Chapter 6: Death by Instinct
Su Xiao was knocked back by the beam cannon, gliding through the air for a distance before landing.
As soon as he landed, Kinuhata Saiai had somehow already appeared behind him.
"It's done."
Mugino Shizuri, her cheeks splattered with blood, sneered coldly as several more beam cannons blasted toward Su Xiao.
While the beam cannons rushed at Su Xiao, a fair little fist smashed toward his head. Don't underestimate this clean little fist—it could easily flatten a tank.
Thud!
Kinuhata Saiai's fist struck the Counter Shield. The circular Counter Shield around Su Xiao sank into the ground, kicking up dust.
Boom, boom, boom, boom...
Several beam cannons slammed into the Counter Shield. Inside it, Su Xiao's eyelids drooped as he glanced sideways at the shield beside him. Faint cracks were beginning to appear on its surface.
"Strong attack power, but the trajectory is too straightforward, and the attack telegraph is too obvious."
Su Xiao muttered, then dismissed the Counter Shield. He was testing the attack strength of the esper.
Based on Mugino Shizuri's attack power, if it were a Railgun with greater force, a single full-powered shot might break the Counter Shield. However, the Railgun's telegraph was even more obvious, and whether it could hit Su Xiao was a major question.
Noticing Su Xiao dismiss the Counter Shield, both Mugino Shizuri and Kinuhata Saiai were stunned. What they didn't realize was that the Counter Shield, to some extent, limited Su Xiao's speed.
"Bet on one minute."
Su Xiao lightly sidestepped, dodging a kick from Kinuhata Saiai while also evading a beam cannon.
Boom!
The beam cannon struck Kinuhata Saiai's Nitrogen Armor. She only staggered back a few steps, the armor completely undamaged. At this point, the Nitrogen Armor was twice as thick as usual, with its strength increased by at least tenfold—but this was a drug-enhanced boost from Kinuhata Saiai, lasting only about ten minutes.
Several Counter Shields appeared around Su Xiao, and he immediately severed the energy connection to them. This way, the shields would last at most one minute, but the advantage was that they could detach from Su Xiao's vicinity.
The Counter Shields drifted outward, spreading around Mugino Shizuri.
Mugino Shizuri grew alert, firing beam cannons at the shields. Without energy supply, the shields weren't sturdy, and a few were shattered instantly.
These Counter Shields weren't for attack; they were to assist Su Xiao's rapid movement.
The muscles in Su Xiao's legs bulged slightly. He leaped onto one Counter Shield, which now existed independently, not sharing gravity with Su Xiao, allowing him to stand on it and hover.
Su Xiao took a deep breath, gripping his longsword tightly, and pushed off with his feet. His figure vanished.
Boom, boom, boom, boom...
The sounds of stomping and air bursts merged into one. Su Xiao bounded between the Counter Shields, turning into a black shadow, weaving around Mugino Shizuri.
Mugino Shizuri and Kinuhata Saiai's dynamic vision couldn't keep up with Su Xiao's movement at all. Helpless, the two could only move closer together.
Suddenly, Su Xiao appeared in front of Mugino Shizuri. His Dragon-Slaying Flash had vanished, and his arms were covered in a protective layer formed by energy shields, like two pale blue energy bracers.
Su Xiao's body arched in midair, like a drawn strongbow, as he punched toward Mugino Shizuri.
Several green barriers surrounded Mugino Shizuri. These barriers could melt or decompose most matter or energy and contained a strong electronic force field. Attacking with a blade was unwise, so Su Xiao switched to fists.
Su Xiao's fist, wrapped in the energy shield, struck the green barrier.
Crack, crack, crack...
As soon as the fist touched the green barrier, the energy shield on it began to crack. Fortunately, the shield was formed by consuming 400 mana points, making it extremely durable.
Su Xiao's fist broke through the green barrier. This time, he didn't feel any suction—indeed, temporarily avoiding the blade was wise.
Bang!
Su Xiao's fist slammed into Mugino Shizuri's chest. With a crisp crack, several of her ribs broke. The force penetrated directly through her body, and with a tearing sound, a circular hole appeared in the back of her clothes. This was Su Xiao's control over force—without sending the enemy flying, he let the power pierce through their body to cause greater damage.
Mugino Shizuri's eyes widened. She didn't understand why the enemy had so quickly figured out a way to counter her defense.
The battle had only been going on for less than five minutes. This was the gap in combat experience and combat intelligence.
With a "wah," Mugino Shizuri spat out a large mouthful of blood, with fragments of internal organs visible in it. She looked down at her feminine features; one side was noticeably and abnormally swollen.
"Daring to grope me, I'll..."
Mugino Shizuri reached for her collar, trying to pull something from inside her clothes. But with Su Xiao already in close quarters, how could he give her that chance?
Su Xiao tilted his head to dodge a beam cannon. It grazed his cheek, leaving a burn mark on his face.
Ignoring the beam cannon, Su Xiao stepped forward, extending his left arm to grab Mugino Shizuri's right forearm.
Crack.
"Ah!"
Mugino Shizuri's right forearm twisted unnaturally, the pain nearly causing her to faint.
This wasn't the end. Su Xiao grabbed her collar with one hand and bent his knee, driving it into her lower abdomen.
Bang. Mugino Shizuri spat out another mouthful of blood mixed with sour liquid, seeing stars.
Suddenly, Mugino Shizuri lifted her head, glaring hatefully at Su Xiao. Several green orbs appeared around her, extremely unstable and ready to explode at any moment—she was trying to take him down with her.
But once Su Xiao was in close quarters, Mugino Shizuri's pathetic close-combat stats meant she had no chance of mutual destruction.
Su Xiao's arm bent, and he threw an uppercut, hitting Mugino Shizuri's jaw. Her eyes rolled back, and the green orbs around her disappeared.
With a thud, Mugino Shizuri collapsed. Severe rib fractures, multiple internal organ damage, forearm fracture, jaw fracture, torn jaw ligaments, severe concussion—if rescued in time and lucky, she might survive, but she would forever lose the ability to be arrogant with her mouth. For meals, a straw was recommended.
The Slaughter Shortsword appeared in Su Xiao's hand. He instinctively pressed the blade against Mugino Shizuri's throat and almost subconsciously slashed.
Pfft. Blood sprayed as Mugino Shizuri's throat was cut.
When the warm blood splattered onto Su Xiao's face, he froze. He had originally intended to keep her alive, but long-established habits made him instinctively neutralize threats during combat.
[You have killed Mugino Shizuri (Esper)]
[Mugino Shizuri is ranked fourth among espers. Obtained World Source 5.6%. Total World Source obtained: 5.6%.]
[Your talent 'Soul Devourer' has been activated. Permanently increased Mana by 30 points. Current maximum Mana: 3146 points.]
[You have obtained a Treasure Chest (Light Gold).]
...
Su Xiao picked up the treasure chest on the ground. The facts proved that espers' development paths were too extreme. Or rather, when facing a well-rounded enemy like Su Xiao, most espers were somewhat helpless.
Of course, this also related to Mugino Shizuri's ability. Her ability leaned toward attack, with obvious deficiencies in defense. If it were the top three espers, they wouldn't be so easy to deal with—especially the first one, whose defense method was nearly unsolvable.
The top-ranked esper was known as Accelerator, with the ability of Vector Manipulation. Through physical contact, he could control the direction of all energy, including electrical, thermal, and kinetic energy.
That meant the direction of slashes could also be manipulated.