Chapter 288: An Elusive Enemy

Two hours later, a massive biological sphere composed of Karas had sunk to the seabed. This sphere had been compressed, and over 99.99% of the Karas within were already dead.

The sphere was dozens of meters away from the sperm whale on the seabed; both colossal entities remained motionless.

A spatial fluctuation appeared, then vanished in an instant.

Inside the sperm whale, Dika, covered in silver scales, appeared in the esophagus. Su Xiao stood not far away.

Su Xiao's expression was grim. The ruthlessness of the Karas had exceeded his expectations; they had mobilized their entire race to reach the seabed. Now that the Karas were effectively extinct, destroying the coordinate had lost its meaning.

Su Xiao stared at the Kara standing before him, who resembled Tuka. He attempted to contact Reincarnation Paradise to temporarily strip away his Arbiter status, but the answer was a flat refusal.

Reincarnation Paradise was omnipotent within the rules, but stripping the Arbiter status was outside those rules.

"This result... is somewhat beyond my expectations."

Su Xiao looked at the Kara before him. He suddenly realized that the opponent might not understand human language.

"Our defeat is only a matter of time. The bio-core's energy is exhausted, and the ship cannot return to space. Before we are defeated, I will kill you, human."

This Kara spoke human language. Considering they had been on Earth for twenty years, this was not surprising.

"Oh? You've learned human language."

Su Xiao paused, eyeing the Kara with surprise.

"You said you wanted to kill me just now. Let me think..."

Su Xiao feigned deep thought, a smile appearing on his face as he guessed the truth.

"I killed a Kara named Tuka earlier. It looked very similar to you. If I'm not mistaken, it was your descendant? Your son?"

Su Xiao's words made Dika's gaze even colder.

"Tuka... my excellent descendant, who would have inherited my responsibilities in the future. He should not have died; you should be the one to die."

Dika's voice was low, its sharp teeth grinding together with a clicking sound.

"So that's it. Your descendant Tuka was strong. Even after I severed its limbs, it survived for a long time. Do you want to know how it died in the end?"

Su Xiao wore a gentle smile, deliberately provoking the Kara to force it to attack. As for the battle with Tuka, he hadn't tortured it; they had simply fought to the death in a straightforward manner.

Dika was already beyond furious, its vertical pupils narrowing into thin black lines.

"Just before I intended to finish Tuka off, a group of mutant rats appeared. Tuka was gnawed down to white bones by those weak rats. Calculating the time, its body tissues have likely returned to the earth, in a 'special' way."

As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, the Kara vanished. A gust of wind struck the back of his head.

Su Xiao stood motionless, activating the 【Mikasa's Heart】 shield. With his 20 points of Stamina, the shield's durability had increased significantly.

Bang.

Dika slammed a heavy fist into the shield. Su Xiao was sent flying forward, the shield shattering with a crack.

The power of that punch was terrifying. Had it landed directly, Su Xiao would have been severely injured.

Rolling twice on the ground to stabilize himself, he crouched down, shoulders trembling.

"Heh... lucky."

Su Xiao was genuinely happy. He had thought the mission might fail, but the opponent had taken the initiative to attack him.

However, Su Xiao vaguely sensed something: this Kara might not be attacking solely out of rage. It seemed its target was him, not the coordinate.

Compared to attacking him, destroying the world coordinate would have been simpler. If the coordinate were destroyed, Su Xiao wouldn't last long either.

Unfortunately, Dika didn't know this. Its only goal was revenge.

Having achieved his goal of provoking the enemy, Su Xiao stopped talking and walked slowly toward Dika with Checking Zhan Long Shan in hand.

Prompts appeared one after another; since the Kara had attacked him, an Arbiter, he had the right to retaliate.

"Judgment!"

Su Xiao whispered. A barrier dozens of meters wide appeared. Unless Su Xiao died in battle, Dika could not leave this barrier.

The situation had reversed dramatically; Su Xiao had gone from the passive side to the active one.

There were 43 minutes left until the coordinate was successfully set. Now, even if he couldn't defeat the opponent, he only needed to hold out for 43 minutes.

Dika clenched its fists. The space around its silver-scaled knuckles was distorting; this distorted space could shred an enemy's defense, rendering all protection meaningless.

Su Xiao took a deep breath, fully activating his Heart's Eye ability to perceive his surroundings. The enemy possessed spatial abilities—this was his first time encountering such a power.

Whoosh.

Dika vanished from its spot. Su Xiao crouched low, holding his blade, scanning his surroundings rapidly with his perception fully engaged.

A gust of wind struck the back of his head, blowing his short black hair. He tilted his head to dodge.

The iron fist wrapped in silver scales grazed his cheek. The distorted space on the fist left two bloody gashes on his face.

Su Xiao immediately made a judgment: first, dodge sideways, then counter-attack with a slash.

Bang.

A sharp pain erupted in his back. Dika had struck him from behind, the fist piercing directly through his chest.

The fist entered from his back and exited through his chest.

"Pfft."

Su Xiao spat out a mouthful of blood, struggling to breathe. His right lung had been shattered.

Suffering such a fatal wound, Su Xiao's vision went black. He forced himself to stay conscious; if he lost consciousness now, he would die.

Reversing his grip on Checking Zhan Long Shan, Su Xiao stabbed his own abdomen, the blade piercing through his stomach and then through the enemy behind him.

The enemy was behind him; attacking from any other angle would be blocked. Only this way could he strike the enemy.

If the enemy was ruthless, he would be even more vicious.

"Hmph."

The enemy behind him let out a groan. The fist that had pierced through his chest vanished, and blood gushed from the hole in his chest.

Looking at the wound in his chest, Su Xiao couldn't help but think of Ace from the Pirate World, who had been punched through the chest by Akainu. The injuries were very similar.

Checking Zhan Long Shan's ability, 【Bloodbath】, triggered. Su Xiao's Stamina increased by 12 points, effective for five minutes.

Spitting out more blood, Su Xiao pulled Checking Zhan Long Shan from his abdomen and drank a potion.

【Victory Potion】: Instantly restores 70% health and removes poison and curse effects.

With his injuries partially healed, Su Xiao immediately summoned Xiang Bubu Wang. Xiang Bubu Wang appeared, looking a bit dazed, but upon seeing the heavily wounded Su Xiao and the blood-stained enemy, it immediately wanted to charge.

"Stay aside."

Su Xiao didn't summon Xiang Bubu Wang to fight, but for the effect of the 【Goddess of Ice】 halo, which restored 1 health point per second.

The enemy's speed was too fast—no, calling it speed was wrong; the enemy could teleport. That kind of speed was beyond description. In an instant, the enemy would appear behind him, leaving Su Xiao with only the briefest moment to react.

Su Xiao released the Boundary Line, using himself as bait to try and trap the enemy.

Dika retreated slowly, its chest and abdomen riddled with a piercing wound, blood flowing out continuously as it seemed to be waiting for something.

Although Su Xiao wanted to charge, he was powerless to do so; his injuries were too severe.

Whoosh.

The enemy vanished again. Su Xiao leaped forward immediately. The wind of a punch blew past; he had dodged the attack.

Zzz...

The Boundary Line tightened. Su Xiao pulled hard on the line in mid-air.

Pfft. Blood scattered in the air, but Dika had already vanished again.

Dika stood in the distance, its body covered in ragged wounds, breathing heavily.

One, two, three... Su Xiao counted the time in his heart.

When he reached seven, the enemy vanished again. Su Xiao spun around and slashed, the Boundary Line tightening simultaneously.

Su Xiao's slash hit nothing, and the Boundary Line failed to catch the enemy.

The wind of a punch struck from his side. Dika was right beside him.