God-Tier Awakening: The Dead Can Still Level Up

Chapter 24: Kill

The leader’s shadow moved first, spreading across the snow toward Xingluo’s feet, while the assassin disappeared from her sight again and the warrior charged from the front with his axe raised.

Xingluo tightened her grip around the sword, but her breathing was already broken, and the cut on her arm still burned from the assassin’s last attack.

Shen Wuxia floated near her shoulder, his voice colder than before. "Xingluo, this is not a game anymore. If you hesitate again, you die here."

The warrior’s boots crushed through the snow, the assassin moved somewhere behind her blind spot, and the leader’s shadow twisted upward near her ankle.

"If you die here, think about what happens to your mother," Wuxia said. "No one will care why you hesitated."

Xingluo’s pupils trembled slightly, but the next instant she bit down hard on her tongue until blood spread inside her mouth.

The pain forced her scattered thoughts back into place, and when the warrior’s axe came down, she no longer retreated blindly.

She twisted her body, raised the armored part of her shoulder, and let the axe scrape across the reinforced plate instead of taking it on her sword.

The impact still drove pain through her bones, but the high-tier armor held long enough for Wuxia’s next command to reach her.

"Left rear."

Xingluo turned at once, letting the assassin’s dagger scrape across her arm guard while her sword thrust straight toward his chest.

The assassin pulled back quickly, but the blade still tore through the side of his ribs and forced blood out through his clothes.

He tried to vanish again, yet Xingluo kicked his injured leg before his skill fully activated and forced his body out of concealment.

The leader’s shadow spear shot toward her waist from the side, but Xingluo did not give up the distance she had gained.

She lowered her body, let the attack scrape across her side armor, and rushed straight toward the assassin while pain tore through her ribs.

The assassin’s face finally changed because he had expected her to hesitate again after seeing human blood.

Instead, Xingluo stepped on his wounded foot, raised her longsword with both hands, and struck down with the full weight of her body.

The first strike forced his crossed daggers down, and the second broke his guard hard enough to make one dagger fly from his hand.

Before he could retreat, Xingluo drove the sword through his chest and pushed until the blade came out from his back.

The assassin’s body jerked violently, and blood spilled from his mouth as his hand still tried to reach for the dagger near his waist.

Xingluo’s fingers trembled for half a breath, but this time she did not freeze long enough for him to use it.

She pulled the sword out with a rough motion and cut across his throat before his second hand could move.

The assassin collapsed backward into the snow, and his blood spread quickly beneath him.

The warrior stopped for a moment, clearly not expecting the girl who had hesitated earlier to kill one of them so directly.

Even the leader’s smile disappeared, and the shadow beneath his feet became sharper as his gaze moved from the assassin’s corpse back to Xingluo.

Shen Wuxia did not let the pause continue. He pushed more soul force into the bear-shaped Soul Soldier and ordered it to tear free from the shadow chains.

The Soul Soldier forced its body upward, dark soul power shaking across its form as the chains around its legs stretched and cracked.

The warrior clenched his teeth and rushed toward it, swinging his axe into its shoulder to keep it from breaking loose.

The axe sank into the dark soul body, making its outline flicker badly, but the Soul Soldier still dragged one chained leg forward.

A tearing pain spread through Shen Wuxia’s soul as he forced the connection to hold, and a system panel appeared inside his mind.

[Control Cost rising.]

[Soul Force Consumption increased.]

Xingluo saw his outline flicker from the corner of her eye, but this time she did not turn her head or lose focus.

The leader pointed toward her, and several shadow ropes rushed over the snow like black lines trying to wrap around her legs.

"Forward," Wuxia said through the strain. "Do not let him keep distance."

Xingluo rushed at once, stepping over the first shadow rope and cutting through the second before it could tighten.

The third caught her ankle, but she stabbed her sword into the ground and dragged herself forward instead of letting it pull her down.

The leader’s expression changed slightly, and he raised his other hand to form a shadow blade beside his shoulder.

Xingluo did not have enough time to dodge, so she crossed her arms and took the shadow blade against her armor.

The impact threw her back half a step, and pain burst across her chest, but the armor absorbed enough for her to keep moving.

Before the leader could cast again, she closed the distance and cut toward his wrist.

The leader pulled back, but the tip of her sword still sliced across his fingers and broke his casting rhythm.

His shadow ropes loosened for an instant, and the Soul Soldier used that instant to tear one leg free before slamming into the warrior.

The warrior was forced back with a grunt, but he quickly lowered his stance and drove his axe into the Soul Soldier’s side again.

Xingluo pressed the leader without waiting for Wuxia’s next command, her sword moving rougher and heavier than before.

There was no clean academy rhythm left in her movements, only direct strikes aimed at his hands, throat, and legs.

The leader blocked with layers of shadow, but each strike made the barrier shake, and his injured fingers slowed his casting speed.

"You crazy girl," he hissed, stepping back through the snow. "Do you even know who you are attacking?"

Xingluo spat blood from her mouth without answering and struck at his casting hand again.

The leader’s face twisted, and his shadow suddenly spread beneath both of them before Wuxia’s warning could fully leave his mouth.

Xingluo stepped back, but the shadow still caught her left leg and dragged her forward off balance.

At the same time, the warrior broke away from the Soul Soldier and swung his axe toward her exposed side.

Xingluo saw the axe coming, but she also saw the leader’s throat open for a single breath.

Instead of retreating, she twisted her body and let the axe strike the side of her armor.

The outer plate cracked, and pain tore through her body, but she used the force of the impact to push herself closer to the leader.

Her sword pierced into his abdomen.

The leader’s eyes widened as blood ran down the blade, but even then his hand still gathered shadow mana beside Xingluo’s face.

Xingluo released the sword with one hand, grabbed his injured wrist, and slammed her forehead into his nose.

A dull crack rang out as his spell scattered before it could form properly.

Wuxia’s voice came low and sharp beside her. "Finish him before he casts again."

Xingluo pulled the sword free, stepped into the leader’s guard, and drove the blade into his chest before he could recover.

The leader’s body stiffened, and his shadow lashed wildly across the snow for a few breaths before fading with his strength.

He looked at Xingluo with disbelief, as if he still could not accept that she had really dared to kill him.

Xingluo pulled the sword out and stepped back as his knees hit the snow.

The leader opened his mouth, but only blood came out before he fell face-first beside the dark remains of his own shadow mana.

Only the warrior remained after that, he looked at the assassin’s corpse, then at the leader lying dead in the snow, and the anger on his face slowly turned into fear.

The Soul Soldier turned toward him, still flickering from the damage, while Xingluo raised her bloodstained sword again.

The warrior took one step back, then suddenly turned and ran into the forest without caring about the bodies behind him.

Xingluo’s breath caught for half a moment as she watched his back move between the broken trees.

He was running away now, and he no longer looked like someone trying to kill her.

Wuxia looked at the warrior’s back and spoke without hesitation. "Do not let him leave."

If this man left, he would not forget what happened here, and if he brought others back, she would not even know when the danger arrived.

Her eyes hardened again, and she lowered her body before rushing forward through the snow.

The warrior heard her steps and turned in panic, swinging his axe backward with one hand.

Xingluo ducked under the wild swing and cut across the back of his knee, making him scream as his body crashed into the ground.

He tried to crawl forward, but Xingluo stepped onto the axe handle and pinned it beneath her boot.

"Wait," he gasped, turning his head with a pale face. "I was only following orders."

Xingluo’s sword stopped above him for a breath, and her fingers trembled once around the hilt.

The warrior saw that hesitation and immediately reached toward the dagger hidden near his boot. Xingluo’s eyes turned cold before his fingers touched the handle.

Her sword came down and pierced through the back of his neck, pinning him into the snow until his body stopped moving.

For several breaths, Xingluo stood over him without moving, her chest rising and falling violently.

The forest around her was ruined, with broken trees, torn snow, beast blood, human blood, and fading shadow mana scattered everywhere.

The Soul Soldier slowly lowered its body behind her, its outline unstable after taking too many hits.

Shen Wuxia released part of his control over it, and the pressure on his soul eased slightly, though his expression remained colder than before.

Xingluo pulled her sword out from the warrior’s body, but the blade felt heavier than it had during the entire fight.

Her arms shook, her side burned, and every injury from the bear fight returned at once now that the danger had ended.

She took two steps back before her knees finally gave out, and she sat down heavily in the snow with the sword still in her hand.

For a while, she only stared at the three bodies lying around her, then a laugh escaped from her mouth.

It was not loud, and it did not sound happy, but once it came out, she could not stop it immediately.

She laughed again while her shoulders trembled from exhaustion, pain, and the strange feeling left behind after surviving.

Shen Wuxia floated beside her without speaking.

Xingluo lowered her head, pressed one hand against her aching ribs, and forced herself to breathe deeply.

She took one breath, then another, and only after the third did her shaking fingers finally loosen around the sword.’

She took one breath, then another, and only after the third did her shaking fingers finally loosen around the sword.

Then Xingluo suddenly lowered her head and laughed again, her voice still rough from exhaustion. "Damn... that was exhilarating."

Shen Wuxia looked at her for a moment.

"What the—"