Chapter 31: Hesitation Leads to Defeat
The sky was cloudless, with the blazing sun hanging high. Under this scorching heat, the desert surface seemed to distort, actually caused by changes in refractive index due to air expansion from the heat.
On the endless desert, a desert vehicle stood out conspicuously. Several people were around the vehicle, but they were separated by a transparent light membrane.
Smoke curled from the cigarette between Su Xiao's fingers. He had been waiting for five minutes. Judging by the fading speed of the surrounding light membrane, the barrier would disappear in about two more minutes.
"Bai Ye."
Wood suddenly spoke, not going into detail. He subtly indicated that the fight shouldn't happen nearby—if the desert vehicle got destroyed, they'd have to walk out of the Endless Desert on foot.
Su Xiao flicked away the cigarette butt between his fingers. As he stood up on the desert vehicle's roof, he drew the Dragon-Slaying Flash from its sheath at his waist.
Clang~
The blade, gleaming bright but with faint red marks faintly showing on its edge, was unsheathed. Su Xiao tossed the scabbard to Bubu Wang and leaped down from the desert vehicle, holding the sword in one hand.
Su Xiao didn't bother looking at Molei and Yueshitu, who were already preparing to flee. The former was hard to kill—fast and skilled at concealment. As for the latter, Yueshitu was strong, but her strength required time to develop, meaning she needed to continuously construct summoning arrays to call forth moon-type familiars.
Without summoned creatures in the early stages, Yueshitu was just a whining weakling, with pitiful combat power among her rank.
Su Xiao had beaten Yueshitu badly in the Canglong Continent and knew her weakness. She was the first contractor he'd encountered who "dropped equipment" after being cut down, with Soul Coins scattering everywhere. Last time, when he slashed Yueshitu into nothingness with one strike, Su Xiao momentarily wondered if he had killed some special NPC in a game, given all the loot that dropped.
Recalling this, Su Xiao's gaze shifted to Yueshitu, as if he'd discovered a way to get rich.
As if sensing Su Xiao's gaze, Yueshitu, who was on Molei's back, suddenly shuddered.
"You, why are you trembling!"
Molei's voice rose several pitches, as if she'd stepped on a cat's tail.
"I just sensed some danger earlier. It was just a shudder—why are you overreacting?"
"Once, my two-year-old cousin was lying on my back. She was sleeping soundly, then suddenly shuddered..."
"Uh, I get it. Haha, Molei, you're such an idiot~"
"It's starting. Hold me tight."
Drops of crimson blood gathered in Molei's hand. The next moment, the surrounding light membrane shattered, and Molei disappeared from the spot, with Yueshitu's shouts faintly audible.
"They run fast."
Zuiyasi, who had originally planned to intercept Molei and Yueshitu to eliminate one opponent, gave up. Molei was simply too fast.
Boom!
Yellow sand surged in all directions as two auras erupted. One was blood energy, the other was like flames—it was Yanqi·Soyeg.
It could be said that fighting in the Endless Desert gave Yanqi·Soyeg a home-field advantage. The fire-type natural elements here were dense and active enough.
Within the blood energy, Su Xiao held his long sword diagonally pointing at the ground. Arc-shaped Cyan Steel Shadow Energy surged along the blade, spreading into the air in a concealed manner. This was an ability specifically designed to deal with magic-type enemies—Energy Interruption.
Energy Interruption (Active): Covers the enemy's body surface with Cyan Steel Shadow Energy, lasting 10 minutes. When the enemy uses energy-type skills, there is a chance of interruption, causing the enemy to enter a paralyzed state.
Tip: When used against magic-type enemies, there is a 58% chance of forced interruption during spellcasting, causing a non-judgment paralyzed state lasting 0.85 to 3 seconds, and dealing True Damage equal to 0.9 times the enemy's consumed mana.
Tip: This ability has no cooldown trigger. If the magic-type enemy exceeds the Cyan Steel Shadow Energy's endurance limit by one rank, the effect will be reduced.
Tip: When used against non-magic-type enemies, there is a 6% chance of forced interruption when they use energy-type skills, followed by a physical judgment. If the enemy fails the judgment, they will enter a very brief paralyzed state.
...
With only two targets at hand, Su Xiao didn't need to consume a large amount of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy. He just needed to let the Energy Interruption effect cover a certain range.
The power of Energy Interruption lay not only in its effect but also in its terrifying concealment. Before a magic-type user activated their ability, the Energy Interruption effect wouldn't manifest. The ability's form was like a static net distributed in the air—when a target used a magic-type ability, it would attract this "static net."
Su Xiao's left hand clenched slightly. With a crackling sound, a faint blue arc flashed and disappeared.
Blood energy and flames pressed against each other. It seemed that Yanqi·Soyeg was matching Su Xiao evenly in aura. Was that really the case? No. Su Xiao had recently absorbed a large amount of blood energy in the Ancient Battlefield.
Boom!!
Blood flames exploded in the desert. The blood energy inside continuously expanded while the outer flames grew thinner.
Yanqi·Soyeg, who was maintaining his aura release, heard a buzzing in his ears. His temples throbbed. Trapped within the blood energy, he felt pain all over his body.
Clang!
A pale blue slash passed over Soyeg's head. He crouched low, and a strand of severed hair fell.
'So fast!'
Soyeg pulled two metal rods over 70 centimeters long from behind his waist. With a click, the two rods connected, forming a 146-centimeter-long metal staff—his magic staff. He was a hardcore fire-type spellcaster.
Dense fire elements wrapped around the metal staff. Not only that, but Soyeg's body also rapidly expanded, transforming into a burly man about 2.3 meters tall with broad shoulders and a thick waist.
Witnessing this, Wood, who had been beaten up by Soyeg in the Nightmare World, immediately lost his temper. Getting beaten at close range by this spellcaster left him speechless.
Soyeg held the flame staff with one hand and casually swung his weapon. With a rumble, a sand pit suddenly appeared beside him, the sand inside glassified from the high temperature.
Luo Xi stood less than 10 meters behind Soyeg—one ranged, one melee. The Arcane Eternal Star had sent these two for a reason.
"Roar!"
Soyeg let out a beast-like roar. This scene was broadcast live to the Void Arena, where spectators from various races held their breath. They had been watching Luo Xi flee and freeze earlier, which was a terrible viewing experience. Now, finally, it was time for a comeback.
Amid everyone's eager anticipation, sand flew beneath Soyeg's feet as he charged straight at Su Xiao.
Vibrations transmitted through the sand beneath his feet. Su Xiao watched Soyeg rushing toward him. The enemy wasn't slow and was formidable in strength.
A whistling wind sound approached. Soyeg raised his flame staff high, swinging it down at Su Xiao's head. As the staff descended, sand grains within several hundred meters began to float upward, showing the power of this strike. Moreover, Su Xiao felt a heavy pressure pinning him in place, unable to move.
With terrifying force, the flame staff crashed down.
Boom!!
A blazing red fire core appeared, rapidly expanding. Within several hundred meters, everything became a world of flames. Layers of ring-shaped sand waves spread outward, creating a spectacular scene.
Luo Xi floated backward with the impact, shielding her face with one hand. Her cheeks stung from the hot sand grains hitting them.
"Tch."
Luo Xi felt Soyeg was overdoing it. Even when dealing with a Law Destroyer, there was no need to use his strongest killing move right at the start. Compared to other magical energy abilities, Soyeg's move had a small range but terrifying power.
A hundred-meter-wide pillar of fire shot into the sky, magnificent to behold. When everything around settled, the onlookers saw large amounts of red-hot sand grains floating in midair. Touching these grains would cause burns and allow fire poison to invade the body.
Luo Xi stared intently at the situation in the arena. The elemental fluctuations around were too chaotic. Before figuring out what was happening, she dared not act rashly. Accidentally injuring Soyeg would be too embarrassing.
The smoke gradually dissipated, revealing a sand pit several hundred meters in diameter. When Luo Xi saw what was inside the pit, her eyes widened, her pupils contracted violently, and she looked as if she'd seen a ghost.
Inside the severely glassified sand pit from the high heat, Soyeg and Su Xiao stood facing each other. Soyeg stood upright, as if electrocuted, rigidly in place. His head was gone. Perhaps because the head had been severed so quickly, only now did a stream of blood spray from the severed neck, shooting high due to the pressure inside the cavity.
With a thud, Soyeg's head hit the ground. His face wore a ferocious expression, as if filled with immense unwillingness.
Su Xiao shifted his gaze to Luo Xi, who stood at the edge of the sand pit diagonally above.
For Luo Xi now, running speed was crucial. Unfortunately, how could a magic-type possibly outrun a melee-type?
At this moment, Luo Xi experienced the despair of countless spellcaster predecessors. Fighting a Law Destroyer meant not only losing but also being unable to escape—utterly hopeless.