Su Xiao stood still, holding the Dragon Slayer Blade, and the arena was silent.
"Glug."
The sound of someone swallowing hard broke the silence.
Xi Luoluo looked at Su Xiao's back, her big, bright eyes shining with excitement. It was clear that she recognized him. At that moment, she mentally tagged him with labels like "strong person," "super powerhouse," and "big boss."
Suddenly, Xi Luoluo felt a bit regretful. If she had known Su Xiao was this strong, she should have noted down his number earlier, so she could ask for help in tough situations in the future.
"Who are you, and how did you get here?"
The excitement had vanished from the gecko's face. His eyes were fixed on Su Xiao, and his kagune quickly appeared, wrapping around one of his arms.
The gecko's kagune was a scale type, located near his kidneys. This type had strong recovery abilities and was known for its powerful attacks, but its defense was relatively weak.
There are four types of kagune: feather, scale, shell, and tail, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, and they take shape based on the user's imagination.
At that moment, the gecko's kagune was shaped by his imagination and fighting habits.
"Who am I? Well, you can call me Bai Ye. Your kagune is pretty good; I'll take it."
Su Xiao activated the Shadow of Annihilation, opening the Blue Steel Shadow for the first time. It immediately consumed 2 points of his mana and continued to decrease at a rate of 2 points per minute.
Once he activated the Blue Steel Shadow, he felt a certain energy inside him awaken—his mana.
This mana flowed within him and, through some wonderful transformation, formed a new type of energy.
This energy first traveled through his arm and then spread to the Dragon Slayer Blade in his hand. The blade suddenly glowed with a blue light, and if one looked closely, they could see faint blue-white electric arcs dancing around it.
That wasn't lightning; it was a new energy formed by the conversion of mana, which is the core of the Blue Steel Shadow.
The Blue Steel Shadow is a state-based active skill. Once activated, it consumes 2 mana points per minute. It may not sound like much, but if he fought continuously for an hour, it would use up 120 mana points. Since he currently had 153 mana points, he had enough to sustain it.
The advantage of having plenty of mana was clear; it gave him the ability to fight for a long time.
After activating the Blue Steel Shadow, every attack from Su Xiao would burn 10 points of the enemy's mana.
It might not seem like much, but if he landed a few more hits, the mana consumed could be deadly.
Imagine if Su Xiao and his enemy were in an intense battle, preparing to unleash their ultimate moves, only for the enemy to suddenly realize they had no mana left. That would be utterly despairing.
Moreover, the Blue Steel Shadow would not only consume the enemy's mana but also deal equal amounts of real damage.
Su Xiao had once asked the Reincarnation Paradise what real damage meant.
The answer was: damage that ignores everything. No matter how strong the enemy's defense is, they would still be injured.
Su Xiao rolled his shoulders and took off his shirt, exposing his bare upper body.
He had a habit of fighting without a shirt, as it made his senses sharper. It might be a trick of the mind, but it was his preference.
With 13 points in strength, 13 points in agility, and 12 points in intelligence, Su Xiao wanted to test how effective these attributes were in combat.
Don't think that intelligence is useless in close combat. Increasing intelligence not only boosts spell damage and mana but also enhances perception, which is a big help in melee fights.
"Well then, let’s test you out. You look tough and should be hard to cut down."
Su Xiao suddenly pushed off the ground and charged at the gecko. With 13 points in agility, his speed surpassed everyone present.
The gecko only saw a blur before Su Xiao's face appeared right in front of him, along with a long knife glowing with blue light, aimed at his neck.
Su Xiao's strike was incredibly precise. Thanks to the teachings of Geng Silang, his sword skills had improved significantly.
Holding the knife with both hands, he was about to slice the gecko's neck. Although ghouls had strong recovery abilities, they could still die if their heads were severed.
In that critical moment, the gecko shouted and realized he couldn't block with his arm in time. However, his kagune was close to his neck and quickly wrapped around it.
"Thud."
The sound of the blade cutting into flesh echoed, but no blood appeared.
Su Xiao's knife struck the gecko's kagune. The scale type wasn't known for its defense, and he quickly cut through it.
The gecko's face twisted under his mask. What kind of cutting power was this? If he wasn't mistaken, his opponent was using an ordinary weapon, not a Quinque made from kagune.
I need to run! I have to escape immediately! This human is too strong. Not just him; even an SS-class ghoul would be cut to pieces here.
Just as the gecko was about to retreat, he suddenly felt a sharp pain from the wound on his kagune, followed by a burning sensation inside him. That was his Rc cells.
As the Rc cells burned, the gecko experienced a pain he had never felt before. Even with his endurance, he couldn't help but let out a scream. The real damage from the mana burning had taken effect.
What Su Xiao controlled, the Blue Steel Shadow, literally meant burning the enemy's mana. But what about a ghoul that had no mana?
The answer was burning other types of energy. The principle of the Blue Steel Shadow was to consume Su Xiao's mana to create a special energy.
This special energy attached to his weapon. When Su Xiao attacked the enemy in close combat, the energy would invade their body and react with the energy inside them, ultimately achieving the effect of burning mana.
If the enemy had no mana, the special energy would choose to consume other types of energy, like Rc cells, chakra, nen, or spiritual pressure.
Compared to mana, the consumption rate of the Blue Steel Shadow on other energies was slightly lower, dropping from the original 10 points to around 7 to 9 points.
Burning energy inside the body felt terrible. Compared to the real damage caused, that intense pain affected the battle more.
The skill description of the Blue Steel Shadow was: After activating it, each close combat attack would remove 10 points of the enemy's mana and deal an equal amount of real damage, causing the enemy to endure the intense pain from the mana burning.
Su Xiao hadn't paid much attention to the "intense pain" part before, but now, seeing the gecko's expression, he understood that it was definitely not a pleasant experience.
After the gecko screamed, Su Xiao's second strike was already on its way.
The blade sliced through the air with a terrifying whine, creating a wave of pressure.
"Thud."
An arm and half an ear flew off simultaneously. Su Xiao's second strike was aimed at the gecko's head.
But the gecko sacrificed an arm to block the Dragon Slayer Blade for a moment, then quickly turned his head to avoid being decapitated.
In just two strikes, the gecko was nearly defeated. His kagune was cut, and his severed arm fell to the ground, reducing his combat power by at least fifty percent.
Rize, the beautiful woman, felt her scalp tingle at this sight, and she silently lamented, "Are all the humans in Area 20 this strong?"
Without using a Quinque, they could face a ghoul head-on. No, what she was witnessing was not a confrontation but a one-sided slaughter.
Rize's first thought was also to escape, but a pair of sharp eyes were already coldly staring at her.
"Where do you think you're going, Kamishiro Rize?"
Thanks to 【BananaQoQ】 and 【Maple Wind】 for their generous rewards. Even before it was officially released, I owe more updates. Should I be happy, or should I be happy, or should I be happy?
(End of Chapter)