“He—he’s dead just like that‽”
The mercenaries in the surveillance room were all stunned silly, fear coloring their faces.
Weak my ass!
This guy can literally kill people through fright!
The Calamity Grades are too terrifying; we’re better off hiding here and slacking!
The guts that had just begun growing within those mercenaries were nipped at the bud, and whatever courage they still had left was thrown out the window.
The group of mercenaries now understood that Black Star, who was able to compete with those of the Calamity Grade, was not just so-so as described by the other mercenaries. Most likely, even those Grade B mercenaries who secretly scoffed in disdain at Black Star could not beat him even if they fought together against Black Star.
Indeed, a person with reputation would definitely have some form of ability to back it up!
…
On the battlefield, Han Xiao felt that this matter was a little strange. Why did this bearded mercenary not bother to quietly hide? Could it be that he had been possessed by Aesop and purposely went there to seek death?
At this point, Ember repeated his tactic, attempting to paralyze the machines again. He did not believe that Han Xiao could repeatedly rejuvenate his machines.
His hypothesis was correct; Han Xiao indeed could not use his [Waste Modification] skill infinitely. Other than the limited number of uses, the energy consumed each time was not a small amount.
However, Han Xiao was clear of another point. Those carbon particles that Ember employed based on his control were similar to the relationship between him and his machines. Without them, Ember’s ability would also weaken.
As such, Han Xiao had long made preparations.
With a snap of his fingers, a trap machine that had not yet been activated suddenly shone.
Within the black wave, countless spherical shaped lights appeared, trapping huge clumps of carbon particles within them. In an instant, the black wave was reduced by a great margin.
Those traps were nothing unique, just ordinary shield generators. In an orthodox sense, their purpose was not even made to trap items within. However, in Han Xiao’s eyes, any machine could be a trap. To have those shields locking in a huge number of carbon particles was as good as trapping them within, causing them to become prisoners within the shields.
Even though Ember could still control the carbon particles, he needed energy and time to break through the shields. All that would create distractions for him.
This move of his effectively shaved off a portion of Ember’s battle strength!
As for this location, it was comprised of an alloy that did not contain carbon within. Han Xiao’s machines were also not made out the carbon steel materials, and thus, other than the mercenary who blindly sacrificed himself, there was nobody else whom Ember could extract carbon from. While the range of his ability was great, he still required time to extract the carbon from his sphere of influence and bring it over, unless he decided to extract the carbon particles from his very own body.
The remaining carbon particles suddenly started spinning, forming the shape of a tornado as it tried to cut through the ceiling. Ember had discovered that this battlefield was extremely disadvantageous to him. He wished to change the battlefield, and going out into the open would allow his combat capability to increase a few folds.
Ember did not realize that his attitude toward Han Xiao had imperceptibly changed—from the disdain and contempt early on to now, where he had even begun to consider the effect of the battlefield. He could clearly feel a sense of pressure from Han Xiao, from a Grade B Super, a pressure that this was an opponent who could threaten his life!
At that moment, Han Xiao strangely did not retreat but rather rushed toward the dangerous cutting tornado as he shouted, “Explode!”
Boom!
The mercenaries in the surveillance room hurriedly detonated the explosives, causing the base to collapse. Numerous building materials fell down and buried the area.
Han Xiao greatly respected any Calamity Grade Super, so he had prepared and buried a huge payload below them. Detonation was an art, and due to his positioning of the explosives, the entire floor of the building collapsed. The duo entered a state of weightlessness as they rapidly fell.
Rumble!
Bits of debris and rubble ricocheted around them, and their vision and breaths were obscured and stifled by the thick clouds of dust. The momentum caused by the explosion was so large that it was as though an entire mountain had shifted.
Ember hurriedly formed a diamond panel under his feet, stabilizing himself. He intended to fly out of this collapsing building while using his carbon particles to shield himself.
Hu!
From afar came the sound of loud whistling. Having fought with Han Xiao for so long, he recognized the sound coming from the High Frequency Strike Cannon. He understood that Han Xiao was pursuing him like a rabid dog. Ember did not wish to carry out a fight in such a complicated environment, but he had no choice but to retaliate.
Suddenly, a lump of black shadows appeared in front of him, obscuring his limited vision.
Ember jumped in shock. He was totally blind, and no matter what he tried, he was unable to escape from the cage of shadows. Furthermore, this thing could not even be touched, so he had no idea what contraption this was. The sound of howling winds was getting closer, but mixed within the various sounds of the collapsing building, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact position.
With no other alternatives, Ember could only deploy his diamond sphere defense once again.
Clank!
A tough object pierced into the sphere, and Ember immediately utilized micro-manipulation to reveal a small hole to appear at the moment of contact, trapping the hard object. Based on the size, it was obviously Han Xiao’s Strike Cannon.
While he could not see, Ember immediately dispelled his diamond sphere, changing it into a long spear, and pierced in the direction of the Strike Cannon. He predicted that his reaction speed would still be able to catch Han Xiao.
However, his strike only hit thin air.
“Not good!”
Ember instantly reacted, but it was already too late. A large hand from the mechanical suit firmly latched onto the back of his head, and without any warning, a Void Jet Spray was discharged directly.
At the same time, Han Xiao utilized the skill [Armor Piercing Consecutive Attacks] from the Germinal Organization’s Leader’s Character Summon Card. In the next five seconds, all his attacks would have a certain chance to break the armor of his enemy, reducing his defense by twenty-four percent.
Boom!
Ember felt as though he was struck by lightning. His brain shook, and stars flew in his vision, causing his Esper ability to dissipate for that instant.
But this instant was enough to cause the diamond panel that he had below him to disintegrate. The duo once again fell down the collapsed building!
Swoosh!
Dust blew in their faces, and they could only hear the sounds of collapse and the whistling of wind.
Before this, Han Xiao had borrowed the messy and complicated environment to create a diversion attack. He had first used [Void Vision] to inhibit Ember’s line of sight, followed by throwing his weapon and using [Void Travel] to appear behind Ember soundlessly, creating the scenario where he attacked Ember from behind.
This opportunity was rare; thus, Han Xiao would not let go. He ignored the cost of energy, releasing burst after burst of Void Jet Spray. This was the additional ability granted by the Void Dragon Mechanical suit. While it had no cooldown, the energy consumed would rise by thirty percent if used again within ten seconds.
“Forty-two percent of Energy remaining, hum… Twenty-six percent of Energy remaining… Energy level critical, hum…”
The energy of the mechanical suit was spent at a torrential rate, with the voice of Phillip constantly sending out warnings.
Ember was hurriedly a
ttempting to gather energy within his body. No matter the class, Energy had a universal function, which was to raise resistance for a short period of time.
Suffering a series of heavy blows, Ember had no choice but to focus his attention on defending himself. As such, the control of his ability dropped by almost seventy to eighty percent.
Han Xiao had managed to see Ember’s attributes through the interface. This guy also had a Boss template, with his defense and health at insane values. Furthermore, because he was a Grade A Super, his conversion of Endurance was too high, so much so that his health was comparable to Han Xiao’s. Thus, Han Xiao could not afford to be stingy. All kinds of explosive abilities such as [Gene Liberation] and [Overload] were activated, and Han Xiao even chose to activate the Character Summon Card of Hila, [Whisper of the Dead]. Causing mental damage could also help to shave off a target’s attention.
This series of buffs was activated extremely quickly. They had only fallen around half the distance, with both of them still weightless.
Ember’s head was still being clamped, and the pain and humiliation caused him to sink into fury.
While he could not see what was happening behind him, he could feel the power fluctuations given off by Han Xiao weakening. This indicated that his energy in his mechanical suit was low, which meant that his burst of attacks was about to end.
While he had taken a hit, he had at least achieved his objective. The moment that they came into contact with the outside world, that would be his stage!
The last Void Jet Spray completely drained the energy in the mechanical suit. Ember could clearly sense this point, and he endured the splitting pain in his head, hoarsely saying, “You have no more energy left… Just wait for me to drag you out from your turtle shell. I’ll turn you into mincemeat!”
When Han Xiao heard this, he gritted his teeth and lowly shouted, “Aroshia!”
Aroshia was not affected by gravity at all, merely following beside both of them, her body easily phasing through the rubble. When she heard her name, she turned into a beam of light and accelerated, sticking to Han Xiao’s back. She opened her arms and embraced him from the back.
Hum!
Her energy body was like melting ice, flowing into the core of the mechanical suit.
In an instant, the Void Dragon Mechanical suit’s energy capacity shot through the roof!
“Energy levels at 327%, hum… Circuit is overloaded. Please expend the excess energy as soon as possible, hum…”
To Han Xiao, Aroshia’s energy was the biggest reserve battery for him!
Han Xiao’s tightened his hand, holding Ember’s head as though he was clamping it with tongs.
“Energy? I’m not lacking in that! Are you ready for a severe concussion‽”
Boom!
Feeling the new surge in energy levels, Ember’s eyes opened wide, shock and anger filling his face. He felt that something was amiss, as though the entire matter had proceeded out of his control.
This sort of feeling… made him subconsciously remember the time when he first fought Han Xiao! He gritted his teeth.
Every time… it’s the same every single time!
This b*stard has all sorts of schemes!
The continuous series of explosions drowned whatever thoughts he had. The duo slammed into the ground, the impact jolting both to their bones. They lay prone, unable to muster the strength to stand due to the pain in their bodies.
At this point, a huge shadow rapidly expanded where they were situated.
The next second, the collapsed building slammed down on them.
Boom!
Dust billowed!
The earth shook!
Chapter 488 - Retreat
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The commotion of the collapsing building startled the pedestrians and they gathered together at a distance, pointing at the rubble as they discussed about the chaos with shock.
In the skies, a large number of aircrafts stopped in midair and looked down at the rubble below.
While the destruction of this battle was not as bad as the battle between the three Grade A Supers, because of something similar happening a while back, the citizens of Noriosse paid close attention to the battle.
“How is Black Star? Who won?” A couple of mercenaries who ignited the explosives had long escaped from the base and were currently in midair within an aircraft.
Swoosh!
A mechanical arm pushed off a large boulder, and a figure could be seen climbing out of the rubble with difficulty. With his hands on his knees, Han Xiao panted heavily.
“Ouch… a few of my ribs were fractured.” Han Xiao felt a dull ache in his chest. An entire building had crashed down on him, and even with the powerful defense of his Void Dragon armor, its durability had fallen from the original sixty-seven percent to about thirty percent. Black crack marks could be seen all over the armor, and sparks could be seen coming out from some of the cracks. Thankfully, the equipment’s passive [Indestructible Toughness] was activated, and the resistance of the armor was increased many times over.
A portion of the damage penetrated through the mechanical suit’s defenses. Han Xiao looked at the interface in front of him, and it showed that he had lost more than 4,000 HP together with light fractures and slight dizziness effects.
The majority of the damage had come from the falling debris. Thousands of tons of debris had smashed down onto his body, and when he was falling, his entire attention had been placed on attacking. He had let Phillip take over the control of the machines so that he would not need to divert his attention. When he landed, both he and Ember had landed in two different regions. Phillip had immediately turned the Halo Array into a shield to block the majority of the falling debris. Without that, the damage that he had suffered would definitely have been much worse.
Because of the collapsed building, the majority of his machines were buried under the rubble. However, he still had over seventy compressed orbs on him and still had the ability to fight. Aroshia separated from the mechanical suit, and her glow was obviously dimmer than before. Han Xiao had used up plenty of energy.
The dust cloud spread, and his visibility was limited. Han Xiao looked around him to find Ember.
Killing a Calamity Grade Super was not that easy, but this series of attacks would definitely be enough to make Ember suffer. Ember did not have the powerful physique of a pugilist or any Esper abilities to strengthen his body. If he did not use his Esper abilities to put up a defense, his durability would not be very high.
Sha sha sha!
At that moment, a familiar grinding sound could be heard, and Han Xiao’s expression changed. He immediately jumped back, and three thick black spears shot down where he had been standing just a moment ago. Those black spears had easily penetrated through the rubble and created a pit over ten meters long.
The dust cloud was blown away by the strong wind, and Han Xiao could see a thick, black wave that was double the size of before. It spanned over two to three hundred meters and was still expanding. Now that he was not in a building, Ember was able to gain access to a never-ending supply of carbon.
All of a sudden, the black current condensed into a large, lifelike python, which was two to three meters thick and a hundred meters long. The body of the python stood erect with its snake head looking at Han Xiao, sticking out its tongue. It looked as though it was truly alive. On top of the snake’s head, Ember’s figure could be seen.
He should have been full of elegance and majesty, but he was currently looking a little pitiful. His clothes were torn all over the place and blood was seeping down from his forehead with half of his face dyed red. The skin at the back of his head all the way down to his neck was torn apart. Being shot by the Void Jet Spray twenty to thirty times had obviously left a scar. Ember’s face contorted in pain as he glared at Han Xiao furiously.
Every single attack that Han Xiao shot out was aimed at his head, and Ember had to focus all of his atten
tion to control his Esper abilities. Thus, he was forced to endure a head splitting headache, which affected his ability to control his Esper powers. He was not able to perform any meticulous control and could only expand the range of his carbon wave.
In the sky, a couple of mercenaries gasped in disbelief. “That Calamity Grade Super is severely injured!”
They had personally witnessed Ember’s strength, and there was even one of them who had personally experienced it. However, Black Star was actually not on the losing end and had severely injured this Grade A Super who was considered a powerful figure in the galaxy.
He was truly formidable!
The gazes of those in the surroundings were very quickly drawn to Ember. In truth, it was difficult for them not to notice such a large black snake.
This looks bad. Han Xiao knew that things were no longer in his favor. For him to achieve such a battle result, it was because of his meticulous set up of the battlefield ahead of the event. While he had severely wounded Ember and affected his battle prowess, Ember was still far from death. Since they were on the outside, Ember would be able to make full use of his abilities, and it would be difficult for him to injure Ember any further. There would not be a chance like before.
A thought flashed through Han Xiao’s head. His attention is fully on me. As long as I can hold him back, when Nagakin succeeds on the other side…
He would not lose his cool just because he had the upper hand. He was very clear that he would be the one suffering if the battle continued.
He did not continue battle, and the thrusters of his Void Dragon mechanical suit began spewing fire. Han Xiao shot into the sky and began to flee.
“Don’t think of escaping!” Ember roared furiously, and the python under him shot into the sky to chase after Han Xiao.
Escape? This is a strategic retreat!
Numerous black spears shot over, and Han Xiao avoided them nimbly in midair. Turning around to take a look, Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Ember gave chase. That fellow was indeed infuriated.
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