Chapter 24: Five Seconds (4k)

"Plop!"

Thick leather boots stained with blood slammed onto the soft, damp meadow, splashing sparse mud spots.

"Damn it…… how could there be a professional!"

The flat-headed man with a fierce face gasped rapidly, his arms swinging violently back and forth like pendulums, and the dense bushes on both sides rapidly retreated behind him.

"Shouldn't have believed that old man's words; this job nearly cost me my life!"

"Big Brother, what do we do now?"

Running side by side with the fierce man was a burly man with a somewhat dull face.

It was just that at this moment, besides dullness, there was also a thick layer of terror on his face.

"What do we do? Do you want to see what we're doing right now?"

"Run!"

"That kid's background isn't simple. This River Valley Town…… no, I'm afraid we can't stay in any of the towns near Niumu."

Hum—

A high-speed rotating arrow tore through the air and instantly pierced into the mud beside the man's feet.

From the shadows in the forest not far away came the terrifying sound of objects moving rapidly.

The two of them were instantly startled, their already panicked footsteps becoming even more chaotic, as if behind them was some kind of terrifying monster waiting to devour them.

"Creak!"

Grass clippings danced in the air accompanied by fallen leaves.

The fierce man only felt the resistance brought by the annoying bushes that seemed to be everywhere in front of him disappear in an instant;

The sunlight that should have been blocked by the canopy above suddenly became intense.

The view ahead suddenly opened up.

A clearing!?

"Big Brother, there's an ambush!"

A shout filled with terror came from the dull man beside his ear.

Following his gaze, what came into view was a black-haired youth with sharp features.

Although the fierce man vaguely felt he looked somewhat familiar, he couldn't care about that at this moment.

Blood surged, eyes flashed with gold, and the turbulent emotions at the boundary between life and death made him make a decision in an instant.

"Damn it, just one. Let's take him out! Even if I die, I'll drag someone down with me!"

……

Xia Nan only heard two rapid footsteps coming from the forest not far away.

He stood up and turned his head.

Two disheveled men covered in broken leaves and grass clippings had already rushed out instantly.

Time seemed to have been pressed on the pause button at this moment.

The slightly fishy and pungent smell of the Glow Garlic Vines surged into his nasal cavity with his breathing, and in his ears was the "rustling" sound of branches swaying.

His brain operated at high speed.

After seeing the two appear, the first reaction in Xia Nan's mind was—

Run.

The clearing suddenly appearing in the dense forest, the deliberate and conspicuous expensive plants, the lack of any abnormal search results, and even the timing of his own harvest of the Glow Garlic Vines just now.

All were telling him that the two people in front of him were ambushers deliberately waiting for him here.

But then he realized that if he wanted to run away, the heavy backpack behind him, filled with Glow Garlic Vines worth over thirty gold coins, would have to be thrown away.

"Gain" and "Risk," like an invisible balance, added weight to both sides in his heart.

"Is there a possibility of avoiding battle?"

A thought flashed through his mind.

"Verbal persuasion, or giving up a portion of the benefits?"

No, that wouldn't work!

He was alone and weak, while the other party had two people.

Before showing a certain amount of strength, he didn't have the possibility of bargaining at all.

And judging by the desperate posture displayed by these two, they didn't look like they could be negotiated with at all.

Therefore……

The sluggish feeling of the sword blade leaving the scabbard came from his hand.

The heavy backpack, which he had cherished so much just a moment ago and was worth dozens of gold, was now ruthlessly thrown to the side.

Fighting spirit surged.

At this moment, Xia Nan had already made a decision.

Xia Nan stood in place, and in front of him were the two men who had quickly split to both sides.

It seemed they intended to flank from the left and right and launch an attack at the same time?

Reality is not a game.

Being slashed by a sword won't just drop a segment of your health bar.

Having your limbs severed would make you a cripple for the rest of your life;

Being stabbed in the throat would truly mean death.

Even with a healing potion, it didn't possess the effect of regenerating severed limbs or bringing the dead back to life.

Xia Nan didn't know what he was facing at this moment.

He was just driven by his survival instinct, frantically operating his brain to analyze the situation for the upcoming battle.

Two fists are no match for four hands.

Since ancient times, those who could face group combat and simultaneously parry or even counterattack from multiple directions were all masters of combat techniques.

Facing a siege by multiple people, even in those rather "fantasy" kung fu movies from his previous life, the protagonist often split the battlefield and defeated them one by one.

In a flash, Xia Nan had already initially constructed a battle plan.

He had to break down the 1v2 into two 1v1s.

A sharp gaze swept past.

The fierce-looking flat-headed man on the left held an iron sword, his expression focused, his movements swift; one look and you knew he was a veteran;

The man on the right was burly, but his movements were clearly half a beat slower, his face flushed and dull, dragging a heavy two-handed hammer in his hand.

Target locked.

【1 second】

The tip of the sword lifted slightly, and in his palm was the cold, refreshing touch of the sword handle.

Xia Nan took his first step forward.

Facing one against two, and under the premise that both sides possessed lethal weapons capable of killing the other in one blow.

He had to solve the first enemy at the fastest speed.

Three more steps were taken.

The distance between him and the dull man was instantly shortened.

The iron-grey sword blade flashed in his peripheral vision.

"Already entered the attack range of the longsword."

His right foot slammed into the ground, and his shoe instantly sank into the mud.

"Circle Slash!"

The power that seemed to come from the earth surged up from the soles of his feet in an instant, gathering the strength from his entire body like a river tide, and finally transmitted it to the sword handle with his fingertips.

Hum—

The iron-grey, sharp cold light swung an arc-shaped half-moon in the air.

"Slashing Expert" +5% slashing damage, "Decapitation Longsword" +5% decapitation damage, and the "6" strength after attribute point bonuses.

Xia Nan swung the fastest sword since he had crossed over to this world.

"Swoosh!"

The heavy two-handed iron hammer had only been raised halfway, but the dull man's head had already spun and detached from his shoulders.

The eye-piercing blood sprayed out like a fountain from the empty neck, and a few drops even splashed onto Xia Nan's face.

But at this moment, he felt no sense of disgust.

Because he had already felt the biting wind coming from behind him.

There was no time to retract the sword!

Xia Nan practically borrowed the body inertia after "Circle Slash," turning half a circle while pulling the blade back in front of his chest.

Then……

"Clang!"

Sparks flew!

The silver-white sword blade slashed fiercely against the iron-grey sword blade of the decapitation longsword.

Two-plus seconds were enough for the other enemy on the field to approach his front.

"Thump."

Behind him was the dull sound of a corpse falling to the ground.

The four-foot longsword, which he had cherished so much just a few hours ago and wanted to wipe clean of even the slightest stain with gauze, was held horizontally in front of his chest by Xia Nan without any pity, blocking the other party's attack.

The tip of the sword flashed with cold light in the air.

At this moment, he could even clearly see the pupils of the fierce man trembling due to the death of his teammate, the facial muscles tightening as he gritted his teeth to exert force, and even the sparse foam at the corners of his mouth.

【4 seconds】

Force collided with the sword blade.

The current Xia Nan was in a stiff state where the old force was exhausted and the new force had not yet been generated.

And the other party was clearly also unable to exert force because of the force transmitted from the sword blade, his arms numb.

The battle seemed to fall into a momentary stalemate.

Under these circumstances, the 1 point of agility provided by raising "Circle Slash" to the max level took effect.

Xia Nan recovered his body's balance a moment earlier.

Then it was a fierce kick!

The fierce man, kicked in the lower abdomen, showed pain, and the force in his hands instantly dissipated.

Xia Nan took the opportunity to step back two steps, opening a distance of half a body length from the other party.

Then……

【Circle Slash】

The iron-grey arc-shaped sword light flashed past in the air.

Mixed with viscous liquid of red and white,

half a head with a smooth cut surface,

spinning, falling.

Green leaves drifted beside him, landing leisurely.

From the appearance of the two to the end of the battle.

It was a total of 5.25 seconds.

……

……

"Hoo…… hoo……"

Xia Nan panted, the lining under his leather armor soaked with sweat.

5 seconds, just the time for one deep breath.

But it was enough for an encounter to go from start to finish.

His heart beat violently, and his head felt vaguely dizzy.

The highly concentrated attention in the battle also returned to reality.

He even felt that the compactness and high pressure of this battle were no less than when he faced the Bugbear before.

Any slight deviation in judgment or movement would result in being crippled or even seriously injured.

And it was thanks to the predecessor's unremitting persistence that he could practice 【Circle Slash】 to the max level as soon as he crossed over to this world, receive rewards, and use this to raise his overall strength to the current level.

The rich smell of blood in the air surged into his chest with his breathing.

Standing in place, Xia Nan looked at the two corpses on the ground, one on the left and one on the right, feeling somewhat emotional for no reason.

Who could have imagined that just over ten days ago, he was still just a miserable office worker who sat in an office all day and hadn't even killed a chicken?

Now he had become a "tough guy" who could slash two adventurers in the time of a single breath.

Looking at it this way, maybe he really had some so-called "combat talent"?

"Drip."

Warm, viscous blood dripped onto the ground along the tip of the sword, staining several blades of grass red.

Xia Nan suddenly remembered something again.

He hurriedly raised the decapitation longsword in his hand, took out gauze from his bosom to wipe the blood off its surface, and then observed carefully with his gaze close to the blade, especially the position used to block the enemy's slash just now.

Then, he let out a sigh of relief.

The 50% durability bonus on the attribute panel was indeed not just for show.

That sword strike even sparked, but landing on the sword blade, it only left a tiny, imperceptible scratch on the surface, which could be removed after a detailed maintenance upon returning to the city.

"Good, good."

Although he still felt a bit of heartache, Xia Nan accepted the result.

And happily began to clean up the battlefield.

"Hmm…… these second-hand leather armors can only be sold for half price anyway, and they're heavy, and they aren't high-end goods. I'm afraid I won't even be able to walk if I carry them, forget it."

"The iron sword is okay, it should be well-maintained, plus this big hammer, probably 15 gold?"

"No need to take the food supplies, I brought enough; the compass doesn't take up space, take it; why are there two shovels……"

"Eh?"

Xia Nan, who was touching the corpses with a disgusted yet happy mood, suddenly raised an eyebrow.

He had already fished out a bulging money bag from the fierce man's waist.

Opening the mouth and looking inside—

"Tsk tsk."

A piece of golden brilliance.

"It's heavier than the money bag I received when I collected the bounty at the association earlier; I'm afraid there's at least 50 gold." Xia Nan weighed the money bag with some weight in his hand and muttered to himself.

"Strange, did these two bring their entire net worth with them?"

Of course, now that the other party had become a corpse, they couldn't answer his question.

Xia Nan himself didn't care about these trivial details.

He searched the corpses again carefully, confirming there were no omissions.

He put the backpack filled with Glow Garlic Vines back on his back, intending to leave the place as soon as possible.

The smell of blood easily attracted danger; this was something he had learned in the Rotten Fish and Shrimp squad.

"One collection mission, small profit of 80 gold."

"Looking at it this way, if I save up some more money, I should be able to buy a decent set of medium armor very soon."

"Leather armor is okay, but the defensive performance is generally worse."

And just as Xia Nan was carrying the backpack and about to leave.

From the forest not far to his side, the direction from which the two men had rushed out earlier, rapid footsteps sounded again.

Xia Nan was shocked in his heart.

"No way, coming again?"

He had already quickly made a decision in his heart.

Having just experienced a life-and-death battle, although he himself hadn't suffered any injuries, the continuous use of 【Circle Slash】 twice had already made his arms vaguely sore.

His combat power had declined.

Under these circumstances, even if he was a bit reckless sometimes, he wasn't greedy enough to not want his life.

As long as he found the situation was wrong, he would immediately throw away the backpack and the two weapons he had picked up and run away.

Anyway, there were still over fifty gold coins he had fished from the corpses tied to his waist, so even if he didn't bring back a single cluster of Glow Garlic Vines, he wouldn't lose anything at all.

At the same time, the few figures approaching rapidly in the bushes also appeared in Xia Nan's sight.

"Bang!"

Branches and leaves flew.

A plump figure rushed out of the grass in a sorry state.

Only then did he notice the sudden clearing, lowered his body, and comically struck a combat posture.

And following closely behind was the Half-Elf "Haian," holding a longbow with a vigilant expression;

And the golden-haired girl with a pale face, whose panicked emotions could be clearly felt.

Oh, and that "suspected professional" Wood, who had a very low presence and was always guarding Haian like a shadow.

Silver-white hair strands drifted in the wind, Haian held the bow handle tightly with one hand, and the other hand reached back to the quiver, maintaining a posture of being able to bend the bow and shoot an arrow at any time.

His silver-grey eyes narrowed slightly due to the eye-piercing sunlight, and his gaze swept across the clearing ahead.

The next second, he saw the two corpses lying on the ground that were gradually turning cold.

His pupils widened slightly.

He couldn't help but look at Xia Nan, who was the only one still standing on the field with a vigilant expression.

"You……"

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 25 =====