Close Combat Mage - Page 370/405

Chapter 371 – Extremely Terrifying Pt.2

Xiang Yun glanced over in the direction the killer had disappeared in with narrowed eyes before resolutely walking to Suo Jia’s side. “Captain, let me support him. We’ll be able to move faster this way!”

Suo Jia didn’t bother arguing and handed Roger over to Xiang Yun. “Nicole, you and Xiang Yun leave first. Make sure to stay on guard and remain in the stealth state to protect Xiang Yun and Roger. As soon as that crazy killer appears, immediately use Instant Kill!”

Nicole anxiously asked, “Then what about you? What are you going to do? Are you not going to come with us?”

Suo Jia looked far into the distance where the killer had disappeared, and said in a low voice, “I will stay here and stall him. After you guys have left this place, I’ll go and catch up!”

Although Nicole was worried, she still nodded and immediately entered the stealth state to escort Xiang Yun and the heavily injured Roger back in the direction they’d come from.

After seeing the three of them leave, Suo Jia finally let out a breath of relief. He didn’t want his companions to be in danger because of him, but that didn’t mean he would simply retreat. Seeing as that guy had dared to injure Roger, Suo Jia naturally had to return the favor. The boss would be the one to pay back the debt from his brother’s fight!

Suo Jia reactivated the ice shields. With the Sea God’s Trident tightly grasped in hand, he carefully inspected his surroundings. The next instant, the head of a mage came flying through the air from about ten meters away. Without even a single cry, another life had been taken!

Suo Jia spotted the mage’s headless corpse gushing out fountains of blood, then looked back at the mage’s decapitated head lying on the ground, its eyes still open. Suo Jia’s blood ran cold. From beginning to end, he had never figured out how the enemy had attacked!

Suo Jia sharpened his senses with extreme concentration. He knew that the number of enemies didn’t matter to the homicidal maniac; that was never an issue. Unless there was a person that could overlook this guy’s strength and defeat him in battle, there was no difference between one person and a thousand. The more enemies there were, the more that maniac enjoyed the slaughter!

“Swish…” While in mid-thought, Suo Jia suddenly heard a sharp, air-splitting sound and felt a sudden pain in his chest. When he looked down, he saw that the right side of his chest was furiously gushing out blood. In addition, his back felt cold as well; it was as is some kind of fluid was flowing down it!

Amidst his shock, a cold voice suddenly spoke into Suo Jia’s ear. “You should just leave. If I didn’t deliberately spare your life, I could’ve cut you into pieces with just a small push. Although you’re quite powerful, you’re still very lacking compared to me!”

Ignoring his wounds, Suo Jia frigidly replied to the empty air, “Why didn’t you kill me? Why are you letting me go?”

After a moment of silence, the cold voice murmured, “The reason I spared you was because your actions today reminded me of a very important old friend of mine. Because of that, I lost the heart to kill you. Just go. If you want revenge, wait until you strengthen your still incomplete abilities!”

Suo Jia painfully closed his eyes. This was the first time Suo Jia had ever felt this kind of humiliation in his lifetime. There was so much power in his body, but he had been completely unable to put it to use. Rather, he couldn’t even find his opponent!

With Suo Jia’s sensing abilities, there was no way anybody within a ten meter radius could escape his notice even if they were concealing themselves in some way. The issue here was that the opponent could attack from at least 20 meters away. Suo Jia couldn’t detect the opponent’s presence at all!

Suo Jia turned around and left the battlefield without a backward glance. He was too ashamed to stay any longer. If the opponent had wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t have been able to prevent it at all as he couldn’t even tell where the enemy was. If he continued to stay here, he would just be disgracing himself.

After blankly leaving the forest and reuniting with his party, Suo Jia silently led the group to the nearest city. No matter how much Xiang Yun and Nicole inquired him, Suo Jia didn’t say a single word during the journey.

Suo Jia had always believed that he was very powerful, and not just by normal standards. With the help of an Epic-ranked equipment set, his growth rate had been unimaginably fast. Moreover, he even possessed a Divine Artifact. No matter how big the world was, how could anything keep him from roaming about as he pleased?

It was precisely due to this thinking that Suo Jia hadn’t taken the homicidal maniac seriously. He hadn’t investigated the killer nor worried about him at all. Today, Suo Jia had finally tasted retribution. There were still people in this world that Suo Jia couldn’t even hold a candle to!

Suo Jia knew that he was basically an infant compared to the killer. They could just kill however they pleased and let anyone they wanted to go. On the other hand, Suo Jia couldn’t even locate the enemy. The difference between them was too great, and it was downright shameful.

Upon returning to Illusion City, Suo Jia finally spoke. He looked at his three companions with a frigid gaze and said, “Because of my blind arrogance, I put everyone in danger. Right now, I would like to sincerely apologize to you all!”

Before anyone could interject, he continued, “Despite being the leader of this group, I didn’t carefully investigate or analyze the opponent, and rashly led you all into a dangerous situation. I acknowledge that the blame undeniably falls onto me. Therefore…I intend to resign from the role of the group leader!”

“What?!” Roger and Nicole cried out in shock.

Suo Jia raised a hand and stated, “There’s nothing to be surprised about. Don’t try to persuade me otherwise, I’ve already made my decision. From now on, the captain position will belong to Xiang Yun!”

Xiang Yun smiled and earnestly replied, “Indeed, you are not fit to continue as the captain anymore. Having committed such a great mistake, you can hardly absolve yourself from the blame!”

“You–! How can you say that!” Nicole couldn’t help but rebuke Xiang Yun’s words.

Roger made sure to speak up as well. With a frown, he said, “Xiang Yun, you becoming the captain is something I’ll never agree to. The only person I obey in this world is Young Master Suo Jia!”

“Haha…” Xiang Yun chuckled and shook his head. “Do you guys think I’m an idiot? Anyone that wants this captain role can take it. I, for one, have no interest. Moreover, I’m not good at this type of thing!”

Xiang Yun looked at Suo Jia in admiration and stated, “I admit that I did want to become the captain in the beginning. But as time passed, I realized how many responsibilities the captain has and how busy he is. Honestly, even if you declare me as the new captain, I can’t do it. I only like to improve my own strength, and I’m completely unskilled in operating and managing a team.”

Nicole asked, “In that case, why did you speak to Suo Jia like that?”

“Yeah!” Roger retorted. “Saying stuff like Young Master Suo Jia isn’t fit to be captain. Let me ask you, if he doesn’t take the role then who will?”

Xiang Yun calmly answered, “Suo Jia was undoubtedly too arrogant and rash this time. Without knowing who the enemy was, he blindly led his group into danger. This kind of mistake is one that he needs to account for. But what earned my admiration was that he was able to take the initiative to admit to his mistake and even resign from the captain role!”

Xiang Yun smiled at Suo Jia and sincerely said, “The captain position is something that you can indeed no longer be. However, I don’t think we need a captain. We’re all partners, comrades-in-arms, siblings that have gone through life-or-death situations together! That’s why I don’t think we need any captain. What we need is a boss!”

“Boss?” Roger and Nicole didn’t understand. “What’s the difference between a boss and a captain? Don’t we always call Young Master ‘boss’?”