Chapter 1417 - 39: Formidable Opponent

Chapter 1417: Chapter 39: Formidable Opponent

The roar came from the office, and a sharp short axe slashed over Su Xiao’s head, cutting off a few strands of black hair.

As Su Xiao bent down, he kicked towards Buck’s abdomen. Just as Buck retreated, a blade aura flew straight at him.

Ding!

The blade aura was shattered by the axe blade, dissipating into the air.

"Huff～"

Su Xiao exhaled deeply, his breathing slightly uneven. Fighting an enemy like Buck consumed a lot of stamina. Every time he blocked those two short axes, he was pushed back several steps. After several exchanges, his internal organs began to ache faintly in his chest.

Buck wasn’t feeling well either. His body was full of bloody marks. The Dragon Slash was too sharp, and even a light cut left a wound deep enough to reach bone. A regular cleave would sever whatever it struck.

Su Xiao and Buck locked eyes, just as they were about to clash again, the ground beneath them suddenly shook — not for the first time.

With a rumble, large sections of the concrete ground shattered and fell below.

At this moment in St. Limen Fortress, the second underground level to the fourth above ground level were already hollowed out shells, and the height of the fifth layer had decreased by at least three meters, which was deadly for a building. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The concrete layer beneath Su Xiao’s feet cracked extensively. He leapt to a relatively intact landing spot. Within an instant, most of the surrounding floor collapsed.

When the ground stopped trembling, only a two-meter-wide footprint remained in the office, where Su Xiao and Buck stood, a narrow encounter.

An orange-red glow emanated from below. Su Xiao looked down, seeing dozens of meters of air, supported only by large twisted patterned steel frames, at the bottom of which was magma, formed by the fusion of metal and rock. Standing at such a height would instantly weaken anyone with acrophobia.

A dense gray smoke floated above the magma. This was the toxic gas produced by explosives on the second underground floor. Due to Apollo’s explosion, the oxygen below was extremely thin.

With a clatter, pieces of cement fell from Su Xiao’s landing spot, into the semi-liquid magma below.

Raging heat waves surged from below. Su Xiao dashed forward, not daring to exert too much force on his feet, as losing his footing would be troublesome.

Buck seemed to understand this too, slowing his pace forward.

Sparks flew as the long knife slashed through the air, the battle resumed.

Outside on the back of the fortress, a man wearing goggles and a leather jacket clung to the wall.

"Do these two guys have a screw loose? They’re still fighting."

The leather-clad man witnessed the battle inside the fifth layer through a window. He was a Contractor from Apocalypse Paradise, on the battlefield to scavenge benefits.

Initially, the leather-clad man planned to intervene when Su Xiao and Buck were both severely injured, but after witnessing their brutal combat, he abandoned any ideas and prepared to retreat.

"Sigh, after this, I’ll have to fight these lunatics; life is hopeless."

The man released his hold on the noose, quickly sliding down from the fortress.

Inside the fortress, on the remaining one-meter-wide landing point, Su Xiao knocked Buck’s shoulder aside with one slash, striking the incoming axe face with his knife handle.

Bam!

Su Xiao retreated a few steps, stabilizing himself before wiping the bloodstain off his face.

Buck glanced at Su Xiao, contemplated for a moment, then took a deep breath.

Rumble.

The landing point beneath Buck’s feet crumbled, and he fell toward the magma below.

The Boundary Line shot out from Su Xiao’s sleeve, anchoring into the ground below his feet as he leapt from the landing point.

Whizz～

The wire wheel spun rapidly. As Su Xiao descended, he swung his blade, cutting a blade aura toward the falling Buck.

Mid-air, Buck couldn’t slash out an axe aura, so he raised his two short axes defensively in front of him.

Just before Buck was about to plunge into the magma, he flexed the muscles on his right arm and hurled the short axe in his hand.

A piercing whistle greeted Su Xiao head-on, and he twisted his body to avoid it, letting the high-speed spinning short axe fly past.

Just as the short axe was about to embed into the wall, it curved in an arc, returning to slash at Su Xiao again. This was Buck’s ability: Spin Ax Chop (Exclusive Ability Level 21).

With a clang, the short axe didn’t hit Su Xiao, but its handle collided with the Boundary Line.

With the Boundary Line struck, Su Xiao, suspended in mid-air, was swung sideways. Before his trajectory shifted, five blade auras separated from Dragon Slashing Blade, slicing toward Buck’s right side where he was without the short axe.

Blood splattered as Buck, despite shattering three blade auras, was still hit by two. One opened his abdomen, and the other almost sliced open his thigh.

Just as Buck was about to fall into the magma, he grabbed the nearby patterned steel frame, already reddened by magma heat.

With blue smoke rising, Buck swung out, ultimately leaping into a half-collapsed underground tunnel. Buck’s combat intelligence was incredibly high. Fearless in life-or-death combat, he always remembered his goal wasn’t to fight Su Xiao to the death, but to stop him.

Judging by the injuries, Buck was defeated, but in terms of objectives, Buck was the victor.

Su Xiao’s fingers worked the wire wheel, halting his body mid-air, five meters away from the dark red magma.

"Buck."

Su Xiao didn’t pursue. Entering the narrow underground tunnel, Buck had a natural advantage with his short-handled axe. Their previous battle was balanced, death coming to whoever exposed flaws first. In the cramped tunnel, Buck held a seventy percent chance of winning.

The Boundary Line tightened, pulling Su Xiao to the fifth layer’s landing point. He scanned around and quickly found the secret path through which Divine Envoy Du Bo · Yi Si escaped.

Leaping into the secret path, there was a metal ladder leading upwards, the entire path slightly twisted.

Climbing up the metal ladder, squeezing through protruding concrete gaps, Su Xiao reached the top of the fortress.

Atop the fortress, there was a short asphalt runway, marked with scorched tire tracks. It was a one-way airplane runway, taking off risky, landing nearly impossible, in a world yet to develop helicopters.

Just as Su Xiao was about to leave, he noticed a series of imprints on the asphalt ground, written in the language of the Geya Alliance, reading: Already boarded beneath the plane.

Su Xiao took out the tracker, which displayed a green dot, indicating the life signs of the little assistant. Somehow, the little assistant survived without freezing in the high-altitude low-temperature airflow.

With the little assistant’s ingenuity, if she could capture Du Bo · Yi Si, she wouldn’t risk boarding beneath the plane.

Although Su Xiao didn’t see Du Bo · Yi Si himself, the clues were clear enough; he just needed to track the assistant’s location.

Just as Su Xiao prepared to leave the top of the fortress, he felt it begin to tilt. The nearly hollow fortress was failing, and even with an outer frame of threaded steel, it couldn’t withstand the loss of internal concrete support.

Crick crack...

The harsh metal grinding sound became piercingly loud. Gunfire on the battlefield below the fortress had thinned significantly, with most soldiers watching as St. Limen Fortress slowly toppled.

Geya Alliance soldiers were thrilled, while Sun Kingdom soldiers were despaired, all watching as St. Limen Fortress collapsed with a roar!

After the deafening crash, a cloud of dust filled the sky, enveloping most of the battlefield within it.

Inside the Sun Kingdom’s concrete trenches.

Bang!

A pale blue sphere smashed into the trench, leaving nearby soldiers with guns momentarily stunned.

Bam, bam, bam...

After a series of gunshots, all nearby soldiers collapsed. The Counter Shield dissipated, and Su Xiao leapt out of the trench, charging into the Sun Kingdom territory.