Chapter 14: You Can’t Do This to Me
The twelve stood in a semicircular formation, confronting Su Xiao. No, they had now become eleven, with one just killed.
“Sacrifice is glory!”
The eleven Holy Swordsmen roared in unison, raising their knight swords as they charged at Su Xiao.
Their steps were perfectly synchronized, as if guided by a single consciousness. In reality, this was due to their holy power being linked.
The floor was covered in shattered glass shards. Iron boots stomped down, producing a continuous series of crisp cracks.
Since they were indoors, the eleven Holy Swordsmen reached Su Xiao in just a few steps, unleashing a storm of slashes.
Clang! Clang!
Su Xiao raised his blade to block the two most dangerous strikes, then immediately sidestepped.
A knight sword sliced down past his face, stirring his black hair. The blade gleamed exceptionally bright under the moonlight.
Having just dodged those three strikes, Su Xiao suddenly stepped forward, causing the remaining knight swords to all swing through empty air.
With that single step, he was less than half a meter from the nearest Holy Swordsman. He could even smell the faint scent of blood on the man—likely left over from cleaning up the manor guards.
At such close range, swinging his blade forward was unwise, so Su Xiao raised his right arm and slammed the hilt of Dragon-Slaying Flash downward.
Thud!
A dull sound rang out, faintly accompanied by the crack of breaking bones.
The hilt of Dragon-Slaying Flash smashed heavily into a Holy Swordsman’s neck, twisting it at an unnatural angle and dislocating his cervical vertebrae.
The Holy Swordsman showed signs of dizziness. Though he could still move, he didn’t immediately swing his sword forward. Instead, he crossed his knight sword in front of him to avoid injuring his own allies.
Seizing the opportunity, Su Xiao flashed behind this Holy Swordsman and slanted his long blade in a diagonal cut.
Clang! Four knight swords crossed behind the Holy Swordsman. His teammates were exceptionally effective, saving him at the critical moment.
The Holy Swordsman, whose neck had nearly been broken, pressed one hand against his head and shoved it back into place.
Crack~
The bone was realigned. The Holy Swordsman retreated behind his other teammates, using his holy power to heal the injury.
Eleven people besieging Su Xiao had not only failed to gain an advantage but had nearly lost one of their own. If not for their impeccable coordination, the absolute gap in technique would have already left them with heavy casualties.
Seeing this, Su Xiao leaped back a few meters and began a brief buildup of power.
‘Blade Path: Azure Demon.’
Zheng!
A cyan-blue blade aura suddenly shot out. What was Azure Demon’s greatest strength? The answer was the flight speed of its blade aura.
Shhhh— The Azure Demon sliced through the wall. Ten Holy Swordsmen maintained their guard stances, while one on the edge clutched his throat with one hand, blood gushing through his fingers.
Su Xiao leaned forward and vanished from his spot.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Three crisp sounds rang out. The three Holy Swordsmen at the front staggered back, their sword arms numb. In that instant, Su Xiao had burst forth with a speed completely different from before.
When Su Xiao reappeared, he was standing on the long stone table at the center of the room.
Thud. A severed arm still gripping a knight sword fell to the floor.
Of the eleven Holy Swordsmen, two were severely wounded—one with his throat slashed open, the other with his arm severed.
Sharpness, speed, overwhelming cutting force, and an endless stream of blade techniques—this was the impression Su Xiao left on the Holy Swordsmen. The pressure was immense.
If it came down to a contest of strength and agility attributes, Su Xiao was actually on par with these Holy Swordsmen. Yet he could still grind them into the ground. This was the gap between Grandmaster-level and Master-level abilities.
The eleven Holy Swordsmen clustered together, the two severely wounded standing at the center. The remaining nine wore grim expressions, as if facing a great enemy.
Su Xiao walked slowly across the stone table. He swung his left hand forward, as if tossing something.
“Watch out!”
A booming voice rang out. Five sword auras shot forth, shredding the suspicious object midair.
Shattered stone fragments hit the ground. The moment they landed, Su Xiao vanished again.
Clang! Clang! Splurt!
The long blade cut through the air, trailing a ribbon of blood. A Holy Swordsman on the periphery took half a step back, raising one hand to shield his face. His vision was now pitch black—his eyes had been slashed blind. That wasn’t the most fatal part, though. The most fatal part was his slashed-open brain.
“Ah!”
The Holy Swordsman roared, swinging his sword wildly in front of him with both hands, now in a state of chaos.
The other Holy Swordsmen stared ahead intently. Su Xiao still stood on the stone table, holding his blade in one hand, a crimson glow flickering in his eyes.
The Holy Swordsmen felt an overwhelming sense of pressure. Their numerical advantage had become a burden. The blood energy drifting in the air seemed to constantly erode their holy power.
“We… have no hope of victory.”
One Holy Swordsman spoke. There was no panic or fear on his face—only a willingness to face death.
“Everything… for Sera.”
“Ah~, everything… for Sera.”
The Holy Swordsmen raised their swords upright before them. Their eyes grew even more resolute.
Splurt. Splurt. Splurt…
Knight swords pierced through hearts. All ten Holy Swordsmen drove their own blades through their bodies.
Armor clattered as the ten Holy Swordsmen dropped to one knee. Their holy power rapidly transformed, turning into a pitch-black energy.
Seeing this, Su Xiao was slightly surprised. These people had collectively committed suicide to avoid capture? He didn’t think so. It seemed they were summoning or awakening something.
With that thought, Su Xiao slashed out multiple blade auras. Under the cutting force, the ten Holy Swordsmen were shredded.
Black energy drifted out from their corpses, eventually coalescing into a massive sphere about five meters in size, exuding a dense sense of ill omen.
The black sphere instantly solidified. Large cracks spread across its surface.
With a crack, an arm thrust out from within the sphere. The skin was pale, the sharp fingertips pitch black, even possessing a metallic texture.
The black sphere shattered, revealing a humanoid creature with long gray hair and pitch-black pupils. Judging by its physique, it was female, but definitely not human.
“Mortals, since you’re willing to sacrifice your lives to amuse me, I’ll grant your final wish.”
The humanoid creature stepped onto the blood on the floor. Its bare feet were stained red, which displeased it somewhat.
Seeing this humanoid creature, Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. He instantly identified its identity—after all, he had killed quite a few of these things. An Ancient God.
Su Xiao looked over the awakened Ancient God. He had seen many Ancient Gods before. Their appearances were… chaotic and ugly, each one uglier than the last.
He had once thought that the Moon God was the pinnacle of Ancient God aesthetics. That guy, though covered in exoskeleton and hideous, was still more tolerable than tentacle monsters like Sotos or Azathoth.
But now, Su Xiao was surprised to find that an Ancient God could be this beautiful. He couldn’t help but wonder if this suddenly appearing Ancient God was pure-blooded, or perhaps a hybrid between an Ancient God and a neutral deity.
“Mortal, what kind of look is that?”
The female Ancient God naturally noticed Su Xiao’s strange gaze. This mortal wasn’t afraid of her at all. Instead, he was sizing her up—no, studying her structure. That look… it felt familiar!
Su Xiao glanced at the corpses on the ground. Not a single treasure chest had dropped. His luck was unexpectedly bad. Still, one Ancient God would make up for the loss.
Su Xiao tightened his grip on his blade. Cyan Steel Shadow energy surged along the long blade.
At that moment, the atmosphere froze. The female Ancient God’s jet-black pupils contracted sharply. Her mouth opened slightly as she looked from Su Xiao to the blade in his hand.
“I… can we talk?!”
The female Ancient God slowly backed away. Judging by her demeanor, she was preparing for a strategic retreat.
“…”
Su Xiao didn’t waste a single word. His aura grew sharper, and the stone table beneath him cracked and split with a series of pops.
“I never disrupted the elemental balance! You can’t do this to me! You promised!”
The female Ancient God shouted, her voice carrying a hint of grievance.
Understandably so. She had abided by the ancient agreement—the agreement with the Law Destroyers. She had never disrupted the elemental balance, never exploited humans. And now, today, she had encountered another Law Destroyer, and he was about to cut her down. How could she not feel wronged? Back then, it was agreed: as long as she kept her end of the deal, she wouldn’t be cut down.