Chapter 104: Self-Service Seafood Restaurant?
The information gathered was pitifully scarce, but upon seeing the second ability of the Sun Bird, Tiahakac, Su Xiao knew this battle was winnable. Although the Sun Bird was powerful, its true terror lay in its undying and regenerative traits.
He had already joined forces with Zuiyasi and Wude. While these two good teammates might have the potential to flee, if they ran now, Su Xiao had contingencies that would make them suffer as well.
Zuiyasi and Wude could certainly grasp this too. The current situation was: you could occasionally trust Zuiyasi, and you could temporarily believe in Wude.
Beyond this, the decision to deal with the Divine Envoy Boros earlier was crucial. Zuiyasi had just altered Boros’s perception, making him believe that *he* had provoked the Sun Bird, Tiahakac.
Under these circumstances, Boros would inevitably mobilize all his forces to resist the Sun Bird. If Shelter City No. 6 was flattened, neither Boros nor any other noble of the city would survive; they would all perish in the Sea God’s wrath.
Through the coordinated efforts of Su Xiao and his two allies, this was no longer a personal grudge between Su Xiao and the Sun Bird. The Sun Bird had become the enemy of everyone in Shelter City No. 6.
Su Xiao turned into a blur in the seawater, leveraging another advantage. Thanks to [Deep Sea Slumber (Immortal Rank · Pendant)], his movement speed in water increased by 1.2 times. This speed boost was a lifesaver, making him slightly faster than the Sun Bird.
Whoosh!
A massive ball of golden-gray fire shot from behind, the size of a house. The seawater it passed through churned violently. In the hands of a fire-attribute spellcaster, fire was just fire, but the Sun Bird’s ability turned the core of its flames into superheated magma.
Clang.
A pale blue slash cut through the air, showcasing the energy-cutting property of Azure Steel Shadow energy. The fireball was split in two, dissolving into two streams of magma spreading through the water.
The next instant, the golden-red magma transformed into thousands of magma birds. Like swordfish in the sea, they broke through layers of water currents and converged on Su Xiao.
‘Blade Path Sword: Slay.’
With a whoosh, a blood-red streak cut through the water, sweeping over the thousands of magma birds and shattering them.
But unexpectedly, the magma fragmented into even smaller entities, like a swarm of hummingbirds piercing through the water from all directions. When they were less than five meters away, they turned incandescent red.
The magma hummingbirds coalesced into a creature resembling a pterosaur. This magma-winged bird spewed white-hot flames from its mouth—a color that appeared only when Solar Flame was highly compressed and focused.
In the seawater, Su Xiao extended one hand forward. A crystal layer formed, but the moment the white flames touched it, not only did the crystal layer explode, but Su Xiao’s crystal left forearm also burst apart. The edge of the Black King Bracer showed signs of melting.
Seizing this momentary defense, Su Xiao vanished. The seawater behind the magma-winged bird cracked with a sharp pop as he emerged from a spatial shift.
A long blade crackling with pale blue arcs slashed through the magma-winged bird’s body. The bird exploded into magma, gradually cooling in the surrounding water.
Using the Dragon Shadow Flash ability underwater had a drawback: the location he arrived at would produce a popping sound as the water was displaced.
This was necessary. If seawater occupied the space he teleported into, the spatial compression would force the water into his body, causing major issues. It was safer to let the spatial repulsion push the water aside.
The Sun Bird’s earlier attack revealed many flaws. Initially, it used a simple fireball. When countered, it split into thousands of firebirds. After those were shattered, it broke into even smaller magma hummingbirds. In water, smaller size meant less resistance and greater speed.
These tens of thousands of magma hummingbirds weren’t the final attack. Even if detonated within a meter of Su Xiao, they couldn’t threaten him. The Sun Bird then combined them into a larger entity, rapidly gathering and compressing Solar Flame to deliver a powerful strike.
If Su Xiao hadn’t used Dragon Shadow Flash to reposition, the white-hot Solar Flame would have caused severe burns, followed by minutes or more of internal burning damage.
The Sun Bird’s combat experience was immense. In its thousand years of existence, it had forgotten how many beasts it had incinerated or how many challengers it had burned to death.
“Roar!!”
A beast-like roar echoed through the water. Su Xiao, who was speeding through the sea, halted abruptly. Hearing the roar behind him, he knew reinforcements had arrived.
Countless black tentacles spread across the surrounding waters. From their range, it was clear Zuiyasi had gone all out, which surprised Su Xiao slightly.
Not only had Zuiyasi arrived, but Wude was also present. In the waters where the Sun Bird was, the seawater turned a translucent green, slowly encroaching on the Sun Bird.
This was Wude’s style. In non-solo battles, he never engaged head-on. If he could play dirty, he wouldn’t confront directly.
In this situation, his weakening abilities were highly effective. As the battle dragged on, the Sun Bird’s combat power would gradually decline.
Given the Sun Bird’s current strength, anyone who charged in would be delivering themselves to be killed on the spot.
Splashing sounds came from Shelter City No. 6 as the sea clans rushed out. They were children of the ocean, their swimming speed unmatched by other races.
Leading them was Divine Envoy Boros, his face dark. Today, no matter what, he had to eliminate the Sun Bird.
“Die now, or kill that thing—choose for yourselves.”
Boros skipped the usual bribery phase. Bribery was useless now. Anyone with a shred of sense knew charging at the Sun Bird was suicide. Compared to wealth and external possessions, life was more important.
So Boros directly forced his subordinates to choose: die immediately, or take a gamble that might offer a slim chance of survival.
Boros had the means to make these subordinates or nobles drop dead on the spot. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have held the position of Divine Envoy so securely. In the past, the Sea God used such methods to control him, but after becoming the envoy, he broke free.
The half-fish, half-human hybrids and mutant human clans dared not speak out. Though the nobles harbored resentment, they couldn’t defy Boros.
“I swear to go through fire and water for Lord Boros!”
A big-mouthed sea clan member shouted. Hearing this, Boros looked at him with undisguised approval. But in his mind, he thought: ‘I can’t let this kid die. This fish will take the blame.’
With that thought, Boros’s gaze toward the big-mouthed sea clan member grew even more appreciative. He said, “You, follow behind me.”
“Huh? Yes, yes! I’ll follow Lord Boros to the death.”
The big-mouthed sea clan member was overjoyed. He really didn’t want to fight, but now that he could stick close to Boros, he was ecstatic.
The other sea clan members silently cursed the big-mouthed one for his shamelessness, yet they envied him.
“What are you still staring at? Defend our shelter city. Charge!”
Boros pointed forward with a grand gesture. His command of “charge” was practiced to perfection. The sea clans swam toward the Sun Bird, with one sea clan member wielding a steel fork lunging forward in a sudden thrust.
The grilled fish feast was about to begin.