Chapter 473 Bitter Battle

"Careful!!!"

For a moment, time and space seemed to grind to a halt.

An intense sense of crisis suddenly surged within him, forcing his focus to an absolute peak as his keen Perception was pushed to its limits.

As Lorraine's loud shout from the front of the formation reached his ears, he could even hear the powerful, surging heartbeat of the Barbarian Aken, as well as the raspy, instinctual hiss Sasha let out beside him, like a feline sensing danger.

His right hand gripped the [Ember Fall] straight sword tightly. The muscles in his forearm bulged with power, stretching his dark undershirt taut. He lifted his right foot, preparing to step forward and complete the ground-based charging motion for [Fang Hunt].

The reaction speed granted by his 11 points in Agility made the flow of time feel sluggish in that split second.

Because of this, when he noticed the disturbance in the pool and instantly locked his gaze on the Shark Beast, he managed to capture its every movement within that fraction of a second.

In truth, the Shark Beast hadn't moved its body at all.

That massive frame, packed with exaggerated, steel-like muscles, merely stood there in silence. Droplets of water trickled down its rough skin. Its pair of cold, abyss-like, pitch-black fish eyes—completely devoid of whites—stared fixedly at the group.

The one actually moving was the human male fused into its body.

The originally drooping head suddenly snapped up, revealing a pale face utterly drained of blood.

Two unfocused, corpse-like, hollow eyes took in the six people standing across the field.

Through Xia Nan's highly concentrated vision—which seemed to slow the world to half speed—he could even see the outline of the muscles shifting beneath the skin of the man's cheeks, dragging the jawbone downward.

The dead, white lips, slightly stuck together from being closed for so long, were forcefully wrenched open, exposing the necrotic flesh inside the mouth.

Hum—

The air around the man's mouth instantly distorted.

There was no time to react.

The next second, just as Xia Nan's foot struck the ground to unleash [Fang Hunt] and a pitch-black aura surfaced around him, the piercing noise emitted by the man across from them tore through the air and swept over their bodies.

"Vooom..."

Though formless and intangible, the sonic wave carried a tangible, oppressive force as it brushed across their skin.

Much like the motion sickness of his past life, Xia Nan felt an inexplicable wave of dizziness and nausea erupt in his chest. A chaotic swarm of malicious thoughts directed at his teammates flooded his mind. The emotions he had rationally suppressed for combat were quietly stirred up, distilling their bloodthirsty, malevolent aspects to seize control of his body.

The passive feat [Gaze into the Abyss], acquired from the Evil God Secret Realm, instantly activated—when resisting mental control spells like charm, fear, and hypnosis, your Saving Throw receives a bonus (influenced by the Perception attribute).

Although his outstanding Perception of 12 made him more sensitive to mental attacks, it also massively amplified the effects of [Gaze into the Abyss].

In a flash of thought, the chaotic impulses were entirely suppressed just as they surfaced, leaving his mind perfectly clear.

Then, the second effect of [Gaze into the Abyss] triggered accordingly—after successfully resisting a mental control effect, the spellcaster is forced to make a Saving Throw; upon failure, they fall into a [Brief Stupor] state and take a certain amount of psychic damage.

Unfortunately, the "spellcaster" targeted by the feat's backlash wasn't the Shark Beast itself, but the corpse-like human body fused to it.

Never mind whether it passed the Saving Throw; there was absolutely no feedback, as if a stone had sunk into the ocean.

The next second, Xia Nan's right foot landed.

A wolf's howl erupted, and a pitch-black phantom coalesced around him.

His Perception was already the highest in the entire squad. Coupled with his resistance feat against mental control spells, he became the first to pass the Saving Throw and regain his freedom of movement.

From the moment the sonic wave spread until now, less than two seconds had passed.

The pace of Class Grade combat was unimaginably fast, leaving no room for careful thought. Most of the time, one fought purely on muscle memory, past experience, and occasional flashes of combat inspiration.

Although Xia Nan had passed the mental control check relying on his past accumulations, he needed to know his teammates' conditions before deciding his next move.

Thus, the moment his right foot hit the ground, he abruptly twisted his ankle, shifting his center of gravity with the exceptional bodily control honed through countless days and nights of training.

While surging forward wrapped in pitch-black astral winds, he instantly spun three hundred and sixty degrees, his gaze rapidly sweeping over the group behind him.

His heart invariably sank.

The situation was worse than he had imagined.

After all, not everyone could be like him, possessing a double-digit Perception attribute and a resistance feat at merely Level 3. For the vast majority of adventurers, mental attacks were undoubtedly the hardest to deal with.

Right now, facing the enemy's screeching attack, he was actually the only one capable of resisting and passing the check in that split second.

As for the rest, even Captain Lorraine, whose class level had already surpassed Level 5, was frowning in a state of struggle.

Aken and Sasha had even more intense reactions, their bodies trembling violently.

On the other side, the massive Shark Beast that had just climbed out of the pool onto the shore had already bent its knees and leaned forward, adopting a charging posture.

'No good!'

Xia Nan's heart suddenly tightened.

Given the unrestrained posture the enemy displayed just now, it had clearly repeated this sequence many times before.

First, use the mental control effect to put enemies into a brief stupor, then seize the opportunity to launch an attack.

If he left it alone, his teammates behind him would likely be instantly smashed to pieces by the impact of this nearly twelve-foot-tall behemoth, just like bowling pins.

'I must buy them time!'

Thinking this, Xia Nan didn't stop his pace. Piloting the swaying-maned Winter Wolf phantom around him, he turned into a streak of profound darkness and shot toward the Shark Beast.

Evidently not expecting someone to break free from the mental control so quickly, a flash of human-like surprise crossed the Shark Beast's dead, pitch-black fish eyes.

But facing the Winter Wolf lunging straight at it, the beast showed no sign of dodging, maintaining its original charging stance.

Then...

"Boom!"

Its thick, short, steel-cast calves suddenly exploded with power!

Its muscles instantly bulged, concentrating an exaggerated amount of physical strength into a single point of eruption.

Amidst splattering mud, two webbed footprints—one deep, one shallow—were left on the ground.

And the massive figure that was just there had vanished.

Replacing it was the mournful wail of tearing air and the crystalline water droplets smashed to powder by the ravaging gales.

The burly figure, taller than a one-story building, slammed directly toward Xia Nan like a freight train made of flesh and blood.

'Fuck!'

Teeth clenched tight, Xia Nan cursed inwardly.

At this moment, only he—facing the impact head-on—could truly feel that horrifying, near-suffocating sense of oppression.

Even without making direct contact, the fierce astral winds scraping his face raw like blades and the danger alarms blaring incessantly in his mind told him one thing—he absolutely couldn't take this head-on!

At this moment, his bodily control and the proficiency of his [Mastery] level combat technique were fully showcased.

The pitch-black Winter Wolf, sprinting wildly toward its prey, suddenly let out a low howl. Its slender limbs bounded in stride as it abruptly hopped to the side.

This caused Xia Nan, who was about to collide head-on with the Shark Beast, to brush past it instead.

Hum—

An ochre-red energy force field condensed on the surface of the Pitch-Black Snakescale Arm Shield. In the instant he pressed close to the Shark Beast, he violently thrust it forward into the creature's side!

"Boom!"

The force field energy blossomed like a small firework, exploding on the side of the Shark Beast's shoulder.

At this moment, Xia Nan could even clearly see the creature's rough, tough, dark shark-like skin bursting inch by inch beneath the crushing force field energy, the pinkish-white flesh turning inside out amidst splattering blood.

But the very next second, the exaggerated force rebounding from the shield's surface sent his entire body flying.

His feet left the ground, his center of gravity spiraling out of control as he was launched high into the air backward.

Yet before he even reached the apex, the pushback mitigation of [Tidal Stabilization] kicked in. It made Xia Nan, who was flying backward through the air, feel as though he had suddenly been submerged in water, rapidly decelerating.

With a backflip, he landed smoothly.

On the other side, the threat of force field damage from the Level 5 [Gravity Etching] forced the Shark Beast to slow its initial speed to adjust its posture, dodging the Pitch-Black Arm Shield that had aimed for its neck during their brief brush.

This caused the force field energy, which should have detonated on the side of its neck, to merely graze its lower shoulder area.

Although this kind of Shark Beast wore no armor and lacked any hardened carapace, its skin was rough and its flesh thick.

Even if ordinary adventurers were allowed to freely hack at its abrasive shark skin and the steel-hard muscles underneath, they would leave a few white scratch marks at most.

But force field damage was still force field damage. Its inherent, powerful "true damage" attribute completely ignored the Shark Beast's superficial defenses, blowing a bloody hole right into its shoulder.

The intense pain caused the Shark Beast to let out an unstoppable, furious howl.

At the same time, Xia Nan wasn't faring much better.

Even though he had been extraordinarily careful, deliberately choosing to attack with the Arm Shield rather than the [Ember Fall] straight sword during their pass, the formidable force remaining after the shield's mitigation still shocked his entire left arm and half his body numb with aching pain.

Even so, he didn't leave himself a shred of breathing room.

Barely hitting the ground, he channeled [Fang Hunt] and charged toward the Shark Beast once more.

'It's not enough!'

He needed to buy his teammates more time!

Right at that moment, finally, a familiar azure magic flare flashed in the corner of his eye.

As the primary attribute for the Druid class, Hein's Perception was second only to Xia Nan's in the squad.

Now, thanks to his brief stalling, she had finally broken free from the mental control state and was casting a spell from afar in support.

"Zzzt..."

Greenish-blue motes of light streaked through the air at a speed far exceeding normal biological reaction times, landing on the Shark Beast's inevitable path with a degree of anticipation.

A touch of green abruptly surfaced on the barren mud as aquatic weeds and vines grew wildly from within.

— 1st-Circle · Conjuration · Entangle!

Like a pre-set trap, the very instant the Shark Beast's thick, short legs stepped into the area, the weeds and vines acted as if they possessed a sentient awareness, climbing up its ankles and calves like tentacles, tightly wrapping around them.

This caused the Shark Beast, whose speed was already hampered by Xia Nan's attack, to stagger heavily.

The next second, the pitch-black Winter Wolf—having silently flanked into the prey's blind spot—seized the opportunity and lunged once again.

"Hraaargh!"

A warning screech came from the right side of the Shark Beast's torso, issued by the human protruding from its body.

"Roar!!!"

A deep, furious roar erupted from the shark head capable of swallowing an adult human whole.

Its already burly frame swelled violently as the muscles beneath its skin abruptly expanded, snapping the vines and weeds binding it into fragmented debris.

Twisting its waist, it swung a massive fist—large enough to eclipse Xia Nan's entire chest—at the black wolf leaping past it.

The enemy's reaction was remarkably swift; that gigantic frame displayed an exaggerated explosive power far beyond what its size suggested.

Under such a punch, it felt as though even the air itself was shattered, tearing and wailing between its knuckles.

He had planned to use the opening for a sneak attack, never expecting the human body fused to the Shark Beast to actively assist it.

Upon being discovered, Xia Nan originally intended to play along, using the Deflection Field of the [Deathline] ring to block the punch before employing [Gravity Etching] once more to worsen its injuries.

Yet, just as the fist formed and came hurtling toward him, a burst of combat inspiration—a keen read on the enemy's state backed by both talent and experience—prompted him to subconsciously adjust his footing.

Instead of charging forward, he retreated.

"Whoosh-boom!"

In the instant he slammed the brakes on his forward sprint and retreated, the protective force field shield cast by the [Deathline] ring—enveloping his whole body as originally planned—came into intimate contact with the Shark Beast's swinging fist.

Immediately, a sound like a cracking egg rang out in the air.

Unprecedentedly, the Deflection Field—which had provided Xia Nan with countless assists since his transmigration—finally encountered an attack far beyond its breaking point.

Failing to offer even a shred of defense, it popped like a fragile bubble. With a flash of light and a crisp "pop," it was blasted into countless streams of turbulent ochre-red energy dissipating into the surroundings.

The fist, wrapped in astral winds, continued forward in a straight line, extending to its absolute limit.

At its closest, it was only a forearm's length away from Xia Nan, who was rapidly backpedaling on his own mobility.

It was entirely foreseeable that if he hadn't noticed the danger in that split second and had stuck to the original plan... this punch would have landed squarely on his chest.

With no time for lingering fear, Xia Nan's relentless movements had thoroughly drawn the Shark Beast's aggro.

Its first punch barely finishing, the colossal body was already lunging in his direction.

And this earned Xia Nan's mentally controlled teammates a few more precious seconds.

"Crackle."

Sparks erupted.

A blazing inferno, surging with waves of heat, suddenly burst from the other side of the battlefield!