God-Tier Awakening: The Dead Can Still Level Up

Chapter 42: Slaughter

The refined man shoved the heavyset subordinate off his body and climbed back to his feet, blood running from his nose as his earlier composure disappeared.

"Break her arms and legs," he ordered coldly. "The young master only said she needed to remain alive."

The men surrounding Xingluo rushed forward at once, four descending from the upper staircase while the others closed every path across the factory floor.

Xingluo drew her sword and stepped into the first attacker before his weapon could rise, striking his chest with the flat of the blade and throwing him through the railing.

She turned with the impact and kicked another man in the stomach, his body folding before he crashed into the group climbing behind him.

Two blades came toward her neck and waist from opposite sides, but the crimson armor flashed as she twisted between them and caught both wrists.

The men only felt her grip tighten before their bones cracked, then Xingluo pulled them together and slammed their heads against each other.

Three more attacked from below, but she jumped over the railing and dropped directly into their formation.

Her boot struck the first man’s shoulder and drove him to the ground, while her sword moved across the second man’s thigh before the pommel smashed into the third man’s jaw.

The attackers froze for a moment as Xingluo landed among them without losing balance, then the entire group surged forward together.

She moved through them faster than they could follow, every step placed her outside another attack, while her fists, elbows, and sword struck through openings they had not even realised they had left.

Men crashed into old machines and storage containers one after another, while the metal floor cracked beneath Xingluo whenever she forced more strength into her movements.

Within less than a minute, nearly half of them were already lying across the factory, groaning or completely unconscious.

The leader stared at the scene with growing disbelief, according to the information they had received, Luo Xingluo was only Level 68, lacked proper combat experience, and owned no equipment capable of resisting their weapons.

Yet the armor covering her had already taken several direct hits without leaving even a scratch, while her speed and strength were far beyond anything a Level 68 Awakened should possess.

"Formation Seven!" he shouted.

The remaining men immediately changed positions, several moving away from Xingluo while six shield users closed around her from different directions.

Chains covered in mana flew between the shields, forcing Xingluo to jump as two spearmen attacked from outside the formation.

She blocked the first spear, but the second struck her shoulder and pushed her back into the path of an approaching chain.

The chain wrapped around her waist, and three men pulled together before another shield slammed into her side.

Her armor absorbed most of the impact, but the combined force still threw her through an old assembly table.

Before Xingluo could rise, the refined man pressed one hand against his chest and activated the bracelet hidden beneath his sleeve.

Metal plates unfolded from the bracelet and spread across his body, joining into a grey combat suit that covered him from the neck down.

Mana gathered around his arms as he rushed forward, reaching Xingluo just as she pushed away the broken table.

His fist struck her crossed arms and forced her backward several meters, her boots cutting two lines through the dust before she finally stopped.

The man did not allow her to recover, following with another punch while the surrounding attackers tightened the chains around her legs.

Xingluo avoided the strike by lowering her body, but his knee caught her chest and threw her against one of the factory pillars.

The concrete cracked behind her, while several weapons immediately descended toward her from both sides.

She raised her sword and blocked the first two, yet another chain wrapped around her wrist and pulled her arm away before the leader struck her stomach.

The armor protected her from serious damage, but the pressure from the entire group was finally beginning to restrict her movements.

The refined man stepped back and raised two fingers toward his eye, causing a faint circle of light to spread over Xingluo’s body.

[Detection Spell activated.]

His expression changed the moment the result appeared.

"Level 86?"

The surrounding men hesitated, and even those restraining Xingluo looked toward their leader in disbelief. "That is impossible," one of them said. "The report said she was Level 68."

The refined man stared at Xingluo’s armor before understanding that their information was no longer merely inaccurate.

Everything about her had changed. "Do not stop!" he shouted. "Her level does not matter while she is restrained!"

The chains tightened again as several men rushed forward, but Xingluo tore one arm free and drove her sword through the nearest shield.

The blade continued through the metal and entered the man’s shoulder, though she stopped before striking anything fatal.

That hesitation gave another attacker enough time to hit the back of her knee, while the leader caught her sword arm and forced her against the pillar.

"Still afraid to kill?" he asked, pressing his armored forearm against her throat. "Then you never had a chance."

Xingluo’s eyes moved across the men surrounding her.

They had betrayed her, attacked her inside the city, threatened her family, and intended to drag her before Qin Haoran, yet she still hesitated because killing them would bring the city authorities down on her.

Wuxia watched the formation close around her before his expression became cold. "Kill them," he said.

Xingluo looked toward him through the tightening chains.

"I will deal with everything that remains."

A black-red mark appeared beside her, and the air inside the factory trembled as the Panther emerged from flowing soul power.

Its paws touched the floor without sound, but the pressure released from its body made every attacker nearby turn in alarm.

The Panther disappeared before they could react, it reappeared behind the man holding Xingluo and struck his back, its semi-solid claws becoming dense only at the moment of impact.

The man’s armor split apart as he was thrown across the factory and crashed through a storage container.

The Panther twisted through the surrounding weapons, allowing blades to pass through parts of its body before reforming beside another attacker.

One claw crossed the man’s neck, and blood sprayed over the machinery as his body fell and the sight broke the formation.

Xingluo tore the remaining chains apart and moved before the attackers could retreat, her sword entering the chest of the first man who tried to raise his shield.

She pulled the blade free, turned, and cut across another man’s throat before his frightened scream could escape.

Two attackers rushed her together, but the Panther scattered beneath their weapons and reformed between them while Xingluo attacked from the front.

One man was thrown into the staircase hard enough for a broken metal bar to pierce through his body, leaving him hanging above the floor.

The second lost his weapon when Xingluo cut through his wrist, then her blade passed through his chest before he could step back.

The remaining men tried to flee toward the exits, but the Panther moved between every path and forced them back into the centre.

Xingluo followed without slowing, her armor becoming stained with blood as she moved from one target to the next.

Every strike became shorter and more efficient, a sword entered beneath one man’s ribs, an armored elbow crushed another’s throat, and a kick sent a third beneath the Panther’s descending claws.

The refined leader pulled himself from the broken container and looked across the factory, his face turning pale as his men fell faster than he could issue orders.

He rushed toward Yun Xia and grabbed her by the neck, dragging her in front of him while mana gathered around his other hand. "Stop, or I will kill her!"

Xingluo slowed for only a moment, Yun Xia stared at her with tear-filled eyes, but the betrayal inside the factory still remained between them.

The leader saw Xingluo hesitate and tightened his grip. "Drop the sword!"

The Panther appeared behind him as its body passed through his grey armor as loose shadow before becoming solid inside the gaps around his shoulders, locking both arms in place.

The man released Yun Xia and struggled to turn, but Xingluo had already crossed the distance and her sword pierced through the centre of his chest and emerged from his back.

The mana covering his body vanished immediately, while the grey armor broke apart and fell across the floor.

He stared at Xingluo in disbelief before blood entered his mouth. "The young master will—"

Xingluo twisted the blade once and pulled it free, the leader collapsed beside Yun Xia without finishing his threat.

Silence slowly returned to the factory. Bodies covered the ground between the machinery, blood ran across the cracked floor, and one of the attackers still hung motionless from the broken staircase.

The Panther stood beside Xingluo with dark-red soul power moving around its claws, while Wuxia floated above the battlefield and looked across the dead.

Yun Xia had already fallen to the ground, her legs trembled uncontrollably as she stared at the people surrounding her, unable to connect the blood-covered woman before her with the friend she had betrayed.

Xingluo turned toward her slowly, blood marked the edge of her face and several parts of the crimson armor, while the sword remained lowered beside her body.

Xingluo stared at her with cold, unreadable eyes before asking only one question, "Why?"