Chapter 49: You Think You're Tough? Good...
Su Xiao quickly moved between the buildings, with Veronica following behind. She smiled with relief, thinking that the Duke Kukulin she relied on had finally backed down.
Soon, Su Xiao stopped at the base of the clock tower. This tower was nearly a hundred meters tall, the second tallest structure in Dead Silence City. The tallest was the Supreme Sanctuary. After entering the central area without other buildings blocking the view, Su Xiao noticed that the Supreme Sanctuary had nearly pierced through the clouds.
Su Xiao knocked on the clock tower's wall. Despite signs of weathering, the tower was sturdy.
Amu stood guard at the base of the clock tower, while Su Xiao brought Veronica to climb up. They soon reached the top, where a low stone wall encircled an area of less than ten square meters.
"Are we here to enjoy the view?"
Veronica adjusted her belt, trying to console herself.
"No, we need to figure out how to deal with that woman."
Su Xiao's plan to deal with the Moon Woman wasn't just about revenge. After entering the central area, he had seen many powerful residents of Dead Silence City, some even stronger than Prisoner Hela. But they had a fatal weakness: they couldn't leave the buildings they inhabited, not even a single step.
While the residents on the outskirts of Dead Silence City weren't as strong as those in the center, they could move freely around the outskirts. But in the central area, aside from the Moon Woman and Tree Erosion, Su Xiao hadn't seen any residents who could move freely. Even if Su Xiao slashed at them, they could only roar inside their buildings, cursing in a language he couldn't understand.
Tree Erosion and the Moon Woman were the only exceptions. Not only could they move freely within Dead Silence City, but the latter also possessed high intelligence.
"Block the sound and vibrations around here."
As he spoke, Su Xiao took out Devouring Annihilation from his storage space. Striped blue light appeared on the gun's body. As Su Xiao adjusted it, the entire gun elongated, becoming slender, and the blue light turned red. This was the normal change when switching to hunting mode.
Su Xiao planned to snipe a strong opponent like the Moon Woman from a distance, relying on his advantages. With her speed, even a sniper shot from five kilometers away had a high chance of being dodged.
As an Epic-grade sniper rifle, Devouring Annihilation's strength wasn't its range or accuracy, but its bullet power and flight speed.
Equipment Effect 2: Hunting Mode (Active) — Switch to energy-gathering mode. Bullet attack power increased by 70%. This is a single-shot mode; the bolt must be pulled after each shot (Hunting Mode cannot reduce the gun's size. Theoretical range: 6,750 meters. Actual recorded range: 6,625 meters).
Equipment Effect 3: Savage Laughter (Active) — The ultimate ability of Devouring Annihilation. When activated, the internal anti-gravity kinetic magnetic field is fully charged, increasing bullet flight speed by 800%. Effect lasts 30 seconds.
...
An 800% increase in bullet flight speed meant that five kilometers was truly just an instant. Moreover, the Moon Woman's perception wasn't as terrifying as imagined.
During close combat with the Moon Woman, Su Xiao had managed to wound her twice. Especially the second time, she blocked Dragon-Slaying Flash's thrust with her palm. She had intended to grab the blade's spine, but in terms of technique, she was clearly not proficient, so she could only block the longsword with her palm.
Su Xiao had deduced that the Moon Woman only possessed raw strength and speed. But even so, she was still very strong, at least not someone Su Xiao could handle in close combat.
Furthermore, Su Xiao had a way to enhance his long-range sniping: the attached ability of the Demon Mark.
Demon Gaze (Active): When making a ranged attack, demonic power can be infused into bullets, arrows, or other weapons for a single ranged attack. This attack will add 80% of the final damage value as True Damage (e.g., if the bullet's final damage to the enemy is 100 points, Demon Gaze (Active) will add 80 points of True Damage).
Note: Each use of Demon Gaze (Active) consumes Soul Crystal (Small) x1. Soul Crystal (Small) can be converted into the demonic power needed to cover the weapon.
...
After obtaining the [Demon Jar] from the Demon Race, Su Xiao no longer needed to consume Soul Crystal (Small) to activate "Demon Gaze." He could directly consume the demonic power stored in the [Demon Jar].
Ten magazines were lined up on the low stone wall in front of Su Xiao. He leaned close to the scope and began adjusting the shooting parameters.
The moment the red crosshair aligned with the Moon Woman, she sensed something was wrong. Her gaze swept around, as if searching for something.
"Woo-oo-oo-!"
A wolf howl rang out. The Moon Woman vanished from her spot and punched the ground over ten meters away.
Boom!
The ground shattered inch by inch, sending debris flying dozens of meters high.
At the same time, on the clock tower, Su Xiao activated the Savage Laughter ability and pulled the trigger.
Bang.
The gunshot sound barely spread a few meters before being absorbed by a layer of energy net, eventually dissipating. The human sound suppressor, Veronica, was indeed useful.
At that moment, Veronica was imitating an old divine stick, lightly tapping her chest with her fingers, praying to every deity she knew.
The moment the bullet left the muzzle, Su Xiao pulled the bolt. The Savage Laughter ability only lasted 30 seconds. During this time, he needed to fire as many bullets as possible, targeting the Moon Woman's legs. Once she lost her speed advantage, even after Savage Laughter ended, Su Xiao might still be able to snipe her.
Before the debris around the Moon Woman had even settled, she immediately lifted her left leg. A bullet, too fast to be tracked by sight, flew past and embedded into the ground in front of her.
Boom!
A massive stone crater exploded. Before the Moon Woman could dodge again, a bullet struck her lower back.
Bang! The bullet's kinetic energy sent her flying. She crashed into the wall of a building, creating a large crater.
The Moon Woman reached behind her back. She felt an unusual pain from the shot, as if some energy had bypassed her physical defenses. She dug a twisted bullet out of the flesh of her lower back. The bullet was longer than her finger, entirely silver, with blue engravings.
Just as the Moon Woman stood up from the ground, she immediately leaped into the air because an enemy had rushed behind her.
The Moon Woman clenched her fist and punched backward, but she hit nothing. Bubu Wang was only trying to distract her, not to court death. She had nearly killed Su Xiao with one punch; ten Bubu Wangs lined up in a row wouldn't be enough for this woman to beat.
In that brief moment, a bullet struck the Moon Woman's ankle. Her body flipped in mid-air.
Bubu Wang appeared and pressed a button on a metal rod in his hand.
"Sleep your mother, get up and party!!"
It was still the voice of the Second Brother of National Football. After completing this flashy move, Bubu Wang blended back into the environment.
Bang, bang, bang...
Bullets rained down on the Moon Woman. Even with the Savage Laughter boost, only one in three shots hit accurately.
The Moon Woman, who had never encountered an opponent like this, was stunned. She had never faced a strong enemy in Dead Silence City. As for the two beings that could kill her, she never provoked them.
The barrage lasted nearly two minutes before stopping. The Moon Woman lay in a huge stone crater, blood seeping from her right leg. A total of 26 shots, 7 hitting her right leg, and 1 hitting her lower back.
"It's that living one. No mistake."
The Moon Woman in the crater smiled. She had never felt this way before—locked onto by an enemy, with killing intent boiling over.
Boom!
The crater exploded. A blur shot past, and in less than ten seconds, the Moon Woman was at the base of the clock tower.
Another boom rang out as the Moon Woman leaped directly to the top of the nearly hundred-meter-tall clock tower.
"So you're here. Come... keep fighting with me."
The Moon Woman's long white hair fluttered in the wind, her black robe billowing. She looked like a female demon lord.
"Someone will keep you company, but it won't be me. However, that person's temper isn't great. Take care."
As Su Xiao spoke, he and Veronica suddenly vanished, teleported away by Bubu Wang using the Wolf Clan's heirloom. But the spatial fluctuations around them didn't dissipate.
The Moon Woman looked down at the stone slab beneath her feet. By now, a large array had been carved into the slab, with a withered flower at its center.
The Moon Woman immediately leaped up, but the array on the slab had already been activated, waiting for her to jump onto it. As it turned out, when fighting an alchemist, you must always be careful not to step on strange-looking arrays. It would cost you dearly.
A black spatial vortex appeared, directly pulling the Moon Woman inside.
After an unknown amount of time, when the Moon Woman's vision returned to normal, she was standing in a sea of red flowers. The sky wasn't particularly clear, but pale red clouds drifted by, creating a beautiful scene.
The Moon Woman stood frozen for several seconds. With trembling hands, she plucked a Life Flower and brought it to her nose to sniff.
Tears streamed down the Moon Woman's cheeks. She could confirm that this was no longer Dead Silence City.
A gentle breeze blew, and a tall black maple tree in the distance rustled. This was... a Black Maple Tree.
The place the Moon Woman was in was the lowest level of the Black Abyss: the Sea of Life Flowers.
Beneath the Black Maple Tree, a man in tattered clothes, leaning against the trunk, opened his eyes. They were eyes flickering with blue light. He looked at the Moon Woman, who was playing with flowers in the distance.
The Moon Woman, immersed in the joy of escaping Dead Silence City, sensed someone watching her. But as a powerful being near the top of Dead Silence City, she turned her gaze as well.
Their eyes met. The Moon Woman's entire body stiffened. Just from that gaze, she knew this was an existence she could never oppose.
"I am the Moon Woman of Dead Silence City. Who are you? N-nice to meet you."
The Moon Woman clearly didn't understand politeness. The moment she finished speaking, the Blade Demon sitting under the Black Maple Tree casually picked up a small pebble.
Bang!
A spatial hole appeared, stretching from in front of the Blade Demon to where the Moon Woman had just been. As for where the Moon Woman was now, her lower body lay in the flower sea, while her upper body had flown off to who knows where.
The Blade Demon closed his eyes again. This was the opponent Su Xiao had found for the Moon Woman. The enemy thought she was tough? Well, Su Xiao happened to know someone who was even tougher and didn't care about any rules.