As soon as he opened his mouth, Hengge reacted.
"Little bug, trying to deceive me, damn it!"
It suddenly stepped forward two paces, the muscles in its right arm holding the nail hammer swelling, as if it would crush the annoying little bug below into meat paste at any second.
And at that moment, Magi finally readied himself once more.
Bending the bow and drawing an arrow, charging up and aiming.
Whoosh—
The familiar sound of metal whistling through the air rang out again.
Compared to before, the distance between him and the Bear Goblin was shorter this time, meaning that no matter its reflexes, which exceeded ordinary humans, it would be hard to dodge;
And the energy barrier, which could almost become every shooter's nightmare, did not appear.
Thus...
"Swoosh!"
Blood splattered.
Magi, whose calf had been smashed, almost leaned against the cave's stone wall, shooting the arrow while seated on the ground.
Though still precise due to the Battle Skill, the power was considerably less.
Therefore, even though the metal arrow almost instantly pierced the right eye of the Bear Goblin, who turned because of the noise, only a small portion of the arrowhead entered its eye socket.
The toxin with paralyzing effects quickly spread inward from the wound.
Seriously injured, but not fatal.
And in facing this last opportunity to seize a chance at life, Xia Nan did not flinch.
Just as the Bear Goblin howled in intense pain from its pierced eyeball, he tightly gripped the One Handed Sword in his palms, enduring the indescribable soreness from his arm muscles tearing, forcibly executing the fourth Vortex Slash of the day.
A cold light flickered.
The brownish fur had no resistance against the sharp blade;
The leathery thick skin was the first barrier, slightly sluggish;
The accumulated fat was like the muddy water in a swamp, the blade still smooth, yet the force being invisibly drained;
The rock-hard solid muscles almost absorbed all the sharpness the longsword carried, but still were arduously breached under the Vortex Slash's enhancement;
Then, the blade pierced through the fur and flesh, meeting the hardest defensive line within a creature—
The bones.
"Crack."
No longer passing through the hands of those rookie adventurers, the battle-tested One Handed Sword finally met its due conclusion.
In an intense encounter worthy of being etched into its combat history, it broke apart.
The sudden emptiness from the broken sword in his hand made it hard to unleash the pent-up force.
Xia Nan watched as the cracks spread on the sword blade and gradually expanded, then, owing to the inertia from the Vortex Slash, his whole body flew out diagonally.
"Roar!!!"
Howling madly, the unprecedented intense pain made the bear-like, sturdy beast completely lose its remaining sanity.
Along with its eyeball, it pulled the arrow directly out of its eye socket, and the crimson blood that followed stained its body like a waterfall, adding more brutality.
Facing this enraged beast, a weakened Hunter who suffered a crippled leg, plus a novice adventurer exhausted physically and with destroyed weapon.
The outcome for the Stinky Fish and Shrimp Group seemed evident.
Magi's face was filled with despair.
The second use of Precise Strike had plunged his body into a paralyzed state from overloading.
It felt like every muscle strand was twitching, spasming, unable to summon even a trace of strength.
His gaze was hollow, lost in some thought.
Perhaps regretting the greed that drove him into this cave, or hating himself for not learning from past mistakes, for not being more cautious;
Of course, he might also be reminiscing about the girl with a smile who looked at him under the white oak tree in his hometown.
Unexpectedly.
Unlike Hunter Magi who had completely lost hope for life, Xia Nan, whose body was also on the brink of collapse, had a rather complex expression on his face.
Yes, complex.
It's like when playing mahjong in a past life, holding a lousy hand planning to defend and finish the round, yet unexpectedly it becomes a winning hand right before the round ends; spending thousands in a game without getting a rare item, but on the last draw before quitting, getting an SSR from a complimentary draw.
It's a weird mix of relief, surprise, and grievance that says, "Why the hell didn't you come sooner?"
Because, as he performed the Vortex Slash, swinging that sword.
A cascade of translucent characters flashed across his eyes like a spam chat.
"Skill Level +1"
"Vortex Slash lv4 (100/100)——Vortex Slash lv5 (Max)"
"Strength +1, Agility +1"
"Specialty Chopping Master unlocked"
...
Chopping Master
Category: Specialty
Effect: Chopping Damage +5%
Introduction:
Day after day of practice has gradually revealed to you the mysteries hidden between the blades.