Chapter 415: Chapter 31: Speed
All eyes were on Su Xiao, but he ignored them, focusing intently on Sloth・Sloth.
Despite his dull appearance, Sloth is the fastest homunculi among them all.
Each homunculi has its own specialty: Lust with the Spear of the Strongest, Greed with the Shield of the Strongest, Gluttony with the Devouring Mouth, and Envy with the huge body.
Su Xiao has faced all these enemies, or rather, after entering the Derivative World, he has done little else but hunt homunculi.
Other Contractors have similar ideas, but they couldn’t match Su Xiao’s speed.
Landing steadily, Su Xiao took off his shirt, baring his upper body.
At this moment, several metal ring locks were strapped to Su Xiao’s arms, bought from Reincarnation Paradise. They were heavy, meant to train the strength of his arms.
Due to the recent lack of battle, Su Xiao had put them on, to better control his power, making his cleaves more precise in critical moments.
"Bu Bu, buy me ten seconds."
Click, click, Su Xiao began removing the metal ring locks from his arms.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang charged at Sloth・Sloth. It often fought alongside Su Xiao; though not involved in frontal combat, it had learned a few tricks, such as drawing enemy attention.
Bubu Wang started circling Sloth, who looked at Bubute Ni in confusion.
"Woof woof (meaning grandson in Dog Language)."
Clang, clang...
The heavy metal ring locks from Su Xiao’s arms hit the ground with a dull thud.
Su Xiao moved his arms, feeling quite refreshed from suddenly removing the weights.
Dragon Slash appeared in his hand, with Blue Steel Shadow ramped up to maximum.
"Isn’t this guy supposed to be the Flame Alchemist? Why would he fight a monster like this with bare hands instead of bombs? Is he suicidal?"
Olivier was puzzled, but she soon noticed that Su Xiao’s stance with the sword and his forward steps seemed more professional than her own.
"Gotta work, can’t sleep, such a hassle."
Sloth had no war intent; his purpose was to dig tunnels.
"Lazy."
Hearing Su Xiao’s call, Sloth turned his head.
"Do you recognize me?"
"Of course, I recognize you."
"Human... you reek of Envy and Gluttony’s blood, enemy, revenge."
Although he appeared sluggish, Sloth’s perception was sharp, immediately noticing that Su Xiao had killed Envy and Gluttony.
"Envy was a brother, must avenge!"
The muscles on Sloth’s body gradually tensed as he slowly walked toward Su Xiao.
Su Xiao walked towards Sloth as well; in a one-on-one situation, he had no fears against other homunculi, except for Wrath.
The distance closed, and Edward frowned from afar.
"Hey, that guy has the Undead body. Even if injured..."
A bright sword light flashed by, leaving a pale blue arc in mid-air.
Thud!
Blood gushed out violently, with blood beads scattering in the air.
"Hm?"
Su Xiao turned his head to look at the protagonist Edward, who seemed to have said something earlier.
"How is this possible... What is this speed?"
Su Xiao’s lightning-fast slash shocked everyone present, more importantly, a body that cannonballs couldn’t harm was as easy to cut as tofu under his blade.
The numerous passive skills mastered by Su Xiao, combined with the sharpness of Dragon Slash, were evident. Defensive power and armor were mere decorations in front of him.
Sloth looked at his severed arm; he had the chance to dodge that slash but hesitated for a moment because evading was such a hassle.
Each homunculus has its own flaws, some not very significant, but Sloth’s lazy nature was lethal.
The thick arm turned to ash on the ground, Sloth’s regeneration wasn’t fast, but it wasn’t slow either; within seconds, his arm regenerated.
"Get serious? Getting serious is a hassle, but I need revenge and to dig tunnels, such a bother."
Sloth’s aura changed, with red light emitting from his single eye.
Su Xiao’s breathing slowed, if Sloth’s threat level to him was 5 earlier, it was now 50.
"Vice Admiral, what should we do?"
Olivier’s subordinate spoke up.
"Don’t rush, let’s see what happens."
The battle continued, this time Su Xiao didn’t charge forward; he was constantly ready to dodge.
The ground under Sloth caved in.
Bang!
Sloth shot forward like a cannonball, turning into a blur in everyone’s vision.
Su Xiao swiftly sidestepped, a gust of wind brushing past him, causing his short black hair to flutter and his eyes to instinctively squint, showing a few blood marks on his arm.
Fast, unimaginably fast.
Though Sloth had a massive body, when he reached full speed, he moved like a blur.
Among the homunculi, Sloth is the fastest, despite embodying laziness.
Sloth had only one move: ramming forward at full speed.
Boom!
Sloth crashed into the wall behind Su Xiao, creating a huge dent in the steel wall, his head bent out of shape.
Sloth was moving so fast that even he couldn’t control it; unless he crashed into something, he couldn’t stop.
The dust enveloped Sloth, and a few seconds later, he emerged with red lightning flickering on his head.
"How do you deal with such a monster?"
Edward seemed a bit eager to help; although Su Xiao wasn’t his ally, the homunculi were a common enemy.
"Brother, should we help?"
"Yeah, we should go."
"But... how can we help? I can’t even track that guy’s movements."
Younger Brother Alphonse’s words rendered Edward speechless. Indeed, how could they help when Sloth was too fast, they might only hinder.
Chi～.
Boundary Line was released by Su Xiao, setting up a barrier in front of him. Upon closer inspection, you could see intersecting blue lines in front of him.
Once Sloth’s body fully recovered, he looked towards Su Xiao.
With a rumble, large cracks appeared under Sloth’s feet.
Sloth instantly turned into a shadow, ramming towards Su Xiao; he hit the Boundary Line before reaching him.
Screech～.
A grating noise echoed, Sloth’s body was hard, making it difficult to cut with the Boundary Line, with a risk of snapping at any moment.
Realizing this, Su Xiao augmented the Boundary Line with Blue Steel Shadow.
Thud, Sloth pushed through the Boundary Line, his body sliced into a dozen pieces.
Normally, Sloth would have lost all attack capabilities, but that wasn’t the case; his segmented body rapidly flew towards Su Xiao.
A head smashed directly towards Su Xiao; it was too late to dodge.
A transparent shield appeared around Su Xiao, with the massive head crashing against it first.
With a shatter, the shield broke, and the head continued towards Su Xiao, but his blade had already slashed at it.
Clang.
The head was split in two, flying past his sides.
Large pieces of the mangled body scattered around Su Xiao, with blood gradually soaking into the ground.
"Was he killed? This guy is a monster, no, even stronger than a monster."
Olivier’s face was grim; she had actually let someone like this stay in the fortress for days, under the watch of only a dozen soldiers.
Of course, Sloth・Sloth wouldn’t die so easily, but death wasn’t far off; with this extent of injury, Sloth wouldn’t have many recoveries left, maybe just a few more times.
Flicking the blood from Dragon Slash, Su Xiao looked at Sloth’s scattered body on the ground.