Chapter 73: The Decisive and Ruthless Shengzai!

In SAO, without flight ability or skill, Shengzai had planned to strike down the Shadow immediately after kicking it away, as it fell.

But now, seeing the Shadow vanish midair, Shengzai froze.

Teleportation was impossible—this region, “Hill of Death,” completely blocked all teleportation abilities and skills.

Excluding teleportation skills and items, the only possibility left was invisibility.

“Damn it, Karatir, this useless waste with nothing but level, almost got one-shot!”

And who the hell collected this intel? Players who rely on summoned beasts usually aren’t strong themselves?

That sword technique that nearly one-shot Karatir, plus those insane reflexes and physical capabilities—how is that not strong?!”

To be honest, though their clash was brief, the Shadow had already decided to retreat.

While “Smile Coffin” members were indeed killers who loved bloodshed, loving bloodshed and willingly walking to death were two different things.

Earlier, they were confident they could kill Shengzai because they assumed he was a “tamer”-type player, inherently weak.

But from this brief exchange, the Shadow had already realized Shengzai himself was terrifyingly strong.

And Karatir was pure trash—he nearly got killed in one hit, utterly useless as combat power.

Even if Karatir and the Shadow fought alone, the gap was negligible.

“Hill of Death” did block teleportation, but the Shadow still had invisibility; if he escaped to a safe zone using it, then activated a teleport crystal, he could easily flee.

As for Karatir, that useless waste? He got what he deserved—the Shadow had already saved him once, and that was more than enough.

As for Ken and Apple, the Shadow couldn’t help them either—his invisibility worked only on himself; those two idiots were just unlucky.

But if he survived this, he would go to POH, the leader of “Smile Coffin,” and avenge his brother.

Their leader POH loved hunting strong players; next time “Smile Coffin” came in full force, wouldn’t they easily reclaim their honor?

After weighing the pros and cons, the Shadow decided not to linger—his invisibility had a time limit, and he had to escape out of Shengzai’s sight while still hidden.

“Spirit Summoning: White Tiger—Lou Jin Gou!”

Just as the Shadow prepared to flee, Shengzai tapped the air several times nearby, and a constellation pattern appeared before him.

“Howl—————!”

A howl, part dog, part wolf, echoed from the air; the next second, before the Shadow’s stunned eyes, a massive black hound, resembling a giant Husky, slowly materialized behind Shengzai.

After arriving, the huge black hound sniffed the air, then immediately locked its fierce gaze onto the Shadow’s position, baring its fangs.

Still invisible, the Shadow froze the moment he saw Lou Jin Gou.

He never imagined Shengzai’s unique skill, “Spirit Sword,” was this powerful—it could summon two such formidable beasts simultaneously.

The golden dragon before was bad enough, but this newly appeared black hound was equally dangerous.

The instant it fixed its gaze on him, the Shadow felt utterly trapped—with no escape.

Golden dragon, black hound, and the flaming tiger from intel… and who knew if “The Saint” had other summoned beasts beyond these three?

And until now, everyone assumed Shengzai’s unique tamer-like skill could summon only one beast at a time—but now he’d summoned two!

No, even two might not be his limit; recalling Shengzai’s earlier remark about their group being too small, the Shadow felt a chill run down his spine.

He wasn’t boasting—he truly had power. This monster, comparable to a boss, could summon multiple beasts simultaneously. “The Saint’s” true strength far exceeded anyone’s imagination!

After being locked onto by Lou Jin Gou, the Shadow tried resisting or fleeing, but as the saying goes, two legs can’t outrun four.

With his invisibility useless, the Shadow was quickly tackled by Lou Jin Gou, even as he slashed with his poisoned dagger.

But when he stabbed, Lou Jin Gou merely roared in pain—then its massive jaws snapped shut, severing the Shadow’s entire head.

After eliminating the Shadow, Lou Jin Gou, under Shengzai’s gaze, charged toward the battlefield with Kang Jin Long.

The two remaining “Smile Coffin” members, outnumbered two-to-one against Kang Jin Long, were already barely holding on; now, seeing their strongest member, the Shadow, instantly killed by the giant dog, and the beast charging toward them, their hearts turned to ash.

Hearing the distant screams of the two “Smile Coffin” members, Karatir, still frantically drinking healing potions, looked up as Shengzai approached—and fear crept into his eyes.

“You can’t kill me—I’m not a red-named player like ‘Smile Coffin.’ If you attack me, you’ll become red-named too.”

“And I’m a member of the Blood Alliance Knights—if you lay a hand on me, our guild master and our guild won’t let you live!”

Shengzai kept advancing; Karatir, with one arm severed, could only stagger backward.

As Shengzai’s one-handed sword reappeared, Karatir’s other arm flew up again, severed.

Watching his HP, painstakingly restored by potions, drain again, Karatir finally felt true terror; seeing Shengzai unmoved by his threats, he begged: “Please spare me—I was just blinded by madness.”

“I know now—I won’t ever touch Asuna again. In SAO, if you kill someone, you die in real life too. You don’t want to become a murderer at your age, do you?”

“If you spare me, I’ll give you all my gear, and I’ll vanish from your sight forever.”

Watching Karatir, now armless, kneeling on both knees, bowing his head repeatedly to Shengzai.

Shengzai remained calm, speaking slowly: “Trash like you? Dying here is the best outcome.”

“As for being a murderer? I don’t care. In fact, you picked a perfect spot.”

“No one’s around here. No messages can be sent. Even if I kill you all, who’d ever know?”

(End of Chapter)