Chapter 42: Law Annihilation and Moonlight
The Moonlight Sword's strikes were heavy and powerful, embodying the fusion of strength and beauty. Dragon-Slashing Flash, on the other hand, was sharp and lethal. Though its force was inferior to the Moonlight Sword, the wounds it inflicted were no less severe.
On the lake island, azure moonlight roared and surged violently. Blade aura crisscrossed as Azure Demon slashed across the Moon Wolf's shoulder, carving off a large chunk of flesh before flying toward the distant full moon.
Bang!
Su Xiao launched a straight kick, but unexpectedly, the Moon Wolf had already positioned the Moonlight Sword horizontally in front of itself, using it as a shield.
The impact of the kick sent the Moon Wolf stumbling backward. Due to the force, blood seeped from the various slash wounds across its body.
Su Xiao spat out a mouthful of blood. He wasn't sure how badly the Moon Wolf was hurt from that kick, but he knew his own right calf was about to break. Even with the Moon Wolf's consciousness in chaos, it was still a Sword Grandmaster. Its combat instincts were too sharp—not only did it avoid a fatal blow, but every time Su Xiao tried a straight kick, the Moon Wolf had a way to counter.
"Huff... huff..."
Su Xiao gasped for breath. The sound of air leaving his lungs was like a broken bellows. The scene before him blurred, mixed with double vision. Blood loss and internal injuries were too severe.
If it weren't for the support of 'Basic Passive: Body Soul, Lv.40,' 'Undying Shadow,' and 'Divine Judgment Ring'—abilities or equipment that enhanced his survivability—Su Xiao would have already died here. Even having the [Sacred Cross Emblem] would have been useless.
The [Sacred Cross Emblem] could indeed save his life and restore 100% of his Health and Mana afterward, but its recovery of injuries was limited. Without his own powerful survivability backing him up, being able to withstand one fatal attack in this battle wouldn't have changed the final outcome.
He had already used his killing moves: the Banishment in Internal Combustion state, Blade Domain, and Demon Blade. Yet he still couldn't kill the Moon Wolf. At this point, the Moon Wolf's Health was at 38.75%. The only good news was that after the Moon Wolf had absorbed the Devouring Core infused with Wood Element, it couldn't recover much Health anymore.
This was due to the excessively high concentration of Wood Element within its body—a simple analogy would be 'drug resistance.'
Su Xiao now actually hoped the Moon Wolf would use the Devouring Core. Every time it generated one, there was a flaw, and he could at least land 3 to 5 slashes on it.
Against an ordinary enemy, having taken so many of Su Xiao's strikes since the battle began, they would have died long ago. But the Moon Wolf could nullify the True Damage caused by Cyan Steel Shadow Energy.
This was what combat felt like without True Damage—it was incredibly difficult.
Interestingly enough, both Su Xiao and the Moon Wolf were Technique Types. Logically, their fight shouldn't have lasted this long. However, both Su Xiao and the Moon Wolf possessed strong survivability, and since both could nullify each other's True Damage, the battle dragged on to this extent.
Su Xiao stared at the Moon Wolf ahead. The battle was too brutal. Even with his current Stamina attribute, he felt a faint sense of exhaustion. Restoring Health through Undying Shadow earlier had consumed a lot of cellular energy.
At this point, Su Xiao was nearly spent. He couldn't afford to delay any longer. If this war of attrition continued, the Moon Wolf would surely win.
During the standoff, Su Xiao pulled out Dragon-Slashing Flash's scabbard from his waist, sheathed the blade, and held it horizontally in front of him. He released every last bit of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy within his body, enveloping the sheathed Dragon-Slashing Flash, causing the scabbard and hilt to turn a dark blue.
Cracks appeared on the ground around Su Xiao. His aura grew sharper and sharper, forming a pressure field around him.
Over twenty meters away, the Moon Wolf let out a rough, rasping breath. It gripped the hilt of the Moonlight Sword with both hands, holding the entire blade vertically in front of itself. The azure moonlight on it became exceptionally brilliant.
Boom!
Both Su Xiao and the Moon Wolf vanished from their spots. An instant later, they reappeared, less than two meters apart.
A slashing chain of moonlight engulfed Su Xiao, as if trying to tear his entire body apart. He immediately phased through space.
Whoosh! The moonlight chain swept past, causing half of the lake island behind Su Xiao to collapse and sink.
Su Xiao only remained in the Space Penetration state for a moment. In this state, while the enemy couldn't hit him, he couldn't harm them either. He immediately exited Space Penetration.
'Blade Path Sword: Extreme Shadow.'
The crisp sound of a slash pierced the sky. The longsword in Su Xiao's hand cut across the Moon Wolf's chest. Amidst a spray of blood droplets, he and the Moon Wolf passed each other.
A flurry of slashes erupted around the Moon Wolf, so dense that they formed a sphere around it, sending blood, fur, and shredded flesh flying.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Three intersecting massive slashes concluded the attack, seemingly tearing a huge rift in space itself before shattering. The Moon Wolf thudded onto one knee. Its eyes were bloodshot, and cold air puffed from its mouth.
"Roar!"
A roar came from behind the Moon Wolf. It immediately turned. The Blood Beast lunged forward, and the blood energy exploded. The Moon Wolf's arms, raised to block, shattered.
Crack! With both arms severed, the Moon Wolf bit down on the hilt of the Moonlight Sword. This was the way of the Moon Wolf clan—never giving up the fight until the moment of death. It was a legacy etched deep into their bloodline, a willpower inheritance even stronger than the Moonlight Force.
The world spun before Su Xiao's eyes. With such severe injuries, using 'Blade Path Sword: Extreme Shadow' and 'Blood Beast' in quick succession had pushed him to his limits. His internal Cyan Steel Shadow Energy was depleted. The small amount recovering now was only enough to form a thin crystal layer, insufficient for any other ability.
The Moon Wolf lowered its body, holding the sword hilt in its mouth, pointing the blade at Su Xiao. It didn't charge immediately, mainly because its body was numb. The numbness was quickly fading.
Su Xiao took out an object and slashed it apart, faintly hearing a mournful ghostly wail.
Su Xiao started walking forward, then broke into a run. His speed increased, but with his current injuries, he couldn't even leave a blood-red afterimage.
The Moon Wolf, body lowered, charged toward him. The pressure made Su Xiao's face sting, as if the oncoming moonlight and wind pressure would tear him to shreds.
The Moon Wolf swung its head, and the Moonlight Sword held in its mouth slashed straight for Su Xiao's neck.
Su Xiao was too badly injured. His body couldn't provide the agility needed for a swift dodge. But the Moon Wolf was also heavily wounded. Moreover, using its teeth to grip the hilt made the slash slower than usual. Su Xiao's perception successfully tracked the trajectory of the strike.
Clang!
Su Xiao grabbed the incoming Moonlight Sword with his bare hand. His left hand appeared to be wrapped in a crystal layer, but that wasn't the case. He had coated his hand with the fragmented form of Banishment.
Banishment's strength was certainly enough to block the Moon Wolf's current strike. However, the force behind the blow caused a surge in Su Xiao's chest, reopening the sutured wound on his heart.
Slashing or stabbing the Moon Wolf now wouldn't kill it.
A layer of crystal enveloped the longsword in Su Xiao's hand, widening it by a finger's width and extending its length by over ten centimeters. This was the Azure Shadow King ability. This time, instead of forming a crystal scythe, Su Xiao applied Azure Shadow King externally onto Dragon-Slashing Flash.
Activating Azure Shadow King required 6,500 points of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy. Su Xiao shouldn't have had any left to use it.
The reason Su Xiao could use Azure Shadow King was because he had taken an object from his storage space and shattered it. It was a hollow crystal shell containing a red-clad female ghost. This female ghost, Little Red, had tried to escape multiple times. Finding she couldn't, she would try to tempt Su Xiao every time he took something from his storage space. Once or twice, he didn't mind, but over time, it became annoying.
He had planned to dispose of her anyway. Now, she served a great purpose. Little Red was a vengeful spirit enslaved by Dangerous Object S-173 (Calamity Bell). She seemed weak because Su Xiao's blood energy suppressed vengeful spirits, and his Soul Strength was high. In reality, Little Red was an Eighth Rank vengeful spirit—otherwise, she couldn't have been enslaved by the Calamity Bell. However, her combat power was quite poor among Eighth Rank entities.
Through Azure Shadow King's Shadow Devouring passive, after killing an enemy of the same rank, Su Xiao could absorb their soul energy to immediately recover 20% of his maximum Mana.
Since Little Red's strength was poor among Eighth Rank entities, she only helped Su Xiao recover 17.5% of his maximum Mana. The 20% stated in the skill description was the upper limit, not a guaranteed recovery from killing any same-rank enemy.
The MVP of this battle could be awarded to Little Red. After all, she 'sacrificed' herself to help Su Xiao recover Mana. Thank you, Little Red.
With Azure Shadow King empowered on his longsword, Su Xiao's left hand tightened its grip on the Moonlight Sword's blade. Just as he was about to thrust forward with the sword in his right hand, Moonlight Force surged toward him.
Boom! Su Xiao nearly flew backward. This was his only chance. He erupted with his internal blood energy.
On the lake island, moonlight and blood energy each occupied half. At the center boundary, veins bulged on Su Xiao's neck. The blood energy suddenly overpowered the moonlight.
The Moon Wolf was engulfed by the blood energy. Its entire body stiffened again. Blood seeped from between its teeth, clenched around the sword hilt.
A stabbing pain shot through Su Xiao's left palm. Even Banishment couldn't hold off the Moonlight Sword for long. After all, it wasn't a defensive ability.
Within the blood energy, taking advantage of the Moon Wolf's body stiffening from the blood energy's erosion, Su Xiao leaned forward. The longsword in his hand pierced into the Moon Wolf's chest with unstoppable force.
Pfft!
The longsword pierced through the Moon Wolf's chest. The Moon Wolf couldn't be burned by Cyan Steel Shadow Energy, but it couldn't nullify the True Damage caused by Azure Shadow King.
As the sword entered the Moon Wolf's chest, the surrounding Moonlight Force and blood energy dissipated. Dust particles floated in the air around them.
"Sorry."
Su Xiao muttered softly. He took a large step back while simultaneously pulling the longsword out of the Moon Wolf's chest, leaving a trail of blood in the air.
Thud. The Moon Wolf collapsed, crushing the broken reeds beneath it. White reed flowers drifted in the wind.
The haze in the Moon Wolf's eyes cleared slightly, allowing it to see the moonlight casting down from the sky. With its last bit of strength, it turned its gaze and saw the Law Annihilator standing nearby, holding a longsword. In the end, the Moon Wolf saw both moonlight and law annihilation.
"Ah~, I'm satisfied."
The Moon Wolf closed its eyes and completely lost all signs of life.
Su Xiao flicked the wolf blood off his blade. The longsword clinked back into its scabbard.
The Moon Wolf had finally found peace.
PS: (Two chapters today. While checking the third chapter, it didn't have the feeling I wanted, so I deleted it. I'll adjust my state and make sure to write that feeling tomorrow.)