Chapter 61: What Are You Doing
After dealing with Connie, Su Xiao rushed toward Amu's location.
When Su Xiao arrived, he saw a peculiar scene. A man in a black combat uniform with naturally curly hair was blasting Amu wildly with a pistol.
Although it was a pistol, Su Xiao felt the thing was more like a grenade launcher, blasting Amu quite badly.
In reality, compared to Amu, the enemy was more speechless. After this sniper got entangled by Amu, his three-meter-long sniper rifle became a useless stick. If he dared to use it to blast Amu, Amu would teach him a lesson with his magma state. As for lighter close-combat firearms, they lacked power, or rather, Amu was just too durable.
Just as Su Xiao arrived on the battlefield, the sniper who had been bombarding Amu ceased fire.
Crack~
A crisp sound came from behind the sniper. The sniper rifle he carried began to crack from the barrel. Within at most 0.5 seconds, the entire sniper rifle shattered, completely ruined.
This sniper knew that once Su Xiao got close, he was dead. Surrounded not only by a minotaur but also a follower dog, he had no chance of escape.
Neither side wasted any words. Su Xiao drew his blade and advanced.
Su Xiao and Amu formed a diagonal, trapping the sniper in the middle. In this situation, the sniper was doomed.
The battle ended quickly. Su Xiao sat on a pile of rubble, fragments of the crystal layer sliding down his cheek, dissipating before hitting the ground.
This sniper had self-destructed. Amu was blasted half a kilometer away, while Su Xiao, being faster, managed to escape the explosion's epicenter at the critical moment.
From start to finish, the sniper remained silent, just like his combat style—waiting in solitude to deliver a fatal blow. He didn't even have a name or code name. Sphinx called him partner, Connie called him the silent man, after all, not everyone could go a month or even half a year without uttering a single word.
When first meeting this sniper, Sphinx once suspected he was mute, until one day, he suddenly asked Sphinx: "Where's the bathroom?"
Through that, Sphinx and Connie learned that this teammate wasn't actually mute.
"What a pity."
Su Xiao muttered. He had originally wanted to try if killing this sniper would drop a Scarlet Card, given how powerful his sniper rifle was. If hit in the torso or similar areas, Su Xiao could withstand at most three shots; one shot to a vital spot would take him down.
This sniper was quite decisive. Knowing he was in a death situation, he didn't beg for mercy or lament. Instead, he directly destroyed the weapon he relied on to survive, resolute to the point of being unbelievable.
Su Xiao pulled out a communicator from his chest. Soon, Baha's voice came through.
"Already dealt with 50%."
"50%?"
Su Xiao looked puzzled. He had sent Baha to assassinate Sphinx earlier, but Baha's reply was that it was already 50% done.
"Sphinx froze himself. Boss, you know my ability to express myself. You'd better come see for yourself. He definitely can't escape."
Ending the communication with Baha, Su Xiao headed toward the central area of Aisenla. Along the way, the Dark Guardians he saw were all in a 'growth state.' They stood motionless in place, with large tree roots spreading from their feet into the ground.
Some Dark Guardians even had green branches and leaves sprouting from their bodies. Judging by the current trend, Aisenla might turn into a forest.
Arriving at the base of a clock tower in the central area, Su Xiao entered and saw a staircase leading underground. Following the stairs down, he hadn't gone far before cold air surged from ahead.
A corpse lay sprawled on a broken wooden door. Preliminary identification told Su Xiao this was one of Sphinx's trusted aides, Lady Moon. She had been shot in the head. This terrifying gunshot wound reminded Su Xiao of the sniper from earlier.
Internal strife? No, Su Xiao felt it was more like silencing. Lady Moon must have made the wrong choice at the last moment and was silenced by Sphinx.
Entering an underground stone room filled with rising cold air, Su Xiao saw an ice sculpture. The ice sculpture sat on a wooden chair, and including the chair, an area several meters around was frozen solid.
Baha was perched atop the ice sculpture, blood still visible on his claws. He had torn open the back of Sphinx's neck with one swipe.
Crack~
Cracks appeared on the ice sculpture, and the next moment, it exploded, sending crystalline ice shards flying everywhere.
"Dying at the hands of your follower would be a loss of dignity."
As soon as Sphinx finished speaking, a long blade slashed across his neck, not giving him a chance to continue.
A timer slipped from Sphinx's sleeve and fell to the ground. The countdown showed 7 minutes and 27 seconds.
Su Xiao didn't know what would happen after 7 minutes and 27 seconds, but judging by the style of Sphinx and his two companions, this was likely a mutual destruction measure.
The timer stopped. Sphinx's corpse toppled from the wooden chair, and a Scarlet Card dropped to the ground.
[Notification: You have killed the ultra-high-risk violator, Sphinx.]
[Successfully retrieved 4100 ounces of Space-Time Power!]
[You have temporarily obtained Sealed Box ×7 (sealed).]
[You have obtained Scarlet Card (★★★★★★).]
...
Seeing the notification from Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao confirmed that Sphinx was the mastermind behind this matter. The transaction between Reincarnation Paradise and Holy Light Paradise was likely sabotaged with Sphinx as the leader, supported by the Ancient Gods.
Sphinx obtained the most Space-Time Power, followed by Black Goat Shabu. As for Dominator Sotos, that guy was more unfortunate—not only did he get fewer benefits, but he was also schemed against by Sphinx.
[The Dark Prison Gate Aisenla has been restabilized.]
[Main Quest Fourth Ring has been activated.]
[Main Quest: Wild Hunt (Fourth Ring, this is the final ring of the quest)]
Difficulty Level: Lv.56
Quest Information: Kill Dark Source Azathoth.
Note: Since the Hunter has eliminated Eyeless Azathoth, the location of Dark Source Azathoth has been locked.
Quest Time Limit: 10 days.
Quest Reward: Golden Skill Point ×2
Quest Penalty: Forced Execution
...
Seeing the reward for the final ring of the quest, Su Xiao couldn't help but miss the time when he invaded Apocalypse Paradise. In that quest, he was rewarded with 5 Golden Attribute Points in a single instance, and the Apocalypse Paradise contractors were easy to cut down—one slash each—unlike the Ancient Gods in this world, each stronger than the last.
However, the current situation was already very favorable. Sphinx and the Black Goat had both been killed by Su Xiao. As long as Su Xiao didn't die in the subsequent battle, there would be no more surprises.
Lost in thought, Su Xiao had just walked out of the clock tower when he saw Xia setting up something in the distance.
"Don't come over!"
Xia's shout had barely faded.
Boom!
An explosion sounded, shrapnel flying everywhere. Xia was hiding behind a building.
A half-treeified Dark Guardian turned its head, its gaze fixed on Xia's direction. Its movements were stiff and slow.
"What are you doing?"
Su Xiao tossed aside the shrapnel he had pinched between his fingers. Hearing his question, Xia glanced at the half-treeified Dark Guardian and seriously argued:
"I'm testing the power of explosives."
"Pfft~"
Baha turned his head, struggling to suppress his laughter. Xia felt her face burning. Due to the earlier 'battle,' her undergarments were soaked with sweat.
Just now, Bubu Wang had told Xia some good news: the Dark Guardians had fallen into a dormant state, so Xia should quickly kill a couple. Her rank was very low, so she might gain some benefits.
Xia certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity. With Bubu Wang and Amu nearby, she mustered her courage, took out a melee weapon, and struck at the Dark Guardian.
The Dark Guardian's physical attribute wasn't high, only 81 points. Of course, this 'only' was relative to Su Xiao. Xia struck with all her might for several minutes, working up a sweat, but the Dark Guardian didn't even acknowledge her. It just gave Xia a somewhat 'helpless' look, as if silently asking: "What are you doing?"
Xia's tears almost burst out. It was too humiliating. She decided to stop fighting; she wanted to go home!
Under Bubu Wang's consolation, Xia took out explosives. The result of the explosion was that the Dark Guardian glanced at her, its expression seeming to say: "What are you doing now?"
"Give up. There won't be any kill rewards. Their power source is the Bronze Door."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Xia froze.
"Bubu!"
Xia looked at Bubu Wang. Bubu Wang tilted his head and looked back at Xia, a smile spreading across his dog face.