Chapter 44: The Terrifying Slash
Why Brother Umbrella-less was so furious was unknown, but Su Xiao understood one thing: the little fatty wasn't leaving anytime soon.
Brother Umbrella-less, his eyes bloodshot, charged to the little fatty's front. One massive metal fist raised high.
Chi~
Steam vented from the tail end of the mechanical gauntlet. The steam generated kinetic energy, and the fist hammered down toward the little fatty like a pile driver.
Bang.
A shockwave spread outward. Brother Umbrella-less's mechanical gauntlets were glowing red, likely from overload operation.
Brother Umbrella-less's breathing was heavy now. If one looked closely, they'd notice an old-fashioned pocket watch hanging around his neck, one corner of it already damaged.
Judging by the watch's appearance, it should have been an equipment piece. But equipment shouldn't break so easily.
Brother Umbrella-less's pocket watch was indeed an equipment piece. Its rank was somewhat special, its ability very strong, but it was extremely prone to damage.
A photo was embedded inside the watch's lid. From the broken corner, one could see the smiling lips of a woman—a very happy smile.
This woman was Brother Umbrella-less's wife. The important thing was that Brother Umbrella-less's wife had already passed away.
With such a significant pocket watch damaged, of course Brother Umbrella-less would glare. Ignoring the little fatty's counterattacks, he swung both fists, pounding the little fatty relentlessly. His fists moved like a mortar pounding garlic—fierce and savage. But savage as they were, they were just "wild flailing punches."
The little fatty was momentarily stunned by the barrage, thinking to himself, *Is this guy crazy?* Compared to Brother Umbrella-less's "whirlwind wild punches," the little fatty was more wary of Su Xiao not far away.
After drinking the No. 1 potion, the various aches in Su Xiao's body had noticeably eased. He stood up and walked slowly toward the little fatty.
One step, two steps. As Su Xiao advanced, his slow walk gradually turned into a fast sprint.
Whoosh~
Su Xiao came to an abrupt halt behind the little fatty. He raised the Dragon-Slaying Flash in his hand and slashed down toward the little fatty's back.
Feeling the whistling wind behind him, the little fatty stomped one foot on the ground and spun 180 degrees. Although he had never fought Su Xiao before, the little fatty knew Su Xiao was not to be trifled with. He would rather take a few punches from Brother Umbrella-less than suffer one slash from Su Xiao.
Just as the little fatty's body began to turn sideways, Brother Umbrella-less, his eyes bloodshot, lunged forward immediately. Both mechanical gauntlets grabbed the golden-quality shield.
The little fatty's face darkened. His situation was extremely awkward.
Bang.
A dull thud came from the little fatty's shield. A shockwave rippled across the shield's surface. Brother Umbrella-less's two mechanical gauntlets were knocked away, and he staggered back a few steps.
The little fatty had repelled Brother Umbrella-less in less than a second. But that brief moment was enough for Su Xiao to deliver a slash.
The blade of Dragon-Slashing Flash struck the little fatty's back. Due to special circumstances, the little fatty was only wearing a dark purple-quality leather armor.
Su Xiao had spent a massive amount of Paradise Coins to forge Dragon-Slashing Flash. If it couldn't even cut through a layer of dark purple-quality leather armor, then Su Xiao might as well forget about roaming the Reincarnation Paradise and go back home to sell sweet potatoes.
The blade cut into the leather armor. With a tearing sound, the armor was split open. The blade sliced into the skin on the little fatty's back.
At that moment, the little fatty clearly felt the cold and stinging sensation of the blade touching his skin. But he wasn't panicked. His physical defense was astonishingly tough.
The long sword first cut through the little fatty's skin, then the muscles, and finally the bones.
Puchi!
Blood sprayed wildly. The little fatty's pupils instantly contracted.
"How is that possible?!"
The little fatty's eyes were filled with disbelief. He had noticed the blade in Su Xiao's hand earlier—it was only a light gold-quality weapon. In his view, that sword could at most break through his epidermal defense.
That wasn't the case. Su Xiao's slash had cut deep into the little fatty's back. The blade had sunk at least ten centimeters into his back, stopping only when it hit his spine.
Not only was the little fatty incredulous, Su Xiao was also somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Dragon-Slashing Flash to be this sharp. Earlier, when he dealt with Grudge Orphan · Hughes, cutting through his bones had been very difficult. Why was it so easy to cut through a third-rank main tank's body now?
In truth, Su Xiao had underestimated Hughes's bone strength. Not to mention Hughes's "High-Strength Bones Lv.26," Hughes had three skills dedicated to strengthening his bones. Those bones were Hughes's weapons. Being able to cut through them was already an astonishing feat.
Dragon-Slashing Flash's enhancement focus wasn't on cutting through enemy weapons, but on breaking through the enemy's outer and body defenses. It excelled most at piercing body defenses. A sharpness of +32 was no decoration.
The long sword slashed across the little fatty's back, leaving a terrifying wound half a meter long and ten centimeters deep.
The little fatty's eyes bulged to their limit. Seeing the sudden 12% drop in his health, the ease on his face vanished, replaced by a hint of despair.
"Is this an armor-piercing skill?"
The little fatty backed away a few steps, facing Su Xiao. He didn't know that this slash still had residual damage.
Cyan Steel Shadow energy erupted inside the little fatty's body. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. Because he was often injured, the intense pain didn't make him lose composure. He habitually checked the battle log on his Reincarnation Mark.
[You are being eroded by an unknown energy. Your mana has been devoured by 140 points.]
[You have taken 140 true damage + 18 true damage (10% of consumed mana) + 28 true damage (Demon Mark) + 125 slashing damage + 217 edge damage.]
[Talent ability 'Child of the Earth' has been triggered. You will negate 25% of this damage.]
[Warning! True damage priority is higher than talent ability 'Child of the Earth'. True damage negation failed.]
[Warning! Enemy weapon sharpness exceeds 30 points. Your talent ability 'Child of the Earth' effect is halved, negating only 12.5% of edge damage.]
Seeing these horrifying attack values, the little fatty panicked. He was baffled. What quality was that weapon? Light gold? Don't fucking joke around. He had even taken a golden-quality long sword to the body before, and it was nowhere near this insane.
This was the Dragon-Slashing Flash that Su Xiao had forged. It didn't have many flashy abilities—just sharpness, sharpness to the extreme. The only additional ability it had was a passive one.
Blood gushed from the wound on the little fatty's back. The intense pain from the Cyan Steel Shadow energy made him restless and unable to concentrate.
The little fatty swore by the lamp that he absolutely did not want to take a second slash. Absolutely not. That sword must have been enchanted with some deceptive ability. If such a monstrous weapon was really light gold quality, he would live-stream cutting off his little brother and making dumplings with it!
"Cunning weakling... no, you're not a weakling."
The little fatty took a deep breath. He pulled out a scroll, which shattered in his hand. It was a light gold scroll. Its effect was to allow one of his abilities to be free from the suppression of the second-tier world for three seconds. This was his emergency measure.
As the scroll shattered, the space around the little fatty shifted. He entered a different dimension.
An iron-black light surged over the little fatty's body. He was about to unleash his ultimate move.
[Steel Body Lv.40 (Active Skill)]
Skill Effect: Upon activation, Stamina +15, Physical Defense +300%, Health Recovery per second +20 points. Duration: 30 minutes.
Note: After learning this skill, you cannot equip metal-type close-fitting protective gear, or there is a risk of metal assimilation.
Usage Condition: Consumes 300 mana + 10% health.
Lv.10 Additional Ability
Refined Steel: 20% of the body becomes metallic.
Lv.20 Additional Ability
Secondary Forging: 30% of the body becomes metallic. Physical Defense +50%.
Lv.30 Additional Ability
Indestructible Body: 50% of the body becomes metallic. Increases knockback resistance.
Lv.40 Additional Ability
Authority Defiance: When taking true damage, reduce 30 points of true damage.
...
Steel Body was the little fatty's ultimate move. For this reason, he never wore metal-type armor. Not only would it affect his speed, but it also posed unknown risks when using Steel Body. If metal assimilation occurred, the little fatty was as good as dead.
Besides, after mastering Steel Body, the little fatty had no need for metal armor. Easy-to-move leather armor was the best choice.