Chapter 12: A Slight Gap in Strength
Boom!!
A thunderous explosion rang out as Su Xiao delivered a straight kick, slamming into the tower shield in front of him. A burst of air pressure exploded, snapping the grass blades on the surrounding ground and sending them flying half a meter high. The scene was spectacular.
The tower shield held by the burly main tank shattered into fragments. He was sent hurtling backward through a wave of air pressure. Because he had leaned back before being launched, he didn't fly far before starting to plow the ground, sending dirt spraying up like a fountain.
After carving a long trench, the burly main tank finally came to a stop. He instinctively raised his hand to check on his shield, but unfortunately, only a stump of his right arm remained. Not only that, the chest plate of his armor was covered in crisscrossing gouges, some even reaching the flesh beneath, causing blood to seep from the grooves in the armor.
Drip, drip~
Blood dripped from the burly main tank's chin. He realized it wasn't just his nose bleeding; blood was also flowing from his ears. His internal organs felt dull and numb. The impact to his brain caused intermittent double vision, and a constant ringing in his ears never stopped.
The burly main tank sat in the trench he had plowed, completely stunned. He had personally felt himself being kicked in the shield by the enemy.
His current feelings made him extremely uncertain about what had just happened. His thoughts at the moment were: 'Did I just get kicked by someone? Was that a person? Is this really an Apocalypse Paradise contractor?'
Shaking off the dizziness and ringing in his head, the burly main tank stood up. He knew he had been targeted. In previous battles against contractors, enemies treated him like a nuisance, and his main job was to find ways to make them attack him. This time, he didn't need to worry about that at all; instead, he should be worried about whether he would die.
A sound of wind breaking came, and the burly main tank immediately leaped backward. A long blade stabbed into the ground in front of him. The next instant, a figure stepped on the pommel of the blade, leaving a blood shadow before disappearing, along with the blade that had been stabbed into the ground.
Clang! Clang...
A series of dense slashing sounds came from behind. The burly main tank clasped his hands together, and a semi-transparent shield appeared behind him.
Three crisp slashing sounds, accompanied by impact, made the burly main tank stumble forward a few steps. Cracks appeared on the semi-transparent energy shield behind him.
With a whoosh, another blood shadow flashed by. The burly main tank slightly bent over, panting like an ox. Blood stained the right half of his body red, and sharp pain came from his right shoulder.
The burly main tank turned his head to look and found that his right arm, which had been reduced to a stump, was now completely severed at the root. Not only that, a deep slash mark appeared on his right side. He had no idea when these two injuries had occurred.
The burly main tank scanned the area ahead. The enemy was clearly a frontal assault-type melee fighter, yet he couldn't find any trace of the enemy. The speed gap was too great.
He checked his health. Thanks to the simultaneous healing from two healers and his continuous health regeneration, his health had recovered to 87.95%. In the past, such a health level would have reassured him.
But just now, he had experienced his health dropping like a leaky bucket, sliding all the way down. This made him feel that his current health was not safe at all. He had to be constantly vigilant to avoid being killed in a few slashes.
Compared to all this, the burly main tank had an even stronger doubt in his mind. He had indeed been kicked flying, but where were his teammates? Where the hell had they all gone?! A 12-man team, leaving him, a tank, to fight the enemy alone. 500 seconds had passed, why hadn't they come to reinforce?!
It was just that the burly main tank felt time had slowed down. In reality, only 5 seconds had passed since he was kicked.
A dark figure flickered and arrived—it was an assassin-type from the team.
Centered on this faint, shadowy man, hundreds of fist-sized black flame orbs spread out. These black flame orbs trailed tails of fire, accompanied by wailing sounds, as they flew toward Su Xiao.
Su Xiao was positioned diagonally behind the burly main tank, blocking the enemy's line of sight. A foul wind came from the side. He sheathed his long blade, assuming a drawing stance.
'Blade Path: Slay.'
With a whoosh, a black-red blood chain was slashed out, meeting the hundreds of incoming ghost fire orbs. When they touched, it crackled like firecrackers.
One of the ghost fire orbs split into hundreds of smaller fireballs, dispersing to evade the 'Slay' before converging in front of Su Xiao's chest.
The ghost fire orb was about to hit Su Xiao's chest. Based on his instincts, he judged this wasn't an attack-oriented ability; the perception of danger wasn't strong. That meant it was an erosion or control-type ability.
Su Xiao leaned toward the latter. Continuing his judgment, the opponent he was fighting was an eighth-rank contractor. They probably didn't know that the Blade Grandmaster's immunity to mental control had a lower chance than winning the lottery. Combat intelligence was a matter of life and death, and every contractor would do their utmost to gather it.
This control ability had a small chance of being physical-type and a high chance of being soul-type. Combined with the wailing sensation, it was definitely soul-type control.
Tank it, then instantly kill one person in a short time. Otherwise, if other enemies reinforced, he would continue to be surrounded.
Su Xiao made a backward leap motion, but the ghost fire orb in front of him suddenly accelerated and entered his chest.
Black flames whooshed up on Su Xiao's body. His eyes turned pitch black, and he stood still.
Seeing this, the black-cloaked man who had ambushed him sharpened his gaze. A long dagger shaped like a rhombus appeared in his hand, covered in a verdant green. A sweet smell spread—the dagger was coated with a potent poison.
As the black-cloaked man charged, sharp needles flew from under his cloak toward Su Xiao. He didn't waste a single second of attack opportunity.
The burly main tank nearby wasn't idle either. He activated his tank domain while pressing down with one hand, causing Su Xiao's feet to sink into the ground under the heavy pressure.
Hundreds of verdant green needles and the black-cloaked man attacked simultaneously. Just as all the attacks were about to hit Su Xiao, the black flames on him suddenly extinguished completely. He lifted one foot and stomped down.
Boom!
A ring of blood energy exploded. The fragments attached to the Black King Bracer detached, and with a clattering sound, they knocked away all the slender green needles flying toward Su Xiao.
The impact of the blood ring momentarily numbed the black-cloaked man's entire body. He lunged toward Su Xiao like a sacrificial lamb and was immediately grabbed by the neck.
"Brother, I was just joking with you."
The black-cloaked man seemed to be begging for mercy, but he was actually trying to buy some time with words, even just one second.
With a crack, Su Xiao snapped the black-cloaked man's neck. He tossed him up and, with a series of slashes from his long blade, the black-cloaked man turned into a shower of blood and flesh, falling like rain.
When an assassin-type meets a technique-type, the assassin-type might show off at the start. But once the technique-type catches them, they're like a caught chick. If they encounter a technique-type who likes to taunt, before killing the assassin-type, they might say: 'What the hell are you showing off for?'
Boom!
A dazzling white light beam struck from diagonally above. Su Xiao reached forward with his left hand, encased in a crystal layer, and blocked the incoming light beam. The energy was quickly devoured and extinguished in his hand.
The previous fight with the black-cloaked man seemed long, but it hadn't taken much time. The remaining 10 contractors were all reinforcing. It wasn't that they were slow to react; they dared not ignore Baha. Their perception-type would die first.
Baha never prioritizes assassinating healers or mages first. The reason is that healers can be forcibly 'ally-fied' with blood rain, and mages attacking Su Xiao mostly just scratch the surface.
Excluding those two, assassinating the perception-type is the best choice. In a certain world war, Baha was almost roasted by an 8-man fire mage squad because an assassin-type had locked onto his position. Since then, he's had a unique 'bond' with perception-types.
The pressure on his hand gradually disappeared. The light beam striking from diagonally above quickly thinned, eventually becoming as thin as a strand of hair before dissipating into the air.
A young girl with long, light golden hair, wearing a white robe modified into a long dress, floated in midair, looking down at Su Xiao. Su Xiao temporarily named this target 'Light Mage Girl.'
Holy Light Paradise really has a lot of female contractors, and they're all top-tier in looks. But that doesn't affect Su Xiao. Are there no strong female contractors? No, female contractors are just as dangerous and need to be handled with caution and respect.
The encirclement was re-formed. Led by the burly main tank, behind him were two dedicated healer contractors and Guang Mu, all ready to heal the burly main tank at any moment.
As a combat healer, Guang Mu rarely assists others, but this time, she decided not to stand out.
Surrounded by a total of 11 contractors, Su Xiao slowly exhaled. He had just tested several newly upgraded abilities, and the results were ideal. It was time to end the fight quickly. He hadn't killed too fiercely earlier because he wanted to give the enemy hope, preventing them from scattering. Chasing them down one by one would be too troublesome.
Various attacks came from all sides. Su Xiao instantly penetrated space, appearing a dozen meters above. He stood on a blood energy disk two meters in diameter, with five blood spears converging above him.
Su Xiao locked onto a melee-type contractor. The first blood spear shot out, breaking the sound barrier.
Clang!
The lean melee-type man below blocked with a large blade, but the second blood spear followed immediately. At the same time, a light green energy bond connected to him, rapidly restoring his health.
Clang!!
The lean man slashed away the second blood spear. Unfortunately, while dodging and defending against attacks from all sides, Su Xiao manipulated the remaining three blood spears to fly toward the lean man.
The third blood spear pierced through the lean man's abdomen. He let out a furious shout. The fourth blood spear stabbed into his shoulder. The fifth hit his chest, nearly piercing his heart.
At that moment, the lean man understood a truth: having a healer is really great. He almost wanted to marry that big healer as his wife.
Unfortunately, the lean man would never fulfill that wish. The three blood spears piercing his body, each nearly 3 meters long, exploded simultaneously. The lean man died on the spot.
Long blade and double-edged weapons clashed. A burly melee fighter blocked Su Xiao head-on. A blood spear quickly formed in Su Xiao's hand—it was the 'Blood Spear: Firm.'
Clang! Clang! Clang...
Sparks flew everywhere. The burly melee fighter blocking Su Xiao immediately felt the pressure skyrocket. Attacks came down on him like a storm. The long spear in Su Xiao's left hand either slashed down with full force or swept horizontally, while the long blade in his right hand had an even more terrifying attack frequency.
With a crack, the double-edged hook blades in the burly melee fighter's hand shattered. The blood spear thrust straight forward, entering from his neck and pinning him diagonally to the ground. A large mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth, and his life flame quickly extinguished.
A newly formed blood spear flew out from above Su Xiao. When it reached the ponytail man ahead, it was blocked by a gravity barrier. Baha appeared behind the ponytail man, and blood and shattered bones were torn and scattered everywhere.
The ranged attackers nearby were already few. After Su Xiao suppressed them with blood spears, they became even fewer. He activated the Dragon Shadow Flash ability and appeared in front of the Light Mage Girl, less than half a meter away from her.
Due to the Light Mage Girl's height, Su Xiao slightly looked down at her, which made her legs go weak. But she quickly suppressed her fear, ready to die together with the enemy.
Pfft!
Su Xiao's left hand, encased in the crystal layer, pierced into the Light Mage Girl's chest. When his bloodstained hand pulled out, it held a rapidly expanding light core, looking like it was about to explode.
Su Xiao clenched his left hand. The Cyan Steel Shadow energy quickly devoured the light energy. A wisp of green smoke drifted out from between his fingers. The self-destruction of the light core was forcibly extinguished.
As a mage, suffering such a heavy blow, the Light Mage Girl felt as if she had been hollowed out. All strength left her body. The light in her eyes faded, and her face showed an expression of seeing a ghost. As she fell backward, her gaze inadvertently met Guang Mu's. Feeling that Guang Mu was a decent person, her lips moved, and the words she said were: 'Run.'
Blood spears crisscrossed, blade aura slashed in all directions. When the battle subsided, the burly main tank was pinned to the ground by three blood spears.
Near a pool of blood, the big healer, her face splattered with blood, sat paralyzed on the ground, begging for mercy with a trembling voice. As Su Xiao advanced, the big healer slowly crawled backward, looking weak and helpless, pitiful enough to evoke sympathy.
Her hand was hidden in her sleeve, ready to activate an item at the right moment. With a similar trick, she had already killed three enemies who had softened at her fair skin, full figure, and pitiful expression. She was very good at this.
"I can help you..."
Pfft.
As Su Xiao passed by, a slash mark crossed her throat. The big healer fell backward, blood spraying from her throat.
Su Xiao walked past the big healer's corpse. The only living person left was Guang Mu. Imprints could be disguised, and aura could be faked, but combat style was hard to completely hide.
Su Xiao and Guang Mu had fought the Fallen Deity, Ogus, together in the Demon Sea. He estimated that there was over a 95% chance she had already guessed who he was.
"Healer, who do I look like?"
Su Xiao spoke. If Guang Mu pretended to be clueless at this moment, he would kill her immediately.
"Bai Ye."
"Oh? Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. Blade Grandmaster, blood energy, beheading, demon hawk summon—these traits are enough."
Guang Mu said in a deep voice. Her strength had been in the upper-middle tier of the eighth rank before, and now she had reached the upper echelon. In the Demon Sea, she felt she was no match for Su Xiao, and now she was even less so. Besides, in Alliance Star, she had been nearly driven to the brink of collapse by cannon fodder.
"How about we make a deal?"
Su Xiao had already had an idea in mind: to plant a mole. This was the opportunity.
"What kind of deal?"
"A deal to let you live."
"Alright."
Guang Mu felt helpless inside, but to escape this life-or-death crisis, she had no choice. However, she suddenly thought, since it was a deal, would they sign a Reincarnation Paradise contract?!
Under Guang Mu's worried gaze, Su Xiao drafted a contract and materialized a Contract Parchment. Seeing the Contract Parchment, Guang Mu's head buzzed. She recalled the fear of being dominated by contracts from Huishenshi.
But Guang Mu didn't know yet that when it came to contract expertise, Su Xiao was slightly better than Huishenshi.