Chapter 56: The Jester and the Regimental Commander
After being besieged by the Nira Pan for an hour and a half, Su Xiao deeply understood the benefits of developing all four attributes simultaneously.
Although developing all four attributes at once would slow down growth, once they matured, there would be no obvious shortcomings, or weaknesses.
The levels of Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intelligence together represent a person's overall physical quality.
Physical attributes are the foundation, while skills like Blade Mastery multiply that powerful physique into combat effectiveness.
Given the current situation, Su Xiao indeed had no obvious weaknesses; he could handle both one-on-one fights and being surrounded by a large number of enemies.
As his blade sliced through enemy flesh, after killing a certain number of enemies, Su Xiao would toss out a high-grade alchemy bomb. He discovered that by blowing up or scorching the Nira Pan corpses in advance, he could prevent them from splitting into juvenile individuals. Indeed, the splitting ability required water support.
This ruthless method of slaughter enraged the surrounding horde of Nira Pan, who wished they could devour Su Xiao alive.
Standing atop a towering pile of corpses, the mound was charred black, clearly having been bombed.
When Su Xiao immersed himself in the act of killing, even amidst the fierce battle, time passed quickly.
After two hours of being besieged, Su Xiao began to breathe slightly heavily. He hadn't stopped for a single moment during those two hours. If this had been three derivative worlds ago, he definitely wouldn't have lasted this long.
The dense gunfire from the rooftop had long since ceased. Vini had stopped shooting, not because she felt guilty from killing too many, but because she was almost out of bullets.
Looking across the battlefield, Su Xiao had certainly killed the most Nira Pan, followed by Vini.
Vini's decision to conserve ammunition was wise. The Red Jester and the Phantom Troupe had yet to show themselves.
Perhaps it was precisely because Vini was present that the Jester and the Regimental Commander were somewhat hesitant, afraid to appear rashly.
After three hours of chaotic fighting, near the back door of the barrier.
Several contractors lay sprawled on the ground in a big "大" shape, covered in blue bloodstains, their weapons casually tossed aside.
"When the hell will this end? The barrier can last another 2 hours, right?"
"No, it can last another 6 hours. Someone just gave a mana recovery potion to that barrier girl."
"Is that so? That girl has strong willpower. Even with mana potions, being able to hold out this long is astonishing."
The contractors lay on the ground recovering their stamina, smoking and chatting. The contractors at the barrier's back door had formed a systematic defense team: 10 people per team, 3 teams total. Each team held the line for half an hour before being relieved, rotating in sequence.
"That guy at the front is a monster. He's been holding the line alone for three hours now."
"To be precise, three hours and five minutes."
The fangirl eating a midnight snack spoke up. The hall was filled with the smell of blood and burnt corpses, but that didn't stop her from enjoying her meal.
"How many of these creatures are there? Endless? And what exactly is the Jester's goal?"
A bald contractor voiced the question on everyone's mind.
"Not sure, but I know one thing: if we hold this place and survive, we'll be set."
The fangirl looked at the ground near the barrier's back door, where a large number of green and blue quality treasure chests lay.
"Yeah, we need to survive. There must be even more chests outside the main barrier gate. If..."
"Don't get any ideas. Do you want to die? Can't you see how strong that monster is?"
"Just kidding."
Facing the Nira Pan siege, the main mission to attend the auction had essentially turned into defending the auction house. As long as they held this place and survived, they could share the treasure chests. Even if these contractors didn't skyrocket in power, their strength would increase significantly.
Outside the main barrier gate.
Deep blue blood droplets slid down the blade's edge. The ground was covered in a layer of broken corpses, a scene only seen in ancient war movies.
Su Xiao looked down at the large group of Nira Pan. Their assault finally paused for a moment. He had lost count of how many he had killed; the corpse pile beneath him was two stories high.
"So... you guys have fear too."
Su Xiao wiped the blood from his chin. The blood was red—his own blood. After three hours of fierce fighting, he was inevitably a bit fatigued.
Perhaps due to the heavy casualties among their kind, these Nira Pan no longer dared to attack, staring at Su Xiao with fearful eyes.
"The order is absolute (Dark Continent language)."
"The King's command must not be disobeyed (Dark Continent language)."
"For the tribe, we must kill this Sa'en (Sa'en: meaning demon in Dark Continent language)."
The nearby Nira Pan gritted their teeth, glaring at Su Xiao. After letting out a few roars, they charged up the corpse pile again. This was the thirty-sixth time the Nira Pan had charged the pile; the previous result was only adding to its height.
"Phew~"
Su Xiao let out a long breath, ready to continue fighting. But the charging Nira Pan suddenly stopped, turning to look into the darkness behind them.
For some reason, the Nira Pan near the auction house began to slowly retreat, as if receiving orders. Dozens of seconds later, the Nira Pan left behind a large number of corpses and withdrew into the darkness.
...
On a rooftop several hundred meters from the auction house, the Red Jester sat in a wheelchair, holding a telescope.
"Why did you withdraw your people?"
The Jester looked at a three-meter-tall Nira Pan a few meters away. This was the Nira Pan leader.
"My people have suffered heavy casualties. This is meaningless death, not as agreed (Dark Continent language)."
The Nira Pan leader looked at the Red Jester, a hint of killing intent in its gaze.
"Agreed? Our agreement was to take this auction house and then kill everyone inside."
The smile on the Jester's face gradually faded.
"..."
The Nira Pan leader said nothing, just stood there.
"So, you don't want to thrive and multiply here anymore?"
The Jester put away the telescope, leaning his entire body back into the wheelchair.
"This is our territory (Dark Continent language)."
The Nira Pan leader trembled with rage, its four eyes fixed on the Jester, its bright red tongue licking its mouthful of sharp teeth.
"Naive."
The moment the Jester spoke, the Nira Pan leader vanished from its spot. When it reappeared, its claws were pressed against the Jester's throat.
"Human, my patience has limits. Use your ability to transport all my people here, now, all of them (Dark Continent language)."
The Nira Pan leader's face was filled with anger. The heavy casualties among its people filled its chest with fury.
"Until that man dies, your people can only continue to eke out an existence in the Dark Continent. And, take your claws away. Now. Immediately."
The Jester pointed at Su Xiao in the distance. A fiery red phantom appeared behind him.
"Humans never keep their promises (Dark Continent language)."
The Nira Pan leader moved its claws away from the Jester's throat.
"I need to appease my people. They are very afraid. That kind of attack can be launched one more time at most, in one Ke Ri (one Ke Ri equals 1 hour and 13 minutes). Whether it succeeds or not, you must fulfill your promise."
The Nira Pan leader turned and left.
"One Ke Ri?"
The Jester didn't know how long a Ke Ri was, but he felt it shouldn't be too long.
"Having no limbs is really troublesome. Kuroro, is there really no way to restore my limbs?"
"If your limbs were still fresh, no problem. Now, it's impossible."
The Phantom Troupe leader, Kuroro, walked over slowly.
"Really... impossible?"
The Jester looked up at the starry sky. After a moment, he said, "That level of attack can be done one more time. Based on my understanding of Bai Ye, even if he isn't killed, he'll be exhausted. If he's exhausted, that's the best chance to kill him."
The Jester yawned. With only one arm left, he had almost no combat ability. As for the phantom of the Count of Hell, that thing was only good for bluffing, but the Jester had used this phantom to bluff Kuroro.