Chapter 71: Domain of Death
After devouring the soul energy on Amu's surface, Su Xiao kicked Amu away, sending him flying to the edge of the valley where Bubu Wang was located.
While Amu was still midair, the arm embedded in his neck was yanked out, only to be swallowed by a surge of incoming soul energy.
This half-arm appeared in Rogesh's hand. He pressed the arm back to the severed stump, and two strands of black hair stitched the broken limb together.
Crack, crack.
Rogesh flexed his right arm, a smile seemingly appearing on his face. The fierce battle just now had allowed him to regain some semblance of human emotion.
"The mask fusion isn't perfect enough. Even emotions are being dulled. Fortunately, I've temporarily found them again."
Rogesh's long black hair drifted. He looked at Su Xiao with some confusion. From a moment ago, Su Xiao had been standing there, unmoving.
Crack, crack, crack~
Ice suddenly appeared, enveloping Rogesh. This was the opportunity created by Amu nearly dying in battle.
Water splashed beneath Su Xiao's feet as the stone layer shattered. He charged at full speed to Rogesh's front.
'Blade Path Sword: Nether Abyss.'
The surroundings turned pitch black. Rogesh also experienced what it felt like to be in darkness.
Rogesh, now an ice sculpture, broke free in less than 0.2 seconds, but for Su Xiao, that was enough.
Three slashing marks intersected, cutting into Rogesh's neck. The cutting force of 'Nether Abyss,' after breaking through Rogesh's dark barrier, was insufficient to severely wound him.
Su Xiao suddenly sidestepped. At his previous location, the rock layer had sunken in—it was Rogesh's 'Dark: Force Crush.' This ability wasn't actually suitable for wide-area use. When concentrated and brought down, even Su Xiao would be pressed to the point of immobility.
While sidestepping midair, the Realm Severing Thread flew out from Su Xiao's sleeve, embedding itself diagonally across from him. He pulled hard, breaking through the air blast, and appeared at Rogesh's side.
'Blade Path Sword...'
Su Xiao assumed a stance as if to unleash 'Blade Path Sword: Extreme.' Rogesh immediately judged Su Xiao's position and preemptively constructed a dark barrier.
Su Xiao changed the slash into a straight kick. Almost simultaneously, he activated the Dragon Shadow Flash ability. He hadn't used Dragon Shadow Flash until now, waiting for this moment.
Su Xiao vanished from Rogesh's side and appeared directly in front of his enemy, kicking straight into Rogesh's abdomen.
Boom!!
Rogesh's body bent forward, his entire body numb. With a thud, he dropped to one knee, his head lowered.
Su Xiao raised his longsword, the muscles on his right arm slightly bulging, and slashed down at Rogesh's neck.
With his head lowered, Rogesh seemed to be smiling.
'Dark: Domain of Death.'
The dark core floating above suddenly released pitch-black rays. These rays swept wildly in all directions, cutting everything within 300 meters.
"Owww."
Bubu Wang yelped in pain as a large chunk of flesh was sliced from its rear. Although Baha had almost been a goner earlier, he had sensed trouble and opened an alternate space. Now, Bubu Wang and Amu were entering that alternate space.
Amidst the cutting of the dark rays, Su Xiao dodged using his instinct. The whimpering sound of cutting persisted in his ears.
These dark rays were extremely dangerous. If struck once, there was no escaping the subsequent rays. Even with Su Xiao's current survivability, he would die on the spot, cut into many pieces.
Before the dark rays subsided, Rogesh, who was beneath the dark core, stood up. He raised both arms, and black-red energy erupted from him as the center.
After this black-red energy spread 500 meters outward, it began to contract inward. A powerful suction force appeared—'Dark: Devour,' an ability capable of absorbing life force over a wide area.
Dark rays cut around Su Xiao. The sudden suction force caused his body to pause.
Whoosh~
A large chunk of flesh was sliced from Su Xiao's shoulder. The wound seemed to be crawling with 'ants,' which were still gnawing at the flesh of the wound.
Su Xiao's health plummeted rapidly. In a very short time, his health had dropped by over 40%.
After a moment, the dark rays and suction force both disappeared. Su Xiao crushed a bottle of [Vitality Potion] in his hand. The liquid was absorbed through his skin, entering his body, and his health began to recover.
Opposite him, Rogesh's injuries had fully healed. He raised his right hand, and four dark cores floated out from his palm.
As soon as the four dark cores appeared, Su Xiao had already rushed to Rogesh's front, thrusting his longsword at the enemy's face.
'Dark: Domain of Death.'
Zzzt!!
All five dark cores released dark rays. There was nowhere to hide. Among these five dark cores, four were positioned at the four corners, and one was at the center.
All the dark rays were projected in multiple directions. Thousands of dark rays left no room within 300 meters. Anyone here would be pierced by the dark rays and then shredded.
All the dark rays began to move, cutting chaotically. A few dark rays swept across Su Xiao's body as he entered a state of space penetration.
Su Xiao could only penetrate space for about 0.5 seconds, while the surrounding Domain of Death would last at least 10 seconds. The situation was somewhat unsolvable.
Su Xiao's body gradually emerged from the space penetration state. Four crystal spikes formed at his fingertips, containing compressed Azure Steel Shadow energy.
Whoosh~
The four crystal spikes were thrown by Su Xiao. As he exited the space penetration state, a crystal layer spread over his body. At the same time, the four flying crystal spikes also stopped penetrating space.
Boom, boom, boom...
Four muffled sounds came. The compressed Azure Steel Shadow energy within the crystal spikes devoured and annihilated the four dark cores above.
The surrounding dark rays were about to start cutting Su Xiao's body but suddenly disappeared by about four-fifths. Only one dark core remained, continuing to emit dark rays in midair. This left gaps between the dark rays, giving Su Xiao room to dodge.
Ten seconds later, the dark core in midair converged its soul energy. All the dark rays gradually thinned and eventually dissipated into the air.
Crisis averted? Not quite. Would a powerful enemy like Rogesh just watch from a distance for a full ten seconds? Of course not. He had been brewing some kind of attack all along.
A sound of breaking wind came head-on. Su Xiao leaped backward with all his might. He had barely jumped half a meter when a cold sensation appeared on his chest.
Pfft!
A slender, pitch-black spike, as thick as an arm and five meters long, pierced through Su Xiao's chest, pinning him to the ground in a standing position. His health plummeted to 4.7%.
A shadowy figure made of darkness stood behind Rogesh. This shadow held a pitch-black spike, seemingly ready to throw another strike to finish Su Xiao off.
The timer in Su Xiao's pocket sounded. This meant he had successfully held out for five minutes, triggering the second-stage bonus effect of the Dragon Hunter Set.
A massive surge of life force poured into Su Xiao's body. The [Glory of the Dragon Hunter] pendant around his neck almost seemed to burn into his skin.
Boom.
The spike in the shadow's hand was thrown. It first disappeared, then reappeared right before Su Xiao's eyes.
Clang! The longsword struck it as if hitting a solid object, shattering the incoming dark spike.
Su Xiao slapped with his left hand, shattering the dark spike that had pierced his chest. The shortsword [Whisper of the Soul] appeared in his left hand, and he stabbed it toward his own chest.
Su Xiao did this to maintain the second-stage bonus effect of the Dragon Hunter Set.
Set Effect: When the Dragon Hunter (Active) bonus effect ends, if the wearer's health is below 50%, they will gain a health recovery effect. This is a continuous recovery effect until their health rises above 50%.
From now on, as long as Su Xiao's health didn't recover above 50%, this recovery effect would persist until the durability of [Glory of the Dragon Hunter] reached zero.
Had the battle just begun? No, it would end soon. Rogesh was indeed very strong, but he was about to learn just how terrifying a Technique-Type fighter with continuous recovery could be.
Blood energy dispersed around Su Xiao. A blood beast phantom appeared behind him, grinning fiercely at Rogesh ahead.