Chapter 30: Technique vs Technique
After taking Su Xiao's slash, Ice Lord's entire back went numb, and he instinctively lunged forward.
"Cocoa!!"
Ice Lord, a burly man, let out a somewhat shrill shout. This showed just how much psychological damage that single slash—which carried true damage, soul damage, defense-ignoring damage, and blade-edge damage—had inflicted on him.
Dozens of meters away, Cocoa, hiding in the bushes, shrank her head back. She didn't know why Ice Lord was screaming so miserably, but she still raised her short staff and used her healing ability on him.
A golden afterimage flew toward Ice Lord. All this might take a while to describe, but only a few seconds had passed since these contractors first clashed with Su Xiao.
*Blade Path Sword: Time.*
With a *thump*, a shockwave spread out. The seven contractors charging toward Su Xiao slowed down. They were all melee or assassination types.
A half-meter-long golden energy arrow flew into the range of *Blade Path Sword: Time* and also slowed down. That was a healing ability.
*Clang!*
The long blade, surging with blue electric arcs, swept through. The golden energy arrow in midair was slashed to pieces. The seven contractors rushing in from all sides all saw this. Their expressions were as if they had seen a ghost, because their enemy had actually shattered their healer's ability.
The deactivated golden energy splashed onto Ice Lord's face. He didn't feel the usual sensation of bathing in sunlight; instead, his face stung a bit. If he checked his battle log, he would find that he had just taken 6 points of ability erosion damage.
*Blade Path Sword: Ring Break.*
Su Xiao sheathed the long blade in his hand. All seven contractors charging toward him changed their advance into a retreat. The sense of danger was too strong. Furthermore, the air around them was like amber, making their movements very slow.
*Clang!*
A ring-shaped cyan-blue slash wave expanded outward. Sometimes, the simpler the move, the more practical it was.
A silver bullet, two types of magical abilities, and a blazing white energy beam all slammed into Su Xiao.
*Boom!* Dust and smoke billowed. The seven melee fighters, injured to varying degrees, retreated, forming a circular encirclement around Su Xiao.
A gust of wind blew away the smoke. Blood dripped down Su Xiao's left arm. A silver bullet had pierced the crystal layer and embedded itself in his shoulder.
Su Xiao flexed his shoulder muscles. The distorted bullet inside his body was forced out by his muscles and Cyan Steel Shadow energy. He caught the twisted bullet in midair and assumed a throwing stance.
*Bang!!*
A blast of air exploded outward. The twisted bullet streaked through the air, leaving an afterimage. It flew past the cheek of a female sniper lying on a tree half a kilometer away, leaving a bloody scratch. 0.5 seconds later, her injured cheek twitched. A chill rose in her heart.
"Don't be scared. It's 20 against 1."
The contractor wielding the large blade shouted, charging at Su Xiao first.
The melee began. Su Xiao suddenly vanished from his spot and reappeared in front of Ice Lord. Ice Lord nearly let out a wail. He wanted to ask, "Brother, what grudge do you have against tanks? Isn't it better to kill someone else first?"
In truth, Su Xiao had no grudge against tanks. However, a tank's domain ability was a very special form of control, or rather, suppression. This suppression was something Su Xiao couldn't negate.
*Blade Path Sword: Ultim—*
Just as Su Xiao was about to strike, the space around him twisted. When the distortion ended, a very agile figure appeared beside him.
*Instant: Life Lock.*
Axiwa leaped up low. She wrapped her arms around Su Xiao's right hand holding the blade, turned her head, and bit down on the underside of his wrist. At the same time, her legs coiled around his neck. She only needed to maintain this hold for 1.5 seconds to completely lock down her enemy.
The Cyan Steel Shadow energy within Su Xiao converged, all gathering near his heart. A *thump* sounded from inside his body as his heart beat with great force, pumping blood throughout his body to prevent brain hypoxia from the carotid artery being compressed.
A crystal layer formed on Su Xiao's left hand. His palm was like a blade, with Banishment clinging to his fingertips, forming blade tips.
Su Xiao thrust his left hand horizontally, directly piercing into Axiwa's side. At that moment, the pupils in her eyes trembled.
Su Xiao's left hand pierced through flesh and organs, heading straight for Axiwa's heart. There were 0.6 seconds left before Su Xiao would be fully locked down.
Axiwa twisted her body, releasing his right arm and neck, then embraced him from behind. Just as she was about to lock her arms around his neck from behind, his elbow, wrapped in a crystal layer, rapidly enlarged before her eyes.
Axiwa only felt a *buzz* in her head, followed by the sound of a slashing attack coming from in front of her. The enemy seemed to know exactly what she was going to do next.
The reason Su Xiao was so adept at dealing with this technique-type enemy was mainly because of Sha. Sha also used a similar fighting style, but she focused on throws and kicks. She had once used a move called "Mad Scorpion Tail Whip" to kick Su Xiao away many times. However, after Su Xiao reached the Seventh Rank, Sha never mentioned sparring again.
*Blade Path Sword: Flow.*
A wind scar swept past. The three melee fighters charging at Su Xiao froze in place. The next moment, they fell to the ground, cut into six pieces.
"This bastard wasn't going all out when we were fighting for the Life Essence."
Axiwa knew the situation was hopeless. She seriously suspected that among all the contractors in this world, aside from the current Gask, the one they were now besieging was the strongest. Originally, his danger level was ranked fourth, lower than Gask, Gourmet, and Shenfu. But now, it seemed that wasn't the case.
*Blade Path Sword: Azure Demon.*
Su Xiao made a diagonal slash. The moment the slash wave flew out, he sidestepped to dodge a long dagger with spatial properties. Being hit by that weapon would be very bad.
"Roar."
A low growl came from nearby. A figure burst out from an alternate space, like a beast pouncing on its prey.
*Blade Path Sword: Extreme.*
A slash mark swept across. The figure that had leaped out from the alternate space became a headless corpse. Among all his blade techniques, aside from the still-incomplete Flow, Extreme had the highest lethality.
*Blade Path Sword: Time—*
Su Xiao unleashed a series of blade techniques, slashing the surrounding contractors into a daze.
"Retreat!"
Axiwa shouted. A magic circle appeared beneath everyone's feet, and they all vanished.
Su Xiao pressed one hand to the ground. Based on his experience, a spatial ability that teleported multiple people at once wouldn't send them too far.
A faint tremor came from the east. He vanished from his spot in a flash.
Several hundred meters away, a total of 16 contractors were fleeing for their lives. The originally planned encirclement and kill formation had collapsed due to Ice Lord's failure. If not for Axiwa being decisive enough and stalling Su Xiao for a moment, even retreating would have been difficult.
"Scatter. Meet at the predetermined location. I'll lead him away."
After saying this, Axiwa stopped in her tracks. But she waited for a full half minute, and Su Xiao didn't pursue.
A kilometer away, a perception-type contractor was panting heavily. He wasn't running very fast, but fortunately, the enemy hadn't chased him. Otherwise, he would have been dead for sure.
"Is Ice Lord blind?"
No sooner had the perception-type contractor spoken than he sensed a presence rapidly approaching. Then came dozens of interweaving blade slashes.
"You really think highly of me. Going this hard against a perception-type, huh?"
Su Xiao's solo fight against the perception-type contractor ended quickly. The surroundings fell silent. His earlier preparations had paid off. Of the contractors who had seen him go all out, aside from Hibier, all the others were dead. The bird that sticks its neck out gets shot. The one considered the strongest was easily targeted.
After waiting for over ten minutes, Su Xiao learned where these people's gathering point was. Bubu Wang, who had been blending into the environment, had been following the tank-type contractor, Ice Lord, the whole time.
Su Xiao took out the [Primordial Mask], dripped a drop of blood onto it, and put it on. His attire and aura rapidly changed, taking on the appearance of the perception-type contractor.