Chapter 65: Air-to-Ground Interdiction
Scott and Nightblade dashed through the dim jungle shrouded in darkness. They had to reach and recover the Perfect Lifeform before Qilin could capture it.
Suddenly, an inconspicuous silver thread appeared in Scott's path. He was caught completely off guard, and the thread instantly severed his neck.
However, Nightblade's reaction speed was incredibly fast. Just as the silver thread was about to decapitate him, he drew his blade and slashed forward, cutting the thread in two.
Although Scott’s head was severed, the blood flowing out from the wound acted like a rope, tethering his head back to his neck. This was one of his abilities, Blood Manipulation.
"Watch out! It's an ambush!" he shouted.
Using his blood as a tether, he rotated his head to survey the surroundings. To his horror, the entire jungle was riddled with these silver threads. Each thread was attached at both ends to an extremely tiny bubble. They looked like miniature meteor hammers, and the most terrifying thing about them was that they could move.
Before he could think of a way to counter them, a silver thread stretched between two bubbles shot through his blind spot and severed one of his arms. He had no choice but to reconnect it with blood, but with the nerves cut, the arm would remain useless until he properly reattached it.
Countless silver threads shifted along with the moving bubbles, launching attacks from every conceivable angle. They gave Scott and Nightblade no chance to catch their breath.
Scott was gradually sliced into dozens of pieces. Were it not for his ability to manipulate blood, he would have already bled to death. "What kind of ridiculous ability is this? Where's the enemy?"
In contrast, Nightblade used his dual blades and fended off nearly every silver thread with flawless precision. His weapons were clearly no ordinary blades, but supernatural weapons. He could sever the threads with a single swing.
High above, Yu Xian calmly watched the two. He did not believe they were really struggling. His reasoning was simple. They had come for either the Perfect Lifeform, the Wickedness Purging Squad, or possibly both.
The commotion Gong Qian caused had been impossible to miss. There was no reason for these people to misjudge their opponents' strength. Since they had chosen to come anyway, they were definitely confident in their chances of victory. If a simple trick like this were enough to stop them, they would have never come here at all.
Working with the assumption that both men were stronger than himself, Yu Xian had no intention of confronting them head-on. Combat was not a contest of levels, nor was it a comparison of raw statistics. It was a test of adaptability, split-second judgment, and tactical wit.
Scott and Nightblade realized that the hidden enemy had no intention of taking the bait. The two exchanged a glance before Nightblade took the lead and charged forward.
Scott's decapitation had been real. The first attack had come too suddenly for him to avoid. However, he had staged the second blow, in which his arm appeared to be severed. Throughout Yu Xian's relentless assault, Scott had chosen to absorb certain attacks that looked fatal but would cause him little harm.
Under normal circumstances, after forcing them into such a disadvantageous position, their attacker should have come out to question them or investigate their affiliation. Yet, the attacker remained hidden in the shadows.
Since their first plan had failed, Scott and Nightblade switched to a straightforward strategy. They were going to attack what the enemy wanted to protect. It was obvious that their opponent did not want them approaching the battlefield where the Perfect Lifeform was. Therefore, if they simply threw caution to the wind and charged straight ahead, they would force the enemy to come out of hiding.
Nightblade's dual blades moved so quickly that they formed an impenetrable wall. He passed in a straight line, cutting down everything standing in his way, be it silver threads or trees, into two.
Using Nightblade as cover, Scott pressed his severed hand back against the stump. Blood flowed between the two like glue, binding them together. Within seconds, the coagulated blood had repaired the injuries across his body, leaving behind only blood-red scars.
He retrieved an arrow from his spatial ring and grimaced. "Damn it. To think I have to waste a Wolf-rank treasure on this."
He smeared his blood onto the arrowhead and tossed it into the air. The arrow immediately shot skyward, and he looked up. "The enemy is in the air."
The moment the words left his mouth, the arrow abruptly vanished into thin air. A split second later, as Scott took a step forward, his trailing foot lifted but not yet planted, the arrow burst out from the ground beneath him and pierced straight through his foot. Scott let out a bloodcurdling scream as the arrow carried him upward, leaving him hanging upside down while rapidly flying toward Yu Xian.
If a spatial ability user properly mastered their abilities, then even if they could not defeat opponents above their level, they could at least ensure their opponent couldn't defeat them.
After enhancing his eyesight with Silver Blood, Yu Xian had been observing the two from high above. He could see every movement they made. Scott's little trick had never escaped his notice. The moment he saw the arrow, he directed a hidden bubble beneath the ground to move toward Scott. Then, using another bubble, he intercepted the arrow and teleported it directly beneath Scott's foot.
In theory, he could redirect any attack he could react to. Only attacks that vastly exceeded his reaction speed posed a genuine threat to him. Some of the Perfect Lifeform's attacks were examples of that. They were so fast that he could not react at all. His bubbles would be destroyed instantly, leaving him with zero window to execute a countermeasure.
Compared to the Perfect Lifeform, Scott was simply too slow. Yu Xian could redirect every one of his attacks with ease.
Seeing Scott injured by his own attack, Nightblade cursed inwardly. Trash!
Nevertheless, he spun around, leaped into the air, and severed the arrowhead with his blades. After landing, he swiftly cut through the encroaching silver threads, buying Scott time to treat his injuries.
Scott pulled the arrow shaft from his foot, kicked off his shoe, and hurriedly blasted the wound with medical spray. Then he took out a fresh pair of shoes and put them on.
The entire process took only four to six seconds. The two of them resumed their breakthrough without a word, moving with perfect coordination.
Their teamwork was not the result of frequent cooperation or long familiarity. Rather, their extensive combat experience granted them an identical read on the battlefield. It was a silent, tacit understanding. At this point, both men knew that their enemy was somewhere in the sky, but the problem was that neither of them could fly.
Among supernatural beings, flight was neither particularly rare nor especially common. Roughly thirty percent of them could fly through their powers. Another twenty percent could achieve flight by combining their abilities with technology or by riding flying companions. The rest were limited to staying on the ground.
Scott and Nightblade both possessed the capability to combat an airborne opponent, but without the ability to fly, their margin for error was extremely small. As they ran, they continuously searched for an opportunity to strike back.
When that opportunity came, their counterattack would have to be fast, precise, and decisive. Otherwise, there was every chance that their attack would be redirected back at them. Scott's wounded foot was proof of that.