Chapter 146: Hunter (Third Watch)

"Break Evil."

The holy sword Li En swung with full force again dimmed mid-stroke, becoming plain and unadorned.

This was not because Li En's holy power had run dry; "Sun" and "Path Sublimation" had both replenished some of his holy power.

Not much, but it should last a few minutes.

"War Sword: Armor Erosion!"

The light was gone, but this subdued Break Evil holy sword was instead more sinister.

Reality is not a game; armor penetration is not a negative status effect that expires after a while. As long as armor, protection, or hide is shattered, there is no defense until it is healed or repaired.

And in actual combat, once vulnerable flesh is exposed, the next move could be the opponent's fatal blow!

"Boom!"

But Li En flew back at an even faster speed.

"Aaaah!!"

The transformed giant deer beast, now over three meters tall, immediately flew into a rage.

In that brief collision, large chunks of its flesh were slashed away.

The gradually maddened great-horned beast glared viciously at Li En; more than half of its herd had died for no apparent reason.

Li En stood gripping his sword, somewhat puzzled. He clearly hadn't been hit, so why had he been repelled?

In actual combat, intelligence support is often the top priority. Li En knew these old opponents well; comparing the facts to find the answer was not difficult.

"... Direction." Li En suddenly understood.

"Up and down direction" is also the deer's authority. The one who truly sent Li En back at this moment was actually himself!

"Aaaah!" But the frenzied charging monster would not give Li En time to adapt.

"Clang!" And at this moment, it was Larry who blocked the great-horned beast.

Driven by her acceleration boots, she moved as fast as flight. As a swordsman, her exceptionally long and agile arms wielded the longsword continuously, creating seemingly insignificant wounds.

"Aaaah!" But if these wounds truly didn't matter, the great-horned beast would not keep roaring.

On the six arms of the Spider Knight, every magic sword carried a powerful effect. Perhaps the wounds were small, but the negative effects attached were extremely effective.

At this moment, Li En also understood that this great-horned beast could not change direction at will; it first needed to observe and make contact with its opponent, whereas Larry could sense in advance and dodge.

Even if occasionally reflected, the force she used was not great, and the sword did not even leave her hand.

In Li En's eyes, she was far more agile than he was on flat ground.

"So it was the spiderwebs beneath." And these spiderwebs spread between the Shi Zhu had become the stage for her sword dance; this was her true home ground.

She could even actively use the elasticity of the spiderwebs to accelerate or decelerate between steps.

"Looks like I underestimated her."

As a rare "Agility-type Paladin," when sparring with Li En, this "Strength-type Ox," she had always been at a disadvantage. In direct sparring, she couldn't just use magic swords to curse Li En and inflict wounds.

And the environment of that underground cave was also unsuitable for this agile, multi-armed rapier-wielding finesse warrior to unfold her skills.

This time, however, it was her home ground, facing an opponent type she excelled at!

"Holy Power!"

Beams of light ignited on her body. Having officially reached the fourth tier, she applied a powerful divine spell to herself, compensating for her hardware attributes where she was comprehensively disadvantaged.

Li En had no intention of just watching. He reached out... uh, holy power was low, mana was depleted, and he had even overdrafted his life force just now.

If Sul's soul were possessing him, Li En could still use the Holy Fire Aura to graze damage, letting his soul ability continuously "secretly break defense" through the flames.

But now, for this soul power, he only had the ability to channel it onto the sword's edge.

He gripped the sword again, and it gradually became covered in flames.

Dragon Flame is a racial talent; sure enough, it could still be used.

Conversely, because the mana pool and holy power pool were depleted, this power was actually clearer and more stable to wield.

And this power should have an additional effect, the effect he needed most right now.

"Dragon!"

Instantly, Li En, unable to use the Dragon Eye due to eye pain, re-established aggro.

Combat drives beasts mad, but also makes their instinct to distinguish friend from foe sharper.

Provoked by an arch-enemy, the great-horned beast abandoned Larry, who was trying to intercept, and charged straight at him.

Li En took a deep breath, and where the sword edge reached, it drew out a string of Dragon Flame.

"Boom!"

This time, Li En stood his ground and blocked the great horn's impact.

He felt it; the sense of direction was overturned in the instant of collision. If he had truly tried to collide or dodge, the situation would have been terrible.

But this time, the armor purchased at great cost hadn't even had a chance to show its worth, while the "Indestructible" holy sword displayed its absurd resilience.

"Clang!" Where the sword and claw collided, the "thin rod" didn't bend even slightly.

The reality of being unable to advance made the great-horned beast even more frenzied. Its claw strikes grew heavier with each swing, but Li En could still hold firm.

And in this opportunity, the other candidates were also seizing the time to deal damage.

Li En turned his head and realized that Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei had disappeared without him noticing. The other candidates were trying hard, but the results were mediocre.

The Machine Race Orphelia had lost most of her combat methods. The Mushroom Man tried to approach the combat zone but was directly swatted away by a slap.

The spore attack he threw did cause mushrooms to grow on the opponent, but the effect seemed limited to decoration.

Vitoria threw several elemental vials (alchemical vials infused with elements), trying to cause some damage, but the result was not even as fast as the opponent's healing.

Panicking, she tried to cast a spell, failed twice, and even if successful, the effect was completely unexpectable; alchemists' combat magic is often not very good.

"Stone Skin."

But suddenly, the voice from behind made Li En pause.

Next, large areas of his skin and flesh instantly petrified; as his weight surged, his defensive capabilities increased dramatically.

This was exactly what he needed, but who did it?

"Could Miss Shaliman be a four-ring... uh, no, she isn't four-ring, she's..."

This time, when he turned back, he did not see the good woman casting spells.

Instead, he saw Miss Shaliman tearing up a magic scroll and pulling out the next bag.

"... is a rich good woman."

Expensive magic scrolls had become Consumables; this burning of money made Li En's heart ache, but the effect was indeed truly excellent.

With several buffing spells added, Li En truly held off that increasingly enraged monster; he死死 locked onto the enemy's aggro, giving his companions sufficient space to deal damage.

The two-handed sword became a high-quality shield; the unbreakable Sword of the Hero was exceptionally useful at this moment.

The expensive Stone Skin spell and his armor were highly compatible; Li En had transformed into an unyielding dam.

Even when struck by a heavy blow, Li En only lost some stone chips; abandoning his surprise attack, he went all out to block the furious Great-Horned Beast.

When it remained motionless, what meaning did the inverted direction hold?

And with the frontline knight holding back the demon, what would happen next needed no further explanation.

"Die, evil!"

The one dealing the highest damage turned out to be Larry.

She swung blow after blow of the Evil-Cleaving Slash; paired with a high-quality weapon, she steadily inflicted wounds and curse effects.

As for the other three "unskilled in combat" Alchemy specialists, they continued to underperform... but after Miss Shaliman tried her psychic abilities and enchantment spells and found the results nearly nonexistent, she began an excessively expensive scroll-wasting tactic.

"Boom!"

A fireball exploded on the Great-Horned Beast; without a caster's enhancement, the scroll's damage was severely lacking, but it had already created sufficient openings.

"Evil-Cleave!"

Finally, Li En seized the opportunity to switch from defense to offense.

"Boom!" And the enemy's claw slammed into him... yet instead of retreating, he advanced!

Just before being hit, he had indeed taken a small backward hop step, which was indeed converted into a charging thrust!

"Dragon!" The Great-Horned Beast, unskilled in battle, regretted its foolish maneuver, but it was already too late.

The previous claw strike had only knocked off some fragments from the Stone Skin armor.

A flesh-and-blood claw's effect against heavy armor was inferior to that of metal weapons.

"War Sword... Armor-Eroding."

This time, the blade met no obstruction, directly inflicting a massive wound on the Great-Horned Beast's neck.

"Aaaahhh!"

Blood flowed continuously, which actually restored some sanity to the Great-Horned Priest... yet at this moment, human sanity反而 reduced its survival rate.

A wounded beast is the most frantic, but a wounded human might be the most irrational, the most turtle-like coward.

It actually tried to cover its wound and flee; not a professional warrior, it abandoned the last possible window for counterattack.

"Die, evil."

Li En immediately followed up without hesitation, but this time, the blade enhanced with Dragon Flame was blocked.

Forced to dodge the counterattack and retreat, he then swung his blade again.

"... Evil-Cleave!"

This time, the squeezed-out "Holy Sword of Evil-Cleaving" would truly be the very last one.

"Swish!"

But this time, the remaining half of the neck failed to block the blade; the head was directly severed.

The head flew off, yet the monster's corpse still stood upright.

Gazing at the Great-Horned Priest who died with eyes unsealed, Li En did not slacken... beasts like this are hard to kill completely.

He was already prepared for the worst; fighting a second or third phase wasn't without precedent... if they truly couldn't win, they would just flee and wait for Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei to come to their rescue.

But this opponent, the Great-Horned Priest, did not possess the "Saintess's" utterly outrageous vitality.

Finally, the headless corpse of the giant beast collapsed, spewing blood; Li En and his companions achieved ultimate victory.

"It's over, right?"

Li En plunged his sword into the ground and sat atop the beast's head, gasping for breath.

It was close; they almost truly suffered a party wipe.

"Where is Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei?" Li En had told her not to act unless necessary, but if she wasn't here at a critical moment, something was a bit off.

Li En expected her to jump out soon, but after waiting for a long time, there was still no response.

Just as he thought there was another emergency and needed to go find her...

"Thud!"

A heavy object fell, landing squarely in front of Li En.

It was a snow-white deer head; familiar, very familiar! He had seen it yesterday on the city wall!

Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei appeared with a bright smile; that deer head, even larger than the Great Horn, was her trophy from just now.

"One Beast Prince; it almost got away. Heh, for no known reason, it was under a magical curse; otherwise, I wouldn't have taken it down so quickly."

(End of Chapter)