Yukidaseki Tanxi’s mind was racing, and in 0.6 seconds, the verification was complete. Stiyl vanished from where he stood, and when he reappeared, he was just 2 ters in front of Su Xiao!
Such a coordination was nothing short of a nightmare for Stiyl. Previously, there was the ’King of Witch Hunting’ between him and Su Xiao as a barrier. Moreover, the area where he was before had been heavily laden with magic traps, making it difficult for Su Xiao to approach him easily.
But now, Stiyl appeared undefended under Su Xiao’s blade, the long knife just ten centiters from his throat.
The long knife sliced through, leaving a streak of light blue Blue Steel Shadow energy trailing in the air.
Thud!
Blood spurted at least three ters high, and Stiyl’s head flew off, his face full of disbelief. Neither the ’King of Witch Hunting’ nor the nurous magic traps he set had any effect.
If it were a direct confrontation, even if Stiyl wasn’t a match for Su Xiao, he could still exchange a few rounds with him. Considering Su Xiao’s current state of unhealed injuries, killing the opponent would have required so sacrifice. However, with only a cursory understanding of Superpowers, Stiyl died under the combination of Spatial Ability and Su Xiao’s Sword Technique, leaving him utterly bewildered by his death.
Is that really the case? Certainly not. Before actual combat took place, Su Xiao and Yukidaseki Tanxi went through multiple attempts and negotiations. Whether it was the distance of spatial movent, the position, the timing and trajectory of the cleave, all had been rehearsed many tis to achieve the current effect.
Now, in actual battle, Su Xiao used just one slash to behead this genius magician affiliated with the British Puritanism’s Special Forces and the Church of Necessary Evil.
[You have killed Stiyl Magnus]
[Stiyl Magnus is a major mber of British Puritanism, gaining 3.2% of World Source, now totaling 8.8% of World Source.]
[Your Talent ’Soul Eater’ is activated, permanently increasing Mana Value by 30 points. The current maximum Mana Value is 3176 points.]
[You have obtained a Magician’s Rune Card - Dark Purple (Magician’s Rune Card: Treasure Chest item).]
...
The reward for killing Stiyl was not overly generous. Su Xiao had anticipated this, not because Stiyl’s strength was not formidable enough, but because during the process of killing him, Yukidaseki Tanxi played a crucial role.
A long ti ago, Su Xiao discovered that when killing enemies alongside plot characters, the rewards would shrink sowhat. How much they shrank depended on the plot character’s identity, strength, and the role they played in the battle. After many factors were combined, Su Xiao’s combat contribution was assessed to determine the final benefits: maximum target kill profit - many factors of the plot character Su Xiao’s combat contribution = final gains.
The increase in Mana Value from Su Xiao’s Talent Ability Soul Eater is unaffected by these factors.
With a thud, Stiyl’s head hit the ground.
"Stiyl!!"
A piercing scream ca from inside the warehouse. No, this could no longer be described as a scream; it was a wail of despair.
The ’King of Witch Hunting’ charging aggressively at Su Xiao halted on the spot and quickly disintegrated, and the flas produced by Stiyl’s magic all dissipated.
Su Xiao gave a slight flick of his long knife, the blood splattering to the ground, forming a spray-shaped arc. He looked into the warehouse and saw ’Saint Kamijou Touma,’ with eyes full of tears, kneeling inside, her gaze sowhat vacant.
Su Xiao stared fixedly at ’Saint Kamijou Touma,’ his brows furrowing. Beside him, Yukidaseki Tanxi didn’t imdiately use Spatial Ability; she was aware of Saint Kamijou Touma’s Close Combat Ability.
"Shall we continue?"
"Wait."
Su Xiao walked towards the interior of the warehouse, where ’Saint Kamijou Touma’ was kneeling on the ground, not even looking at Su Xiao. Her sword was discarded by her side.
Seeing this scene, Su Xiao felt sothing was amiss. Even if Stiyl had died in battle, Saint Kamijou Touma would not be so undone. After battling with Saint Kamijou Touma, he had so understanding of that woman. Though kind, she was not pedantic, and her will was strong. At their initial eting, even his Release of Breath Ability couldn’t deter her.
With Saint Kamijou Touma’s character, even if Stiyl died in battle, she wouldn’t kneel on the ground crying, throwing down her sword in the face of a strong enemy. This is not sothing a swordsman would do.
"Who are you, and where is Saint Kamijou Touma?"
Su Xiao flashed forward, Dragon Slash already at ’Saint Kamijou Touma’s’ throat. Upon closer proximity, he realized this woman rely shared the sa appearance and attire as Saint Kamijou Touma but had a completely different aura.
"You will die a terrible death..."
The fake Kamijou Touma lifted her head, her tear-filled eyes staring at Su Xiao.
Su Xiao squinted his eyes. After figuring sothing out, he swung his long knife, slitting the fake Kamijou Touma’s throat, who a few seconds later, changed into the form of an unfamiliar woman as she lay on the ground.
[You have killed Sylvia Rockefeller.]
[Sylvia Rockefeller was an ordinary mber of the English Puritanism, gaining 0.23% World Source...]
...
As it turns out, this woman wasn’t Kamijou Touma, and she was relatively weak. After killing her, Su Xiao gained only a small amount of World Source and Mana Value, with no treasure chest items at all. This woman’s heart was not strong enough; after Stiyl died, she completely collapsed, even losing her fighting spirit. Judging by her age, she was probably Stiyl’s admirer, the type who was madly in love. But Su Xiao also considered another possibility: perhaps she knew she was destined to die today, that this was her mission, and the crying and hatred were all part of an act.
The heavily injured Kamijou Touma was nowhere to be found, leaving the situation shrouded in mystery. Su Xiao sat on a wooden crate in the warehouse, lit a cigarette, and quietly pondered.
After a long while, Su Xiao figured everything out.
"That old fox, leaving all the thinking to the life support device? Nonsense."
The "old fox" Su Xiao referred to was Aleister. In this affair, Aleister was the beneficiary. Of course, Su Xiao also gained significantly, laying the groundwork for completing the third-tier promotion task.
He now understood the entire situation. Previously, Aleister had directed him to deal with Kamijou Touma, with the genuine intent of eliminating Kamijou Touma. However, even if Kamijou Touma didn’t die, Alex could still accept it as long as the opponent no longer caused chaos within Academy City.
After Su Xiao severely injured Kamijou Touma, the English Puritanism received the news. Archbishop Lola Stuart and Aleister negotiated a second ti; Lola Stuart was a female fox.
Under the circumstances at the ti, the negotiations were considered successful. The Forbidden Book List was temporarily held by the Science Side—a compromise made by Lola Stuart out of necessity.
Comparatively, the Forbidden Book List, with its multiple layers of protection ensuring it wouldn’t be stolen by outsiders, was less important than the life of the living weapon that was Kamijou Touma, who was on the Magic Side and was a ’nuclear bomb level’ force. Such a useful chess piece couldn’t just die in Academy City; otherwise, Lola Stuart wouldn’t even have tears to cry.
Therefore, Aleister allowed the English Puritanism mbers to forcibly take the ’severely injured and unconscious’ Kamijou Touma away as the price for invading Academy City. The genius magician Stiyl beca a sacrificial pawn, abandoned.
Upon seeing the fake Kamijou Touma kneeling and crying bitterly, Su Xiao sensed sothing was off. The opponent cried so sorrowfully it seed fake and did not resist at all.
It was clear that Stiyl was unwilling to accept the English Puritanism’s retreat order, temporarily abandoning Indexa and leaving Academy City, showing no understanding of a loser’s temperant. Thus, Lola Stuart decisively abandoned him and temporarily assigned a magic spy to pose as Kamijou Touma, preserving the strength of the Magic Side while maintaining face for the Science Side. Thus, the two sides wouldn’t completely break apart over this incident.
The power struggles between factions are just so cruel and ruthless; anyone who doesn’t comply is abandoned. The role Su Xiao played was about to beco that of a ’scriptwriter’.
Su Xiao took out the communication device to contact Aleister.
"Aleister, Kamijou Touma has been dealt with by ."
"Oh? Wasn’t that just a magic spy?"
"In a certain sense, this was Kamijou Touma."
Upon hearing Su Xiao’s words, Aleister, in the Windowless Building, slightly smiled, showing a hint of delight.
"Perhaps that is the case, then this matter is concluded. As long as you don’t interfere with my core plans, you are free to operate within Academy City. I’ve inford Tsuchimikado Motoharu; he’s waiting for your ssage at any ti."
The call ended, and Su Xiao took a deep breath of relief. He had successfully laid the best groundwork for the third-tier promotion task.
"That old fox."
Su Xiao repeated ’old fox’ again. If he hadn’t adamantly declared Kamijou Touma ’dead’, Aleister could have cited mission failure as a reason to assign him another task. As for Su Xiao’s previous statent of ’unconditionally assisting Aleister during the codex retrieval’, that was entirely nonsense. Even Aleister didn’t believe it, and neither did Su Xiao. He wasn’t there to ’do the hard work’ for Aleister. He was rely acting in pursuit of freedom of movent and to et the multifaceted spy Tsuchimikado Motoharu.
"Now, it’s ti to get down to business."
Su Xiao walked out of the warehouse, with Bubu Wang closely following. As for Yukidaseki Tanxi, she was already walking in another direction, humming a tune. As always, apart from Aleister’s mission, Yukidaseki Tanxi wouldn’t act with Su Xiao. It’s laughable to think anyone believed that just the aura alone could make people submit, especially rebellious girls like Yukidaseki Tanxi.
As for capturing her heart, if Su Xiao heard this, he’d laugh out loud. A ntally sound girl with an independent mind and will wouldn’t have her heart captured by squeezing into a car once or twice or after a few collaborations. It doesn’t take a genius to know that’s the treatnt reserved for hot-blooded manga protagonists. For a brutal villain like Su Xiao, even after a hundred collaborations, Yukidaseki Tanxi wouldn’t fall for him, instead becoming more wary.
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