Chapter 9: Focus the Tank First
Bracing against the intense gravity, Su Xiao closed in on Iron Rat in just a few steps. He had to take down this tank first; his gravity ability was far too troublesome. Within the gravity field, Su Xiao’s speed was reduced by at least 60%.
In an instant, they were in close quarters. As soon as he got near Iron Rat, Su Xiao realized that within five meters of him, the gravity was several times stronger than before, and it came with a pulling force, dragging him toward Iron Rat.
Iron Rat clenched his fists, and two arm shields materialized. He scanned the surroundings and, through the falling ice debris, spotted his team’s ranged contractors.
Seeing this, Iron Rat’s heart eased halfway. But in the next moment, it nearly leaped out of his throat.
*Clang!*
The long blade struck the arm shield, sending sparks flying several meters high.
The edge of Dragon-Slaying Flash sank into the arm shield. Iron Rat was visibly stunned for a moment. These two arm shields were high-quality Legendary-rank +11 defensive gear, costing the Blood Gate Adventurers a massive chunk of their team funds. Yet, with one slash from Su Xiao, the shield on his right arm was nearly half-destroyed.
Su Xiao gripped his blade with both hands, exerting force while Wood Spirit coiled around his leg. He raised his foot and delivered a side kick.
*Boom!*
A shockwave spread, cracking the ground around them. Iron Rat’s feet seemed rooted to the earth, with large energy veins burrowing into the ground. As a main tank, his knockback resistance was top-tier for the Fourth Rank, so he only stumbled back a few steps before bending over and vomiting a mouthful of bile.
By now, the side of Iron Rat’s armored waist was caved in, the armor and flesh crushed together. But he felt no pain—his lower abdomen had gone completely numb.
Su Xiao, who had thrown the side kick, wasn’t in great shape either. It felt like he had kicked a metal pillar; his right leg was tingling.
*Swish, swish, swish…*
Gashes appeared across Iron Rat’s chest and face, each cut deep enough to reach bone. Just as Iron Rat raised his arm shield to block, Su Xiao pivoted and prepared another side kick.
Seeing Su Xiao’s stance, Iron Rat—still shaken from the previous kick—immediately curled up.
But Su Xiao didn’t follow through with the kick. Instead, he brought his blade down.
*Clang!*
The long sword struck the arm shield again, the front half of the blade slicing through it. In an extremely short time, the shield had taken over a dozen hits from Su Xiao, and its durability was likely near zero.
Behind the shield, Iron Rat was at a loss for words. As the team’s main tank, he wasn’t built for one-on-one fights. Facing an enemy like Su Xiao, who could break through shields with every slash, lasting this long already showed his incredible survivability.
Clearly, as Blood Gate’s main tank, Iron Rat wasn’t going down easily in a short time. A problematic situation arose—a cyan fireball shot toward Su Xiao. The ranged contractors had arrived.
*Boom!*
The cyan fireball exploded against Su Xiao’s back. He ignored it completely, swinging his blade at Iron Rat instead. Iron Rat was forced back two steps, thinking, *‘They’re hitting you! Go after them! Stop coming for me—I’m about to die!’*
The ranged contractors of Blood Gate had arrived, but they were all on high alert. Some had bite marks on their hands; others were clutching their lower backs—clearly Bubu Wang’s doing.
*Whoosh!*
A black shadow pounced, and a healer at the back of the group screamed as the shadow vanished.
The healer clutched her throat, where three deep claw marks reached the bone. It was Beini in her leopard form, joining the fun.
Under the harassment of Bubu Wang and Beini, these ranged contractors were exasperated. Though not in mortal danger, anyone who tried to bombard Su Xiao from a distance risked getting a bite on their arm or lower back.
Taking advantage of the time Bubu Wang bought, Amu, wielding his ice shield, charged toward Su Xiao and soon stood behind him.
As soon as Amu arrived, Bubu Wang stopped appearing. Limping, he hid behind a pile of ice debris, grimacing as he pulled an arrow from his rear.
Bubu slammed the arrow onto the ground, baffled. Why did his butt always get hit?
The ranged contractors’ main target was, of course, Su Xiao. But with Amu blocking behind him, the door-sized ice shield acted like an iceberg, separating Su Xiao from them.
Seeing this, the ranged contractors scattered completely. The remaining four melee-type contractors regrouped with them to avoid further ambushes by Bubu Wang and Beini. As for reinforcing Iron Rat, these melee fighters weren’t crazy—Iron Rat was doomed, and there was no point.
*Thud! Thud!*
Su Xiao slashed at Iron Rat repeatedly. Iron Rat’s arm shields had long been shattered, leaving him to protect his head with his bare hands.
A sickly green arrow struck Su Xiao’s back shoulder. He didn’t even glance at the contractor who fired it. Instead, he aimed for Iron Rat’s neck and brought his blade down, the edge sinking deep into flesh.
*Thump.*
Iron Rat collapsed to the ground, never imagining he’d be hacked to death in a frontal assault. The absurdly high true damage was something he simply couldn’t withstand for long.
Su Xiao planted his foot on Iron Rat’s shoulder, pulled the long sword from his neck, and turned to face the ranged contractors who had been bombarding him.
Wiping the blood from his face, Su Xiao felt the gravity field around him dissipate. His speed returned, and with a quick step, he hid behind Amu, pulling out a bottle of Ancient Secret Medicine.
Amu charged forward under the barrage of ranged attacks, the continuous explosions audible from over a kilometer away.
Just as all the ranged contractors were focused on Amu, pelting him with everything they had, Su Xiao suddenly appeared a few meters in front of them.
Seeing Su Xiao materialize, the ranged contractors felt a chill of terror. Three bullets flew toward him in a triangular formation.
*Clink, clink, clink…*
Sparks burst in midair. Su Xiao stomped the ground, and with a dull *boom*, he vanished, reappearing in front of a magic-type contractor—the one who had been spamming cyan fireballs.
The magic contractor pointed his staff forward, and a wave of fire spread outward from him. As for his teammates, at this point, who cared about them?
*Swish.*
Silver slashes flashed before the magic contractor’s eyes, and then darkness consumed his vision.
Su Xiao charged into the six-person ranged contractor squad. Once a ranged fighter was in his range, the outcome was predictable.
*Swish, swish…*
Slash marks tore through the night. Blood splattered, and screams rang out incessantly. Finally, a deafening explosion sent Su Xiao flying from the blast. As he landed, he immediately charged toward a contractor with a compound bow and emerald-green eyes.
This green-eyed contractor was no pushover. He had already hit Su Xiao with three arrows, two of which nearly pierced through his body.
Su Xiao lunged at the green-eyed contractor, who quickly transformed his compound bow into a long staff.
Su Xiao’s first slash severed the staff, the second cut off the contractor’s arm, and the third took his head.
Without a tank to block for them, once Su Xiao got close, he carved through these ranged contractors like slicing vegetables. They had poured all their resources into offense, leaving their survivability far below that of solo ranged contractors at the same rank.
Within five minutes, the battle was over. Su Xiao pulled Dragon-Slashing Flash from the chest of a healer, surrounded by scattered, incomplete corpses.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Su Xiao coughed repeatedly, clearly injured. The Blood Gate ranged contractors had terrible survivability, but their offensive power far exceeded that of their peers. You get what you pay for—by sacrificing survival, they gained the resources to boost their attack.
This was why Su Xiao wouldn’t take on the entire Blood Gate Adventurers head-on. Fighting 39 contractors was already exhausting; if the number exceeded 50, he would die—unless he activated Demon Hunting Hour.
The coordination between Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, Amu, and Beini, combined with terrain advantages and a surprise attack, prevented the enemy from focusing fire early on. Ultimately, Su Xiao’s slashing power exceeded the Fourth Rank, allowing him to wipe out this purge squad. It wasn’t 1 vs. 39, but 4 vs. 39, with Amu’s role in splitting the battlefield being the key.