Chapter 2883: Mask (Fourth Update)

Blood energy drifted around Su Xiao. Ten-plus meters away, Rogesh narrowed his pitch-black eyes. He felt danger. Facing danger, just solving the source of the danger was enough.

Bang!

Su Xiao and Rogesh disappeared from where they were simultaneously. Rogesh prepared to use a killing move. Don't look at the fact that he was once a Secret Art Master; at this time, his fusion degree with the Dark Mask had reached 92%, and he was already a non-human existence.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Metal collided. The long sword and the dark sharp claws

With a sizzle, sharp claws scrape across the blade's edge. Rogesh's strength is a large margin higher than Su Xiao's, but Su Xiao is a technique-type, so he does not fear this situation.

Bang!

Rogesh strikes down with one hand. Su Xiao raises his blade to block the right hand, which is now a size larger than before. Su Xiao leans back slightly, then exerts force throughout his entire body.

An impact spreads; "Perfect Counter" is successful, and Rogesh's Strength attribute is temporarily reduced by 5 points.

Rogesh does not retreat. His other claw pierces Su Xiao's shoulder—the speed is too fast to dodge. Rogesh closes his five fingers and pulls with all his might.

With a rip, Su Xiao's entire left arm is torn off. Warm blood splashes onto his face and seeps into his eyes. The wound on his left shoulder does not hurt; it is merely numb. However, he knows the pain will soon strike and continue to affect him.

"Blade Dao Blade · Extreme."

The long blade tears through the air and slashes at the top of Rogesh's head, cutting off a piece of its skull.

"Roar!!"

Rogesh lets out a roar. A crystal layer forms in front of Su Xiao, and soul energy mixed with sound waves pierces through the crystal layer, causing fine, dense wounds to appear on Su Xiao's chest.

A pair of pale, vertical pupils appear in Rogesh's eyes. Its right arm swells by a size, and it swings a claw horizontally.

Puchi!

The flesh on Su Xiao's chest is torn open, with bones visible in some places; beneath the ribs, the heart can be seen beating faintly.

This is not the most fatal part; Su Xiao's right arm has lost all sensation. Or rather, his right arm has been smashed into three pieces by Rogesh's monstrous strength, and the wound at the shoulder is jagged and uneven.

While flying backward, a crystal layer spreads from the wound on Su Xiao's right shoulder, quickly forming a crystal arm. The split-state Exile stabs in from all directions. After a series of crisp clinking sounds, Exile stabs into the crystal arm and merges with it.

Su Xiao's crystal right arm raises, fingers gripping the air. Zhan Long Shan, which was flying into the distance, flies back and is caught in his hand with a slap.

"Blade Dao Blade · Time."

Su Xiao had not used "Time" until now, waiting for an opportunity. Everything around them slows down, Qing Gang Ying energy surges on the long blade, and he performs several high-speed consecutive slashes.

Black blood flies everywhere. Standing over three meters tall, the pitch-black Rogesh opens its blood-red maw. Ignoring the slashes, it bites at Su Xiao with a mouth full of dagger-like sharp teeth.

With a bang, like two wooden boards slamming together, Rogesh bites at empty air. The long blade stabs in from its chin, piercing through its skull.

Bang!

Su Xiao delivers a straight kick, and an air wave spreads. He releases the hilt, and after Rogesh stumbles back a few steps, it freezes in place.

A crystal battle scythe is quickly constructed in Su Xiao's right hand. Seeing this, Rogesh's black hair strands stab into its own body; despite its entire body being numb, it actually leaps up.

"Qing Ying Wang."

The crystal battle scythe slashes out, cutting across Rogesh's chest and abdomen. A blue mark appears on its torso, and cracks like those on a ceramic plate appear on its lower body, with a blue glow faintly visible within the cracks.

The pale vertical pupils in Rogesh's eyes tremble. It lets out a "wah" sound, vomits a large mouthful of black blood, and its feet land on the ground.

As the crystal battle scythe shatters, Su Xiao grips the hilt at Rogesh's chin and pulls out the long blade.

"Blade Dao Blade · Demon Blade!"

Everything around them seems to go still; the splashing blood stops, and water droplets freeze in mid-air. The world seems to lose its color, leaving only the long blade in Su Xiao's hand, which is rising with black-blue smoke.

Zheng.

The long blade slashes across Rogesh's neck, leaving smoke within the wound as it cuts.

Everything returns to normal. Rogesh, now only the upper half of its body, falls into the accumulated water with a thud. The pitch-black color on its body fades, and its body gradually shrinks, returning to its original appearance. Its long black hair spreads out beneath it, drifting slowly with the water.

"What have I... become?"

The luster in Rogesh's eyes fades rapidly, and the bone-white mask on its face falls off, dropping into the water.

"Don't touch... the mask..."

After saying this, Rogesh's gaze fixes. The expression on his face is very relaxed, as if a heavy burden has been lifted. For so many years, he had only been doing one thing: trying every possible way to take back the Dark Mask and put it on. That was all; he had been seduced by the mask.

Even a person as intelligent as Rogesh was seduced by the Dark Mask, which shows the danger level of this item. What is even more terrifying is that Rogesh had remained clear-headed, but the obsession in his heart had always been there, driving him to return to the Holy Land and take back the Dark Mask.

This obsession was as common as people wanting to live, and it is precisely this ordinariness, which is not easily noticed, that is the most dangerous.

Su Xiao sits in the shallow water and pulls the 【Glory of the Dragon Hunter】 from his neck.

"Boss, how is it?"

Baha is carried over by Amu. Amu's gait is somewhat strange; it has been eroded too severely by soul energy. Behind Amu is Xiang Bubu Wang, whose rear is still smoking. Looking at the expression on that dog face, it is almost crying.

"Don't break."

Su Xiao mutters in a low voice. Baha, who was carried over, is very confused, but after seeing the pendant in Su Xiao's hand, it knows what is going on.

"Don't break, big brother, hold on, damn it."

Snap~

A crisp sound comes from Su Xiao's hand.

"It's over."

Baha's jinx comes true. The 【Glory of the Dragon Hunter】 pendant can no longer hold on and shatters in Su Xiao's hand. The residual Dragon Blood power inside, having lost its container, sinks into Su Xiao's body.

【You have absorbed Dragon Blood Power · Origin.】

【Your Maximum HP is permanently increased by 2700 points.】

【Your Stamina attribute is permanently increased by 1 point.】

【Your Physical Defense is permanently increased by 12 points.】

……

After these hints, the 【Glory of the Dragon Hunter】 turns into residue and falls into the water. Su Xiao and Rogesh fought too fiercely; due to the continuous high-amount HP recovery, the 【Glory of the Dragon Hunter】's durability reached 0 and it shattered permanently.

Su Xiao had only obtained the Dragon Hunter set in the previous world, and this was its first use. Because the opponent was too strong, this Saint Spirit-level set was fought to destruction. Or rather, if he hadn't used the Dragon Hunter set this way, Su Xiao would have been the one to die today.

【Hint: You have killed the Immortal · Rogesh.】

【You have obtained 2780 Soul Coins.】

【You have obtained 28.5% of World Origin.】

【You have obtained an Immortal-level treasure chest (30%).】

【You have obtained the Dark Mask (This item cannot be taken out of this world).】

【You have obtained Holy Seal · Initial Soul Energy (Bloodline/Profession-type item, Potential: S-).】

……

The amount of Soul Coins and World Origin obtained is more than expected. The value of the 【Immortal-level treasure chest (30%)】 needs no explanation. As for the final 【Holy Seal · Initial Soul Energy】...

Su Xiao feels that this item is much more valuable than the Dragon Hunter set. Even in the Eighth Tier, this item is a hot commodity. While the Saint Spirit-level set has high value, it is far inferior to the 【Holy Seal · Initial Soul Energy】.

Su Xiao takes out a bottle of 【Vitality Stock Solution】. After drinking half the bottle, his injuries stabilize somewhat. The severe damage to his arms and chest will only recover after returning to Reincarnation Paradise. The severed arm has been preserved; in this regard, Su Xiao was well-prepared.

This is not the first time his arm has been severed; this is normal. He fights with a blade, and his arms are the enemy's priority target, second only to the head.

Right now, as long as he resists the temptation of the Dark Mask and destroys it, the promotion mission will be complete. Simply smashing it is useless; others have tried this before. In a state where one cannot control the Dark Mask, even if you smash it, its effect remains the same. You must first control it, then suppress it, and finally destroy it.

Su Xiao is not sure how many points of willpower he has, but it should not be low. Considering that Rogesh's Willpower attribute would not be low either, Su Xiao is secretly vigilant in his heart.

"Xiang Bubu, Amu, Baha."

"Understood."

"Woof."

"Moo."

Xiang Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha surround Su Xiao. The reason Su Xiao only drank half a bottle of recovery potion just now is because of this: if he touches the Dark Mask and is driven by it, his severely injured self would be easier to stop.

Su Xiao's hand touches the Dark Mask, and he feels dazed for a moment. When he recovers, he finds Xiang Bubu Wang biting his crystal arm, and Amu and Baha also grabbing that arm. The Dark Mask is already in front of him; he almost put it on.

It is not mental control—sword techniques can exempt this aspect, and even if it exceeded the limit of exemption, there should have been a warning. It is also not soul-based bewitchment; given Su Xiao's soul strength, there are few things that can bewitch his soul, and the Holy Land's Dark Mask is likely not among them.

Thinking about it, this item might be a Charisma-based check. Su Xiao recalls that after Rogesh fused with the Dark Mask, his Charisma attribute permanently dropped to 1 point.

"Xiang Bubu."

"Woof."

Xiang Bubu Wang takes the mask and puts it on its head. It will not try to fuse with the mask, so the possibility of losing Charisma points is not high.

Xiang Bubu Wang tilts its head, indicating it feels nothing. The mask slides off its head, and Amu slaps it to pieces.

Xiang Bubu Wang is the natural nemesis of the Dark Mask for the following three reasons:

1. Xiang Bubu's Charisma is high enough, and it is a real attribute.

2. Xiang Bubu has no ambition. It follows Su Xiao to wander through different worlds, occasionally tearing down houses, engaging in daily battles of wits, sleeping when tired, and avoiding ghosts and rear injuries. Aside from these, it has nothing it particularly wants to obtain.

3. Xiang Bubu Wang's combat power is not strong. For the Dark Mask, this is the most unsolvable factor. The stronger the strength, the easier it is to be seduced by it. Mental exemption, soul strength, willpower level, etc., all are absent. The Dark Mask's temptation is not malicious, but a feedback to the strong. In a sense, this is actually a buff-type check.

The Dark Mask shatters, and a black hole appears. Before the black hole can spread, it is sucked away. Judging by the ease of this, the black hole was taken away by Reincarnation Paradise.

【You have successfully destroyed the Dark Mask.】

【Your promotion mission has been completed.】