Chapter 476 Siege, Mutation, and Severe Damage

Forcibly integrating into a completely unfamiliar team during such a high-intensity battle was undoubtedly a foolish and dangerous act.

Even if you knew your strength surpassed any single member's, rashly joining the fray would only shatter the tacit understanding they had forged over years of teamwork. It would result in a "1+1 is less than 2" effect, worsening an already grueling battlefield situation.

Xia Nan lacked extensive team experience, but he understood this perfectly.

Therefore, during this encounter against the deformed Shark Beast, his movements were far more restrained and conservative than in his usual battles. Aside from initially buying time for his mind-controlled teammates and occasionally supporting those in need, he held back.

More often than not, he simply circled the periphery of the battlefield to observe.

He observed the monster's weaknesses and combat habits, searching for a breakthrough. He also studied the Blade of Vengeance Squad's fighting style, trying to find the perfect entry point to join without disrupting their overall rhythm.

His sharp Perception, combined with his innate combat talent and the experience he had accumulated since transmigrating, allowed Xia Nan to grasp the group's strategy in just a few exchanges.

—Their absolute core was the Spellcaster Hein.

This druid from the Coral Society might not possess highly destructive, high-tier skills, but she had memorized control spells suitable for all kinds of terrain.

This was the core of the Blade of Vengeance Squad's strategy against powerful enemies.

They used the distant Spellcaster to control the enemy with magic, creating opportunities for the three teammates who possessed considerable attack power to unleash their damage.

The muddy ground that had suddenly softened beneath the Shark Beast's feet, throwing it off balance, and the vines sprouting from the earth to entangle and slow it, were prime examples of this tactic.

The battle was fierce, leaving absolutely no time for lengthy communication.

If the fighters truly needed to coordinate, they could only exchange a few short phrases while catching their breath between clashes.

To some extent, Xia Nan and Lorraine's group hadn't communicated at all since the battle truly began.

But this didn't stop him from deducing their intentions by observing their movements.

Standing a short distance away, Xia Nan's field of vision covered the entire battlefield.

Thus, as Captain Lorraine brandished her flame-wreathed blue-tier scimitar, he clearly saw the tabaxi, Sasha, deliberately slipping into the Shark Beast's blind spot. He also noticed the Barbarian, Aken, half a beat slower. Having climbed back to his feet from a fall, Aken gripped his greataxe, exhaling and gathering strength for a final killing blow.

His accumulated understanding of the Blade of Vengeance Squad's combat style allowed him to make an immediate judgment.

Lorraine and Sasha were likely acting as cover, setting things up so Aken could deal crippling damage.

He silently approved of their battle strategy, and naturally wouldn't rashly intervene to disrupt their formation.

He knew what his teammates wanted to do and exactly how they planned to do it.

Understanding his own role perfectly, he positioned himself at the very back.

This way, he wouldn't interfere with Lorraine's plan, yet if the situation mutated and the plan went awry, he would be there as an additional, unexpected variable.

Indeed, reality played out exactly as Xia Nan predicted.

This ferocious Shark Beast of unknown origin was not only incredibly strong, but also possessed considerable intelligence.

After its attention was successively drawn by Lorraine and Sasha, it still managed to formulate a countermeasure against the Barbarian Aken's leaping strike. Spewing a high-pressure stream of water from its mouth to propel itself, it achieved a brief backward displacement.

While dodging the axe strike that should have dealt heavy damage, the beast simultaneously brought the Barbarian—who was locked in a stiff recovery posture after his attack missed—right into its own attack range.

Xia Nan couldn't possibly let a teammate fall right in front of him. He knew his opportunity to strike had finally arrived.

In an instant, he executed [Fang Hunt], closing the distance rapidly amid the howl of a wolf.

He didn't know if their two previous mid-air landing coordinations had built some tacit understanding between him and Hein, or if the distant Spellcaster was simply keeping a close eye on the battlefield.

The moment Xia Nan took a single step forward, a pink magical glow flashed in the corner of his eye. It bypassed him completely and landed squarely on the human torso sprouting from the side of the Shark Beast's body up ahead.

[Hold Person] was a targeted control spell adaptable to many classes, requiring only the Second Circle to cast. It was the kind of spell almost every traveling Spellcaster would learn and memorize.

It required a Perception check; a pass meant immunity, but if the save failed, the target would fall into a paralyzed state for a period of time, losing the ability to move independently.

Clearly, based on how the pale human torso froze rigidly after being struck by the magical flare and enveloped in pink light—as if time itself had stopped—it had failed the check.

Naturally, it couldn't unleash a sonic attack to force Xia Nan back, nor could it cry out to warn the main Shark Beast body.

It could only watch helplessly as the pitch-black straight sword, wreathed in a condensed ochre-red glow, descended straight toward its forehead.

Xia Nan would never pass up such a perfect opportunity to strike.

His sharp Perception and innate combat talent allowed him to keenly sense exactly when to go all out and when to cautiously probe while leaving room to retreat.

Right now was obviously the former.

He swung only a single sword strike.

But this single strike contained almost all the damage he could possibly unleash in an instant.

A [Spinning Slash] stacked with the momentum of [Fang Hunt], [Gravity Etching] elevated to Mastery, the recently leveled-up Level 2 [Heavy Tide], and the "15% beheading damage," "5% slashing damage," and "10% mental damage" bonuses inherent to the [Ember Fall] straight sword itself...

When such a howling strike fell upon the human head, Xia Nan couldn't even catch the change in expression on that pale face beneath the pink glow.

In the very next moment, the round head was crushed and pulverized by the erupting ochre-red force field energy. It turned into a mangled mess of shattered skull, blood, and white brain matter, before popping like a water balloon with a sickening squelch.

Target eliminated!

Xia Nan didn't linger. He immediately withdrew his sword and used [Fang Hunt] to retreat.

Along the way, he grabbed the nearby Barbarian, pulling him away from his original spot as well.

"Roar!!!"

The agonized, furious roar exploded like a sonic boom, sending ripples across the surface of a nearby pool of water.

Covered in blood, the massive, four-meter-tall body stood in place like a small mountain.

The Shark Beast roared wildly. Although the two human legs that had sprouted from its body still hung limply, the side of its chest where the human head used to be was now nothing but a gruesome, crimson hole.

Xia Nan could see that there was no sorrow or grief in the Shark Beast's dark, lusterless fish eyes.

They were filled only with a fury and malice so intense it almost formed tangible flames.

The good news was that they no longer had to worry about its ranged attacks or it using that mind-control spell again.

The bad news was that the vicious beast before them had entered a state of true berserk rage under the adventurers' heavy blows.

Unexpectedly, however, just like when the Shark Beast had improvised and mimicked Lorraine's combat technique to reposition itself using water earlier...

Even at this moment, it seemed to retain a relatively clear capacity for thought.

Boom—

Its thick, short calves suddenly flexed. Driven by its massive tonnage and absurd explosive power, it kicked up a spray of mud and stomped a sunken crater into the ground.

The enormous body erupted with a speed completely unsuited to its size, vanishing from the spot in the blink of an eye.

Tearing through the howling air, the highly oppressive figure didn't target Xia Nan, Lorraine, or the others nearby. Instead, it locked onto the druid, Hein, on the distant outskirts of the battlefield!

The seemingly reckless monster appeared to have pinpointed the key factor repeatedly forcing it into a disadvantageous position, vowing to crush the fragile figure waving a staff in the distance.

In response, Hein remained remarkably calm, as if she had been mentally prepared for this all along.

A cyan-green light suddenly emerged, coalescing around her entire body. Her center of gravity shifted downward, and her torso and limbs rapidly reshaped themselves within the brilliance.

Finally, accompanied by the powerful beat of wings and a shower of white feathers mixed with motes of light, a Short-Tailed Albatross soared high into the sky.

"Bang!"

The dripping, burly figure leaped with all its might, stretching its arm out as far as possible. Its hand snapped shut, missing the bird's talons by less than a foot.

However, upon reaching the apex of its jump, it couldn't stop the downward pull of gravity from dragging it back to the earth.

The Shark Beast opened its massive maw, attempting to use its water stream ability to shoot down the Short-Tailed Albatross soaring higher and higher into the sky.

But the bird's erratic, circling flight path made it impossible to hit, leaving the monster standing on the ground, howling in impotent rage.

Refusing to give up, and without waiting for Xia Nan and the others to surround it, the Shark Beast pivoted and turned toward the Halfling, Alton, on the other side of the battlefield.

It could no longer tolerate the bizarre lute music that had been incessantly looping in its ears since the battle began, plunging its mind into ever-growing chaos.

Bending its knees again, it used its tremendous muscular explosive power to launch itself like a torpedo flying across the shore, roaring wildly as it shot in the little guy's direction.

Facing this, Alton—who was typically positioned in the backline—also had a response ready.

The delicate Lute cradled in the Halfling's arms was viciously plucked, his fingers snapping across the strings to produce a piercing screech.

It was as if this dissonant noise contained a special power, causing Alton's bodily speed to skyrocket.

Retreating swiftly, he slung the Lute onto his back. His hands swept past his waist, and in the blink of an eye, he was already holding twin Short Daggers, equally exquisite and small.

As a [bard], playing music to provide buff bonuses for his teammates might be the way to maximize his utility on a normal day.

But when necessary, he also possessed a certain degree of close-combat capability.

Naturally, the rest of the squad couldn't just stand by and watch their teammate be attacked.

After Xia Nan's sword strike, the Shark Beast had clearly suffered grievous injuries. The wound on its side bled profusely, its healing further hindered by the lingering scorching heat from the [Scale-Fire Scimitar].

It was time to settle the fight. The battle-hardened group would never let this opportunity slip away.

"Whoosh..."

From the sky above, the Short-Tailed Albatross that Hein had transformed into flapped its wings. A wind wrapped in cyan-green light surged over the Shark Beast's body, causing countless seaweed vines to sprout from its skin, only to be quickly torn apart.

The anchor-shaped greataxe, suffused with red light, fell amidst the Barbarian's enraged roar. It grazed the Shark Beast's calf, hacking off a chunk of crimson flesh just like chopping wood.

A fluffy long tail swayed through the air as a short sword thrust relentlessly into the gale, leaving bloody hole after bloody hole across the Shark Beast's broad, muscular back.

The scimitar wreathed in orange-red flames, accompanied by the crackle of sparks spitting through the air, slashed violently into the wound on the monster's side. It further aggravated the injury while replenishing the fiery energy keeping the wound from healing.

The short figure brandished his Short Daggers, darting nimbly to the rhythm of his trembling lute music, leaving a series of shallow cuts along the Shark Beast's lower body.

The pitch-black Winter Wolf, which had been quietly watching from the shadows, also increased its frequency of attacks. It circled and pounced, tearing off huge chunks of flesh with every bite.

Six against one.

At this moment, having fully gauged the enemy's strength, the Blade of Vengeance Squad dropped all caution. They entered a state of true, all-out siege and onslaught.

With the human head—which had originally possessed the control abilities needed to clear the field—completely destroyed, even the Shark Beast's absurd physical resilience struggled to cope with the sheer numbers gap.

In just a few breaths, the massive number of wounds covering its body dyed it into a hideous monster drenched in blood.

With the dawn of victory right before their eyes, the group naturally didn't slack off, each accelerating their attacks.

But right then, it seemed to sense its own vitality rapidly draining away under the siege, smelling the approaching scent of death.

The Shark Beast—which had been fighting back desperately, reduced to reactive, defensive strikes against the onslaught from all sides—suddenly halted its movements.

Hum—

The monster's roars echoing across the battlefield came to an abrupt stop.

They were replaced by a chaotic hum of magical particles—one far vaster and more turbulent than anything Hein had cast.

The air suddenly grew humid.

Xia Nan had been taking advantage of the enemy's stiffness to pour as much damage into its flesh as possible, but his Perception, resting at a high 12 points, caused an indescribable sense of danger to burst forth in his mind.

"Careful!" he shouted a sudden warning.

The phantom of the black wolf charging forward slammed on the brakes and violently retreated.

It was too sudden. He only had enough time to snatch the nearby Halfling, Alton, who was about to rush at the Shark Beast, under his arm.

In the next second, he watched as the colossal beast, covered in wounds and bathed in blood, suddenly leaped a foot straight into the air.

And then landed softly.

"Rumble!!!"

The primal power from deep within the beast's bloodline erupted in an instant. Innumerable fine cracks, like little snakes, rapidly spread outward from beneath its feet.

As the entire battlefield shook violently like an earthquake, geysers of uniquely colored seawater from the Twin Oceans spewed out from the fissures in the ground.

The closer one was to the Shark Beast, the fiercer the water pressure became.

The Barbarian, Aken, was standing right beside the Shark Beast when it leaped. Even though he heard Xia Nan's warning from behind him, he had no time to dodge. He took the brunt of the geyser exploding out from beneath his feet.

His feet immediately left the ground. Losing his balance, he was launched into the air.

Bang—

Wrapped in enough force to crush steel, the shark's iron fist punched straight through the water stream and smashed directly into his chest.