Chapter 4: Playing “Kite”
The forest wind blew, leaves rustling. Within a rocky area of the woods, Su Xiao rested one hand on the hilt of the blade at his waist.
Seeing this, the armored man across from him let out a cold snort.
“Weaklings of Paradise, everything is destined by heaven’s fortune. Power… is innate.”
The armored man crushed the black flesh mass in his hand. Black blood splattered, and slippery, slender tentacles emerged from the gaps in his armor, coiling around it.
A mass of black tentacles surged forth and entwined. In an instant, the armored man transformed into a grotesque monster over three meters tall. He retained a humanoid form, but a massive single eye sat on his chest, its pupil composed of writhing worms that twisted their bloated bodies, seemingly trying to burrow out of that enormous eye.
“Is this… an Ancient God!?”
Baha’s tone was a mix of surprise and excitement.
“No, he’s merely been eroded by the power of an Ancient God from birth. He has no divine source.”
Su Xiao drew the longsword from his waist and signaled Amu to guard the rear, Beini to hold the left flank, Baha to scout from above, and Bubu Wang to adapt as needed.
Just as the black monster, Arak, expected to be surrounded, the enemy’s summons all scattered. This puzzled Arak.
Arak hailed from Doom Star, a world ruled by Ancient Gods. There, deities were supreme, and mortals weren’t even worthy of glimpsing them. Those who dared to pry would have their bodies mutated, their souls twisted, and their minds driven to madness.
And Arak, as someone who could converse face-to-face with a deity, always took pride in this.
As for why he didn’t resist the Ancient Gods of that world, the reason was simple: it was impossible. The gods were nearly “omnipotent.”
Unfortunately, Arak didn’t realize that the deity he faced was merely too powerful, not truly omnipotent. Moreover, the god he believed to be all-powerful was just one among many Ancient Gods.
Doom Star was a colossal world, practically a den of Ancient Gods. For its people to resist them was nearly impossible. Any potential rebels had long been nipped in the bud by the gods.
There were no rebels like Laurent, Dawn, or Gus there, because the people of that world had long had their “legs broken.” The concept of divine supremacy was etched into their very bones.
The power of Ancient Gods wasn’t terrifying in itself. What was truly terrifying was the complete loss of the will to resist, which doomed them to eternal servitude with no hope of liberation.
A sad reality was that people didn’t fear suffering; they feared suffering alone. If everyone was in suffering, then the concept of suffering ceased to exist.
When a ray of light pierced the darkness, illuminating its filth, that light would be deemed guilty. The darkness would extinguish it, plunging everything back into shadow.
Laurent, Dawn, and Gus were like three beams of light. They used themselves to ignite the holy silver fire, scorching the darkness. After they burned out, the darkness was slaughtered by the blade.
Resistance didn’t guarantee success, but without it, there was no hope. Without the aid of Laurent, Dawn, and Gus, Su Xiao might not have smoothly slaughtered all the Ancient Gods in that world.
Arak, however, was someone who had completely given up. Even as a World Child, he had abandoned all hope.
Boom!
The ground beneath Arak’s feet caved in. He vanished in an instant, lunging at Su Xiao.
‘Blade Path: Azure Demon.’
The blade hummed softly. A cyan-blue sword aura shot forth, so fast that Arak could only cross his arms in front of him.
With a tearing sound, a large swath of finger-thick black tentacles was severed, revealing the arm guards beneath.
“Roar!”
Arak opened his maw wide and roared at Su Xiao. Layers of sound waves, mixed with a certain energy, spread outward.
The sound waves swept over Su Xiao, causing a faint, cool sting across his skin.
[Prompt: You have been affected by ‘Soul Roar.’ Judging…]
[You have taken 130 points of soul damage (will lose 130 HP).]
[Your soul strength overwhelmingly surpasses the enemy’s. Control effects have been negated.]
…
Su Xiao habitually glanced at the battle prompt, then crouched low, slightly turning his body while placing one arm horizontally in front of his head, feigning being affected by a control effect.
Mud sprayed from the ground as Arak’s heels sank into the earth. He skidded to a halt and immediately leaped backward repeatedly. An intuitive premonition flashed in his mind: he would die! Charging in now would mean certain death!
His perception felt like a cluster of needles, causing a “perceptual sting” across his entire body.
“Huff~”
Arak exhaled black mist. From that brief exchange, he had already determined that his opponent was a technique-type fighter. The danger of such enemies lay in the fact that once they seized an opportunity, there was no chance of recovery—they would suppress you to death.
“Secret Forge.”
Arak clenched his hand, and swirling black mist gathered into his palm, waiting for Su Xiao to charge.
To Arak’s surprise, Su Xiao didn’t advance. Just as this doubt arose, he felt the ground beneath him swell, and a tremendous force pushed up from under his feet.
Boom!
The Magnetic Storm Hunter exploded. Because Bubu Wang had detonated it, 50% of the Magnetic Storm Hunter’s magnetic damage was converted into true damage.
Pale blue plasma splattered everywhere. Arak was uncontrollably blasted into the air.
The moment Arak was sent flying, Su Xiao vanished from his spot. He dashed forward a few steps and leaped.
Midair, the black tentacles on Arak’s surface writhed. Despite wearing armor, he shed the outer shell of black tentacles, reverting to his original form.
Su Xiao was already in the air, his longsword piercing into the black tentacles. With his combat experience, he shouldn’t have leaped so high in battle, yet he did exactly that.
Pfft~
The longsword stabbed into the tentacle shell. These intertwined tentacles were quite tough, but against the Holy Spirit-rank +12 Dragon-Slaying Flash, they proved fragile.
Not far away, Arak was descending midair. He raised one hand, and with that motion, the tentacle shell pierced by Su Xiao’s blade suddenly coiled toward him.
“Death…”
Arak clenched his fist. Not far away, the tentacle shell enveloped Su Xiao.
Clang!
A sharp clang of a strike came from Arak’s spine. Su Xiao emerged from his Spatial Penetration state. The moment he was wrapped in the tentacle shell, he had used Dragon Shadow Flash to escape, which was why he had dared to leap earlier.
Sparks flew. Arak’s armor was remarkably tough, managing to block Su Xiao’s slash. After all, it was a high-tier Ancient God’s gift to Arak, so its quality was naturally high.
Struck midair, Arak was uncontrollably sent higher. He flung his arm, and dozens of finger-thick black tentacles burst from the gaps in his armor, deeply embedding into the ground and intertwining like roots in the soil.
A large patch of ground beneath Su Xiao bulged, while several of the tentacles protruding from Arak’s arm guard snapped with a crackling sound.
Arak’s descent halted. Just then, a frozen warhammer spun through the air.
Bang!
Ice shards scattered. Arak, like a kite, was yanked sideways by the tentacles.
Seeing this, a blue gleam flashed in Su Xiao’s eyes. Banishment burst through a wave of air and clanged onto Arak’s spine.
Bubu Wang also found joy in this. He took out a Magnetic Storm Hunter, activated it, and tossed it.
With a thunderous boom, Arak was engulfed in pale blue plasma. This time, he finally began to fall.
“Death… Domain.”
Arak’s pupils turned a mix of gray and black. A wave of energy spread.
Clang!
A sword aura struck Arak’s arm guard. Just as he blocked that one, a dense barrage of blue sword auras followed.
The Death Domain was interrupted. However, Arak’s arm bent, and he endured the sword auras, forcibly pulling himself back to the ground.
With a thud, Arak landed on solid ground. Su Xiao had already charged before him, delivering an upward slash.
Tentacles emerged from Arak’s armor, climbing up his arms. He blocked with his left arm while bending his right arm into a fist, gathering dark attribute energy. The power of this strike was undoubtedly immense. As one of the dark horses in this Strongest Warrior Tournament, aside from his average intelligence, Arak’s strength was commendable.
Clang~
Feeling the impact on his left arm, Arak smirked beneath his visor. His right arm, fully charged, thrust forward.
As he threw the punch, Arak saw a large spray of blue crystal fragments scattering around him.
In reality, Su Xiao hadn’t struck Arak’s arm at all. He had manipulated Banishment to stab at Arak’s arm, while he himself had long stopped swinging his blade.
Arak’s right fist, seemingly capable of shattering everything, punched out, with Su Xiao right in front of him.
The wind pressure ruffled Su Xiao’s black hair. He raised his sword-wielding arm, a faint red gleam appearing at the center of his pupils.
Opening.
Su Xiao swung his arm downward, the pommel of the blade aimed straight at Arak’s right arm.
Thud!
The pommel of Dragon-Slaying Flash slammed hard into Arak’s wrist. Arak’s powerful punch swept past Su Xiao and began to veer downward—a big move hitting the ground.
The ground beneath Su Xiao and Arak exploded, mud mixed with grass clippings shooting into the air.
Su Xiao suddenly appeared before Arak. A cold gleam magnified in Arak’s eyes. He immediately judged it was the blade tip—not that the enemy was thrusting, but that he was actively charging into it. His punch had missed, and for some reason, his entire body was numb.
Time seemed to slow. Arak could only watch as he inched toward the blade tip, while the tentacles emerging from his armor gaps were too slow to entangle the sword.
Pfft!
The longsword pierced into Arak’s eye socket. Su Xiao felt a tremendous force transmitted through the blade—the forward momentum from Arak’s missed big move.
As mud surged around them, Su Xiao used Arak’s momentum, gripping the sword with both hands. He swung Arak in a large arc above himself, then reversed his grip, stabbing downward.
With a crack, the blade tip pierced through the head armor at the back of Arak’s skull and embedded into the ground. Arak fell onto his back, the ground immediately sinking into a pit beneath him.
Mud rained down like droplets. Lying in the pit, Arak raised his right arm and grasped the blade of Dragon-Slaying Flash.
“Are you… the strongest… at this stage… in Reincarnation Paradise?”
Arak wasn’t a complete monster; he still retained a human body structure. He didn’t know why, but deep down, he never wanted to fully “deify” himself.
If Dawn had seen this, he would have told Arak that this was his final defiance as a human, as a World Child—an instinctive defiance.
Su Xiao didn’t answer Arak’s question. He slowly clenched his left fist, and Banishment began wreaking havoc inside Arak’s chest cavity. Until the enemy died in battle, the fight wasn’t over.
[Prompt: You have killed Doom Star · World Child · Arak.]
[Since Arak is not within Doom Star, the rewards for killing a World Child are reduced.]
[Since Arak is not within Doom Star, the Hunter will not suffer world rejection or backlash.]
[You have obtained ‘Arak’s Box (World Child Exclusive Chest)’.]
[Achievement Quest: Sky-Sweeping Surge completion +13% (originally could increase by 27%; due to Arak not being within Doom Star and lacking his world’s blessing, kill rewards are reduced.]
[Achievement Quest: Sky-Sweeping Surge (96% completed)]
Difficulty Level: Lv.4 ~ Lv.?
Quest Briefing: For each plot protagonist killed, gain corresponding quest completion.
Quest Info: Protagonist? Merely so-so. Become a soul beneath my blade. The strong live, the weak die.
Quest Duration: None.
Quest Reward: Calculated based on final completion.
Prompt: This quest can be completed immediately. Since completion is not at 100%, this is a chain achievement quest. If submitted at current completion, total rewards will decrease by 30%.
…
A choice lay before Su Xiao: complete Sky-Sweeping Surge immediately, or continue accumulating, seeking the remaining 4% quest completion.
If he hadn’t learned about places like the Transcendent Primordial World, Su Xiao might have sacrificed some rewards to finish Sky-Sweeping Surge right away.
Given the number of Transcendent Primordial Worlds participating in this Strongest Warrior Tournament, Su Xiao didn’t believe he wouldn’t encounter a second World Child. After all, this quest had been accumulating for a long time, from his first rank to now.