Chapter 221 The End

As a combat technique accompanying the [Meteor Blade Hunter] class, [Gravity Etching] had become a staple of Xia Nan's daily training since his advancement.

On one hand, its limitation of three casts and its unique mechanism of recharging once every six hours made training this combat technique relatively simple.

He only needed to track the recharge time and expend the fully charged casts. The efficiency of raising its proficiency was much higher than that of other combat techniques.

On the other hand, it was due to the outstanding effects of [Gravity Etching].

Compared to combat techniques like [Spinning Slash] and [Fang Hunt] that emphasized physical movement and martial skill, [Gravity Etching] acted more like an "enchantment."

It condensed pure energy onto the surface of a weapon, providing a massive, one-time burst of damage to an attack.

More crucially, the type of damage it inflicted was "force damage."

This was a unique, pure, and invisible energy shaped and guided directly by magic particles.

It differed from elemental types like "ice" and "fire," physical types like "piercing" and "slashing," or even others like "necrotic" and "psychic."

"Force" could be an impact or a cut, or it could be a barrier or a shield; it was invisible yet possessed physical substance.

The vast majority of magical creatures in this world, including adventurers who had acquired Class Levels, possessed some innate resistance against various types of damage.

Even Xia Nan, who had advanced only a few months ago, possessed resistance to "radiant," "fire," "slashing," and "piercing" damage, bolstered by various Feats and equipment.

The former came from the [Light-Bathed One] Feat, while the latter three originated from the Plate-Chain Composite Armor forged from Iris Patterned Steel that he wore.

Although none of these resistances were particularly high, they accumulated enough to offset a fair amount of injury.

And the reason force damage was often crowned with the prefix of "noble" was because:

In the multiverse, almost no creature possessed innate resistance or immunity to force damage.

This meant that even ancient dragons, demon lords, outer planar beings, and constructs capable of enduring mid-to-high circle spells with their bare bodies...

...would still take the full brunt of the damage if slashed by Xia Nan's longsword imbued with [Gravity Etching].

Of course, exactly how much damage that would inflict... was hard to say.

To some extent, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it "true damage."

This was the most prominent and crucial characteristic of force damage compared to other damage types.

Pure and invisible, stable, universal, reliable, and possessing near-absolute penetration.

This made [Gravity Etching] one of Xia Nan's trump cards.

And at a critical moment in battle like this, he combined it with [Gravity Control] to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy.

Vmm—

Ocher-red energy exploded from the surface of the blade!

First was Mint's left arm, severed from the upper forearm by the longsword. The expanding shockwave of energy acted like a bloody maw filled with razor-sharp teeth, crashing down along the trajectory of the severed limb.

Blood spurted as the tiny stump remaining below her elbow was devoured by the force energy.

One could almost see the pale bone shards and squirming flesh exposed to the air at the clean-cut wound.

At the same time, the ocher-red force energy spread and blanketed Mint's chest.

Her dark bristles, already bearing scorch marks from the fierce flames of the Fire Oil Bomb, were instantly consumed. Her skin, tougher than tree bark, offered absolutely no resistance, splattering outward as minced meat.

Muscles, bones, and even the faint outlines of internal organs beneath the diaphragm of her chest became visible.

Then the force energy silently receded.

'She's heavily wounded!'

'But it's still not quite enough to end the battle.'

Xia Nan gripped the hilt tightly with both hands. While paying close attention to the enemy's movements, he swept his peripheral vision over the wound he had inflicted.

Thoughts raced through his mind.

Refusing to give his opponent even a moment to catch her breath, his left leg—which had just struck the ground amid a wolf's howl—stomped forward again. His waist, abdomen, and arms drove further power into his stance.

The tip of the sword, gleaming with a sharp, cold light in the night, thrust straight toward the vitals of the enemy's exposed chest, now devoid of fur.

Suddenly, the piercing shriek of something sharp tearing through the air reached his ears as a streak of dark shadow slashed past his side.

His heart chilled.

If he followed through with this thrust, the bear-man in front of him would be left with half a breath of life, if not dead outright, but at the same time, his own head would suffer a sweeping blow from her sharp claws.

Trading a life for an injury was clearly not worth it.

He immediately retracted the force in his arms, using his forward momentum to bend his knees and violently shrink his body downward!

Whoosh—

Wrapped in a fierce gust of wind, a bone-chilling cold swept right over his head.

Ahead of him, Mint seized the opportunity to stumble back two steps.

Determined to maximize his advantage, Xia Nan twisted his wrists, sweeping the blade sideways to turn the thrust into a slash. With a burst of force, an iron-gray arc spilled out across Mint's front alongside a spray of scarlet blood.

Another gory wound opened up on her upper torso, near her neck.

They separated the instant they clashed.

Physical attributes far surpassing those of ordinary humans—and the resulting attack speed—meant this seemingly intricate exchange had occurred in the blink of an eye.

From a slight distance, one would only see Xia Nan rapidly closing in astride the phantom image of a Wolf Head, while the bear-man's body paused briefly in place.

The next second, a severed arm flew high into the air as a flash of ocher-red light flickered past.

Before the Wolf Head phantom could dissipate, leaving only a perfect arc of light in its wake, the massive, burly figure was already retreating rapidly backward amid a spray of blood.

By the time the heavily mutilated bear-man stabilized her footing, the fierce, black-haired young man had spun around from his combat technique, gripping his longsword in a guarded stance.

Only then did the severed half of the forearm drift to the ground beneath the moonlight.

"Haa... Haa..."

Xia Nan panted, his pitch-black eyes reflecting the robust, massive body of the bear-man ahead of him. His gaze rapidly swept over the stump of her arm and the wound on her chest.

After another round of clashes, thanks to the element of surprise from [Gravity Control] and the force damage of [Gravity Etching], he had made good progress.

Although he hadn't managed to secure a one-hit victory with his trump card as expected, he had still inflicted considerable damage, reducing her to a critically wounded state.

Xia Nan could feel the scales of victory tilting in his favor.

Having lost half an arm and suffered such grievous injuries, Mint could not possibly display the same strength as before.

Moving forward, as long as he relied on [Fang Hunt] to maintain his mobility while guarding against the surrounding thorns and the beast pack's siege, he would eventually find an opportunity to close the distance again. Then, using the remaining two charges of [Gravity Etching] for the day, he could let the force energy blast her head...

Xia Nan thought to himself, but his vision suddenly froze.

'Hmm?'

He saw that the heavily injured Mint ahead of him showed no signs of decline; instead, she let out a low growl, her aura climbing steadily.

The intense pain and the pervasive scent of blood in the air only sent the bestial nature that had taken over her body into a deeper frenzy.

Her muscles engorged and expanded, tearing her thick, tough skin and oozing droplets of blood. Her already massive frame swelled and stretched further, casting a shadow on the ground that resembled a twisted monster.

Even the beast packs on both sides sensed the manic aura in the air, howling and roaring wildly among the thorns that made the ground undulate like ocean waves.

But the most suffocating sight of all was the teardrop-shaped earring dangling gently from her left ear amidst the roars.

An emerald-green light brimming with life force gently rippled through the air around it.

The soft halos seemed able to sense the wearer's injuries. Like tiny fireflies, emerald specks of light flickered and gathered over the wounds on Mint's left arm and chest.

Along the edges of the gory injuries torn open by the force energy impact, granulations squirmed and multiplied. Like tiny tendrils bathed in the emerald glow, they connected and merged.

At a visible rate, the wounds rapidly healed.

Her severed limb might not be able to regenerate, but the vitality lost with her blood was rushing back into her body at an unnatural speed.

Xia Nan could clearly sense the bear-man's rapidly recovering stamina.

He grew anxious.

His original plan ruined in an instant, his brain went into overdrive.

Undoubtedly, the pendant hanging from Mint's earlobe—the magical accessory Cash and Veris had been tracking—possessed some sort of healing ability.

Xia Nan had no idea how many times this effect could be triggered, but he knew one thing—

He absolutely could not just stand there and watch his enemy heal.

He had to do something!

Roar—

The Wolf Head phantom, which hadn't fully dissipated since the last impact, materialized once again. Sweeping up broken branches, leaves, dirt, and gravel from the ground, it roared as it smashed toward the massive figure enveloped in the green light.

Approaching Level 4, the sheer impact damage inherent to [Fang Hunt] shredded the thorns underfoot, devouring them to become part of the Wolf Head phantom's swaying mane.

The blade-like gales also deflected the beast pack gathering around him.

The distance between them was crossed in a flash. He unleashed [Gravity Control] to the absolute maximum extent he could currently manage.

Like two invisible tentacles reaching out from deep underground, it firmly bound the Lycanthrope's feet.

Once again glowing red, the Decapitating Longsword thrust straight toward the Lycanthrope's heart, driven by the immense impact of [Fang Hunt].

Squelch—

A momentary resistance transmitted through the sword's tip—the distinct sensation of a sharp metal weapon piercing flesh.

'Did it work?'

Xia Nan felt a surge of surprise as [Gravity Etching] triggered instantly.

Vmm-boom—

In a split second, the ocher-red orb of light swallowed up most of the Lycanthrope's chest, heart included.

He could even see the dimly lit shrubbery on the other side through the gaping wound.

Amid his astonishment, his Perception, having reached 10 points, silently went to work, noticing something bizarre.

'Something's wrong!'

Xia Nan spun around instantly, throwing the Decapitating Longsword up in a horizontal block.

Simultaneously, the burly body whose chest he had blasted through with [Gravity Etching] transformed into a crude dummy woven from thorny vines.

Mint's true body had silently emerged from the shadows right in his blind spot.

Her remaining right claw flashed with a deadly, cold gleam as it swiped straight toward the back of his head.

Fortunately, Xia Nan reacted in time, turning back to block with his longsword. The claws that should have pierced his skull collided violently with the blade, failing to strike his vitals directly.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew!

Xia Nan felt a torrential force travel down the hilt, throwing him backward, while waves of agonizing pain shot through his right hand.

In terms of raw Strength, the beast-transformed bear-man was already much stronger than him. Coupled with his hasty turnaround, his legs hadn't fully planted themselves, resulting in insufficient leverage.

Under the sheer weight of the blow, his hands nearly lost all their strength. The longsword blocking his front tilted slightly, allowing the claws that struck the blade to slide down its edge.

The three prominent middle claws left three bloody, mangled gashes across Xia Nan's right arm.

Immediately following that, due to the combination of immense force, intense pain, and numbness...

...the heavy Decapitating Longsword was knocked high into the air, shifting his entire center of gravity upward with it.

A sense of dread instantly gripped his heart.

Under normal circumstances, no adventurer would ever dare let go of their weapon in such a fierce battle.

Yet his innate combat intuition told Xia Nan in this split second that if he let this play out, his upward-flung arms would only leave him unable to maneuver for a brief moment.

Even if he forced himself to grip the longsword tightly again, that fleeting window of stiffness would be enough for the enemy's claws to pierce his chest.

He made a split-second decision!

A flash of resolve passed through Xia Nan's sharp, pitch-black eyes.

He relaxed his hands and let go.

The Iron-Gray Greatsword he was gripping flew out of his hands, embedding itself point-down into the ground a short distance away.

At the exact same time, his still-intact left hand reached behind his head, drawing the wooden sword Azure Pine from its sheath.

The battle had reached a fever pitch, and the blindingly fast pace left him no time to think.

Following his combat instincts, Xia Nan did not retreat. Instead, he charged straight toward the burly figure in front of him.

Whoosh—

Accompanied by a short, thick whistle, the dark-brown wooden sword traced a crescent-moon arc through the air.

As he forced the advancing Lycanthrope back half a step, he adjusted his footing and arrived at her flank.

Unpretentious and straightforward, he grasped the wooden sword with one hand and thrust it at the bear-man's vital neck.

Sensing the threat, the Lycanthrope naturally wouldn't just let Xia Nan attack freely.

Her arm, thicker than a grown man's thigh, violently swung toward his chest.

Unexpectedly, facing this blow capable of piercing through gold and stone, Xia Nan neither dodged nor evaded, but took another step forward.

With his mind highly concentrated, a gray light flashed in the depths of his eyes.

Right at the moment the claws were about to touch his body...

...his legs suddenly pushed off. He turned his body slightly to minimize the damage, lifting his feet off the ground and leaping slightly into the air.

The next second, those pitch-black claws landed on his chest.

Screech—

The Plate-Chain Composite Armor protected his front, but five deep claw marks were instantly gouged into its matte, gray-black iron surface.

The wooden sword slipped from his grasp, and Xia Nan was sent flying backward from the impact.

The torrential force crashing against his chest made his vision go dark, yet at this very moment, his mind was eerily calm.

He felt no panic whatsoever.

He was simply following the insane plan forged by his combat instincts in that fleeting moment.

With absolute focus, he pushed his Perception and mental strength to their absolute limits.

[Tidal Stabilization]... [Gravity Control]!

The air around his body suddenly became as stagnant as water, sharply dropping his backward momentum.

An inexplicable gravitational pull surfaced from the empty space before him, violently yanking his nearly suspended body forward.

And the direction... was right at the back of the bear-man, who had just attacked and hadn't yet had time to pull back her strength.

Through this tightrope-walking, heart-pounding maneuver, Xia Nan had bought himself a precious opportunity right in the enemy's blind spot.

Neither of his weapons were in his hands anymore, and it was too late to draw the Short Dagger at his waist.

Driven by the gravitational pull, he simply raised his clenched fist high into the air.

The next second, the condensed, ocher-red glare symbolizing the final charge of [Gravity Etching] erupted across his knuckles.

It stamped squarely onto the back of the Lycanthrope's head.

Vmm-boom—

(End of Chapter)