liquid.
After wrapping the wound with bandages, an itchy, stinging sensation came from his right shoulder and arm. The No. 1 Potion was taking effect, gradually regenerating the chunk of muscle that had been cleaved off. A short axe strike like that tore away a piece of flesh—Su Xiao's injury was as severe as one could imagine.
After resting for about an hour, Su Xiao gained an additional recovery effect—the Gift of the Snow Goddess. Bubu Wang and the little assistant had arrived.