Chapter 43: The Bane of Tanks
Umbrella Brother landed a hit, a smile spreading across his swollen, pig-like face, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes that were now just slits.
"Felt pretty good bashing me with that shield, huh? Your teammate's dead, you panicking now, bastard?"
Umbrella Brother let out a hearty laugh, feeling exhilarated. But inwardly, he couldn't help wondering how Su Xiao had managed to kill a third-rank contractor.
Su Xiao's victory over Butterfly was due to several factors: Butterfly's underestimation of him, her support role, and the suppression third-rank contractors faced when entering a second-rank world.
Despite these factors, the result was Butterfly's corpse and Su Xiao's survival. No matter the process, the outcome was what mattered.
After Butterfly's death, the chubby guy holding a gold-quality shield had an extremely ugly expression. He wiped the blood from his nose, a chill running through his heart.
As a third-rank main tank, the chubby guy naturally wasn't worried about being taken down by Su Xiao and Umbrella Brother. He was different from Butterfly. While his offensive capabilities were weak, his survivability was freakishly strong. Just that gold-quality shield alone boasted astonishing defensive power.
What the chubby guy feared was Huang Fen. Now that Butterfly was dead, how would he explain this to Huang Fen? Without Butterfly's tracking ability, it would be very difficult for them to continue hunting Su Xiao in this derivative world.
As for continuing the hunt in the next derivative world? Don't joke around. If Su Xiao survived this, unless the Blood Gate Adventurers wanted to go bankrupt, they wouldn't come looking for trouble anytime soon.
That's why Stan had sent three top-tier third-rank contractors to kill Su Xiao. These were the strongest contractors who could enter a second-rank world, showing just how determined Stan was.
The three had clear roles: Huang Fen was for killing, Butterfly for tracking and support, and the chubby guy was insurance, preventing the contractors of the Holy Grail World from ganging up on Huang Fen.
With a third-rank main tank present, even if all the Holy Grail World contractors united, they couldn't do anything to the trio.
Umbrella Brother and the chubby guy were fighting outside the villa courtyard, locked in a "fierce struggle." More accurately, Umbrella Brother was getting beaten the whole time, only able to counterattack occasionally.
The chubby guy raised his shield to block Umbrella Brother's wild punches. *Bang!* A steam-spewing iron fist slammed into the shield. The chubby guy stood like a mountain, not budging an inch.
"Bai Ye, let's team up and take him down."
Umbrella Brother was clearly getting hyped up. Even though he'd taken a beating, after Butterfly's death, the pent-up frustration in his chest was finally released.
Not far away, Su Xiao sat on the ground, blood dripping from the tip of Dragon-Slaying Flash. His whole body felt like it was falling apart, and it would take some time to recover his combat capability.
"Two minutes."
Su Xiao pulled out a No. 1 Potion, bit off the cork, and drank it.
"Two minutes?!"
Umbrella Brother glanced at Su Xiao during a break in the fight, clearly unable to hold out for two minutes.
The moment Umbrella Brother looked at Su Xiao, the chubby guy shifted his footing, leaning his entire body into his shield, which suddenly accelerated and rammed into Umbrella Brother.
*Bang!*
Umbrella Brother was knocked dizzy, seeing stars.
"Distracting yourself during a fight will get you killed. Besides, two minutes will pass quickly."
Su Xiao lit a cigarette, watching Umbrella Brother with a smile.
"Easy for you to say. I'm the one getting beaten..."
Umbrella Brother muttered, one eye already swollen shut from the impact, looking somewhat ridiculous.
When the chubby guy realized Su Xiao wasn't going to attack for now, he focused most of his attention on Umbrella Brother. He was planning to retreat. While these two enemies couldn't do much to him, he also couldn't do anything to Su Xiao. As a main tank raised by an adventure group, continuing to drag this out wouldn't be a wise choice.
Main tanks raised by adventure groups had one characteristic: they sacrificed all offensive capabilities, pouring every resource into defense. Adventure groups emphasized teamwork. Having a main tank attack enemies was less efficient than focusing on defense.
Although the chubby guy had little offensive power, his control abilities were decent. That was one of the self-cultivations of a main tank—blocking strong enemies at critical moments.
Umbrella Brother was different from the chubby guy. He was a wild main tank, unable to pour all his resources into defense. He was half-offense, half-defense. If he went full defense, he would have died in some derivative world long ago. That's why he could hold off the third-rank main tank, the chubby guy.
After tangling with Umbrella Brother for over ten seconds, the chubby guy activated the skill attached to his gold-quality shield. He was preparing for a strategic retreat—in other words, running away.
The rectangular shield was entirely iron-gray. As the chubby guy activated the shield's skill, the metal on its surface bulged outward, forming a protruding demonic face. The demon face's mouth was wide open, full of fangs.
*Hmm~*
A red light emitted from the demon face's mouth, like a cannon charging up.
Umbrella Brother backed up several steps. That demon face put immense pressure on him.
*Boom!*
A beam of red light shot out from the demon face's mouth. Umbrella Brother let out a miserable howl as he was blasted into the air, his whole body spinning mid-air like a windmill.
*Bang!* Umbrella Brother landed face-first. His face scraped along the ground as he slid forward, legs flailing wildly.
After sliding face-down for over ten meters, Umbrella Brother flopped onto the ground, spitting out a mouthful of dirt.
Umbrella Brother looked pathetic, but he wasn't seriously injured. The demon face's mouth cannon on that shield was a knockback-type skill. While its knockback effect was strong, the actual damage it dealt was minimal.
Just after knocking back Umbrella Brother, the chubby guy turned to leave.
*Pfft~*
Blood splattered. A silent energy crossbow bolt struck the chubby guy's shoulder. Due to the bolt's immense kinetic energy, the tail vibrated at high speed.
Only the tip of the energy bolt had pierced into the chubby guy's body. Although this guy wasn't wearing metal armor, his physical defense was extremely strong.
Keep in mind, the Wraith Hunter's attack power was comparable to the Spider Empress's, and Su Xiao was only about 30 meters away from the chubby guy. Even so, one bolt only caused a light injury. If it were a second-rank main tank, this bolt might not kill them, but it would have pierced straight through their shoulder.
The chubby guy grabbed the still-vibrating energy bolt, exerted force with his hand, and pulled it out. The bolt dissipated into the air.
"Does it matter?"
The chubby guy glanced sideways at Su Xiao, his meaning clear. Even if he couldn't escape, Su Xiao and his partner couldn't do anything to him.
"Of course it matters."
Su Xiao pulled back the crossbow string of the Wraith Hunter. After securing the string, an energy bolt gradually formed. This process would take a minute.
As long as Su Xiao got some rest, he could regain his combat capability. Then, even if the chubby guy didn't die, he'd be severely injured.
If it were just Su Xiao alone, with the chubby guy holding that gold-quality shield, he really couldn't do anything to him. But now they had two people.
Even though Umbrella Brother was battered and bruised, this guy was a reliable teammate. He wouldn't flee from battle, wasn't afraid of death, and had a clear combat mindset.
As long as Umbrella Brother held the chubby guy's attention from the front, Su Xiao could flank him with Umbrella Brother, bypassing that gold-quality shield.
Given the chubby guy's physical defense, Su Xiao's slashes alone clearly wouldn't cut it. But the true damage from Azure Steel Shadow would make the chubby guy experience true despair, especially with the additional true damage from the Demon Mark.
As long as he could break through the armor, there was no tank Su Xiao couldn't take down!
"You bastard, I'll fucking fight you to the death!"
Umbrella Brother roared and charged at the chubby guy. His ferocious momentum caught the chubby guy off guard. Not only the chubby guy, but even Su Xiao was a bit surprised, wondering what was up with this guy.
PS: (A day trip to the hospital. Only one chapter today. Sorry.)