Chapter 280 The End

Xia Nan witnessed the mummified corpse's entire physical transformation.

Its mummified head, withered and covered in sparse grayish-white hair, still lay quietly on the ground, but its collapsed body began to twitch violently.

Accompanied by an increasingly distinct hissing sound, a fist-sized, bloody sphere of flesh slowly rose from the severed neck, sprouting like a bud at a visible speed.

"Squelch."

The purplish-red rotting flesh burst under the pressure of foul-smelling purulent blood, and the meatball exploded instantly.

What met his eyes was a long, powerful dark green snake head covered in fine, dark scales.

Its bright yellow vertical pupils were almost identical to the cloudy snake eyes of the mummified head on the ground.

Rip—

Like some crude puzzle toy, the corpse's violently twitching left arm snapped cleanly off at the hideous shoulder wound.

The severed arm thrashed endlessly in the thick, purulent blood like a fish out of water.

Yet the stump of the arm already bulged with a gradually expanding lump of flesh, just like the neck had.

This was not a cutscene from a video game in his past life where he could only choose to watch or skip.

Xia Nan naturally could not just stand there and watch his opponent transform without doing anything.

In fact, the moment he spun around and noticed the corpse's mutation, he was already charging at the mummy with his flame-wreathed wooden sword.

However, an indescribable sense of fatal danger, born from his high Perception, forced him to stop in his tracks.

His career as an adventurer had been short. Even if his improvement far exceeded that of others, his foundation of experience was still not deep enough.

Every combat technique he had was useful and of high quality, but the actual number of combat techniques he had mastered was very small.

This left Xia Nan facing the current situation with a lack of ranged attacks. In his haste, he could only probe the enemy by throwing a Fire Oil Bomb.

"Boom!"

Ignited by a spark, the powder and oil transformed into a raging inferno, instantly swallowing the writhing, expanding shriveled body ahead.

The flames blazed, practically turning the figure into a human torch.

Yet there was not a single wail or cry of pain.

Sizzle—

The searing heat evaporated the slime dripping from the snake scales and wounds, turning it into plumes of sickly green mist that spread outward—a mist that looked unmistakably toxic even to the naked eye.

Even though its concentration was drastically reduced by vaporization, the sickly green mist still possessed an astonishingly corrosive power.

Wherever it drifted, not only did the surrounding broken metal tools sizzle and smoke as they melted away, but even the marble floor tiles and the walls on both sides dissolved.

He rejoiced inwardly that he had tested the waters with the Fire Oil Bomb. Otherwise, if he had rushed in for a melee slash, the poisonous mist vaporized by the high heat of [Azure Pine] would have caught him completely off guard.

At the same time, he focused his mind.

[Gravity Control] activated silently, creating gravitational attraction points out of thin air above his head and on both sides.

The poisonous mist surging toward him seemed to hit an invisible barrier, naturally sliding off to the sides and upward, keeping him isolated from it.

The shriveled flesh and skin were poor fuel for the flames, making the fire unsustainable. As the powder and oil from the incendiary bomb burned out in a matter of breaths, the bloated, deformed figure—wreathed in thick toxic mist and having fully completed its "Stage 2" metamorphosis—revealed itself before Xia Nan.

First was the slick snake head jutting out from the severed neck, replacing the original head.

The dark green scales on its surface were more intact and densely packed than on other parts of the body, giving it the cold, pure texture of a reptile.

Those bright yellow vertical snake pupils had lost their previous cloudiness and emptiness. In their place was an indescribable, emotionless coldness that sent shivers down the spine. Meeting its gaze even imparted an absurd, eerie sense of the divine.

Right now, it angled upward in an awkward posture, swaying gently along with the flickering firelight ahead.

Second was the mummy's left arm.

No, perhaps the word "arm" was no longer suitable to describe the current state of its left limb.

It was no longer the humanoid structure of "shoulder," "upper and lower arm," "elbow and wrist," and "fingers and palm" that ordinary people pictured.

Bursting forth from the fleshy tumor at the severed left stump were three more snake heads, equally covered in dark green scales and bearing bright yellow vertical pupils.

They coiled and bumped against each other, twisting and crossing in the air, while the flesh at their bases merged tightly in a mutant fusion.

The overall impression was that the mummified corpse had been parasitized by some terrifying, hair-raising creature.

The humanoid body was merely a hotbed for drawing nutrients and providing a fleshy habitat; those long snakes extending from the severed limbs were its true body.

One glance gave off a nauseating, blasphemous sense of flesh forcibly melded with alien matter. It was the physical embodiment of curses, mutation, and agony.

Eight vertical pupils. Four pairs of snake eyes.

Almost simultaneously, they all stared straight ahead at Xia Nan.

Goosebumps instantly broke out over his skin. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed dryly.

Encountering this kind of bizarre existence for the first time made his scalp tingle with dread.

Only the searing heat of the wooden sword [Azure Pine] in his palm brought Xia Nan a shred of security.

Howl—

A wolf's howl suddenly rang out in the air.

A dense-maned, pitch-black Winter Wolf lunged fiercely toward its prey ahead, its flame-wreathed sharp fangs vowing to tear its flesh to shreds.

The instantaneous explosive power of [Fang Hunt], which he had trained to max level, far exceeded the reaction limits of an average adventurer.

Whether dashing in or feigning an attack to retreat, Xia Nan had always succeeded without fail.

But right now, as he sped through midair, he clearly saw those snake eyes staring at him the entire time. They shifted slightly, following his displacement, the snake heads swaying in tandem.

'Did it react?'

The scaly mummy proved Xia Nan's guess with physical action.

The pitch-black Winter Wolf failed to catch its intended prey, and its violently snapping flaming fangs bit nothing but air.

The enemy displayed a reaction speed and instantaneous movement ability far more exaggerated than before.

Even with Xia Nan's current eyesight, he only caught a dark green blur flashing rapidly past the corner of his eye.

Perception silently kicked in. Driven by instinct, his hands gripped the wooden sword and moved to block his side.

"Sizzle!"

The boiling, scorching stream of flames forced back the snake head lunging straight for his vitals.

However, the thick toxic mist spewing from its maw enveloped Xia Nan in response.

Most of it was blocked and dissolved by the scorching flames on the wooden sword's surface, while the remaining small portion was diverted elsewhere by his hastily activated [Gravity Control].

But a tiny wisp still landed on the Plate-Chain Composite Armor over Xia Nan's chest.

Sizzle—

The sickly green mist lingered on the plate armor's surface, accompanied by the harsh noise of matter eroding and melting.

The metal armor had already been heavily damaged in the battle with Trevelyan, drastically reducing its defensive capabilities. He had barely strapped it on, wondering if he could repair it after returning. Now, in the blink of an eye, it was corroded with several terrible-looking large holes that rapidly spread outward and inward.

Quick-witted and deft-handed, he precisely and swiftly tapped the flaming blade across the joints between the metal plates and chainmail, rendering the connections brittle.

Xia Nan reached out, grabbed it, and yanked hard, tearing the iron armor off his body as it fell apart.

Landing on the ground, the main body of the Plate-Chain Composite Armor—which had blocked countless attacks from goblins and adventurers for him—melted at a visible speed, quickly turning into a puddle of silver and green molten iron.

-

255 gold coins.

'Fuck!'

Cursing inwardly, Xia Nan swung the wooden sword in his hand, melting away the last residual wisp of toxic mist around his body.

Yet his feet did not retreat. He continued charging toward the mummy ahead.

Matters had come to this. The battle had reached a fever pitch, so how could he possibly give up now?

If the armor melted, it melted. He would just buy a new one later.

Besides, given the enemy's attack method, as long as it was not armor with special resistances, having one more or one less piece made almost no difference upon being hit.

The margin for error was abysmally low!

The only option was to attack, constantly attack, raining down attacks like a torrential storm!

By using the [Azure Pine] wooden sword, which had a targeted damage bonus against the mummy, as the core of his combat and keeping the enemy busy dodging, he could compensate for the gap in their physical attributes and truly seize the initiative in the fight.

Voom—

[Spinning Slash], a highly adaptable basic combat technique, unleashed an unprecedentedly violent blow with the wooden sword's enhancement.

Driven by the blade, the scalding streams of flame left a dazzling crimson arc in the air.

His forehead was covered in cold sweat, his mental strength drained to the point of overdraft.

In exchange for this, the snake-headed mummy's body froze rigidly in place.

The flames flashed. Falling from the air was a snake head with a scorched wound, still maintaining its mist-spewing posture.

However, it was not the largest one on the neck, but one of the three jutting out from the left arm.

At the same time, Xia Nan lashed out with his right leg in a fierce kick.

Using the enemy's body for leverage, the wolf's howl suddenly burst through the air again.

The ink-black phantom of the wolf beast carried Xia Nan's body away from his spot. The snake-headed mummy, caught by the momentarily released gravitational control and the leg's explosive force upon activating [Fang Hunt], was kicked off its feet and sent flying backward.

Great opportunity!

Canceling out his backward momentum with the effect of [Tidal Stabilization], Xia Nan landed quickly as if moving through water. Before his feet could even plant firmly, he unleashed another [Fang Hunt].

There was only one chance!

At their level, in such a high-frequency, fast-paced combat exchange, every second's decision could be said to determine the victory or defeat of the entire battle.

The opponent's advantages and disadvantages were incredibly obvious, and the same was true for him.

Having already used one of his trump cards, if Xia Nan failed to seize this chance and let the enemy survive this round of attacks...

...then the mummy—now accustomed to the effects of [Gravity Control] and having formulated a response to his [Fang Hunt] and [Azure Pine]—would become exponentially harder to deal with.

He had to strike!

Right now, he had to summon all his strength to finish off this enemy who had just transformed and had not yet fully adapted to its physical changes or mastered its power!

Casting all caution aside, the wooden sword wreathed in crimson flames formed a perfect arc. Bolstered by the black wolf phantom behind him, he viciously slashed at the enemy ahead.

As if sensing Xia Nan's determination, or perhaps because the severed snake head finally made this muddle-headed enemy realize the danger of the black-haired young man before it.

The two remaining dark green snakes on its left arm hissed and intertwined, their dense, slick scales coated in a layer of cold, eerie light.

"Clang!"

It was the crisp sound of the wooden sword striking against the scales.

Guarding against the sun-flame power of [Azure Pine], and stacking the two snake bodies together, the mummy barely managed to block this scorching strike of surging heat.

Although the wooden sword sliced open the snake scales beneath, it was bogged down by that cold, eerie energy and the writhing, contracting muscles of the long snakes.

It was not completely useless; he could clearly see the edge of the wooden sword scorching the snake bodies at a visible rate, gradually cutting deeper.

But at the same time, having gained an opportunity to strike at the cost of severe injury, the two long snakes on the mummy's left arm seized the chance. Amidst the indescribable, agonizing burning pain, they slithered up along the blade.

The hideous snake maws gaped wide, spewing toxic mist as they lunged viciously for Xia Nan's neck.

His pupils constricted violently.

In such a fleeting moment, there was no room left for thought. All of his movements stemmed purely from his body's instinctive reactions.

It was the combat spirituality nurtured through the integration of soul and flesh, and the accumulation of experience.

In the mere blink of an eye, Xia Nan executed a series of exceedingly complex, high-difficulty maneuvers.

First, he channeled gravity, dispersing the poisonous mist blanketing down on him into the air on both sides.

At the same time, he maximized his gravity output to shift the trajectory of the two lunging snakes, redirecting their descending bite away from his neck and onto his right shoulder.

He then split off his last shred of mental strength to trigger the [Tears of Spring Breath] necklace beneath his clothes, pre-casting "Spring Pulse Cleansing Heal" to resist the incoming snake bite.

Finally, making a split-second decision, his left hand left the hilt, shifting from a two-handed grip to wielding the sword solely with his right.

His left arm curled upward, reaching behind his back for the Decapitating Longsword.

"Schlick," "Voom," "Sizzle"...

The next second, a complex noise formed by multiple overlapping sounds echoed faintly through the empty Church.

It was the sizzling of flames scorching flesh, the dull thud of snake fangs piercing skin, the hum of natural energy channeling...

And finally, the agonizing guttural groan involuntarily ripped from the mummy due to intense pain as the blade of the Decapitating Longsword thrust straight down the throat of the largest snake head.

The enemy was immensely powerful. Not only did it possess outstanding physical attributes, its physical resistance was practically exaggerated.

But for Xia Nan, the scorching sun-flames of the wooden sword were not the only thing capable of dealing substantial lethal damage.

He still had a half-hidden trump card kept on his person—the companion combat technique of [Meteor Blade Hunter].

That noble force-field damage, capable of bypassing all physical defenses to inflict an exaggerated effect akin to "true damage," became his key to ending this battle.

In the palm of his left hand was the sword hilt, trembling slightly from the writhing muscles inside the snake's throat.

Just below that was the small section of the blade left exposed, along with the snake maw forced wide open by the metal.

Deeper still was the rest of the Decapitating Longsword. Plunged deep down the snake's throat, the blade had vanished completely, its presence only vaguely discernible by the faint ochre-red glow of the energy coating its surface.

His mind flickered.

[Gravity Etching] was unleashed in turn.

"Voom... Boom!"