Chapter 422 The End, A Blooming Firework

Majestic power surged as its muscles expanded, compressing the heavy air until it burst with a mournful shriek.

An arm thicker than a man's waist became a blue-gray pile driver, blurring into a phantom as it smashed down.

"Bang!!!"

An explosive boom echoed through the vast cave!

The solid stone floor was pulverized in an instant, blasting countless fine fragments into the air.

It was no exaggeration to say that if ninety percent of the residents in Barracuda Bay took this punch head-on, they would be reduced to minced meat in an instant, exploding into a mist of blood.

Even the adventurers in the Association would be hard-pressed to withstand such a blow unless they specialized in defense or possessed a high enough Class Level.

Xia Nan was no exception.

Defense had always been his weak point. To some extent, this was why his armor scrap rate far exceeded that of other adventurers at his level.

In high-intensity combat that matched his actual fighting strength, the only way he could compensate for this shortcoming was by relying on more expensive and sturdier armor to increase his margin of error.

With his extensive combat experience, he naturally wouldn't pit his own weakness against an enemy's strength.

The two highest attributes among his six core stats were put on full display at this moment.

His 12 points of Perception allowed Xia Nan to sense the suddenly condensed killing intent even before the Shark Beast swung its fist. By reading the subtle shifts in its waist, abdomen, and the muscles and bones of its arms, he made an accurate prediction.

His 11 points of Agility further enabled him to drive his body with extreme reaction speed the moment he sensed it, exerting force to dodge.

The combined result was that the Shark Beast's punch—which looked overwhelmingly heavy, and indeed was—only smashed into the empty ground.

And closely following it was a dark-gray wolf fang stabbing out from the flank.

"Rip."

Forged primarily from exotic silver ingots and combined with high-quality auxiliary materials, this enchanted straight sword had cost a four-figure sum of gold coins to craft. Even without activating the Ember state, its inherent sharpness, driven by sheer force, was enough for the tip to pierce that thick, tough skin with relative ease.

Blood seeped out. The scarlet droplets seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, flying from the wound and orbiting the blade like miniature satellites.

Hum—

A flash of sword light swept past.

The pitch-black figure vanished from its spot amid a wolf's howl.

It left only a long, thin gash on the Shark Beast's right arm, stretching from wrist to shoulder.

For the monster before him, whose physical constitution was frankly absurd, this could hardly be called an injury.

By simply controlling its muscles to wriggle and compress, it stopped the bleeding in a breath. It wouldn't even take a few minutes for the wound to heal and scab over.

But what if there were five, or even ten, more wounds of this degree?

No matter how resilient its body was, or how extraordinary its regenerative abilities were, it had not ultimately reached the "Transcendent Tier".

When wound after wound stacked up, the quantitative change would eventually trigger a qualitative one, forming a severe injury significant enough to affect its actual combat ability.

From a distance, in the center of the dimly lit, spacious cave, the Shark Beast stood roaring in place. Covered in small cuts and bleeding incessantly, it looked like prey on the verge of exhaustion, making its final, stubborn stand.

Meanwhile, the true hunter—that pitch-black Winter Wolf with its swaying mane—paced lightly in the nearby shadows, searching for an opportunity to snap its prey's neck with its fangs.

He had saved the remaining three uses of Gravity Etching.

Xia Nan had a crystal-clear understanding of the situation on the field.

Although the Shark Beast appeared covered in blood, it all amounted to nothing more than light injuries; the damage hadn't stacked high enough yet.

He still needed to remain vigilant.

Otherwise, a single strike from that fist—which rivaled a battering ram—would instantly reverse the tide of battle.

His tactical choice was undeniably correct.

Against such a lumbering yet powerful enemy, utilizing his advantage in mobility and dexterity to kite and wear it down was arguably the wisest strategy.

On the other hand, Xia Nan also knew that if things continued like this, the fight would drag on significantly.

He genuinely had some concerns about that.

His dark eyes darted slightly, sweeping over the quiet pool of water behind the Shark Beast.

This wasn't a dungeon boss from the games of his past life that would fight to the bitter end once engaged.

Sensing its stamina constantly draining while being unable to do anything to Xia Nan, the enemy before him could absolutely just run away.

The pool was right next to it, and considering the terrain of a coastal sea cave, the depths most likely connected to the open ocean outside.

If it just bolted when the time came, what would he do?

Give chase?

How?

Plunging blindly into the water would be pure suicide.

Against this shark-type monster, his greatest advantage in mobility would be rendered entirely useless underwater.

The creature wouldn't even need complex tactics. Just as Xia Nan was kiting the Shark Beast now, it could just drag him down and keep him from surfacing until he passed out from lack of oxygen.

Under these circumstances, if the monster wanted to flee, he truly had no way to stop it.

And given Xia Nan's personality, if he really let an enemy that had shown clear hostility and even engaged him in a death match escape...

He definitely wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

Weeds must be pulled up by the roots!

And that was exactly why he had deliberately saved his uses of [Gravity Etching].

Xia Nan was searching for a critical opening to break the stalemate amidst this seemingly steady war of attrition.

The moment he found a truly fatal weak point on its body... he wouldn't hesitate.

Thrum—

The lute's melody continued.

In reality, the halfling Alton and Xia Nan hadn't fought alongside each other many times.

After the Kalanfor incident, Alton had been absent entirely from Xia Nan's journey of learning [Fang Hunt] and [Gravity Control], obtaining a Class Level, and reaching his current Level 3.

Over a year had passed, and both his combat style and sheer fighting power had undergone an earth-shattering transformation.

Yet, surprisingly, based on their shared reading of the battlefield and their rapid understanding of each other's combat methods, the two displayed an extraordinary synergy at this moment without needing a single word of communication.

The lute music echoing off the rock walls constantly shifted, gradually transitioning from its initial fiery tempo into a brisker, more agile rhythm.

It smoothed out the burning fighting intent in Xia Nan's heart while sharpening his mind, allowing him to maneuver with [Fang Hunt] just a bit more nimbly.

This was a quick-witted adjustment Alton made to his lute's buffing effects after realizing Xia Nan didn't plan on attacking head-on, but was instead kiting from the perimeter.

The melodious, brisk music was the perfect combat background track for Xia Nan, but to the monster's ears, it was an irritating cacophony that only aggravated its inner turmoil.

A pair of dull fish eyes snapped toward the halfling, and with a frenzied roar, it charged straight for Alton's position.

A wolf's howl rang out at almost the exact same time.

Keeping a close eye on the monster's movements, how could Xia Nan miss this opportunity?

Ocher-red energy gathered over the Gray-Black Straight Sword. Moving later but arriving first, he aimed to deal massive damage while intercepting the beast's attempt to dive their backline.

In the next second, the [Ember Fall] straight sword cleaved downward in a flawless arc.

"Vooom-boom!"

The force field energy violently detonated. Empowered by [Spinning Slash], it formed an ocher-red arc of sword light that slashed straight into the back of the Shark Beast's heart.

Its rough, blue-gray skin was instantly torn open, exposing the solid muscles beneath.

Caught mid-charge, the Shark Beast had no room to dodge and took the blade squarely across its back.

In that instant, the combined buffs of [Spinning Slash], [Gravity Etching], and [Heavy Tide] erupted simultaneously, stacked on top of the "+5% Cleaving Damage" and "+10% Mental Damage" naturally enchanted on the [Ember Fall] straight sword.

A third of the monster's shark-like dorsal fin was sheared off on the spot, tearing a massive, hideous gash deep into the bone along its spine.

It was undoubtedly a severe wound!

Yet the intense agony of such a wound, coupled with the weakness of rapidly draining vitality, only further incited the beast's ferocity.

Its fish eyes turned bloodshot, radiating the savage, vicious aura unique to wild beasts.

It let out an explosive roar, its body abruptly swelling a full size larger, sending Xia Nan—who was preparing to press the attack from behind—flying backward.

Simultaneously, its speed spiked once more as it stampeded madly toward the little guy.

Alton's reaction was nothing short of lightning-fast.

Aside from being a favored chosen of the Goddess, he was also a [Bard], a class renowned for its versatility.

His fingertips pushed hard, aggressively plucking the strings.

Twang—

As the lute strings vibrated, his pair of small leather boots seemed wrapped in a gentle breeze. His short body became like an agile squirrel leaping between branches, and with a swift "whoosh", he slipped away and vanished from his spot.

Unable to bleed off its momentum, the Shark Beast was carried by inertia and slammed headfirst right into the wall.

"Crash!"

The cavern shook, sending a shower of fine stone dust drifting down from above.

At this moment, Xia Nan's feet had barely touched the ground after being blasted back, and the fading notes of the lute from Alton—who had just narrowly dodged to the side—had yet to fully dissipate.

Nick, who was the closest, seized the opportunity.

This middle-aged man, who had lost two teammates in rapid succession, had shed his identity as the captain of the "Silver Claw Osprey" squad in this moment. He joined the fray purely as an adventurer.

He wasn't thinking about revenge, nor was he considering his path forward.

Driven by instinct honed over years of adventuring, he didn't hesitate after being sent flying by the monster earlier. He immediately chugged an entire Healing Potion he kept stored in his waist pouch.

Right now, his combat strength had recovered to eighty percent.

And he sharply caught the opening created when the monster fell into a state of stiffness from the heavy impact.

Stepping forward quickly, he swung his pair of short swords in a cross. They formed an "X"-shaped flash of sword light that shrieked as it landed on the monster, leaving a mangled, crossed gash on its abdomen.

A wolf's howl echoed from a distance.

Xia Nan had just landed, but he was already charging toward the Shark Beast, wreathed in the phantom of a black wolf.

However, after taking barely two steps, the suddenly dense moisture in the air and an extreme sense of danger exploding from his heart forced him to halt on instinct.

"Watch out!" he yelled a subconscious warning toward Nick up ahead.

But just as Xia Nan's voice traveled through the air and reached Nick's ears...

...a majestic torrent of water, akin to a bursting flood, suddenly erupted from the dust.

Standing at point-blank range, Nick had absolutely no time to dodge and was blasted head-on.

The immense impact felt as if it had knocked his very soul out of his body. His brain spun dizzily as his legs left the ground, on the verge of being sent flying by the current.

"Squelch."

The blue-gray skin seemed to blend perfectly with the rushing water as five pitch-black claws suddenly thrust out, gripping Nick's head solidly.

The five fingers squeezed shut with crushing force.

Pop—

Red and white viscera splattered outward as the fragile human skull burst open like a watermelon.

The corpse convulsed and twitched before rolling to the ground.

With that, the "Silver Claw Osprey" squad was completely wiped out.

"Tch." Xia Nan pursed his lips, his pitch-black eyes staring coldly at the Shark Beast ahead.

Streams of crystal-clear water were still dribbling from the edges of its hideous, shark-like maw.

The powerful water cannon from just a moment ago had been blasted right out of it.

Clearly, this beast had also been holding back a trump card.

And visibly to the naked eye, its body had swelled yet another size larger, reaching an upright height of nearly three meters.

The crystalline liquid flowing from its mouth seemed to harbor some special power, nourishing its thick, rough shark skin.

It caused the numerous thin cuts left by Xia Nan across its body to heal rapidly. Even the final strike delivered by Nick before his death, along with the deep wounds Xia Nan had carved into its back and shoulder with full force, gradually stopped bleeding. As the muscles writhed, they showed faint signs of recovery.

"Xia Nan!" came the halfling Alton's shout in his ear.

They couldn't drag this out any longer.

They had to seize this chance, before the monster's wounds fully healed, to end this battle once and for all!

Howl—

Thrum—

The wolf's howl and the lute's strum rang out at almost exactly the same time.

The sharp straight sword turned into a wolf's fang, stabbing diagonally at the Shark Beast's neck. But it was blocked by the monster's left arm. The razor-sharp blade pierced straight through the defending skin, flesh, and bone; with only a slight bit of resistance, it skewered the monster's forearm completely.

But at the same time, this caused the [Ember Fall] straight sword to become wedged deep inside the meat and bone of the Shark Beast's arm.

"Not good!" Feeling a sudden sense of dread, Xia Nan decisively let go, leaving the straight sword lodged in his opponent's forearm. He kicked hard off the ground, aiming to use [Fang Hunt] to distance himself.

But at that very moment, a biting gale was already surging in from his other side.

At the cost of temporarily sacrificing one arm, the Shark Beast had bought itself the opportunity to throw a punch at Xia Nan.

"Bang!"

The blue-gray iron fist, carrying enough force to crush metal and wrapped in a mournful gale, smashed into the side of Xia Nan's chest.

The [Purgatory Pulse] armor, which had already sustained damage in the previous fight against the crystallized Cleric but had held on until now, was completely scrapped, crumpling into twisted, caved-in steel.

But it was still the pride and joy forged primarily from hellish metal by Barn of the "Rockhammer". In the final second before its total destruction, it ultimately helped Xia Nan absorb the vast majority of the punch's damage.

Crack—

Muscles shuddered and organs squeezed as the sheer force that pierced through the armor pressed down on his ribs, threatening to snap them.

"Vooom!"

From the [Tears of Spring Breath] pendant on his chest, the Fourth Circle healing spell, "Spring Pulse Cleansing Heal", manifested as a beam of emerald light brimming with the aura of life, gently swallowing all of Xia Nan's pain and injuries.

Seeing this, the Shark Beast naturally wasn't going to just stand there.

It had just tried to lift its two thick, stubby legs when a pair of sharp curved blades dropped from above, piercing its feet like nails and pinning the monster to the ground.

Without anyone noticing when, Alton had seized the opportunity to slip right up close.

The agony and the sense of restriction from its feet caused the monster's forward momentum to stiffen for a split second.

"Now!"

[Tidal Stabilization] took effect silently. Xia Nan, who should have been knocked flying, fell straight down in place like a feather in water.

Pulled by gravity, the [Azure Pine] wooden sword on his back unsheathed itself, the hilt falling perfectly into his raised hand.

Force field energy resembling flowing runes condensed across the surface of the blade.

Xia Nan took a fierce step forward, thrusting the sword tip upward.

With incomparable precision and ferocious speed, he drove the blade straight into the Shark Beast's fish eye.

Plunging right into its brain core.

Then, [Gravity Etching] detonated.

The ocher-red force field energy erupted violently from the sword's surface.

Like a firework blooming inside the Shark Beast's head.

Amid the roar of energy, a viscous blend of red and white, accompanied by shattering fragments of skull, showered all over Xia Nan.