Chapter 47: Instinctive Retreat
Fragments of ice drifted on the water's surface. In the distance, several figures sprinted across a wooden bridge. Their speed was extremely fast, and within just over ten seconds, they reached a broken section of the bridge.
Five Diba tribe warriors stopped in their tracks. About a dozen meters ahead of them, a female Diba lay on the broken bridge, bloodstains still visible on her body.
"Sasaya (native tongue)."
"Muka, Bubuka (native tongue)."
The five Dibamu didn't rush to rescue her immediately. One of them held a wooden bow, another a slightly charred wooden staff, while the other three wielded long spears.
Drip, drop.
Blood trickled down the broken logs, falling into the water and attracting a swarm of giant leeches.
After a brief exchange, the five Diba decided that the two with spears would go rescue their kin while the remaining three kept watch from a distance.
The noticeably more robust Diba, Gray Serpent, took the lead. As he looked at the fallen tribeswoman ahead, a bold idea formed in his mind.
Gray Serpent recognized her—Blood Crow, a beautiful girl he had long admired. The last time he tried to court her, before he could even drag her into the bushes, she had punched him several times, delaying the matter of reproduction.
Though Gray Serpent didn't know the term "hero saving a beauty," he intended to do just that. He could already see Blood Crow recovering and bearing him a bunch of "little monkeys."
"Sida (Crow)."
Gray Serpent called out softly while staying alert to his surroundings.
Blood Crow showed no reaction, lying there as if dead. This made Gray Serpent a bit nervous as he pressed one hand onto her shoulder.
Plop~
A splash came from the water, and Gray Serpent immediately turned his gaze.
Pfft!
A short blade pierced through flesh, stabbing straight through Gray Serpent's throat. The bloodstained tip emerged from the back of his neck.
Gray Serpent stiffly turned his head and saw Blood Crow lying on the ground, one hand clutching the hilt of the short blade.
"Uga!"
Gray Serpent roared, grabbing Blood Crow's face with one hand. He lifted her effortlessly and slammed her onto the wooden bridge with a crash.
Gray Serpent gripped the short blade's hilt and slowly pulled it from his neck. Just as he was about to toss it aside, he realized the weapon was valuable, so he flicked the blade, embedding it into the wooden bridge.
Just as Gray Serpent was searching for other enemies, a brief scream rang out. He quickly turned his gaze and saw a man holding a long blade, dressed in "unusual" attire, standing on the bridge where they had come from. The man was holding a severed head.
With a splash, a headless corpse fell into the water. As soon as it landed, the water churned as aquatic creatures began their feast.
The one Su Xiao had decapitated was a Diba using a wooden bow. This Diba was surprisingly fragile, taken down with a single slash.
The moment Su Xiao appeared, Gray Serpent heard heavy footsteps behind him. Clearly, they had walked into a trap.
"Yahoo~"
Baha swooped down in an ostentatious pose, his "yahoo" dripping with mockery. But this time, karma caught up with him.
A Diba with fiery red patterns all over his body, holding a charred wooden staff, was staring at Baha. His gaze was that of a predator spotting prey.
This Diba raised the charred staff high. Upon closer inspection, the top of the staff was a skull, burned black and hard to identify.
A line of fire descended from the sky. Seeing this, even Su Xiao felt a chill run down his spine. There was no way he could withstand that head-on—it would mean death.
Su Xiao dodged a spear thrust aimed at him and slashed his blade, forcing back a Diba wielding a long spear.
Boom!
The line of fire converged on the charred staff. The Diba muttered something, pointing the staff at Baha. Fluid-like flames burned atop it.
"Oh my... mother."
Baha's blood nearly ran cold. He twisted sharply mid-air, diving toward the water. If he were eroded by giant leeches or undying insects, Su Xiao could save him—Baha was sure of that. But if that fluid flame hit him, there would be no more Poison Demon Hawk Baha.
Bang!!
Like a cannon blast, a pillar of fire shot toward Baha. His pupils contracted rapidly. The pillar, as thick as a bucket, had already locked onto him.
"Moo!"
Amu roared, ignoring the spear aimed at his chest and the Diba Gray Serpent standing before him. As a tank, Amu could take the hit, so he slammed one hand onto the wooden bridge.
Rumble...
A wall of ice suddenly rose, lifting Baha up. In his moment of crisis, Baha clawed off a piece of ice and hurled it with all his might.
With a crack, the ice struck Gray Serpent's head, interrupting his follow-up attack. Amu knocked Gray Serpent back with a hammer blow.
Thud!
The pillar of fire slammed into the ice wall. Large chunks of ice turned to water before they even hit the ground, then evaporated, showing just how terrifying the temperature of that flame pillar was.
The Diba who used this move was also in bad shape. His entire body visibly shriveled up.
Though the flame pillar didn't hit Baha, it scorched all his feathers.
Baha, being incredibly vengeful, spread his wings and charged at the Diba. To his surprise, the Diba had become very weak, and Baha tore off his head with just a few claws.
Half an hour later, Su Xiao stood with one foot on Gray Serpent's shoulder, slowly pulling his long blade from the Diba's skull. He checked the kill rewards: a total of 16.5% World Source, and the damage intensity of Bloodflame Blade had reached 30% (max).
For the remaining two choices, Su Xiao selected "Virus Blocking Constitution (Temporary)" to partially immunize himself against true viral damage. As for the Dibamu Root, there was no rush. With Blood Crow around, finding other Diba wouldn't be a problem.
After clearing the battlefield, Su Xiao noticed that Diba generally didn't drop treasure chests but instead dropped reward items directly. This might be the result of interference between Apocalypse Paradise and Reincarnation Paradise.
Killing five Diba earned Su Xiao two types of Legendary-grade materials. Without the boost from chests, the spoils were limited to equipment, materials, and Soul Crystals.
The hunt continued, using the same method: set up a trap, have Blood Crow roar to attract her kin through the "Uga" ability, then Su Xiao and Amu split into two teams to ambush the enemies from front and back. Baha conducted low-altitude air strikes, not daring to fly too high for fear of being eroded by some energy.
...
Time passed quickly amid the battles. By the next morning, after wiping out five enemy groups, Su Xiao's current World Source had reached 62.71%.
Seeing this amount of World Source, even Su Xiao found it hard to believe.
The shallow waters were lively in the early morning, with all kinds of birds coming out to forage. Su Xiao sat on a section of wooden bridge that was only three meters long. Bubu Wang, Baha, and Amu were all nearby.
At this moment, the group of one human, one dog, one bird, and one ox looked quite peculiar. A long spear was embedded in Su Xiao's left arm, covered in intricate patterns. This thing couldn't be pulled out for an hour, or it would activate the Dibamu seed inside.
Once the Dibamu seed was activated, it would drain Su Xiao's life force and grow wildly, permanently reducing his maximum Health Points by 7% and putting him in a weakened state.
Conversely, if he left the spear alone, the Dibamu seed inside would gradually go dormant. Once it was fully dormant, he could pull out the spear without risk.
Compared to Su Xiao, Amu looked like a hedgehog, with eleven spears stuck in him. The situation was the same—he had to wait an hour before pulling them out.
Bubu Wang was in a sorry state, with another arrow in his rear end, his little face tearful.
Baha was almost roasted, the smell of cooked meat wafting from him. Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Amu all felt a bit hungry. Even Baha, smelling himself, was getting hungry.
High rewards didn't come without a price. The Diba were troublesome, and injuries in battle were inevitable.
"Three hours, then we continue."
Su Xiao glanced at the half-dead Blood Crow. By the looks of it, she could hold out until noon the next day at most.
Just as Su Xiao and the others were resting on the bridge, two figures approached from the path they had come from. This was the downside of the area—there was only one path, and encounters were frequent.
A hundred meters away, the two figures stopped. Seeing them, Su Xiao silently stood up and drew the long blade at his waist.
The newcomers were "old acquaintances"—the angel girl and the leather-clad man. These two Battle Angels had also arrived at Origin Island.
The angel girl froze in shock. A few days ago, the three of them had fought Su Xiao, and he had killed one of them. Now, seeing him again made her legs weak. In her mind, Su Xiao = Big Demon King = Final Boss.
At this moment, Su Xiao still had a wooden spear stuck in his shoulder. Not far away, two skeletons floated on the water's surface.
"What do we do?"
The leather-clad man asked in a low voice, crouching slightly.
"Of course... run!"
The angel girl turned and fled. After a 0.1-second delay, the leather-clad man also turned and ran.
"Woof?"
Bubu Wang stared blankly at the fleeing pair. Given the current state of the team, it should have been Su Xiao and the others who needed to strategically retreat. Having spears stuck in them was a major weakness—if forcibly pulled out, they would not only permanently lose max Health Points but also be weakened for nearly five hours.
What Bubu Wang didn't know was that these two Battle Angels had already developed a shadow from Su Xiao's blade.