Chapter 33: The Pursued Big Boss
Baha's shout was full of momentum, but he didn't turn and flee slowly either.
Whoosh～
A sound of breaking wind came, an arrow piercing into the ground near Baha, with a bang, grass clippings and mud splattering.
Baha's taunt was very successful. Of the 63 Tianba Clan warriors in the Front Guard Village, he lured out over 40 of them.
An hour later, Baha lay on the ground, panting heavily. He had been flying at ultra-low altitude through the forest until now, finally shaking off those Tianba Clan members, and nearly got caught during the process.
"I don't believe it."
Baha leaped up from the grass and charged back toward the Front Guard Village.
Three hours later, after multiple attempts by Baha, he concluded that every time those Tianba Clan members deployed, they ensured at least 20 or more people, and they advanced and retreated in an orderly manner.
In the end, those Tianba Clan members simply ignored Baha, and on top of that, they couldn't understand his taunts at all.
Furthermore, two Tianba Clan members even set traps, preparing to catch Baha and stew him.
"Completely useless, I feel like those guys are toying with me."
Baha was exhausted to the point of collapse. Treading the line of death was way too thrilling.
Su Xiao looked at the distant Front Guard Village. The Tianba Clan were indeed an intelligent race, but they gave off a feeling of being both fierce and solemn.
The Tianba Clan were not like the rumors in the Sera Empire claimed—filthy monsters from the Abyss, pitch black all over, with a foul stench.
The buildings the Tianba Clan constructed and the crafts they made completely outclassed the Sera Empire. As for the Northern Alliance, it couldn't even compare to the Tianba Clan.
Xi would arrive here soon, but it was clearly not the time to act rashly. The Divine Kingdom was a sixth to seventh rank area; barging in recklessly would only lead to death.
According to Bubu Wang's reconnaissance, behind the Front Guard Village was a large forest with a small path paved with crushed stones. From the traces there, it could be determined that people often walked on that path, probably coming to deliver supplies to the Front Guard Village.
Su Xiao decided not to fight the Tianba Clan to the death at the Front Guard Village. The reason he wanted to clear this nearby area was to wait for Xi to arrive and then eliminate her here.
But the current situation was that the Tianba Clan in the Front Guard Village were far more troublesome to deal with than Xi.
Moreover, Su Xiao had roughly deduced the situation in the Divine Kingdom. Even if he killed all the Tianba Clan in the Front Guard Village, he couldn't clear this area. The more likely outcome was attracting even more Tianba Clan, which would still fail to achieve his goal.
Therefore, Su Xiao wasn't planning to continue fighting to the death with the Tianba Clan in the Front Guard Village, even though the rewards for killing Tianba Clan members should be considerable.
Su Xiao even suspected that even seventh-rank contractors would need to form a small group to launch a frontal assault on the Front Guard Village.
Thinking of this, Su Xiao picked up Baha from the ground and contacted Amu to come and rendezvous.
Soon, Baha arrived. Just as Su Xiao was about to bypass the Front Guard Village and head into the forest behind it, a loud bang suddenly came from inside the Front Guard Village.
"Ahahaha..."
A manic and seductive female laugh rang out. A woman with tattered clothes and long hair reaching her waist leaped up.
Boom!
Lightning struck down from the sky, enveloping the war scythe in her hand.
Dong～
After a dull thud, lightning spread through the Front Guard Village, climbing onto the buildings, and finally sweeping over the Tianba Clan members at the edge of the village, electrocuting them into a shudder.
Yiweier stood on the A-shaped roof, large pieces of tiles shattering beneath her feet. When she fought, she was a female madman, recklessly trying to kill her enemies.
Suddenly, Yiweier's manic smile froze. A pair of angry eyes were glaring at her.
A Tianba Clan member wearing a feathered headdress slightly raised his head, arcs of electricity flickering on his body, causing his face to twitch twice. His beloved feathered headdress emitted black smoke.
This Tianba Clan member carefully took off his feathered headdress. The rice-sized gem at the end of the headdress fell off, hit the ground, and rolled far away.
At that moment, the air went silent.
"Fuga!!"
The Tianba Clan member holding the headdress roared. One by one, longbows were drawn.
Bang, bang, bang...
A dense volley of arrows shot toward Yiweier. Yiweier spun her war scythe, shattering all the arrows coming from the front. But were the Tianba Clan so easy to deal with? If so, Su Xiao wouldn't have needed to make a strategic retreat.
Puchi!
An arrow pierced into Yiweier's back. Before she could dodge, three more arrows embedded themselves in her thigh and abdomen—all were preemptive shots.
As a big boss, Yiweier's health bar suddenly dropped a chunk!
If it were a one-on-one fight, no Tianba Clan member could match Yiweier. But if it were a group fight and Yiweier chose to tough it out, she would definitely die.
Strong in single combat, unstoppable in groups—that was the Tianba Clan. The Source Power (Drowning) they mastered was meant to deal with individually powerful enemies.
In just 30 seconds, Yiweier stopped laughing maniacally. She moved through the buildings with almost ghostly speed. It was fortunate that Yiweier had a lightning + wind form combination; otherwise, she would already be a corpse.
Arrows whistled through the air. Angry Tianba Clan members leaped between the two-story buildings, nocking arrows and drawing their bows mid-air.
On a distant slope, just as Su Xiao was observing Yiweier through his telescope, four figures came into his view. One of them, with silver long hair, made Su Xiao raise an eyebrow. It was Xi. Her method of arrival indeed surprised Su Xiao a bit.
Xi hadn't used the teleportation array in the Divine Ritual Hall. She simply didn't have time to enter the Abyss. She used her teammate's ability to lock onto a spatial coordinate and forcefully teleported here.
Xi had successfully shaken off Yiweier's pursuit and arrived in the Divine Kingdom, which lifted her gloomy mood a lot. But after seeing the Tianba Clan, her mood immediately soured.
"Xi, don't blame me. This is the only 'spatial rift' nearby, and sneaking out quietly is absolutely no problem, I guarantee it."
Happy Cute Girl Mi Tang winked at Xi. Xi didn't speak, just lightened her footsteps to avoid being detected by the Tianba Clan.
"Yi～yo!"
A strange roar came. Hearing this roar, Xi's body stiffened.
A Tianba Clan member wearing a dark green long coat with wide sleeves was looking down at Xi from above. This was a female Tianba Clan member. She sat by the eaves of a tile roof, one leg naturally dangling, sizing up Xi.
"Xi, let me handle it!"
Mi Tang took a deep breath, signaling Xi, Old Wolf, and Kangba to step back and let her, the professional, handle it. After all, her Charm attribute was as high as 93 points. Maybe the enemy would find her more agreeable.
"This... lady?"
Mi Tang was a bit unsure of herself, since the Tianba Clan had light blue skin and wore ear ornaments and such.
The female Tianba Clan member smiled. She gripped the hilt of a sword hanging at her lower back. This sword was a full 1.2 meters long, with no guard, a slightly long hilt, a pendant tied to the end, and fine patterns on the blade.
Zheng～
The long sword was drawn. The female Tianba Clan member's Source Power attribute was "Infiltration." Compared to the ranged attack of "Drowning," the melee-oriented "Infiltration" among Source Powers was rarer.
"You guys handle it."
Mi Tang very self-consciously stepped back. Kangba stepped forward.
Without any visible movement from the female Tianba Clan member, she had already leaped down from the roof, her movements light and graceful.
Clang! Clang!
One fast and one slow slash, both struck Kangba's tower shield. Kangba took half a step back and spat out a large mouthful of blood with a "wah."
"Run!"
Bang, bang, bang!
Three arrows came flying. One pierced Kangba's neck, one stabbed into his side ribs, and the last penetrated his forearm.
The female Tianba Clan member moved like a dancing butterfly, somehow already appearing behind Kangba. Just as she was about to cut off Kangba's head with one slash, her face suddenly showed pain, and she fell to the ground with a thud. But in an instant, she leaped up from the ground, her movements light and graceful.
Don't think her slashing power was light because of this. Every one of her strikes was heavy and forceful, and the rhythm was erratic—sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Her slashes couldn't be caught by perception alone; one needed rich combat experience to trade blows with her.
If this female Tianba Clan member could fight Su Xiao, she would definitely order her other clansmen to back off, after all, the chance to spar with a Blade Grandmaster was rare.
The female Tianba Clan member suddenly fell earlier because Old Wolf had made a move. Strangely, Xi never acted.
It wasn't that she didn't want to, but during the pursuit by Yiweier, she had been the one blocking all the way.
The moment the female Tianba Clan member leaped back, dozens of arrows flew from behind her, passing on both sides of her body, and one even grazed her hair.
Seeing these arrows, Xi's pupils rapidly contracted. She had long lost her resurrection ability. Now, she only had one life. If she died, she would lose everything.
A burly figure stood in front of Xi, blocking not only her but also Mi Tang and Old Wolf.
"Xi, farewell."
The taciturn Kangba spoke. By now, he had transformed into a giant over four meters tall, his tower shield five meters high and over three meters wide.
One by one, arrows embedded themselves in the tower shield. After enduring twelve arrows, the metal tower shield shattered with a bang.
Arrows pierced into Kangba's body, instantly turning him into a pincushion. In reality, after taking the fifth arrow, Kangba was already dead. Source Power (Infiltration) was far more terrifying than "Drowning."
Infiltration could, through weapon clashes, force Source Power along the enemy's weapon to invade the enemy's body, causing them to enter a brief state of weakness. This weakness could stack, eventually leading to complete loss of strength and a rapid drain of life force.
Five arrows, and a sixth-rank main tank was killed instantly. Being able to be Xi's teammate, Kangba was certainly no weakling.
The wall of the building behind shattered. Kangba's corpse lay among the rubble. Xi, Mi Tang, and Old Wolf stood inside the building. The furnishings here were simple: a low wooden table and a few folding screens.
Xi pulled the arrow from her arm. She already understood why Kangba had died. The Divine Kingdom was far more dangerous than she had imagined. This was not a place she should have come to.
"Mi Tang, don't tell me your ability hasn't recovered yet. If so, we're all going to die here."
Old Wolf still had that lazy demeanor.
"Of course... it's recovered. Kangba didn't die in vain. He bought me a precious 2 seconds. Hold steady, we're getting out of here."
Mi Tang pressed her palms together and clapped them with a smack. The light around them distorted.
"Thank you, Kangba."
Mi Tang's voice faded away. Over a dozen Tianba Clan members rushed into the building. Confirming that no one was inside, they turned and left to pursue Yiweier.