Chapter 84: The Healer’s Reckless Gambit

My actions, without a doubt, were akin to igniting a powder keg.

The already frayed nerves of Yan Quan, the guild leader, finally snapped with a distinct ‘crack,’ breaking into two.

“Attack! Kill them!”

He vowed to make the world understand that Sword Sweeping the World was not merely a main guild, but that its branches were far from soft persimmons to be easily crushed.

“Contact branches 014, 017, and 018. I recall they have no activities today… I am willing to pay them for their assistance; have each of their guilds immediately gather over two hundred people! Instruct them to block the three resurrection points accessible from the Spider’s Nest! Also, contact branch 021, and have them gather over two hundred people to rush from the main city to the Sendra Swamplands, sealing off that woman’s escape route! Prevent her from fleeing!” Yan Quan ordered, his face dark with fury, as assistants beside him immediately relayed the message.

Having already suffered such a humiliating loss of face, all he could do now was minimize the damage.

They had not originally intended to attack me, Su Shunhua, but from the moment I kicked Lihuanhuan into the swamp, I had been unequivocally branded as Su Yingning’s accomplice.

As those around them snapped out of their daze, six assassins and three warriors instantly lunged forward, while countless mages behind them were already unleashing a barrage of spells, intent on eliminating me without delay!

Gripping the middle of my priest’s staff, I executed a forward thrust and a sweeping strike, repelling the two closest assassins.

Immediately after, a crescent-shaped upward swing followed by a reverse spear thrust sent the third assassin sprawling into the swamp!

While my movements served a defensive purpose, they lacked any true offensive capability.

As a priest, wielding my staff merely delivered basic attacks, but with my low Strength attribute and lack of gear bonuses, the damage from these normal attacks was practically negligible.

They could only produce some minor physical effects.

By this time, the mages had finished their incantations, and a dozen fireballs, ice lances, and lightning bolts came whistling through the air.

“Oh, my heavens~”

I sprawled flat on the ground in an undignified ‘great character’ pose (TL Note: A pose where one lies flat on their back or stomach with limbs outstretched, resembling the Chinese character ‘大’ for ‘big’ or ‘great’), yet, by sheer coincidence, I narrowly evaded that entire volley of attacks.

A surge of hot blood rushed through me.

Though I hated to admit it, I seemed to genuinely miss the thrilling life of my previous incarnation.

This dazzling sequence of maneuvers utterly stunned the onlookers, who no longer dared to underestimate me.

Three assassins circled, seeking an opening, while another three warriors, nearly simultaneously, charged towards me from three different directions, shields raised.

With my Strength attribute, it was impossible to contend with these three muscular warriors.

I made a split-second decision, executing a massive leap and charging towards one of them.

That warrior did not impulsively leap after me, for a fellow comrade had already been tricked into the swamp by Su Yingning using a ‘Great Leap + Thousand-Catty Drop’ (TL Note: A combat technique involving a high jump followed by a powerful downward strike) maneuver, and his own charge path was dangerously close to the marsh.

Thus, he could only watch silently as I soared over his head, escaping the trio’s encirclement.

The instant my feet touched the ground, I felt a strong gust of wind against the back of my neck.

It was a stealthy rogue!

A gleaming dagger seemed to pierce forth from the void, tearing through space.

As the blade manifested, a familiar figure gradually materialized: it was Leng Shisan!

Immediately after resurrecting, Leng Shisan had returned to this very spot, even stealthily crossing the single-plank bridge, brushing past Su Yingning without attacking.

Upon his return, he had remained hidden within the crowd until this precise moment, only now unleashing this fatal blow!

This killing strike was originally intended for Su Yingning, but the threat I presented forced him to reveal himself prematurely, attempting to land a crowd-control effect to finish me off!

With no time to turn and retaliate, I raised my staff high, first casting ‘Moon God’s Blessing’ upon myself to prevent an instant kill.

The dagger plunged downward, piercing through my spine, its tip emerging from my chest.

I was instantly seized by a searing pain and a wave of dizziness.

It was a stun!

Immediately, I deployed my long-cooldown self-dispel skill: ‘Summon Divine’!

A beam of white light descended from the heavens, as if the Moon God herself had cast a powerful purification spell on me, sweeping away the stun debuff entirely!

In the same breath, it sent Leng Shisan flying backward.

Every class possessed its own self-dispel skill to remove debuffs, though these abilities typically had lengthy cooldowns.

‘Summon Divine,’ however, was a unique skill exclusive to fox-type pets.

Spellcasting and healing classes each had only one dispel skill, and its cooldown was exceptionally long.

Assassins also had a single dispel skill, but with a shorter cooldown.

Warriors, conversely, boasted three dispel skills, each designed to remove different types of crowd control, with cooldowns varying in length.

To think my dispel skill was baited out so early!

I’d gotten so caught up in the fight that I’d completely forgotten about Leng Shisan.

It seemed I couldn’t afford to be so reckless moving forward.

Having failed his initial strike, Leng Shisan pressed closer once more.

He knew perfectly well that I was merely a small healer; while swinging a priest’s staff might appear menacing, it dealt virtually no damage unless I managed to knock someone into the swamp.

If he landed just one more hit, inflicting another stun, I would be crowd-controlled to my death!

“Get lost, all of you! Who dares to touch her!”

Following a familiar, sharp cry, a flash of violet light streaked past, and a sword tip, crackling with lightning, emerged from Leng Shisan’s chest.

Su Yingning withdrew her sword, not even glancing at Leng Shisan’s limp, fallen body.

Instead, she glared fiercely at me. “I’ll settle accounts with you later! This time, I’m going to shock you into complete submission, making sure you never dare to disobey again!”

“Eh heh~” I ducked away from three fireballs, then scratched my head and offered a sheepish smile.

“Other matters can wait… you fool… just stay alive, okay…”

Having uttered those words, Su Yingning knew this was no time for tender sentiments.

She transformed into a streak of violet light and swiftly cut a path through the mage crowd, unleashing torrents of sword light.

All that remained were a series of weak, agonizing screams tearing through the sky.

Gripping my priest’s staff, I, too, charged into the cluster of priests, like a tiger among sheep, utterly lost in the fervor of dealing damage…