Chapter 630 Explosive Kill and Failed Attempt

Although the four-person adventurer squad on the field was nearly wiped out, their average Class Level was not low. They were all veteran adventurers.

Facing an Armored Elephant with a Challenge Rating of Lv5, they weren't entirely powerless to resist, especially when cornered in a life-or-death situation.

Now, the bald Ranger was the only one left breathing on the battlefield. The Armored Elephant that had decimated the squad had also sustained significant injuries from the adventurers' desperate final counterattacks.

A wooden arrow was buried deep in its left eye, leaving only the bloodstained fletching protruding from the socket.

The thick armored hide on its right shoulder had been split open in an "X" shape, exposing the dripping pink flesh beneath.

A fist-sized bloody hole of unknown depth marred the back of its neck, spewing an unending stream of scarlet blood.

Even if it wasn't a critical wound, its injuries were by no means light.

Because of this, the intense, unceasing pain wracking its body completely ignited the primal ferocity hidden deep within the bloodline of the otherwise docile monster.

The moment it spotted Xia Nan standing at the edge of the battlefield, it immediately marked him as an enemy.

Trumpeting loudly, it charged right at him.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

The exaggerated weight granted by its massive size caused the ground to tremble with every step, like a localized earthquake.

Its momentum was overwhelming, and its speed was far from slow.

But truthfully, if Xia Nan really wanted to avoid the fight and flee the battlefield...

With his current speed while using [Fang Hunt], escaping would be a breeze, even in this uneven, densely forested terrain.

Winter Wolf Fanny beside him wasn't very large either. He could easily tuck her under his arm or toss her over his shoulder while executing a combat technique, barely affecting his movement.

But—

What currently troubled Xia Nan was how to create a special combat technique suited to himself.

After careful contemplation over the past few days, he finally had some ideas.

Ultimately, however, it was difficult to put them into practice and develop those ideas further.

He possessed a complete and clear understanding of his own current strengths and weaknesses.

Due to his class path and adventuring circumstances, his intelligence attribute was not outstanding, sitting at an average level.

At the same time, his Perception attribute was already comparable to that of a small fraction of weaker entities at the Transcendent Tier.

He was an absolute creature of instinct.

Under these conditions, the probability of him successfully developing a combat technique by just sitting quietly and thinking was virtually zero.

But if he combined theory with practice, feeling out his shortcomings in actual combat and searching for the sparks of inspiration hidden within each move, he could fully leverage the advantage of his Perception attribute.

Then there might actually be a chance.

And right now, the Armored Elephant ahead of him—a creature with a Challenge Rating of Lv5 in its prime, yet currently suffering from severe injuries—was the perfect test subject: strong enough to push him, but not so dangerous as to be lethal.

These brief thoughts flashed through his mind.

Xia Nan's dark eyes instantly sharpened as he made the decision to fight.

Beside him, shedding the overly excited and playful demeanor she had shown just moments ago, Winter Wolf Fanny reverted to a cold, solemn state the instant she sensed an enemy.

She displayed remarkable discipline and hunting experience.

Even when facing the behemoth charging madly toward them and making the ground tremble...

...there was not a hint of fear or anxiety in her lupine eyes.

She placed all her trust in Xia Nan.

She didn't dodge out of the way, nor did she recklessly charge ahead.

She simply lowered her body, maintaining a tense posture ready to strike at any moment as she waited quietly and patiently at Xia Nan's feet.

"Fanny, get ready."

"Awoo!"

Despite lacking much experience fighting side by side, the man and the wolf displayed an inexplicable synergy.

Howl—

A deep, pitch-black phantom of a wolf instantly formed amid the raging gale. The ice-white Winter Wolf moved even faster; before [Fang Hunt] fully erupted, Fanny transformed into a fleeting streak of white light through the forest, darting head-on toward the charging Armored Elephant.

The Challenge Rating of an ordinary adult Winter Wolf was around Lv3.

Fanny had been born less than two years ago. Even though her growth rate far exceeded the norm, she was still a long way from full maturity.

However, since she was the reincarnation of the wolf spirit brought by Forgan, both her bloodline purity and actual combat strength were far superior to an ordinary Winter Wolf. Looking strictly at her Challenge Rating, she had already reached the Lv3 peak of her common kin.

Facing the massive beast barreling toward her, the slender and elegant Winter Wolf fully demonstrated her exceptional combat intelligence alongside her remarkable strength.

The icy white blur shot forward at blinding speed, seemingly carving a straight line across the grass.

But her actual trajectory wasn't aimed at a head-on collision; she skewed slightly outward by a few degrees.

Because of this, when her leaping body landed against the Armored Elephant's flank, she evaded a significant portion of the impact force.

"Slash!"

Her wolf claws, glinting with a sharp, cold light, pierced into the Armored Elephant's thick hide.

They failed to break through its defenses immediately, but they allowed Fanny to latch securely onto the elephant's body.

"Hum—"

As her jaws parted, an icy blue glow flickered to life deep within her throat.

Magical particles in the air violently fluctuated.

She completed her charge in an instant. A beam of frigid ice light blasted from her jaws, striking dead center on the "X"-shaped wound left by the adventurers on the Armored Elephant's right shoulder.

—[Freezing Breath]!

This innate bloodline spell of the Winter Wolf had the special effect of freezing living creatures and dealing massive frost damage, and it required an Agility check to resist.

The Armored Elephant possessed a gigantic, bulky frame, and its attribute advantages lay entirely in Strength and Constitution. Naturally, it had no chance of passing an Agility check.

"Crackle—"

The icy white light flashed through the air, instantly transforming into a layer of frost crystals that rapidly spread outward from the monster's shoulder.

In just a few breaths, the Armored Elephant's entire right front leg was frozen solid like a giant icicle.

Whoosh—

A terrifying whistle tore through the air as the beast's shovel-ended trunk whipped around, only to strike empty space.

The moment she unleashed her Freezing Breath, Fanny had used the recoil of the icy blast to hop lightly away from the elephant's side.

She disengaged the instant she struck.

Of course, given the Armored Elephant's physical resilience, a breath attack of this caliber couldn't possibly inflict a critical wound.

With a slight exertion of force, the beast shattered the frost covering its right leg, sending it scattering to the ground in glittering shards.

It wouldn't suffer any severe lingering effects either; at most, the muscle reaction speed in its right leg would drop temporarily.

Regardless, Winter Wolf Fanny's ambush had undeniably stalled its massive charging body. Its accumulated momentum was instantly broken, and even its enraged focus was drawn away.

This created the perfect opening for the pitch-black figure enshrouded in the deep Wolf Head phantom—who had tacitly delayed his start by half a beat—to launch a full strike.

"Swoosh!"

Distorting the air around it, the Gray-Black Straight Sword carved a flawless arc accompanied by a howling wolf cry.

[Spinning Slash] + [Fang Hunt] + [Heavy Tide]!

Bolstered by the combined momentum of [Spinning Slash] and [Fang Hunt], the impossibly sharp blade instantly cleaved through the Armored Elephant's hide. The gravitational bonus damage granted by [Heavy Tide] drove the sword deeper, tearing apart the thick, tough skin and muscle underneath.

Only when Xia Nan felt his momentum running out did he use his forward dash to exert a second burst of force, wrenching the straight sword free from the beast's body.

"Roooar!"

Blood sprayed wildly as the Armored Elephant's agonizing cry rattled his eardrums.

Since his goal was to seek inspiration, Xia Nan hadn't gone all out. He even held back on using [Heavy Tide] and [Gravity Etching].

Instead, he relied on continuously chaining [Spinning Slash] and [Fang Hunt], executing the [Layered Waves] Feat and the [Hunting Arc] battle posture in search of inspiration for a self-created combat technique.

It had to be said that with Xia Nan's current fighting style, calling him the natural predator of a massive, inflexible enemy like the Armored Elephant was no exaggeration.

Not to mention the creature was already heavily wounded from its previous battle.

Despite boasting a Challenge Rating of Lv5, it was helpless against the fierce black wolf circling it with incredible agility, leaving deep gash after deep gash across its body.

The Armored Elephant had absolutely no countermeasure.

It could only feel its vitality rapidly draining away with its blood, thrashing its trunk and stomping the ground in impotent fury.

At this rate, even if Xia Nan didn't actively go for the kill, the monster would eventually bleed to death from its accumulating injuries.

However, Xia Nan wasn't very satisfied with this either.

Even though he had deliberately restricted his bonus-damage combat techniques to focus on chaining his other skills...

...he had to admit that with his combat style already solidified, he seemed to have fallen into a set formula when executing techniques.

If he needed to sustain his offense after [Fang Hunt], he had to follow up with [Spinning Slash]. If he needed to reposition after [Spinning Slash], he inevitably transitioned right back into [Fang Hunt].

In normal combat, this naturally wasn't a problem.

But if he wanted to find other compatible attack motions to bridge and loop his combat techniques, it clearly wasn't suitable.

Through his Perception, he felt the Armored Elephant's life force growing weaker, and its trumpets and stomps losing their strength. He knew that if he didn't act soon, he would miss this opportunity.

Xia Nan gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

Right at that moment, as if sensing his thoughts, Fanny acted.

After her initial assist, Winter Wolf Fanny had yielded the battlefield back to Xia Nan, prowling the perimeter to guard against external threats.

Seizing the moment, she unleashed another Freezing Breath.

It struck the exact same spot on the Armored Elephant's right front leg.

"Crackle—"

Frost spread rapidly.

The already weakening elephant involuntarily stiffened, granting Xia Nan ample time to adjust his position.

Shifting his footing, he smoothly retracted the straight sword from its attacking stance and raised the Arm Shield on his left arm, aiming it at the shovel-like trunk crashing down from above.

He hyper-focused his attention, condensing his Perception.

Drawing on the power-generation mechanics of a "shield parry" from his memory, he combined it with the momentum of [Fang Hunt] and the mechanics of [Spinning Slash].

He fiercely swung his shield upward!

"Clang!"

The sharp edge of the shovel-like trunk collided violently with the Arm Shield, letting out a sharp ringing noise.

The recoil from the clash sent the trunk bouncing away.

Xia Nan, however, felt a massive shockwave surge down his arm.

Even with the Snake-Scale Arm Shield dissipating the force, taking a hit like that head-on still left half of his body numb, his leather boots sinking deep into the mud.

'Wrong!'

'It shouldn't be like this!'

His incredibly sharp Perception allowed him to recognize his mistake almost immediately.

There was nothing inherently wrong with shield-parry techniques, and they indeed compensated for his current shortcomings.

But forcefully chaining them with [Spinning Slash] and [Fang Hunt] would visibly drag down his entire combat tempo.

It transformed his seamlessly chained combat techniques into something incredibly rigid and clunky.

Any enemy with even a modicum of combat experience could easily exploit such an opening.

These thoughts flashed through his mind, but the battle before him raged on.

Having finally landed a direct hit on the slippery enemy that had been dodging the entire fight, the weakened Armored Elephant suddenly felt its flagging spirits soar.

It let out an excited bellow, using its thick hind legs to prop itself up as it wildly reared its front legs high, preparing to trample him.

Realizing his opponent had entered a sort of final, dying frenzy, Xia Nan had no intention of prolonging the fight.

Pushing off the ground, dark winds surged around him.

With a flicker of the black wolf phantom, he completely cleared its attack range.

"Boom!"

The giant elephant's front feet slammed into the ground.

Mud splattered in all directions as the earth shook.

But the human adventurer it expected to crush into paste had already vaulted into midair.

Like a hunting Winter Wolf, he leaped from the flank and landed squarely on the beast's back.

[Tidal Stabilization] passively activated, allowing Xia Nan to stand firmly on the elephant's heaving spine.

Without a moment's hesitation, an ochre-red glow enveloped the blade of the [Ember Fall] straight sword in his hand.

He plunged it straight down into the bloody hole left on the back of the Armored Elephant's neck by the wiped-out adventurers.

Hum—

Muffled by flesh and bone, the thrumming of erupting force-field energy sounded rather dull, and there was no explosive spectacle to behold.

Only the Armored Elephant's eyes and the bloody hole on its neck briefly flashed with an ochre-red light.

The massive body that had been violently thrashing to throw Xia Nan off its back suddenly stiffened.

It convulsed unnaturally twice as its pupils contracted, then dilated.

It couldn't even let out a final cry of agony.

Its colossal, mountain-like body slowly collapsed to the ground.

"Thud!"

A cloud of dust billowed into the air.

Gripping the hilt, Xia Nan twisted the straight sword inside the bloody hole a few more times to ensure the monster was completely dead.

Only then did he pull [Ember Fall] free from the Armored Elephant's corpse.

With a crisp, practiced flick of his wrist, he spun the sword, shaking off the blood beads staining the blade.

Mentally reviewing his gains from the battle, he rubbed Winter Wolf Fanny's fluffy head as she nudged against him.

Xia Nan cast his gaze forward, looking in the direction of the adventurer squad's lone survivor.