CHAPTER 392: CHAPTER 8: THE TERRIFYING TRUE DAMAGE

Lust shortened the sharp blade formed by her fingers, stabbing the tip towards the Boundary Line.

Lust couldn’t sever the Boundary Line, but she could pierce through it; the Spear of the Strongest was not just a name.

Zzz—.

Su Xiao retracted the Boundary Line, knowing it might be pierced through.

Though Lust missed, she regained her freedom.

Once free, Lust turned and fled, not even glancing back.

Su Xiao couldn’t use an Alchemy Bomb now; leaving traces would be troublesome, so he straightened up and followed.

Lust wasn’t fast, and before getting far, Su Xiao slashed her back.

The blade cut through muscle and simultaneously severed Lust’s spine.

Even though Lust was a homunculus, losing her spine meant she couldn’t move.

With a thud, she fell to the ground, her face covered in blood as she looked at Su Xiao.

"Why, your aura is unfamiliar, we’ve never met."

Su Xiao didn’t speak, only walking slowly towards Lust.

Lust’s face turned pale; in her century-long life, it was the first time she met such a terrifying enemy.

Cold, ferocious, reticent.

"You forced me to do this."

Lust pressed both hands to the ground.

"Piercing Punishment."

A hissing sound came from beneath, Su Xiao’s advance paused, a sense of crisis emerging.

Boom!

A swarm of black spikes burst through the earth, at least a hundred, covering the entire church, turning it into a Thorn Hell.

Each spike was three meters long, and they were all from the Spear of the Strongest. If directly pierced, Su Xiao would be dead.

A pool of blood remained where Lust had been, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Expressionless, Su Xiao hung in midair in the church, left arm raised. He had wrapped the Boundary Line around the ceiling to retract and evade Lust’s attack.

Closing his eyes to sense, Lust fled westward.

Su Xiao swung forward and back in mid-air, releasing the Boundary Line after a few swings, landing at the church’s entrance.

Leaving the church, Su Xiao disappeared into the night.

...

In a dark alley, Lust stumbled forward, leaving a trail of blood. The Philosopher’s Stone’s energy was low; if it ran out, she’d be dead.

Ahead of Lust came rapid and heavy footsteps, and a rotund bald little fatty appeared at the opposite end of the alley.

The little fatty’s appearance was somewhat foolish, his baldness making his shape look rounder.

"What’s wrong, Lust."

The little fatty was named Gratney, representing Gluttony.

"Gratney, run."

Lust knelt on the ground, her long black wavy hair stained with blood.

"Eh?"

Though a bit confused, Gratney wanted to protect Lust.

Among the homunculi representing the Seven Sins, Gratney (Gluttony) and Lust had the best relationship, often acting together.

Gratney liked to devour all visible creatures, but before eating, he would always ask, "Can I eat it, Lust."

If Lust answered yes, Gluttony Gratney would pounce immediately. If the answer was no, Gratney would hold his thumb in and restrain himself.

"Lust, I’ll help you."

Gratney quickly ran forward.

"Don’t come, it’s a trap. A monster is coming; run!"

Lust shouted desperately.

Su Xiao walked out from the shadows behind Lust, Dragon Slash in his hand coursing with blue arc.

The long knife came down, Lust’s head flew off, and simultaneously a crisp click came from within her, the Philosopher’s Stone shattered.

Su Xiao had activated Blue Steel Shadow for ten minutes, triggering the Magical Power Explosion Effect.

Notice: If the Hunter activates (Blue Steel Shadow), consuming 30 Mana points per minute, the Blue Steel Shadow energy will reach its peak. After maintaining this peak for 10 minutes, the Hunter will trigger the Magical Power Explosion Effect, causing the next attack to deal True Damage of 60% of the enemy’s consumed Mana. (For example, if the enemy has consumed 100 Mana, it will inflict 60 True Damage.)

Reminder: Magical Power Explosion has a 48-hour cooldown.

Lust had been struck by many of Su Xiao’s blades, each burning 50 Mana points. Even if her Mana were over a thousand, it would have been completely depleted.

Lust’s Mana wasn’t over a thousand; she had 320 points plus 360 from the Philosopher’s Stone, totaling 680.

The higher the Mana, the faster the death; the Magical Power Explosion caused 408 True Damage.

Adding the basic 50 True Damage from the Blue Steel Shadow, the Philosopher’s Stone within Lust shattered.

It wasn’t exhausted but shattered, the True Damage effective on the Philosopher’s Stone.

Lust’s body convulsed for a moment, her raised arm weakly falling to the ground.

[You killed Lust]

[Lust is a key character in the plot, gaining 5.3% World Source, now totaling 6.5% World Source.]

[Your Talent ’Soul Devourer’ activated, permanently increasing Mana by 15 points, now having 929 points of Mana.]

[You obtained a Treasure Chest (Purple).]

Picking up the Treasure Chest from the ground, Su Xiao looked at Gluttony Gratney.

"Little fatty, it’s your turn."

Su Xiao approached Gluttony Gratney slowly; this guy was far more dangerous than Lust.

Lust belonged to the type with strong Attack power, but mediocre Defense and Speed.

An ordinary Contractor facing such an enemy would have a headache, but Su Xiao excelled at dealing with such foes.

For someone proficient in Combat Techniques like him, Lust was like a child wielding the ’Spear of Longinus.’

But the little fatty in front of him was different; his Attack power wasn’t strong, his Defense was unremarkable, his Recovery Power average, but he had an irresistible ability when he hit.

If struck by that ability, Su Xiao would either die or await task failure, resulting in attribute point deduction.

Gluttony Gratney is the failed product of the Little Man in the Bottle creating The Gates of Truth. Though a failure, Gratney has an infinitely large and exit-less space inside his stomach.

That space is the gap between the real world and The Gates of Truth, where the original protagonist Edward Elric was once swallowed.

Edward Elric used a method to escape, but Su Xiao could not replicate it.

Edward Elric performed Human Transmutation in that space, but he transmuted himself.

Alchemy is decomposition, reformation, and reconstruction.

In Human Transmutation, one enters The Gates of Truth, after which the Gate retransmits the Alchemist back to reality.

Edward Elric decomposed himself to achieve Human Transmutation, and upon reaching The Gates of Truth, reformed himself.

As the transmutation was on himself, no equivalent exchange was needed, so The Gates of Truth promptly sent Edward Elric back to reality.

Returning to reality, Edward Elric reconstructed himself to escape Gratney’s stomach space.

Edward Elric perfectly utilized decomposition, reformation, and reconstruction.

Su Xiao faced a rather awkward situation; he knew no Alchemy. He mastered Alchemy, which had nothing to do with Alchemy.

Alchemy is the exploration of the world, using discovered knowledge to create certain items.

Alchemy is decomposition, reformation, and reconstruction. Their literal meanings are entirely different.

Su Xiao crouched; he must not be swallowed by Gluttony Gratney; the all-attribute -10 penalty was too severe.

His Luck was already mediocre; if it became Luck -9, it would be disastrous, getting food stuck while drinking water wouldn’t be an exaggeration.