"Take this! Third bomb! Dust for losers!"
The distance between the two was only a couple of meters, and Egyptian Beauty had no intention of escaping the blast range. When the explosive flew towards Chengtailang, he pressed the detonator directly.
At this point, even if Chengtailang gave it his all to activate Sianweistan, it was futile. The speed of the explosive’s fire and shockwave was impossible to outrun; he could only watch as the slow-motion-like shockwave and flames engulfed him, followed closely by Egyptian Beauty.
Although the explosive’s yield wasn’t large, only slightly stronger than a grenade, it was more than enough to cover Egyptian Beauty. As he was swept by the flames, his blood-covered face, like a wrongful ghost, bore a cunning smile of success, yet he still shielded his head with his arms.
Fortunately, the crowd had long since left the scene, and the explosion was unlikely to harm any innocents; only Sazaki nearby was distracted by the sound and quickly took a cut from each of the two players still entangling him.
Both sides had run out of bullets, leading into Sazaki’s specialty of close combat, but the pain from his injuries left him feeling overwhelmed against this group of players.
Initially, he thought these people were pretty weak—much weaker than the last group he encountered—and couldn’t compare to the one who challenged him alone, but their relentless disregard for life was the same.
Wounded, Sazaki wielded his sword for a fierce horizontal slash, severing the neck of the Great Britain Sword Saint. However, Li Sanguang immediately followed up by stabbing him in the lower back with a dagger from the side. This bastard had already lost a hand from Sazaki’s attack, yet a normal person with some resistance would have fainted long ago. Instead, this lunatic charged like a mad dog, shouting nonsensical slogans while stabbing him.
Sazaki, in a backhand move, severed the last hand holding the sword hilt. He then used a diagonal kesa-giri slash to slice him open from the right shoulder to the abdomen, causing a torrent of steaming red liquid to burst forth. Li Sanguang was done for as well, with the three pursuing players collectively dead, the final blow being the highest damage dealt to him.
Exhausted, his legs weakened, threatening to kneel, but he quickly used his sword to support himself. His body bore two gunshot wounds and seven or eight light sword injuries, and the seeping blood soaked him as if he were made of blood; if it weren’t for the severe nerve burn last time preventing him from using Sianweistan now, he wouldn’t be in such distress.
Yet both within the explosion clung to life like cockroaches, not dead yet but still struggling.
Blasted several meters by the shockwave, Chengtailang rolled to the edge of the subway station entrance. He had been blown into an unrecognizable state, with ribs lodged into his lungs. Only the subcutaneous armor kept him barely alive.
But his tenacious survival instinct still drove him to strive for life; the higher the status, the more those who did evil feared death, and Zhengfa Chengtailang was no exception.
He could vaguely hear the sound of the subway starting in the stairway.
"That place... Uh... That place... As long as I can get on the subway... As long as I can return to my territory..."
At this moment, no other thoughts occupied his mind, only the instinct ingrained in his genes to survive. Even if it meant kneeling to lick Huang Ban’s shoes, becoming a dog for someone, even becoming a red stone, he had to survive.
Despite the agony piercing through him with every inch he crawled, his face, chest, and limbs were all deeply wounded to the bone, Chengtailang still persisted, inching towards the stairway, leaving a long trail of blood behind.
Just as he was about to touch the down escalator, a foot stepped on his hand.
"The subway’s already full."
Egyptian Beauty’s condition was no better than his opponent’s, perhaps even worse.
The facial skin had been charred and dried by flames, revealing white bone beneath, and with each word spoken, charred flesh fell away, exposing fresh red tissue webbed with nerves and the tongue underneath.
The right arm prosthetic was blast-off, left hanging by some soft tissue, while the left arm had lost all skin and flesh, leaving only the metallic prosthetic, gripping a throwing knife.
"But I know a place where there’s still a ticket; I’ll send you down there."
As he said, in Chengtailang’s eyes, Egyptian Beauty looked just like a demon crawling out of the fiery pits of hell.
"Remember not to reincarnate as a person in your next life."
With those words, he threw the knife, intending to take the last bit of HP from this boss.
A bloody long sword pierced his chest, claiming Egyptian Beauty’s life; the final scene he saw before logging off was the throwing knife’s hilt striking Chengtailang on the head.
"Damn... If I had known, I wouldn’t have shown off."
Sazaki yanked out the Samurai Sword and rushed forward to support Chengtailang. Although aware the chance of survival was slim, he still said,
"Aniki, hold on, we’ll escape soon. I’ll take you to the best prosthetics doctor in Kabukicho for treatment."
Chengtailang had never seen the people around him look so comfortable before; though they have blind loyalty, in the end, it was these people he could rely on.
Sazaki’s head shattered like fireworks in the summer night sky.
Before his body unbalanced and plunged towards the bottom of the subway stairs, Chengtailang could faintly hear voices behind him
"Hey, Mann, you went too far. At least let them finish talking."
"Such a ruthless killing machine."