Chapter 21: My Apologies
Alexander gripped the sword beside him. The battle blade cut into his skin, and blood flowed down the length of the sword.
Hum~
The war sword let out a crisp ring, and the mottled rust on its surface flaked off.
Just as Alexander was about to pull the longsword from within the throne, the scene before him shifted, and he found himself in a desolate wilderness.
The spatial fluctuations faded. Bubu Wang’s dog paw held a pendant, the transparent gemstone on it now covered in cracks. This was the [Wolf Clan Heirloom], with only 2 durability remaining, enough for one more use.
Su Xiao was just a few meters away. The opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived. The Saint King Alexander was alone, and the empire was in chaos.
Before attending the imperial meeting that morning, Su Xiao had already instructed Bubu Wang to set a coordinate on himself, ready to use the [Wolf Clan Heirloom] at any moment to drag him 15 kilometers away.
To this end, Su Xiao had sat in the seat closest to Alexander, and after Lady Moon Wolf left, he had taken a few steps toward Alexander, bringing him within the teleportation range of the [Wolf Clan Heirloom].
A few birds flew across the sky. The wilderness was beautiful, with no one around for three kilometers in any direction.
Alexander’s gaze swept the surroundings. He tossed his war sword into the air, caught it by the hilt, and black-red aura began to spread around him—a combination of blood energy and life force.
Alexander’s aura was so powerful that it completely overwhelmed figures like Duke Lelin. Ten Dukes Lelin combined wouldn’t be enough to withstand Alexander’s blade.
The grass around them began to wither. Alexander stripped off his upper garments, letting the loose fabric hang down like a battle skirt covering his legs.
The Apostle’s Eye floated beside Su Xiao. He held the Dragon-Slaying Flash in one hand, while Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha stood behind him.
[Comparing intelligence attributes... Comparison complete. Our intelligence attribute overwhelms the enemy’s. 100% of the enemy’s data has been obtained (detectable data only).]
Name: Saint King Alexander
Category: Saint Descendant
Health: 100%
Divine Energy (Variant): 31,000/31,000 points
Strength: 142 (True Attribute)
Agility: 145 (True Attribute)
Endurance: 127 (True Attribute)
Intelligence: 92
Charm: 82 (True Attribute)
Skill 1, Divine Curse (Passive, Lv.70): Health -9,000 points. Possesses immortality.
Skill 2, Child of Misfortune (Passive, Lv.68): Ignores all judgments of sixth rank or below. Health +28,600 points.
Skill 3, Sword Grandmaster (Basic Skill, Lv.37): Increases sword-type weapon attack power by 549%. Neural reflex speed +105%. Dynamic vision +105%. Immune to physical control effects.
Skill 4, Sword Grandmaster Lv.10 Derivative Ability: Leap Thrust: After a 0.12-second charge, leaps forward to thrust. Thrust speed greatly increased. Strength judgment correction +17 points. Armor-breaking chance increased by 60%. Shield-breaking chance increased by 40%. Defense-breaking chance increased by 36%.
Note: This ability has no cooldown.
Skill 5, Sword Grandmaster Lv.20 Derivative Ability: Execution: Attacks deal an additional 270 points of true damage.
Skill 6, Sword Grandmaster Lv.30 Derivative Ability: Perfect Parry: If an enemy’s attack is successfully parried, true strength is increased by an additional 20 points for the next 2.7 seconds.
Skill 7, Self-Developed Sword Techniques (17 types in total, originally 69. After practical refinement, Alexander has discarded 52 types.) These abilities cannot be fully detected. 9 passive types, 8 active types.
…
Seeing Alexander’s data, Su Xiao could confirm that aside from Iron Feather King, this guy was the strongest in the Sera Empire.
Alexander’s physical attributes weren’t too extreme. His strength and agility were slightly higher than Su Xiao’s, but still within acceptable limits.
The real trouble was Alexander’s massive collection of passive abilities. Including his self-developed ones, he had a total of 11 passive-type abilities.
And that wasn’t all. The accessories Alexander wore were conservatively estimated to be at least Epic rank, and that war sword was definitely Holy Spirit rank. Sera was an empire, and as its Saint King, Alexander couldn’t possibly be poor. Anything he wanted, he just had to say the word, and countless people would seek it out for him.
A pile of passives as fierce as a tiger—that description of Alexander wasn’t an exaggeration. Add in his Sword Grandmaster Lv.37, and his combat power was easy to imagine.
As a monarch, Alexander was mediocre—in his own words, clumsy. But as a war king, he had nothing to do with mediocrity or clumsiness. He clearly fought using technique.
And this type of enemy was the most dangerous, and also the type Su Xiao most enjoyed fighting. Su Xiao’s Blade Grandmaster level was Lv.38, one level higher than Alexander’s. However, when it came to self-developed techniques, Su Xiao was slightly inferior.
Alexander was a Saint Descendant, having lived at least 200 years. But Su Xiao had the authority of the Land of All Beings; otherwise, the gap in self-developed techniques wouldn’t have been just a slight one. This kind of difference, with enough resources and Su Xiao’s diligence, could be closed quickly.
“Let’s begin. I haven’t fought in decades, so I’m a bit rusty. My apologies.”
Alexander slightly lowered his stance, shifting his center of gravity downward. This made him harder to push back and improved his reaction speed when striking.
Su Xiao also slightly lowered his stance. It was a basic combat technique, but practical.
On the grassland, a breeze blew, lifting a few blades of grass. Su Xiao and Alexander faced off.
A blade of grass was blown onto Su Xiao’s sword edge. The slightest touch, and the grass was naturally sliced in two.
An opportunity!
Alexander’s pupils slightly contracted. He knew that at their level, a weapon was an extension of the arm. Any subtle touch before battle would cause a distraction of less than 0.001 seconds. Though brief, in Alexander’s eyes, it was still an opportunity.
Grass clippings flew from under Alexander’s feet. He charged forward two steps, then abruptly stopped. Using the momentum from those two steps, he swung his sword forward in a slash.
Zheng~
A sword aura swept past Su Xiao’s side. The ultra-miniature Banishment in the air was pushed back by the blade wind. Alexander had detected Banishment.
Su Xiao and Alexander vanished at the same time. The next moment—
Clang!
The long blade and war sword clashed. A shockwave spread, causing ripples across the surrounding grass.
At the instant of the blade clash, Alexander took a step back with his right foot, his body leaning back slightly at a slow pace. The next moment, all the muscles in his body tensed, and he pushed forward with all his might.
Bang!
In that instant, Su Xiao felt an irresistible force surge through his blade. He was about to be sent flying by Alexander at any moment.
Crack~
The crystal layer wrapped around Su Xiao’s lower leg shattered, shooting backward like buckshot. The immense force that was about to send Su Xiao flying dissipated along with the crystal layer’s destruction.
Su Xiao’s hand holding the blade rose. The edges of the two weapons scraped against each other, sending sparks flying.
With a screech, the Dragon-Slaying Flash and the war sword slid past each other. Su Xiao and Alexander locked eyes. They released their auras simultaneously. Alexander’s movement faltered for a moment. Su Xiao’s blood energy was stronger.
‘Dragon Realm.’
‘Blade Path Sword: Extreme.’
The air itself seemed to freeze. Su Xiao and Alexander both swung at each other’s necks, as if aiming for mutual destruction.
The sword edge passed through Su Xiao’s neck without any resistance. Su Xiao was in the spatial penetration state of Dragon Shadow Flash, successfully dodging the strike.
Pfft!
A few drops of blood splattered in midair. Alexander’s head was severed. Even as his head flew through the air, he adjusted his line of sight, keeping his eyes fixed on Su Xiao. This was the advantage of being a Saint Descendant.
Bang!
In his headless state, Alexander delivered a straight kick. Su Xiao raised his blade horizontally to block and used the force to leap backward.
Alexander raised his hand, caught his own head, and pressed it back onto his severed neck.