Chapter 65: The Hammer
Su Xiao changed his target, and the leader of the National Football Team took the opportunity to stand up.
"You want to kill me? Dream on. But damn, that really hurts."
Although the National Football Team leader was grimacing in pain, a smug grin spread across his face. The fighting style of the Three Brothers of National Football was to wear the enemy down, pushing attrition warfare to its extreme.
The three were notoriously fond of ganging up on others. They would provoke lone wanderers and flee from adventure groups after striking a pose—truly the epitome of flashy and cunning.
"Health is at 70%, already below the safe range."
The National Football Team leader's definition of a safe range was baffling. For most people, health above 50% was considered safe, while for Su Xiao, it was 20%. The National Football Team was unique in this regard; their safe range was health above 80%.
Just as the National Football Team leader was about to heal himself, his expression drastically changed.
"How is my mana... empty?!"
Detecting this anomaly, the National Football Team leader reluctantly spent a hefty amount of Paradise Coins to check the battle log. Upon seeing the long list of combat records, he shuddered in fear.
[You have taken 270 damage (120 base slashing damage + 103 weapon edge damage + 34 true damage + 13 bleeding damage).]
[Unknown energy burns 34 of your mana points.]
[Unknown energy burns 34 of your mana points.]
[You have taken 283 damage...]
[This is an estimated calculation, not an exact value. Due to various factors, the data error is within 2% to 5%.]
Seeing this gut-wrenching attack power, the National Football Team leader grew timid. If this were an ordinary contractor, a single slash might have resulted in instant death.
What did it mean to have four judgments in one strike? After seeing the edge damage and true damage, the National Football Team leader had already made up his mind: run. This place was not safe to linger.
What made him even more desperate was that each attack from the enemy also burned mana. The National Football Team leader swore he had never seen such a shameless ability.
"Brothers, this guy is no joke. The wind is tight—let's bail."
The second and third members of the National Football Team were about to counterattack Su Xiao when they saw the battle log their leader had sent.
Their legs trembled, and their eyes immediately locked onto the mana-burning notification.
The three were indeed tough to take down, but that relied on them healing each other. Without mana, they would die quickly.
"Big brother, we can't run. This guy's agility is over 30 points."
The second member showed a grim expression. He wanted to flee too, but after glancing at his own agility of only 17 points, he silently tightened his grip on the baseball bat.
The National Football Team leader made a snap decision. At that moment, the third member was being slashed, letting out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
"Second brother, hammer tactic."
"Got it!"
The National Football Team leader reluctantly took out a potion. After drinking it, blue light flickered around him, restoring about 20% of his mana.
"Holy Light Hammer."
"Holy Light Hammer."
The leader and second member roared simultaneously, forming a short-handled, golden-glowing hammer in their hands.
"Go for it."
They both hurled the Holy Light Hammers. The golden hammers spun through the air toward Su Xiao.
Hearing the sound of wind behind him, Su Xiao stopped his slash and lightly flicked the blood off Dragon-Slaying Flash. The third member of the National Football Team took the chance to stand up and bolt.
Su Xiao sidestepped and leaped. While mid-air, he noticed that the two golden hammers could still change direction—they likely had a tracking effect.
Halting his retreat, Su Xiao slightly narrowed his pupils, activating his perception. He captured the flight trajectories of the two hammers.
Dragon-Slaying Flash swept through the air as Su Xiao struck one of the hammers.
The golden hammer appeared solid but shattered on contact, dissolving into golden light that enveloped Dragon-Slaying Flash and quickly wrapped around Su Xiao.
[You have been affected by the Holy Light Hammer's immobilization effect. Duration: 2 seconds.]
Being immobilized for 2 seconds was nothing unusual, but there were two golden hammers. Moreover, the third member of the National Football Team also drank a potion, restored his mana, and generated another Holy Light Hammer, hurling it at Su Xiao.
While Su Xiao was immobilized, the second Holy Light Hammer arrived. Unlike the first, this one struck Su Xiao directly.
[You have been affected by the Holy Light Hammer's immobilization effect. Duration: 5 seconds.]
It didn't end there. The third Holy Light Hammer also arrived.
[You have been affected by the Holy Light Hammer's immobilization effect. Duration: 5 seconds.]
[Prompt: Detected that the Hunter is simultaneously under three control effects. Judging...]
[Judgment complete. The three effects do not conflict. You will be immobilized for 12 seconds. Already immobilized for 2 seconds. Remaining immobilization time: 10 seconds.]
This was the National Football Team's strongest ability. The Holy Light Hammer was originally just an ordinary skill, but these three oddballs had stubbornly leveled it up to level 30. At level 30, the derived effects became absurd.
Tracking, no judgment, cumulative stacking of effects.
At this moment, the three members of the National Football Team wore smug smiles. The third member even tidied up his hair~.
They were preparing to flee. Although they had Su Xiao under control, their earlier exchange had made it clear that Su Xiao was no glass-cannon, high-damage melee fighter. He had endured over a dozen of their baseball bat strikes without changing his expression, barely caring about their attacks.
Realizing this, the National Football Team leader laughed in frustration. How could there be such a versatile contractor? Was this the benefit of simultaneously enhancing four attributes?
"Brothers, form up! Prepare to retreat."
Please don't misunderstand. The Three Brothers of National Football weren't setting up a teleportation array. They just wanted to strike a pose before leaving, then jump out the window and escape...
Just as the three were about to strike a pose, they suddenly sensed something was wrong.
Silver light flickered around Su Xiao, rapidly dispelling the golden light that had immobilized him. This was the ability of his [Mithril Holy Ring (Purple)].
Equipment Effect: Mithril Combustion (Active). Using this skill removes all control effects on the wearer. (Control effects released by those with less than 35 intelligence points.)
Prompt: Mithril Combustion (Active) consumes 100 mana points.
Prompt: Mithril Combustion (Active) cooldown is 18 hours.
...
Su Xiao regained his freedom and coldly stared at the three members of the National Football Team. He had a strange feeling—these three clowns didn't seem to have any killing intent. It appeared they weren't trying to kill him but rather wanted to defeat him and extort some valuables.
Shaking his head, Su Xiao wondered if such contractors could really exist in Reincarnation Paradise.
This time, Su Xiao's judgment was wrong. The Three Brothers of National Football were indeed like that. They had never killed any contractor or plot character. Their creed was to take no lives.
Although their behavior was eccentric and somewhat annoying, the three were among the few good people in Reincarnation Paradise.
"Oh no, this freak has immunity to control."
"Big brother, should we still strike the pose?" the slightly naive third member asked.
The leader's vision darkened. At a time like this, who cared about striking a pose? Were they asking for death?
"Strike your sister! Retreat!"
The leader grabbed the third member, afraid he would dwell on how to "strike his sister," which would waste time. That freakishly strong guy was already charging at them.
The three jumped out the window simultaneously. Seconds later, the sound of heavy impacts hitting the ground echoed in succession.
Su Xiao stood at the shattered window, watching the three limping away into the distance.
"The Three Brothers of National Football, huh."
Leaving the window, Su Xiao didn't underestimate the three because of their goofy antics. Their control abilities were formidable, and any one of them could serve as a top-tier main tank. No matter which adventure group they joined, they would be highly valued.