“Damn it, that human is still chasing me.”
The Slass, shot in the leg, struggled to crawl along the wall. A bloody hole had appeared on its injured leg, and through this gory opening, the sewer wall was clearly visible. The energy arrow had quickly dissipated after hitting its target, leaving only the wound; even the bone had been shattered. Blood continuously flowed from the wound on its leg, draining the last bit of strength from the already terrified Slass.
The Slass looked back in fear. That silver-haired human was still chasing him. His memories of human warriors were from years ago when his entire tribe launched a massive attack on the Holy Kingdom's Great Wall. Were Captain and the others fighting this kind of monster back then?
“Yes, find Captain! Captain can definitely defeat him! Captain will definitely save me!”
This Slass, as if grasping at a lifesaver, desperately twisted its almost-useless leg.
“Find Captain! I must find Captain! I still want to live! I am a noble Slass, how can I just die here?”
The Slass desperately squeezed the last ounce of strength from its malnourished body; the will to survive burst forth from his broken frame.
“Just a little further, just one last stretch, and you’ll be dead.”
The Slass thought triumphantly, “This human must be like those beasts, thinking that for prey destined to die, all you have to do is wait. That’s what he must be thinking. You will regret it, human. You will pay the price for harming us Slass.”
Just as he was about to faint, he finally approached the stronghold where Captain and the others were stationed.
“Captain, save me!”
After uttering this plea, the desperate Slass fainted from excessive blood loss, but he had successfully completed his mission, effectively leading the enemy into the village.
“I only wanted to see if there were other demi-humans hiding here, but I didn’t expect to catch such a big fish.”
Lu Xiuyuan vigilantly looked at the tall, dark-green demi-humans in front of him, or to be precise, the demi-humans of the Slass race.
He had read about the Slass in the temple's books; these few in front of him were perfectly consistent except for their skin color.
“But they don’t look like mutated demi-humans. Is it a change made to adapt to the environment after living in the sewers for a long time?”
A question arose in Lu Xiuyuan’s mind. Demi-humans in this world often had various mutations; for example, giants could have Frost Giants, Mountain Giants, Fire Giants, and so on.
The tall Slass Captain angrily looked at the unconscious Slass who had betrayed them.
“This idiot actually led a human here, damn it!”
“Everyone, gather up! Attack formation!”
At the Slass Captain’s command, the remaining three ordinary Slass immediately moved along the wall, forming a triangular attack formation facing Lu Xiuyuan.
“A Commander-type profession? They feel completely different from the previous few Slass.”
Lu Xiuyuan held his shield in his left hand and his sword in his right, adopting a defensive stance. His skill set did not yet include any defensive skills, and Commander-type professions were very strong when controlling soldiers.
“Attack!”
The Slass Captain issued a command from outside the formation, and the remaining three Slass immediately moved in a triangular pattern, taking turns to extend their long tongues at Lu Xiuyuan.
After Lu Xiuyuan blocked one attack with his shield, another Slass would launch an attack from a completely opposite direction, forcing him to parry with his sword, while the last Slass would then attack his back.
The three Slass cooperated perfectly, attacking in turns, leaving Lu Xiuyuan overwhelmed. He currently lacked experience in dealing with multiple enemies.
“As expected of a Commander-type profession. If there were a few more, I might have been finished today.”
This was, of course, just a joke. Lu Xiuyuan had not worn his Hero's Armor at all. In his eyes, once he put it on, it would be hard for him to make up his mind to take it off again; he would even want to sleep in the armor.
Shield block. Lu Xiuyuan easily used the momentum to block the attacks of the three Slass with his shield, quickly mastering the skill of fighting outnumbered.
“They are indeed stronger than the previous few, but the game has to end here.”
Lu Xiuyuan estimated that time was running out. If he delayed any longer, the paladins would arrive. It wasn't that their arrival was bad, but Lu Xiuyuan didn't want the paladins to get too deeply involved with him, to avoid retaliation from the vengeful Nazarick in the future.
“Divine Cross Judgement.”
The longsword emitted a dazzling milky-white light. With Lu Xiuyuan’s slash, a brilliant cross pattern appeared in the air, and large and small cross-shaped wounds appeared on the bodies of the Slass.
Divine Cross Judgement: Upon activation, deals a certain amount of holy damage to nearby hostile targets and applies a vulnerability effect.
This skill has good versatility; even if enemies have holy resistance, it can serve as a prerequisite for the next skill.
“Sky Strike.”
A dense holy energy began to expand from Lu Xiuyuan’s center, quickly enveloping the bodies of the Slass, stripping them of their lives.
Sky Strike: Upon activation, deals undeniable holy damage centered on oneself, with the range determined by maximum magic power.
After the dense white light dissipated, only the corpses of the Slass remained on the ground. Lu Xiuyuan had easily won the battle with just two skills.
“One, two, three, four. My skills shouldn’t have turned the opponent into dust, right?”
Lu Xiuyuan counted the Slass corpses on the ground. The body of the special-looking Slass was clearly missing.
On the wall above the stronghold, the Slass Captain looked at everything happening below with a sense of relief.
“Fortunately, I activated my skill in time.”
The Slass Captain smugly looked at his skin, which had already blended with the environment. Although he had many shallow cross-shaped wounds on his body, they would heal with a little time, and if he was alone, he might actually be able to escape back to his tribe.
Although his teammates, whom he had tried to protect, were easily cut down by this human in front of him, as long as he was alive, it was nothing. All he had to do now was wait for this human to leave.
He still had a future. Relying on his near-invisible environmental fusion talent, he might actually be lucky enough to return to Abelion.
“Why is this happening?”
The Slass Captain looked in disbelief at his lower body, which remained in place. He couldn't understand why this human had simply swung a sword, and he had been cut in half at the waist.
“It’s all over.”
The upper half of the Slass Captain plopped into the sewage flow of the sewer and was expected to become nutrients for ocean fish soon.
With the cessation of his last breath, this Slass Captain, who had been lurking in Hebans for a long time, finally met the fate of a complete team wipe, thanks to his foolish subordinate's actions.
Lu Xiuyuan took a breath. It wouldn't be easy for him to find a Slass that had blended with the environment, and he also wanted to try the Hero’s special skill.
I Am the First and Last Hero: Upon activation, grants immunity to all damage and crowd control skills for 60 seconds, ensures all attacks hit, and greatly increases critical strike chance.
This special skill, unlocked after maxing out the Hero profession, was incredibly powerful. Although it had a super long cooldown of a full 100 hours, if used well, it could practically kill any opponent within a minute.
Lu Xiuyuan unequipped his gear and looked at his empty backpack.
“So I don’t get any drops from killing monsters, do I? Then my backpack is just for storing items.”
The sound of paladins in the sewer was getting closer, presumably following the blood trail. Lu Xiuyuan climbed out from the nearest manhole cover, suffering no losses except for slightly dirty clothes, ending this small interlude.