Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 369 Sword Slash!

The spacious town square is the perfect battleground for Xia Nan, allowing him to fully utilize the mobility advantage brought by [Fang Hunt].

The impromptu strategy he devised at the start of the battle allowed him to break away from the Blackwood squad the moment the Crystallings charged, circling around to the side and drawing several enemies who were targeting him to their side as well.

This ensures that he can quickly support his teammates on both sides when necessary by using his speed advantage, and also prevents any negative impact on the two members of the Blackwood Squad due to a lack of teamwork.

Unfortunately, once the [Fang Hunt] skill is maxed out, the [Night Mother's Gaze] doesn't have much effect on these Crystallized People whose consciousness has been clouded and whose minds are out of control. Otherwise, it could have relieved some of the pressure on his teammates.

Even so, the huge commotion that Xia Nan deliberately made when he moved his position still drew out 7 of the 27 Crystal Humans on the field from their main force.

Following the howling of wolves echoing in the air, we arrived at the side of the square.

Without the slightest hesitation, once the distance between them was sufficient and he was certain that his actions would not affect the two members of the Blackwood Squad, Xia Nan decisively turned around and rushed towards the crystalling being closest to him.

Regarding the enemy, the current known intelligence is as follows:

1. Possesses exceptional strength and explosiveness, likely at a professional level;

2. It has extremely strong physical defense capabilities; the crystalline particles on its skin surface are even stronger than some of the metals used to make armor.

3. They lack awareness, are unfamiliar with tactics, and are extremely deficient in combat skills, even inferior to the lowest-ranking adventurers.

Given all these factors, the solution becomes quite obvious.

In summary, it boils down to four words: "Avoid the strong and attack the weak."

Since they were so strong, Xia Nan was happy to use his speed and agility to his advantage, employing [Fang Hunt] to move around and kite them.
In his dazed state, tactics and skills were no longer worth mentioning. He simply regarded his opponents as a slightly smarter herd of beasts, and realized that he didn't need to plan much. Instead, he used simple strategies that would be easily seen through at other times, which were actually more effective.

The only slightly troublesome thing is probably the opponent's excellent physical defense.

Of course, Xia Nan still needs to personally verify just how "outstanding" it is.

hold head high--

A long wolf howl echoed through the cold air. [Fang Hunt], who had reached the maximum level of "Mastery" and undergone a qualitative change in the dream of [Dream Corridor], enveloped Xia Nan in a huge black wolf phantom at this moment.

Use the blade as teeth.

The exaggerated speed and maneuverability are on full display at this moment.

Furthermore, its agility attribute of up to 10 points ensures that it can still maintain sufficient reaction ability even at such a high speed.

While not quite to the exaggerated degree of "bullet time," it is still enough to clearly see the movement trajectory of everything around you.

"Ding!"

Sparks flying!

The [Emberfall] straight sword, which has both "decapitation damage" and "slashing damage" bonuses, swiftly grazed the Crystal Man's neck with the added speed and inertia of [Fang Hunt].

In order to determine the strength of its defense as accurately as possible, Xia Nan did not release [Whirlwind Slash] or [Gravity Etching], but simply relied on the force applied to his arm and the sharpness of the blade itself to conduct a simple test.

The test results were exactly as he had expected.

These skins, covered in pink crystalline particles, indeed possess outstanding physical defense capabilities.

The gray-black straight sword, capable of easily severing the heads of normal creatures and shattering bones, did not offer the satisfying, visceral feeling of cutting through flesh when facing the Crystal Man's neck.

It's a strange sensation that's hard at first and then springy.

Xia Nan could clearly see that as the straight sword fell, the crystal fragments that were shattered and scattered by its powerful force and sharp blade were also absorbed and buffered at the same time.

Even if the sword strike targets the soft neck, it only leaves a single bloodstain.

Despite this, he felt no discouragement whatsoever.

They were even relieved.

"It doesn't matter... as long as I can break through their defenses."

Thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, and the battle plan became more complete.

Its figure transformed into a black wolf, its long legs treading on the shadows as it leaped lightly among the crystalling beings.

Instead of rushing to inflict damage, Xia Nan patiently used his agility to strike the necks of the seven crystallings chasing him, moving around the area.

In just twenty seconds, his extremely high sword-striking frequency had left his opponents' necks covered in bloody marks.

The crystal particles that were originally attached to its surface had been chopped and scraped off, revealing the pinkish, bleeding skin underneath.

I figured the preparations were almost complete.

Xia Nan suddenly stopped his figure, which was moving at high speed among the enemies, accompanied by the black wolf phantom.

He stood still, catching his breath, and then raised his gray-black straight sword horizontally to his side, as if gathering his strength.

People in the crystallization stage are in a daze, and at this moment they are almost acting purely on instinct.

Seeing Xia Nan stop in place, they roared and pounced on him all at once.

Thanks to his deliberate adjustment of his position during his previous movement, these originally scattered and disorganized crystalling beings now formed a semi-encircling arc in a very neat manner, rapidly converging towards Xia Nan's location.

Five meters... three meters... two meters...

As the distance rapidly closed, Xia Nan, who was surrounded, did not make any move to retreat or dodge. Even the black wolf phantom behind him slowly dissipated. He simply stood still in the same spot as before, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he were precisely controlling something invisible.

The opportunity is fleeting.

When the last crystallizer stepped out and entered the attack range of the longsword in its hand.

Xia Nan's body suddenly trembled, his face turned pale, and his pupils trembled slightly, indicating the intense dizziness in his brain.

hum-

An invisible wave spread outwards from its body.

All seven Crystallized Beings remained in their forward charging stance.

But his toes had already left the ground.

The significantly weakened gravity, combined with the invisible attraction from above, made them seem to have escaped the influence of Earth's gravity.

Briefly floating in the air.

This also made these unfortunate people "live targets" suspended in mid-air.

"Whoosh!"

The gray-black straight sword, still charging up, reflected the bewitching light of the beam of light from the sky above, leaving a perfect pink arc in the air.

[Whirling Slash]!
With extremely precise and ingenious manipulation of gravity, Xia Nan sucked all seven crystal beings who were attacking him into the air.

It's like seven clumsy geese being lifted by their heads, their necks stretched out, but they can only helplessly flap their wings.

The crystalline particles on the surface of his neck had already been shattered and scraped off. Now, facing the even more powerful spinning slash amplified by the [Spinning Slash], the outcome... was naturally no surprise.

laugh--

Blood mixed with pink crystals gushed out in unison, like a timed fountain in a hotel garden.

Five heads, severed at the neck, were neatly lifted up by the "spring water" and swirled upwards. Beside them flew half a head with a clean cut, its blood mingled with some thick white liquid.

Seven crystallizers, six of them were killed with a single sword strike.

Only the last one remained. Because it was the furthest from Xia Nan, it leaned back slightly before swinging its sword, thus luckily dodging the fatal blow.

The gravitational pull disappeared, and both feet touched the ground.

His knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground.

Warm, foul-smelling blood from his comrade splattered on him.

For a moment, even though her mind was already extremely blurred under the allure of the gemstone.

The man, dressed in a respectable robe, who may have been the offspring of a merchant in Giethoorn, also seemed to be stunned by the scene before him.

For a moment, he sat there stunned and motionless.

Xia Nan seized the opportunity, stepped forward, and with boldness and care, lightly touched the surface of the pink gemstone on her chest with her fingertip.

The silver ring on my right hand vibrated, but there was no mechanical notification sound from the [Dream Corridor] indicating that it was charging.

Knowing that the other party might be too deeply corroded by the gemstone, its state was similar to the light barrier enveloping the town, making it difficult to absorb.

With a flick of his wrist, the straight sword once again slashed across his face.

The pair of ferocious hands that had been trying to grab Xia Nan as he approached froze in mid-air.

Against the backdrop of blood gushing from the severed neck and the spinning head flying off.

At this point, all seven Crystallizers who had pursued him were beheaded and killed.

My attention was briefly distracted by the semi-transparent characters that flashed before my eyes, but I quickly refocused.

……

"Ding!"

"Proficiency +2"

"【Gravity Control】lv1: (27/100)"

……

I only glanced at it and didn't look at it for long.

Having dealt with his own enemies, Xia Nan barely had time to catch his breath before grabbing his straight sword and heading to support the two members of the Blackwood Squad.

There are a total of 27 crystallizers.

Using [Gravity Control] in combination with [Whirlwind Slash] and [Fang Hunt], he killed seven of them in one go.

Of the remaining 20, 15 were held firmly by the dwarf Soldin, while the remaining 5 were left to Margaret's disposal.

Although the female swordsman was two levels higher than Xia Nan, she lacked experience in the secret realm and was even inferior to him in terms of physical fitness.

Similarly, while the Swordsman class might make her fighting style similar to Xia Nan's, she lacks both the exaggeratedly high potential of Gravity Control and the core skill that forms the main framework of her fighting style, such as Fang Hunt.

Their overall strength is significantly weaker.

Despite managing to deal with two of the five Crystallizers quite well, he himself sustained minor injuries.

Xia Nan glanced at the other person and saw that he was in pretty good condition and seemed to have found a way to deal with the Crystallizer, so he withdrew his gaze.

Margaret shouldn't need his help.

While the two responsible for clearing the area were fighting, the dwarf Soldin was in dire straits on the other side of the square.

As a level 4 [Shield Warrior], he has almost maximized his potential.

Faced with such a large number of enemies, he single-handedly withstood the siege of most of them.

But having held on until now, no matter how strong one's physique is, one is already nearing the limit.

His legs, firmly planted on the ground like tree roots, trembled slightly; his cheeks were flushed, and sweat covered his face, completely soaking the shirt beneath his armor; his jaw was clenched, but his lips had lost all color, and his round eyes were bloodshot.

Along with the light shield that extended outward from the round shield in his hand, it also became mottled and swayed, as if it would be breached by the crystallized figure in front of him at any moment.

Trusting his teammates implicitly, this stocky and straightforward dwarf, after taunting the enemy at the start of the battle, paid no attention to Shana and Margaret's movements.

Leave your back to your teammates and focus entirely on defending against attacks to relieve pressure on the field and buy as much time as possible.

As it turned out, his belief was worthwhile.

Just as the light shield in Soldin's hand flickered as if a broken finger had been severed and was about to go out, a wolf howl suddenly exploded in his ears.

Xia Nan, who had come from the other side of the square, drove the black wolf phantom with an extremely fierce posture and charged into the group of fifteen crystal figures.

Different situations on the field require different strategies.

His teammates are currently exhausted, and he needs to buy them a brief opportunity to escape the battlefield and recover.

No longer dodging and weaving as they had before, searching for a breakthrough.

Instead, they make the most of their speed and explosive power to create chaos among the enemy.

While its effectiveness in inflicting damage may be much lower than before, it has given Soldin ample breathing room.

"Huh...huh..."

The dwarf was so exhausted he could barely speak. Seeing his teammates finally come to his aid, he instinctively took a few steps back, pulled out a bottle of potion to restore his strength from his pouch, and gulped it down while glancing in the direction Xia Nan had come from.

Then he saw the seven headless, crystalline corpses.

"Fake!"

"Moradin's beard! (Dwarven slang) It's fucking awesome!"

The dwarf, panting heavily, unconsciously uttered an encouraging sigh.

Feeling his strength rapidly returning due to the potion, he didn't even rest for a second longer before banging his shield on the crystal people who were in chaos because of Xia Nan's intrusion.
"Hey! You bastards! Look at me!"

……

The battle ended much faster than expected.

The crystallized people infected by the pastel gems initially found them very troublesome due to their extremely strong physical defense capabilities.

But as they gradually became familiar with each other and learned their weaknesses, the battle became much easier for Xia Nan and the two experienced veterans.

It may be difficult to break through the defense with a single blow, but as long as you attack the same part of the opponent's body repeatedly, you can wear away the crystalline particles on the surface of the skin, and the internal body structure will be just ordinary. The vital points will also be there, and a single sword strike can completely render the opponent unable to fight.

The entire battle involved a total of twenty-seven Crystallizers.

When the last head covered in pink crystalline particles was chopped off by Xia Nan in the square.

The battle had only lasted less than ten minutes since it began.

(End of this chapter)