Chapter 6: Critical

Translator: AtlasStudios  Editor: AtlasStudios

The Wind Serpents’ attacks slowly dwindled. The chaos, anger, screams, and shouting turned into silence. Everyone looked towards Rhode’s direction, speechless.

For a moment, almost everyone thought Rhode was dead. Never had they imagined that someone could escape from the Wind Serpents’ encirclement. Of course, high-leveled mercenaries or knights with donned with full body armor might be able to withstand it, but Rhode did not look like a veteran at all. Besides his white sword, he did not have any other protective equipment.

He did it.

Lize, Carter and the rest of the crew could not help but stare at the young man unbelievably.

Just who is he?

No one knew if it was because of Rhode’s attack or other reasons, but those Wind Serpents who were still trying to attack the floating ship began to scatter and back down. For some time, the whole deck was quiet. Only the sound of the breeze could be heard. The mercenaries were shocked by Rhode’s performance, but Rhode did not seem to care what they thought of him. On the contrary, when he looked at those pile of corpses, deep down in his heart, he felt quite good.

Wind Serpents were among the many low-level monsters. Their individual strength was not particularly great since they relied on their huge numbers to win. Rhode’s class, the Spirit Swordsman was a solo-oriented class but had a low attack power. The reason why everything went smoothly was because of Star Mark that gave him an additional +3 to all stats. So when he held the sword, the monster’s danger level dropped from red to green. Thus, eliminating the entire group of Wing Serpents wasn’t some amazing feat.

Still, Rhode felt that something was off; based on his experience, Star Mark shouldn’t be that overpowered. According to his original estimation, Blade of Destruction should have just injured the Wind Serpents badly, and he had prepared a backup plan in case things turn awry. He never thought that the Blade of Destruction could kill all the monsters.

Was his stats as a human not calculated properly?

Thinking of this, Rhode subconsciously opened the Character Status window. He didn’t know what to check as his race was still unknown, hence, his stats were also hidden. But luckily, he gained 1900 EXP in this battle.

I can gain EXP? Wow, that’s surprising…!

While he was checking his gains, the ohers thought that he was just staring at the pile of corpses.

Suddenly, Rhode felt a strange presence. It wasn’t a person, but more of a dangerous one.

Where are the Wing Serpents?

This thought flashed through Rhode’s mind. He seemed to think about something and then hurriedly turned his head and shouted.

He immediately realized that something was wrong and quickly turned his head to shout.

“Everybody, be careful…!”

And at this time, the floating ship suddenly shook.

The violent shake made a lot of people fall to the ground. There were even two people with bad luck that did not have time to stabilize themselves and they slipped and fell off the ship.

Then, the front deck cracked open, followed by a huge Wind Serpent’s head that suddenly appeared.

“Be careful, it is the Wind Serpent Lord!”

At this time, Carter finally appeared. He shouted and rushed towards the huge Wind Serpent. The other mercenaries also quickly stood up. Although they had been injured, they still clenched their teeth and followed their leader to attack the monster.

However, Rhode’s action was faster than them…

He lowered his body, a line of system prompts immediately appeared before him.

[EXP 1900/200, Level up! Received 1 Skill Point, Level 2]

[EXP 1700/400, Level up! Received 2 Skill Points, Level 3]

[EXP 1300/600, received 3 Skill Points, Level 4]

[EXP 800/1000, received 4 Skill Points, Level 5]

[Used 1 Skill Point to enhance the moon shadow Swordsmanship 1/3, Rank E]

[Used 1 Skill Point to enhance the moon shadow Swordsmanship 2/3, Rank E]

[Used 1 Skill Point to enhance the moon shadow Swordsmanship 3/3, Rank E]

[Used 1 Skill Point to enhance the moon shadow Swordsmanship 1/4, Rank D. Shadow Flash has been unlocked]

Activate.

Rhode jumped into the sky.

Everyone thought they were hallucinating. They saw the young man who was originally standing on the ground suddenly turn into a black shadow, like a sharp knife thrusting forward, and even the huge Wind Serpent Lord could not react.

Rhode raised his sword and thrust his sword into the Wind Serpent Lord’s copper bell-like eyes.

“Blade of Destruction!”

Facing the incoming sword attack, the first reaction of the Wind Serpent Lord was to dodge. But after increasing the level of Moon Shadow Swordsmanship to Rank D, the Blade of Destruction’s power had increased to another level. A myriad of white flashes coalesced at the tip of the sword.

One, two, three…

At first, the Wind Serpent Lord’s tough scales managed to withstand the attack. But even with its Master rank of defense, it fell by the twentieth slash. Then Rhode’s sword easily tore apart its scales, flesh, and blood, piercing into its body. Although the Wind Serpent Lord’s body was huge, Rhode knew where to find the weak point in its body. With his exquisite control, his slash did not spread like before but instead focusing on its neck.

“———!!”

The Wind Serpent Lord let out a sharp scream and fell down to the deck. But even so, it still did not give up on attacking. Although the left part of its neck had turned into flesh and blood, the Wind Serpent Lord still raised its head and stared at Rhode. Then it suddenly opened its mouth.

Rhode dodged, once again turning into a shadow and withdrew to the back. Still, a vile venom bullet shot towards him directly, almost grazing him. As Rhode had dodged it, the venom landed into the rear of the mast instead. In no time, the poison corroded through the mast and the originally thick mast melted in a few seconds.

As expected of a BOSS monster.

According to Rhode’s game experience, the average Wind Serpent was at level 3 and the Lord was at level 10. Looking at the BOSS monster in front of him, he judged that its level should not exceed 10. With his current level and with Carter and the mercenaries’ attracting some of its attention, defeating this boss should not be too difficult.

But judging from that attack before, he had found out that it was not a normal Lord-class monster, but an Elite BOSS type. Because if it was just a normal Lord-class boss, then the attack just now was supposed to have sliced its wings apart. But even though he had already tried his best, he only could leave deep visible scars.

“Attack its wings, remember to distance yourself from its mouth and attack from the side!”

Rhode instructed Carter and other mercenaries while fighting the Wind Serpent Lord. Even though he was a Spirit Swordsman and not the tank, but looking at the current situation, it seemed like that there were no people that had the experience to face the Wind Serpent.

In the game, if a group died while fighting the Wind Serpents, replaying was possible. But here, Rhode could not take that risk. The wound that was beginning to heal had begun to hurt again; it was tearing him apart. If he did die here, he wouldn’t know whether to laugh or to cry anymore.

Although he was still at level 5, to Rhode, as long as his opponent did not exceed level 15, he still had the confidence to win. After all, in the Dragon Soul Continent, there were three classes that leveled up primarily by killing monsters: Mages, Rangers — and lastly — Spirit Swordsmen.

Mages were known for their unpredictable magic, rangers were known for their kiting power that attacked from an ultra-long distance, and Spirit Swordsmen used a large armada to defeat their enemies. For these three classes, even if the difference in levels was over five, or even if the opponent was an Elite BOSS with a ten level difference, it was still an easy matter.

Even so, these three classes were flawed. Mages without magic were standing targets, even a group of low-level monsters could beat them. Rangers in close-range combat were just tragic. Spirit Swordsmen attack patterns were too random and their moves were too complex and impossible to follow. These were the reasons why these three classes could not really steamroll around the map solo. This game mechanic was intentionally designed for Dragon Soul Continent, to make it more realistic. To risk it yourself and go for the unusual way, or to take a steady step forward… The players are able to decide their own destiny.

The level 10 Wind Serpent Lord Elite BOSS in front of him was injured because of Star Mark. The Wind Serpent’s defense was only about level 6 or 7 so that was why Rhode did not hesitate to be more aggressive. However, the Wind Serpent Lord’s offensive power…

“Swoosh!!”

The violent wind shook the ground.

Rhode was startled; he quickly dodged backward, barely making it in time. The Wind Serpent Lord’s wings failed to connect with its intended target and smashed into the deck, creating a large hole.

As expected from a Level 10 Elite BOSS attack.

Rhode wiped out the cold sweat off his forehead. Now he was only level 5 without any equipment other than his sword. If he was hit by that attack, he definitely wouldn’t survive. He was also worried about Carter and the others.

The good news was that he did the most damage to the BOSS, so it mostly only focused on him. The bad news was that being eyed by this kind of high-level BOSS… for a non-tank class like him, the pressure was incredibly immense…

30% of his Soul Power was left. He began to feel a little bit weak. Even though he had already expected that the fight would be difficult, its power was really too overwhelming. He needed someone to help him draw its attention so he could attack from behind. With his current stats, dodging the Wind Serpent Lord’s attack was simply impossible. On the other hand, he needed to use the Blade of Destruction skill to inflict some damage and kill it in the shortest possible time.

But now it seemed that it wouldn’t be easy.

The floating ship was slowly landing, but under the siege of the Wind Serpent Lord, the ship kept shaking as if it was facing a huge storm. Two mercenaries had fallen off the ship and it was almost impossible for them to be alive. Carter was still trying to drive away the Wind Serpent Lord. He was moving with his sword, attacking the Wind Serpent Lord flexibly at different angles, but it was still no use. If it was not because of Lize who was casting a healing spell from behind, the mercenaries wouldn’t be able to survive until now.

I must think of a way. Otherwise, before we can even land, we will all be killed by this damned Wind Serpent Lord.

Thinking until here, Rhode bit his lips.

The Wind Serpent Lord did not stop attacking; its wings keep flapping widely on the deck. Its two claws were gripping the edge of the ship tightly. Although the attack Rhode had inflicted on it had given it a considerable amount of damage, but as a Lord-class monster, it certainly would not fall just because of this minor injury. On the contrary, the cunning Wind Serpent Lord seemed to be aware of its opponent’s weaknesses. Its two sharp claws gripped the hull of the floating ship tightly and shook it forcefully.

Although the floating ship’s hull was strong, due to the battle with the Wind Serpents previously, it had been battered badly. Now, coupled with the violent winds around the ship, it had begun to distort. Several cracks appeared on the deck, followed by a crisp sound of wood splintering.

“Oh Holy Soul save me..!”

Curled up in the corner of the captain’s room, the fat merchant stared at the terrible Wind Serpent Lord outside. But because of his nervousness and fear, his voice had become somewhat distorted.

“That damned Richard!! Don’t let me see you or else I will kill you! Giving me this kind of route, it’s practically murder!” Speaking up until here, the fat merchant suddenly shuddered in terror and looked at the captain beside him.

“And you! Why didn’t you remind me of such a terrible thing!?”

The captain did not reply. At this moment he was clenching at the rudder, focusing his attention on the front. But inside his heart, he was cursing that fatty. Before setting off, he had clearly reminded him that by taking this route, they may provoke the Wind Serpents, but this fatty just brushed it off like it was nothing.

Good, when something happens, you actually blame me! If I had known, I would not have taken this job  even if you killed me !