Chapter 41: Susanoo?!
Seeing this scene, Su Xiao’s pupils contracted. Even Seventh Gate Guy couldn’t shatter the Counter Shield with a single kick, yet this woman had done it, and with ease.
Was her strength simply that terrifying? Su Xiao glanced at her long, shapely legs. While they looked powerful, there was no way they possessed such exaggerated force.
If it wasn’t raw strength, then the problem lay with those heart-shaped Nen energy projectiles.
As Su Xiao pondered, dozens of heart-shaped Nen projectiles shot toward him. They were fast, urgent, and capable of floating, making them impossible to dodge.
The dozens of heart-shaped projectiles slammed into the Counter Shield, shattering on contact.
Su Xiao swung his fist back, smashing it against the Counter Shield. With a crack, large cracks spread across the dozens of shield fragments, and they finally burst apart.
That heart-shaped Nen energy could drastically reduce defensive power. Even the highly durable Counter Shield had been weakened to this extent. If such energy touched a human body, the result was unimaginable—perhaps the body would become as fragile as glass?
Just as Su Xiao figured out the enemy’s ability, Die had already charged forward.
“You’re not bad.”
Die spoke as she raised her leg for a flying kick. Wearing ultra-short shorts, this kick inevitably revealed a bit too much.
The kick wasn’t fast, but Su Xiao’s gaze was unconsciously drawn to her beautiful legs. This wasn’t a sudden surge of lust; it was her charm ability. Mind Blade could resist control skills, but Die’s charm skill was too high-level. Mind Blade could only resist control skills; this constant charm effect required Su Xiao to rely on his willpower.
Whoosh~
A sharp wind sound rushed in. Su Xiao tilted his head at the critical moment to dodge, and the long, beautiful leg swept past.
A streak of blood appeared on Su Xiao’s cheek, cut by the heel of her high-heeled shoe.
Don’t underestimate this kick from Die. The speed she burst out with was no slower than Su Xiao’s blade strikes, and her leg was wrapped in a large amount of Nen energy.
But these weren’t the main points. Die’s specialty was control; close combat was just a secondary ability.
Under the suppression of the second-tier derivative world, Die, a control-type contractor, could actually engage Su Xiao in close combat without falling behind. This alone showed the gap between third-tier and second-tier.
As soon as Die’s kick landed, her old force was spent, and new force hadn’t yet been generated—this was the perfect moment to counterattack.
Su Xiao slashed his blade, aiming for Die’s beautiful leg.
“Ken!”
A large amount of Nen energy wrapped around Die’s leg. Su Xiao’s blade struck her calf.
Clang!
A metallic clash rang out. Dragon-Slaying Flash had been blocked by Die’s body.
After taking the slash, Die’s other foot stomped the ground, flipping backward. She wasn’t as relaxed as she appeared; a shallow bloody gash had appeared on her calf.
Azure Steel Shadow energy invaded Die’s body, causing veins to bulge on her face.
“This…”
Feeling the intense pain within and seeing the battle information from the Reincarnation Paradise mark, Die could no longer stay calm.
[You have been eroded by an unknown energy. Your Nen energy has been devoured by 140 points.]
[You have been eroded by an unknown energy. You have taken 140 True Damage + 20 True Damage (10% of consumed Nen ability) + 23 Slashing Damage + 35 Edge Damage.]
Seeing this long string of prompts, Die’s expression shifted repeatedly. Even as a third-tier contractor, this was the first time she had seen such a high single instance of True Damage.
“That blade is… a growth-type weapon?”
Die looked at the Dragon-Slaying Flash in Su Xiao’s hand, her gaze gradually heating up.
“As expected, it was right to leave Huafen and act alone this time. I’ll take that blade.”
The Nen energy on Die’s body surged. As she blew a kiss, heart-shaped Nen projectiles emerged.
“Kou!”
The Nen energy erupting from Die’s body contracted, wrapping around her legs like a layer of armor.
“Heart Cry…”
Die formed a heart shape with her hands and aimed the gesture at Su Xiao. Just as she made this move, she suddenly remembered that her enemy was immune to her control abilities.
Realizing this, Die felt a bit speechless. She knew how strong a Blade Master above LV.30 was—the kind that ignored control and charged straight in with a long blade left a deep impression on her. She had almost died to such an enemy once.
If Su Xiao were a third-tier contractor, Die would flee without a second thought. But he was second-tier. Even if his abilities countered hers, she still had ways to win.
At this moment, Su Xiao’s expression wasn’t great. Third-tier contractors were stronger than he had anticipated. If the intelligence from Umbrella Brother was correct, the strongest of these three high-tier contractors wasn’t present.
Even so, Su Xiao was struggling against this enemy, whose abilities he countered. If the three of them teamed up against him, he would surely die.
After personally experiencing the power of a third-tier contractor, Su Xiao knew that if all three enemies arrived at once, he wouldn’t have the illusion of “I can turn this around.” He understood the gap between first and second tiers, and as a higher tier, third-tier only widened that gap.
But today’s situation was an opportunity. This woman was likely the tracker and controller of the three-person team. If he killed her, no matter how strong Huafen was, he couldn’t find Su Xiao. Su Xiao didn’t believe the Blood Gate Adventurers could track him in every derivative world.
Thinking this, Su Xiao’s gaze sharpened. New Counter Shields formed around him.
He slashed his long blade forward, and a pale blue Blade Aura shot out, flying toward Die at high speed.
Die waved her hand, and several heart-shaped Nen projectiles met the Blade Aura.
The Blade Aura and heart-shaped projectiles collided. As expected, the projectiles shattered. Die’s palm, like a blade, chopped at the incoming Blade Aura.
With a crack, the Blade Aura broke apart.
A mournful wind sound signaled the incoming slash. Su Xiao had already closed the distance to Die during the gap created by the Blade Aura.
Sensing the long blade slashing toward her, Die frowned. She hesitated, wondering whether to use heart-shaped Nen energy to touch and destroy that blade.
Before Die could control the Nen energy, Su Xiao had already struck.
“You…”
Though somewhat “pained,” Die still manipulated the heart-shaped Nen energy to fly toward Dragon-Slaying Flash.
Crackle~
Electric arcs surged. The Azure Steel Shadow energy on Dragon-Slaying Flash splattered. The heart-shaped Nen energy failed to touch the blade’s body.
Su Xiao’s arm muscles bulged as he put all his strength into a slash aimed at Die’s neck.
Clang.
The blade struck Die’s neck, but a golden shield enveloped her. It seemed that after being eroded by Azure Steel Shadow energy, Die dared not take Su Xiao’s slashes head-on.
Failing to land the hit, Su Xiao raised his leg for a side kick, using all his strength.
Bang.
The kick hit Die’s side waist, causing her curvaceous waist to sink inward.
Though he had successfully struck the enemy’s weak point, Su Xiao suddenly felt his hair stand on end.
Die’s body tilted, like a dancing butterfly, circling from in front of him to behind him at a speed that left afterimages.
A dozen heart-shaped Nen projectiles slammed into the Counter Shield. Die quickly punched to break the shield.
Crack~
The Counter Shield shattered. It wasn’t that the shield’s rank was weaker than the heart-shaped Nen energy, but that the skill levels between Su Xiao and Die were vastly different.
After breaking the shield with one punch, Die stood behind Su Xiao. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and Su Xiao immediately felt a soft embrace. He could even sense her chest pressing against his back.
This embrace was intoxicating but equally deadly.
Die’s flexible waist arched backward, intending to suplex Su Xiao. His head rushed toward the ground at high speed.
Boom!
Dust surged. Die maintained the suplex position, with Su Xiao upside down, head toward the ground, in her soft embrace.
Crack.
The sound of bones breaking came. At this moment, Su Xiao’s body was surrounded by an energy exoskeleton formed from energy shields, somewhat resembling the Uchiha clan’s Susanoo.
“Su… Susanoo? No!”
Die was initially shocked, but after seeing the appearance of the energy exoskeleton, she quickly judged that this wasn’t Susanoo.