Chapter 90: Don't Hesitate
The Eternal Insect had long set its sights on Tide Hunter. The reason was simple: each arrow it took from her was more painful than the last, and the injuries it caused grew increasingly severe.
The Deformed Blade: Hatred swung toward Tide Hunter. Judging by its momentum, it clearly intended to cleave her in two.
Crack~
Ice suddenly appeared on the Eternal Insect's arm, then spread across its body in a wide sheet. Dozens of meters away, Amu—whose chest had been gnawed to a bloody mess by threadworms—raised a single hand. As it clenched its fist, the ice sealed the Eternal Insect in a frozen prison. This was a frost trap Amu had set up long in advance.
Under normal circumstances, Amu was indeed a fool. If it got hungry while washing its face, it might eat the soap, then sit in a corner spitting bubbles all morning—fragrant bubbles at that.
But in battle, Amu was anything but foolish. It had known from the start that it couldn't block the charging Eternal Insect head-on. What it needed to block were the enemy's ranged attacks, and after the Eternal Insect charged in, to stall it for a short time. Only then could Tide Hunter survive.
The moment the Eternal Insect was frozen into an ice sculpture, cracks appeared on the ice. Amu's ice couldn't hold the Eternal Insect for long.
Boom!!
A shockwave of air exploded outward. The ice layer burst into powder. Su Xiao delivered a straight kick to the Eternal Insect's abdomen. The Eternal Insect, as if hit by a train, turned into a blur and flew toward the tree wall. With a thunderous crash, the tree wall caved in a large area, sending dead branches flying everywhere.
Tide Hunter breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her collar. Her cheek twitched, but in the heat of battle, she had no choice but to endure it.
"Thank you..."
Before she could finish, she found herself being tossed into the air. She thought this was normal—her teammate was throwing her away to create distance from the enemy.
"Eek~"
Tide Hunter let out an involuntary shriek. The reason was a heavy blow to her abdomen. Her "teammate" hadn't thrown her away to save her. Instead, to maintain a direct line of sight toward the Eternal Insect, he had first tossed her up, then kicked her sideways like a soccer ball. After taking that kick, Tide Hunter suddenly lost confidence in her title as the number one beauty of the Tianba Clan.
The moment she landed, she clutched her abdomen, nearly vomiting sour bile.
Amu was severely wounded, struggling to resist the threadworms' erosion, preventing them from burrowing into vital areas like its heart and brain. It couldn't cover Tide Hunter for the time being, so Baha had to step in.
Tide Hunter's abilities were too extreme. If the Eternal Insect got close and no one covered her in time, she was as good as dead. But if she was given the chance to attack, from the start of the battle to now, the damage she had dealt to the Eternal Insect exceeded even Su Xiao's.
Beneath the tree wall, with a crackling sound, broken wood scattered. The Eternal Insect stepped out from the hole in the tree wall, then glared at Tide Hunter.
Tide Hunter's mind buzzed. Forgetting her peerless beauty, she slapped herself across the face.
Slap! Blood splattered from Tide Hunter's right ear, and a writhing threadworm could be seen inside.
Tide Hunter fell to one knee and vomited a mouthful of black-red blood. She tried to get up and continue fighting, but her body felt weak and dizzy.
"Damn it, ADC, you're way too squishy."
Baha was speechless. Tide Hunter had only been glared at, and she was already incapacitated. As Baha thought this, karma struck. The Eternal Insect's gaze turned to it.
Baha's body stiffened immediately. It crashed to the ground with a thud, and a piercing pain erupted in its abdomen. Tide Hunter gritted her teeth and, with her last bit of strength, slapped Baha. Source power gathered in her hand.
Slap! The source power passed through Baha's body. It spat out black-red blood, revealing a writhing threadworm inside.
"Grandma, you're amazing!"
Baha's tone did a complete 180. It wasn't Tide Hunter's fault for being fragile—this ability was truly unbearable.
At the edge of the battlefield, Bubu Wang, who had blended into the environment, witnessed everything. It was terrified out of its mind, its tail practically frozen in fear. It silently prayed that the Eternal Insect wouldn't look at it.
A dozen meters in front of the Eternal Insect, Su Xiao pulled a half-dead threadworm from his right upper arm. He wasn't afraid of these things. When he had locked eyes with the threadworm earlier, one had appeared inside his body, but it had nearly died on the spot. Su Xiao's body contained Cyan Steel Shadow energy, making it easy to deal with such parasites.
'Blade Path: Azure Demon.'
Su Xiao slashed diagonally, charging straight at the Eternal Insect. For now, he had to rely on himself. Baha, Amu, and Tide Hunter all needed time to recover before they could provide support.
Azure Demon tore through the air as an afterimage, heading straight for the Eternal Insect's neck. Just a few days ago, Azure Demon had slain a Violator. This made Su Xiao consider developing it further in the near future, aiming for a breakthrough.
Crack!
Azure Demon was shattered by the Eternal Insect's Deformed Blade: Hatred. Su Xiao, charging at full speed, witnessed this and his enthusiasm for developing Azure Demon waned slightly.
Clang! Clang!
After exchanging two blows with the enemy, Su Xiao's right arm went slightly numb.
'Blade Path: Extreme.'
Su Xiao delivered a "normal" third slash. The Eternal Insect was about to raise its Deformed Blade: Hatred to block, but its eyes widened. This slash was different! This seemingly ordinary but lethal attack was a trick it often used itself.
The Deformed Blade: Hatred in the Eternal Insect's hand changed. The fresh red flesh on it began to writhe, and threadworms extended out.
Clang!!
The two blades clashed. Blood and fragments of threadworms scattered in the air. Su Xiao took a step and a half back, while the Eternal Insect took half a step.
This battle couldn't be a war of attrition with the Eternal Insect. Every time it used its abilities with Abyss power, it recovered health. On top of that, it regenerated 5% of its health every second. It had ravaged too many worlds, and its foundation was terrifying.
Earlier, Tide Hunter had risked her life to fire many arrows at the Eternal Insect. But now, the Eternal Insect's health had returned to 100%. Its aura was as if it would never fall.
Clang!
The force on the blade suddenly increased. Su Xiao crouched low. The Deformed Blade: Hatred swept over his head with a whoosh, the wind pressure lifting his hair. A threadworm extending from the blade grazed Su Xiao's face, leaving a bloody gash.
That was the Deformed Blade: Hatred. It wasn't just a slashing and blunt weapon. Every time it swung, even if you dodged its powerful strike, being too close meant being cut by the nearly 50-centimeter-long threadworms that emerged from the blade's flesh. These threadworms were covered in barbs, designed for exactly this purpose.
After dodging a powerful horizontal slash from the Eternal Insect, Su Xiao passed by it and delivered several ultra-fast consecutive slashes to its back.
The blade cut through the Eternal Insect's dark white keratin skin, then through its flesh, until it struck its metallic-feeling bones.
Clang! Su Xiao severed one of the Eternal Insect's bones. After this slash, a trace of bright red blood stained the blade's tip. The Eternal Insect's blood was black-red. Bright red blood belonged to Kingsley.
Zing, zing, zing.
Blade light flashed. After multiple slashes, Su Xiao crouched low again. The Deformed Blade: Hatred swept over him once more. It looked graceful and elegant, but Su Xiao's situation was perilous. He could slash the Eternal Insect several times, even a dozen times, and it might not die. But if it landed a single blow on him, he would immediately fall into a disadvantage.
The Eternal Insect wasn't having an easy time either. Its current form was too cumbersome. Forms like "Life Devour" and "All Consume" had become unusable after its battle with the Moon Wolf. Unless it could recover its perfect body through Kingsley and then devour all life in several worlds, it might never regain them.
Pfft, pfft.
Two slash marks appeared on the Eternal Insect's chest. The blood that splattered out seemed alive, turning into tentacles that returned to the wounds on its body.
The Eternal Insect suddenly stopped. A flash of cold light struck, leaving a black trail in the air. This was a momentary tear in the space of the Eighth Rank world. It had nothing to do with spatial abilities—it was pure swordsmanship, cutting through space for an instant.
'Blade Path: Extreme.'
A slash passed through the Eternal Insect's neck. Before Su Xiao could press the attack, the blood spraying from the Eternal Insect's neck erupted.
The blood emitted a buzzing sound, then released terrifying heat and exploded violently.
Scorching blood flames surged from all directions around Su Xiao. A crystal layer formed on his body, but he still felt a burning pain.
A tremendous force suddenly struck his side. Su Xiao immediately reinforced the crystal layer there. He realized the Eternal Insect had swung the Deformed Blade: Hatred, delivering a full-power slash to his flank.
Su Xiao burst through a shockwave of air, sent flying by the slash, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
Thud! Su Xiao crashed to the ground dozens of meters away. He adjusted his posture, using the momentum of the fall to land in a crouch, sliding backward before stopping.
Su Xiao stood up, pressing a hand to his side. Energy threads spread from his hand. His side had been cut open by a third. He needed to treat it immediately. If he continued fighting with this injury, his organs might be shaken loose by the intense clashes with the enemy.
The Eternal Insect appeared in front of Su Xiao, raising the Deformed Blade: Hatred for a downward strike. Su Xiao didn't move. He just needed to deal with the wound as quickly as possible.
Clang! The Deformed Blade: Hatred was blocked by a broad-bladed axe. It was Amu. Its lower body was frozen in ice—a desperate choice. Without this, it would likely have been forced to one knee by the first blow, both knees by the second, and after the third, only its head would be above ground, its body buried in the earth.
The Eternal Insect had been blocked by Amu twice, failing to inflict a permanent casualty. This made it start to take Amu seriously.
The Eternal Insect raised its left hand, pointing its index finger at Amu's chest.
Boom.
An arm-thick bloody hole appeared in Amu's chest. Amu was sent flying backward, crashing into the distant tree wall before stopping. When it hit the ground, a pool of blood spread beneath it. This was the Eternal Insect's "Evolution: Life Calamity" ability, one of its strongest, and it had nearly killed Amu instantly.
Amu's mission was complete. It could just lie there and do nothing. Even if the battle was lost, it wasn't Amu's fault.
The moment Amu was sent flying, Su Xiao slashed out. But this time, the slash didn't hit the Eternal Insect. Instead, it was blocked. The Eternal Insect's movements were noticeably sharper. This meant one thing: it was about to fully take over Kingsley's body. When that happened, it would be in its perfect form, even more terrifying than now.
How long Kingsley could hold out determined how much time Su Xiao had to fight. This was likely their last cooperation. One person would resist the Eternal Insect's erosion, while the other would kill it.
The long blade and the Deformed Blade: Hatred clashed repeatedly. The tentacles on the Eternal Insect's back all dissolved, forming a translucent curtain behind it. As this curtain fluttered like wings, the Eternal Insect's speed skyrocketed. It suddenly flashed to Su Xiao's side.
"Roar."
The Eternal Insect slammed the Deformed Blade: Hatred into the ground. A shockwave hit Su Xiao from his left, sending him flying uncontrollably to the right.
Whoosh!
A sound of breaking wind came from his right. The Eternal Insect gripped the Deformed Blade: Hatred with both hands. A hint of satisfaction gleamed in its golden-red pupils. This annoying human who had been slashing at it was finally about to be cut in two.
Zing~
The edge of the Deformed Blade: Hatred passed through Su Xiao's body, but he wasn't cut in half. Instead, his body became translucent. He had entered a state of spatial penetration.
Seeing Su Xiao enter spatial penetration, the Eternal Insect immediately raised the Deformed Blade: Hatred above its head, gripping it with both hands, and began to gather power.
A whirlwind spread outward from the Eternal Insect. The ground around it continued to crack. The sky seemed to change color, and the temperature dropped a few degrees.
If this strike landed, it would be terrifying. What made it worse was that the Eternal Insect usually didn't charge this move because it never had the chance. This time, it chose to charge because Su Xiao, while in spatial penetration, couldn't be harmed but also couldn't interrupt it.
Su Xiao immediately exited spatial penetration. The longer he stayed hidden, the longer the enemy would charge its attack.
Rumble~
As if something swept the air around it, the Eternal Insect brought the Deformed Blade: Hatred down. In the next instant, all sound disappeared. A shockwave spread outward, using the ground as a medium without destroying it.
The surroundings turned blinding white. Tide Hunter, who was recovering from her injuries, saw white before her eyes. When she came to, she was sitting in a depression in the tree wall, her whole body feeling as if it had been crushed by a millstone. The pain was so intense she briefly blacked out.
Within the white light, the crystal layer on Su Xiao's body peeled and shattered rapidly. When everything settled, his bare upper body was covered in bloody gashes, blood dripping from his chin.
Dozens of meters away, the Eternal Insect was hunched over. Clearly, using this move had taken a toll on it, but its condition was still better than Su Xiao's.
Boom! Boom!
The Eternal Insect charged in, swinging the Deformed Blade: Hatred at Su Xiao in rapid succession. None of the Eternal Insect's abilities were flashy, but their power was impeccable. And it attacked incredibly fast. A glare meant a big move. A finger point meant a big move. It was a thorough pragmatist. Anything flashy but weak was garbage.
After blocking two powerful slashes in a row, blood splattered from Su Xiao's wounds. His organs churned violently. He still had trump cards, but he couldn't use them yet. If he used those abilities now, there was a 90% chance the Eternal Insect wouldn't die and would recover most of its injuries in 20 seconds. Then Su Xiao would be the one to die. He needed an opportunity.
Blood energy gathered in Su Xiao's hand, forming a blood-colored spear. He gripped it in his left hand.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Su Xiao swung the spear horizontally with his left hand, coordinating with the Dragon-Slaying Flash in his right. With high-speed slashing pressure, he momentarily caught the Eternal Insect off guard.
If this continued, Su Xiao was doomed. The enemy's regeneration was too absurd.
Risking the anger of the "People of Death," Su Xiao began to manifest [Dead Silence Annihilation]. Of course, he was rational. He manifested [Dead Silence Annihilation] but didn't activate Dead Silence Descent. Activating Dead Silence Descent with insufficient enemies would definitely provoke the People of Death.
Even manifesting [Dead Silence Annihilation] carried risks. Su Xiao took that risk to continue suppressing the Eternal Insect.
He had realized that the enemy's regeneration wasn't completely invincible. After using that ability too frequently, there would be a brief "reduction period." That was the chance to kill the Eternal Insect. But to trigger that reduction period, he needed enough sharp, even insane, suppression.
Su Xiao released the blood-colored spear. Dead Silence Annihilation appeared in his left hand. This was a special firearm, initially loaded with five Annihilation rounds. It was a close-combat weapon with devastating power.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Su Xiao fired five shots. Two were dodged by the Eternal Insect. The remaining three hit its chest, blasting three bowl-sized holes.
Su Xiao released Dead Silence Annihilation, which vanished into the air. As he charged forward, he reached out with his left hand and grabbed the blood-colored spear.
Clang! Clang!
Sparks and slashing light flew. After switching from single-wielding to temporary dual-wielding, Su Xiao's attack frequency was so high that even the Eternal Insect was inwardly speechless. Its strength was clearly greater than Su Xiao's, and its speed was faster, yet it was being suppressed.
'War Soul: Thrust!'
Su Xiao crouched low, sweeping the blood spear horizontally. A wave of blood flames swept out. This was a move once used by Iron Feather King. As a fellow Technique Type, Su Xiao found it not too complicated, much like when Iron Feather King had used Azure Demon in battle.
Whoosh! The blood flames engulfed the Eternal Insect. Su Xiao assumed a throwing stance and hurled the blood spear with all his might. The spear pierced through the air with a series of sonic booms before striking the Eternal Insect's chest, then exploding violently.
Within the blood energy, the Eternal Insect grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp fangs. Its health had jumped from 65.9% to 72.3%, then to 77.5%. If Su Xiao didn't attack it soon, it would fully recover.
"Huff, huff~"
Su Xiao exhaled blood energy. His stamina wasn't infinite. He could only gamble once.
Su Xiao's aura became sharp. At the same time, the Eternal Insect's gaze turned serious. Not only because of Su Xiao's change in aura, but also because Kingsley's consciousness was trying to seize control of the body. This was unbelievable to the Eternal Insect. In all its existence, it had never seen a human like this.
The Eternal Insect knew it couldn't drag this out. It had to kill Su Xiao quickly, or there would be major trouble. This wasn't just about winning the battle—it was about whether it could return to its perfect form.
Its enemies now weren't just the blade-wielding powerhouse in front of it, but also the person inside its body. This person's will was on a completely different level from the likes of Emperor Taiatu or Atos Baiken.
"Roar!!"
The Eternal Insect let out a furious roar. Its Abyss power was completely depleted. Countless threadworms appeared around it—at least tens of thousands.
These threadworms began to split at a rate doubling every 0.2 seconds. In an instant, the surroundings turned into a sea of threadworms, enough to make anyone's scalp crawl and a chill run from their soles to their crown. This was the Insect Domain.
The Eternal Insect raised one hand, slowly clenching it into a fist.
Zing!
A sharp slash rang out. Pale blue slashes appeared. The Eternal Insect wasn't the only one with a domain ability. Su Xiao's Blade Domain activated.
Countless slash marks spread around Su Xiao. As he charged forward, all the threadworms in his path were shredded. Seeing this, the Eternal Insect gripped the Deformed Blade: Hatred and met Su Xiao head-on.
The Eternal Insect had faced enemies with domains before, but it had its own advantage. Its Insect Domain lasted long enough.
The Blade Domain advanced with Su Xiao's charge. In the next second, it engulfed the Eternal Insect. Countless slashes cut across the Eternal Insect's body, sending blood and flesh flying. The Eternal Insect didn't care.
At that moment, a crystal war scythe formed in Su Xiao's hand. He swung it, and before it struck the Eternal Insect, it shattered, turning into a slash of energy that swallowed the Eternal Insect.
"Hu...man!!"
The Eternal Insect roared. Its body seemed to be cut into thousands of pieces. With its Abyss power depleted, it had taken Su Xiao's Azure Shadow King. If it were any other enemy, they would have died on the spot.
As the Eternal Insect roared, a green line appeared in the center of its torso. On the other side, Su Xiao, who was about to deliver a killing blow, immediately changed his strategy. He only delivered a normal slash across the Eternal Insect's chest. 0.3 seconds after taking Azure Shadow King, the enemy's health suddenly recovered to 37.8%, above the kill threshold.
This was thanks to the Moon Wolf. Failing to kill the Moon Wolf last time had made Su Xiao more cautious about this. Otherwise, he would have activated Demon Blade, only to find the slash couldn't kill.
The Eternal Insect leaped back repeatedly. It knew that if it could create distance now, it would be the final victor. Countless strong foes had died because of this.
In the distance, Tide Hunter got up from the ground. She pulled out a long metal box from her chest, opening it to reveal a syringe. This was "Aurora," an ultra-potent stimulant from Alchemy. After injection, not only was pain ignored, but pain actually induced a state of excitement, sharpening focus.
Tide Hunter stabbed the "Aurora" syringe into her neck and injected. Her pupils turned amber. Due to the drug's damage to her capillaries, light blue "patterns" appeared on her neck.
Tide Hunter was ready. Unfortunately, it didn't matter much. Without Su Xiao in front, her arrow accuracy was low. The Eternal Insect's speed was too high.
The stifling feeling in Su Xiao's chest eased a bit, and his combat power naturally recovered. He checked the Eternal Insect's current health—it had already recovered to 52.8%.
Just as Su Xiao was about to use Blazing Sun Wrath: Apollo and force the enemy to praise the sun, a human arm suddenly burst out from the Eternal Insect's neck.
"White Night... this is... the last... world thunder."
A broken voice came. Rumble! The sky was filled with golden lightning. The human arm protruding from the Eternal Insect's neck clenched tightly.
"Worm... your time... is up."
Crack!
A terrifyingly massive golden lightning bolt gathered. Seeing this, Su Xiao's eye twitched almost imperceptibly. But the arrow had been fired—there was no turning back.
As for how Kingsley knew Su Xiao could use world thunder, it was simple. If Su Xiao couldn't use world thunder, why would he go to such lengths to obtain the lightning-summoning secret technique and have the protagonist team nurture the Fate Blood? Kingsley knew this, so of course he figured Su Xiao could use world thunder.
Su Xiao leaped with all his might, meeting the golden lightning descending from the sky. The Eternal Insect watched this with some confusion, but even so, it prepared to create distance.
The golden lightning struck. Su Xiao raised his long blade, forming a unique energy circuit within his body, successfully receiving the lightning.
Golden arcs surged along Su Xiao's blade. His descent speed increased sharply. Before landing, he swung his blade.
'Heaven's Wrath: Thunderclap Fall!'
Zap!
A massive wave of golden lightning spread out. This golden lightning was so powerful that even though the Eternal Insect was creating distance, it was caught in the blast.
The Eternal Insect convulsed violently from the electricity. On the opposite side, Tide Hunter had drawn her bow. Her arrow had turned completely water-blue, filled with source power.
Boom!
The long arrow pierced through the Eternal Insect's head in an instant. Its head snapped back.
"The Moon Wolf... couldn't defeat me! And you..."
Pfft.
Slash!
A slash carrying dark blue smoke swept through. Everything around seemed to turn into a black-and-white ink painting. Only the blood spraying from the Eternal Insect's neck and the blue gleam in Su Xiao's eyes had color.
The Dragon-Slaying Flash slowly returned to its sheath. With a click, the Eternal Insect in front of Su Xiao fell to its knees with a thud. Its body quickly turned to ash. The Eternal Insect wasn't killed. What was killed was the body of this form, which had an independent soul. The Eternal Insect's true body was isolated by Kingsley, so it wasn't slain by this slash. After all, the Eternal Insect was symbiotic with Kingsley. More importantly, Demon Blade killed whatever it cut, not what Su Xiao intended to kill.
As the external body turned to ash, Kingsley's figure appeared. His clothes were tattered, his body was skin and bones, and many of his bones seemed to have dissolved.
But Kingsley still maintained his slicked-back hairstyle. A typical case of "a man can die, but his hairstyle must not be ruined."
Kingsley's eyes opened, his gaze calm.
"White Night, it's in my head. Don't hesitate. Its second form is coming. I can't... hold it much longer."
"Yeah."
Su Xiao's right index and middle fingers came together. With a pfft, he stabbed them into Kingsley's forehead, into his skull. Su Xiao's fingers clamped onto a writhing object and pulled hard.
A golden threadworm, nearly 10 centimeters long, was pinched between Su Xiao's fingers. This was the Eternal Insect's true body. It was frantically biting the crystal layer on Su Xiao's index finger.
Seeing this, Kingsley, blood streaming from his forehead, laughed. He laughed with unrestrained joy. "Die, you vermin."
Su Xiao flicked the Eternal Insect from his fingers onto the stone floor. He stepped forward with his left foot and stomped down with a slap. He even ground his sole back and forth to ensure the Eternal Insect was crushed into pulp.
The Eternal Insect had been crushed to death.