Chapter 46: Poisoned to Death by Himself
From a distance, the battle between the Heretic Execution Squad and the Tyrant was exceptionally spectacular. No, this wasn't a battle, it was the Tyrant being unilaterally abused.
The members of the Heretic Execution Squad didn't have overly powerful attack capabilities, the reason being that none of them had been killed or wounded yet. The power that should have been concentrated as one was now divided into twelve parts.
Even so, the strength of the Heretic Execution Squad was undeniable. Their sword techniques were as swift as startled swans, yet at times graceful and agile.
The Execution Squad members scattered, continuously slashing at the Tyrant suspended in midair. Some members performed spinning leaps and overhead chops in midair, while others thrust forward when the Tyrant was about to land, then executed a 360° spinning charge and slash, using their greatswords to send the Tyrant flying again.
If they surrounded the Tyrant and hacked at it from the center, only six to seven Execution Squad members would have a chance to strike. But if they sent the Tyrant flying three to four meters into the air, all twelve Execution Squad members could land hits on it.
When some Execution Squad members leaped up and performed overhead chops, others below the Tyrant would thrust upward with their swords.
It could only be said that with three healers protecting him, the Tyrant's survivability was indeed strong. No wonder he was a top-tier tank among Eighth Rank contractors.
The Heretic Execution Squad might not have encountered such a durable enemy in a while, so their coordination became even more tacit.
Molei witnessed all of this from within the barrier. She estimated that if she were in the Tyrant's place, she might leave this beautiful world in just a few seconds.
This scene was normal. In this space-time power transaction, although both sides were elite squads, they couldn't withstand the siege of a boss team.
In front of the barrier, the Celestial Arbiter never made a move. He was on guard against Su Xiao, or rather, he couldn't leave this spot. Once the barrier was breached, they would lose. The giant hammer from earlier had nearly cracked the first layer of the barrier.
A hundred meters away, Su Xiao glanced at the timer in his hand. This battle needed to end quickly; he couldn't wait any longer.
With this thought, Su Xiao stepped forward and walked toward the Celestial Arbiter. He could sense that the enemy's strength was formidable, but this kind of strength was different from the top-tier Eighth Rank contractors he encountered in the "War World" or "Fully Open Primordial World." Those were strong from accumulated combat experience, while the enemy before him seemed to have gained strength through resource accumulation.
Through observation, Su Xiao determined that the enemy was from the technology side. That made sense. The combat power of top-tier Eighth Rank technology-side contractors could sometimes be erratic, but one thing was certain: their attack capabilities were absurdly strong.
Seeing Su Xiao approaching, the Celestial Arbiter's body flickered as if interfered with by a signal. This wasn't his real body.
A towering mecha hidden behind the Celestial Arbiter gradually appeared. This mecha had been in stealth mode the entire time, and its emergence now made it look especially imposing.
This mecha was a hundred meters tall, with a solid, dark iron-black exterior. Many biological tissues hung from it like black cables.
Inside the mecha, the Celestial Arbiter opened his eyes. This was his real body. He pressed his hand against the flesh beside him, and black flesh extended tendrils that connected to various parts of his body.
Buzz!
The turbine at the center of the biological mecha's chest lit up. The hardest mechas to deal with weren't those where the pilot hid in the cockpit and controlled it with flashy maneuvers.
Even if the pilot's hand speed was incredibly fast, there would still be a delay. In Eighth Rank battles, that delay was fatal.
The truly troublesome mechas were all neural-linked, with the pilot integrated into the mecha's biological core. This was equivalent to obtaining a larger, tougher, and more durable body.
Boom, boom, boom...
The hundred-meter-tall biological mecha advanced. Its giant hand reached back, grasped the hilt of a blade on its back, and drew a 65-meter-long superconducting alloy sword. The blade glowed white as certain particles vibrated at high frequencies, greatly enhancing its cutting power.
Su Xiao looked up at the enemy before him. The biological mecha was a hundred meters tall, but he wasn't afraid of large enemies.
The biological mecha raised its left arm, and dozens of cannons extended outward. Green light glowed inside over a hundred cannons.
Boom, boom, boom...
Living missiles launched, all with tracking capabilities, flying toward Su Xiao in erratic trajectories.
"Blade Path: Slay."
Su Xiao slashed forward. With a whoosh, a massive blood-red energy blade shot out, engulfing the incoming living missiles. Explosions rang out incessantly.
Acid splattered everywhere, falling like a curtain of rain, corroding the ground with a hissing sound. Countless threadworms fell to the ground, writhing. That was the nature of biological mechas—they would use any means to kill the enemy.
The acid mist dispersed, and a sound of breaking wind came from in front of Su Xiao. This wasn't a 30-meter blade anymore; it was a 65-meter high-strength alloy sword.
Su Xiao wouldn't try to block it. The strength attribute of this biological mecha was definitely absurdly high.
He sidestepped, and while in midair, a loud crash came from his left. The giant alloy sword had struck the ground, and the wind pressure from the impact rushed toward him.
The moment his feet touched the ground, Su Xiao lunged forward, moving so fast he was almost flying at low altitude. In an extremely short time, he reached the feet of the biological mecha.
Crackle~
Electric arcs suddenly appeared around him, and Su Xiao's entire body went numb. This looked like electricity, but it wasn't. It was a wavelength that interfered with the nervous system, only manifesting so intensely that it formed electric arcs in the air.
Su Xiao abruptly stopped. The biological mecha in front of him raised its foot and stomped down toward him.
Thud! The ground shook, and the surrounding soil surged outward like water.
The cables on the biological mecha's body swayed, searching for Su Xiao's aura. The next moment, all the cables pointed in one direction.
Purple lasers shot from the tips of the cables, blasting the ground into clouds of dust. The flying soil was corroded away midair.
After completing this round of attacks, the biological mecha's back opened. With a puffing sound, it spewed out a sickly green mist that spread along the ground. When this mist touched the air, it emitted a hissing corrosive sound.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Biological pulses continued relentlessly, launching indiscriminate attacks within a one-kilometer radius.
Inside the barrier, several healers looked up at this scene. Their impression of Apocalypse Paradise contractors had greatly changed.
The acid mist spread around. The biological mecha's eyes began scanning the surroundings, searching for any living creature with life fluctuations.
Beep, beep, beep.
An urgent warning sound appeared in the Celestial Arbiter's ears. He had his eyes closed, and upon hearing this sound, his cheek twitched slightly. The enemy was still alive.
Inside the sickly green mist, Su Xiao's crystal layer was corroding with a hissing sound. He had held his breath. The enemy's relentless bombardment earlier had given him no chance to get close. Now, he finally had an opportunity.
"Blade Path: Flow."
Clang.
A graceful wind scar slashed through, cutting through numerous living missiles before striking the biological mecha's waist. Large amounts of white fluid splattered from the wound, and the black cables on the mecha's body writhed.
Inside the poison mist, Su Xiao ignored the stinging pain all over his body and charged at full speed beneath the biological mecha. He couldn't let the enemy continue its relentless bombardment. If he was suppressed under heavy fire, even he would die.
The wind howled in his ears. Su Xiao rushed beneath the biological mecha, and the muscles on his sword-wielding arm bulged slightly.
"Blade Path: Extreme."
A slash mark passed through the biological mecha's ankle. White fluid splattered. The towering biological mecha staggered a few steps before crashing down on one knee, sending dirt flying.
Clang, clang, clang!
Slash marks spread upward from the biological mecha's lower back. This thing was too massive, and its biological fluctuations were too strong, making it impossible to lock onto the pilot's position.
The biological mecha knelt on one knee, supporting itself with one hand. Su Xiao landed in front of it, and blood energy gathered behind him. The Blood Beast lunged out.
"Roar!"
The Blood Beast let out a roar before exploding. Amidst the blood energy, most of the biological mecha's chest was blown open, sending twisted metal structures and black flesh flying everywhere.
With a loud crash, the biological mecha fell to the ground. Inside it, the Celestial Arbiter opened his eyes. The battle was over. The "CHO-9529 Pseudo-Biological Mecha" wasn't meant for direct combat; it was designed to deal with individually powerful enemies. Its towering appearance was a decoy, making the enemy mistake it for a frontal assault-type biological mecha.
Following the Celestial Arbiter's command, the biological mecha turned into fluid, spreading flat across the ground.
As the biological mecha turned into fluid, Su Xiao leaped backward. The black fluid swept past beneath him.
The black fluid spread quickly and retracted even faster. All the black fluid around surged toward Su Xiao, instantly forming a giant sphere that then contracted.
In an extremely short time, the black sphere compressed from dozens of meters in size to the size of a fist. The Celestial Arbiter raised his hand, and the black sphere flew into his palm. His expression was grim. No kill notification had appeared.
The Celestial Arbiter deactivated the mecha's aggregation form. Large amounts of black fluid exploded outward, seemingly about to envelop him.
The biological mecha began to reconstruct rapidly, but it stopped halfway, starting to liquefy instead. Black water flowed everywhere.
The Celestial Arbiter landed, stepping on the black water. Although he didn't know what was happening, he took out a metal sphere. This was the real frontal combat-type biological mecha, only about a dozen meters tall, unlike the CHO-9529 Pseudo-Biological Mecha, which was too cumbersome. A mecha that was too big was just a target.
A blue-green slash shot toward him. The Celestial Arbiter sidestepped to dodge, but since all his resources were invested in the biological mecha, his own combat power, while not weak, wasn't particularly strong either.
The slash crossed the Celestial Arbiter's chest, sending blood droplets flying. He tossed the metal sphere in his hand. The sphere rapidly expanded, transforming into a dozen-meter-tall biological mecha that charged at Su Xiao, engaging in a chaotic battle with him.
The Celestial Arbiter took out an injection gun. The previous slash had been too vicious; he needed to recover from his injuries.
Taking advantage of an opportunity to push Su Xiao back, the Celestial Arbiter took out over a dozen more metal spheres. These spheres rapidly expanded, all transforming into dozen-meter-tall biological mechas.
The Celestial Arbiter entered one of these mechas. This was his true combat form—simultaneously controlling twelve biological mechas to besiege the enemy, making it impossible for the enemy to tell which mecha he was hiding in.
Inside the biological mecha, the Celestial Arbiter stabbed the injection gun into his neck. Having 39.42% of his health slashed off in one strike made him alarmed. The enemy was at least a Blade Grandmaster Lv.50 or above.
Just as the potion was injected into his neck, the Celestial Arbiter's neck veins bulged. His mouth opened as wide as possible as he struggled to breathe. The biological mecha encasing him rapidly dissolved, and the Celestial Arbiter crashed to the ground with a thud.
The Celestial Arbiter's pupils trembled. He figured out what had happened. When he was neurally linked to the "CHO-9529 Pseudo-Biological Mecha," the enemy had poisoned his blade and struck the mecha's pseudo-biological nerve. The poison had traveled through the mecha's pseudo-biological nerve into his body.
The Celestial Arbiter found this speculation absurd. How could there be such a potent poison? The reverse conduction characteristic of pseudo-biological nerves was A+ or above.
Before the Celestial Arbiter could figure it out, he vomited a large mouthful of blood.
"This... is impossible."
The Celestial Arbiter gasped for breath. Suddenly, he saw a wisp of smoke drift past in front of him. In that instant, he knew what had happened. He hadn't been poisoned while controlling the mecha. Instead, after leaving the mecha, the enemy had released a gaseous poison nearby. There was an undetectable enemy near him!
This poison was like spores, inhaled into his body. But why hadn't his Immortal Rank equipment warned him? It should have alerted him to any danger.
Footsteps came from behind the Celestial Arbiter. Just as he was about to move, he vomited another mouthful of blood. His stomach had been corroded through.
"At least... tell me... how... I lost..."
Clang.
The long blade slashed through, severing the Celestial Arbiter's head. Even in death, he couldn't understand how he had been poisoned.
In reality, the Celestial Arbiter hadn't been poisoned earlier. After temporarily leaving the biological mecha, he had inhaled "Euryale Gas," which Bubu Wang had released by uncorking a test tube near him.
"Euryale Gas" was an alchemical product used to dissolve metals. It was non-toxic and harmless, but if the body contained too many metallic substances, it would cause a reaction—dizziness, full-body tearing sensations, and intense nausea. These feelings would subside within one to five minutes.
"Euryale Gas" was indeed non-toxic, but it couldn't be combined with vitality/life characteristic potions. For example, one must never inject a recovery potion while under its effects.
The Celestial Arbiter was an Eighth Rank powerhouse. Even if he didn't have innate danger warning abilities, he would have purchased such equipment. Directly releasing poison smoke would have been detected by him.
"Euryale Gas" was different. It was a non-lethal danger. In battle, non-lethal dangers were everywhere, making it impossible to judge intuitively.
For instance, Su Xiao being several dozen meters away from the Celestial Arbiter was a non-lethal danger to him.
The Celestial Arbiter's technology-based detection was useless against this. "Euryale Gas" was an alchemical product. When analyzed, it was composed of nitrogen + hydrogen + methane + carbon dioxide + oxygen + other elements, combined in a special ratio. This was vastly different from the technology side's measurement standards. Interestingly, its composition was very similar to that of flatulence.
Would the Celestial Arbiter's technology-based detection warn him about a gas similar in composition to flatulence but with completely different properties? More importantly, when Bubu Wang released this gas, he actually forced out a fart. The dog was quite impressive.
For others, inhaling "Euryale Gas" had no effect. The trace metal elements in the human body were insufficient to react with it.
The Celestial Arbiter was different. Part of his body had been modified, but not too much. He didn't want to lose the pleasures of life.
Even so, the metal content in the Celestial Arbiter's body was enough to react with "Euryale Gas." After being severely wounded by Su Xiao's slash, he injected a recovery potion, causing the two to react again. The Celestial Arbiter was doomed.
In summary, the Celestial Arbiter used a recovery-type potion and poisoned himself to death.