Chapter 28: Victory Is Within Sight
Qianhua decisively abandoned her assassination attempt on Su Xiao, shifting her gaze to the metal apparatus nearby. Inside it lay a fully dark-shelled, eyes-closed insectoid mother.
A slender dagger appeared in Qianhua's hand, spinning silently before she reversed her grip.
She slowly approached the inner wall of the nest, trying to get as far from Su Xiao as possible while nearing the insectoid mother.
One step, two steps...
Qianhua's steps were slow and steady. It took her a full half-minute to get within three meters of the Insect Queen: Twilight, while Su Xiao was seven meters away.
Su Xiao's eyes were tightly shut. He frequently used Dragon Shadow Flash to penetrate space, so the spatial ripples that occasionally rippled around him were like a beacon in the dark. Moreover, his Instinct was warning him—someone was approaching, about 6.8 to 7.1 meters away.
For large-scale perception, Instinct had low sensitivity, but up close, no opponent Su Xiao had ever faced had a sharper ability than Instinct.
Qianhua's expression seemed calm, but inside she was anxious. Not far from her, Su Xiao was also growing impatient—why hadn't this assassin struck yet? He absolutely wouldn't notice her; the Insect Queen: Twilight was meant for these people to kill.
Finally, when Su Xiao was thoroughly annoyed, Qianhua successfully reached the consciousness transmission device.
Pfft!
Pale red blood splattered as a dagger nearly 50 centimeters long completely pierced Twilight's head.
Bang! A wisp of black smoke rose from the consciousness transmission device, and all the wires snapped.
The moment Qianhua succeeded in her assassination, a surge of blood energy erupted from Su Xiao as the center. The rubber band on Qianhua's braid snapped with a crack, and her long black hair was blown back by the blood energy.
The instant she succeeded, Qianhua immediately leaped backward, her body rapidly entering an alternate space.
'Blade Path Sword: Time!'
The long blade stabbed into the ground, and an invisible wave spread. A gash suddenly appeared on Qianhua's cheek—her entry into the alternate space failed.
Qianhua landed after her backward leap. Su Xiao's arm muscles bulged, and the metal arm guard on his right arm shattered with a bang. He sprang up from the ground, kicking away several metal fragments.
Qianhua quickly sidestepped as a fist-sized metal fragment flew past her head, smacking through the nest wall.
Holding Dragon-Slaying Flash, Su Xiao stared intently at Qianhua, veins bulging on his neck. His expression showed he was clearly "furious beyond measure."
In terms of acting, even Harold had once expressed admiration.
"You seem very angry."
Qianhua held her long dagger horizontally in front of her. With numerous buffs active, she was confident she could hold out until reinforcements arrived.
Su Xiao said nothing. Without any forward movement, he suddenly appeared in front of Qianhua.
Ding!
The long blade struck the dagger. Just as Qianhua was about to parry and retreat, Su Xiao raised a foot and stomped down on the blade's spine.
This sudden immense force nearly made Qianhua kneel. She twisted her body, using the spatial ability attached to her equipment to teleport 5.3 meters away. This spatial shift was completely unexpected and activated extremely fast—a true life-saving skill.
The moment Qianhua reappeared, a whistling slash came from behind her. Her cheek twitched as she immediately activated a trigger-type buff.
The golden fairy fluttering beside Qianhua exploded. The long blade struck her back.
Crack! An invisible armor shattered, and Qianhua was sent flying by the immense force of the slash, crashing into the nest wall.
Before she even hit the ground, Qianhua rolled and got up. A long blade stabbed into the ground where she had been—if she had been 0.1 seconds slower, her head would have been pierced.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
An invisible wave spread. Qianhua suddenly felt the surrounding air grow thick, as if she were an insect trapped in amber.
White light exploded on Qianhua, and Afuro's buff saved her once again.
Ding, ding, ding.
Three sharp metallic clashes rang out. Three slashes froze in midair. The feeling of being trapped in amber returned, and this time, no buff could save Qianhua.
A gleaming blade light appeared before Qianhua's eyes. Her pupils slightly contracted. The enemy's movement speed wasn't faster than hers, but his sword speed was terrifyingly fast—and getting faster.
Relying on her sharp combat instincts, Qianhua crossed her dagger in front of her neck.
Clang!
Metal fragments flew. The dagger in Qianhua's hand was chipped and nearly broken.
"What the hell..."
Pfft!
The long blade pierced through Qianhua's abdomen. Her vision blurred, and the next moment, a dark green wall appeared before her.
Su Xiao flung the enemy away with a slash. He stomped the ground, launching himself like a cannonball, shaking the entire nest.
He took a few quick steps forward, then kicked his right foot straight into the enemy's lower back. The tactile feedback was clear—the enemy hadn't used any ability to evade.
Taking Su Xiao's straight kick, Qianhua felt as if a hydraulic hammer had struck her lower back. Her entire body sank into the nest wall, and everything below her waist went numb instantly. This was a close-combat technique—attacking the end of the spine to cause temporary lower-body paralysis.
At that moment, Qianhua knew she was dead. That last slash had dropped her health to 19%. She couldn't survive a second hit. The battle prompts had already made that clear.
[Warning: You are being invaded by an unknown energy.]
[Warning: Your mana has been burned by 255 points.]
[Affected by unknown energy erosion, you have taken 408 true damage + 81 true damage (Demon Mark) + 556 slash damage + 307 blade damage + 240 ignoring physical defense (Living Creature Severing) + 99 ignoring physical defense damage (Mad Knight)...]
[Your physical defense is temporarily reduced by 67 points.]
[The healing effects you receive are reduced by 20% for 30 seconds.]
[You have been paralyzed by unknown energy, effect lasting 1.7 seconds.]
A quick glance at these prompts told Qianhua she was half-buried in the grave, not far from death.
But just then, Qianhua felt herself wrapped in some kind of energy, as if she had dragged something over.
Boom!
A roar came from behind Qianhua. The expected slash didn't come; instead, a wave of air spread.
"Sister, you're not dying today."
A booming voice rang out. Qianhua rolled her eyes, glancing sideways. A tall figure was blocking her, holding a heavy shield. His burly build and thick shield gave her a sense of security.
Roar!
A beastly cry she had never heard before pierced Qianhua's eardrums. Then came an explosive boom. Dense blood energy spread, stinging Qianhua's skin all over.
When Qianhua's body regained feeling and she leaped up from the ground, the scene before her was unforgettable.
A massive blood beast was slowly dissipating. The main tank who had been shielding her now had most of his upper body shattered, slowly falling backward. The shield in his hand was reduced to a basin-sized piece, its edges jagged.
Zheng!
Blade light flashed. Qianhua felt her body grow light, as if she were flying.
Plop! Qianhua's upper body hit the ground. The last thing she saw was a man holding a long blade, red light flickering in his eyes. Qianhua suddenly had a strange thought—if this man were placed in some derivative world, he would definitely be that ultimate final boss.
Hoo~
Su Xiao exhaled a breath of blood energy. He had just used Blood Beast, and it proved that even a fifth-rank main tank couldn't withstand a single pounce from Blood Beast—instant kill.
Now, most of the nest was destroyed. Few insectoids remained outside, and dozens of female contractors were charging toward the nest.
"Qianhua!"
Qianhua could no longer hear her teammates' shouts, but she had completed her mission.
Spatial energy enveloped Su Xiao, and he vanished from the spot, reappearing twenty kilometers away.
When the three-Paradise alliance contractors rushed into the nest, they saw the dead insectoid mother, the main tank with most of his body shattered, shield fragments scattered around, and Qianhua's upper body lying beside the main tank's corpse.
Yaklo quickly approached the consciousness transmission device. After checking the Insect Queen's corpse inside, he let out a long breath.
"Qianhua succeeded."
Afuro wasn't particularly sad. Life and death were things she had long grown accustomed to.
"Yeah, she succeeded."
Mu Yushi examined the consciousness transmission device. A man beside him whispered something, and after a moment, Mu Yushi nodded with satisfaction.
"This thing is the key to controlling the insectoid mother. Although it's not impossible for that madman to control another mother, the chances are low. Look at these three soul stones."
Mu Yushi tapped the soul crystals (complete) on the consciousness transmission device.
"So, that madman can't create another wave of insect swarms?"
Yaklo also came near the device, looking it over.
"Unless he can capture another third-stage insectoid mother alive. Look at this mother—her brain has been damaged. And this nest definitely didn't evolve to third stage recently. That means after the madman controlled the mother, he couldn't let her continue evolving. If I'm not mistaken, this nest was captured by other Reincarnation Paradise contractors helping him. After all, one person can't capture a third-stage nest. The situation isn't as dangerous as we thought."
Mu Yushi smiled humbly. There was one thing he didn't mention—the material cost of this consciousness transmission device was very high.
"We can't stop the search. Better safe than sorry."
Yaklo's words made Afuro frown. He spoke lightly, but large-scale searching of nests was extremely risky. Moreover, this continent was overrun with totem tribes; wandering around was dangerous.
"What are you all nervous about? In the end, that madman is just one person. But now that he's lost his biggest asset—the insectoids—he'll likely fight to the death, hunting down lone contractors. That's what we need to watch out for."
A bald man's words caught everyone's attention. What he said made sense. Aside from the dozen or so people present, anyone else encountering Su Xiao, even with a few teammates, would be dead.
The three-Paradise alliance contractors all knew that with Su Xiao's strength, over eleven days, if people kept going off alone, it wasn't impossible for him to pick them off one by one. Even if Su Xiao couldn't win outright, he wouldn't make things easy for them.
Except for most of the Death Paradise contractors, the other two factions' contractors weren't fearless. When Su Xiao had the nest, they could band together. Now that his nest was destroyed, he would definitely retaliate. So now, who was willing to go out and search for Su Xiao's trail?
"Hey, what's with those expressions? No matter how you look at it, we've won."
"Uh... I guess so."
The contractors looked at the now-ruined nest, and the gloom in their hearts quickly dissipated. Besides, they could still accumulate reputation with the Sun Tribe. They might not get too many Blazing Sun Warriors, but a thousand or two was still possible. Then, who would be besieging whom?
To most of the three-Paradise alliance contractors, the weather today had turned from cloudy to clear. Victory was not far off.