Chapter 29: Recruitment?
Bang, a wave of air spread as the muscular cleaver slammed into the Counter Shield.
Su Xiao's legs sank deep into the ground, which instantly shattered into pieces. Just as he raised his hand to strike with his blade, a surge of immense force erupted from the muscular cleaver.
Su Xiao was somewhat surprised. He had already withstood the slashing force of the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes. So what was this second wave of overwhelming power?
Without time to think further, Su Xiao was sent flying by the muscular cleaver.
Boom.
Protected within the Counter Shield, Su Xiao crashed into the wall. Due to the barrier, the wall was unusually rigid—not a good thing, as it would cause impact injuries.
As soon as Su Xiao landed, before he could even stand up, the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes, charged forward again, raising the muscular cleaver high, clearly intending to smash Su Xiao flat.
Zzzz~
The Realm Severing Thread coiled around the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes, freezing its motion as it swung the muscular cleaver.
Seizing this opportunity, Su Xiao slapped the ground with his hand to rise, simultaneously leaping away from the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes.
The Orphan of Resentment, Hughes, looked down at the threads binding it, then gradually exerted force with both arms.
Crack, crack…
The Realm Severing Thread snapped, falling at the feet of the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes. About a third of the thread's length was rendered useless.
Su Xiao retrieved the remaining two-thirds of the Realm Severing Thread. The enemy he faced this time was astonishingly powerful, but not to the point of utter despair.
First, the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes, couldn't break the Counter Shield in a single blow, and its speed wasn't so fast that Su Xiao couldn't react at all.
The most important thing now was whether Su Xiao could injure the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes. If its defense was overwhelmingly strong, then Su Xiao would have no chance; within half an hour, he'd be pounded into a meat patty.
Blood dripped from the corner of Su Xiao's mouth as he began to actively approach the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes.
Seeing Su Xiao's move, Hughes was visibly surprised. It hadn't seen a human so unafraid of death in a long time, so it lunged forward to meet Su Xiao.
Su Xiao's pupils slightly contracted as he focused intensely on tracking Hughes's movements.
Boom!
The muscular cleaver came crashing down from above. Even with the Counter Shield's defense, Su Xiao's knees began to bend.
"Mortal, kneel!"
The Orphan of Resentment, Hughes, gripped the muscular cleaver with both hands, trying to force Su Xiao to his knees with brute strength.
Seeing this, Su Xiao immediately sidestepped, dispersing the surrounding Counter Shield. Without the shield's block, the muscular cleaver descended—
Boom, debris flew. Every strike from the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes, was heavy and lethal.
Taking advantage of the opening as the muscular cleaver struck down, Su Xiao slashed forward.
The long blade cut through the air, instantly appearing before the eyes of the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes, which quickly turned its head.
Clang.
Dragon-Slaying Flash grazed past Hughes's skull, slicing off a sizable piece of bone.
Seeing this, Su Xiao's eyes lit up. The enemy's defense wasn't as absurdly strong as he had feared—this meant there was a fight to be had.
After being cut by Su Xiao, Hughes halted in place, looking down at the piece of skull beside its foot. The mockery in its eyes vanished.
If Su Xiao had seemed like a dying house cat to Hughes before, now he was a hungry wolf capable of biting back.
"Mere mor—"
Before the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes, could finish its words, Su Xiao charged forward.
This time, Su Xiao withdrew the surrounding Counter Shield. While the shield could block enemy attacks, it also increased the area of impact, especially against blunt weapons.
To some extent, blunt weapons countered the Counter Shield. Each time the shield was struck, Su Xiao suffered shock damage.
Already under the aura that eroded 5% of his health per minute, a few more shock injuries would mean Su Xiao couldn't last even five minutes.
Rather than waiting for a slow death, Su Xiao chose to go all in, actively dropping his defense.
As Su Xiao approached Hughes, Hughes's gaze seemed to suggest a trap had succeeded. Its muscular cleaver wasn't just a blunt weapon—it could devour an enemy's flesh and blood, but only if it directly struck the target. So, landing just one hit would end the battle.
Hughes used the same move again, raising the muscular cleaver and bringing it down from above.
This time, Su Xiao didn't focus on the muscular cleaver but instead fixed his eyes on Hughes. The cleaver was too fast to track with the naked eye, so he relied on his perception for early warning.
The muscular cleaver descended. Su Xiao sidestepped.
Boom.
The muscular cleaver slammed into the ground, and Su Xiao barely dodged it, his coat rustling in the gust of wind.
Though it looked impressive, Su Xiao was dancing on the edge of a blade. Given the force of the muscular cleaver, one hit would be fatal, and it likely carried other abilities.
Su Xiao's Dragon-Slashing Flash scraped across Hughes's ribs. With a screech, a deep cut appeared on the ribs, even sparking as Cyan Steel Shadow Energy invaded Hughes's body.
Hughes let out a muffled groan. From its furious gaze, the Cyan Steel Shadow Energy had hurt it badly.
Having landed a hit, Su Xiao retreated.
Clearly, Su Xiao's choice to drop his defense, rely on perception to dodge Hughes's attacks, and counter when possible was correct—though the risk was extremely high.
Booming sounds echoed continuously within the main hall. The Orphan of Resentment, Hughes, wielding the muscular cleaver, chased Su Xiao, smashing relentlessly, as if it would never stop until one of them died.
Su Xiao, on the other hand, did his best to dodge Hughes's attacks, countering when he could and continuing to evade otherwise. Despite being on the defensive earlier, Su Xiao had momentarily gained the upper hand.
Was that really the case? Not quite. If Hughes landed just one hit, the battle would be over. And with the aura's erosion, Su Xiao's health was dropping faster than Hughes's.
Health in Reincarnation Paradise wasn't like in games, where even 1% health didn't affect performance. After three minutes of battle, Su Xiao's health had dropped to 42%, and his speed had noticeably slowed. Sharp pains wracked his body from the aura's erosion.
Su Xiao had at least dozens of wounds, all from flying debris. The stones kicked up by Hughes's attacks had the power of rifle bullets.
Whoosh~
The muscular cleaver swung in. Su Xiao ducked to avoid it. Just as he prepared to counter, a sharp pain shot through his chest, causing his attack to falter.
Damn it!
Su Xiao's pupils contracted. This momentary mistake could cost him his life.
Hughes noticed Su Xiao's error and immediately released the muscular cleaver, its momentum spent, and reached out with its three-meter-long bone arms to embrace Su Xiao.
If he were caught, given Hughes's monstrous strength, Su Xiao would be as good as dead.
The embrace covered a wide area, leaving no room to dodge. In this critical moment, Su Xiao constructed a cylindrical energy shield with 300 points of strength around himself.
Boom, Hughes hugged the energy shield around Su Xiao, who leaped straight up, escaping through the opening at the top of the cylindrical shield.
Pale bone spikes sprouted from Hughes's arms and chest. These spikes were incredibly sharp, instantly riddling the energy shield with holes. This was one of Hughes's skills, extremely powerful but with a long cooldown.
With a crack, the energy shield shattered, and the bone spikes on Hughes's body began to fall off.
Su Xiao had pulled off a cicada-shedding-its-shell escape, at the cost of 300 mana points.
"You… not bad."
Hughes picked up the muscular cleaver from the ground, surveyed the cuts on its bones, and nodded.
"Human, your strength has earned my recognition. I'll give you a chance to serve me. Use your future actions to atone for your past transgressions."
As soon as Hughes finished speaking, Su Xiao received a prompt from Reincarnation Paradise.
[Prompt: The Hunter has been recruited by the 'Lord-level Creature' Orphan of Resentment, Hughes. If you accept the recruitment, you will become the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes's servant in this derivative world.]
[Prompt: If you accept the recruitment, the completion rate of the Talent Awakening Quest will significantly decrease.]
Since Reincarnation Paradise had issued a prompt, it meant this was a chance to survive—a chance to live by humbling himself.
"I refuse."
Su Xiao brandished his long blade. Today, there would be only two outcomes: the enemy's death or his own.