Chapter 3885: Time
At the summit of the high tower, the rain poured down in torrents. Both figures in the downpour remained silent, or rather, there was no need for idle talk; having chosen to ascend to the summit of the high tower, they had come to decide life and death.
Zzzzt!
As the blades of the long sword and the greatsword scraped against each other, sparks flew. Su Xiao was slashed backward; facing the Gao Ta Knight Captain with a real strength attribute of 800 points, it was only natural that Su Xiao would be forced back.
The long sword pointed diagonally at the ground. Raindrops struck the blade, shattering into spray. The downpour made the air feel cool, and combined with the fresh, grassy scent of the moonlight energy, although life and death hung in the balance, the environment was strangely soothing, allowing his state to gradually reach its peak.
Washinoki Washinoki Jishi of meters away, the Gao Ta Knight Captain thrust his greatsword into the ground, pressing his hands together over the pommel. This was the etiquette of a Moon-Eclipse Knight before a life-and-death struggle with a respected enemy.
Hum!
The cyan moonlight on the greatsword became more pronounced, shifting from its original pattern into irregular cyan veins. The Gao Ta Knight Captain exhaled cold air through the vents of his visor, gripped the greatsword, and slashed down.
Clang!
A cyan slash-beam flew out, unlike any previous one. After being launched, the beam split, turning into a shotgun-like barrage that blanketed a vast area ahead.
Clang, clang, clang!
Su Xiao slashed three times in rapid succession and tilted his head, barely dodging the spreading beam. A bloodstain appeared on the side of his neck, indicating he hadn't fully evaded the attack.
The incoming wind pressure gave Su Xiao a hairstyle identical to Kingsley's. At that moment, he felt not as if a greatsword were slashing at him, but as if the world ahead had folded together and was crashing down upon him. This strike could not be blocked.
The surrounding scene shattered; Su Xiao had sensed it 0.5 seconds in advance using "Grandmaster Intuition." He dodged preemptively, and a terrifying slash roared past him.
Clang!
Under this greatsword strike, the slashing force instantly vanished the rain curtain. The black clouds in the sky also dissipated in an instant, turning the sky into a bright day with a full moon hanging high.
Boom!!
The greatsword struck the summit of the high tower, causing the entire structure to tremble. Logically, the Gao Ta Knight Captain should have had a brief window to recover after using such a powerful ultimate move, but he showed no such flaw. Instead, he used the momentum of the greatsword's downward slash to roll forward and execute a lion-slash.
In an instant, Su Xiao felt the breath of death approaching. He truly learned something: after using an ultimate-level sword technique, chaining it with such a small move was not only easy to develop but also had miraculous effects.
"Perfect Block."
Clang!
The greatsword was blocked by the long sword. The shockwave from the clash of weapons spread, creating ripples in the surrounding air, giving it a subtle, ornate feel.
After this strike was blocked, the Gao Ta Knight Captain did not rely on brute force to suppress him. After all, this was a technique grandmaster at the Sword Technique Grandmaster Lv. EX level. He released his right hand from the hilt to exempt himself from the impact of the blocked greatsword, while cyan moonlight crystals clung to his left arm, which he then thrust forward in a punch.
Bang!
Cyan crystal shards scattered. The Blade Spirit, having taken the punch, rapidly crystallized, turning into a cyan crystal sculpture in an instant. This seemingly casual strike was, in fact, a one-hit-kill ability.
That is the nature of technique-types; those abilities that don't look flashy often possess unfathomable power.
The blade sliced through space, slashing toward the back of the Gao Ta Knight Captain's neck. The Captain's aura erupted, and the surrounding space cracked with multiple dislocations, bringing the incoming blade to a sudden halt.
After freezing everything around him, the Gao Ta Knight Captain slashed backward with his sword. With a loud pop, "Su Xiao" was shattered, turning into scattered cyan crystal fragments. That's right—the moment he was trapped by the time-stop, Su Xiao had swapped positions with the Blade Spirit. What had just been shattered was the Blade Spirit that had been crystallized moments ago.
Clang, clang, clang!
Three slashes, so fast they slowed the surrounding time field, were all blocked by the greatsword. The Gao Ta Knight Captain appeared to be a heavy swordsman, yet under Su Xiao's near-cheating ultra-high-speed slashes, he kept up perfectly.
Clang!!
Su Xiao delivered a heavy slash, forcing the Gao Ta Knight Captain to retreat several large steps. He flicked his greatsword, shedding the force that had penetrated his body, and slashed the side of the ground, sending debris flying.
"Blade Dao Blade · Green Ghost."
Clang!
A cyan-blue slash flew out. The enhanced Green Ghost had a width of over ten meters, an astonishing momentum, and was incredibly fast, reaching the front of the Gao Ta Knight Captain in an instant.
The cyan moon patterns on the greatsword became more pronounced. As the blade hummed, a suction force erupted, causing the Green Ghost that had reached the Captain to rapidly deform and be absorbed by the greatsword.
This really wasn't the Green Ghost's fault; it was a characteristic of the Moon-Eclipse Greatsword. Once activated, it could absorb almost any attack-type ability.
The Moon-Eclipse Greatsword was thrust into the ground. Washinoki Washinoki Jishi of meters away, Su Xiao felt the ground beneath him tremble. As he leaped, he swept his blade downward, shattering the crystal spikes that erupted from the ground.
Su Xiao landed and stared at the Gao Ta Knight Captain dozens of meters away, but in the next second.
Pshhh—!
Blood sprayed, and crystal shards scattered. A slash mark cut diagonally across Su Xiao's chest. Even though he had raised his crystal left arm to block, he hadn't been able to stop the strike.
Just 0.5 seconds ago, the Gao Ta Knight Captain, dozens of meters away, had slashed through the air. He hadn't launched a beam or anything similar; it was a long-range slash that struck Su Xiao directly.
Facing such an ability, Su Xiao could no longer maintain distance from the Gao Ta Knight Captain. The rock ground beneath his feet collapsed, and he vanished from his spot. The next instant, he lunged in front of the Captain.
"Blade Dao Blade · Kill."
Su Xiao slashed diagonally. With a whoosh, a dark red blood-chain slashed out, containing tiny sparks of fire.
Clang, clang, clang, clang...
Dense, crisp sounds echoed. Su Xiao felt a sense of unease and preemptively gathered protective energy, preparing for a perfect block.
Beyond absorbing enemy attack abilities with the Moon-Eclipse Greatsword, counter-blocking was also one of the Gao Ta Knight Captain's trump cards. High-frequency area attacks like "Kill" only served to stack the Captain's "Counter-Block" to the max in the blink of an eye. The characteristic of this ability was that the higher the stacks of "Counter-Block," the more powerful the strike.
Boom!
The downward-slashing greatsword was blocked by the long sword. With Su Xiao as the center, the ground beneath his feet cracked in rings, spreading until it covered the entire summit of the high tower.
Crack, crack~
The blades of the greatsword and the long sword cut into each other, yet neither could overcome the other.
"Bright Moon · Baptism."
Moonlight bloomed on the Gao Ta Knight Captain's greatsword, reflecting the full moon hanging high above. A cyan-white pillar of moonlight descended, crashing onto the summit. The liquid-like moonlight energy filled the summit, overflowing the surrounding parapets and flowing down the tower.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Three consecutive heavy slashes forced Su Xiao to retreat repeatedly. The descent of the moonlight pillar had made his bones feel as if they were about to fall apart. Worse, with this ultimate-level ability, every time he clashed with the Captain while the moonlight bloomed on the greatsword, another moonlight pillar would descend.
If one were to look down from above, they would see moonlight pillars descending one after another. Only after the final pillar surged downward for over ten seconds did the summit of the high tower finally calm down.
Drip, drip~
Blood dripped from the tip of the blade. The world before Su Xiao's eyes was slightly blurred with double images. Both he and the Gao Ta Knight Captain were technique-types; life and death hung on a single instant. But one thing had to be admitted: the opponent's Moon-Eclipse Greatsword had immense suppression power.
Moonlight drifted from the greatsword. The Gao Ta Knight Captain thrust the tip of his greatsword into the ground and suddenly accelerated. Unlike the brute force one might imagine, the Captain's swordsmanship was full of power and beauty—a battle scene where every strike was a heavy slash, with moonlight scattering everywhere.
Su Xiao was waiting for an opportunity. That opportunity was for the Blade Spirit, which had turned into crystal fragments a hundred meters away, to return to its black smoke form. He held his left hand, wearing the Black King Armguard, in a virtual grip, forcibly pulling the Blade Spirit back to cling behind him.
Black-blue smoke rose from Su Xiao. This was an advanced ability he had developed based on "Blade Spirit · Dual Blades," named "Dual Blade Bloom."
Blade Spirit abilities looked complex, but they were actually quite simple. At the current stage, there were three basic abilities: Replace, Transfer, and Dual Blades.
More intuitively, the Blade Spirit had 100/100 energy points per natural day. Whether it was Replace, Transfer, or Dual Blades, each use consumed 20 energy points. Furthermore, the Blade Spirit would never recover energy points during battle; it only recovered them while dormant inside the Zhan Checking Zhan Long Shan.
The advanced ability of "Blade Spirit · Dual Blades," "Dual Blade Bloom," consumed the Blade Spirit's energy by the second, at 10 points per second.
From an observer's perspective, the Blade Spirit only had its upper body left, with long hair drifting in black mist. Her originally pitch-black eyes now revealed a pair of blue pupils, and she held a phantom-like Zhan Checking Zhan Long Shan, maintaining the same posture as Su Xiao.
With a boom, debris flew from beneath Su Xiao's feet. He lunged out ferociously and delivered a heavy slash.
Clang, clang!
One slash, two crisp metallic rings. The Gao Ta Knight Captain, who had been suppressing Su Xiao, was forced to retreat half a step.
"Blade Dao Blade · Extreme."
Su Xiao slashed diagonally upward in close combat. The powerful enemy had no choice but to block with his greatsword.
Clang, clang!
Two more crisp metallic explosions rang out. The momentum was so great that a layer of the high tower's surface exploded. One must remember, this was a building that had stood for two eras; one could only imagine how many defensive formations it had.
"Extreme Blade · World!"
After Su Xiao slashed out "Blade Dao Blade · Extreme," his long sword remained in a raised state, and he used "Extreme Blade · World" in a particularly foul-play manner.
Clang, clang, clang...
"Extreme Blade · World," which was so dense it formed a sugar-cube-shaped slashing domain, appeared suddenly. Not to mention powerhouses of other ability types, many technique-type powerhouses who had fought Su Xiao felt this move was truly shameless.
The Gao Ta Knight Captain's armor was shattered in several places, and his dark blue cloak was even more tattered. Blood seeped from the cracks in his armor. This meant one thing: the Gao Ta Knight Captain was not an undead; he was a living powerhouse. As for how he had survived from the First Era to the present in this state, judging by his entrance, he had likely been inside the full moon in the sky the entire time.
Su Xiao's slashes after activating "Dual Blade Bloom" suppressed the Gao Ta Knight Captain repeatedly. However, the Captain was not so easily dealt with.
"Bright Moon · Time Drowning."
The Gao Ta Knight Captain's aura erupted violently, and cyan moonlight caused light particles to appear in the surrounding air.
Almost simultaneously, Su Xiao felt the surrounding space become viscous, as if he were in thick liquid. In reality, this was a phenomenon caused by time being slowed down.
That's right, the Gao Ta Knight Captain was not only a max-level Sword Technique Grandmaster, but he also mastered two powerful abilities: the Bright Moon system and the Time system.
Within the slowed time field, Su Xiao clearly sensed the sharp greatsword slashing toward him. The two-palm-wide blade did not appear clumsy due to its length. After all, the Gao Ta Knight Captain was over three meters tall, and in his hands, this sword combined the characteristics of power, sharpness, and speed.
Su Xiao was currently in the "Dual Blades" state; swapping positions with the Blade Spirit was meaningless. As for Dragon Shadow Flash, in this slow time field, spatial penetration would also be very slow.
The blade approached, but Su Xiao could not move a single inch. His pupils constricted as he successfully locked eyes with the Gao Ta Knight Captain. The "Malicious Gaze" ability derived from his negative charm attribute was activated. After triggering the enemy's "Breath Flaw" through "Malicious Gaze," the effect of "Time · Dominator" was triggered.
Thump~!
The time-slowing effect spread, perfectly countering the Gao Ta Knight Captain's "Bright Moon · Time Drowning."
"Extreme Blade · World!"
Clang, clang, clang...
Sharp slashing sounds echoed across the sky, and a pitch-black channel appeared in the air behind him. This was a sign that an "Abyss Channel" was about to be slashed out.
Blood sprayed from Su Xiao's body, especially from his neck. He had used "Extreme Blade · World" twice in a row, causing a huge burden on his body and making him bleed all over. Even more serious was the slash wound on the side of his neck.
Spirit Shadow Threads spread from Su Xiao's crystallized left hand. After piercing into the neck wound, he pulled hard, forcibly stitching it shut. This was extremely dangerous; he had almost been decapitated. If he hadn't critically interrupted that strike, he would have died on the spot.
A wind-breaking sound approached. Su Xiao slashed away an incoming Dark Moon Spear. After being slashed away, the pitch-black Dark Moon Spear exploded in the high sky to the side, scattering dark embers and causing the hem of his trench coat to flap violently.
He vanished from his spot suddenly. The Dark Moon Spears shooting down from above seemed endless. Looking up at the sky now, one would find that the silver moon had turned into a blood moon.
While running at high speed to dodge, Su Xiao reached into the air with his left hand and grasped "Dead Silence Ash Destruction."
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
Five Ash Destruction bullets flew out. Two missed, one hit the Gao Ta Knight Captain's left chest, causing the armor and flesh to wither and fall off like rotten wood. The final two Ash Destruction bullets hit the Moon-Eclipse Greatsword, causing the dark purple brilliance on it to explode and scatter. At the same time, the blood moon in the sky returned to a silver moon.
Su Xiao stopped. Looking back at the path he had just taken, it was now marked by a curved path of Dark Moon Spears. He controlled the Blade Spirit to pull out a Dark Moon Spear that had pierced through his shoulder, then pulled out another that had pierced diagonally into his side ribs and out through his lower back.
Clang~
The blood-stained Dark Moon Spear, made of energy, hit the ground with a metallic sound.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Su Xiao covered his mouth with one hand, and blood sprayed from between his fingers. Fighting to this extent, he felt as if his internal organs were burning. From the start of the battle until now, every time he blocked a heavy slash from the greatsword, he felt as if his internal organs were about to be shattered.
A max-level technique grandmaster + massive passive ability bonuses to normal slashes + 800 points of real strength, 800 points of real agility, 800 points of real stamina—with all these powerful elements combined, Su Xiao being able to fight to this extent was something that would have been impossible before.
More importantly, the Gao Ta Knight Captain was a slow-warming powerhouse. Because he had been dormant for too long, his sword techniques hadn't been at their peak state earlier. After fighting Su Xiao to the death until now, the Captain's state had reached its peak; his heart began to thump, and his eyes were bright.
Boom!
Wind pressure surged, and the Gao Ta Knight Captain's aura erupted. He held his greatsword with both hands and raised it high.
"Bright Moon · Slash Sword."
The silver moon energy on the Moon-Eclipse Greatsword erupted, turning into a greatsword that stood between heaven and earth, and slashed down.
Su Xiao leaped backward while penetrating space with Dragon Shadow Flash.
Boom!
The Silver Moon Greatsword slashed onto the summit of the high tower. If viewed from above, this scene would be extremely spectacular.
Su Xiao was caught in the wind pressure and silver moon energy. He could only penetrate space for three seconds, but the energy eruption from this angry slash clearly lasted longer than three seconds. After he exited the spatial penetration state, a crystal layer clung to his body surface. The silver moon energy slashed against the crystal layer, making crisp sounds.
Facing the wind pressure, Su Xiao blocked with his long sword in one hand.
"Perfect Block."
Clang!!
The greatsword slashed down. Although he blocked it with his long sword, the crystal layer on Su Xiao's body shattered instantly. Immediately after, a large hand covered in moon-cyan crystals reached for him. Su Xiao had experienced this seemingly ordinary grab with the Blade Spirit; even with the Blade Spirit's undead characteristic, it had been crystallized and dormant for a long time. If he himself were caught by this "Moon's Grasp," it would immediately trigger an instant-death or execution judgment.
Su Xiao's eyes widened. As he locked eyes with the Gao Ta Knight Captain, "Malicious Gaze" was triggered, and the time-slowing effect spread, causing everything around them to slow down.
The Moon's Grasp gradually reached for Su Xiao's neck. He leaped backward in slow motion. Although both he and the Gao Ta Knight Captain were in slow motion, if there were any observers, they wouldn't be able to see their movements at all. They were too fast, exceeding the limit of the naked eye, leaving no time for spatial fluctuations to ripple.
Su Xiao leaped backward, but for some reason, he left a residual image in place. A few seconds after he leaped, the Gao Ta Knight Captain's left hand, reinforced with the "Moon's Hand," grabbed the throat of this residual image.
Su Xiao was in mid-air. Although he himself hadn't been caught, he had the illusion that his neck was being strangled. This immediately reminded him that just before he leaped backward, the Gao Ta Knight Captain had used some kind of ability that caused him to leave that phantom behind.
Crack, crack, crack~
The moon-cyan crystals on the Gao Ta Knight Captain's hand spread onto the phantom, causing it to crystallize. The Captain threw this crystal Su Xiao into the air and thrust his greatsword straight upward. This thrust had a sense of the power and beauty of technique.
Pop!
The crystal Su Xiao was pierced through the heart and then shattered.
A dozen meters away, Su Xiao landed. He looked at the shattered crystal statue, and waves of palpitations washed over him. A battle prompt appeared immediately.
【Warning: You have suffered the instant-death judgment of "Moon's Hand."】
【This judgment was not passed; you will suffer the instant-death effect.】
【The "Blade Heart" ability derived from Sword Technique Grandmaster has been activated.】
【Current Blade Heart count: 2/2.】
【By consuming one Blade Heart, you have successfully exempted yourself from this instant-death judgment.】
The illusory feeling of suffocation receded like a tide. Su Xiao looked at the Gao Ta Knight Captain opposite him. With his experience, he could certainly estimate what kind of ability this was. Just moments ago, the enemy had grabbed his past self.
More accurately, it was his self from 0.1 seconds before he leaped backward, and then, through this "past self," the instant-death ability was conducted to his main body, resulting in this situation.
A humming sound faintly appeared in Su Xiao's ears. He knew this was the enemy using a time-system ability again. The next instant, the Gao Ta Knight Captain appeared in front of him and slashed down with his sword.
Clang!!
Although he successfully blocked this strike with a perfect block, Su Xiao almost broke his block. Blood energy gathered behind him, and the Blood Beast lunged out. But before it could hit the Gao Ta Knight Captain, it was absorbed by the Moon-Eclipse Greatsword. The Moon-Eclipse Greatsword, clashing with the long sword, saw its power surge.
With a boom, the Gao Ta Knight Captain used this to slash Su Xiao away. Su Xiao landed in a half-squat. He looked at the Gao Ta Knight Captain lunging toward him and did not stand up to block with his long sword.
"Heaven's Wrath."
I don't know when, but a large number of black clouds had gathered in the sky, forming a massive vortex. As Su Xiao drew lightning with his elemental affinity, World Lightning descended.
Scarlet patterns appeared on Su Xiao's arms. This was caused by him activating the core ability of the Eternal-grade equipment 【Blood Moon Queen】.
"Equipment Effect 2: Scarlet Blood Moon (Core · Active), immediately consume 95% of current soul energy, converting it into 'Source Life Force', thereby increasing your maximum health by 400% for the next 10 seconds. This is 'Extra Maximum Health'. During this period, all damage you take will only consume 'Extra Maximum Health' until it is exhausted.
Prompt: The cooldown for this ability is five natural days.
Prompt: This 'Extra Maximum Health' bonus can reach a maximum of 10 million points."
The World Lightning, drawn by Su Xiao's 1290 points of elemental affinity, crashed down. A pillar of World Lightning with a diameter of over a hundred kilometers descended, instantly swallowing the ancient high tower.
The summit of the high tower was filled with World Lightning. In the midst of this continuously pouring World Lightning, Su Xiao, who had been in a half-squat, stood up.
"Blade Dao Blade · Flow."
An elegant wind-trace slashed across the Gao Ta Knight Captain's throat. In the baptism of the World Lightning, even the Captain found it difficult to move. Su Xiao endured the high damage of the World Lightning, lunged in front of the Captain, and delivered a heavy slash across his chest. Blood beads were dragged out in an arc by the long sword and then instantly evaporated by the World Lightning.
Su Xiao took a deep breath and delivered a straight kick, achieving maximum force penetration without knocking the Gao Ta Knight Captain away.
Thump!
The kick was so powerful that the surrounding World Lightning scattered for a moment. Su Xiao could feel that the temporary health from 【Blood Moon Queen】 was about to be exhausted.
"Heaven's Wrath · Flowing Slash."
All the pouring World Lightning gathered onto the Zhan Checking Zhan Long Shan, causing the surroundings to fall silent instantly, with only golden electric arcs surging on the long sword.
The Flowing Slash descended like the might of heaven. The Gao Ta Knight Captain, who had been kicked to his knees, unexpectedly broke free from his body paralysis early and slashed back with his sword.
With a clang, accompanied by surging golden lightning, a large number of cracks appeared on the entire summit of the high tower, making it look like it could collapse at any moment. The Zhan Checking Zhan Long Shan, reinforced with massive World Lightning, slashed onto the edge of the Moon-Eclipse Greatsword. Accompanied by the screeching of electric arcs, the blade gradually cut into the sword's edge.
Crack! Crack!
Cracks appeared on one side of the Moon-Eclipse Greatsword. Before the Zhan Checking Zhan Long Shan could continue cutting, a phantom appeared behind Su Xiao. This phantom had a human body and a wolf head, stood over five meters tall, and held an illusory war scythe.
The surrounding time field suddenly froze. Discovering this, Su Xiao tried to lock eyes with the Gao Ta Knight Captain, only to find that the opponent's greatsword was blocking their line of sight.
The massive illusory war scythe slashed through. Su Xiao had no possibility of dodging. Although he didn't suffer any physical damage, he immediately suffered soul damage equal to 10% of his maximum health. This was only because his soul strength was high. Not only that, but the execution prompt that appeared immediately after was terrifying.
【You have suffered the execution of "Dark Moon Reaper."】
【This judgment was not passed; you will suffer the execution effect.】
【The "Blade Heart" ability derived from Sword Technique Grandmaster has been activated.】
【Current Blade Heart count: 1/2.】
【By consuming one Blade Heart, you have successfully exempted yourself from this execution.】
In such a short time, one instant-death and one execution—one could see how high the intensity was in the clash with the Gao Ta Knight Captain.
Bang!
The immense force from the greatsword sent Su Xiao flying, but this was exactly what Su Xiao wanted to see. He leaped backward, and while in mid-air, he pointed his left index finger at the Gao Ta Knight Captain.
"Blood Beast · Talent Ability · Blood Fury: Every point of health you lose will accumulate as 'Fury Blood Value'. The upper limit of 'Fury Blood Value' will be determined by your maximum health. After activating this talent effect, you will consume all stored 'Fury Blood Value', and your next blood energy-type attack will carry blood energy damage equal to 70% of the consumed 'Fury Blood Value'."
With the injuries Su Xiao had just suffered, the 2.15 million-point Fury Blood Value limit had long been maxed out. Or rather, if not for the team ultimate skill and the super-strong recovery effect of "Night of Wild Hunt," the health he had lost would have been enough to kill him.
Massive amounts of blood energy gathered on Su Xiao's index finger. Because it was compressed to the extreme, from a distance, his fingertip bloomed with a chilling scarlet, forming a huge halo cross.
"Blood Smoke Cannon · Fury."
Boom!!
A blood-colored ray roared out, leaving ripples in space, and with unavoidable speed, pierced through the Gao Ta Knight Captain's chest. With the health the Captain had left after hard-resisting the World Lightning, this strike was a guaranteed kill!
The Gao Ta Knight Captain retreated a large step, and then the bucket-sized hole in his chest gradually blurred and disappeared. It wasn't healing; it was a recovery like time reversal. One could even see the traces of erosion from the Ash Destruction bullets on his chest.
Su Xiao was certain that that strike had killed the Gao Ta Knight Captain, who had just endured the World Lightning and hadn't recovered his health. However, thinking of the Captain's combat power, which was stronger than a god-beast, it was only natural that the opponent had powerful life-saving means.
The problem was, the opponent was not an undead. By what method did he resolve the fatal situation just now? Considering the opponent had time-system abilities, could it be that he reversed the fatal strike just now?
This was unlikely. From death back to life, the surrounding time field would be nearly violent, but just now the surrounding time field was stable. In addition, the Gao Ta Knight Captain's time-system abilities were embodied in his fusion with sword techniques and rarely manifested independently.
Then there was only one possibility: that strike just now had genuinely killed the Gao Ta Knight Captain, but it was the "past Gao Ta Knight Captain" or the "future Gao Ta Knight Captain" who died. The "current Gao Ta Knight Captain" at this very moment had successfully avoided this death.
The reason Su Xiao could think of this was that he had a 'good teammate' who was also a time-user. Speaking of which, Zayas's time-system was purer than the Gao Ta Knight Captain's. The Captain's time-system ability was an auxiliary to his swordsmanship.
Past, present, future.
In that case, Su Xiao would have to kill the Gao Ta Knight Captain at least three times to become the winner. This was also why the Gao Ta Knight Captain was a more difficult enemy to deal with than a god-beast.
With a loud boom, Su Xiao and the Gao Ta Knight Captain vanished simultaneously. When they reappeared, they were no more than two meters apart.
"Blade Dao Blade · Extreme."
The greatsword and long sword clashed. This time, the summit of the high tower could no longer bear it. As it shattered, the surrounding space also cracked with a boom. As a result, Su Xiao and the Gao Ta Knight Captain seemed to be in a domain made of a kaleidoscope.
This domain didn't last for a few seconds before it shattered. Amidst the debris, Su Xiao suddenly appeared at the side of the Gao Ta Knight Captain and delivered a side kick.
Thump!
The Gao Ta Knight Captain, who had blocked this side kick with his greatsword, turned into a diagonal residual image and crashed into the black mist on the right side of the ancient high tower. Because of that side kick, the cracks on the Moon-Eclipse Greatsword became even denser.
The wind whistled past his ears. Su Xiao ran straight down along the outer wall of the high tower. When his speed reached its limit, he turned into a downward residual image, and then used this momentum to leap and slash.
The long sword scraped past the greatsword and thrust down. After piercing into the earth, the momentum on the blade caused crystal blades several meters long to erupt from the ground within dozens of kilometers, which looked very spectacular.
The blade broke through the air, and the sword light crisscrossed. Su Xiao blocked the Moon-Eclipse Greatsword with a clang. The powerful shock caused his health to drop sharply. Even worse, "Blood Controller" was triggered.
Su Xiao didn't care about this at all. Relying on the powerful defensive power during the "Blood Controller" period, he ignored his left arm being slashed off by a sword and delivered a full-force straight kick. Even for the Gao Ta Knight Captain opposite him, facing this straight kick, he couldn't help but look extremely solemn. Alas, this straight kick could no longer be dodged.
Thump!!!
At this moment, the Gao Ta Knight Captain turned into light and disappeared from Su Xiao's sight in less than 0.1 seconds.
Su Xiao spat out a large mouthful of blood. He took out a bottle of high-concentration "Vitality Stock Solution" and injected it into his neck with an injection gun for the fastest effect. His health recovered rapidly.
Zzz~
The Spirit Shadow Threads were pulled tight, and Su Xiao's organs, which had varying degrees of cracks, temporarily healed. Crystals spread from his severed arm, and combined with the semi-energized Spirit Shadow Threads as nerves, his crystal left arm was quickly constructed.
Su Xiao looked into the distance. Based on his rich experience with straight kicks, he roughly estimated how far the Gao Ta Knight Captain would fly, and a crystal layer spread beneath his feet, constructing a Law-Breaker Teleportation Array.
With a muffled sound, Su Xiao vanished from his spot. When the surrounding spatial fluctuations subsided, he was already inside the dungeon city.
The central building of the dungeon city collapsed. The scavenger forces that had occupied this place not long ago were now surrounding the Gao Ta Knight Captain. Su Xiao, who had suddenly appeared, happened to be in the middle of the encirclement of these thousands of scavengers.
The leaders of the scavengers looked unfriendly, thinking Su Xiao and the Gao Ta Knight Captain had come to fight for the dungeon city. Just as one of the scavenger leaders was about to shout angrily, Su Xiao and the Gao Ta Knight Captain vanished in the eyes of all the scavengers.
When both sides reappeared, the greatsword and long sword clashed fiercely.
Boom!
The surrounding space cracked, and the impact caused by the battle shattered all the unfriendly scavengers in the surrounding area. The scavenger forces were wiped out on the spot.
Su Xiao was slashed back a few steps. He pointed forward with one hand.
"Blood Smoke Cannon."
Clang~
Before the Blood Smoke Cannon could be fired, a diagonal slash mark appeared on Su Xiao's chest. This sword was too fast. In contrast, the Gao Ta Knight Captain was hit in the shoulder by the Blood Smoke Cannon, his figure appearing slightly staggering.
Su Xiao's left hand, wearing the Black King Armguard, held in a virtual grip. The blood left behind by the scavengers shattered by the impact gathered in his hand, turning into blood energy.
"Super · Blood Smoke Cannon."
A ten-meter-tall blood energy phantom appeared behind Su Xiao. The blood energy phantom pointed its index finger forward, and a bucket-sized Blood Smoke Cannon hit the Gao Ta Knight Captain.
Because the blood energy was very sufficient this time, Su Xiao maintained the output of the "Super · Blood Smoke Cannon." At the same time, the high-concentration blood energy group in his virtual-gripping left hand was rapidly consumed.
The "Super · Blood Smoke Cannon" pushed against the Gao Ta Knight Captain, plowed through the dungeon city's building complex, and then broke through the city wall, blasting the Gao Ta Knight Captain out of the city. This exhausted the blood energy group in Su Xiao's hand.
Su Xiao turned into a residual image and lunged toward the Gao Ta Knight Captain. He left the dungeon city for a few kilometers and arrived under the Sky Wall on the north side of the "Lightless Zone" before he saw the Gao Ta Knight Captain standing there.
Every time Su Xiao breathed, he felt various organs stinging. He was already nearing his limit. In a battle of attrition, he was definitely not the opponent of this Gao Ta Knight Captain, whose real stamina attribute reached 800 points.
The pitch-black Sky Wall loomed high. Below, the Gao Ta Knight Captain's armor was covered in cracks. Starting from him, an invisible wave spread, the surrounding time field slowed down, and the debris flying up turned slowly.
A slash-beam cut across where Su Xiao was. He penetrated space with his whole body, successfully avoiding the slash-beam while pointing his long sword diagonally at the ground.
"Extreme Blade · World."
Clang~
The surrounding time field was slashed away. Su Xiao's speculation was correct: this was not a pure time-system ability, but a domain ability derived after the Gao Ta Knight Captain's swordsmanship reached its peak.
"Extreme Blade · World (Domain Breaking Effect): The moment this ability is deployed, if you are in another domain, it will instantly destroy that domain (this domain-breaking characteristic has high priority)."
The domain-breaking effect of "Extreme Blade · World" allowed Su Xiao to turn from passive to active. The problem was that after using "Extreme Blade · World," his whole body fell into a brief state of exhaustion, needing at least 1.2 to 1.5 seconds to recover. This time didn't seem long, but in a clash of this level, it was enough for the opportunity to slip away.
"Blade Dao Blade · Green Ghost."
A cyan-blue blade light flew out. "Green Ghost" had two characteristics: one was high speed, and the other was low consumption.
"Green Ghost" slashed onto the Moon-Eclipse Greatsword, forcing the Gao Ta Knight Captain, who had just endured the "Extreme Blade · World" slash + "Domain Breaking" backlash, to retreat half a step.
The opportunity was now!
Su Xiao lunged forward, first locking eyes with the Gao Ta Knight Captain. The "Time · Dominator" ability was successfully triggered, and the surroundings fell into time stagnation. But in the next moment, the time stagnation domain shattered, canceled out by the Gao Ta Knight Captain's ability.
This was Su Xiao's goal. He didn't want to restrict the Gao Ta Knight Captain with "Time · Dominator," but to force the opponent to use time-system sword techniques to resolve this move. In this way, the opponent would have no way to avoid the next strike.
Su Xiao delivered a straight kick. This was the charm of basic attacks being ultimate moves; there was no need to worry about cooldown times, and the attack speed was almost unsolvable.
Thump!!
The Gao Ta Knight Captain was kicked to his knees, his left arm subconsciously blocking in front of him.
"Blade Dao Blade · Magic Blade."
The Zhan Checking Zhan Long Shan, clinging to black-blue smoke, slashed off the Gao Ta Knight Captain's left arm, and a tip of the blade slashed across the enemy's throat.
The long sword left a black-blue smoke slash mark in the air, representing the Blade Spirit's black-blue smoke sinking into the Gao Ta Knight Captain's body through the wound. This caused the Captain's figure to tremble, and the execution was successful.
Bang!
The Gao Ta Knight Captain's body shattered. More accurately, the shell in the shape of the Gao Ta Knight Captain shattered. After these shell fragments hit the ground, they dissipated due to the execution of the Magic Blade. The Gao Ta Knight Captain, who had broken free from the shell, staggered back a few steps but was not executed.
Did the Magic Blade's execution fail? Of course not. Once the Magic Blade's execution was triggered, it was guaranteed to succeed. The Magic Blade had successfully executed the "past Gao Ta Knight Captain." At this moment, only the "current Gao Ta Knight Captain" stood before him.
Su Xiao had successfully killed two of the past, present, and future Gao Ta Knight Captains. The problem was that he was already fighting to the point of exhaustion.
The Gao Ta Knight Captain held his sword with both hands and raised it high.
"Bright Moon · King Sword!"
The silver moon energy on the Moon-Eclipse Greatsword erupted, turning into a greatsword that stood between heaven and earth. Silver moonlight poured down, and a hundred-meter-long cyan moonlight greatsword stood tall. Combined with the pitch-black Sky Wall behind it, this scene was spectacular to the extreme.
Facing the cyan moonlight greatsword slashing toward him, Su Xiao lunged forward while slashing out with his sword. This seemingly ordinary slash caused large cracks to appear on his right arm.
"Extreme Blade · White Night."
The slashing momentum spread, causing the incoming cyan moonlight to scatter. Su Xiao, relying solely on the momentum of this "Powerful Slash," broke through the energy invasion of the hundred-meter-high cyan moonlight greatsword. He used the Zhan Checking Zhan Long Shan to deliver a close-combat slash onto the Moon-Eclipse Greatsword.
At the moment the blades clashed, there was no loud noise, only a brief silence.
With Su Xiao and the Gao Ta Knight Captain as the center point, layers of impact spread, and the ground was lifted layer by layer. In the violent energy field, the long sword and greatsword clashed. Previously, the greatsword had more slashing power, but now, the cracks on the edge of the greatsword spread, covering the entire sword.
The Moon-Eclipse Greatsword shattered with a boom. There was nothing left to block the momentum of the "Powerful Slash." This slash cut diagonally across the Gao Ta Knight Captain's chest and then landed on the pitch-black Sky Wall further behind.
After a loud boom, a large number of fragments fell from the pitch-black Sky Wall. A slash mark spanning ten thousand meters cut diagonally across this Sky Wall. The pitch-black Sky Wall, which hadn't shown any signs of weathering after three eras, made this ten-thousand-meter-long slash mark very conspicuous, as if predicting that the Law-Breaker who came here would definitely leave a mark that would attract attention in this world.
The greatsword fragments hit the ground. The Gao Ta Knight Captain, holding the broken sword, stepped forward. Unfortunately, the armor on his body shattered piece by piece. Looking at the Gao Ta Knight Captain now, the upper body inside his armor had basically disappeared, the armor outside was exceptionally tattered, and only a piece of the dark blue cloak remained.
The Gao Ta Knight Captain collapsed with a boom. Su Xiao, who was still standing, became the winner of this death battle. But his left arm was severed, his right arm was covered in cracks, and these cracks spread to his right chest. Even more serious were the cracks on his heart. Although he had stitched them with Spirit Shadow Threads, he was severely injured. It was no exaggeration to say that he was only half a step away from death.
From the beginning of the battle until now, Su Xiao and the Gao Ta Knight Captain hadn't said a word, because there was no need. Since Su Xiao had ascended to the summit of the high tower, he had come to decide life and death.
With a thud, Su Xiao also collapsed. Before long, Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baja all rushed over at full speed.
An hour later, Su Xiao sat in front of a grave mound. His injuries had basically stabilized.
A moment later, Su Xiao stood up with Amu's support. After walking a few steps, he suddenly felt the black clouds in the sky disperse a bit. Through the gaps in the black clouds, a beam of silver-cyan moonlight seemed to shine on the grave, witnessing the final glory of the Dark Moon Kingdom.
A broken greatsword served as a tombstone, and the tattered dark blue cloak was tied to the hilt of the greatsword, fluttering in the breeze under the Sky Wall.
Gao Ta Knight Captain, executed. ===== CHAPTER 3886 =====
End of Chapter
