Chapter 17: Enemies Too Precious to Kill
Fog City, Razor Street.
This was a place of chaos, a gathering ground for killers, gang members, and fugitives. If crime couldn't be eradicated, then concentrate it—that was the Fog City mayor's approach, and Razor Street was born from that philosophy.
Inside a two-story building on Razor Street, structures like this typically served as gang hideouts or places to sell illegal weapons, such as high-powered firearms.
In the basement of the two-story building, cluttered wooden crates were haphazardly stacked along both walls. On three crates arranged in a row in the middle, firearms of various lengths were laid out. These weapons showed clear signs of use and poor maintenance.
"Hurry up and pick, then get out. Long guns are 1200 Schiller, short guns are 3000 Schiller and up. Buy three, get 50 bullets free."
Several vicious-looking thugs were staring at Su Xiao, who sat on a wooden crate. Their impatience was obvious. The fact that short guns cost more than long guns was common knowledge on Razor Street—short guns were easier to conceal, making them the preferred choice for assassinations or revenge.
"Hey, I'm talking to you. You deaf or what?"
"New face. Just dispose of him. Don't make a mess everywhere."
A thug who looked like a gang leader headed for the stairs, planning to go back to the first floor and continue his afternoon nap. The moment he stepped onto the stairs, a tall figure stooped through the basement doorway.
"Who the hell are you—"
*Schlick.*
Like plucking a peach, the tall figure casually tore off the minor leader's head and tossed it aside like trash.
The headless corpse toppled over, and the moment it hit the ground, the other weapon dealers were smashed against the walls, turning into several flattened masses. Wooden crates shattered, scattering splinters across the floor.
Ten Dark Fiends entered the basement. They were all silent, blocking the front of the underground space. Inside, Su Xiao sat on a wooden crate.
"The relics of a God Hunter, fallen into the hands of these desperadoes... or perhaps one of them is a descendant of that God Hunter? How ironic. Is this how the Watch Guild treats the blood relatives of a God Hunter?"
Metal high heels clicked against the floor as a figure draped in a loose white robe with eerie green pupils descended the stairs. It was Wraith: Nightmare.
Nightmare looked Su Xiao up and down, trying to determine where he might have hidden the Hunter's relics. She guessed they were probably in his inner clothing.
"Attack."
At Nightmare's command, all ten Dark Fiends charged forward. In the cramped basement, six of the ten Wraiths ran along the walls on either side, while one crawled across the ceiling.
*Pop.* A black bubble burst beside Su Xiao. This was one of the Dark Fiend's abilities. After the bubble exploded, it formed a vortex resembling a black hole, about a meter in diameter, generating powerful suction.
The crate beneath Su Xiao shattered with a crack. His coat hem was pulled upward, and the surrounding walls split with sharp snapping sounds.
'Blade Path Sword: Ring Break.'
*Clang.*
A circular slash radiated outward. The three Dark Fiends charging head-on staggered back, blood spraying from their chests. Just as they were about to be severed in two, flesh surged at their wounds, reconnecting their bisected bodies.
At the base of the stairs, Nightmare thrust one hand into the ceiling. One of her metal high heels had its heel severed. Both metal shoes fell off her feet, revealing her translucent soles.
Nightmare's body wasn't a simple spirit form. The physical body she inhabited had been fully spiritualized by her—skin, muscles, bones, and blood had all become semi-transparent.
*Boom!* The basement collapsed, exposing the surrounding dirt. The two-story building above shattered into large chunks that flew into the air before crashing onto the street.
Blood splattered around Su Xiao. None of the Dark Fiends could get within three meters of him, but the Third Stage Dark Fiends had tremendous vitality and various dark-attribute abilities.
A massive axe wreathed in black smoke swept past Su Xiao's head. He ducked low while delivering a straight kick.
*Bang!* Su Xiao's kick created a shockwave. A Dark Fiend exploded starting from its abdomen, its fragmented body blasting backward like shotgun pellets, riddling the two Dark Fiends behind it. His Lv.44 Melee Grandmaster title wasn't just for show.
'Blade Path Sword: Slay.'
*Whoosh!* Su Xiao swung his blade, unleashing a massive crimson chain that shredded a Dark Fiend lunging at his left side.
After the slash, Su Xiao used the impact to take two steps forward. His longsword reached its maximum cutting speed, leaving trails of cold light in the air.
After a rapid series of slashes, Su Xiao leaped backward. *Boom!* A pitch-black pillar of light struck the ground in front of him, as if descending from the sky.
The moment Su Xiao landed, the Dark Fiend he had just slashed repeatedly finally reacted. Its body shattered into pieces the size of fingernail clippings.
Around Su Xiao, the remaining six Dark Fiends were stunned. They hadn't even touched their enemy, yet nearly half were already dead or wounded. Sharpness, brutality, and bloodlust washed over them—that was their combat impression of Su Xiao.
"Don't hesitate."
Nightmare's shout came from behind. Hearing this, the six Dark Fiends' eyes hardened. They weren't mindless monsters. To accomplish their mission, they were willing to die here.
"We must... take it!"
A Dark Fiend roared as it lunged forward. Its body suddenly swelled, and pale, jagged spikes erupted from all over its form. The other Dark Fiends did the same.
In an instant, Su Xiao was enveloped by six Dark Fiends charging at full force. His longsword pointed diagonally at the ground as the surroundings plunged into pitch-black darkness.
'Blade Path Sword: Absolute Darkness.'
A sharp ringing of slashes. Three intersecting dark-blue crescent cuts flashed through. When the darkness faded, large chunks of Dark Fiend remains and blood flew past Su Xiao on both sides.
As the blood and shattered remains hung in midair, they began to glow intensely, as if about to explode.
*Boom!*
All the blood and remains detonated. In the explosion, the green light in Nightmare's eyes dimmed slightly. This was one of her two strongest abilities: Bloom. The other was Wither.
Nightmare transformed into a white blur, charging straight at Su Xiao. But as she closed within two meters, she sensed spatial fluctuations. This immediately made her realize that her enemy had evaded her Bloom. Yet she wasn't afraid. In her current state, while she could no longer harm her enemy, he couldn't harm her either.
Nightmare moved with ghostly speed behind Su Xiao, her arms reaching forward as if to embrace him.
Azure Steel Shadow energy gathered in Su Xiao's left hand. He reached back over his shoulder, grabbing for Nightmare's neck.
Like a gust of wind passing through, Su Xiao's hand grasped nothing. Nightmare passed through him, reaching his front before floating upward as if weightless.
Nightmare drifted dozens of meters into the air, a pale-gold Hunter's badge pinched between her fingers.
Inside the crater blasted out by the battle, Su Xiao pressed a hand to his chest, as if checking whether the item in his inner pocket was still there. Finding it gone, he tilted his head up slightly, squinting at Nightmare.
"I'll take the relic."
Leaving those words, Nightmare drifted away into the distance. What she didn't know was that if Su Xiao had struck her with his blade, even as a top-tier Wraith, she wouldn't have been able to withstand it. Soul damage wasn't easy to endure. If she had tried to control Su Xiao with some ability, she would have been in for a surprise—his Soul Gaze ability also dealt true damage.
Flicking the blood off his blade, a smile appeared on Su Xiao's face. He wouldn't kill Nightmare easily. Not only was she difficult to kill, but even if he could, he wouldn't do so until he had collected all the relics within the Rhine Kingdom. The reason was simple.
[Notification: You have killed a Third Stage Dark Fiend.]
[You have obtained 51 Soul Coins.]
[You have killed a Third Stage Dark Fiend...]
[You have obtained a total of 527 Soul Coins.]
With this rate of Soul Coin acquisition, Su Xiao naturally wouldn't kill Nightmare easily. He was counting on her to bring more Third Stage Dark Fiends to him.
Even for Su Xiao, Third Stage Dark Fiends were troublesome—not in combat, but because they were so hard to find. Yet Nightmare had brought ten of them at once.
As for the Hunter relic Nightmare had taken, Su Xiao hadn't actually obtained any Hunter relic earlier. He had publicly had Bubu Wang guard the train station, but in reality, he had sent Bubu to find the wealthy merchant to acquire the Hunter relic.
The relic Nightmare had taken from Su Xiao—if she wanted it, he had three more. This was actually one of four old Hunter relics, worth 19, 23, 27, and 32 World Reputation points respectively. The relic worth 19 points had been taken by Nightmare.
The old Hunter badges had been soaked and dyed in alchemical solution to turn them into a unique pale gold, passing them off as God Hunter badges. What made the forgery even more convincing was that the badge Nightmare took did contain a trace of World Force—just a very small amount.
Su Xiao had originally planned to use this item to lure out the Fierce Ghost. But after discovering that Nightmare had brought ten Third Stage Dark Fiends, he decided to let her take it. Trading one relic for 527 Soul Coins was a ridiculously profitable deal.