Chapter 3309: Where is the Beast?

Five Trace Kings have slept here forever. There remains one Trace King of unknown status, as well as Trace King Lushuman.

Su Xiao left the Trace King Hall and walked toward the Painting Tower. Crossing the towering stone step bridge, he entered a painting room. The high stool appeared dilapidated, and the easel was covered in stains. The Painting Tower was empty. On the wall hung a portrait of a blind girl sitting on a high stool; she was seventeen or eighteen years old, with freckles on her face.

On her left and right sides stood and sat two people. Standing to the girl's left was Donkey Brother. Donkey Brother was still human at that time; this was clearly painted in the Old World. In the painting, Donkey Brother had his arms crossed and his chin tilted up, wearing an expression of supreme arrogance.

To the girl's right was a man over five meters tall. Even sitting, he was taller than the girl on the high stool. He wore a bucket-like helmet. Even though it was just a painting, one could still feel his oppressive force. Su Xiao didn't need to guess to know that this person must be God King Os Tobias.

In this light, the bucket-heads of the Sun Church were a tribute to God King Os Tobias.

"Roar!!"

A beast-like roar came from outside. Hearing this roar, Bennie's fur stood on end, and Xiang Bubu Wang instinctively blended into the environment.

Su Xiao was the first to rush out. The sound came from the right. He dashed over a mound; the dust under his feet was loose, and after kicking up a cloud of dust, it was a bit choking.

Along the slope ahead, there was a trail dragged out by crawling. Su Xiao followed this trail for a hundred meters. The surroundings became more open, and a gust of wind blew, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Half a corpse lay ahead. From a distance, Su Xiao saw the dim golden crown on the person's head. Stepping forward to check, he discovered this person was not Lushuman, but a Trace King he did not recognize.

The seven Trace Kings had all been the strongest of their respective eras. Some were willing, some were forced by circumstances, and some were simply tricked into containing the Dark Blood, also known as Ink Trace.

Why must the ink be borne by the strongest? The reason is simple: if one's strength does not reach a certain level, one cannot bear the ink, nor endure the madness it brings.

Judged by the standards of Reincarnation Paradise, only those with a Sanity value of 1000 points or more are qualified to become a King of Traces.

There is no need for surprise; the Kings of Traces are the strong of this world. They are born to bear the madness of this world—that is, to be invaded by the Beast-ification disease. To be able to withstand this and become the strongest, their Sanity value is naturally high.

"That beast... took away... our... Dark Blood. Kill him, he has... no sanity left, he will... kill the Young Lady."

The King of Traces, who only had his upper body left, spoke. He took off the crown from his head and handed it to Su Xiao with a slight tremor. Using his remaining strength, he saw a part of Su Xiao's past, and he said:

"Are you going to become... the White King, or... witness the arrival of destruction?"

After the King of Traces, who only had his upper body left, finished this sentence, the arm holding the crown fell to the ground.

"..."

Su Xiao did not speak. When conversing with a King of Traces, you are likely not on the same wavelength as the other party, or even chatting across different servers. These guys can see the past and the future. What they say sounds understandable at first, but if you think about it carefully, at this stage, it is impossible to understand their meaning at all.

Su Xiao looked around. Everything in the Royal City had color, but the colors were not vivid; this was a phenomenon caused by the fading of the scroll.

The sound of footsteps treading on dust came, dull and heavy. Amidst the ethereal dust raised by the breeze, Su Xiao vaguely saw a figure walking over.

Although this person was tall, his upper body was hunched. The armor on his body was not only pitted but also covered in black rust. This gave one the feeling that although the armor was worn out, its defensive power had surged for some reason—that was darkness, the power of divinity.

As the person approached, Su Xiao first noticed the other's beard. The beard, which hung down to the chest, was tied with a thin string. The messy, graying beard was stained with a small amount of black blood, which had already dried.

A greatsword covered in black rust was strapped to the person's back. Su Xiao had seen this greatsword before; the last time he saw it, the sword was still as bright as new, but at this moment, it had turned into this appearance.

The person who came was the Old Knight. He had swallowed all the Dark Blood, including the Dark Blood of Luxuman. This was also the reason why the King of Traces, Luxuman, said he was going to meet his fate earlier.

Luxuman was the only King of Traces who had ever escaped from the Royal City. Many people jokingly called him "Luxuman the Runner."

To this day, compared to letting the beast out of the cage, Luxuman chose to walk into the cage himself, because after this beast swallowed him, it would settle down and not break the cage. He became a King of Traces, but he was not just fooled; without the corresponding determination, he could not have persisted until now.

Before, the Old Knight had been to the ancient castle. After seeing the Young Lady, the Old Knight decided to find both the Dark Blood and the Painter's Blood, and let the Young Lady try to paint a new world. As for failure, was that important?

The Old Knight had once sealed his power in his heart to prevent his own Beast-ification, then took out his own heart and entrusted it to the Young Lady. Due to subsequent changes, the Young Lady stored the beast's heart in a safer place to prevent it from being taken by the Royal descendants.

The heartless Old Knight did not lose his direction. Those who trusted him in the ancient city filled the void in his chest. But one day, this filling disappeared, leaving only the last faint glimmer of fire.

The Old Knight was a person who should have died, so he made a bold attempt.

He knew everything, including the cause of Beast-ification. As the only seventh-stage Beast-ified person, a thought appeared in his mind: could he bear all the Dark Blood and then absorb the madness within it?

It was absolutely impossible for others, but the Old Knight was a seventh-stage Beast-ified person. He himself had a resistance and capacity for madness and Dark Blood that outsiders could not imagine.

The Old Knight's previous thought was that sufficiently pure Dark Blood might be able to paint a new world, or perhaps allow more people to have a place to settle.

Birds and beasts also hope to return to their nests, let alone people.

The Old Knight knew how painful it was to have no place to return to. He was already destined to be like this, so he did not want to see anyone else like this again.

The Old Knight once dug out his own beast heart, and now, he had a new heart: a Dark Heart.

"So it is you, Bai Ye. Have you seen the King of Traces?"

The Old Knight's dry, hoarse voice came. He hunched his body, making it impossible to see his eyes clearly.

"I have not."

"Is that so? Be careful, it is very dangerous here."

The Old Knight raised his head. His left pupil was brownish-yellow, while his right eye had no pupil at all, but was pitch black. The blackness spread from the corner of his left eye, gradually causing both of his eyes to turn pitch black.

The Old Knight looked around and asked, "Bai Ye, there is a beast in the Royal City. I am looking for it. Have you seen that beast?"

"I have."

As Su Xiao spoke, he crushed a small glass bottle in his hand, and the 【Pure White Blood】 was used up.

"You saw that beast? In which direction? You go first, I will go deal with it. It will be quick. After I kill that beast, you can come to the Royal City."

As the Old Knight spoke, most of his left eye turned pitch black, leaving only half a pupil and the white at the bottom of his left eye.

"That beast is right in front of me."

As Su Xiao spoke, he slowly drew the long blade at his waist. The long blade pointed obliquely at the ground, and the dust drifted slowly past.

Hearing Su Xiao's words, the Old Knight raised his hand. After looking at the black blood stained on his gauntlet, he was silent for a moment and said:

"So that beast... is me."

The Old Knight's eyes turned completely pitch black, and his consciousness was occupied by madness. His hand, wrapped in a worn-out gauntlet, gripped the hilt of the sword on his back. His aura changed.

The Old Knight's last bit of sanity, after a brief conversation with Su Xiao, dissipated like clouds and mist. What remained was only a mad beast. He had borne too much Dark Blood—a quantity that made even the past Kings of Traces feel horrified.

In fact, the Old Knight had long since lost his sanity. In this state, he had wandered in this desolate, lonely Royal City for several days. Suddenly encountering an acquaintance allowed his sanity to recover for a short while, just like the flash of brilliance before a dying person's death.

Boom!

An oppressive force so strong that it made one subconsciously hold their breath and want to turn and flee spread out, as if a heavy weight had fallen on their shoulders.

Dust flew over. Su Xiao blocked his face with one hand. The place where he and the Old Knight were was the central area of the Royal City. This was a vast depression. The flat ground inside had a diameter of about one kilometer. The ground was covered with soft, fine dust. When a breeze blew, it would raise a wisp of dust.

Su Xiao and the Old Knight were confronting each other. In the distance around them was a circle of earthen slopes, enclosing the battlefield. The sky was covered with dark clouds, and the sun was hidden behind them, rendering the gaps in the clouds a dim yellow.

The Eye of the Gods floated behind Su Xiao, detecting the data of the strong enemy in front and feeding it back to Su Xiao at the fastest speed.

【Comparing the Intelligence attributes of both sides... Due to the interference of the world's ink, only 59.8% of the enemy's data has been detected.】

Name: Old Knight · Azde

Category: Seventh-stage Beast-ified person / Dark Blood Knight.

Health: 100%

Dark Power: 99000/99000 points (This is bestowed by the Dark Blood and is continuously increasing...)

Battle Soul Power: 32400/32400 points (This body energy is the Old Knight's original.)

Strength: 245 (Real attribute)

Agility: 229 (Real attribute)

Stamina: 243 (Real attribute)

Intelligence: 106 (Real attribute)

Charisma: -5 points (Originally 26 points; Beast/Darkness transformation caused the Charisma attribute to slide.)

Skill 1, Dark Beast (Passive, LV. MAX): After the Old Knight swallowed all the Dark Blood, he should have lost his power like the Kings of Traces, but the Old Knight is the only seventh-stage Beast-ified person in history. His resistance to madness and Dark Blood far exceeds that of the Kings of Traces. Although the Old Knight did not lose his power, but instead gained stronger power, he lost his sanity.

Hint: This ability causes the Old Knight to be immune to mental control and can instantly break free from all physical control effects of the same tier.

Skill 2, Beast King (Passive, Lv. MAX): Health +71600 points, Physical Defense +62 points. For every 1% of Health lost, Physical Defense will increase incrementally.

Hint: Due to the characteristics of this ability, the Old Knight's Physical Defense has high priority and can avoid the Physical Defense reduction effects brought by abilities of the same tier or Immortal-grade equipment.

Skill 3,???

Skill 4, Knight Sword Art (Technique-type ability, Lv. 62), Sword-type weapon attack power increased by 835%. Attacks have an uninterruptible characteristic. During the attack, the body is in a strong super-armor state, and the damage received during this period is reduced by 29.56%...

Hint: This ability is of the same tier as Sword Art Grandmaster.

Hint: This ability has derived 19 self-developed abilities (12 active, 7 Lv. MAX passive).

Hint: Due to the Old Knight's current state of sanity, active sword art moves have only a small probability of being used (it is not impossible to use them; in the state of dark madness, the probability of the Old Knight using sword art moves is relatively low).

Skill 5:???

Skill 6, Continuous Slash (Passive, Lv. 72), The Old Knight is adept at continuous crushing slashes. Each slash's attack intensity increases by 12% (stackable), and there is a certain probability that the enemy's weapon will break or their guard will be broken.

Hint: Slash attack intensity can be increased by up to 62% (the buff effect lasts for 60 seconds; any slash against an enemy, if not dodged, even if blocked, can refresh the duration of this ability to 60 seconds).

Hint: If a slash breaks a guard, it will cause the enemy to fall into a physical paralysis state for at least 0.78 seconds (the duration is determined based on Stamina; if the enemy's Stamina is below 200 points, they will be paralyzed for at least 60 seconds or more, and it may cause fractures, organ vibration injuries, etc.).

Skill 7,???

Skill 8, Dark Greatsword (Passive, Lv. MAX): When the Old Knight uses the greatsword to attack, it will additionally carry Strength attribute × 2.7 slash pressure damage (physical damage) + 1276 points of real dark damage + 1900–3200 points of vibration damage (this damage ignores external defense, and the damage intensity is determined based on the difference in Strength between the enemy and himself).

Skill 9, Body of Ten Thousand Calamities (Passive, Lv. 72): The many hardships experienced did not destroy the Old Knight's body, but instead gave his body stronger resistance. Physical damage received is reduced by 21.5%, and energy damage is reduced by 23.4%.

???

Skill 11, World Power (Passive, Lv. 70): Because the Old Knight has all the world's ink in his body, he has gained the blessing of World Power to a certain extent. He can slash and capture enemies in states such as different spaces, energy permeation, etc.

Hint: The shockwave generated by the Old Knight's normal attacks has a high probability of blasting out enemies in states such as different spaces, energy permeation, etc.

???

Skill 13, Dark Blood Knight (Ultimate Passive, Lv. 53): Enter the Dark Blood Knight state, all abilities are comprehensively enhanced, and Health is restored to 80%.

???

Skill 15, Blade of Punishment (Ultimate Passive, Lv. 39): When attacking a target with Health below 35%, there is a certain probability of executing the target.

Hint: This is a non-judgment execution.

Seeing the Old Knight's data, Su Xiao's heart gradually sank. After confirming the look in his eyes, he was the same type of person: a normal slash is an ultimate move.

The Old Knight basically has no large-scale abilities, but he has a pile of passives. They either increase greatsword slash damage, increase physical defense, or grant immunity to all control. Undoubtedly, the Old Knight is the enemy with the strongest physical defense Su Xiao has ever encountered, and he gets stronger the more he fights.

Or rather, the Old Knight does not need large-scale abilities. He only needs that greatsword covered in black rust to slash all enemies to death.

His ultimate-level ability is even simpler and cruder. After his vitality fluctuates below a certain level, once injured by the Old Knight, there is a possibility of being executed. Su Xiao has execution abilities, so he naturally knows how unsolvable this ability is.

PS: (Continuing the 10,000-word update. Originally, I wanted to continue writing a super-long chapter today to finish this battle. That was the plan, but I overestimated myself. Going to sleep. Tomorrow, I will write this battle with full energy: Su Xiao VS Old Knight.)