Chapter 36: Let Go of That ATM Princess!
On the rocky shoals at the border of the vassal clan's territory, a three-tailed moon fox, several times larger than a pony, galloped past, leaving trails of glowing white particles in its wake.
On the back of this three-tailed moon fox sat Yue Shitu, her face pale as a sheet. She wore a pink-white hooded pajama set, the hood adorned with rabbit ears. For other contractors, this would be bizarre; for Yue Shitu, it was standard attire. She would hole up in mission worlds, never seeing anyone, so of course she dressed for comfort—unless it was a situation like the World of Paintings, where she'd switch to a dress or something.
The wind howled past Yue Shitu's ears as she pressed one hand to her lower abdomen, a large patch of blood soaking through the fabric of her clothes.
The three-tailed moon fox she rode moved at incredible speed. While its running pace was slightly slower than the elk, Aisili, she had ridden in the Sand World, the moon fox was more agile, with quicker turning ability. If an enemy closed in, the moon fox could dodge and weave.
"Faster," Yue Shitu urged urgently from the fox's back.
"Understood," the three-tailed moon fox replied in a serious tone, though it was already running at its limit.
Yue Shitu hadn't initially fled on the three-tailed moon fox; she had chosen the flying moon lion. At first, she had been smug that her familiar could fly—until the enemy shot both her and the moon lion down. She realized that flying in the sky just made her a sitting duck.
Boom!
A thunderous roar came from the distance, shaking the ground. Two figures were sent flying amidst spraying mud and gravel, thrown back by the blast. These were two of Yue Shitu's strongest three familiars: Tennyu Akushi and Black Knight Yu.
Tennyu Akushi was a humanoid familiar covered in white feathers. She had no wings but possessed strong hovering ability, excelling in mid-range combat and as a guard.
Black Knight Yu specialized in close combat and was also adept at protection.
Besides these two permanent summons, the Light Elf Xianlulu was another core familiar of Yue Shitu. Xianlulu clung to Yue Shitu, urging the three-tailed moon fox to flee alongside her.
With a crash, a black shadow was slammed onto the path ahead of the three-tailed moon fox. The impact force was so strong that the fox was forced to stop.
"Master, be careful," Akushi said, her white feathers drifting down as she stepped in front of Yue Shitu. Several white bone spears were embedded in her body, each about a meter long, covered in vicious barbs.
Forcibly pulling out these bone spears would severely tear the wounds and inflict high, defense-ignoring damage.
Akushi's breathing was already labored. Beside her, the Black Knight was covered in slash marks. As for the Light Elf Xianlulu, let's not even mention her—she was even more cowardly than Yue Shitu, hiding in Yue Shitu's hood with tears in her eyes.
"Is this guy a bloodhound or what? He just won't stop chasing," Yue Shitu muttered, clutching her lower abdomen as she stared at the powerful enemy ahead. She had already summoned tens of thousands of moon-type summons into this world, trying a swarm tactic, but unfortunately, they couldn't surround the enemy.
Earlier, Yue Shitu had released thousands of summons, intending to overwhelm the enemy, but he didn't fall for it. He used his abilities to directly ambush her. With his overwhelming strength, if Yue Shitu didn't flee, she would die in moments.
As for using life-saving items, Yue Shitu desperately wanted to, but the problem was she had none. In the World of Paintings, she had used up many such items. These things weren't something you could buy anytime with Soul Coins, even in the Apocalypse Paradise, which sold the most life-saving items.
So here she was: Yue Shitu fleeing ahead, the powerful enemy chasing behind, and the bulk of her summons trailing even further back.
The swarm tactic wasn't invincible, especially since Yue Shitu wasn't in a hiding spot. If she died, her summon army would collapse on its own.
As the saying goes, not all bodies are the same. The weakness of a numbers tactic is the leader—like Yue Shitu now. When Su Xiao used swarm tactics, he had a huge advantage: he wasn't afraid of ambushes or assassinations.
If an enemy ambushed him, he'd just fight them head-on. With his troops all around, reinforcements would pour in endlessly. If an assassin tried to sneak up on him, they'd need more than a few drinks to think they could take on a technique-type master.
"Akushi, Yu, go! Hold him off!" Xianlulu urged urgently from inside Yue Shitu's hood, still clinging to her. Though a light elf, she looked more like a cat a few sizes smaller than Beini.
"Stop blabbering and latch onto me," Akushi snapped, wanting to curse Xianlulu out but having no time.
"I... I'm scared," Xianlulu stammered.
"Scared my ass! Go attach to Akushi and buff her!" Yue Shitu ordered. Hearing this, Xianlulu gritted her teeth, spun around, and attached herself to Akushi, entering an intangible state where she couldn't be attacked. If Akushi died, Xianlulu would be forcibly ejected from this state.
Blocking Yue Shitu and her group was a man about 1.9 meters tall. Though bare-chested, he wore a form-fitting bone armor made of ribs, with a three-meter-long bone tail dragging behind him.
This bone tail resembled a spine, tapering from thick to thin, ending in a blade-like bone edge. Despite its spinal structure, it was incredibly flexible.
This man was known as Divine Remains Jia Gu, a Guardian of the Watchful Paradise (similar to a Hunter). His combat power was in the top tier of the eighth rank, though slightly weaker than figures like Golden Count, Holy Poem, and Orlando.
Even so, Yue Shitu stood no chance against him now. Once her location was exposed, she lost her greatest advantage: the ability to hole up in a hiding spot and remotely command her summons to cause trouble.
Jia Gu flicked his bone tail, tossing a female moon-type familiar impaled on it into the air. The bone tail blade flashed, shredding the familiar into pieces. Its bones exploded, raining blood down on the area.
The bone fragments dissolved into a white fluid, merging into Jia Gu's bone armor, making it even tougher.
"Bone man, are you insane? Why are you chasing me? The world war hasn't even started yet," Yue Shitu shouted.
Jia Gu didn't answer. The lower half of his face was covered by a bone mask. His killing intent wasn't strong, but there was a hint of amusement. He was chasing Yue Shitu not just because of the world war, but also for personal pleasure. He had long realized his mind had become twisted—he was sick. The more beautiful and cute something was, the more satisfying it felt to crush it to pieces.
Jia Gu knew this was wrong, but he couldn't stop himself. His regimental commander, Orlando, had scolded him many times for this and even tried to cure his psychological issues with the power of philosophy, but it didn't work.
Divine Remains Jia Gu looked at Yue Shitu, thinking: the enemy is so cute; killing her will be especially fun.
Jia Gu let out a laugh. Seeing this, Yue Shitu's head buzzed. If this world war hadn't excluded the Reincarnation Paradise, she would have thought this was one of their madmen or psychopaths.
"Go, destroy him!" Yue Shitu pointed forward. A circular space wormhole opened behind her, and moon-type summons poured out, charging straight at Jia Gu.
Jia Gu slammed his hand onto the ground. Several-meter-long bone spikes erupted from the earth, impaling the charging summons. But that wasn't all—the hundreds of bone spikes exploded, sending bone fragments flying like razor-sharp blades.
Amidst the bone fragments, Yue Shitu was surrounded by swirling white feathers, light elements, and black smoke, protecting her.
When the explosion subsided, all the bone fragments rapidly gathered to form a ten-meter-tall giant skeleton. This skeleton wielded two oversized bone blades, its eye sockets glowing green.
Sensing the giant skeleton's aura, Akushi, standing in front of Yue Shitu, knew she couldn't block this monster, let alone the stronger Jia Gu.
The giant skeleton raised its bone blade, seemingly about to strike down. But unexpectedly, it opened its jaw and spewed a black beam of light.
This attack was completely unexpected. The Black Knight in front of Yue Shitu reacted fastest, using his broadsword as a shield to block the incoming black beam.
Boom!
Mud sprayed from under the Black Knight's feet as he was pushed back, his boots plowing through the ground. As he struggled to withstand the giant skeleton's attack, Jia Gu appeared beside him. The bone tail blade swept lightly.
Snap~
The Black Knight's head fell. Upon closer inspection, the armor was empty inside. Jia Gu wasn't surprised. His bone tail pierced into the armor's severed neck, as if puncturing something. The headless Black Knight trembled, his armor rapidly rusting and weathering, eventually turning into a pile of black ash.
Witnessing this, Yue Shitu clenched her fists. The Black Knight had followed her since the fifth rank, all the way to the eighth, and now he died here.
Yue Shitu didn't shout threats or even show sadness. Though she was crying inside, she knew not to show weakness in battle.
"This is a black-armored knight? What a waste," Jia Gu said as he advanced, using words to provoke and anger his enemy, making them lose calm judgment. It was a tactic he often used.
In Jia Gu's vision, the skull above Yue Shitu's head gradually turned white. Only he could see this skull. When it turned pure white, he could flash behind her and take her head with a single tail swipe.
Jia Gu kept trash-talking but didn't immediately close in. He had noticed that this little rabbit wasn't great at fighting but was definitely top-tier at running—she was just too fast.
As Jia Gu continued his trash talk, a sense of danger came from his right, followed by a whistling sound.
A blood-red light stabbed toward him. Jia Gu raised his arm to block, forming a large, convex circular bone shield.
Boom!!
An explosion rang out. Jia Gu was pushed back, his feet plowing through the ground. The explosion spread blood energy around.
The large bone shield in Jia Gu's hand was covered in cracks, with an arm-sized hole in the center. The enemy's attack had been blocked by his body armor.
Jia Gu leaped backward. Mid-air, a blood spear descended.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Four consecutive blood spears struck the ground, barely missing the retreating Jia Gu. Then, all four blood spears exploded, spreading blood energy everywhere.
Whoosh! A figure landed from above, silent, and vanished the next instant.
Jia Gu's pupils contracted sharply. His blood surged. Just the newcomer's aura told him this was a formidable enemy.
Jia Gu hadn't reached his current strength by being timid. Facing a powerful opponent of the same rank, he felt his blood boil, eager to fight.
He fully activated his perception, sensing one person within the blood energy. The figure held a long blade. The blood spears that had struck earlier didn't seem like rigid skills. The energy control made Jia Gu immediately think of a late-stage Blood Spear Grandmaster class. He wasn't sure what the specific class was, but he guessed it was a grandmaster-level ability for controlling blood energy.
From the power and speed, Jia Gu deduced the enemy had developed both physical attributes. The failure of his intelligence-based detection equipment indicated the enemy's intelligence attribute was also high.
Beyond that, Jia Gu was certain the long blade in the enemy's hand wasn't just for show. Its aura suggested at least grandmaster-level blade technique.
Three-attribute development, Blood Spear Grandmaster + Blade Grandmaster—a dual grandmaster. Analyzing this, Jia Gu knew with certainty that this kind of person must have a pile of passives, fierce as tigers. Ten technique-type fighters, six developed this way; the other four couldn't afford it.
After this analysis, Jia Gu decided: he could fight.
Whoosh! The figure within the blood energy charged out, appearing before Jia Gu in an instant. The long blade slashed repeatedly, swift and sharp.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The long blade clashed with the bone tail blade, sparks flying. Jia Gu sidestepped, dodging a blood spear shot, and turned his hand into a bone claw, aiming for Su Xiao's exposed chest.
Boom!!!
An air blast erupted. Before Jia Gu could tear through Su Xiao's chest and rip out his heart, Su Xiao's straight kick landed squarely on his abdomen.
Taking the kick head-on, the bone armor on Jia Gu's abdomen shattered instantly. His body curled up like a shrimp. The bone mask covering his lower face was shattered by the impact.
Jia Gu's arched back broke through a shockwave, sending him flying in a straight line parallel to the ground. His figure blurred into a dashed line due to the speed.
Boom!
The force of Jia Gu's flight kicked up the ground beneath him, spraying mud and gravel, vaguely forming a tunnel shape.
After flying some distance, a massive bone hand sprouted from Jia Gu's shoulder, shaped like a fleshy wing. It dug into the ground, plowing up dirt until he finally stopped.
When Jia Gu came to a halt at the end of a dirt trench, he spat out a mouthful of blood, mixed with fine organ fragments.
That kick had damaged more than his organs—most of his chest cavity was empty. Broken ribs protruded from the flesh of his chest and abdomen, a gruesome sight.
Jia Gu breathed heavily, thick blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He stared at Su Xiao in the distance, his confused gaze seeming to ask: 'Is that kick something a human can even deliver?'