Close Combat Mage

Chapter 372 – Regardless of Everything Pt.1

Xiang Yun said, “You guys might not have noticed, but I’ve actually never called Suo Jia ‘boss.’ In my opinion, he’s just a companion. We’re all members of the same group. The only difference between the captain and the group members is their roles. Now that an issue has come up with his duty, he naturally has to account for it. Otherwise, how could we call ourselves a team?”

He paused here for a moment before continuing, “But a boss is different. A boss doesn’t need to explain anything to us, he is just a ‘big brother’ who guides us. Even if he makes a mistake, he isn’t obligated to justify himself in any way. No matter what he does, we, as younger brothers, have no right to chide our older brother. That would be equivalent to disrespecting our elders and our family, which we would have to be punished for!”

“Xiang Yun!” Suo Jia stood up, extremely moved by Xiang Yun’s words. “I agree. Your words couldn’t be more right. We don’t need a captain but a boss, a big brother. And nobody else is more suited for that position than you are!”

“Haha,” Xiang Yun chuckled and shook his head. He honestly replied, “While my temperament and personality are fit for a big brother, I still don’t have the ability to manage the group. You should know that I don’t have any interest in such privileges. My only goal is to keep improving my own strength and challenge that sword demon and his eternal evil blade! I will restore my family’s famed martial prowess reputation!”

Xiang Yun looked straight into Suo Jia’s eyes and stated, “Although you made a mistake this time, I believe from observing you this whole time that you are still the only person in this group who has the ability and is willing to serve the entire team!”

Xiang Yun turned around and spoke to Nicole and Roger, “A boss not only has the most power in the group, he or she also has the most duties. They have to make appropriate arrangements for the group members’ everyday lives and their training, consider the group’s future growth, formulate team policies, plan out the journey, etc. These alone are tasks that would take way more than several hours a day!”

Roger nodded in understanding and smiled. “Now that you mention it, that’s true. Ever since I’ve started following Boss Suo Jia, I haven’t once needed to plan out what to do. Boss always seems to arrange everything. All I need to do is follow his directions!”

“Yeah, that’s right!” Nicole’s eyes lit up in excitement. She praised, “Young Master is very amazing. You don’t know how much he does behind the scenes, planning what to do and future moves. You guys don’t know this, but my country’s old duke who was widely known for scheming was defeated by Suo Jia! What’s more, Suo Jia schemed right back at him to win, haha!”

Xiang Yun nodded in agreement. “Mhm, that’s why I recognized Suo Jia as leader. Although he definitely messed up this time because he was careless and made a miscalculation, he’s still the one who successfully formed and led this group here!”

Xiang Yun turned to look at Suo Jia as he praised, “Moreover, the most admirable part is that, in the face of danger, he didn’t just run like the other scoundrels. Rather, he let us escape first and stayed behind to delay the enemy. This kind of leader is one whom I, Xiang Yun, approve of!”

“No!” As soon as Xiang Yun said this, Suo Jia interjected, “Since I’ve committed an error, I am no longer fit to be the leader. This position…”

“Oh, please!” Xiang Yun interrupted. “Nobody is perfect. Who doesn’t make mistakes? If a leader was deposed just because of a single mistake, there’d be no leaders in this world. I don’t know about other groups, but nobody in this one can do a better job than you. Go ahead and ask Roger and Nicole if they’d be willing to accept anyone else!”

Roger and Nicole furiously shook their heads back and forth, looking like rattles. Roger boomed, “No way! The only person I will ever recognize as my boss in my lifetime is Suo Jia alone. I refuse to accept anyone else!”

“Yeah, me too!” Nicole nodded and hurriedly added, “I only came here because of the Young Master. If Young Master isn’t the boss, I won’t bother to serve; my younger siblings are still at home waiting for me and need someone to take care of them!”

Xiang Yun smiled and said, “How about it? Now I’m sure you can see that if we change bosses, our group will immediately break up. That’s why…regardless of whether you want it or not, you have to continue acting as the leader!”

Suo Jia let out a helpless sigh and with a wry smile replied, “Oh, you guys…so basically, I’m not allowed to give up even if I want to, huh?”

“Hehe.” Roger smirked. “That’s right, Young Master. We won’t let you off easy if you want to be lazy for once. These are tethers you must continue wearing. Don’t bother trying to hand them off to someone else!”

Suo Jia shook his head, slowly regaining his cool. Since he had to continue being the boss, there were many things he would need to consider.

Suo Jia gestured for everyone to sit down. “In regards to that homicidal maniac, I know that all of you have personally witnessed his power and his methods of killing. You have also all felt it as well. Therefore, I’d like to hear everyone’s opinions!”

Xiang Yun had a serious expression on his face as he answered Suo Jia, “Very powerful! Not just a normal level of strength either. His attacks alone aren’t too strong, and in that sense I think I can easily defeat him. However, that mysterious body splitting technique is one I have no idea how to defeat, nor am I confident in trying to block it!”

“Mmmm.” Roger nodded and replied in a trembling voice, “That guy is too terrifying. I didn’t even know when he appeared, all I felt was my back going numb and then all the energy in my body disappearing. Only after I’d fallen to the ground did I see him standing behind me. That kind of enemy is way too terrifying!”

“Yeah…” Nicole agreed and added in bewilderment, “I saw three people stronger than me in the fight today. Their sneaky attempts to strike the killer were even faster than mine, but all of them fell to the ground within ten steps from the killer’s body, their corpses shredded into tons of pieces! If I had gone, the result wouldn’t have changed either!”

Nodding his head in a dignified manner, Suo Jia rumbled, “What do you guys think of his tactics? Can anyone summarize what kind of strategy he uses?”

The other three simultaneously shook their heads in reply. Xiang Yun said, “Our interaction with him was too short, we haven’t gathered enough data. I can’t figure out any of his characteristics, nor can I come up with a strategy to counter the opponent’s tactics!”

Suo Jia sighed, then said in a solemn voice, “Alright, in that case, I’ll give a simple rundown of my analysis!”

Suo Jia pondered for a bit before continuing, “From my analysis, while the opponent’s rapier seems extremely intimidating and razor-sharp, his true method of killing is a wire!”

“What? A wire?!” the others cried out in disbelief.

Suo Jia didn’t give an in-depth exclamation and instead reached into his interspatial ring to pull out a very thin tendon from a beast, wrapping the ends around the backs of two chairs.

Suo Jia pointed at the thin wire and asked the three standing a few meters away, “Look at that. From your position, can you see that thin line?”

They shook their heads. The tendon was transparent and colorless, as well as extremely thin. There was no way they could see it. After linking this with the events they’d witnessed today, the three of them finally understood.

In order to help them gain a deeper level of understanding, Suo Jia picked up a candle on the table and swiftly swung it down towards the fine line…the candle was instantly split in half!

Tossing the broken candle aside, Suo Jia declared, “The opponent’s weapon should be an extremely durable, clear, transparent wire that’s even thinner than a strand of hair. Something that thin is sharper than any blade. If you ran full speed into it, the force would be enough to instantly slice you into pieces. This is the homicidal maniac’s true killing move!”

Everyone in the room fell silent. After a long while, Xiang Yun finally said, “If the wire is thin and sturdy enough, it would be sharper than any other weapon out there!”

“Mhmmm.” Roger added with worry, “And because it’s clear and colorless, it’s impossible to detect. Upon contact, it’s no different from running into a blade.”

“Also!” Nicole yelled, her face just as pale as Roger’s, “As warriors, we all move extremely quickly and can cover a hundred meters in just a few seconds. If we flew into that clear and colorless wire at such speeds, it would become the most fearsome and lethal weapon, one that we have no way to defend against!”

Suo Jia nodded at their analyses and continued, “In addition, perhaps you’ve all overlooked this, but aside from that wire being thin, transparent, and extremely durable, it can most likely ignore any kind of energy defense!”

“What?!” The other three stood up in shock. Roger cried out in fear, “How could such a thing exist? Isn’t that too outrageous? Doesn’t that basically make it unrivaled?”

“Unrivaled?” Suo Jia smiled, but didn’t explain. Instead, he turned around to look at Xiang Yun, who was sure to know the answer.

Xiang Yun met Suo Jia’s gaze and bitterly laughed before turning to answer Roger. “Roger, the unrivaled one isn’t the weapon, but the person. Although that wire is very formidable, any combat skill that has been perfected can pretty much be called unrivaled. You shouldn’t be admiring others right now, but rather asking yourself why you haven’t perfected your own combat skills yet!”

“But…” Although Nicole agreed with Xiang Yun’s words, she still decided to ask, “Even though you can say that, I still won’t be able to see that wire no matter how powerful I become!”