Chapter 81

The battle between Xia Nan and Ingram entered a white-hot stage after he threw the fire oil bomb at the swarm of insects.

The fire spreading rapidly in the forest, the violently beating heart, and even the short, urgent breathing...

As if their wills were ignited together, the two, who had gradually figured out the other's strength in the constant exchanges, no longer had the caution and wariness they had at the beginning.

With the battle developing to this point, facing a powerful enemy, pursuing "no injury" was no longer realistic.

Give it your all, use every means, even at the cost of serious injury, to put the other party to death.

The boundary between life and death was only a thin line.

Hoo—

The scorching burning wind brushed against his cheeks, and the red scenery surrounded by flames retreated rapidly behind him on both sides.

In his pitch-black eyes reflected the golden holy light, Xia Nan gripped the sword hilt tightly with both hands, and the blood-stained iron-gray sword body flashed with sharp cold light under the reflection of the fire.

"Swish."

With the length advantage of the beheading longsword, the tip of the sword first pierced into the gap between the Sheriff's chest armor and neck, where there was no defense under the sharp blade.

The fairly thick clothing was instantly pierced, followed by skin, muscle, cartilage...

And at the same time, as the distance between the two closed, and their positions overlapped diagonally.

Xia Nan himself also entered Ingram's attack range.

That single-handed prism hammer, flickering with dazzling golden light and accumulating the scorching power of holy light, aimed sideways and diagonally upward at Xia Nan's abdomen, which was defenseless due to the exertion of the attack.

The originally loose uniform sleeves were torn by Ingram's blood-engorged arm muscles.

The air was torn apart, making a chilling, miserable howl.

Even with chain mail protection, one could almost imagine the tragic result of this terrifying hammer blow landing on the softest part of the human abdomen.

Trading serious injury for the enemy's death was just the ideal result.

The greater possibility was mutual destruction.

Teeth clenched!

Xia Nan had even prepared in his heart to forcibly withstand the damage by relying on his physique and expertise.

Beside his ear, a sound of a lute string snapping suddenly came.

"Zheng!"

Clearly his spirit was highly concentrated, and all his attention was focused on the battle.

At this moment, he heard it extremely strangely.

From the other side of the field, the slight but obvious, light sound of a coin spinning and flipping in the air.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the silver-white robin flying between the treetops, and the radiance flickering on the surface of the coin.

As if there was some kind of invisible silk thread, accompanied by the flipping coin, connecting his body to that silver-white light in an instant.

That was...

The gaze from the Goddess of Luck, 【Tymora】.

This powerful deity who sat high above in the God Kingdom.

In the prayers of her most devout believers, she cast her gaze down to the material plane using holy emblems and symbols as a medium.

There was no need to consume divine power, nor was there a need to descend a saintly avatar.

The "fate" divine position of one-half, the mysterious authority of holding the "luck" domain.

Letting this kind-hearted, changeable, bright, and interesting lady just blink with a light laugh.

The scales of fate tilted to one side in silence.

The tiny probability, which was close to zero, was quietly increased, turning "impossible" into "possible," and illusion into reality.

As thoughts flowed, Xia Nan felt a hard and thick touch all over his body, as if an invisible barrier had been attached to the surface of his skin.

No explanation was needed, the thought flashed through his mind like an instinct.

——【Copper Sinew and Iron Bone】: 0.5% chance to be immune to physical damage received

The next second, the prism hammer flickering with golden light, carrying all of Ingram's strength, smashed into his abdomen amidst the whistling wind.

The metal hammer face collided violently with the armor composed of chain links...

There was no sound at all.

Clearly using all his strength, the prism hammer just "landed" on him swiftly.

As if all the power was transferred and dissipated by the invisible film on Xia Nan's skin surface at this moment.

It was a feeling of extreme contrast that made one dizzy and nauseous.

He could even clearly see the surprise and astonishment briefly appearing on Ingram's face, which was flushed from excessive force.

Immediately, the holy light accumulated on the surface of the hammer exploded!

Xia Nan only felt a burst of scorching pain coming from his abdomen, and the dazzling light erupting below his line of sight made him unable to stop squinting.

Enduring the unspeakable pain, he leaned his body forward significantly, gripping the sword hilt tightly with both hands, as if pressing the center of gravity of his entire body onto the blade.

Step, rush forward!

"Bang-hiss!"

Wood chips splashed!

The iron-gray sword tip, piercing flesh and stained with blood, inserted straight into the wood fibers.

The metal plate armor hit the rough tree bark, making a dull sound.

The beheading longsword pierced through from the root of the neck.

Pinning Ingram to the tree trunk.

Crackle—

Surging flames swallowed the bushes and long grass in the forest, and sparks and grass ash filled the turbid air.

Overhead, the silver-white robin flew leisurely past, disappearing into the clouds on the horizon.

On his abdomen, the golden holy light gradually weakened with the death of its owner, and finally dissipated completely as the prism hammer, which only had the iron handle left, fell to the ground.

Xia Nan still held the sword hilt, and the aftermath of the battle made his arms tremble slightly.

Before his eyes, familiar translucent characters flashed:

【Light-Bather】

Category: Expertise

Effect: Radiant Resistance +5%

Introduction:

Under the gaze of the Goddess of Fate, you, who fought fiercely with holy radiance, luckily gained a slight resistance to radiant damage.

Note:

"Light is the shadow of darkness."

——Oath-Breaker·Tainted One of Light·Prince of Dim Flame·Letitia

Xia Nan just glanced at it slightly and didn't even have time to savor it before the intense scorching pain surging from his abdomen caused his attention to scatter.

The panel faded and dissipated into the air.

He fell to the ground.

He looked down.

He saw that the chain mail on his abdomen was already largely red, revealing traces of melting.

And the flesh and blood under the armor transmitted bursts of burning pain.

His forehead was covered in sweat, and he sat on the ground panting heavily.

He recalled the 【Adventurer's Handbook】 in his mind, regarding the treatment techniques for such injuries.

At the same time, he judged the specific degree of his current injury.

If it really didn't work, I'm afraid the last half bottle of healing potion couldn't be saved.

"Tap, tap, tap."

Compared to Xia Nan, who was somewhat disheveled after the battle, Alton didn't suffer any injuries.

It was just that his trouser legs were licked by the flames, and there were some scorch marks on the surface.

Taking small steps, he ran over lightly.

His gaze swept up and down Xia Nan's body, as if measuring the injury.

Then he leaned down, his fingers grabbing the lower edge of the chain mail.

With a fierce lift!

Hiss—

Under the high-temperature burning, the flesh and blood at the wound had almost stuck to the metal armor.

The sour and painful feeling of forced separation made Xia Nan couldn't help but gasp.

It was just gritting his teeth and forcibly enduring it, otherwise, he was afraid he would have cried out in pain on the spot.

Alton didn't look at Xia Nan's expression either, after helping the other party take off the damaged chain mail shirt.

He turned around and rummaged through his waist bag for a while.

Then he took out a small bottle of greenish ointment.

His fingertips dipped a few globs and applied them forcefully to the wound.

Xia Nan stiffened his expression, his pale lips pursed tightly, and his eyes became dazed due to the intense pain.

Fortunately, soon, as the ointment was applied evenly, its medicinal effect gradually took hold.

A cool stream that was even somewhat cold swallowed most of the burning pain, lingering and circling in the burned flesh.

The halfling acted cleanly, took out a roll of bandages, and skillfully helped him bandage the wound.

Xia Nan looked at the short figure in front of him, his mind recalling the silver-white light that flashed out of the corner of his eye during the battle just now, and the coin in the other party's hand.

With some caution, he asked tentatively:

"Just now... were you praying to the Goddess?"

After all, the damage immunity effect of 【Copper Sinew and Iron Bone】 only had a 0.5% probability of appearing.

Since he obtained this expertise, he had never triggered it.

The instability was extremely strong, and it couldn't be called a trump card.

He didn't count on it in normal battles, just treating it as a surprise that might happen.

But he didn't expect that it would trigger at the most critical moment of his battle with the Sheriff.

Thinking back to the halfling's strange movements during the battle, and his own actual feelings...

He couldn't help but feel some suspicion.

"Yes!" Alton didn't mean to hide anything about this. As soon as Xia Nan finished speaking, he nodded and confirmed.

"The Lady takes good care of me! Last night I shared with her what I saw and heard in Kalanfur, but I was woken up by you later, and only said half of it."

The halfling's face was full of smiles, as if he were chatting about family matters with the other party.

Hearing this, Xia Nan's heart couldn't help but jump, and his tone became more cautious:

"She, wasn't angry, right?"

"Of course not!" The halfling didn't raise his head, the bandage in his hand wrapping around Xia Nan's waist circle after circle.

"Didn't I just say it, the Lady is very kind."

"If she were really angry, she wouldn't have helped you just now!"

Saying that, he even raised his head and blinked at him jokingly.

"Don't worry, even if she has a little temper, can't I just go to the casino again?"

Before his eyes, the halfling's unrestrained and fierce posture at the card table flashed.

Xia Nan couldn't help but smack his lips.

At the same time, he subconsciously considered how many times his savings of over a hundred gold coins would be enough to go all-in at the tavern.

"Alright!" The halfling bit the bandage off with his teeth, stood up and put his hands on his hips, looked at the bandage already wrapped around Xia Nan's wound, and nodded with satisfaction.

He smiled quite proudly and shook the small bottle in his hand toward the other party.

"It's a good thing I brought the burn ointment that Aunt Mary stuffed into my hand before I left, it just happened to come in handy."

Before Xia Nan could reply, the surrounding burning flames seemed to suddenly remind him of something.

The originally proud expression suddenly changed, and he shouted in surprise:

"My lute!"

Then he hurriedly turned around and ran toward the direction he came from.

He reached out and touched the bandage lightly, feeling the cool breath surging beneath it.

Xia Nan's eyes fell into thought.

With Alton's help, the damage immunity effect triggered by 【Copper Sinew and Iron Bone】 immunized him against the powerful blunt strike that should have seriously injured him.

Otherwise, with the force Ingram used just now, even if he didn't die, he would be seriously injured, the kind that could only be barely relieved by drinking a healing potion.

Now, only needing to bear the holy light damage, the injury he received was undoubtedly much lighter.

With his physique, plus the halfling's burn ointment, he would probably be able to recover in about ten days.

His right hand supported the ground, and Xia Nan struggled to get up while covering his wound.

He put the chain mail, which was still exuding heat, back on his body, and looked down at the various melting marks on the surface of the armor.

"50 gold..."

He muttered in his heart, his face showing visible heartache.

"I don't know if it can be repaired at the Rock Hammer shop, maybe I'll have to buy a new one."

Then he pulled out the wooden sword 【Pine-Green】 from behind him, and toward the skeleton in the center of the forest, inside the array, which was already stained with undead aura and trembling violently, he slashed and poked, smashing it to pieces.

Then he used his feet to completely destroy the array patterns carved on the ground.

It wasn't until those shattered skeletons stopped moving that he breathed a sigh of relief.

In his current state, he couldn't withstand another high-intensity battle.

He turned around and returned to the place where the battle ended.

Enduring the stinging pain from the wound on his abdomen, his arm exerted force, and he pulled the beheading longsword out of the tree trunk.

He glanced at the surface of the sword, and seeing no obvious cracks, he sheathed it.

In front of him, the Sheriff pinned to the tree by the longsword fell face down on the muddy ground.

Motionless, clearly completely dead.

Xia Nan squatted down, flipped the corpse over, and then stripped off the other party's light plate armor.

Hmm... there were a few obvious scratches on the surface, it didn't matter, it could be used completely.

Although it was standard armor issued by the Sheriff's position, the specific style wasn't particularly obvious, and it was difficult to identify the identity solely through the equipment itself.

Take it back first to avoid the limelight, and after a while, take the armor out, and there should be no problem.

To be safe, maybe he could find a blacksmith to change the style of this plate armor.

This single-handed hammer was a pity.

The holy light that exploded at the end almost melted and dissipated the entire hammer head, leaving only a bare handle.

It couldn't be sold for a price.

He didn't dislike it either, Xia Nan searched the corpse carefully with both hands, looking for possible loot.

It was a pity that except for a money bag containing 12 gold, 6 silver, and 2 copper, he found nothing.

Come to think of it, even he knew to deposit most of his gold coins in the bank.

He wasn't some spellcaster who mastered storage spells, an ordinary Sheriff in a border town, even with a church background, definitely couldn't afford storage-type magic items.

Naturally, it was impossible to carry all his wealth with him.

Footsteps came from his ear.

"Good, good, it wasn't burned by the fire."

The halfling's smiling face carried some relief, holding his lute with a broken string in his arms.

"How about you, did you gain anything?"

"Just these two." Xia Nan showed the plate armor and money bag in his hand to the other party and shrugged.

"Hee hee, I said it, luck is conserved!"

"By the way!"

Alton put the lute back behind him and looked at Xia Nan in front of him.

"You should still be staying in River Valley Town, right?"

Xia Nan nodded suspiciously.

"Then we probably won't see each other for a long time." The halfling shook his head lightly, grabbed with his right hand, took something out of his waist bag, and tossed it toward the other party.

"Farewell gift!"

Xia Nan reached out and caught it, the palm of his hand feeling a cold and hard touch.

He looked over.

What came into view was the brass coin engraved with the Goddess's blurred face.

"You..." He suddenly raised his head, but only saw the halfling take out an identical copper coin from somewhere.

Tossing it up and down in his hand.

"Luck favors the brave." Alton's face was full of a cheerful smile, the coin at his fingertips refracting the flame light, "The Lady said it to me herself."

Subconsciously looking down, Xia Nan's gaze was fixed on the copper coin in his hand.

Suddenly,

unexpectedly, a large string of translucent characters emerged in his sight.

Among them, the most eye-catching were a few words he had never seen before, but which made his breathing stop in an instant:

——【Grade】: Epic (Pink).

(End of chapter)