Chapter 234-2: A Hunting Surprise, Starnet Recompense (2) |
As they continued, the darkness was like a heavy curtain that swallowed almost all light.
The Tiger Stripe man lit a torch. The flickering flame cast wavering shadows over the rock walls.
The air was thick with the scent of decay, mixed with the stench of a wild beast.
“Careful. It might be somewhere around this area.” The Tiger Stripe man swallowed, visibly nervous.
Phase Kill did not speak. Vitality roiled throughout his body.
Thin strands of vitality seeped from his pores and, centered on himself, wove an almost invisible vitality grid-space. He was ready for battle.
With his senses highly focused, Phase Kill suddenly caught a faint sound from the distance.
It was like some creature crawling along the rock wall, the rasping of scales on stone that made the scalp prickle.
His fists slowly clenched. Silver-white gauntlets armed themselves automatically.
Phase Kill looked down and found several deep claw marks on the ground, clearly left by some large creature.
Fresh soil still clung to the edges of the gouges, showing the monster had passed here not long ago.
“It is nearby.” the Tiger Stripe man whispered, his gaze sweeping the surrounding darkness.
“No need to look. I know where it is.”
As Phase Kill spoke, his eyes turned to the front left.
In the depths of the darkness, the outline of a large creature’s body came into view.
“Prepare for combat.” the Tiger Stripe man warned in a low voice, gripping the spear in his left hand and staring into the darkness ahead.
“Stand back. I will handle this. You are not needed here.” As Phase Kill spoke, his Vital Qi inherited soul erupted.
Surging crimson currents cloaked his body and lit the darkness around them.
What appeared before his eyes was a gecko-like monster clinging to the rock wall. It was over three meters long, its body covered in thick dark green scales. Its limbs were powerful, with hook-like claws embedded deep in the rock. Its tail was thick, the tip lined with a row of sharp bone spurs that shook constantly like a rattlesnake’s rattle, yet made no sound.
Most striking was its head. The flat skull was studded with uneven keratinous knobs. Two ink-dark eyes were narrowed, and its slightly open mouth revealed two rows of serrated fangs.
A row of sharp dorsal spines ran along its back from neck to tail, each like a dagger driven into its spine.
A scan brought the monster’s data to mind.
[Rend (First-Generation Primordial)]
Hunt level: level 71.
Primordial introduction: A monster that possesses the Rend primordial passive trait. Its attacks inflict additional rend effects that cause the target to suffer continuous damage. The additional rend damage is affected by the value of the current hit’s damage (physical damage) and inherited soul level. The duration of the rend is affected by inherited soul level.
—
The analysis made Phase Kill pause, and a smile tugged at his lips.
He had taken the order to earn sacrificial power and open a star vein, but he had not expected an unexpected harvest here.
From the description, Rend was very suitable for melee players. More importantly, it was a passive bonus.
As long as it was contained, it would surely be a popular inherited soul among melee builds.
“Go. I am here.” Phase Kill said bluntly.
The Tiger Stripe man glanced at the monster, then at Phase Kill, and decisively retreated.
Roar.
Rend on the wall sensed the killing intent on Phase Kill and opened its mouth in a bellow, shaking loose pebbles from the rock.
Although its body was large, its movements were exceptionally agile. Its four limbs drove hard as it leapt and scrambled between the walls, surging in with crushing pressure.
As the distance closed, Rend suddenly sprang from the rock wall, turning into a dark green bolt of lightning and lunging straight in to bite.
Phase Kill twisted sharply, brushing past Rend’s gaping, blood-red maw to complete the dodge.
At the same time, his right fist clenched. Crimson airflow at his knuckles formed five rotating streams.
Borrowing force with a hip twist, his body tightened like a drawn bow.
The instant his right fist swung out, it was like an arrow leaving the string, his full power pouring into his right arm.
Boom!
The silver-white gauntlet on Phase Kill’s fist, wrapped in crimson Vital Qi, slammed heavily into Rend’s side abdomen.
Rend’s body was blasted back by the massive force and crashed hard into the rock wall, making the entire mine tremble slightly.
But Rend’s scale armor defense was extremely tough. This strike did not inflict substantive damage. It quickly adjusted its posture, tail whipping violently, the bone spurs at the tip lashing toward Phase Kill like a long whip.
Phase Kill’s eyes tightened. His figure suddenly leapt, avoiding the tail strike Rend flicked out.
The instant he landed he proactively closed in on Rend. His fists poured down like rain, each blow carrying ferocious Vital Qi.
Though Rend’s defense was formidable, under Phase Kill’s dense barrage it appeared somewhat battered.
But in bodily toughness, Phase Kill was clearly a notch lower.
Under successive blows, Rend went berserk, like an out-of-control tank, ramming hard into Phase Kill.
In an instant his body became an afterimage and was sent flying.
Boom!
His body embedded into the rock wall. He opened his mouth and coughed blood.
The suppression from the higher hunt level brought all-around attribute suppression.
That one hit shaved off nearly one quarter of his health bar.
Mouth open, he drew breath. White airflow surged into his mouth, and the Bloodthirst Brand hovered over his head.
Roar!
Rend roared again, suddenly opening its bloody maw and biting toward Phase Kill.
Phase Kill neither dodged nor evaded. Tearing himself free of the rock wall, he instead charged head-on into Rend’s lunging bite.
At the instant Rend’s teeth were about to clamp down on him, the Blood Rebound trait triggered abruptly.
Crack!
His health bar instantly dropped another one quarter, but Rend’s teeth shattered in response. The mouth that had just clamped shut sprang open even faster, opening even wider.
Boom!
Rend’s lower jaw was smashed abruptly shut by Phase Kill’s charged uppercut, and the tremendous impact knocked its whole body backward.
Phase Kill seized the chance, leaping high, interlocking his fingers as if gripping a battle axe, and smashed down hard on Rend’s head.
“Down!”
Rend’s skull slammed into the ground with a dull, thunderous bang.
Its body twitched slightly, clearly having taken heavy damage.
Just as Phase Kill was about to launch another offensive, Rend’s ink-green pupils suddenly contracted. Its body swelled in an instant, the dorsal spines along its back standing on end. Seeing this, Phase Kill decisively sent Vital Qi forward to propel himself backward.
If he crashed into that, he would certainly be pierced by the spines.
But Rend twisted at this moment, its tail making short swings back and forth in the air before suddenly widening the arc to lash at Phase Kill.
Snap!
Still in midair, Phase Kill was whipped away instantly, and his health bar dropped by another one quarter.
The ferocious force lashed him straight into the rock wall, gravel sliding down around him.
“Peh.”
Spitting out the blood-foam, Phase Kill yanked both arms free of the rock wall, gripped the sides, leaned forward with force, and landed steadily.
Though the attribute gap was large, there was not a trace of fear in his eyes as he looked at Rend.
His fighting desire was completely ignited at this moment.
This trip was worth it.
This battle was clearly the attribute crushing Guide had spoken of.
In bodily toughness he simply could not withstand Rend’s attacks, but with combat technique added in, he still had a fighting chance.
As long as he could dodge, as long as he could break the defense, there was a chance to win.
Seeing Rend not attack rashly but crawl low and slow as if searching for a chance to lunge and bite, Phase Kill grinned with delight.
He took a deep breath, and his Vital Qi inherited soul erupted completely. Crimson streams formed a raging whirlwind around him.
His fists clenched, and the silver-white gauntlets flashed with a piercing brilliance against the Vital Qi.
The vitality grid regenerated.
“Let’s go!”