Chapter 80

For Xia Nan, the world in his eyes fell into a standstill the moment the pink rainbow light was reflected in his pupils.

Different from the "Petrifying Gaze" he faced from the Basilisk, he could clearly feel the sinister energy seeping into his flesh and bones from his skin pores.

And he tenaciously resisted its petrification effect through his own will and body.

The pink light cluster released by Ingram seemed to have a similar effect, both making someone fall into a stagnant state where they couldn't move.

But in Xia Nan's perception, compared to "Petrifying Gaze," it was almost two completely different things.

He didn't even know how to resist this energy.

Just as the pink light flashed before his eyes, the next second, he completely lost the ability to act.

His vision wasn't affected, and he could clearly see everything happening before him; his brain consciousness was still active, and countless thoughts emerged in his mind.

But at the physical level, he could clearly feel the coolness of the breeze brushing against his skin, the shrub branches and leaves touching his trouser legs...

Yet he couldn't move even a single finger.

Soul and body seemed to be separated at this moment.

Xia Nan watched almost with his own eyes as the Sheriff hammered off Tim's head, expressionlessly pulled the other party's spine out from his back, and seriously placed it into the magic array.

Then, with a cold face stained with blood, clutching a prism hammer exuding metallic cold light, he walked toward him.

He thought he was doomed.

But what he didn't expect was that the pink rainbow light that he couldn't resist at all just now.

After completely merging into his body and turning into a pink light layer covering his skin surface.

Actually changed its perception mode again, as if turning from illusion to reality.

Allowing Xia Nan to feel the restraint on his skin.

"It seems... it can work!"

The attribute points granted by his expertise and secret realm adventures made his physical fitness significantly higher than those bottom-level adventurers who also failed to obtain professional levels.

He firmed his will and tried his best to control his body muscles.

The pink-red restraint wrapped around him actually trembled slightly.

"Ten seconds, no! Just five seconds!"

"Give me another five seconds, and I can break free!"

Xia Nan's deduction was very accurate.

The 【Human Hold】 that used holy light as a shackle and was stored in his sleeve, although it was a genuine second-ring spell.

But after all, it didn't have the support of the caster's magic power and was just a one-time consumable.

With his current physical fitness,

five seconds, he might really be able to break free.

Of course, the premise was that there was no interference from external factors.

5, 4, 3...

"Creak."

The branches on the ground were ruthlessly stepped on and broken.

The shadow of the burly figure under the sunlight shrouded his face.

When Xia Nan counted to the third second in his heart.

Ingram had already arrived in front of him.

No nonsense, and he didn't want any communication.

He just raised the prism hammer in his hand high, aiming at the vital point of his head...

And smashed it down fiercely!

Hum—

The blood and bone explosion he imagined didn't appear, and the iron hammer handle in his hand didn't transmit the sluggish touch of piercing flesh.

An ochre-red translucent light shield, one second before the prism hammer landed on Xia Nan's head.

Abruptly appeared in the air!

That was the incidental effect of Xia Nan's only magic accessory, the "Deathline" ring——

【Deflection Field】!

Just like stepping into thin air, the metal hammer face slid along the ochre-red shield, and the strong force originally attached to it was silently dissolved by the field.

Golden hair strands swayed with the wind, and Ingram's expression was stunned.

Apparently, he didn't expect that even though the other party had lost the ability to act under the effect of 【Human Hold】, his blow could still miss.

"Magic item!?"

There was no time to think, and no chance to add another hammer blow.

Because the moment the light shield disappeared, the pink magic particles on the black-haired youth's skin also collapsed.

Swish—

The sharp black light pulled the fading light dust, and amidst the thin, dense sound of the sword, it whistled toward his face.

He suddenly raised his head and retreated hurriedly!

"Tap, tap, tap!"

Three footprints were stepped out on the moist, soft ground.

The golden hair strands broken by the sword wind drifted down leisurely.

He glanced down at the deep scratch on the plate armor on his chest.

Ingram raised his head, his azure eyes fixed on Xia Nan, who had just broken free from the restraint of 【Human Hold】.

His expression was slightly solemn.

In his impression, the adventurer with sharp features before him had a combat technique with decent proficiency, and the wooden sword in his hand seemed to be some kind of enchanted weapon with a damage bonus against undead creatures.

But that was all.

He wasn't a veteran adventurer with deep experience, his armor and equipment looked average, and the other party's face, which was under twenty, was highly deceptive.

Compared to himself, he was still far behind.

He just didn't expect that the other party, who looked young and whose dress didn't look like a wealthy family, could carry life-saving defensive magic items.

And being able to break free from the second-ring 【Human Hold】 so quickly also meant that his physical fitness was far stronger than he had imagined.

"Where did he come from again?"

Ingram muttered in his heart.

In his sight, Xia Nan, who had just regained his physical mobility, was not in a hurry to attack.

His pitch-black eyes turned, and his gaze swept over the halfling who was still in a controlled state not far behind the Sheriff.

He also took the opportunity to glance at the relatively spacious field around him.

His eyes were fixed on Ingram in front of him, vigilant of every move the other party made.

At the same time, his movements were extremely fast.

The cold-hilted 【Pine-Green】 wooden sword was sheathed in an instant, and the iron-gray sharp light flashed and disappeared in the air.

In the blink of an eye, the longsword for beheading was firmly gripped in his palm.

In the woods to the side, the silver-white robin perched quietly on the treetop, its bird eyes reflecting the two people confronting each other with weapons on the field.

It tilted its head,

"Bang!"

Mud spots were kicked up under its feet!

The first to launch an offensive was Ingram.

His sturdy body suddenly revealed an explosive power far beyond ordinary people.

The distance of nearly ten meters between the two was easily crossed in a few long strides.

The prism hammer in his hand refracted the sunlight in the forest, smashing down from top to bottom.

"Ding!"

Sparks splashed!

The iron-gray sword body was firmly blocked against the hammer face.

Xia Nan only felt his forearms go numb from the subsequent reaction force, and he didn't dare to be negligent in his heart. He gathered all his strength to push the sword body forward.

The Sheriff's body, which had been leaning forward after exerting force, was unexpectedly pushed back two steps.

Leaving space.

【Spinning Slash】!

Swish—

The iron-gray sharp arc flashed through the air.

The sudden feeling of extreme danger in his heart made Ingram subconsciously tilt his body.

"Squeak!"

As if a fingertip had scratched a blackboard, a sharp, noisy sound rang out in the forest.

On the Sheriff's standard plate armor, there was an extra sword mark, which even extended downward, leaving a bleeding wound on the chest and abdomen near the thigh.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

The sound of metal collisions rang out densely on the field.

And almost at the same time, it subsided and stopped.

Xia Nan's chest heaved slightly; after the fierce confrontation, his stamina was still abundant.

Compared to his body, what was exhausted was his heart.

Since he crossed into this world, the 【Spinning Slash】 he practiced to the full level had been almost invincible against those low-level magic beasts and bottom-level adventurers.

No creature could take advantage under his sword edge.

But the few rounds just now with Ingram were particularly awkward.

Except for the 【Spinning Slash】 just after the first encounter, he didn't even have the chance to use this combat technique he was most proficient in.

The Sheriff seemed to deliberately maintain a tricky position during the battle, making it so that if he used the combat technique regardless, the short gap after exerting force would expose his vital points above his shoulders to the other party without reservation.

A momentary flaw was enough for that cold-glinting hammer to land on his forehead.

At the same time, Ingram, with sweat on his forehead on the other side, clearly no longer had his former composure.

A burst of pain came from the wound on his thigh.

He stared at the black-haired youth in front of him, his gaze sweeping over the iron-gray longsword in his hand.

He felt tricky in his heart.

He had only seen Xia Nan fight skeletons before, and his attention was entirely attracted by the enchanted wooden sword on his body, so he didn't realize the other party's actual combat power.

It wasn't to the point of looking down on him, but he didn't take him too seriously either.

But after the few rounds just now, he truly felt Xia Nan's difficulty.

Seeming to clearly know the advantages and disadvantages of the two-handed longsword, the other party was exceptionally alert in battle, keeping his distance from him, and the frequently flashing sword light and sharp wind made it impossible for him to get close.

Many times, it was clearly just an ordinary slash, but it seemed like it would exert force in the next second and extend into that kind of high-danger combat technique.

Making him unable to control the initiative of the battle at all, and could only tend to passive defense.

"Can't go on like this!"

Ingram's gaze swept over the skeleton trembling violently to the side, and a golden light lit up on the surface of the prism hammer in his hand.

His burly body turned into a phantom, and he rushed toward Xia Nan instantly!

He seemed to have absorbed the experience from the previous battle, and his position was very tricky.

Making Xia Nan unable to directly use 【Spinning Slash】 to force the other party back.

His brain was running at high speed, also following his combat instinct.

Xia Nan suddenly tilted his body, dodging the other party's hammer blow as much as possible while maintaining an offensive posture.

His wrist flipped, and the longsword changed from a slash to a stab.

Step forward!

Swish—

Ingram's left elbow was instantly pierced by the blade, and blood splashed.

And at the same time, the prism hammer gripped tightly in his right hand also brushed past Xia Nan's waist and abdomen.

Bang—

The golden holy light exploded like a small explosive!

Xia Nan only felt a burst of scorching force coming from his abdomen, and his body was pushed backward.

He subconsciously glanced down and saw that the clothing originally covering the chain mail shirt had turned into fly ash, and the metal chain links used for protection were also red and smoking.

At the abrasion on his waist and abdomen, there was an even more burning pain.

He didn't stop at all.

Even though his left hand was bleeding and hanging weakly by his side under the stab of the beheading longsword.

No expression of pain or fear appeared on Ingram's face.

His lips moved, and a short, obscure spell rang out in the air.

"Hum, hum, hum!"

Using blood as a guide, dense swarms of insects emerged from the bushes and grass, flapping their wings and rushing toward Xia Nan.

The first image that appeared in his mind was the fire oil bomb thrown by the guard Wood when facing the scorpion insects surging like black water in the Mist Forest many days ago.

His left hand quickly reached back to his waist bag and took out a brown earthen jar the size of a palm.

Exert force, throw forward!

Boom—

The ink-black oily thick liquid, accompanied by the turbid dust splashing wantonly, exploded instantly in the firelight.

Turning into a raging fire, swallowing countless tiny insects.

As early as the second mission, he had been thinking about this projectile of Wood's.

During the fifteen days of rest in River Valley Town later, he bought three jars at the grocery store and carefully kept them in the depths of his waist bag for emergencies.

Now, facing the same scene, it was time for it to play its role.

"Crack!"

Firelight burst out!

Without the suppression of the fog in the Mist Forest, the scorching and surging flames almost instantly spread in the woods.

A few sparks even fell around the rune array at the center of the ritual, rapidly approaching the pale skeleton within.

Ingram's expression suddenly darkened, and a thick, fierce light flashed in his eyes.

Regardless of the hot, burning pain coming from under his feet, he stepped through the flames, his sturdy body tearing through the burning wind, and rushed straight ahead.

The iron-gray sword body reflected orange-red flame light under the surrounding red fire.

Sharp blade forward, the pitch-black eyes reflected the burly figure ahead.

Xia Nan took a long breath.

Move his feet,

faster and faster!

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The flame strands twisting and climbing with the high-speed movement of his body, the leaf fragments dancing in the air with sparks, the golden holy light on the surface of the prism hammer as dazzling as the sun, and...

That silver-white robin that suddenly flew up from the treetop.

"Zheng!!!"

The sharp, harsh sound of a lute string snapping suddenly rang out in the forest.

There were scorch marks on the hem of his clothes.

I don't know when, but the halfling had already broken free from 【Human Hold】 due to the scorching pain of the flames.

Beside his feet, the lute with a broken string lay quietly on the ground.

Alton stood in the flames.

His eyelids were lowered, his expression devout, and his lips moved as if he were silently reciting something.

Then he slowly raised his head,

and toward the sky, he once again tossed his brass-colored lucky coin.

Spin,

flip,

the portraits and cloaks on both sides of the coin alternated.

Against the backdrop of the flames in the forest, dotted with the sunlight seeping through the gaps in the canopy,

the robin flew past, flapping its wings.

The coin landed face up, the long-haired woman with a blurred face, silver-white light flickering slightly.

Fall,

land in the halfling's palm,

five fingers clenched tightly.

Swish—

Accompanied by the abrupt stop of footsteps and roars,

was the sluggish sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh.

(End of chapter)