Chapter 23: Victory (Fourth Update, Monthly Ticket Bonus)
Dika slammed a heavy punch.
Bang.
A chunk of Su Xiao's left shoulder was blasted off, his left arm hanging limply.
Enduring the numbness spreading through half his body, Su Xiao's form radiated a bloody light, his muscles swelling slightly as he activated his bracer's attached skill.
'Bull Lord's Wrath (Active): After activating this skill, Strength +15 for 10 seconds.'
'Note: Bull Lord's Wrath (Active) cooldown is 10 natural days.'
'Note: Activating Bull Lord's Wrath (Active) consumes 30% of current Health Points.'
A large portion of Su Xiao's blood was drained away, converted into power, boosting his Strength attribute from the original 29 points to 44 points for ten seconds.
Dragon-Slashing Flash sliced through the air, emitting a terrifying howl. Flames of blood seemed to burn in Su Xiao's eyes.
The long blade swept past, severing anything that blocked its edge.
Pfft.
Half a piece of skull and an arm flew up. Dika screamed in agony, his figure vanishing.
Drip, drip.
Blood dripped from his fingertips. Su Xiao gasped heavily as the effects of the [Bull Lord's Bracers] faded, the surging sense of power within him dissipating.
He looked up at his enemy. The right side of Dika's face had been sliced off, revealing the stark white skull beneath.
A clean cut marked the skull, even exposing the brain directly.
Dika tore a strip of cloth from his body and wrapped it around his head, a precaution to prevent his brains from spilling out during a teleport.
Dika's right arm was severed, leaving only one attacking arm, greatly reducing his threat.
Su Xiao had a large hole in his chest, his left shoulder blasted away, his left arm hanging uselessly, rendering his Realm Severing Thread unusable.
After two rounds of combat, both sides were severely wounded.
Seizing the moment while Dika gasped for breath, Su Xiao slowly retreated until his back hit the barrier's edge, leaning against it.
He didn't believe Dika could teleport out of this barrier. It was the highest-level ability in the Parasite World.
"Continue."
Blood trickled from the corner of Su Xiao's mouth. The enemy before him was somewhat similar to himself—both seeking revenge, both equally ruthless.
"Fine."
Dika clenched his left fist. The Kala Star race respected one type of person above all: the strong. Whether it was Tuka before or Dika now.
A brutal slaughter began. Su Xiao focused solely on defense, never initiating an attack. Against an enemy who could teleport, attacking was a waste of stamina.
Bubuteni lurked not far away, ready to take a punch for Su Xiao at any moment. This fool's abilities were quite underhanded, not only possessing an aura that restored 1 Health Point per second but also secretly healing Su Xiao.
A war of attrition commenced. After severely wounding Dika, Su Xiao stopped risking his life. He could potentially kill the enemy, but doing so might also cost him his own life. He didn't fear death, but trading his life for this enemy's wasn't worth it.
Su Xiao kept his distance from Dika, fearing one scenario: Dika teleporting him outside the whale into the sea. If that happened, he was as good as dead.
The attrition battle continued. Relying on the Snow Goddess's Halo, Su Xiao's endurance wasn't weak. Restoring 1 Health Point per second meant 60 per minute. The battle dragged on for several dozen minutes, with the Snow Goddess Halo restoring thousands of Health Points for Su Xiao.
Two minutes remained until the coordinate was successfully established. Su Xiao sat blood-soaked against the barrier, a large hole in his abdomen. Three times, Dika had nearly teleported him into the sea, but at the most critical moments, Su Xiao slashed at Dika's vital points, forcing him to abort the teleport.
Dika needed at least 2 seconds to teleport someone with him. Su Xiao had deduced this during the dozens of minutes of combat.
Dika could teleport once every 7 seconds. Within 3 seconds after a teleport, he could use the residual spatial fluctuations to teleport again. After that, he had to wait another 7 seconds.
Throughout the battle, Su Xiao continuously gathered information on his enemy. Dika's figure was undetectable by any detection equipment.
By now, Su Xiao couldn't get up. All his recovery items, like [Royal Secret Medicine] and [Delicious Chocolate], were depleted. Bubuteni lay half-dead in the distance, having taken two punches for Su Xiao.
Dika wasn't faring well either. One arm was severed, a third of his skull was cut away, and his torso bore over a dozen deep slash marks. A triangular hole was punched through the center of his chest, clearly revealing his beating heart and writhing organs.
Dika's intestines dragged on the ground as he struggled toward Su Xiao. With each step, more of his guts spilled out.
The barrier was thick with the heavy stench of blood. The battle's brutality was beyond imagination.
Dika laboriously approached Su Xiao, stopping to gasp for air after every step, leaving a trail of blood along the sperm whale's esophagus.
Su Xiao tried to sit up but failed after several attempts. He sheathed Dragon-Slashing Flash and drew the Shattered Elf, mustering the last of his strength to raise his arm.
Trembling, he raised the Shattered Elf and fired a few shots, but his unsteady hand only landed one hit on Dika.
Dika took a bullet to the shoulder, staggering for a long moment, nearly collapsing.
Both Su Xiao and Dika were spent. Bubuteni tried to stand and protect his master but failed after several attempts, his four legs splayed out, blood matting his once-pristine fur. Discontent burned in Bubu's eyes.
Bubuteni was different from ordinary Imperial Tool creatures. He was more akin to a normal living being, with flesh and blood.
Su Xiao slumped against the barrier, putting away the Shattered Elf. The World Coordinate... ten more seconds until generation!
Trembling, Su Xiao pulled out a cigarette and lit it, the blood on his fingers staining it. He took a deep drag.
"I win."
Smiling at his enemy, Su Xiao exhaled a plume of smoke.
Dika could no longer hear what Su Xiao was saying. The severe brain damage had severely impaired his hearing.
[Announcement: Third Coordinate successfully established. War Victory!]
[Announcement: Space Battlefield concluded. This Space Battlefield ends in Victory.]
All surviving contractors received this notification. They burst from their hiding spots, cheering, shouting, some even weeping openly.
The Space Battlefield was hell, an arena, a meat grinder. But it was all over.
Contractors were teleported away one by one, entering a temporary rest space.
Su Xiao also received a flood of notifications. Not far away, Dika let out a roar of unwillingness as his body was gradually disassembled—the Reincarnation Paradise's forced execution ability.
[War concluded. Arbiter identity revoked.]
Su Xiao's Arbiter abilities vanished. The floating screen beside him disappeared, and his attire returned to normal.
[Arbiter identity revoked. Protection measures initiated. Beginning modification of contractor memories related to Arbiter identity.]
Su Xiao's expression brightened. It seemed he wouldn't need to change his "alias." He had wondered earlier why Reincarnation Paradise would let him share a cabin with contractors heading to the derivative world. Now he understood—there were protection measures in place.
The memories of Adam and others seeing Su Xiao in front of the spaceship began to blur, eventually replaced by trivial matters, like chatting with some contractor in front of the cabin.
The memories of God King, Flash Gold, and others were modified. The modifications pertained to the "White Night" identity, not the existence of the Arbiter.
In the surviving contractors' memories, the Arbiter seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
[Evaluating Arbiter performance in this world...]
[Evaluation complete. Arbiter performance: Excellent! Special reward granted. Hunter may choose one of the following options.]
A: 50,000 Paradise Coins.
B: Purple Chest ×1 (Items obtained from this chest have a minimum rating of 140.)
C: Golden Honor Scroll (This is a Golden reward, given based on the combined Arbiter and Hunter identities.)
Note: Golden Honor Scroll: Can raise a Technique-type ability by one rank. Technique-type abilities are ranked as: Basic, Proficient, Specialized, Master... Insufficient permissions to view further ranks.
Note: Golden Honor Scroll can raise abilities up to the 'Specialized' rank at most.
...
When Su Xiao saw Option C, his heart burned with desire. His 'Blade Specialization' was a Specialized-rank Technique ability. If he obtained this scroll, Blade Specialization would be elevated to Blade Master!
What Blade Master entailed, Su Xiao didn't know, but he was about to possess this ability.
.