Chapter 266: Sacrificial Crossing |
"Stop spacing out. The boss isn't dead yet," Bai Mu reminded them.
Brewing Cat and Work Three Rest Four quickly scrambled to their feet, glancing at the red-haired Flying Zombie that had been sent flying. They watched as the zombie embedded in the stone wall seemed to be pulled by invisible strings, extricating itself from the rubble. Those glowing red eyes radiated a bone-chilling cold.
"Careful, it can teleport!" Work Three Rest Four shouted a warning.
She had been suddenly ambushed by the Flying Zombie's teleportation twice, losing an arm the first time and having her heart crushed the second. She had a very deep impression of this move.
However, Bai Mu spoke with utter calm. "From the intel I've gathered, this guy's teleportation skill has a cooldown, and it's not a short one."
"Besides, if it could teleport at will, it wouldn't have been knocked away by the Beast Spirit. It definitely would have teleported behind me to rip out my heart. After all, out of everyone present, I'm probably the one it wants to kill the most."
Bai Mu picked up the Camcorder, aiming it at the red-haired Flying Zombie to use Model Photography, but he obviously failed.
"Which means its Spirit attribute is higher than mine..."
"Big Brother Bai, I knew you were alright!" Scattered Fireflies cried out in joy.
"It's not time to celebrate just yet," Bai Mu said. "But thanks to you guys stalling this thing for so long, I've gathered quite a bit of useful intel."
I Love a Sword suddenly understood, looking at the inconspicuous Fungal Organism on Scattered Fireflies' shoulder. It turned out that while they were being hunted by the red-haired Flying Zombie, Bai Mu had been observing their situation through that mushroom the entire time.
But even after witnessing how terrifying this Flying Zombie was, he still rushed over to save them?
'If it were me,' I Love a Sword thought, 'I definitely would have run as far away as possible. I would absolutely never want to face such a horrifying monster.'
During their brief conversation, the Flying Zombie had completely freed itself from the wall. Leaning forward with its arms raised, it charged straight at Bai Mu's position.
The nails on its arms were sharp and curved, and its glowing red eyes locked dead onto Bai Mu.
Naturally, Bai Mu did not drop his guard. Riding on Tu Ya's back, he unslung the Jet-Black Great Saber from his back and hurled it directly at the creature.
His throw was incredibly precise, and the red-haired Flying Zombie showed no intention of dodging. It allowed the blade to strike its body, seemingly brimming with confidence in its own physical toughness.
However, the unexpected happened. The moment the Jet-Black Great Saber pierced its chest, it violently exploded, unleashing a pitch-black vortex of malicious energy. This vortex forced the creature to a halt and shredded its robes, filling the tunnel with a rapid clanging sound like a hammer striking an anvil.
The four people present could not help but be astounded. They had all witnessed the Flying Zombie's durability firsthand. They had exhausted all their tricks moments ago without harming it in the slightest, yet Bai Mu had only made two moves, and both had been effective.
It looked as though a casual throw from him was enough to stop the Flying Zombie in its tracks, which greatly boosted the group's morale.
Unfortunately, the reality of the situation was far from as casual as it appeared.
In fact, Bai Mu used this strike to confirm one thing: there was no way he could defeat this red-haired zombie using conventional methods.
Because that move just now was already the most powerful skill in his arsenal.
It was the ultimate skill unlocked after leveling the Secret Sword Art to the max: Sacrificial Crossing.
Before the four of them arrived, he had grinded a massive wave of experience. Of course, maxing out the Secret Sword Art was largely thanks to those elite monsters. Killing one provided anywhere from 500 to 1,000 experience points. Combined with the endless stream of normal mobs, his sword art level skyrocketed, allowing him to quickly unlock this ultimate skill.
The Sacrificial Crossing skill itself was incredibly potent. Maxing out the Secret Sword Art was no easy feat. If a regular Zombie yielded one experience point, going from level 1 to level 10 to unlock the ultimate skill required slaughtering a full 4,500 Zombies. With a body count like that, calling him a homicidal maniac would not be an exaggeration.
Its effect allowed the user to select a Rare grade or lower bladed weapon and consume it as a sacrifice to activate the ultimate, unleashing an explosive area-of-effect attack.
In layman's terms, this skill essentially turned him into a cannon capable of firing bladed weapons. The stronger the equipment, the more devastating the blast. Even ordinary swords could unleash a powerful bladed storm. If the weapon possessed special effects or attributes, it would trigger unique secondary effects upon detonation.
That Jet-Black Great Saber was a Rare grade weapon named the Black Malice Saber. Its attack power was rated as "Extreme," and every slash carried malicious energy that drained the enemy's life force, allowing the wielder to grow stronger as they fought. However, that same malicious energy would also burn the user, making it a double-edged sword that hurt both the enemy and its master.
In terms of rarity and sheer power alone, it was significantly stronger than Bai Mu's main weapon, the Flaming Sword.
With this strike, Bai Mu had essentially fired the Black Malice Saber, stacking its power with Sacrificial Crossing. The resulting damage was absolutely terrifying. If he had used this on one of the elite monsters from earlier, such as the full-armored zombie, this single move would have shredded it into minced meat. Yet, only a few white scratch marks appeared on the red-haired zombie's body. At best, it had barely scraped off a layer of skin.
'That is seriously absurd,' Bai Mu thought.
He did not voice his complaint out loud. The luster of the Emperor's Jade Dragon had reached an incredibly bright intensity. Just now, arriving in the nick of time and saving his teammates with Beast Spirit Summoning and the Tree of Life had caused the jade dragon to shine significantly brighter. Now, he only needed the very tip of the dragon's head to light up to gain the jade dragon's approval and use this Perfect grade item.
If he showed any cowardice in front of his teammates, the luster would dim again. Naturally, he would not do something so foolish.
Besides, he did not feel any fear or panic to begin with. He was completely clear on this red-haired zombie's origins and background, and he had more or less figured out its tracking methods and abilities during the chase just now.
Killing this guy would certainly be difficult, but the exit was right behind them. Stalling it for a bit to clear the Script would actually be quite simple. All he had to do was toss two Cherry Bombs and ride away on Tu Ya. If its teleportation skill came off cooldown, he could, at most, use a Squash Garden Plant Card and a Doppelganger Transformation Skill Card. Not to mention, he still had two uses of the Tree of Life and one Wish Stone. If he wanted to escape, he had more than enough ways to survive.
However, if he only wanted to clear the Script, Bai Mu could have done so long ago. How could he possibly back down from a fight after meeting the final boss?
With the items on hand and the intel he had acquired, it wasn't impossible to kill this ancient zombie.
"Xiao Wei, attack it with Frost Arrow!" he commanded Xiao Wei to release her skill, simultaneously leaping off the deer's back and drawing the Flaming Sword.
Frost Arrows fired at the red-haired zombie like a machine gun. Bai Mu noticed that the size of the Frost Arrows had at least doubled compared to before.
Ice crystals condensed on the zombie's red fur, rapidly spreading across the surrounding walls as the temperature abruptly plummeted.
'Is it the Tree of Life boosting the Blood of God?' Bai Mu had no time to closely inspect the buffs in his summon tab. Facing an enemy stronger than himself, even the slightest distraction would prove fatal.
He sprinkled the remaining sulfur, cinnabar, and realgar onto the Flaming Sword all at once, formulating the Flame of Earth Yang. At the same time, the Flaming Sword's special effect finished its cooldown. He pulled the ignition ring, and a sound like a revving engine roared out. Then, a raging blue-white flame ignited in the darkness, stretching his shadow across the floor.
Since he had decided to go all out against this bastard, Bai Mu no longer held anything back. He directly activated Berserk.
The other four looked at his imposing back, the blue-white flames giving his presence an unfathomably mysterious aura. They watched as the surrounding malicious energy was entirely incinerated by the blaze, making it seem as if only now had he unleashed his true strength.
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