Chapter 41: Shadow Dance Slash and Nature’s Fury

“Roar!” The Azure Dragon, during the day, possessed no true intelligence, and consequently, it wouldn’t grow enraged by a disrupted attack, nor would it spout any “chuunibyou” (TL Note: A Japanese slang term referring to a teenager who suffers from delusions of grandeur and believes they possess hidden powers.) declarations. Instead, it merely continued to adhere to its programmed monster behavior within the game, focusing its assault on the individual with the highest aggro. Of course, with only the Shamatte-styled individual currently within its alert radius, its attacks were naturally directed solely at him.

“Ha! Behold my power! Shadow Dance Slash!” It had to be said, the Shamatte-styled individual’s voice was quite pleasant. If one disregarded his appearance and simply listened, Xue Hu found it rather appealing, reminiscent of some of the female characters in ‘gacha’ (TL Note: A term referring to video games that implement the gacha mechanic, similar to loot boxes, where players spend in-game currency to receive a random item.) games designed to entice players into spending.

The Shamatte-styled individual brandished his long blade with incredible speed. Coupled with the flashy special effects inherent to the game, the long blade truly seemed to split into multiple separate weapons. Yet, everyone understood one crucial detail: melee weapons in this game were restricted to basic attacks, possessing no special skills. The Shamatte-styled individual was no exception; those grandiose attack names were merely his own inventions. The reason for the long blade’s phantom-like appearance undoubtedly lay with the blade itself, a special property rather than an active skill, much like the ‘Lava Staff’ held by Xingxing, which lacked active abilities but boasted potent passive attributes.

The onlookers watched as the Shamatte-styled individual’s white long blade struck the Azure Dragon seven or eight times in a single instant—it was too swift to count. Immediately afterward, the Azure Dragon’s health bar plummeted by a third! In that moment, the spectators’ casual enjoyment of the show was utterly shattered by the sheer power of that strike. At this rate, the Shamatte-styled individual could defeat the Azure Dragon in mere minutes!

However, the very next second, the tension that had gripped their hearts eased. It turned out that the long blade in the Shamatte-styled individual’s hand had snapped clean in half immediately after delivering that world-shattering blow! So, this item was a consumable? How many more such consumables could there be? Surely not many; possessing even one such rare item was fortunate enough. To have several at once would be truly excessive!

Yet, the Shamatte-styled individual seemed utterly unconcerned by the loss of this “peerless blade.” He casually tossed the hilt to the ground, then retrieved something else from his inventory. His accompanying ‘White Tiger’ battle pet immediately pounced, swallowing both the broken blade and its hilt in a single gulp. This left the onlookers utterly dumbfounded, wondering what further mysteries lay hidden within.

The Azure Dragon, however, was far from idle; as a major boss in this game, it would be a tremendous loss of face to be continually hacked at without retaliation. While it had been struck by the Shamatte-styled individual’s so-called “Shadow Dance Slash,” it had also completed its own spellcasting. Suddenly, the winds shifted, and the very flora seemed to rise in rebellion. Every flower, tree, blade of grass, and shrub in the vicinity sprang to life, surging towards the Shamatte-styled individual.

“Whew, that was a close call! Good thing we kept our distance, or we might have been caught in that too!” Kabasiji, observing the battlefield between the Shamatte-styled individual and the Azure Dragon from afar, patted his chest with lingering trepidation. “It seems we’ll need to be wary of this later. Everything within the Azure Dragon’s alert radius turns hostile; we can’t get too close to the vegetation when fighting it.”

Hank and Xue Hu offered no verbal opinions. However, their expressions clearly showed their profound sense of relief, for at that very moment, all three of them were hidden amidst the tall grass. Had they been within the Azure Dragon’s alert range, they might well have been ambushed and besieged by the awakened flora.

Although these plants had become “alive,” they were not classified as monsters. They bore no names above their heads, possessed no health bars, and simply attacked the nearest enemy out of instinct. This presented a particularly annoying problem: since they weren’t monsters, they couldn’t be eliminated through conventional attacks. Players would either have to wait for the Azure Dragon’s spell duration to end or defeat the Azure Dragon itself first.

“White Tiger, use ‘White Tiger’s Heavenly Might’!” The Shamatte-styled individual showed no undue panic. Instead, he commanded his “Pokémon,” the White Tiger, to use its skill to attack, much like a Pokémon Master. Meanwhile, he himself retrieved a black orb of light from his inventory—it resembled a magic orb, but was certainly no elemental orb of the Five Elements!

“A Dark Orb! That’s a Dark Orb!” Xue Hu, having more leisure time, had diligently researched the various wondrous aspects of this world. “Light Orbs and Dark Orbs are mutually restrictive, but beyond their damage capabilities, they primarily offer unique special effects! And what’s more, these orbs are incredibly difficult to obtain!”

“Wither and rot! Taste my ‘Withering Orb’!” The Shamatte-styled individual hurled the Dark Orb in his hand towards the sky. Instantly, darkness erupted in the air, scattering into countless black rays that rained down upon the earth.