Chapter 9: Bad

Maji seemed to have lost the ability to resist.

It wasn't because he was disheartened and only sought a quick death.

Although he was desperate in his heart, after all, he had been an adventurer for so many years, and his psychological quality was not that bad.

The hunter at the moment was in a certain rigid state where his body could not move.

【Precision Strike】 is an exclusive skill of the "Ranger" profession; it can not only help professionals accurately lock onto the enemy's vital points in complex battlefield situations, but also slightly enhance the damage of arrows to a certain extent.

As a "Combat Technique," it naturally doesn't consume mana, but it also requires a certain physical quality to support it.

Normally, with the physical quality of a professional, this physical exertion can be said to be very easy and cannot be called a burden at all.

But for ordinary people like Maji who have not yet obtained a professional level and have no professional foundation bonus, the side effects of using 【Precision Strike】 are a bit too severe—

After each use of the combat technique, he needs to endure an extremely weak state for nearly 15 seconds.

In this state, Maji, let alone fighting, even walking requires others to support him.

Therefore, in most cases, 【Precision Strike】 is the trump card he can only reveal at the very end.

Now facing a monster like the Bugbear that is far beyond the scope of their squad's response, the hunter chose to cooperate with his teammates at the very beginning and display his most powerful move to seize the initiative of the battle.

This was completely fine.

And now the arrow missed under the effect of unknown power, the plan failed, he lost the best opportunity, and the balance of victory tilted towards the enemy, which was naturally a matter of course.

Huff—

Bugbear "Hengke" sprayed a puff of white smoke from his dilated nostrils.

"Ruined Hengke's lucky day," he muttered, his yellowish-brown turbid eyes reflecting the fragile body of the human in front of him who was motionless. "Little bug, need compensation."

A few months ago, his younger brothers looted a woman from somewhere.

Hengke was very hungry and especially liked this food called "human"—tender and juicy, tasting much better than those wild boars and flower rabbits in the forest.

But having just become independent from the tribe, he still remembered the teachings of the priest in the clan who was said to have lived for two hundred years.

"The female must be kept to give birth, and can only be eaten after giving birth."

So he had been guarding in the nest like this, not knowing how much drool he had shed.

Until today, when the woman finally finished giving birth.

But before he could even taste a bite, he encountered these little bugs in front of him.

"You will be punished, Hengke will..."

The wonderful taste of the smell of blood permeating the air surged into his nose, making him unable to help but lick his dry lips.

As if realizing something, the originally somewhat irritable face of the Bugbear, Hengke, suddenly revealed a look of surprise.

Thinking so in his heart, the Bugbear "Hengke" had already raised the morning star hammer in his hand high.

The arm muscles as thick as an adult's thigh swelled, and the prism spikes covering the hammer surface emitted a cold light under the reflection of the campfire.

It swung the iron hammer in its hand towards the little bug in front of it.

And just at this time,

Hum—

In the dim cave, a silver-white sharp light shadow suddenly flashed.

【Spinning Slash】

The biting wind stung his skin, and Hengke only felt a burst of cold and chill on the side of his neck.

Instinctively, he subconsciously dodged his body.

The movement on his hand paused, and the morning star hammer, which was originally aimed at the vital point of Maji, also shifted its position, knocking on the opponent's right calf.

"Ah!!!"

The fragile human leg bone was instantly smashed to pieces by the metal hammer surface, and together with the knee, the entire right leg was twisted and deformed significantly.

Maji wailed painfully, his pale face full of cold sweat.

It was just that at this moment, there was no one on the field to pay attention to him anymore.

Xia Nan stared dead at the burly figure in front, feeling a little regretful in his heart.

As an ordinary person who hadn't even killed a chicken before yesterday, he felt he had already done his best.

In the 0.5 seconds after witnessing Gagu's head being smashed by the Bugbear, the following was a series of thoughts that flashed through his brain:

Realizing that the opponent's strength was not something he could deal with head-on, and at the same time realizing the unrealistic nature of escaping due to the explosive power shown by the opponent, he made the decision to sneak attack while the enemy hadn't discovered the situation on his side.

Xia Nan even patiently and accurately caught the brief moment when the Bugbear swung the hammer.

It was just that he didn't expect that this kind of monster from the fantasy world could exert force twice.

While swinging the iron hammer, it could also control its body to dodge his attack.

"This is bad..."

Xia Nan muttered.

The good news was that he had cut the opponent, knowing that this inhuman existence was still flesh and blood, and had a health bar!

And his sword just now didn't trigger the energy shield the Bugbear showed before, which meant it should have entered some kind of CD state, or it simply didn't trigger in close combat.

As for the bad news...

First, having slashed the third 【Spinning Slash】 in a short period of time, his body had reached its limit.

Just holding the sword handle, he could feel the muscles in his forearm trembling, as if they would cramp if he exerted a little more force.

Secondly, although his sword just now hit the vital point, because of the Bugbear's dodge, the opponent's injury was greatly reduced.

This not only failed to effectively weaken the Bugbear's combat power, but also exposed his figure to the opponent's sight and attracted its hatred.

Roar—

A roar of rage filled with anger suddenly erupted, low and fierce, as if an invisible sound wave had set off in the air.

Hengke, who was sneak-attacked by a "little bug" and had a bloody mouth cut on his neck, instantly fell into a rage.

Looking at the burly figure rushing straight towards him like a flesh-and-blood tank.

Xia Nan didn't have time to formulate any tactics at all.

Driven only by the instinct to survive, he lunged sideways and then, in a very disheveled manner, followed up with a somersault.

Bang!!!

The pitch-black morning star hammer brushed past his head and smashed down fiercely, and spider-web-like cracks appeared on the ground.

The wind wrapped around the splashing mud, stinging his cheeks.

Perhaps because he had already died once in his previous life, or perhaps because the surge of adrenaline in his body made him ignore those negative emotions.

At this moment, Xia Nan didn't feel any fear when facing an opponent he couldn't fight against.

He stood up quickly.

The longsword in his hand was already swinging towards the opponent's neck again.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 10 =====