CHAPTER 363: CHAPTER 64: NEMESIS

Light blue energy spreads along the Boundary Line, making the originally unnoticeable Boundary Line turn light blue, like an Energy Line.

More intense pain radiates from the wound, Kaku’s Mana Value drops significantly, while also taking several dozen points of True Damage.

Applying Blue Steel Shadow energy to the Boundary Line was a good idea, especially after the Boundary Line wraps around an enemy.

This can’t usually be done, as it would expose the Boundary Line, whose advantages are its toughness and difficulty to detect.

Kaku feels a sense of suffocation in his heart; he hasn’t even exerted his true strength before being entangled by this damned line.

Su Xiao continues to release Blue Steel Shadow energy, and the Boundary Line pierces Kaku’s muscles, burrowing into his body.

Not only that, Su Xiao pulls out a few Special level Alchemy Bombs which, once thrown, transform into small white snakes that cling to Kaku’s body.

"Explode!"

The Special level Alchemy Bombs begin to swell, their surface glowing red-hot.

Boom!

A burst of flames hits head-on; Su Xiao stands a bit too close and inevitably gets caught in the blast shockwave.

As the flames recede, Kaku’s entire body is in tatters, his square nose blown away, his body covered in wounds, with blood staining the charred ground.

"Puh～."

Kaku coughs up a mouthful of blood, his body teetering.

"Huff, huff..."

Breathing heavily a few times, Kaku looks up at Su Xiao, knowing he’s doomed today. His carelessness at the start of the battle put him at a disadvantage, seemingly up against someone well aware of his fighting style, countering him at every turn.

Kaku makes an unexpected move by tossing the long knife in his left hand to the ground, holding a knife only in his right hand.

Kaku’s trembling left hand grabs the Boundary Line; upon seeing this, Su Xiao immediately wants to release the Boundary Line.

"Let’s go to hell together."

Kaku’s left hand turns, wrapping the Boundary Line around his left forearm.

Blood gushes from his forearm, but Kaku cares not; he intends to bind the Boundary Line around himself in a way that ensures Su Xiao cannot escape, seeking a close-quarter blood battle with him.

Since there isn’t a vast gap in strength, Su Xiao has never feared anyone in close combat. He grips Dragon Slash tightly and charges forward.

The Boundary Line connects the two; now it comes down to who is more ruthless.

Su Xiao lifts Dragon Slash, slashing it into Kaku’s skull.

"Iron Block·Steel Skull."

Crunch, Dragon Slash embeds into Kaku’s skull, stopping without penetrating deeply; his head is indeed very tough!

Kaku’s eyes turn white, yet his hands do not slow, cutting towards Su Xiao.

Blood splatters, but Su Xiao doesn’t take a step back; instead, he retaliates with a slash in reverse.

The close combat between Su Xiao and Kaku is brutal to the extreme. After enduring five of Kaku’s strikes, Kaku begins to weaken, losing too much blood and suffering from numerous bomb-inflicted and Boundary Line wounds.

Su Xiao takes a deep breath, red blood dripping from his chin as he kicks Kaku’s abdomen and swings Dragon Slash, slicing a streak of cold light in the air.

Slash.

Kaku’s right arm is severed, yet even with a severed arm, that limb still tightly grips the weapon.

Kaku is indeed feeling extremely aggrieved, adept as he is in Rokushiki’s Gale Feet and Shave, he finds them useless when bound by the Boundary Line.

"Zhou Duan!"

Kaku lets out an angry roar, supporting himself with his only remaining left hand and spinning his legs like a windmill—this is his ultimate skill.

Su Xiao realizes the situation is not good but remains unflustered, holding firmly onto the Boundary Line and locking the wire wheel in place.

Screech～.

A sharp sound emanates from the wire wheel as Kaku’s ultimate skill is interrupted.

Su Xiao uses all his strength to kick forward, catching Kaku in the crotch as he stands on his hands.

Squelch～, for some reason, a scene where two eggs get crushed flashes through Su Xiao’s mind.

Kaku’s body freezes, trembling all over. Despite receiving this ’Descendant-breaking Kick’, he still retains the ability to fight.

"Finger Gun, Chaotic Wind."

Even though Kaku’s ultimate skill was interrupted and his eggs crushed, the pain nearly causing him to faint, he takes this opportunity to stab his fingers into Su Xiao’s chest.

Slash.

Kaku’s index finger penetrates Su Xiao’s chest, Su Xiao’s eyes widen slightly, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

"Using Gale Feet with a finger?"

At the moment Kaku’s finger stabs into his chest, Kaku’s Finger Gun sends out several Gale Feet slashes.

His lungs and liver are severely damaged; his heart narrowly avoids being torn, though the status of his other organs is unknown.

"Though I’m unclear why you know my combat style so well, this is my true ultimate skill."

Kaku is about to withdraw his finger when suddenly a sharp pain emanates from his chest.

Looking down, he finds a long knife has pierced straight through his chest without his noticing.

"When... exactly."

Kaku’s body weakens as the knife directly pierces his heart.

"In your moment of pride."

Su Xiao twists Dragon Slash sideways, the wrenching pain in his heart causing Kaku to kneel.

Swish, Dragon Slash is pulled from Kaku’s chest, but before he realizes it and can see Su Xiao’s face, a flash of a blade enters his vision.

Slash.

A head flies off, and the spray of blood covers Su Xiao.

[You have killed Kaku]

[Kaku, being a key figure in the plot, has granted you 7.8% World Source, totaling 23.4%.]

[Your talent ’Soul Devourer’ has activated, permanently increasing your Mana Value by 10 points, now totaling 853 points.]

[You have obtained a Treasure Chest (Purple)]

...

Seeing that Soul Devourer only increased the Mana Value by 10 points, Su Xiao is somewhat puzzled; given Kaku’s strength, how could Soul Devourer grant only 10 points?

After checking the records, Su Xiao understands. Soul Devourer had already increased by 100 points, reaching the limit in this Derivative World.

Holding the Purple Treasure Box dropped by Kaku, Su Xiao can’t help but smile. The content of this treasure chest is quite high quality, possibly even containing a Devil Fruit.

Kaku’s fruit is the Ox-Ox Fruit (Giraffe form); although the fruit abilities are not particularly outstanding, selling it would surely fetch a good price.

But that’s contingent on Su Xiao opening a Devil Fruit.

"Sneaky, get out here."

Su Xiao looks towards the door; during the most intense moment of his fight with Kaku, someone had arrived outside the room, hiding all along.

"Big brother, we’ve been discovered, what should we do?"

"Do you even need to ask? Let’s go take him down; he’s seriously injured now."

"Big brother, you’re brilliant."

The National Foot trio enters the room; these three burly men wear armor of the same style, a bizarre trio indeed.

"Brothers, hit him!"

The leader of the National Foot charges at Su Xiao with a roar, each wielding a baseball bat, with blue light flickering on them—evidently, they are three identical pieces of Blue Equipment.

Su Xiao, having just fiercely battled Kaku, now encounters the National Foot, finding himself in a dire situation.

An unexpected event occurs; when the National Foot leader attacks him with a bat, Su Xiao meets the blow with his blade. Oddly, the opponent’s power is not strong, estimating the National Foot leader’s Power Attribute to be around 15 points or so.

Realizing this, a smile appears on Su Xiao’s face. He understands the National Foot trio’s situation: they are all Paladins, highly durable with strong recovery abilities but extremely weak in Attack power.

Seeing this, Su Xiao no longer resists the National Foot’s attacks, keeping his gaze fixed on the National Foot leader. The leader shivers, sensing something amiss.

Raising Dragon Slash high, Su Xiao delivers a slash to the National Foot leader, directly breaking their Armor, the long knife embedding into the opponent.

The leader screams in agony, with tears flying out.

"Not good, this guy deals True Damage."

Noticing the leader getting slashed, National Foot Elder Two halts his attack, his hand glowing with golden light to heal the leader, while Elder Three continues the assault.

Su Xiao ignores the other two, kicking over the National Foot leader, delivering a series of slashes, covering the leader completely.

The screams of the National Foot leader echo; seeing this, both Elder Two and Three start healing the leader.

The leader’s tears run profusely; though he doesn’t die from dozens of slashes, it is extremely painful.

"Spare us, hero. We were wrong."

The National Foot leader begs for mercy, but Su Xiao pays no attention.

After slashing a dozen more times, Su Xiao stops, thinking this one’s Mana Value must be depleted, allowing him to switch targets.

The National Foot indeed has strong recovery abilities, but Su Xiao doesn’t believe their Mana is unlimited; without Mana, they cannot heal.

Su Xiao is the bane of the National Foot trio!