Chapter 65: Bee Sting
While simultaneously controlling 26 Ghost Bees, Lan Jue’s eyeballs were bloodshot, veins bulging on his face. From those twitching blood vessels, it was clear just how fast his blood was flowing.
Thump, thump, thump~
Lan Jue’s heart pounded like a drum, beating at least 300 times per minute, making it somewhat difficult for him to breathe.
Lan Jue had been pushed to the brink by Su Xiao and was ready to fight to the death. This style of conduct didn’t seem like that of someone from the Apocalypse Paradise at all; instead, it resembled the style of the Reincarnation Paradise—never compromising, and when cornered, fighting to the bitter end.
Su Xiao controlled Hughes to block in front of himself and transferred control of Hughes to Bubu Wang. He needed to focus entirely on the fight and had no energy to manipulate Hughes. It was impossible to engage in close combat with an enemy while simultaneously controlling Hughes. This was also why Su Xiao hadn’t summoned the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes, during his previous battle with Lan Jue.
Bubu Wang took over control of Hughes. It crouched in the grass, concentrating all its mental energy on Hughes.
At that moment, Hughes was standing in front of Su Xiao. After Bubu Wang took control, the Orphan of Resentment, Hughes, instinctively stuck out its tongue and got down on all fours.
The corner of Su Xiao’s mouth twitched. He kicked Hughes in the side. “Hughes” looked back in confusion, its gaze seeming to ask, “What’s wrong, master?”
“Get up. Get used to Hughes’s fighting style as quickly as possible. Walk upright. Charge over there and use that ‘drumstick’ in your hand to chop that guy.”
Hearing Su Xiao’s words, Bubu Wang quickly stood up and glanced at the muscle-curved blade in its hand. This thing was what Su Xiao called a “drumstick.” In reality, it looked a lot like a peeled raw chicken leg, just magnified several dozen times.
Back in the Holy Grail World, Su Xiao had nearly been beaten to death by this “drumstick.”
A Counter Shield formed around Su Xiao, with dozens of hexagonal energy shields swirling around him, ready to defend against Lan Jue’s attacks at any moment.
Su Xiao and Lan Jue locked eyes. Neither spoke, because neither had much time.
Boom!
The dirt beneath Su Xiao and Hughes’s feet splattered as the two charged toward Lan Jue, one in front and one behind. They occasionally switched positions left and right—this was the tacit understanding between Su Xiao and Bubu Wang.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
Twenty Ghost Bees shot forward, parting layers of air in their wake. The remaining six Ghost Bees circled around Lan Jue.
A single Ghost Bee was already difficult to deal with, let alone twenty-six. Originally, the maximum summoning limit for Ghost Bees was one, but after Lan Jue was parasitized by the Mechanical Insect King, this restriction was temporarily lifted.
The twenty Ghost Bees first attacked Hughes. Bubu Wang controlled Hughes to spread its arms, and the three-meter-tall Hughes completely blocked Su Xiao behind him.
If it were defending against ordinary arrows, Bubu Wang’s move would have been correct. But Ghost Bees were no ordinary arrows.
The shafts of the twenty Ghost Bees turned cyan, transitioning to a semi-transparent state.
Whoosh~
The Ghost Bees pierced through Hughes and headed straight for Su Xiao. Su Xiao activated his perception fully, feeling faint stinging sensations all over his body—it was his perception giving a warning.
Realizing that the defense had failed, Bubu Wang immediately stopped Hughes.
“Don’t stop! Go harass him.”
Su Xiao shouted, his eyes rapidly moving in their sockets to track the attack trajectories of the Ghost Bees. There were simply too many.
Bubu Wang had just stopped Hughes when it heard Su Xiao’s shout. Almost without thinking, it continued charging toward Lan Jue. Obeying Su Xiao’s commands was instinct for Bubu Wang.
Hughes charged at Lan Jue. The six Ghost Bees beside Lan Jue stopped circling, waiting for Hughes to approach. At the same time, Lan Jue drew the two energy guns at his waist.
Bang, bang, bang…
Thirty basketball-sized plasma spheres shot out. These plasma spheres had tracking capabilities and were already locked onto Su Xiao. Su Xiao controlled thirty Counter Shields to meet them.
Su Xiao had no time to dodge the plasma spheres. He first had to ensure he didn’t die under the siege of the twenty Ghost Bees, which was extremely difficult.
The twenty Ghost Bees were in a phased state, ready to materialize and attack Su Xiao at any moment.
The phased Ghost Bees first passed through the Counter Shields beside Su Xiao. Ghost Bees were already incredibly fast, and after passing through the Counter Shields, the arrowheads were less than 20 centimeters from Su Xiao.
After passing through the Counter Shields, the twenty Ghost Bees materialized, their shafts pitch black, carrying immense kinetic energy as they struck.
At that moment, Su Xiao felt as if every hair on his body was standing on end. One misstep, and he would die on the spot.
The skin where the arrowheads pointed felt a cool warning sensation. Su Xiao leaped into the air, slashing sideways with the Dragon-Slaying Flash.
Clang.
Seven Ghost Bees were knocked away, nine were dodged by Su Xiao’s jump, and the remaining four—one pierced through his lower abdomen, two through his left shoulder, and one through his thigh.
Four finger-sized bloody holes appeared. Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. The power of these things had decreased somewhat.
As soon as Su Xiao landed, the blood-stained Ghost Bees turned behind him, their arrowheads once again aimed at him.
Ring Break.
Zheng.
A pale blue ring-shaped blade aura expanded. Lan Jue, a hundred meters away, immediately controlled the Ghost Bees to dodge. But at that moment, Bubu Wang’s controlled Hughes had already reached him, causing Lan Jue’s control over the Ghost Bees to falter.
The Ring Break fully expanded. Two crisp sounds rang out as two Ghost Bees were struck by the ring break. One had a cut mark in its middle, while the other had its arrowhead severed.
Su Xiao noticed that among the twenty-six Ghost Bees, one was the fastest. That Ghost Bee was likely the one Lan Jue always kept by his side. The other twenty-five newly formed Ghost Bees were inferior in penetration, power, and durability.
Even so, these twenty-five newly formed Ghost Bees were still extremely fast, and their penetration was enough to pierce Su Xiao’s flesh and blood body.
The Ghost Bees around Su Xiao suddenly retreated, moving away from him. The reason was that Bubu Wang had already controlled Hughes to engage Lan Jue in close combat.
At that moment, three Ghost Bees were stuck in Hughes’s body. It swung the muscle-curved blade at Lan Jue. Lan Jue was not slow; he immediately sidestepped to dodge. He wasn’t purely a ranged fighter.
Boom!
Dirt splattered. Hughes’s strength was terrifying, and the flying mud and stones were like shotgun pellets.
If one observed closely, they would notice that the Hughes controlled by Bubu Wang moved somewhat stiffly. This wasn’t because Bubu Wang couldn’t control Hughes well, but because the three Ghost Bees inside Hughes’s body were causing trouble.
The three remaining Ghost Bees beside Lan Jue shot toward Hughes. They easily pierced into Hughes’s body and stopped there.
Thus, Hughes now had one Ghost Bee stuck in its head, arms, legs, and chest—exactly six.
“Command: Ascend.”
Lan Jue raised his arm, and the six Ghost Bees inside Hughes lifted it into the sky, flying higher and higher.
“Now it’s just us.”
Lan Jue, his face covered in bulging veins and looking like a vengeful ghost, smiled.
Su Xiao had no time to worry about Hughes. The nineteen Ghost Bees around him were too difficult to deal with; he couldn’t afford a moment’s distraction.
Whoosh~
A Ghost Bee grazed past Su Xiao’s neck, leaving a bloody line.
Pfft.
A Ghost Bee pierced through Su Xiao’s left arm. At the same time, he swung his blade at a Ghost Bee in front of him.
Clang!
Metal shards flew as a Ghost Bee was cut in two by Su Xiao.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Lan Jue let out violent dry coughs, blood flowing from his ear holes. Every time Su Xiao shattered a Ghost Bee, Lan Jue suffered backlash.
Even so, Su Xiao was more severely injured than Lan Jue. There were at least ten bloody holes on his body, three of which had damaged his internal organs.
PS: (Two more chapters coming soon)