Adding a "Flavor" to Revenge
The Bluegill Warrior spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, leaping backward vigorously, pushing the sword blade out of its chest.
Victoria's eyes were blood-red, her stunningly beautiful face filled with anger and murderous intent. "You damned beast. Did you think you could escape?"
With John's assistance, Victoria had reached level 9.
She had maximized her strength attribute points, aiming to inflict additional pain on the Bluegill Warrior.
The warrior's face twisted. After regaining its composure, it looked down at the wound in its chest, which had pierced its lung.
It could no longer control the situation. The only option left was to take this female swordsman hostage, to momentarily push back the alchemist, hoping to buy some time.
If it could just hold out until the [Sharkmen] were revived, there might be a sliver of hope.
The Bluegill Warrior did not flee. Instead, it revealed a sinister smile and spoke, "Your mother... her flesh was loose, very, very unpalatable.
The murloc's eerie and sharp voice pierced Victoria's heart like a knife.
Victoria's suppressed rage ignited instantly, and she charged at the Bluegill Warrior once again.
The level difference between them was minimal. Awakeners possessed more skills, while monsters boasted stronger bodies and innate combat instincts.
Despite its injury, the Bluegill Warrior's attacks remained fierce.
It dodged Victoria's subsequent [Pierce] attack, its claws swooping towards Victoria's head with a whoosh.
[Parry]!
Victoria activated her newly mastered skill, blocking the Bluegill Warrior's swift strike.
The moment the [Parry] was successful, Victoria's dueling sword twisted like a silver serpent, striking the Bluegill Warrior once again.
Although [Parry] is a basic skill for swordsmen, it has a powerful effect.
The skill enables a complete block of a physical attack within 0.1 seconds, and a successful block allows for an attack that is guaranteed to break the enemy's defense and hit.
However, perfectly blocking within one-tenth of a second requires precise timing of the enemy's attack, which is quite challenging.
The proficiency of an awakener swordsman's [Parry] skill can even be used to gauge their prowess.
The Bluegill Warrior, enduring its pain, took a few steps back.
It had underestimated the human female's strong will to fight.
It had killed her mother and thought its taunts would cause Victoria to lose her composure in anger.
It realized too late that it might have underestimated humans.
The Bluegill Warrior had no choice but to make a desperate move, charging forward to try and grab Victoria's weapon, hoping to gain control over her.
But Victoria saw through the Bluegill Warrior's plan, transforming her thrust into a sweep, slicing off its right hand.
Sensing danger, the Bluegill Warrior turned to flee but ran straight into a cloud of poison fog.
Its heart skipped a beat as it saw John blocking the way back.
Seeing this, Victoria grew anxious. "John, don't kill it with poison. I want to personally take its life to avenge my mother!"
John was well aware of her desire for personal vengeance. So he used a potion mixed with the bristles of a Direwolf Spider.
"I didn't use lethal poison, just added a little 'flavor' to your revenge." John said with a smile, putting away the remaining potion and silently waiting for the show to begin.
The next second, the Bluegill Warrior felt as if countless tiny prickles had burrowed into its gills.
Then, an indescribable sensation of pain and itchiness spread rapidly throughout its eyes, nose, and mouth, engulfing its entire body!
The Bluegill Warrior's agonized howls filled the air, as it nearly lost all senses, with the only signal its brain could process being intense pain throughout its body.
It began to roll on the ground, scratching so fiercely that scales fell off its body. "Fuck you! You despicable, damned humans! You're all cattle! Cattle awaiting slaughter—"
Seeing this, Victoria didn't rush to act but instead put down her dueling sword, watching coldly from the sidelines.
She was more than willing to witness the Bluegill Warrior die a prolonged, painful death.
"Why are you standing there? Take this chance to stab it a few more times. Don't worry about killing it. I'll heal it if it's about to die. Keep hacking at it until you're satisfied." John urged.
Hearing John's words, the Bluegill Warrior's despair turned to utter collapse.
What do you mean 'heal me if I'm about to die' ? Is that even human language?
Were those precious healing potions meant for torture and venting anger?
The Bluegill Warrior roared in anger, "You damned bastard! You'll definitely go to hell when you die! Fuck!"
Persuaded by John, Victoria swung her dueling sword, each strike avoiding vital spots, continuously stabbing into the Bluegill Warrior's body, occasionally twisting the hilt to stir the wounds.
The Bluegill Warrior's pained wails echoed throughout the hall.
Just then, the ground began to tremble.
Seemingly sensing something, the Bluegill Warrior, despite the pain, started laughing maniacally, "Hahaha, you're done for! You're all done for!"
A loud "boom" followed.
John looked towards the source of the noise, only to see a pile of rubble collapsing.
A roughly six-meter-tall creature, with deep blue, matte-textured skin and a shark-like head, slowly rose from the ruins.
[Level 13: Sharkman]
John frowned slightly, having thought such a commotion would signal the appearance of the dungeon's boss.
This Sharkman was indeed powerful, but the absence of any related marker on the system panel meant it was not the dungeon's boss.
It was strange. For a Grade B dungeon, anything above level 10 was supposed to be the boss.
Victoria also frowned, realizing they couldn't waste more time on the Bluegill Warrior. She activated her [Pierce] skill and ended it with a single thrust to the throat, personally avenging her mother.
[After defeating the Bluegill Warrior, you've gained 800 experience points.]
Victoria also reached level 10, hitting the experience cap.
The Sharkman picked up a boulder and hurled it towards their position.
John and Victoria dodged, and the massive stone landed with a crash, flattening the corpse of the Bluegill Warrior.
"Be careful! This creature is not the boss! It might be lurking, ready to attack us at any moment!" John cautioned Victoria, as he pulled out a poisoned dagger, planning to end the battle swiftly.
Victoria acknowledged, and they both charged towards the Sharkman.
They covered the tens of meters in just four seconds, rapidly closing in on the Sharkman.
The Sharkman swung its hefty arm towards John, attempting to squash this tiny pest in one hit.
But its speed was no match for John, who easily dodged and leaped onto the Sharkman's arm, heading straight for its head.
The Sharkman opened its maw wide, trying to bite John.
With quick reflexes, John threw the poison into its open mouth.
The razor-sharp teeth snapped shut on nothing, but the poison was swallowed.
John's dagger then aimed for the Sharkman's eye.
Just as the poisoned dagger was about to pierce the Sharkman's eye, it rapidly shut its eyelid.
To John's surprise, his dagger sparked against the Sharkman's eyelid.
The creature's skin was as rough as sandpaper, covered in a thick layer of keratin that even the dagger couldn't penetrate.
The Sharkman shook its head violently, trying to fling John away.
Fortunately, John pushed off with his feet, avoiding a direct hit. But the sheer force still sent him flying over ten meters.
John rolled upon landing to dissipate the force.
Victoria also activated her [Pierce] skill, but her dueling sword sparked against the Sharkman's skin, failing to break through its defenses.
The Sharkman kicked at her, but Victoria used her [Parry] skill to block the attack.
The follow-up effect of [Parry] was triggered.
Her sword flipped and pierced through the Sharkman's skin.
Blood coated Victoria's blade, but the Sharkman's skin seemed hardly affected, not even bleeding further...
It appeared the creature had the ability to rapidly heal its wounds!