A few people suddenly appeared, causing Su Xiao to stop what he was doing. He had been searching for the organ known as the "kagune" in Rishi's body for a while but couldn't find it.
He pulled his left hand away from Rishi's lower abdomen, and her body shivered noticeably as she lay flat on the ground, looking somewhat broken.
If Rishi managed to escape, Su Xiao would become her shadow.
"Qingtong Tree."
The newcomers were not small fries.
From Su Xiao's memory, the girl wrapped in bandages was the leader of the Qingtong Tree, the one-eyed king, Fangcun Aite.
Fangcun Aite usually went by the name Takatsuki Izumi, disguising herself as a novelist to blend into human society.
As a rare one-eyed ghoul in the world, Takatsuki Izumi's strength was unquestionable. Although she wasn't top-tier among SSS-class ghouls, she was still formidable.
The people beside Takatsuki Izumi included the SSS-class ghoul, Doudou Liang, the SS-class ghoul, Naru, and the S-class ghoul, Kirishima Ayato.
Doudou Liang wore a red mask and white trench coat, covering the lower half of his face, making it hard to see his features.
Naru was wrapped up even more tightly; aside from his hands, no part of him was exposed.
Kirishima Ayato also wore a mask, with fierce red eyes staring at Su Xiao.
The goal of the four was clear: to capture Kamishiro Rize. The earlier appearance of the gecko was also to take her away.
"Let her go, or you'll die."
Doudou Liang spoke calmly, without any hint of threat, but a kagune had already appeared behind him.
The headless corpse of the gecko lay nearby. Although the newcomers didn’t seem to fear Su Xiao, they didn’t underestimate him either.
Having defeated two S-class ghouls showed Su Xiao's strength, but the ghouls present had a suspicion that Su Xiao had merely taken advantage of the situation after both the gecko and Rize were weakened.
"Looks like I'm lucky today."
Su Xiao wiped the blood from his left hand on Rize's clothes and ignored her.
Until he extracted the kagune from Rize's body, she couldn't die. Otherwise, he feared unknown consequences in the alternate world, a risk he didn’t want to take.
This was something the Reincarnation Paradise had warned him about before.
Facing an SSS-class ghoul and two SS-class ghouls, Su Xiao felt the pressure.
As for Kirishima Ayato, the S-class ghoul, he was disregarded.
Su Xiao was confident he could handle S-class ghouls, and he believed he could manage SS-class ones as well. He hadn't fought an SSS-class yet, so he couldn't make a definite judgment.
Whether he could defeat the people in front of him still needed to be tested.
Even if he wasn’t their match, Su Xiao was confident he could escape; they wouldn’t be able to catch him.
With the Dragon Slash aimed at the ground, Su Xiao walked slowly towards the Qingtong Tree members.
In the distance, many contractors thought Su Xiao had lost his mind.
Facing the top-tier strength of the ghoul world, Takatsuki Izumi, this guy actually wanted to confront her directly? And with other ghouls present?
The contractors no longer hesitated and began to flee, scattering in an instant. They were too scared to watch anymore. If Su Xiao lost, they would die, but even if he won, he could still be in danger.
The Qingtong Tree members noticed the fleeing contractors but only glanced at them before ignoring them.
"Ayato, kill him."
Doudou Liang, having a higher status in Qingtong Tree, directly ordered Kirishima Ayato to eliminate Su Xiao.
As a rebellious boy, Kirishima Ayato didn’t argue with Doudou Liang's command but let out a light snort, showing his displeasure.
"Human, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll give you a chance to disappear in front of me."
Although the ghouls guessed that Su Xiao was strong, they didn’t take him too seriously.
The main reason was that Su Xiao didn’t have a Quinque; he was holding a long knife instead.
Su Xiao remained silent, continuing to walk forward. He didn’t care about their underestimation; it was an advantage for him.
"Tch, since you’re looking for death, I’ll send you on your way."
The rebellious boy, Kirishima Ayato, revealed his kagune. An irregularly shaped wing appeared on his left back; this was his kagune, the "Yuhou."
The Yuhou ghouls are known for their speed. They have powerful explosive strength and most can attack from a distance, but they have a significant flaw: poor endurance.
If they can't quickly defeat their opponent in the early stages of a fight, Yuhou ghouls usually lose quickly.
Although Kirishima Ayato was a bit arrogant, he wasn't foolish. Su Xiao clearly excelled in close combat, so Kirishima Ayato didn’t approach him.
With a flap of his kagune, a barrage of dense, diamond-shaped crimson crystals shot towards Su Xiao.
"Whoosh."
A sound of slicing air could be heard, indicating that the diamond crystals had considerable attack power.
Su Xiao stopped moving, his dark eyes fixed on the rapidly approaching crimson crystals.
As he focused, the fast-moving crimson crystals gradually slowed down in his sight. His agility had improved, enhancing his dynamic vision.
He swung the long knife repeatedly, leaving several white lines in the air.
"Clang, clang, clang."
All the crystals that shot towards him were shattered, turning into countless fragments.
Kirishima Ayato was somewhat surprised; he didn’t expect Su Xiao to easily deflect his attack.
In that moment of distraction, Su Xiao suddenly quickened his pace, closing the distance to Kirishima Ayato in just a few steps.
"That’s fast."
Kirishima Ayato's pupils constricted, and he instinctively wanted to retreat, already preparing to jump back, but his feet hadn’t left the ground yet.
Could he really escape once Su Xiao got close? Of course not.
Su Xiao took a small leap forward and kicked Kirishima Ayato's shin bone. Although the bone was hard, it was also quite fragile.
"Crack."
A chilling sound of breaking bone echoed, and Kirishima Ayato's shin bone snapped backward, forming a V-shape, with a pale broken bone piercing through his flesh.
Kirishima Ayato let out a scream, his steps faltering as he stumbled backward.
A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face as he ruthlessly swung his blade towards Kirishima Ayato's throat.
This was Su Xiao's fighting style: either he wouldn’t strike, but once he did, he aimed straight for the enemy's vital points.
Before the Dragon Slash could reach Kirishima Ayato's throat, he felt a sharp prick at his neck.
If struck, he would surely die.
Kirishima Ayato regretted it deeply; he had been too reckless, not being cautious enough against an unknown enemy.
Just as Kirishima Ayato was about to meet his end, a thick kagune blocked his path.
The kagune was particularly thick, with fang-like bones at the tip; it belonged to Naru.
Su Xiao’s strike wasn’t so easy to stop, and Naru's kagune was sliced in half, with the Dragon Slash embedding deeply into it.
Su Xiao continued to exert force, but it felt like cutting into a rubber tire; the damage caused wasn’t severe.
The blue steel shadow activated, and a faint blue energy entered the wound of Naru's kagune. Naru let out a muffled groan and quickly retracted his kagune.
Su Xiao knew some details about Naru; this guy was very strong, with his body’s structure almost identical to that of his kagune, giving him near-immortal recovery abilities.
Kirishima Ayato, who had narrowly escaped death, gasped for air. Just a moment ago, when Su Xiao had swung his knife, he thought he was done for.
This time, no one dared to underestimate the smiling Su Xiao. Doudou Liang and the others stepped forward, forming a circle around him.
Whew, I went out for a bit this afternoon, and I'm starving. I'll grab a bite to eat and update the next chapter shortly. Sorry for the late update today.
(End of Chapter)