Chapter 44: A Desperate Gambit and Divided Opinions

“Look, quick, he’s not dead yet!” Just as everyone had resigned themselves to the Shamatte-styled individual’s demise, Kabasiji suddenly exclaimed, pointing ahead with astonishment. “Does he have another trick up his sleeve? How did he survive?”

Hank and Xue Hu’s gazes followed Kabasiji’s pointed finger. There, amidst the ongoing battle, brilliant white light pulsed, and from its depths, a figure emerged. Who else could it be but the Shamatte-styled individual?

Xue Hu contemplatively observed the dazzling white light. This wasn’t the metallic sheen of metal-attribute magic, which typically possessed a silvery-white hue. Instead, the light before them was a pristine, pure white, utterly unadulterated — the unmistakable color of the light attribute! Xue Hu recognized this radiance because the ‘Seed of Angels’ she held emitted an identical glow, symbolizing the ‘sacred’ light attribute, a power as exceedingly rare as the dark attribute itself.

“Does the metal attribute also possess such defensive capabilities? Wasn’t it said that metal-attribute users are relatively fragile?” Hank, clearly unaware of this distinction, mistook the white glow for metal-attribute energy, questioning, “Or perhaps, is this a defensive effect specifically tailored for the wood attribute? After all, metal counters wood, so if there’s a special effect against a countered attribute, that would make sense.”

Though Hank and Kabasiji didn’t recognize the light-attribute radiance, they still discerned that the Shamatte-styled individual had employed a defensive spell. Xue Hu knew this must be the ‘invincibility’ effect found within light magic, one of only two attributes among the seven major elements capable of granting such a state, the other being the earth attribute. In a certain online game, a light-attribute class was renowned for its signature skill, ‘Invincible Hearthstone’ (TL Note: A reference to the game Hearthstone’s ‘Hearthstone’ item, used for returning to a safe location. Here, it refers to an unbeatable recall skill.), a concept widely familiar to players and often replicated in subsequent games.

Naturally, the Shamatte-styled individual didn’t begin ‘rubbing Hearthstone’ (TL Note: A gaming term referring to using the Hearthstone item to teleport back to a city.) to recall after achieving invincibility, as the game *Mystic Forest* had no such ‘recall’ function. Utilizing the precious moments of invincibility, he dashed to the slumbering White Tiger battle pet and swiftly applied numerous energy-restoring consumables to it. This action enlightened everyone present: the White Tiger battle pet required energy for combat, and once depleted, it would enter a dormant state, resuming battle only after its energy had fully recovered. Fortunately, battle pets could also benefit from recovery consumables, meaning a quick dose of potions would allow it to rejoin the fray.

The period of invincibility swiftly elapsed, and the White Tiger battle pet rejoined the battle. Its first action was to swallow the broken blade on the ground, before launching diverting attacks against the Azure Dragon. Perhaps due to the invincibility skill, the Azure Dragon’s aggro had shifted from the Shamatte-styled individual to the newly returned White Tiger battle pet. This time, the White Tiger battle pet didn’t employ any special skills, instead relying on basic attacks and strategic positioning to keep the Azure Dragon occupied, a tactic that conserved energy and allowed for continuous engagement.

Freed from the Azure Dragon’s relentless focus, the Shamatte-styled individual began to attend to his own affairs. Observing from their hiding spot in the tall grass, the onlookers sensed that he was about to undertake something significant, and a murmur of whispers began to spread among them.

“Did you see that? This guy prepared so much on his own; it looks like he intends to take down the Azure Dragon in one fell swoop today. We can’t let him succeed, or it’ll be over for all of us!” Hank surveyed the battlefield, then addressed the others. “Later, if the Azure Dragon’s health gets low, we’ll rush in and unleash the highest damage we’ve got. It won’t matter who lands the final blow on the Azure Dragon, as long as it isn’t him!”

“I feel that’s a bit ill-advised. What if the Azure Dragon still has some trump cards it hasn’t used? Wouldn’t it be too risky for us to rush in prematurely?” Kabasiji voiced his concerns. “Even though this guy has prepared quite a bit, he can’t possibly know what other moves the Azure Dragon might have. One slip-up, and he’ll be dead. We’d be better off waiting to see how things unfold.”

“I, on the other hand, believe the Azure Dragon may not have any more special abilities. Firstly, it’s daytime, so the Azure Dragon isn’t at its strongest. Secondly, it’s already used that life-saving skill; if it had any other trump cards, it would have deployed them by now.” Xue Hu shook her head, communicating her thoughts by raising her wooden board. “I also don’t think we should wait until its health is critically low. Did you forget that earlier, when the Azure Dragon was at one-third health, this guy suddenly drew his sword again? If the Azure Dragon hadn’t possessed a life-saving skill then, we would have been done for! If he still has some kind of instant burst or even an instant kill ability, even at a great cost, as long as he slays and captures the Azure Dragon, the game ends, he wins, and he wouldn’t need to worry about any cost, would he?”

“It’s not that exaggerated, is it? That one-third health burst was probably his biggest offensive, right? If he could instantly kill, why wouldn’t he have used it before?” Hank felt Xue Hu was being overly anxious. He argued, “He certainly prepared a lot of formidable items, but it’s only been a few days in total. No matter how capable he is, he couldn’t possibly carry a backpack full of rare items. I think we just need to wait until its health is low and then finish it off. At most, we should pay attention when it reaches one-third health and see if we can snatch the kill!”

“However, I haven’t found this Azure Dragon to be particularly formidable, nor has it used any impressive skills. For a major boss, it seems a bit too simple,” Kabasiji reiterated his unease. “Personally, I believe the Azure Dragon still has some tricks up its sleeve, and we shouldn’t take too many risks.”

“It’s not that the Azure Dragon isn’t powerful; it’s that he used too many counter-items, which makes you think the Azure Dragon hasn’t done much,” Xue Hu immediately wrote on her wooden board. “Without those items, just that wave of ‘Plants Become Sentient’ (TL Note: Referring to a skill where plants come to life and attack.) could have wiped out our entire party! And without that white longsword, killing the Azure Dragon would be incredibly difficult!”

As the three continued their heated debate, the battle had already turned into a one-sided affair. The White Tiger battle pet’s health bar was completely depleted; it wasn’t merely dormant now, but in a resurrection cooldown, a period far longer than the time it took for its energy to replenish. Without the White Tiger battle pet to divert its attention, the Azure Dragon once again focused its attacks on the Shamatte-styled individual. Though the onlookers couldn’t see his health bar, his desperate appearance clearly indicated his perilous state. In contrast, the Azure Dragon’s health bar had only been halved, seemingly after enduring another ‘Shadow Dance Slash’ and a ‘White Tiger Roar Wave.’ At this point, the Shamatte-styled individual appeared to have no means of turning the tide.