Chapter 55: Bury You
At the edge of the circular defensive line, a loud boom echoed as large pieces of dark-gold force fragments scattered. Orlando had thrown a punch, and after he unleashed it, the force fragments spread outward in a rapidly expanding fan shape, surging forward.
The wild boar warriors caught in the blast were instantly shattered into flesh and bone fragments. Under Orlando's attack, they couldn't even withstand a single blow.
This was still when Orlando hadn't been hit by a powerful attack. His ability's characteristic was that the harder the enemy struck him, the wider the fan-shaped range of his counter-punch became, and the greater its power.
After Orlando shattered enemies with his fist pressure, the flesh and blood fragments they turned into would be altered by his attack and absorbed back into his body along with the force fragments, restoring his health and a certain amount of stamina. He was called the Unstoppable Demon because of this.
Bang.
A long-handled war hammer smashed down on Orlando's head. The force of the blow made him tilt his head slightly. He pulled his fist back to his side and then punched out.
Boom!
The fan-shaped fist pressure spread forward, carrying dark-gold force fragments that shattered everything in their path. The space around them even showed signs of distortion. The dozens of wild boar warriors ahead were cleared out by Orlando's single punch.
But this didn't have a decisive effect. The dozens of wild boar warriors had barely been shattered when, within seconds, the gaps they left were filled by other wild boar warriors.
Orlando took a deep breath of the air thick with the stench of blood, his brow furrowed. The number of enemies was overwhelming.
He leaped onto a small pile of wild boar warrior corpses and looked around. The scene before him chilled his heart. The wild boar warriors stretched endlessly, surging like a tide toward the center.
The massive, suspicious black shadow in the distance made Orlando uneasy. That monster, covered in thick black armor and impossible to make out clearly, was definitely not something to be trifled with.
At the start of the melee, the enemy contractors had the advantage. But their own wild boar warriors weren't completely without tactics. The circular defensive line formed by the enemy contractors didn't necessarily have to be broken through to gain the upper hand.
Before the battle began, Su Xiao had selected several thousand tall, sturdy wild boar warriors as throwers. These throwers carried no weapons; their only task was to toss their own kin into the enemy's defensive lines in batches once the melee started.
Each batch could throw 4,000 wild boar warriors. While airborne, they were targets, but they were thick-skinned and numerous.
At the very center of the battlefield, the dozens of contractors who had originally surrounded Su Xiao had all gone quiet. They weren't dead—they were being held back by wild boar warriors raining down from above.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Blades clashed repeatedly, sparks flying in a dizzying display. Su Xiao's sword momentum slowed.
"Blade Path Sword: Time."
Dong~
An invisible shockwave spread outward, affecting the twelve "Dual-Blade Mad Dogs" around him.
Su Xiao sheathed his longsword, ignoring a broadsword slowly slashing toward his neck. After a brief charge-up for his draw-slash, he struck.
"Blade Path Sword: Extreme."
Zheng!
A circular slashing wave radiated from Su Xiao, but in the next instant, the twelve "Dual-Blade Mad Dogs" were all protected by a layer of golden shield.
The circular slash cut through, producing a harsh grinding sound. It didn't penetrate the golden shield, making one wonder if it was a short-duration invincibility shield.
The one who used this "invincibility shield" needed no guesswork—it was, of course, Sacred Poem. Under the cover of the two brothers, one tall and one short, she hadn't been surrounded by wild boar warriors.
These two brothers called themselves the Heavenly Ghost Brothers. The elder was Tianchuan, and the younger was Guitong. They were a combination of a steady older brother and a scheming younger one. The elder was as steady as an old dog, cautious to the point of exasperation, while the younger was highly aggressive.
Indeed, the two brothers had been covering Sacred Poem, but unfortunately, the wild boar warriors around them were increasing, and batches were falling from the sky. The Heavenly Ghost Brothers could no longer protect Sacred Poem.
Taking advantage of the "Time" effect still lingering, Su Xiao used the mental connection he had established to have Xianlulu heal him. In truth, he wanted the acceleration effect Xianlulu provided.
"Received."
Xianlulu's body emitted a fluorescent green light, helping Su Xiao recover his life force while providing the acceleration effect of the Spirit Wind trait.
Among the twelve slowed-down "Dual-Blade Mad Dogs," Su Xiao vanished. He streaked through the air like a blood shadow and suddenly appeared before Sacred Poem.
Sacred Poem felt the wind pressure rushing toward her, blowing back her coiled hair, but she remained calm.
Boom!!
Su Xiao delivered a straight kick. Sacred Poem was utterly straightforward—her entire body turned into a mist of blood and fragments, flying backward. A few strands of bloodstained hair looked especially tragic.
Golden particles emerged from the blood mist, swirling back to form Sacred Poem's body. Before her slender figure fully reformed, an energy-constructed elegant dress appeared first, and then her body was reconstituted.
This "resurrection" ability of Sacred Poem's wasn't exactly a true revival, but it was still troublesome.
As soon as Sacred Poem recovered, among the twelve "Dual-Blade Mad Dogs" around her, a burly knight had graying temples. Sacred Poem's "resurrection" came at a cost.
Sacred Poem, a dozen meters away, was protected in the center by the twelve dual-blade knights. Her face was slightly pale. Though she wouldn't truly die, each time she was "killed," she came very close to death, and the experience was terrible.
Pale-faced, Sacred Poem slowly exhaled. In the past, she had been "killed" by having a vital point pierced or being severely wounded. Given her strength, she hadn't experienced "death" as often as one might think.
This "death" experience was too memorable. She had been shattered by a straight kick. The feeling of her body breaking apart like ceramic from the abdomen, flesh, bones, and nerves torn apart inch by inch by the force—she still wasn't used to it.
"I'm going to… bury you."
Sacred Poem, usually gentle, rarely let out a harsh threat. The twelve knights around her all agreed in their hearts—this was a business they were very familiar with.
Su Xiao didn't press the attack. Sacred Poem was protected by the twelve knights. His exchange with her gave him a rough idea of his own strength. He estimated that if both sides used all their trump cards, he, Sacred Poem, and Orlando were on similar footing.
Who would win or lose depended on on-the-spot performance, ability counters, and other factors.
After gauging his combat power, Su Xiao didn't feel that his rate of improvement was slow. Sacred Poem and Orlando were veteran powerhouses of the eighth rank, having gone through many worlds at that level.
All told, from his promotion to the eighth rank to this world, Su Xiao had only gone through five worlds: Demon Sea, Dark Star, Alliance Star, World of Paintings, and now Ser Star—exactly five.
Su Xiao knew about the grudge between Sacred Poem and Xianji. Their strengths were similar. That meant if he could score big in this world and return to Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao was confident he could surpass Xianji in strength. But this depended on surviving and winning this battle.
Su Xiao sheathed his longsword and leaped onto a blasted elevator platform, looking around. Around him were wild boar warriors. His previous opponent, Sacred Poem, was now being besieged by them. The twelve knights had reverted to being twelve "Dual-Blade Mad Dogs," cutting through flesh and blood.
The battlefield was chaos incarnate. The 4,000 throwers Su Xiao had arranged could toss 4,000 wild boar warriors into the circular defensive line every minute, making the enemy contractors both anxious and helpless.
The originally one-directional defensive line was now being attacked from both inside and out. If these were ordinary grunts, it might be manageable, but wild boar warriors were clearly a step above.
As soldier-type units, the wild boar warriors' attack power was lacking, but they were so tanky that the enemy contractors wanted to vomit.
Su Xiao had just witnessed a handsome man wielding a rapier, moving gracefully among the wild boar warriors, looking especially dashing and flashy.
But when the density of wild boar warriors reached a certain level, that graceful man couldn't stay afloat anymore. Especially when wild boar warriors from all sides lunged at him, his face nearly turned green.
Helpless, the graceful man had to leap up, or he'd be caught by the wild boar warriors. They might be clueless about combat, but once they caught someone, the death was brutal.
The worst decision the graceful man ever made was leaping up in desperation. At the peak of his jump, he held his rapier vertically in front of him, one hand behind his back. But when he saw the scene below, his handsome face lost all color.
Below, over 200 wild boar warriors packed the area, their large hands raised, waiting for him to fall. The situation was… utterly hopeless.
With a shriek that cracked, the graceful man fell among the wild boar warriors. He cut down a few around him, blood and flesh flying, but it was useless. After a frenzy of chaotic hammering and group kicking, he died on the spot. He was the first contractor Su Xiao had ever seen literally kicked to death by a mob.
Sacred Poem also saw this. Her expression stiffened noticeably. She didn't yet know that the Bai Ye-style army tactics she was experiencing weren't the full version.
Once the wild boar warriors reached 300,000 and triggered the "Blood·Soul Power (Passive)" ability, their attacks would not only deal an additional 120 true damage but also, when they severely wounded an enemy in melee, they could absorb the enemy's life force to restore their own lost health. At that point, the wild boar warriors' survivability would be even greater.
If Sacred Poem survived this round of melee, she would definitely have the chance to experience the full version of Bai Ye-style army tactics later.