Chapter 59: Chapter Twenty-Seven: Every Cut Bites to the Bone

“Yezi, get ready to heal me—this guy’s probably a psychopath who kills without blinking.”

After sensing Su Xiao’s aura, the Queen suddenly felt regret—perhaps the three of them shouldn’t have provoked this man.

But Su Xiao stood alone in one faction, and killing him offered too great a reward; as a Lv.6 Contractee entering a Lv.3 world, the Queen naturally acted a bit rashly.

Su Xiao stomped hard on the ground and charged toward the Queen like a cannonball fired from its barrel.

The Queen raised her massive shield in front of her.

Su Xiao gripped his blade with both hands—not slashing, but using his left hand to grip the hilt’s end and thrusting the blade straight into the shield.

“Crack.”

The tip of Zhanlong Flash lodged itself in the shield and stuck—the Zhanlong Flash was a White-tier top weapon, but still a White-tier item.

The Queen held a Green-tier shield rated at 26; had Su Xiao’s attack power not been so high, he could never have broken it.

Seeing the blade tip embedded inside the shield, the Queen’s heart bled—the cost to repair this Green-tier shield would be so high she’d doubt her own life.

If mages were the “magic gods” of the Lunhuileyuan , then tanks were giant pandas.

In early derivative worlds, few Contractees invested in Strength attributes.

Standing in front, taking hits—it wasn’t something just anyone could endure.

Not even considering how much pain it caused, just the fact that you had to stand there, defenseless, holding your massive shield while being beaten—it already deterred most Contractees. How humiliating.

So tanks had to be specially trained—some stable adventuring teams would cultivate a few Contractees with tanking talent.

Fortunately, tanks weren’t needed in large numbers; a ten-person team needed only one main tank and one off-tank.

After all, in derivative worlds, killing enemies was the primary goal.

After Zhanlong Flash pierced the shield, Su Xiao kicked hard against its front face.

“Thud.”

The Queen staggered backward several steps.

Su Xiao’s strike had been a test of the enemy’s defense—her defense exceeded his expectations; he’d need to outwit her.

The sniper on high ground hadn’t moved in a long time—Seizou must have found the enemy.

With no fire support for so long, the Queen sensed something was wrong.

“Heibai? Heibai?”

The Queen tried to contact Heibai; all she heard in her ear was heavy, ragged breathing.

“Queen, I can’t support you right now—the enemy found me.”

“Who?”

“NPC—Suzuya Seizou.”

The Queen’s face darkened—without Heibai’s sniping, they had no way to deal with Su Xiao.

“Give me five minutes.”

Heibai sounded confident; the Queen seemed to trust Heibai deeply.

“I’ll do my best to buy five minutes.”

The Queen pulled out a potion, bit it between her teeth. Though Yezi could heal her anytime, Su Xiao’s attack that shattered her shield made her deeply wary.

While the Queen spoke with Heibai, Su Xiao charged forward again.

The Queen immediately counterattacked, swinging her shield forward—the surface glowed golden.

“Holy Shield Rush.”

The Queen cried out sharply, lowering her head and charging straight at Su Xiao with her shield.

The blow was powerful and heavy, the shield slamming through the air with a whistle.

Su Xiao instantly sensed this wasn’t ordinary—he suspected it was a skill.

The golden-glowing shield surged toward Su Xiao’s face—he remained calm, meeting it head-on.

Just as the shield was about to strike him, he leapt nimbly, planting one foot on its surface, using its force to execute a flawless backflip.

He landed steadily—the Queen’s skill ended.

Behind the shield, the Queen stared at Su Xiao in disbelief, her worldview shattered.

“How is it possible to dodge a skill?”

The Queen’s “Holy Shield Rush” skill description clearly stated it was an unavoidable hit.

Su Xiao didn’t answer—he simply advanced steadily toward the Queen.

This Contractee relied too heavily on skills—but didn’t she know skills were only meant to assist combat?

In battle, you must adapt on the fly, using rich combat experience to defeat your enemy.

The Lunhuileyuan isn’t a game—its “unavoidable” skills change depending on circumstances.

The dodge Su Xiao just performed came purely from his understanding of combat.

“So what if it’s a skill?”

Su Xiao planted one foot and kicked hard into the Queen’s shield.

Even with her strength-enhancing aura, the kick sent her stumbling backward, unsteady on her feet.

Seizing the opening, Su Xiao blurred forward—his Agility of 13 let him circle instantly behind the Queen.

Switching from one-handed grip to two-handed, he swung his blade with full force at her back.

“Sssch!” Zhanlong Flash sliced through the Queen’s armor, the blade sinking into flesh—Qinggangying’s special energy surged into her body.

The Queen’s HP bar dropped instantly by 27%—this strike was brutally precise.

Weapon sharpness + Su Xiao’s Strength attribute + Qinggangying’s true damage.

The agony of Qinggangying burning her MP made the Queen scream, staggering forward.

Su Xiao wouldn’t miss this chance—he swung again, aiming straight for the back of her neck.

Qinggangying burned another 10 MP from the Queen and dealt 10 true damage.

The previous agony hadn’t faded when fresh agony struck.

The Diejia of two agonies turned the Queen’s face deathly pale—so intense was the pain, it somehow induced a twisted euphoria.

This strike cost the Queen 31% of her HP.

If things continued like this, she’d be dead within four strikes.

Before the Queen could adapt to the agony, Su Xiao’s third strike came.

Zhanlong Flash sliced through the air, emitting a terrifying wail.

Hearing that sound, the Queen bit down with all her strength, crushing the potion in her mouth and swallowing the shards along with it.

“Squelch.”

Blood gushed out—this strike was even deadlier, draining 34% of the Queen’s HP.

After three consecutive strikes, the Queen felt like she was breaking apart—not from the wounds themselves, but from the spreading agony inside her, nearly crushing her mind.

Qinggangying’s horror became clear: once struck by its first blow, if you couldn’t endure the agony of its MP burn, you had virtually no chance to fight back.

In the Queen’s despairing gaze, Su Xiao’s fourth strike arrived.

Her high armor meant nothing before Su Xiao—Qinggangying’s true damage had rendered it useless.

Three strikes in a row hadn’t killed her—Su Xiao was surprised; this shield warrior was unusually durable.

Even the Gecko hadn’t survived three of his strikes.

“Squelch.”

A slender arm flew into the air, still clutching the large shield—the Queen’s shield arm had been severed.

Since this strike didn’t hit the torso, it only drained 16% of the Queen’s HP.

Had the Queen not swallowed that potion, she’d already be dead.

Even so, she now had only 19% HP left.

As Su Xiao prepared his fifth strike, a green orb flew from afar and merged into the Queen’s body.

Her HP surged back—from 19% to 34%, and kept climbing.

“There you are—your third teammate.”

Su Xiao swung at the Queen, but the green orb had already lifted her from agony.

The Queen rolled like a donkey, barely dodging Su Xiao’s blade.

"You... pervert!"

The Queen bent over, gasping for breath, one hand bracing the ground, blood dripping onto the road.

She’d claimed she could hold out five minutes—but only thirty seconds had passed, and she’d nearly died under Su Xiao’s blade.

Had Yezi not possessed that monstrous healing capacity, she’d already be a corpse.