Chapter 955: Chapter Fifty-Six: You

The little giant grabbed the boundary-cutting line at his neck, strained to snap it, found it unbreakable, and immediately abandoned the attempt; he gripped the sword hilt with one hand and the blade with the other, squeezing the edge as he pulled downward, as if slicing his own palm.

Sizzzz~

Sparks flew; scratches appeared on the armor covering the little giant’s palm, and the boundary-cutting line wrapped around the great sword was released.

From this sequence of actions, it was clear how vast the little giant’s battle experience was—he instantly abandoned futile struggles upon realizing he couldn’t break free, prioritizing the weapon’s freedom instead, ensuring he still had a chance to fight.

Su Xiao tightened the boundary-cutting line, leaned back, and this time the line encircled only the little giant’s neck, taut as a drawn bowstring.

The sudden force made the little giant stagger a step; he lifted his toes and grounded his heels to maintain balance.

“Hah!”

The little giant roared and swung his great sword sideways at Su Xiao, aiming to cut him in half.

Su Xiao suddenly released the boundary-cutting line; since the little giant had shifted his entire center of gravity backward to resist the pull, Su Xiao’s sudden release caused him to stumble back two steps, his swing distorted, now slashing diagonally upward.

The little giant no longer cared about the direction of his strike—he needed only to keep his balance; he couldn’t fall, or even if he didn’t die, he’d be crippled. His size gave him advantages, but also weaknesses.

The little giant leaned forward to stabilize his center, but Su Xiao yanked the boundary-cutting line again—with full strength.

Combined with the little giant’s own forward momentum, this yank caused his body to tilt violently forward; bound by the line around his neck, he plunged headfirst toward Su Xiao.

As his body hung midair, the little giant curled himself, raising his great sword to his left side. Su Xiao’s left was the boundary-cutting line; if Su Xiao wanted to slash him, he’d strike from the right. Since they faced each other, Su Xiao’s right was the little giant’s left—the great sword preemptively anticipated Su Xiao’s strike direction, a split-second instinct.

This kind of instinctive defense could not be trained—it was forged only through countless brushes with death.

In this moment, Su Xiao seemed to have only one choice: thrust his blade forward. But the risk was high—if he didn’t severely wound the little giant, the opponent would counter immediately.

The little giant hurtled headfirst toward Su Xiao; though they spoke no common language, battle itself was a language—both were already engaging in a duel of combat intelligence.

Should he deliver a heavy side-slash to suppress the little giant, or risk a forward thrust to cripple him? That was Su Xiao’s choice.

Meanwhile, the little giant closely observed Su Xiao’s subtle movements; the moment Su Xiao initiated a slash or thrust, he would activate his pre-planned defense and counter.

Su Xiao raised Zhanlongshan sideways, appearing ready for a side-slash.

Seeing this, the little giant’s mouth beneath his helmet curled into a grin—but in the next instant, the grin vanished, replaced by fierce excitement in his eyes: the thrill of a worthy opponent.

Su Xiao’s raised blade was a feint; the lethal strike lay in his lower body.

Su Xiao curled his body, stepped his left leg back, tilted sideways; power surged from the ground, traveled up his right leg, flowed into his waist, then surged into his left leg.

He kicked forward with all his strength—like a footballer striking a ball, except the target wasn’t a ball, but the little giant’s helmeted head; the little giant was already lunging forward, and Su Xiao’s kick made him willingly offer his skull.

Boom!

A muffled crash echoed; the energy shield wrapped around Su Xiao’s left leg shattered. Before the little giant could hit the ground headfirst, he was kicked flying—his trajectory abruptly reversed, from forward to backward, his entire body spinning midair; the force of the kick was immense.

Blood oozed from the helmet’s seams; a distinct indentation of a footmark was visible on the faceplate, and large cracks spread across the metal skull.

A five-meter-tall, fully armored little giant being kicked into a midair flip—what a stunning visual. The stands erupted.

But the battle wasn’t over. The little giant crashed to the ground, yet despite the brutal blow, he immediately sprang up like a leaping carp, grabbed his helmet, activated the latch at his neck, and removed it.

His face was unrecognizable—covered in blood, one flat tooth had pierced his lip; all visible was his matted, tangled black hair.

The little giant gripped the helmet and hurled it at Su Xiao—the lower half still wrapped in the boundary-cutting line.

Whoosh~

The metal helmet flew toward the charging Su Xiao; he sidestepped, maintained his forward momentum, and casually severed the boundary-cutting line wrapped around the lower half of the helmet, retracting it as the high-speed spool spun.

Instantly, they closed in again—Su Xiao unharmed, the little giant in severe concussion.

In the little giant’s vision, Su Xiao now appeared doubled; helplessly, he swung his sword horizontally forward.

Su Xiao didn’t stop his charge—he leapt upward; the swinging great sword passed beneath his feet.

Normally, one shouldn’t jump during combat—but context matters; right now, jumping was the better choice.

As he evaded the horizontal slash and closed in on the little giant, Qinggangying energy clung to Zhanlongshan’s blade.

He swung his blade sideways, wide and powerful.

Pssshh.

The long blade sliced through the little giant’s side waist—armor pierced, defense breached; blood stained Zhanlongshan. The blade entered beside the abdomen and exited at the lower back, cleanly severing through—the enhanced +12, pale-gold-quality Zhanlongshan was this sharp.

Su Xiao didn’t slash blindly—this cut severed a large section of the little giant’s side-back muscles; now, the little giant couldn’t even turn around.

As the massive muscle group on his side-back was severed, the little giant knew he was finished—but the next instant, searing pain spread through his body: the true damage of Qinggangying energy, and its secondary ability, Soul Electrification, triggered.

Soul Electrification: When Qinggangying energy burns an enemy’s mana, there’s a 12% chance to trigger one of three abnormal states—paralysis, immobilization, or dizziness—lasting 0.2 to 3 seconds.

The little giant triggered paralysis—duration: 0.6 seconds.

Su Xiao’s figure passed the little giant; blood droplets hung in the air. The next moment, he spun around—the little giant now faced away.

Blade light flashed; two slashes appeared on the lower sides of the little giant’s thighs—each severed a hamstring. Why not decapitate? Because of his size: jumping earlier was fine, but now he must stay grounded.

Thud. The little giant collapsed to his knees; the Soul Electrification effect ended. He propped himself up with one hand, turned his head toward Su Xiao.

Bloodied and grinning, the little giant raised his sword arm sideways, swung it backward with all his strength, and hurled his great sword—his final, desperate strike.

Whooosh~

The spinning great sword flew toward Su Xiao, wrapped in a layer of crimson energy.

If struck directly, Su Xiao would be crippled or dead—but he wouldn’t be hit by such an attack, no matter how powerful.

A four-meter-tall, three-meter-wide energy shield appeared before Su Xiao; he pressed one hand against it, eyes fixed on the incoming sword. As the spinning blade struck the shield, he tilted it.

Crack! The shield shattered; Su Xiao stepped back several paces; the crimson great sword spiraled off at an angle, finally crashing into the arena’s protective barrier with a thunderous boom—spectators nearby leapt to their feet.

His last-ditch strike failed—would the little giant surrender? The answer was no. He curled his tongue, sucked the broken tooth pierced through his lip back into his mouth.

The little giant inhaled sharply, his abdominal armor bulging outward.

Spat!

He expelled every breath from his lungs; half his tongue shot out—but the broken tooth was deadlier than the tongue.

Su Xiao tilted his head; black hair whipped through the air as he dodged the tooth capable of piercing his skull.

“Hahahaha!”

The little giant roared with laughter, gripped his chest armor, and with a screech, tore off a small metal shard with his bare hand, clenching it like a weapon.

“You’re not bad.”

Su Xiao smiled at the little giant, stomped the ground beneath him—sand exploded beneath his foot—and he vanished from sight.