Chapter 24: Accumulated Results
Two Resentful Servants were pushing and shoving each other beneath the Enclosure Wall, with one of them seemingly preparing to extend its exoskeleton.
Su Xiao looked down at the two Resentful Servants so close at hand, feeling speechless. He had been waiting for them to wander off on their own, but who would have thought these two would end up on the verge of a full-blown fight.
Standing up on the Enclosure Wall, Su Xiao summoned Dragon-Slaying Flash into his hand. He couldn't let these two Resentful Servants keep arguing, or worse, start brawling, as that would attract more Resentful Servants.
"I'll kill you!"
One Resentful Servant beneath the Enclosure Wall had reached the limit of its rage, losing control of its emotions.
"What are you doing..."
The other Resentful Servant was relatively calm, but it suddenly felt a gust of wind overhead.
Puchi.
A flash of gleaming blade light passed by, and the enraged Resentful Servant had its head severed, its face still frozen in anger.
Blood splattered onto the other Resentful Servant's face, startling it. In an instant, it prepared to shout.
Zzz～
The sound of a metal wire retracting came, as Realm Severing Thread coiled around that Resentful Servant's throat, preventing it from shouting.
Su Xiao stepped forward and charged, delivering an incredibly fast forward slash. The blade was as swift as lightning, leaving the Resentful Servant no time to react.
Zheng.
Dragon-Slaying Flash let out a soft hum, and the Resentful Servant stood frozen in place. A line of blood appeared on its face; its head had been cleaved in two.
Su Xiao looked at the Dragon-Slaying Flash in his hand. That last slash puzzled him. He had merely performed a side cut, yet the speed was astonishing—so fast that even he was surprised. It had been an almost subconscious strike.
"What's going on?"
He made a few empty slashes in the air, but the previous speed didn't reappear.
In that instant, the Blade Master LV.30 within Su Xiao's skill list had suddenly emitted a golden light, though he hadn't noticed it himself.
Although he hadn't observed the change in Blade Master, Su Xiao had a vague feeling that his blade technique might be more than what it currently appeared to be.
Just that incredibly fast slash alone was inexplicable. If he had used that speed while fighting Diarmuid, the opponent would have been either dead or crippled.
[You have killed a Resentful Servant]
[Obtained World Source 0.3%, total World Source now 16.4%.]
[Permanently increased Mana Points by 8.]
[You have gained 9 Holy Church Merits, which can be exchanged for rewards at the old priest of the 'Kirei Church'.]
……
[You have killed a Resentful Servant]
[Obtained World Source 0.4%, total World Source now 16.8%.]
[Permanently increased Mana Points by 10.]
[You have gained 10 Holy Church Merits, which can be exchanged for rewards at the old priest of the 'Kirei Church'.]
……
The bodies of the two Resentful Servants lay on the ground, blood staining the nearby area.
Su Xiao didn't bother disposing of the corpses. The scent of blood had already spread, making disposal useless. This was precisely why he hadn't acted earlier.
Since he had already struck, his original infiltration plan had to change. He would switch to the 'Su-style Infiltration Method'—essentially, fighting his way in.
When he had discovered those bone-spike rats earlier, Su Xiao had sensed that sneaking into Ryuudou Temple was unlikely, so he had prepared in advance.
Focusing his mind, a few seconds later, a loud explosion rang out from the direction of the temple's main gate.
Boom!
At the main gate of Ryuudou Temple, flames shot into the sky. The gate was blasted to pieces, and fireballs were sent flying in all directions.
"Enemy!"
"Attack!"
Several shouts followed in succession. Su Xiao didn't leave the small courtyard in the corner of Ryuudou Temple; instead, he waited in place.
Hasty footsteps approached. Su Xiao cracked open the courtyard door and saw hundreds of Resentful Servants holding torches rushing toward the main gate.
The main gate was ablaze. An alchemical bomb alone couldn't have caused such a massive fire, but a gasoline bomb was a different story.
When those Resentful Servants reached the main gate, they found no enemy. The fire at the gate was urgent, already spreading into Ryuudou Temple.
"Put out the fire, hurry!"
The Resentful Servant leader's forehead bulged with veins. Ryuudou Temple was now their territory, and it couldn't be burned down.
If killing Resentful Creatures was a blood feud, then setting fires was a mortal enmity—it was an act of total destruction.
Su Xiao didn't care about that. His goal was simply to infiltrate Ryuudou Temple. Whether the Resentful Creatures were angry or not was irrelevant to him.
The fire began spreading toward the main hall. Hundreds of Resentful Servants grabbed sticks or buckets to fight the blaze, but their efforts were largely ineffective. How easy was it to extinguish a special gasoline bomb from Reincarnation Paradise? Even water or fire extinguishers might not work.
The firelight illuminated nearly half of Ryuudou Temple, throwing the place into chaos.
Seizing the opportunity, Su Xiao slipped out of the small courtyard and entered the rear-central area of the main hall.
Moving quickly along the edge of the main hall, Su Xiao would hide whenever he heard footsteps nearby. If concealment was impossible, he would kill the witnesses.
After several minutes of rapid movement, Su Xiao had killed a few isolated Resentful Servants along the way. These Resentful Servants had a low degree of life assimilation, making them relatively weak. However, Su Xiao noticed something strange—his blade was getting faster, faster than he could believe.
Soon, Su Xiao reached the open courtyard where he had seen the magic circle earlier. At the edge of the courtyard, iron cages held ordinary people huddled in the corners.
Su Xiao dashed to the cages. With a flash of his blade, the doors of several cages were cut open. Amid the stunned gazes of the ordinary people, Su Xiao vanished from the open courtyard in an instant.
It was best to fish in troubled waters. The more chaotic Ryuudou Temple became, the better.
Those ordinary people also realized this was a chance to escape. Though terrified to the point of collapse, some had stronger mental fortitude. When the first person fled the cage, within twenty seconds, the cages were empty.
Now, the fire at the temple gate had spread to the front of the main hall, and the ordinary people imprisoned there had escaped.
In less than two minutes, fleeing ordinary people were discovered by Resentful Servants.
……
At the main gate of Ryuudou Temple, the Resentful Servant leader's expression was extremely grim. Though he appeared furious, he was actually afraid. Ryuudou Temple was temporarily under his jurisdiction, and his master was sleeping in the Pool of Eternity.
"Sir... sir, what do we do?"
A Resentful Servant ran up to the leader, its clothes half-burned.
The Resentful Servant leader's gaze was as fierce as a wolf's, every muscle in his body tensed.
"Don't panic. Most of you stay to put out the fire. A small group will guard the passage from the main hall to the Dharma Hall."
"What about the escapees..."
"Forget them. They can't escape Ryuudou Temple. An outsider has invaded. Catching the invader is the priority."
This Resentful Servant leader was not only strong in combat but also quickly sensed the anomaly amid the chaos.
The leader left over three hundred Resentful Servants to fight the fire, while the remaining hundred or so followed him toward the Dharma Hall.
At that moment, in the passage from the main hall to the Dharma Hall.
Drip, drip.
Blood dripped from the edge of Dragon-Slaying Flash. Su Xiao walked openly through the passage, surrounded by over a dozen slain Resentful Servant corpses.
Before this battle began, Su Xiao had felt that indescribable sensation again—a kind of insight into blade technique. His slashing speed had increased several times over. Don't underestimate that multiplier; it was an incredibly terrifying speed.
Su Xiao made a few empty slashes, creating a 'blade net' before him. This net wasn't made of blade aura but was simply the afterimage of his slashes, left behind by their extreme speed.
Su Xiao had been investing resources into honing his blade technique. When it reached LV.20, his blade art had entered the supernatural realm, easily cutting through steel.
When it reached LV.30, another qualitative change occurred. However, since the upgrade to LV.30 was recent, Su Xiao hadn't fully unleashed its power. After some combat practice, the true might of Blade Master LV.30 was gradually emerging.
"Enemy here!"
Several Resentful Servants rushed out from the Dharma Hall. Su Xiao stomped the ground and charged straight into their midst.
Zheng, zheng, zheng...
Pleasant blade hums sounded as pale golden slashes flickered among the Resentful Servants.
Su Xiao didn't stop moving. He didn't even glance at the Resentful Servants.
Crash～
A Resentful Servant, cut into over a dozen pieces, shattered apart. They didn't even have a chance to react—Su Xiao's blade was simply too fast.
If Blade Master LV.20 enhanced cutting power, then LV.30 massively boosted slashing speed. This speed wasn't from attribute increases or equipment enhancements but from Su Xiao's own insight into the blade.
This lightning-fast slashing speed perfectly complemented Dragon-Slaying Flash's sharpness. The combined combat power was far more than 1+1. Su Xiao's long-accumulated efforts had finally burst forth today.