Chapter 36: Command: Suicide
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao felt a sense of unease. He could dodge the metal arrows' attacks by relying on his physical fitness and perception, as well as his neural reflex speed.
Now that his neural reflex speed was reduced by 8%, he could clearly feel that the metal arrows had become faster and harder to dodge. In reality, the arrows hadn't sped up—his reaction speed was slowing down.
Whoosh~
The Ghost Bee grazed Su Xiao's shoulder, leaving a trail of blood.
[You have been eroded by an unknown toxin. The unknown toxin has successfully interfered with your physical state.]
[Warning: The abnormal status you are suffering from has stacked. Stack count: 2. Neural reflex speed -12%, Body defense -15. Abnormal status duration: 1 minute.]
[Judgment in progress. Due to the Hunter's high resistances, abnormal status duration -60%. Current duration: 24 seconds.]
Su Xiao's senses grew even slower, and a layer of bluish-gray energy clung to his skin. Fortunately, this energy was dissipating at a visible rate.
Several dozen meters away, Lan Jue focused intently on controlling the Ghost Bee, his whistling alternating between slow and fast. He was waiting for an opportunity—for the Ghost Bee to wound Su Xiao a third time. Each time the Ghost Bee injured an enemy, it inflicted an abnormal status, and stacking this status to three layers would cause a qualitative change.
In their duel, Lan Jue currently held the advantage, but he wasn't fooled by this. He knew that in a 1v1 between a ranged fighter and a melee fighter, as long as their strength was similar, the ranged fighter would always have the upper hand at the start. However, if the opponent closed in, things would get tough for him.
"Whew~"
The whistling grew urgent. The hundreds of mechanical dragonflies beside Lan Jue hovered in a circle but didn't attack Su Xiao. It wasn't that Lan Jue didn't want to use them; he simply couldn't spare the mental energy to control other summons while commanding the Ghost Bee.
The Ghost Bee was crucial to Lan Jue. He couldn't afford to lose it. If the Ghost Bee died, Lan Jue would even have his attributes deducted.
[Ghost Bee]
Category: Summon
Health: 94%
Mana: 0/0
Strength: 20
Penetration: 32
Skill 1: Ghost Phasing
Skill 2: Queen Bee Venom
Skill 3: Adaptive Speed
Skill 4: Sound Sensing System (Post-Added)
Skill 5: Triple Fusion (Fused: Bee, Beetle, Ant)
Skill 6: Supersonic (After using this ability, the Ghost Bee will hibernate for 72 hours)
...
Undoubtedly, the Ghost Bee was Lan Jue's strongest ability and weapon, bar none.
At this moment, the Ghost Bee was chasing Su Xiao, stabbing at him repeatedly. Su Xiao's Dragon-Slashing Flash occasionally swung at the Ghost Bee, but the thing was too agile, making it extremely difficult to hit.
The abnormal status on Su Xiao had 8 seconds left. Once it wore off and his condition recovered, he would have a chance to cut down this metal arrow.
Whoosh~
Su Xiao tilted his head as the Ghost Bee flew past his ear, barely missing him. The Ghost Bee's speed was increasing, and the Counter Shield couldn't keep up.
Su Xiao glanced at Lan Jue, who stood motionless dozens of meters away. This reassured him somewhat. Dealing with this metal arrow was the key to winning this battle.
A faint cyan light flashed through the air. It wasn't the Ghost Bee's glow, but one of Su Xiao's weapons.
This faint cyan light was distributed around Su Xiao, invisible to Lan Jue in the distance.
The Ghost Bee struck again. Su Xiao tried to dodge, but the abnormal status caused his movements to be slightly slower.
Lan Jue noticed this from afar. His mind raced, weighing whether this was an opportunity or a trap.
The opening was fleeting. Based on the previous situation, Su Xiao seemed to have no good way to deal with the Ghost Bee, so Lan Jue decided to take the risk.
Whoosh~
The Ghost Bee stabbed toward Su Xiao's brow. Su Xiao leaned back as far as he could, but the Ghost Bee was faster.
Zzzt.
The sound of metal wire tightening came. A cyan metal thread wrapped around the Ghost Bee's arrow body, coiling around it dozens of times.
"Got you."
Su Xiao tightened the Realm Severing Thread. Indeed, the cyan light flashing in the air earlier was the Realm Severing Thread.
Lan Jue's whistling stopped. His expression darkened. Su Xiao didn't care about Lan Jue's thoughts. He gripped the Dragon-Slashing Flash and swung it at the metal arrow, which was darting wildly in midair.
"Command: Ant."
Before Su Xiao's longsword could fall, the Ghost Bee changed from black to yellow, its surface covered in fine cracks. This wasn't breaking apart; it was splitting into countless small individuals.
The longsword struck, but because the Ghost Bee had split into tens of thousands of tiny individuals, the blade caused no substantial damage. Moreover, by splitting, the Ghost Bee freed itself from the Realm Severing Thread's bindings.
"Command: Scatter."
The tiny individuals formed by the Ghost Bee began to spread outward.
How could Su Xiao let such a troublesome weapon escape? All the Counter Shields around him quickly floated forward, forming a diamond-shaped cage around the Ghost Bee's tiny individuals, trapping them inside.
The Realm Severing Thread wrapped around the diamond-shaped cage. Su Xiao pulled the thread, dragging the cage toward him. As it flew in front of him, he shifted his body, placing his center of gravity on his left leg, and kicked out with full force with his right leg.
Boom!
Su Xiao's foot struck the diamond-shaped cage, sending it flying into the distance with a whoosh.
"Command: Gho..."
Lan Jue's command stopped halfway because the Ghost Bee had been kicked too far away. Using Command: Ghost required Lan Jue and the Ghost Bee to be within 100 meters of each other.
"Command: Return."
...
No response. It wasn't that the Ghost Bee couldn't return, but it had been kicked too far, and flying back would take time.
Su Xiao looked at Lan Jue, a smile spreading across his face.
Shave.
Su Xiao vanished from his spot, charging toward Lan Jue at high speed.
"Command: Suicide."
With this command, the compound eyes of the hundreds of mechanical dragonflies beside Lan Jue glowed red, and they charged straight ahead.
Not just these dragonflies—from the ground between Su Xiao and Lan Jue, mechanical beetles and mechanical earthworms crawled out. All these mechanical summons had one goal: to die together with Su Xiao.
Shave was fast, but changing direction after using it was difficult, at most allowing for minor adjustments.
Boom, boom, boom...
A dense series of explosions rang out across the battlefield. Although Lan Jue wasn't sure where Su Xiao was, the space between them was filled with mechanical summons. If Su Xiao charged through, he would definitely be injured by the explosions.
The flames of the explosions surged. Before the blasts had even subsided, a figure burst out from the fire.
Crack, crack.
The newly formed Counter Shields around Su Xiao developed cracks. In just an instant, they had withstood the impact of hundreds of explosions. The fact that they hadn't shattered outright was a testament to their resilience.
Su Xiao reappeared, three meters away from Lan Jue.
"Command: Sub..."
Pfft.
Blood splattered. A flash of blade light passed by. The left side of Lan Jue's body went numb, and his entire left arm and shoulder were severed. Blood splashed onto Lan Jue's face, but he remained eerily calm.
"Substitution."
Lan Jue vanished, and a basin-sized beetle appeared in front of Su Xiao.
The beetle's body rapidly swelled. Needless to say, this thing was going to explode. All of Lan Jue's summons, except for the Ghost Bee, were explosive. He was practically an explosion maniac.
Thud!
A fireball dozens of meters in diameter engulfed Su Xiao, causing the ground around them to tremble.
Two seconds later, the fireball dissipated. Su Xiao stood in a semicircular crater, with a few small fragments of the Counter Shield floating beside him.
With a clatter, those fragments dissolved into energy and disappeared.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Su Xiao covered his mouth and coughed dryly, blood seeping through the gaps between his fingers. His legs were covered in burns, with his left calf being the worst—the skin was torn and charred.
Su Xiao pulled out a vial of No. 1 Potion. This time, the potion was different from before, contained in a syringe.
He stabbed the syringe into his neck, injecting the No. 1 Potion into his body. Instead of drinking it, he injected it directly.
As the potion entered his body, the veins on Su Xiao's neck bulged. After a moment, the wounds on his legs began to show signs of recovery, at least the pain quickly subsided, ensuring it wouldn't affect his speed.