158: Cleverly Killing a Dead Deer

"Get out of the way!"

Xie Ning shouted, and the two of them dodged to the left and right. Ice Blade Woman and Little Mantis exploded with full power to entangle Withered Deer. Xie Ning flew to a spot about ten meters away, took out a corpse from his storage stone, and pressed its palm against it.

With a 'click,' the wall split open vertically, revealing a massive, operating black-and-red Shredder. Densely packed blade wheels looked ready to tear everything apart, with various bits of rotten meat and organs hanging on the edges. An unspeakable stench wafted out, nearly making Xie Ning faint from the smell.

Withered Deer also noticed the movement on Xie Ning's side, his expression showing some surprise: "It seems you are quite familiar with our base."

The first word of his voice was still twenty meters away, but by the time he finished speaking, a massive shadow loomed behind Xie Ning, and a spear-wind swept in.

Xie Ning didn't have time to think and lunged to the side. With a 'pfft,' his back was sliced open, leaving a trail of blood, but he managed to avoid the fate of being swept into the Shredder by the spear-wind.

Ice Blade Woman and Little Mantis rushed forward again, engaging Withered Deer in battle. Xie Ning refused to be outdone, striking Withered Deer with gray mixed flames. Occasionally, he could blow apart pieces of the Goat Armor covering the enemy, but they were quickly replaced by new ones.

As the fight continued, Little Mantis's Aura suddenly jolted. In the midst of this high-intensity battle, it had once again triggered its potential, becoming faster and its attacks sharper.

【Ding! Rift Blade War Mantis has triggered its potential during battle. Reward: intermediate energy potion *2】

In a three-on-one fight, the potential-triggered Little Mantis replaced Ice Blade Woman as the main combatant, with Ice Blade Woman assisting and Xie Ning's gray flames providing support. Dodging Spear-glows and gray mist while maneuvering left and right, they unleashed blade-light and sword-shadows, locking the combatants in an inseparable struggle.

Time passed minute by minute... more and more guards arrived, and the situation became increasingly dire.

Finally, amidst the chaotic battle, Xie Ning found an opening and thrust his long sword toward Withered Deer's head. If it hit, death was certain.

Withered Deer freed a hand while parrying, firmly grasping the changhong sword, and let out a contemptuous smile.

Xie Ning also smiled, putting all his strength into a kick. Accompanied by flames, it struck Withered Deer's lower vital point. A 'pop' sound was heard, like an egg being crushed.

Withered Deer's eyes bulged, his expression froze, then sweat broke out on his forehead. Finally, his face contorted in agony as he clamped his legs together and looked at Xie Ning with venomous hatred.

Boom!

An even more terrifying Aura exploded from him, sending Ice Blade Woman and Little Mantis flying dozens of meters. They smashed through walls and were embedded into the ground.

Xie Ning was not blown away; Withered Deer's large hand, covered in an exoskeleton, grabbed his neck first and slammed him heavily onto the ground.

Bang!

The entire Experimental Base shuddered from the impact.

Xie Ning's vision went black, and double vision appeared before him. He nearly passed out from the loss of breath.

"Shameless bastard! You dare ruin me!" Withered Deer's voice cracked from the pain. He screamed hoarsely, looking at Xie Ning with pure malice, and raised a foot for an explosive kick, "Go and be crushed!"

Behind Xie Ning was the massive Shredder he had opened earlier. If he were pulled in, there would be no whole corpse left.

Watching the leg get closer and closer, Xie Ning shouted: "White Fang!"

As the words fell, Withered Deer's movements abruptly stopped. He clutched his head in agony and froze in place—this was the Mental Backlash caused by the death of his Demon Tamers Beast.

The next second, Little Mantis appeared, kicking Withered Deer's back with all its might, sending him into the Shredder.

"Die with me!" Withered Deer's exoskeleton kept growing to delay being shredded, while he reached out and grabbed Xie Ning's ankle, attempting to pull Xie Ning into the Shredder with him.

"I'm not into that, play by yourself!"

With that, flames ignited on Xie Ning's body, and he vanished without a trace.

"Ah!!!"

The massive Shredder was used by the Experimental Base to destroy failed products. Its sharp, keen blades could easily shred Gold Rank Yao Beasts. No one expected that one day, it would get to shred a powerhouse of the base.

Reappearing outside the Shredder, Xie Ning watched as Withered Deer was cut into countless pieces of meat by the blade wheels, dying as thoroughly as possible. Only then did Xie Ning slowly turn around to face the surrounding guards. There were dozens, nearly a hundred of them, yet none dared to take a step closer.

"Withered Deer is dead, and the Demon Cat is injured. Who else wants to come forward?" Xie Ning held his long sword. Although he was heavily injured, covered in blood, and his Qi was unstable, his Aura scared the guards so much that their faces turned pale and their lips blue, causing them to tremble.

The guards looked at each other and finally dropped their weapons, being carried away by their Demon Tamers Beasts as they fled into the distance.

Once they were far away, White Fang arrived carrying the corpse of the Flame Deer in its mouth. Little Mantis's body swayed, and it collapsed to the side; Xie Ning quickly supported it.

Looking closely, he realized Little Mantis had reached its limit. Its armor was broken and seeping blood, and its blade-arms were covered in cracks.

It made sense. After two high-intensity battles with its Talent fully active, enduring fights across two major Ranks, its body had been overextended to the limit.

Moreover, after triggering its potential twice in a row, its body struggled to adapt. Now that the battle was over and its spirit relaxed, it could no longer support itself.

Xie Ning quickly fed Little Mantis two intermediate energy potions. Seeing it still struggling to stand, he stroked its head and said softly:

"Go back and sleep. The big boss is dead. Leave the remaining small fry for White Fang to practice on. I'll call you if I can't handle them."

"Awoo, awoo!" White Fang scratched its claws on the ground.

Xie Ning ignored White Fang's protest and recalled Little Mantis. He looked back at the slowly closing massive Shredder, still feeling a lingering fear as he recalled the battle.

Speaking of which, if not for the Shredder being here, combined with the Fire Shadow ability, Little Mantis's support, and the Mental Backlash from White Fang killing the Flame Deer, the outcome of this battle would have been completely different.

The danger of this battle was no less than any previous one.

At least, when Ice Blade Woman just crawled out and saw Little Mantis kick Withered Deer into the Shredder and Xie Ning's words scare off the guards, her reaction was one of pure shock.

A Gold-rank Demon Tamer died just like that?

Killed by a Bronze Rank?

What is wrong with this world?

Am I too weak?

"Why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face?" Xie Ning glanced at Ice Blade Woman.

Ice Blade Woman nodded: "Yes, the word 'freak'. I'm afraid no one would believe it if this battle result were told."

A Bronze Rank killing a Gold Rank while injured—how could he not be a freak?

"I'll take that as a compliment," Xie Ning said, reflecting on the two Gold Rank battles. After a moment, he added, "Don't be deceived by appearances. There were too many lucky factors in winning this fight. If we did it again, we would be the ones dead."

It was unclear whether these words were for Ice Blade Woman or a self-warning.

Ice Blade Woman nodded, then checked the time. Her face changed instantly as she cried out, "Oh no! There's less than 2 minutes left on the bomb!"

After she spoke, the two of them widened their eyes. Ignoring any gender boundaries, they flipped onto White Fang's back and, under Ice Blade Woman's guidance, rushed toward the exit.

Halfway there, Xie Ning felt like he had forgotten something.

Three seconds later... "Driver, stop! I left something behind!"