Umbrellaless Brother successfully landed a blow, and a smile appeared on his swollen, pig-like face, while his narrowed eyes revealed a sinister look.
"Just now, you enjoyed hitting me with your shield, didn't you? Our teammate is dead, aren't you panicking?"
Umbrellaless Brother laughed heartily, though he couldn't help but wonder how Su Xiao managed to kill a Third-Tier Contract Holder.
There were several factors contributing to Su Xiao's victory over the Dié. Her complacency, her supportive role, and the suppression of Third-Tier Contract Holders when entering the Second-Tier world, among others.
Although there were various factors at play, the result was that the Dié had turned into a corpse, and Su Xiao had survived. Regardless of the process, the result was what mattered most.
After the Dié's death, the chubby guy holding a golden-quality shield had a very unpleasant expression. He wiped the blood from his nose and felt a chill in his heart.
The chubby guy was a Third-Tier primary tank and wasn't worried about being pursued by Su Xiao and Umbrellaless Brother. Unlike the Dié, the chubby guy, despite his weak offensive abilities, had insane defensive capabilities. Just the golden-quality shield alone had a defense so strong that it was astonishing.
What the chubby guy was concerned about was the Blazing Blood Guild, particularly Stan. With the Dié's death, how would he explain the situation to them? Losing the Dié's tracking ability would make it challenging for them to continue pursuing Su Xiao in this derivative world.
As for pursuing Su Xiao in the next derivative world? That was out of the question. As long as Su Xiao survived this time, the Blazing Blood Adventurer Team wouldn't want to bother him anytime soon if they didn't want to go bankrupt.
It was precisely because of this that Stan had dispatched three top-tier Third-Tier Contract Holders to hunt down Su Xiao. These were the most powerful Contract Holders who could enter the Second-Tier world, showing Stan's determination.
The three of them had specific roles. The Blazing Blood was responsible for killing, the Dié for tracking and supporting, and the chubby guy was insurance, to prevent the Contract Holders in the Holy Grail world from teaming up to attack the Blazing Blood.
With a Third-Tier primary tank on their side, even if the Contract Holders from the Holy Grail world united, they wouldn't be able to do much against the three.
Umbrellaless Brother and the chubby guy fought fiercely outside the villa. They were engaged in a "tug-of-war," although in reality, it was mostly Umbrellaless Brother taking the beating and occasionally counterattacking.
The chubby guy used his shield to block Umbrellaless Brother's punches. With a loud thud, a steam-powered iron fist slammed into the shield. The chubby guy resembled a mountain, standing firm and not retreating an inch.
"Byakuya, let's join forces and take him down."
Umbrellaless Brother was clearly getting pumped. Despite taking a beating earlier, he let out the frustration that had built up after the Dié's death.
Not far away, Su Xiao sat on the ground, blood dripping from the tip of the Zhanlong Flash. His whole body felt like it was falling apart, and it would take some time to regain his combat strength.
"Two minutes."
Su Xiao took out the Number 1 potion, bit off the cork, and drank it.
"Two minutes?!"
During a break in the battle, Umbrellaless Brother looked at Su Xiao, clearly indicating that he couldn't hold out for two minutes.
As Umbrellaless Brother looked at Su Xiao, the chubby guy shifted his footing and moved his entire body closer to the shield he held. The shield suddenly accelerated towards Umbrellaless Brother.
Bang!
Umbrellaless Brother was sent spinning with a dizzy head, his eyes filled with stars.
"During combat, losing concentration can get you killed. Besides, two minutes will pass quickly."
Su Xiao lit a cigarette and smiled at Umbrellaless Brother.
"You say it's easy, but I'm the one taking the beating..."
Umbrellaless Brother muttered and his eye, swollen from the impact, was barely open, giving him a somewhat comical appearance.
The chubby guy realized that Su Xiao wasn't planning to attack for the moment, so he focused most of his attention on Umbrellaless Brother. He was planning to retreat strategically; running away.
The rectangular shield was a solid iron-gray color throughout. As the chubby guy activated a shield skill, the surface of the shield's metal protruded and formed an embossed face that looked like a devil's mask. The devil's mask had a gaping mouth full of fangs.
Hmm~
The devil's mask at the shield's mouth emitted red light, like a cannon charging up.
Umbrellaless Brother took several steps back, feeling the intense pressure from the devil's face.
Boom!
A beam of red light shot out from the devil's face, and Umbrellaless Brother let out a miserable howl as he was sent soaring into the sky. His body rotated in mid-air, like a windmill.
With a thud, Umbrellaless Brother landed face-first, and his face scraped against the ground as he continued to move forward, kicking his legs erratically.
After sliding on his face for over ten meters, Umbrellaless Brother flopped down on the ground, chewing on a mouthful of dirt.
Umbrellaless Brother appeared to be in disarray, but he was not severely injured. The mouth-cannon on the shield was a skill for pushing the opponent away. Although it had a strong repelling effect, the actual damage it inflicted wasn't significant.
Just after repelling Umbrellaless Brother, the chubby guy turned around to make his escape.
Splatter~
Blood splattered as a silent and deadly energy crossbow bolt hit the chubby guy in the shoulder. The kinetic energy from the bolt was so strong that the arrowhead was vibrating rapidly.
The energy crossbow bolt only pierced the chubby guy's body at the arrowhead. Despite the fact that he wasn't wearing any metal armor, his physical defense was extraordinarily high.
Keep in mind that the attack power of the Specter Hunter was comparable to the Spider Queen, and Su Xiao was only about 30 meters away from the chubby guy. Even so, a single arrow would only lightly wound the chubby guy. If he had been a Second-Tier primary tank, that arrow could have either killed him or pierced straight through his shoulder.
The chubby guy grabbed the still-vibrating energy crossbow bolt, applied force, and pulled it out. The bolt dissipated into the air.
"Is that meaningful?"
The chubby guy looked at Su Xiao with a sidelong glance, clearly indicating that even if he couldn't escape, Su Xiao and Umbrellaless Brother couldn't do much to him.
"Of course, it's meaningful."
Su Xiao pulled the crossbow string of the Specter Hunter and attached the crossbow bolt. This process would take one minute.
As long as Su Xiao had some time to rest, he could regain his combat strength, and by that time, the chubby guy would be in for some serious trouble.
If Su Xiao were alone, and with the chubby guy holding a golden-quality shield, there would indeed be no way for him to win. But now, there were two of them.
Although Umbrellaless Brother was battered and bruised, he was a reliable teammate who wouldn't flee during battle. He didn't fear risking his life in combat and had a clear battle strategy.
As long as Umbrellaless Brother kept the chubby guy busy in a frontal confrontation, Su Xiao could attack from behind, bypassing the golden-quality shield.
With the chubby guy's physical defense, Su Xiao's regular slashes wouldn't be effective. However, the true damage from the Azure Steel Shadow could make the chubby guy experience despair, especially when combined with the true damage from the Demonic Seal.
As long as he could penetrate the armor, there was no tank that Su Xiao couldn't defeat.
"You bastard, I'm going to fight you!"
Umbrellaless Brother roared and charged at the chubby guy. His ferocious demeanor took the chubby guy by surprise, and Su Xiao was also astonished, wondering what had gotten into him.