Chapter 20: Demon Scythe
In the dark and damp underground palace passage, Little Lord Guruvier and three others stared nervously ahead. Just over ten meters in front of them, a witch doctor with primitive tribal tattoos covering his face and wearing exotic beast hides was watching them with a pair of eerie green eyes.
For the first few seconds, Guruvier, York, and the others felt that such a powerful witch doctor would be so wary of them, which surprised them and made them feel a bit smug.
Among them, Reverse-Ear Fox Silver Feather quickly realized something—why would a venomous snake fear herbivores? There must be something even more terrifying behind them. Thinking of the darkness behind, Silver Feather was about to speak when a hand formed of dark blue smoke reached from behind and wrapped around her fair neck.
In that instant, Reverse-Ear Fox Silver Feather felt her entire body go cold, unable to move a muscle. Her three friends naturally noticed her abnormality, but due to the extreme danger of the situation, they dared not act rashly.
The demon spirit hand gripping Silver Feather's neck pulled, extracting a semi-transparent soul body from her. Almost simultaneously, Silver Feather's mind buzzed, and the scene before her split in two—one part seen by her physical eyes, the other a blurry soul vision. The pain of having her soul pulled out brought tears to her eyes.
"Stop... your hand."
Guruvier suddenly spoke. Because she rarely talked, her tone carried a slight stiffness. Strangely, as she spoke, the world around her seemed affected by sound waves, showing mild distortion before returning to normal.
As soon as Guruvier spoke, the demon spirit's action of pulling out Silver Feather's soul paused, and it even released the soul a bit. But this ability could only slightly affect the demon spirit, and the influence was very brief.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Guruvier covered her mouth with a series of dry coughs, red blood seeping through her fingers. Her eyes were filled with helplessness—the enemy was too powerful.
Looking at Silver Feather's pain-filled eyes, Guruvier clenched her small fists and finally pulled off the necklace pendant from her neck, tossing this secret treasure into the darkness.
As the secret treasure vanished into the darkness, the darkness blocking the passage began to dissipate, leaving only the demon spirit standing there holding the pendant.
Head Wolf York glanced back at the witch doctor, then at the demon spirit, and finally chose to run toward the demon spirit. As he passed beside it and reached the other side, York quickly signaled Guruvier and the others to come over too.
The witch doctor opposite just coldly watched this scene without stopping them. Compared to the escaping York, Silver Feather, and the others, the pendant held by the demon spirit was what he truly wanted to obtain.
The underground palace passage grew narrower toward the exit. Guruvier, York, and the others soon saw light ahead. When they emerged from the cold passage, the natural scenery outside opened up before them. Bright sunlight shone down, making all four feel as if they had come back to life. Guruvier, who rarely exercised, weakly knelt on the ground, her small face pale as she gasped for air.
"It seems the underground palace was dangerous."
A voice came from the stone arch above the passage entrance. The group looked up at the arch several meters high. A bare-chested man with a sheathed longsword hanging at his waist sat there casually.
As for why Su Xiao wasn't wearing the upgraded [Wild Hunt Night] that had reached Origin rank, it wasn't out of consideration for Lide's feelings. Rather, he would likely be fighting the Abyss system Demon Scythe Tailed later. When fighting an Abyss system, it was better not to wear defensive gear. First, it was basically useless, and second, Abyss systems' destruction of armor was like tissue paper against heavy armor, or stacked paper against plate armor.
There was a story behind why Abyss system ability users were so famous for destroying defenses. A few years ago, there was a ninth-rank tank brother from Watchful Paradise. His strength was the pride of tanks—eight pieces of Origin rank +13 armor, a counter shield of even higher tier, and a defensive war hammer in his right hand.
With such exaggerated armor, after engaging an Abyss system, in less than 10 minutes, that brother's armor was either exploding or half-destroyed.
"You are..."
Head Wolf York hesitated. Beside him, Guruvier, supported by Silver Feather, stood up and gestured to Su Xiao that there were enemies in the underground palace.
Under Guruvier's instruction, Reverse-Ear Fox Silver Feather spoke for her. Silver Feather said with lingering fear, "There's an enemy made of black smoke in the underground palace. It's very strong."
"Oh."
Seeing Su Xiao's casual tone, Silver Feather emphasized, "That black smoke figure can pull out a living being's soul. That feeling... it's terrible."
"Mm, truly a terrifying ability."
Su Xiao's tone remained flat. It wasn't that he lacked acting skills, but discussing his own ability with others felt somewhat strange, with an inexplicable sense of self-praise.
Su Xiao jumped down from the arch and stepped into the underground passage. As he went deeper, a cold sensation came over him. Something seemed sealed here, probably some eerie object from the Dark Age. Better not to investigate—Wind Sea Continent had too many secrets, and most of them had risks dozens of times higher than rewards, making them not worth it.
When Su Xiao arrived behind the Blade Demon Spirit, he saw the witch doctor over ten meters ahead.
"Guzha pupu, muyidi (unknown language)."
The witch doctor spoke in a deep voice. Hearing this, Su Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly. He took the secret treasure pendant from the demon spirit, examined it, and showed a contemplative expression.
Seeing this, the witch doctor was somewhat surprised, feeling that Su Xiao seemed to understand what he was saying.
In reality, Su Xiao didn't understand a single word, but the other's meaning wasn't hard to guess—something about handing over the secret treasure. He crushed the pendant's main body, and when he opened his hand, two [Primordial Fragments] that had been sealed inside appeared.
Su Xiao stared at the witch doctor for a moment, then nodded and tossed one of the two [Primordial Fragments] to him.
The witch doctor caught the flying [Primordial Fragment] with one hand, a smile appearing on his wrinkled old face. He nodded to Su Xiao. Strangely, he didn't turn to leave but smiled, showing yellow-black teeth, and said something in primitive tribal language.
Although Su Xiao couldn't understand what the witch doctor said, he acted as if he understood. After listening to the other's words, he pretended to think. Seeing this, the witch doctor over ten meters away smiled even more kindly and warmly.
Suddenly, Su Xiao felt a bitter, pungent taste in his mouth. The scene before him began to double, and his whole body felt light-headed. The ground beneath his feet seemed to flip in circles. He supported himself with one hand against the wall as blood dripped from his nose and ears, drop by drop, onto the ground.
Seeing this, the witch doctor smiled even more kindly. He had been wasting time talking to let the colorless, odorless poison that could fool perception spread, thereby poisoning Su Xiao to death.
"Suffering from potent poison is painful. Don't worry, you'll soon feel nothing."
The witch doctor spoke in the common language of Wind Sea Continent, clearly having deliberately spoken the ancient tribal language earlier to stall for time.
"If you had discovered it earlier, perhaps..."
Before the witch doctor could finish, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his internal organs, as if two hands full of thorns were cruelly squeezing and tearing inside his chest and abdomen. Not only that, his brain felt as if struck by lightning.
With a "wah," the witch doctor spat out a large mouthful of dark red blood, mixed with fine fragments of internal organs.
The witch doctor collapsed to the ground with a thud, poisoned by over a dozen alchemical toxins.
On the other side, Su Xiao supported himself against the wall, poisoned by over a dozen witch toxins.
The two almost simultaneously looked up at each other—one seeing heavy afterimages, the other's vision spinning. But their thoughts were remarkably consistent: this guy is really toxic.
Actually, compared to the two of them, the situation was worse for Demon Scythe Tailed, who was in the dark space. She was being supported by a black smoke figure with a graceful figure very similar to her own.
Originally, Demon Scythe Tailed planned to reap the benefits when the two in the passage were both injured. But she hadn't expected that the toxins and witch poisons of these two guys were so outrageous that they could even erode into the dark space. If she weren't an Abyss system with high poison resistance, she would have died from the poison. Ordinary top-tier ninth-rank strength really couldn't withstand the potent poisons of these two.
In the underground palace passage, this battle didn't seem intense, but it was extremely dangerous. Su Xiao, supporting himself against the wall, took out an injection gun and injected it into the side of his neck. As the medicine merged into his blood and reached every part of his body, the five layers of afterimages before his eyes gradually became two.
The witch doctor opposite stuffed some terrible-looking things into his mouth, chewed them roughly, and swallowed. It was quite effective—at least he stopped spitting out large mouthfuls of black blood.
The witch doctor muttered curses in tribal language. He subconsciously tried to raise his left hand but found it almost numb. He barely opened his palm and saw that his left hand had turned black with a hint of dark blue, clearly because the [Primordial Fragment] in his hand had been poisoned. He immediately threw the [Primordial Fragment] aside and decisively cut off his entire left arm with a primitive dagger.
This proved that when strength reached the top tier of ninth rank, survivability was very strong. In battles of this level, the probability of deciding life or death in an encounter was actually not high, unless it was a deathmatch.
At least in Su Xiao's feeling, even in Wind Sea Continent, there weren't many top-tier ninth-rank powerhouses, and [Absolute Strong] were even rarer.
The witch doctor opposite barely got up from the ground, also supporting himself against the wall. Sometimes, battles between top-tier ninth-rank powerhouses weren't as flashy as imagined. One was poisoned by dozens of toxins, the other by over a dozen witch poisons. If they didn't support themselves against the wall, they really couldn't stand.
"Hoo, hoo..."
The witch doctor glared at Su Xiao. Although he wanted to pick up the [Primordial Fragment] on the ground, thinking of the poison on it, he chose to control a witch-poison characteristic beast-shaped familiar to grab it.
As soon as the beast-shaped familiar grabbed the [Primordial Fragment], starting from the claws that touched it, it was quickly infected by the poison. In a very short time, the familiar turned into a pool of black liquid, completely dead.
Seeing this, the witch doctor was shocked. The familiar he sent was the most poison-resistant among all his familiars, yet in the blink of an eye, it was eroded into a pool of liquid.
After continuing to support himself against the wall for over ten seconds, the witch doctor cursed in tribal language. He couldn't take it anymore and decided to retreat first, to fight another day.
Without even looking at the [Primordial Fragment] on the ground, still feeling dizzy and supporting himself against the wall, the witch doctor limped deeper into the underground passage.
Su Xiao drank several potions in succession. When the afterimages before his eyes disappeared, he turned and walked out of the underground palace. As for deciding life or death with that witch doctor, the underground palace environment was very suitable for witch poison abilities. It was best not to fight to the death with him there.
When Su Xiao exited the underground passage and the bright sunlight shone on him, he took a deep breath and checked his own condition. Although several witch poison debuffs were still there, they hadn't damaged his foundation. After returning to the lord's manor, he could prepare several corresponding potions and drink them to recover.
He took out a sealed bottle filled with solution, shook it to confirm the two [Primordial Fragments] inside were fine, then walked toward Twilight City.
Unnoticed, snowflakes began to fall from the sky. Several trees stood in the snowy field, their dense branches covered in rime, giving the old trees a cold beauty.
The earth was pure white, snowflakes slowly falling. In this scene where heaven and earth were both white, a figure wearing a black priestly robe and holding a demon scythe stood there, making the scene like a beautiful painting—but equally deadly. The newcomer was Demon Scythe Tailed.
Zheng~
The longsword was drawn. Su Xiao's blade pointed diagonally at the ground. The next instant, two auras burst forth.
Boom!
Darkness and blood aura collided, eroding each other, causing the snow on the ground to rapidly melt. The falling snowflakes began to float upward due to the impact.
Darkness and blood aura almost simultaneously retracted, followed by two sounds of breaking wind.
Clang!
Longsword and demon scythe clashed. The surrounding space cracked with a snap, and the air was filled with glass-like cracks. From above, Su Xiao and Demon Scythe Tailed seemed to be in a shattered world.
Crack, crack, crack~
Blade and scythe edge pressed against each other. Demon Scythe Tailed's gaze was indifferent, clearly the type of ruthless person who didn't talk much and could act without wasting words.
'Demon Scythe: Instant.'
Demon Scythe Tailed left an afterimage in place like shedding a shell, then turned into a blur. When she reappeared, she was behind Su Xiao, her demon scythe hooking around his neck.
'Demon Scythe: Life Fall.'
Everything around suddenly stopped. Snowflakes froze mid-air, flying dirt particles also halted. Within this hundred-meter range, the only thing that could move was Demon Scythe Tailed.
Zheng~
The scythe blade rang sharply. The sharp edge cut through Su Xiao's neck, then hooked his head off. However, as this head flew up, it dispersed into dark blue smoke, which floated back and reformed into the demon spirit's head.
That's right, Su Xiao had released the Blade Demon Spirit at that moment and swapped positions with it. The enemy's deadly hook scythe move was truly powerful, causing everything around to fall into stillness—even time and space were frozen.
In this stillness, Su Xiao couldn't use Dragon Shadow Flash to penetrate space, but swapping positions with the demon spirit was possible. Stillness limited all movement but couldn't prevent two stilled objects from exchanging positions with each other.
Because swapping positions with the Blade Demon Spirit wasn't a space system ability at all. It was a capability developed by many previous Law Destroyers at unimaginable cost and resources. Its concept was just four words: "Position Swap." Don't underestimate this simple concept. Whether it was space sealing or time stasis, these abilities that broke through the heavens couldn't prevent the simple and plain "Position Swap."
Sometimes, the simpler, the more unsolvable.
Of course, Su Xiao couldn't use this unsolvable ability continuously. After some exploration, he discovered the detailed characteristics of the Blade Demon Spirit.
First, releasing the demon spirit had two stages: Peak Period and Dormancy Period.
Simply put, after Su Xiao released the Blade Demon Spirit in its best state, within 10 minutes, the demon spirit was in its Peak Period. During this time, Su Xiao could swap positions with the demon spirit, control it to attack flexibly, and the demon spirit could be immune to physical/energy attacks, as well as control others' actions after invading their bodies.
But once the 10-minute Peak Period passed, the demon spirit only retained the ability to be immune to physical/energy attacks and would automatically return to Dragon-Slaying Flash to sleep.
That is, in each battle, the demon spirit's usable time was only 10 minutes. Within these 10 minutes, Su Xiao could swap positions with the demon spirit 3-4 times. More was possible but would reduce the Peak Period's duration.
Su Xiao wasn't disappointed by this. Instead, he felt the demon spirit was still incredibly strong. First, his current [Demon Spirit Awakening] ability was X, meaning this ability could still be improved with Golden Skill Points 7-9 times.
Even if [Demon Spirit Awakening] reached X, it didn't mean the Blade Demon Spirit had reached its limit. The demon spirit's Peak Period duration and overall comprehensive strength mainly depended on the attribute "Blade Demon Spirit Strength."
Checking Dragon-Slaying Flash's attributes would show this. Currently, the demon spirit strength was 62 points. The method to improve it was clear: by having the Blade Demon Spirit devour the origin ability of Indestructible Characteristic Abyss Spawn, the demon spirit strength could be increased.
In other words, the current Blade Demon Spirit was a basic version that hadn't been developed or improved much. As long as it was steadily upgraded, the time the demon spirit could be released would definitely increase significantly.
A very faint blood mark appeared on Su Xiao's neck. Although he had successfully avoided Demon Scythe Tailed's fatal blow with the demon spirit, the sharp scythe blade had still injured him, but it was only a superficial wound.
Snowflakes began to fall again. In the snowy scene, Demon Scythe Tailed flung off her black priestly robe, revealing a relatively form-fitting black outfit. Crack-like dark blue life patterns were distributed on her right arm and right hand holding the demon scythe. On the right side of her neck, some of these life patterns could also be faintly seen.
After all, she was a powerhouse who had crawled out of the Abyss. Some indelible erosion marks were inevitable. Moreover, these marks didn't look ugly but were proof of a strong heart and strong soul.
For some reason, the trace of blood on the demon scythe's blade was particularly conspicuous at this moment. What was more ominous was that the demon scythe absorbed this blood.
'Demon Scythe: Blood Drain.'
As Demon Scythe Tailed's core ability activated, a wave spread with her demon scythe as the center.
Almost simultaneously, Su Xiao, over ten meters away, felt a faint adsorption force around him, as if it were an illusion. But this illusion-like adsorption force caused his life force to slowly drain, absorbed by that demon scythe, then filtered and converted into non-characteristic life force, absorbed by Tailed holding the demon scythe. Now he understood why everyone called her Demon Scythe Tailed.
Su Xiao casually glanced at the prompt, finding that his life force was being drained at a rate of 0.2% of maximum health per second, within a 300-meter range centered on Demon Scythe Tailed.
A drain rate of 0.15% to 0.2% per second meant 12% maximum health damage per minute. For Su Xiao, this damage intensity was acceptable, but this ability was his nemesis.
The reason was that Demon Scythe Tailed could not only drain Su Xiao's life force up close through her demon scythe but also use the amount of life force drained to recover her own injuries and health loss.
The problem was here. Su Xiao had a full 720,000 health points, which meant Demon Scythe Tailed opposite could recover about 1300-1400 health points per second, over 80,000 health points per minute.
More critically, Demon Scythe Tailed was the type with high speed and strong attack power. After fighting Su Xiao, she became speed S, attack S+, survivability S+.
Confirming this, Su Xiao decided to end the battle quickly. He controlled the demon spirit behind him, like an afterimage, attaching to himself. Just as he was about to charge at Demon Scythe Tailed, he received a prompt.
[Tip: Demon Spirit Strength permanently increased by 1 point.]
This sudden prompt made Su Xiao pause. Normally, he would ignore this prompt and continue fighting, but since the battle began, his Blade Demon Spirit strength had already increased by 2 points. This was very intriguing.
Su Xiao temporarily changed his strategy. He chose to attach the demon spirit to his blade, approaching the level of activating the demon blade execution. He instantly disappeared from his spot and appeared in front of Demon Scythe Tailed.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Longsword and demon scythe clashed repeatedly, sparks flying, layers of air waves spreading. The Abyss system Demon Scythe Tailed didn't flinch at all when fighting Su Xiao in close combat. But after three clashes between the demon scythe and Dragon-Slaying Flash, Tailed suddenly retreated.
Zheng!
The longsword slashed through, the blade tip cutting across Demon Scythe Tailed's shoulder, leaving a trace of blood in the air.
Su Xiao interrupted Demon Scythe Tailed's retreat, swinging two heavy slashes.
Clang! Clang!!
Enduring the second heavy slash, Tailed's body lowered slightly, but she ignored her disadvantage and forcefully retreated.
Su Xiao just took a step forward when a death-like oppressive feeling came at him. He stopped and sidestepped. A black-purple ray passed by, flying several kilometers behind him before exploding.
Demon Scythe Tailed finally retreated, a hundred meters away from Su Xiao. Her hand stroked her demon scythe, and the indifference in her eyes was replaced by some pain. She turned her gaze to Su Xiao, her deep eyes as if she wanted to remember him forever. Finally, she entered a pitch-black space door.
Su Xiao didn't pursue. He looked at the Dragon-Slaying Flash in his hand. After clashing several times with the demon scythe using the demon spirit-attached Dragon-Slaying Flash, the Blade Demon Spirit's strength had increased by 8 points. Calculating this way, this battle had increased the demon spirit strength by a total of 10 points, from 62 to 72.
The Blade Demon Spirit wasn't an ability that could grow through battle. Su Xiao estimated this was related to the demon scythe in Tailed's hand. If he wasn't mistaken, that demon scythe contained a large amount of "Indestructible Characteristic Abyss Spawn" origin energy, which was why the demon scythe was so powerful.
The Blade Demon Spirit grew by devouring the origin energy of "Indestructible Characteristic Abyss Spawn." So when attached to Dragon-Slaying Flash and clashing with that demon scythe, it naturally absorbed some origin energy.
Or, under normal conditions, the Blade Demon Spirit couldn't absorb the origin energy inside that demon scythe this way. The problem was that the demon scythe was maintaining the [Demon Scythe: Blood Drain] ability, which inevitably caused the origin energy inside to be released, otherwise the ability couldn't be activated.
This also caused that when Dragon-Slaying Flash just clashed with the demon scythe, the Blade Demon Spirit absorbed the origin energy, totaling a 10-point increase in demon spirit strength.
Demon Scythe Tailed also discovered this and chose to retreat. She had accumulated a lot of origin energy in her demon scythe by killing Abyss Spawn over a long time. After clashing a few times with the enemy, nearly a tenth of the accumulated origin energy was absorbed. Of course, she felt heartache.
Battles were so unpredictable. At the start, Demon Scythe Tailed was very countering Su Xiao, but after fighting for a while, the situation reversed. However, Demon Scythe Tailed's strength was commendable. If they fought again, he must not be careless in the slightest.
Su Xiao arrived at the predetermined location and signaled Amu, Baha, Ergin, Harvey, Viper, and the others that they didn't need to continue ambushing—the enemy had retreated.
Riding the Firstborn of the Abyssal Dragon, the wind roared past his ears. Su Xiao looked at the snow-covered earth below, clearly knowing this matter wouldn't end like this. Demon Scythe Tailed probably wouldn't actively seek him out again, but that witch doctor definitely wouldn't give up. Two whole [Primordial Fragments] were worth risking one's life.
When Su Xiao returned to the lord's manor, just as he pushed open the castle door, he found that Bubu Wang had already sent Little Lord Guruvier back. Seeing Su Xiao return, Guruvier hesitated to speak.
Closing the front door behind him, through which the cold wind howled, the first floor hall of the castle warmed up. Su Xiao took out the sealed glass tube and said to Guruvier in front of him:
"Your family heirloom secret treasure was damaged. Inside were two [Primordial Fragments]."
Hearing this, Guruvier took the glass tube, considered for a few seconds, then handed it back to Su Xiao, gesturing to him.
"Just speak directly."
Hearing Su Xiao say this, Guruvier shook her head, indicating she couldn't speak.
"..."
Su Xiao released the demon spirit. Seeing the demon spirit, Guruvier's expression froze in shock, and she stammered "you, you, you" a few times in a stiff tone. At this moment, she fully understood the whole story.
"I want... to know... why... I lost... so thoroughly."
Guruvier spoke. Bubu Wang beside her barked, then took out a projection device and projected an image onto the opposite wall.
Guruvier tilted her head, looking at the projection on the wall. The more she looked, the more familiar it seemed. Moreover, the projection was very intelligent, slightly changing the projected image as she moved.
!
Guruvier's hand pressed on her outer clothing's shoulder. Sure enough, a hand appeared in the projection. Things having developed to this point, Guruvier naturally understood the whole story.
...
Twilight City, East District. The teleportation tower gradually quieted down. This kind of civilian teleportation tower was very common. Aside from average stability, everything else was fine. At this moment, several travelers who had completed this teleportation walked out of the tower one by one. The guards at the door checked their tickets again before letting them through one by one.
Among these people, a man wearing a luxurious magic robe with long white hair was particularly conspicuous. Heterosexual passersby on the street were all attracted by this man. This person was Thunder God of Magic Egg, who had traveled all the way from White Hoof Port.
Egg winked at a passing young woman, smiled gently, and as her heartbeat accelerated, he walked toward the lord's manor. It could be said that Egg's temperament and appearance were rarely matched.
"Beheading Night, huh. I heard of this person a long time ago. I didn't expect to clash with him today. Fate is truly wonderful."
Walking on the bustling pedestrian street, Thunder God of Magic Egg spoke with emotion. However, he didn't yet know that fate was even more wonderful than he imagined—wonderful to the point of making him doubt life.