Chapter 687: Complete Mastery, Natural Success

Gravity twisted and churned under the effect of the Feat, offsetting the shockwave from the explosion ahead.

His messy black hair whipped wildly in the wind as the tall, slender figure wreathed in a dark gale touched down lightly.

His leather boots hit the ground.

Flames still coiled around the ancient wooden sword in his right hand. On his left, the Snake-Scale Arm Shield gleamed with a cold, dark light as it swept through the air, carving an arc across his waist.

The fluorescent glow of a potion caught the eye: a small vial of Healing Potion had already appeared between his fingers.

With a slight push of his thumb, he popped the cork and downed the entire vial.

He felt a warm current rapidly diffuse through his body. The internal injuries he had sustained from the explosion's shockwave healed at a visible rate, and the stamina drained by the high-intensity battle gradually replenished.

"Phew—"

Xia Nan let out a long breath.

The scorching breath from within his body, coupled with the inhuman vitality granted by his formidable physique, turned his exhaled mist into a powerful column of air that slammed against the ground.

His pitch-black eyes, reflecting the fiery glow of [Azure Pine], looked forward.

The three adventurers from the "Shadow Crow" party—the gnome Rogue, the Half-Drow, and the human Warrior—were all dead. Even their fragmented corpses were gradually being swallowed by the fungal hyphae covering the ground.

Ake was critically injured and on the verge of death, having completely lost the ability to rise and fight. Zanfrey and Winsor were urgently dragging him and his shield away from the battlefield.

Fanny hadn't suffered much damage because she was far away when the hyphae exploded. However, her Winter Wolf body and fighting style dictated that, with her current strength, she could only act in a supporting role; she could not directly intervene in the upcoming high-intensity battle.

Right now, he was the only one left who could fight the enemy head-on.

One on one.

At the same time, the six-armed serpentman that had just unleashed the explosion was undergoing a bizarre transformation.

The dark purple hyphae seemed to possess a mind of their own, twisting and climbing up the serpentman's body from the ground.

While this caused its long, scaly, snake-like lower half to meld even further with the fungal carpet below, it also repaired its flesh at a terrifying speed.

His line of sight was obstructed, preventing him from seeing inside, but Xia Nan was certain that those strands of dark purple hyphae were filling the serpentman's chest cavity in the same mimicking fashion as when it regenerated its severed limbs, restoring a heart that had been pierced by a blade and nearly stopped beating.

And that was not all.

The self-detonation that had just caused massive casualties among the adventurers seemed to have shattered some delicate balance previously maintained between the serpentman and the fungal colony.

While healing its injuries, the hyphae spread further, dyeing the skin that still showed the serpentman's original flesh color with a spine-chilling coat of dark purple.

Was this an enhancement or a weakening?

Xia Nan had no way of knowing.

But what he did know was—

The battle had reached its final moment.

A deep, resonant wolf howl echoed out, and the pitch-black gale whipped into the twisted, illusory phantom of a wolf.

He had no sense of polite etiquette; he never waited for an enemy to finish their transformation before making his move.

Realizing that the serpentman's body was undergoing some kind of change, Xia Nan moved with a single thought, riding the biting gale forward. The orange-red flames coiling around the wooden sword turned into a blazing trail left behind in the air, much like a wolf's fang.

Seemingly detecting the waves of killing intent coming from behind...

Amidst the spreading hyphae, the six-armed serpentman snapped its upper body around in an instant.

With a fluidity surpassing that of veteran hunters who had spent their entire lives in the woods, it drew a bow and nocked an arrow.

Its scaly claws pinched the nock of the arrow. Completely ignoring the groan of the longbow bending under excessive force, it pulled the bowstring to its absolute limit.

Aim, release.

The arrow vanished from between the serpentman's fingers in a flash, as if teleporting.

In its place came a snapping bowstring, expanding air currents lingering on the spot, a terrifying and belated sonic boom, and a blurry phantom tearing across the battlefield at a speed far beyond normal human reaction time.

Propelled by terrifying strength, the arrow traveled at an extreme velocity.

Even with Xia Nan's sharp Perception, he could only barely catch a flicker of danger hurtling toward him.

But—that was enough.

His diligent daily training ensured that, even though he leveled up far faster than other adventurers, he still maintained absolute control over his own physical body.

Every fiber of muscle was under his command.

Mind and body melded perfectly in this instant.

Sensing danger—thought processing—physical reaction; this seemingly complex sequence activated and executed almost simultaneously.

Because of this, when this absurd arrow—one capable of piercing the bodies of 99.9% of adventurers below Level 5—reached him...

Xia Nan had already raised his left arm with impeccable timing and precision.

He angled the tough serpent scales of an alien Legendary creature perfectly to face the spinning, razor-sharp arrowhead.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew.

A crisp, ringing sound of collision echoed through the temple.

Because the arrow was only made of ordinary materials, there was no suspense. Its fletching trembled as it was deflected off the Arm Shield, and its arrowhead, though capable of piercing steel plates, failed to leave even a single scratch on the dimly glowing surface of the Snake-Scale Arm Shield.

At the same time, however, the massive kinetic energy carried by the arrow battered Xia Nan's body, even after being dampened by both the Arm Shield and his armor.

The phantom of the black wolf sprinting through the vast temple could be seen twisting abruptly under the arrow's force, shifting its center of gravity sideways.

If it had been any other adventurer, their next move would simply be to hastily adjust their balance and try to resume their original charging path.

But Xia Nan's response pushed his combat intuition to the absolute limit.

He had no thought of fighting this impact; he even actively adjusted his own body's gravity, making himself lighter.

Like a small boat washed away by flowing water, he allowed the impact to carry his body through the air toward the side.

In a split second, while maintaining his original speed—or perhaps moving even faster—he executed an astonishing seventy-degree change of direction during a high-speed maneuver.

The distance to his enemy rapidly shrank due to his increased speed. Even the six-armed serpentman couldn't react in time to this instant directional shift fueled by the arrow's impact.

Xia Nan had circled around to its defenseless blind spot behind it.

[Gravity Control]!

Going from feather-light to incredibly heavy, the sudden doubling of his body's gravity—combined with the [Tidal Stabilization] Feat and his own terrifying muscular strength—allowed Xia Nan to execute a jarring, abrupt halt from an absurd speed.

Completely ignoring the tearing pain radiating from his knees and leg muscles, the pitch-black gale symbolizing [Fang Hunt] condensed once more before it could dissipate from his sudden stop, howling as it lunged at the prey ahead.

Ochre-red light gathered on the surface of the flame-wreathed ancient wooden sword. Aiming at the serpentman's defenseless and vulnerable nape, a flawless strike hacked out in an instant.

But bizarrely, at the exact same moment Xia Nan swung his sword...

Even though the serpentman monster ahead hadn't even had time to turn its head, the long-handled double-bladed greataxe it held was already raised, blocking the attack as its torso twisted.

"Bzz-boom!"

Force field energy erupted.

The ochre-red arc of sword light sheared through the handle of the greataxe, turning it into a short-handled weapon.

In the process, it also severed another one of the serpentman's arms, along with a small chunk of flesh from the side of its chest.

Rather than recklessly pressing his advantage, Xia Nan decisively withdrew his sword and retreated.

Sure enough, the very moment his body pulled back amid the dark gale, the serpentman completed twisting its torso, plunging two sharp daggers into the empty space where Xia Nan had just been.

Opening up some distance, Xia Nan stood his ground.

He panted heavily, his gaze fixed ahead on the six-armed serpentman, which was rapidly healing its wounds and once again regenerating its severed limb beneath a tangle of hyphae.

His eyes unconsciously darted down to the fungal carpet beneath his feet, thoughts racing in his mind.

He felt that his response just now had pushed the absolute limits of his abilities. In fact, he really had briefly surpassed his opponent's reaction time to pull off that rear assault.

Yet, the serpentman had still managed to block it.

Was its reaction speed really that fast?

His keen Perception gave Xia Nan the answer in that instant.

The hyphae!

Or rather, the layer of dark purple fungal carpet covering the entire floor of the temple.

Acting as an extension of a tactile sense, the serpentman—highly integrated with the fungal colony—could perceive changes in its surroundings through the vibrations traveling across the carpet.

The solution was actually very simple, boiling down to two options.

First: ranged attacks. Second: the ability to fly.

Unfortunately, Xia Nan was not skilled in the former.

As for the latter, his identity as a pureblood human did not grant him avian wings, and the proficiency level of his [Gravity Control]—his only potential avenue for flight—was nowhere near sufficient.

Under these circumstances, bypassing the serpentman's sensory reactions had become impossible.

So, what should he do?

Just a second later, Xia Nan delivered his answer.

Without a moment's hesitation, the pitch-black phantom of the wolf lunged toward the enemy once more the very instant its footing stabilized from the retreat.

Since combat was unavoidable, he naturally wouldn't be discouraged by a minor setback along the way.

The serpentman monster's bond with the hyphae neutralized Xia Nan's outstanding advantages in mobility and flexibility—so, was he supposed to just surrender?

Absolutely not!

The battle had entered a white-hot phase, and the surging battle intent boiling in his heart was practically condensing into physical form.

Right now, there was only one goal in Xia Nan's eyes: to chop off his opponent's head!

Sensing the increasingly intense aura of danger radiating from the adventurer before it, the serpentman also granted Xia Nan the highest degree of caution.

"Hiss!!!"

With a sharp hiss, it slashed its daggers to drive back the approaching wolf phantom once more while lowering its body into a slight crouch.

Several of its empty hands swept across the floor. It scooped up its double-bladed greataxe with the half-severed handle, along with the single-handed Faceted Hammer and the straight sword that had belonged to the human Warrior, Benny, and the Half-Drow, Yexi.

At the same time, a layer of dark purple hyphae rapidly entangled the broken longbow it held in one hand. Mimicking and condensing, in just a single breath, the hyphae used the bow's natural curve to morph it into a double-edged scimitar made entirely of fungal threads.

Two daggers, a short-handled greataxe, a straight sword, a Faceted Hammer, and a scimitar—six weapons in total were gripped in the serpentman's six arms.

When Xia Nan charged forward again, he immediately felt the terrifying pressure it brought.

Six arms, six weapons. Even compared to dual-wielding enemies, this meant three times the attack frequency.

Yet in actual combat, the pressure Xia Nan felt was far more than just triple.

It could wield every weapon with extreme proficiency. Just as he blocked the descending greataxe with his Arm Shield, the Short Daggers struck out from below like venomous snakes. The moment he barely found a point of leverage to deflect the swirling double-edged scimitar, he had to deal with the Faceted Hammer and the straight sword simultaneously crashing down from different angles.

Xia Nan had encountered many formidable enemies before.

But this was the first time he had faced an opponent with such a high attack frequency and overwhelming combat oppression as this six-armed serpentman.

He could, of course, use [Fang Hunt] for a brief escape. However, with the fungal carpet tracking his every move, he couldn't use his mobility to find an opening for a fierce assault. Moreover, his stamina recovery speed was far inferior to his opponent's, who had the hyphae's support. In the end, delaying would only give the enemy the advantage.

Right now, Xia Nan's only possible path to victory...

Was to abandon his usual hit-and-run kiting tactics and launch a frontal assault to drive the serpentman back.

But—

"Bang! Clang! Boom!"

A dense cacophony of collisions rang out.

The six weapons wielded by the serpentman transformed into a torrential storm, completely engulfing Xia Nan.

He was like a small boat tossing and turning in the turbulent waves of a tempest, feeling as if he would be swallowed by the dark, abyssal depths in the very next second.

Xia Nan had already unleashed his full strength. He pushed his Perception to the absolute limit, doing everything he could to counter the attacks raining down from all directions.

He remained especially vigilant against the dagger and the scimitar, lest the toxins and fungal threads they carried breach his defenses.

Even so, the axe, the Faceted Hammer, and the straight sword still slipped through. Under the serpentman's torrential onslaught, various wounds—some light, some deep—gradually appeared all over Xia Nan's body.

His physical constitution might have been formidable, but it was ultimately limited by his short adventuring career; he simply hadn't accumulated an exaggerated level of endurance.

Xia Nan could clearly feel it. Accompanied by the intense bursts of pain all over, his muscles were gradually growing sore and numb. His stamina was draining rapidly, and his life force slowly slipped away as the wounds multiplied across his skin.

Yet he didn't feel anxious or worried about it in the slightest.

In this moment, under the terrifying pressure exerted by the serpentman, Xia Nan's attention was entirely focused on the battle itself.

Hyper-focused, utterly engrossed.

His mind was empty of stray thoughts; he simply concentrated on dealing with the next strike, no matter where it fell from.

It reached the point where noticing his stamina drop to a dangerous level and triggering [Spring Pulse Cleansing Heal] from the [Tears of Spring Breath] became a subconscious action, devoid of any deliberate thought.

It had almost become muscle memory. He shifted his feet, adjusted his stance, and swung his arm, doing everything in his power to handle every single attack from the enemy.

Under such immense pressure, his hyper-focused state blurred his perception of time.

Perhaps only dozens of seconds had passed, or perhaps more than ten minutes.

Amid the endless blocking and dodging, he suddenly realized he actually had the leeway to strike back.

If someone had been observing the battlefield from the outside, they would have seen the formless, shifting black silhouette shrouded in dark purple gradually stabilize and stand firm, as if it had slowly adapted to the enemy's ferocious assault.

The purest combat talent—stemming from this body and the soul from another world—was blooming with dazzling brilliance under the forging strikes of extreme pressure.

[Spinning Slash], [Heavy Tide], and even [Fang Hunt]—used for explosive bursts at extreme range—became increasingly harmonious as he alternated between them, amplified by the [Layered Waves] Feat. The Battle Posture known as [Hunting Arc] was gradually unleashing its true might.

It was obvious that even though the six-armed serpentman maintained its attack speed, every swing of its weapons had grown far more strenuous than before.

Naturally, this wasn't due to its own stamina draining.

The root cause lay in its opponent.

Having gradually found breathing room amidst the frenzied assault, Xia Nan could now spot opportunities to clash swords and even counterattack. Empowered by the [Layered Waves] Feat, every single strike he delivered was faster and heavier than the last.

At the same time, mastering the tempo of the fight allowed him to truly utilize the [Hunting Arc] Battle Posture in this high-intensity combat. Each deliberate slowing or quickening of his rhythm let Xia Nan inflict substantial wounds upon the enemy.

Even if the serpentman monster's injuries healed completely in the very next second, its physical aura still diminished at a visible rate.

Xia Nan paid this no mind either.

Now entirely immersed in the battle, having step-by-step integrated the combat techniques, Feats, and Battle Posture he possessed, he began pushing his boundaries further.

It was an inspiration he had drawn from the combat techniques used by the noble youth, Zanfrey, ever since he arrived in the Underdark.

Like a molten iron sword gradually being hammered into shape, he was absorbing precious nutrients from this high-intensity battle.

The expanding train of thought he had developed along the journey combined with his past accumulation, transforming into a subtle, almost imperceptible, yet vital spark of inspiration that suddenly erupted in Xia Nan's mind.

Quantitative change gave way to qualitative transformation.

Everything fell into place naturally.

It all came so effortlessly.

He simply swung his sword.

Stacking [Spinning Slash], [Heavy Tide], [Layered Waves], and [Gravity Etching], a sword light of blended crimson and tangerine knocked away the weapons in front of him—the very same weapons that had suppressed him to the point of suffocation at the start, but which were now unable to bear the burden.

The blade, which should have continued its downward arc after the slash, was abruptly halted in an almost bizarre manner, directly canceling its follow-through.

Then, at a speed far exceeding the initial swing, the blade seemingly teleported back to where it had just finished accumulating power—the exact position right before the downward slash—achieving a complete reset.

Flames continued to burn across the surface of the wooden sword.

And the crimson light and distorted gravity that should have vanished after the first strike fell reappeared on the blade's surface, as if copied and pasted.

They came crashing down once more, in a manner far more ferocious than before.

The process seemed complex, but because the follow-through had been canceled to complete the reset, these two consecutive slashes fell so quickly they practically overlapped, resembling a visual afterimage left behind by the attack.

The overlapping crimson force field energy violently detonated. Warped by gravity, the tangerine flames transformed into a blazing sword light—one with a much larger arc and far more slender than its normal state, sweeping out like an ocean wave.

There was no classic scene of a head flying through the air this time.

Because the six-armed serpentman's head, along with the entire upper half of its physical body, had been erased into thin air like pencil marks under a rubber eraser, destroyed by the combined effects of the force field energy and the Sunfire damage.

Before his eyes, the translucent characters symbolizing his Attribute Panel flashed rapidly.