Chapter 21: One-on-One
10 AM, Heru City, Silver Saint District.
Su Xiao walked out of the main entrance of the Wizard Association. Compared to the old wizard in the wheelchair, Shuguang was much more reliable—at least she didn’t beat around the bush and answered whatever was asked.
Walking along the somewhat muddy street, Su Xiao had a general understanding of the situation. Of course, he wouldn’t fully trust Shuguang and Gus’s words. Based on the information he had gathered so far, the location Shuguang provided should be genuine and worth exploring.
According to Shuguang, the Dominator was within Bone Harbor. As for the Dominator’s abilities, neither Shuguang nor Gus knew. When they had previously attempted to subdue the Dominator, before the battle even officially began, their own wizards had gone berserk.
The only one who had truly fought the Dominator was Nia. Unfortunately, Nia had died years ago without sending back any intelligence. It wasn’t until the Dominator approached Shuguang that she learned of Nia’s death.
Compared to the Ancient God, Su Xiao was more curious about where the Violators had gone. In a place like the Wizard Association headquarters, there wasn’t a single Violator in sight—an extremely abnormal situation.
Furthermore, even within Heru City, there were almost no Violators or contractors from other paradises to be seen. This was highly unusual.
Su Xiao didn’t have the energy to investigate this for now. The time limit for the second phase of the main mission was already half over, and Xia’s situation was still unknown.
Lost in thought, Su Xiao left the Silver Saint District and entered the Bone Harbor District. In the morning, Bone Harbor’s folk customs were still as "rustic" as ever. After witnessing a large-scale gang brawl between two factions, Su Xiao arrived at the Third Block.
After Baha conducted an aerial reconnaissance, it locked onto a few stone buildings within the Third Block. According to Shuguang, the Dominator was sleeping in the nearby area.
Standing in front of a two-story low-rise building, Su Xiao untied the sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash from his waist and gripped it in his hand, ready for any sudden emergencies.
Thump, thump, thump.
Su Xiao knocked on the door. Behind him, Kaisa was a bit surprised, as he had expected Su Xiao to just kick the door in.
No one answered, but there was the presence of a living person inside.
Bang!
Su Xiao kicked the door to pieces, sending wooden splinters flying. An old man in tattered clothes, holding a fish-cleaning knife, charged straight at him. Indeed, the old-timers of Bone Harbor were that fierce.
The old man with the fish knife only took a few steps before stopping. He scrutinized Su Xiao for a moment, then looked at Amu and Baha on his shoulder.
After hesitating for a moment, the old man threw down his fish knife and squatted on the ground with a look of displeasure.
"There’s half a loaf of bread left in the cabinet and five copper coins under the bed. Take them and leave quickly."
The old man’s judgment was quite wise. If he had charged forward with the knife, he wouldn’t be squatting on the ground right now.
After entering the stone building, Su Xiao first checked the first floor. Finding nothing, he then examined the second floor, which was used as a storage room.
"Door fee."
Su Xiao tossed out a silver coin. The squatting old man instinctively raised his hand to catch it. Seeing the charming luster in his hand, he directly popped the silver coin into his mouth.
The search of the first civilian residence yielded nothing. Su Xiao frowned slightly. After arriving at the Third Block of Bone Harbor, he felt it unlikely that the Dominator would be sleeping in this rundown place—the stench of rotting fish and shrimp was overwhelming.
Baha had identified five suspicious buildings, all adjacent to each other. If Shuguang’s information was correct, the Dominator had to be within this area.
Su Xiao knocked on the door of the second stone building. Again, no response. Using the same method to open the door, a faint, sweet, fishy smell wafted out.
Crunch, crunch~
The crisp sound of chewing came from inside the room. A small white goat was nibbling on a sapling. The room was lush with vegetation, and the floor was covered with a layer of animal carcasses. The saplings were growing out of these corpses.
"So, you won’t let it go."
The white goat, chewing on a tender leaf, sat on the ground and spoke in human language.
Zheng~
The long blade in Su Xiao’s hand was drawn, Cyan Steel Shadow Energy surging along the blade of Dragon-Slaying Flash.
"Stop sleeping. The guest has already arrived. Kill him, or... be killed by him. This guest is no ordinary one."
The white goat’s fur rapidly shed, and its entire body turned to ash, completing its warning task.
As the white goat dissipated, the various animal carcasses in the room also evaporated, revealing the somewhat blackened floorboards.
Su Xiao’s perception was fully extended. Amu and Baha shielded his sides, while Bubu Wang blended into the environment. As for Kaisa, that guy had long since disappeared somewhere.
Creak, creak~
Su Xiao stepped on the old floorboards, his long blade pointing diagonally at the ground.
Zheng.
A lightning-fast slash was delivered. A pitch-black, glossy tentacle fell to the ground, still writhing.
The tip of the blade pierced the black tentacle, flicking it away. Su Xiao leaped backward, exiting the stone building through the front door. After a preliminary probe, knowing the Dominator was inside the stone building but continuing to explore would be the kind of brain-dead plot from a horror movie. Su Xiao certainly wouldn’t do that.
Standing in front of the stone building, Su Xiao slightly lowered his body. The next moment, crisscrossing blade auras slashed out, cutting through various parts of the stone building.
Seeing this, Amu beside him generated a giant ice hammer in his hand and slammed it heavily onto the stone building.
Bang!
Stones flew everywhere. The stone building was leveled, leaving only an uneven layer of ice on the ground.
After the stone building was blasted away, a fine network of cracks appeared in midair. These cracks, like a shattered mirror, remained stationary about two meters above the ground.
Su Xiao casually slashed out a blade aura. The light blue blade aura swept past, cutting through the black cracks without causing any substantial damage.
"Spatial nature."
Su Xiao raised his hand to signal Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha to spread out. Against an enemy with spatial abilities, clustering together could easily lead to a wipeout.
Drip, drip~
Black viscous liquid dripped from the cracks. At first, it fell drop by drop, but after a few seconds, it was like a valve had been opened. The black liquid gushed out, and within it, pitch-black, glossy tentacles could be seen.
The black liquid spread across the ground. Su Xiao leaped back again to avoid contact with this unknown substance.
Within a minute at most, the black liquid had formed a large pool, covering an area of several hundred meters.
A stinging sensation came from Su Xiao’s hand. He looked at the back of his hand, where a black array was rapidly forming.
Just as Su Xiao was about to tear off the skin on the back of his hand, he sensed something wrong with his surroundings. The scenery around him became double-imaged, like watching a 3D movie without 3D glasses.
A shattering sound came from all around. Su Xiao looked at Amu, who was standing frozen in place, half of his body blurred.
Su Xiao was about to activate his Dragon Shadow Flash ability when an almost terrifying sense of crisis surged. Using Dragon Shadow Flash now would definitely mean death.
Boom!
The ground beneath Su Xiao’s feet cracked, and he instantly vanished from his spot.
With a bang, Su Xiao kicked Amu’s side, sending him flying horizontally.
Su Xiao landed at a very slow speed. The world around him shattered, and he was sucked into a black vortex.
"Pretty sneaky, this Ancient God."
Baha dove down from high altitude. With its combat intelligence, it had already assessed the situation.
The Dominator had intended to drag Amu away, dealing with them one by one—commonly known as a one-on-one.
The result, however, was that Su Xiao had been dragged away by the Dominator, going to fight it one-on-one.