Chapter 54: Changes in the Corpses
After reviewing the information on Nira Pan, Su Xiao frowned. This creature's combat power was weaker than expected, but its survival ability was quite strong.
It could split once within five minutes of death, the number of splits was unclear but shouldn't be too many, and the individual strength wouldn't exceed the original mother body.
The harsh living environment of the Dark Continent meant that without such survivability, it couldn't survive and reproduce there.
Moreover, before these Nira Pan attacked, Su Xiao heard the Nira Pan leader shout: 'There's plenty of water here.'
This meant that Nira Pan was a creature highly dependent on water. In waterless or water-scarce conditions, their split reproduction might be suppressed.
This was just Su Xiao's speculation, requiring further confirmation.
At this moment, the outer barrier was covered with finger-wide cracks, already on the verge of breaking.
With a crash, like glass shattering, the outer barrier disintegrated into countless specks of light and vanished. A large swarm of Nira Pan surged forward, a heavy earthy smell hitting the nose.
Su Xiao stood alone at the gap in the main entrance, holding the Dragon-Slaying Flash, while the contractors jointly defended the back door. He clearly heard their shouts.
"Here they come!"
"Keep them outside the barrier. If the line breaks, we all die, so don't be fucking cowards."
Rumbling sounds came from the back door direction. Three mages were bombarding the back door wildly. Among them was a fire mage, whose fire magic was powerful and flashy, making it quite popular.
The other two were an Arcane Mage and a Death Mage. Their magic wasn't flashy but was devastating, especially the gaunt-faced Death Mage. He summoned a Death Knight, a skeletal knight covered in blue flames that charged out the back door, rampaging through the mass of Nira Pan, knocking them over left and right.
Closest to the back door were the Three Brothers of National Football. These three goofballs were exceptionally fierce now, each wielding a large golden energy hammer. Any Nira Pan they struck, even if not killed, would stand dazed for a few seconds. This clearly showed their attacks had a control effect, and it was applied with every hit.
The Three Brothers of National Football had clearly grown much stronger. Previously, their energy hammers could only be used as one-time control skills, but now the hammers were enlarged and had become their standard weapons, each attack inflicting a 0.3 to 2-second stun.
Imagine if the three brothers all hammered the same target, stunning it with every blow. That would be nearly unstoppable. Unless the enemy had strong control immunity, even a powerful foe would be beaten to death by the three brothers.
Even more shameless was that each of the three was a top-tier main tank, and they could even heal each other.
With the three blocking the gap at the back door barrier, the other contractors only needed to attack. The Nira Pan outside couldn't break through.
Furthermore, half a minute into the battle, the contractors discovered that these Nira Pan dropped treasure chests. Although they were mostly green and blue chests, the sheer number of Nira Pan meant that killing them all would yield an impressive haul.
The fact that they dropped chests indicated that the Nira Pan weren't the contractors' summons but plot creatures. However, contractors killed by these Nira Pan would drop Scarlet Cards. Normally, this wouldn't happen; Scarlet Cards only dropped from contractor-on-contractor killings.
This abnormal situation was definitely related to the Jester. If all the contractors in the auction house were killed, the number of Scarlet Cards obtained would be astonishing.
Before entering the Hunter World, the Jester had used this method to kill nearly all contractors in several derivative worlds, indirectly causing the deaths of hundreds of contractors.
Spreading the Scarlet Card drop rate across several derivative worlds, as long as the Jester's luck wasn't too bad, he would obtain at least over a hundred Scarlet Cards.
Compared to the Jester, the Hunter Alliance's method of hunting contractors was child's play.
At the back door barrier, with the Three Brothers of National Football blocking the front, Mi Mei and the others were having a blast killing.
The back door defense was watertight, but the Nira Pan's combat power was evident, and they were fearless. This made Mi Mei and the others worry about the main entrance defense, since only one person was there. If the main entrance fell, they would be caught in a pincer attack. Despite the Three Brothers of National Football's assurance, Mi Mei and the others were still uneasy.
"Is that melee fighter named Bai Ye really okay?"
Mi Mei temporarily withdrew from the front line and turned to look toward the main entrance. The decorations and partitions in the first-floor lobby had been violently removed to allow the front and back door defenses to support each other.
When Mi Mei turned to look at the main entrance, she first saw the couple. They were staring wide-eyed at the main entrance.
"His strength... isn't on the same level."
"Honey, can using a blade really make you this strong? Maybe I should develop my blade skills too."
Hearing the couple's words, Mi Mei couldn't help but look at the main entrance. After witnessing the Nira Pan's fearlessness, she was skeptical about whether Su Xiao could hold the front door.
A pile of Nira Pan corpses was stacked at the gap in the main entrance barrier, but she didn't see Su Xiao.
Through the transparent barrier, Mi Mei saw the scene outside: blade light and blood splattering.
The contractors at the back door barrier were defending from inside, using the terrain advantage of the barrier gap to deal with the Nira Pan. But the situation at the main entrance was different. A large pile of Nira Pan corpses was already at the gap, and the person guarding the main entrance was now outside the barrier.
Dozens of hexagonal energy shields floated around. Su Xiao was wielding his long blade, slaughtering through the Nira Pan swarm. Any Nira Pan that came within three meters of him was killed in the next instant.
"Unexpectedly reliable."
Mi Mei stopped focusing on the main entrance and turned back to the battlefield at the back door.
……
One meter outside the main entrance barrier gap, Su Xiao was surrounded by a tidal wave of Nira Pan. Fortunately, they could only attack from the front, so he could handle it.
His long blade slashed repeatedly. Several Nira Pan were either decapitated or cut in half. The Dark Purple quality Dragon-Slaying Flash, with +17 sharpness, was exceptionally sharp, especially with the bonus from Supreme Blade effect 2.
Shadow Dance Sever (Passive): Ignores 25% of enemy defense. After cutting an enemy, reduces their healing effect by 40% for five minutes. (Reduced healing effects include using recovery items, healing skills, etc.)
……
Su Xiao didn't activate Azure Steel Shadow, as there was no need. The Nira Pan's stamina attribute was 32 points, and they lacked outer defenses like carapaces. The Dragon-Slaying Flash cut through their bodies like slicing through vegetables.
A Nira Pan hit in a vital spot was killed in one strike; a limb hit was instantly crippled.
Facing the Nira Pan's siege, Su Xiao felt no pressure and was instead enjoying the slaughter.
"Ring Break."
Clang!
A circular blade aura spread out. All Nira Pan within a dozen meters froze. Moments later, their bodies split in two at the chest.
The Nira Pan were densely packed. After the Ring Break slash, over a hundred Nira Pan nearby died.
Flicking the blood off the Dragon-Slaying Flash, Su Xiao saw green and blue lights shimmering on the ground around him. Over a dozen treasure chests had appeared nearby—a spectacular sight.
Su Xiao had no time to deal with those chests, as a new wave of Nira Pan was already charging forward over their comrades' corpses.
Just as Su Xiao prepared to face the new wave, the pile of Nira Pan corpses blocking the main entrance barrier gap began to change.