Rustle rustle rustle…

The maple leaves on the forest floor s.h.i.+vered unnaturally. I saw with Dark Pupils three a.s.sa.s.sins clad in black leather armor running toward me with a pair of daggers. Their eyes were chilling, and their footsteps left b.l.o.o.d.y ripples on the ground. It was the visual effect of the a.s.sa.s.sin skill, Dance of Death.

I clenched my teeth. One look was all I needed to know that this was going to be one of the harder fights I had fought up until this point. Unlike all the a.s.sa.s.sins I had encountered earlier, these three didn't hesitate in the slightest. Li Chengfeng was right. Descent of the One Hundred G.o.ds guild was made up of the top experts of the j.a.panese champion arena, and their skills were far greater than many famous players'.

Swhoos.h.!.+

At the same time, Shock Arrow and Mountain Stagger Arrow flew in my direction. Specifically, the Mountain Stagger Arrow was aimed at my Armored Ice Qilin Horse, and the Shock Arrow was aimed at the s.p.a.ce two yards behind me. They were trying to cut off my retreat, and it did look like there was nowhere left for me to escape.

……

I reacted with lightning-fast speed. I moved the Armored Ice Qilin Horse backward and into the s.p.a.ce where the Shock Arrow was aimed. Right before it was about to hit though, I dismounted from my mount and dropped toward the ground. I even kicked my mount in the stomach to hasten my fall and roll across the gra.s.s, missing the Shock Arrow by inches. After that, I bounced back to my feet and parried the first a.s.sa.s.sin's attack.

Swhoos.h.!.+

A chill p.r.i.c.ked my waist as the second a.s.sa.s.sin thrust their Bloodbreak skill at me. I already had very little time to react to the attack, but the third a.s.sa.s.sin was swinging at my neck using Gouge as well. I could die here if they managed to stun me.

My mind suddenly cleared up during the moment of crisis, and I felt as if I was watching myself from a distance. First, I determined the enemy's attack angle and speed and lowered my head, dodging the Gouge. The fact that the dagger swished across the red ta.s.sel on my helmet and cut off tiny red strands showed how close it was to hitting me. At the same time, I spun around, knocked the second a.s.sa.s.sin's dagger to the side, and swung at his neck while he was frozen in place.

"Hmph!"

The a.s.sa.s.sin snorted coldly and s.h.i.+fted both his daggers into parrying position. At the same time, he tilted his body a little and dropped into a roll. It was a high-level technique used to mitigate incoming force and was something usually mastered by first-cla.s.s a.s.sa.s.sins only.

Killing intent flashed across my eyes. I spun my wrist and aimed at the weak point of the parry, shattering it the moment contact was made. There was nothing he could do about it as my parry shattering technique was way better than his parry technique. The Purple Ying Sword continued along its trajectory and ended in his neck, dealing an insane 139298 damage!

It was a basic attack, but it was a one-shot nonetheless!

That was one down and two more to go. While jumping to the back, I knocked aside the third a.s.sa.s.sin's attack with the Dragon G.o.d s.h.i.+eld before throwing the Purple Ying Sword to the ground, triggering War Crush. Both a.s.sa.s.sins immediately backed away and successfully dodged the AoE skill.

Unfortunately for them, it also opened them up to Dragon Slaying Slash and Coiling Dragon Revolution respectively, and I did just that...

Pu pu...

The skills penetrated their chests and killed both of them. One of the major reasons I was able to nullify the ambush and even turn it against them was because my level was much higher than theirs. At Level 200, and as long as I didn't fumble my skill, the chance of these people dodging my attack was almost zero. Finally, the Purple Ying Sword ensured that even the Top 500 experts of Purple Grape City's champion arena wouldn't escape death!

Bang!

Suddenly, an impact rocked my back. It was the enemy archer scoring an armor-breaking arrow and dealing 52773 damage to me. At the same time, the ground beneath my feet abruptly glowed with the light of three Touches of the Dragonkiss. I hurriedly moved to evade the attacks, but one of them still managed to "kiss" my thighs, inflict ma.s.sive pain and delete another 70k+ HP. Their attack power was just too high.

I ran straight into the forest in front of me while adjusting my POV. I saw 4 mounted players chasing after me from behind, and three archers darting along the edges of the forest and shooting Freezing Arrows at me.

Pa...

I abruptly halted my footsteps and skidded to a stop, although the slippery gra.s.s still caused me to skid about seven or eight meters. Once I came to a full stop, I abruptly turned around, activated Great Earth Transformation and dropped three Ancient Seals at a certain spot far away from me. Right after that, I turned toward the location I predicted the three mages were going to Blink to and threw the Purple Ying Sword!

Swhoos.h.!.+

The spinning blade easily penetrated two mages' chests and one-shot them instantly, but I didn't have time to catch the returning blade. Gripping my s.h.i.+eld tightly and crouching a little, I pushed forward and smashed a magic knight's horse right in the throat. At the same time, I took Blaze to my back!

42882!

It hurts!

I kicked forward and sent the magic knight in front of me stumbling. Running in a helix pattern, I smashed another fighter's neck with the sharp edges of the Dragon G.o.d s.h.i.+eld, dealing another 90k+ damage. Even without my main weapon, I could absolutely deal ma.s.sive damage to these jokers!

"Die, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand!"

Behind me, a wanderer rushed toward me at high speed with his blade s.h.i.+ning with the light of Ice Flame Slash and Triple Slash. He clearly was trying to one-shot me!

I took one step forward before spinning around with my right fist shrouded in a thick, b.l.o.o.d.y light. Growling the words "Magic Piercing Punch", I obliterated his Ice Flame Slash before blocking his Triple Slash with the Dragon G.o.d s.h.i.+eld, feeling my arm turning numb again. But there was no time to breathe. This time, the ground glowed with the light of Galaxy Storm!

I rolled into the nearby bush just in time to escape the magical bombardment and grab the Purple Ying Sword that was stuck on the nearby ground. After I jumped back to my feet, I fired Burning Blade Slash at my attackers!

Boom boom boom!

Two mounted players died and dropped a floor of equipment and potions immediately. Unfortunately, there was no time to pick them up.

I raised my arm and swung a Dragon Slaying Slash at the only mage in the group. He managed to back away in time to dodge it, but I dropped Ancient Seal right on top of his head and killed him anyway!

……

Thud thud thud...

Some distance away, three archers appeared at the edge of the forest and fired their Volleys at me at the same time. At least thirty arrows were flying my way. So brutal!

I hurriedly blocked the shots with my s.h.i.+elds while withdrawing to the back. While doing this, I spotted another 7 high-level mounted players appearing ahead of me. If I didn't find an opportunity to slip away soon, I was going to die for sure. My HP had already dropped below the 20% mark, and not even potions and Tenacity of the Dead were enough to make me healthy.

"Chase him! Use the Tear Wound skill so that he can't stealth away!" a high-level axe wielder shouted amid the crowd.

I activated Dark Pupils and observed my surroundings while backing away from the main bulk of the enemy. However, four a.s.sa.s.sins had somehow managed to creep up from behind and attack me. I was able to kill two of them using Burning Blade Slash + Thousand Ice Slash, but the other two activated Dance of Death and dodged the combo in time.

Chiang!

I parried one of the attacks with the Purple Ying Sword, but the a.s.sa.s.sin's Agility was way higher than mine. Spinning around at high speed, one of the super a.s.sa.s.sins was able to leave a gash beneath my armpit and activate the Tear Wound skill. For the next 15 seconds, I wouldn't be able to use my stealth skill.

"f.u.c.k!"

I killed off the other a.s.sa.s.sin and tried to kill the super high-level a.s.sa.s.sin who scored a hit on me, but unfortunately the f.u.c.ker was able to dodge beneath my slash. Channeling Gouge through his dagger, he ran along a double-S helix pattern and searched for an opportunity to stun me. He was absolutely an expert alright. He might not be as good as Moonkiss or Farewell Song, but he was close enough.

"Hah!"

I let out a roar and buffed my Attack using Wild Roar. After parrying the a.s.sa.s.sin's first strike with a reverse grip, I too ran along a helix pattern, turned around and executed a super-fast Universe Break!

"Heavens!"

Shock peeked through the a.s.sa.s.sin's pupils. However, he slid horizontally and just barely dodged the full brunt of the Universe Break, taking a scratch across his shoulder. He ran around again and searched for an opportunity to a.s.sa.s.sinate me, but he dared not disengage outright for fear that I would catch him with an undodgeable Burning Blade Slash or Ancient Seal. It was the right thing to do. As dangerous as it was to stay close to me, it was his best chance to survive this duel.

I abruptly changed direction and Charged in a straight line. At the same time, I swung my sword in an arc.

"What the..."

The a.s.sa.s.sin hurriedly dodged out of the way, but he didn't antic.i.p.ate the red maple tree right behind him and slammed into it. That was exactly what I was hoping to see. I pointed my palm at his chest and shouted, "G.o.d Binding Art!"

Whoos.h.!.+

There was no dodging this skill from such a super close range. The a.s.sa.s.sin was bound, but I also took a couple more arrows to the back. My HP was now sitting at a horrific 1%, not to mention that I was still losing HP continuously due to the Tear Wound skill from earlier.

……

There was no time to kill the a.s.sa.s.sin, so I simply dropped Icy Cyclone Domain beneath his feet and ran toward the southeast. I must slip away from their archers' vision now, or it will be too late.

I looked at my HP bar. I only had around 2000 HP left, and worse, I could hear another flurry of arrows sailing toward me!

I brought up three POVs at once and predicted the shots' angle and speed as best I could. Then, I zigzagged around them and dodged all of them; the misses rising above my head showing just how close they were from hitting me. This was a true dance above the knife's edge! One mistake, and I would be reporting in at a beginner's village!

The instant the Tear Wound effect disappeared, I locked onto a thick foliage and activated Charge. Then, I used Earth Escape to slip underground, drank a health potion, and slowly moved to a different location. That was too close. This Descent of the One Hundred G.o.ds guild was far more dangerous than I gave them credit for at the beginning.

……

Behind me, a dozen or so Descent of the One Hundred G.o.ds players ran into the foliage I had Charged into but couldn't find me no matter where they looked. A high-level warrior wielding an axe yelled with bulging veins, "Dammit! He escaped! Tell everyone to lock this area down and the archers to sweep the map with Skypiercer! Shoot that rat out of his hidey-hole!"

Tw.a.n.g tw.a.n.g tw.a.n.g...

A series of bow tw.a.n.gs immediately rang across the forest. One of the Skypiercers literally landed less than one step away from me. I would've been dead if that had hit me!

I continued moving until I was finally out of the area the enemy was attacking. Right after I slipped into a nearby bush, a troop of cavalry rode past the spot I had been at a moment earlier. Thankfully, none of them was able to discover my location. My level was a lot higher than theirs, so it would take a considerably powerful a.s.sa.s.sin or archer to find me.

A drizzle continued to pour from the sky. I looked up, licked my dried lips, but gripped my Purple Ying Sword even tighter than before.