Chapter 121 - 93: Hellish Roar’s Killing Move, Combination Killing Skill

Chapter 121: Chapter 93: Hellish Roar’s Killing Move, Combination Killing Skill

"Damn! These rewards are a bit over the top."

"Especially first place. It’s just absurd."

’If I could win that, I’d truly take off right from where I stand.’

Shen Xing gasped, stunned by the rewards for this leaderboard.

Players ranked below 10,000 each received 100 Soul Stones and Silver Coins, plus half an Elite Soul. It was practically a giveaway!

To Shen Xing, these resources might not be much at this point.

But for those new players who had just started the game, this was already a staggering fortune.

With these Soul Stones, they could at least raise a 10-man squad to Level 5 or higher, which would be a huge help in the early stages.

This also confirmed his suspicion: the system had introduced this leaderboard to help out the large number of new players.

At the same time, the rewards for the top 10,000 were even more generous.

Especially the first-place prize, the [Hero’s Certificate]. He was practically drooling over it.

The Hero’s Certificate, as the name suggested, was a magical item that could promote one of his Soldier Types into a Heroic Unit.

If he could get it, he could promote Hellish Roar to a Heroic Unit, causing his combat power to skyrocket.

But winning first place on the leaderboard was easier said than done.

This expansion was released simultaneously to all players worldwide.

In other words, Shen Xing had to compete with every Novice Lord across the globe.

Moreover, there was a line of small print at the bottom: [When a Pioneer breaks through to the next Tier during the leaderboard event, they will automatically be removed from the leaderboard.]

’At my current pace, advancing to the Extraordinary Tier within seven days shouldn’t be a problem.’

’But... if I can snag a good rank on the leaderboard this time, it might be worth waiting a little while.’

Next, Shen Xing opened the current leaderboard rankings to take a look.

[First Place: Aaron Vickers, 134 Points]

[Second Place: Fatima, 112 Points]

[Third Place: Yamagata Tetsuya, 98 Points]

[Fourth Place: Luo Feng, 87 Points]

[Fifth Place...]

[My Rank: 10,000+]

...

’These people are ridiculous. The leaderboard has been up for less than three minutes, and they’ve already shot past one hundred points.’

Shen Xing guessed that these Lords must have encountered a large-scale monster attack on their territories right after the expansion went live, which was how they racked up so many points so quickly.

By now, he had carefully reviewed all the update details.

Some of the updates didn’t affect him much, but others had genuinely changed the environment of the two worlds.

But no matter what, the main goal for all Pioneers remained the same.

Develop their territories, strengthen their Soldier Types, and continuously increase their power.

Only then could they hope to protect themselves in the increasingly turbulent situation.

’I need to properly plan out the future development of my territory as well.’

Shen Xing closed the leaderboard interface and scanned his surroundings.

The Campfire cast an orange glow, illuminating the buildings one by one.

Gray raindrops fell continuously from the sky.

He pushed his wheelchair, preparing to collect the water from the Moon Well as usual.

"Lord, please wait a moment!"

A Bald Beastman with wings on his back and a shiny head walked quickly toward him.

Shen Xing stopped and asked, "What is it?"

"Y-your Fried Chicken has been absorbing Soul Stones for the past two days and successfully reached Level 9 last night," Hellish Roar stammered.

Shen Xing’s heart stirred, and a look of anticipation appeared in his eyes.

This meant that the Horned Eagle could now use Advancement Materials and break through to the Extraordinary Tier!

"Fried Chicken, come here," Shen Xing called out.

From a corner of the distant city wall came the sound of flapping wings.

Immediately after, a hulking figure came running over with heavy strides.

"KREEE~ KREE~"

Fried Chicken circled his wheelchair twice, then stopped in front of him, seeming to be in a very good mood.

Shen Xing stroked its head and noticed that he hadn’t paid much attention to the creature for two days, and it seemed to have grown a size larger.

Moreover, he had a feeling that the color of its feathers had deepened, showing signs of turning black.

’Could it be... because it’s been eating too many snacks?’

He opened Fried Chicken’s panel to take a look, but seeing no abnormal changes, he stopped worrying.

"Here, this is for you."

He took out a giant raptor’s talon from his inventory and handed it over.

"Chirp?" Fried Chicken tilted its head, seemingly unsure what this thing was for.

Shen Xing explained it, telling it how to use it.

The Horned Eagle understood that this was a treasure that could make it stronger. It happily snatched up the talon and trotted off to the side to evolve.

After Fried Chicken left, Hellish Roar hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "Lord, I actually have a question... that I’d like to ask your guidance on."

"Oh?" Shen Xing looked at him. "What is it?"

"It’s about my training."

Hellish Roar said in a low voice, "Last time, you used that miraculous ability to help me transform and also activated the Demon Power within my body."

"I can now channel Hellfire through my wings to deal large-scale damage to enemies."

"I was inspired by the Mirror Image Clone’s advanced Skill, [Mirror Image Killing Array]. It seems these abilities can take on new Skill forms through different methods of channeling power."

"So, I combined the Blade Storm Skill with Hellfire and created a brand-new combination Skill."

"It’s just... the combination is still unstable, so I was hoping our learned Lord could give me some pointers."

Hellish Roar scratched his bald head, looking like an earnest student seeking advice.

’A combination Skill?’

A flicker of doubt crossed Shen Xing’s eyes; this was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing.

Though surprised, his voice remained calm. "Show me a demonstration."

"Uh..." Hellish Roar looked around and scratched his head. "There are a lot of buildings around here. I’m afraid I might accidentally hit them. Should we go to an open area for the demonstration?"

’What kind of Skill is so powerful that it could damage the surrounding buildings?’

His curiosity grew.

A few moments later, the two of them arrived at an empty plot of land outside the South City District of the territory.

"Lord, please stand back a bit," Hellish Roar said in a low voice, gripping the Black Water War Axe in his hand.

Shen Xing did as he was told, pushing his wheelchair back some distance.

The next moment, the pair of bat-like wings on Hellish Roar’s back suddenly unfurled.

The nearly four-meter-wide black wings stretched out completely, casting a huge shadow on the ground.

Blue patterns flowed across the wing membranes, exuding a dangerous and powerful aura.

Then, with a twist of his feet, he kicked up a gust of wind and began to spin, War Axe in hand.

Shen Xing knew this was the opening move for [Blade Storm]. Practically every Beastman in the territory knew this skill.

Under Dahou’s leadership, all the Beastmen had started imitating this move. Nowadays, any Beastman who said they didn’t know [Blade Storm] would be mocked.

Of course, their Blade Storm was just them spinning around. Whether it could actually damage an enemy or just make them dizzy was another question entirely.

However, Hellish Roar’s opening move this time seemed a little different from before.

As his body spun, the pair of bat-like wings began to fold inward, as if forming a barrier to protect him.

Immediately after, an eerie green flame ignited at the tips of his wings.

What started as mere sparks quickly expanded with his rotation.

WHOOSH—!

A massive Hellfire Tornado materialized out of thin air.

The air temperature shot up instantly. The seven-to-eight-meter-diameter Flaming Tornado spun at high speed, unleashing terrifying waves of heat and an astonishingly destructive aura.

It felt as if anything caught within it would be instantly shredded and vaporized.

But that wasn’t all.

After spinning for two or three seconds, Hellish Roar let out a sudden, explosive shout.

"Go!"

The next second, he actually flung the massive Fire Tornado forward, and it swept ahead for more than ten meters!

Shen Xing’s jaw hit the floor.

He was completely stunned.

’No... is that even possible?’

’You shouldn’t even call that Blade Storm. It should be Blade Tornado Storm, right?’

After executing the Skill, Hellish Roar let out a heavy sigh of relief, then put away his War Axe and walked over to Shen Xing.

"Lord, this is the combination Skill I developed, but I feel like it’s still lacking something."

"According to my design, after I throw the final tornado, the Hellfire contained within it should detonate on contact with a target."

"After charging up with the initial spin, this final explosion should deal the most damage."

"But for some reason, I can’t make it detonate one hundred percent of the time. It just travels a certain distance like it did just now."

"As I thought, I’m just too stupid."

He scratched his large, bald head, looking vexed.

Shen Xing was left speechless.

’Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re so stupid.’

’For fuck’s sake, do you even hear yourself talking?’

’A combination Skill... I haven’t even seen one on the forums, let alone one that combines Hellfire with another Skill.’

’Haki Prison, you do realize you’ve probably pioneered a path no one has ever walked before, don’t you?’

"Hellish Roar, your combination Skill is already incredibly refined. Even I can’t offer you much guidance."

Shen Xing didn’t pretend to be profound, lest he mislead him. "But a certain Master once said: ’Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.’"

"I suggest you practice it for a while longer and see how it goes."

"’One percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration...’"

Hellish Roar’s whole body trembled, and the light returned to his eyes. "I understand!"

"So... that’s why I can’t make it detonate one hundred percent of the time!"

"Lord, you are truly my guiding star, my life’s mentor!"

Shen Xing: ’?’

’Wait, what did you understand now?’

’I didn’t say anything! I just told you to practice more!’

’Is this so-called "understanding" of you Beastmen all just a matter of faith?’

Shen Xing took a deep breath and forced a smile. "As long as it helped you. Now, go and make preparations. Assemble the troops."

"Once Fried Chicken makes its breakthrough, we’ll set out immediately to conquer that Divine Hall."

"At your command, Lord!" Hellish Roar replied respectfully.

Then he quickly turned and left to assemble the Beastmen.

Shen Xing, however, watched his retreating back, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

’Hellish Roar... he’s really something else...’