Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 307 Combination of Combat Techniques
If the twisted monster in front of us, which looks like a lobster, is in good health with a full body and plenty of energy.

It will become one of the most troublesome opponents Xia Nan has encountered since his transmigration.

He was able to confirm this in just a short period of close contact.

The explosive power when swinging its limbs, the exaggerated force when its pincers clamp down, the robust defensive capabilities of its chitinous carapace...

If Xia Nan were to actually fight his opponent in his prime, he might have a clear advantage in mobility thanks to [Fang Hunt] and [Gravity Control], allowing him to maneuver around the opponent. However, his margin for error would be relatively low, and he would need to precisely find the gaps between the opponent's shells to deliver a fatal blow to its vitals, which would be extremely difficult.

If there are further restrictions in terms of terrain and environment, it will be even more troublesome.

But for now... things are much easier to handle.

The broken tail and lower legs restrict the "Lobster Goblin's" movement and greatly reduce its ability to move, but at the same time, it allows Xia Nan's high mobility to be maximized.
With only one pincer left on its left side, its actual combat ability is reduced by more than half. After all, it is a hard segmental limb encased in a shell and cannot rotate 360 ​​degrees. Losing one pincer means that there will be a lot of blind spots for attack on its right side.

The shell that was peeled off from his back to his chest solved the problem that Xia Nan had difficulty breaking through his defenses without using combat techniques. As long as he targeted the wounds, it would be no exaggeration to say that he would achieve twice the result with half the effort.

In summary, it's possible that this severely injured monster's actual combat strength is less than one-tenth of its former strength, but it would be an overestimation if it retained one-third of its original strength.

Therefore, it is very clear for Xia Nan what choice to make next.

At a time when money is scarce, a live biological resource trophy is delivered right to my doorstep. How could I possibly let it escape?

Remain vigilant and adjust the angle of your back so that you can evacuate from the rear entrance passage at any time.

Xia Nan gripped the silver-white longsword tightly with both hands, and suddenly exerted force with his feet, leaving a shallow footprint on the ground of the nest. At the same time, a high-pitched and long wolf howl suddenly rang out in the air.

With its mane swaying, the giant black wolf twisted and took shape amidst the flowing energy around it, then pounced on the enemy in front of it.

Jia Fuguai is quite intelligent.

Although it has long lost the special abilities of its ancestors from the ancient empires after generations of evolution, its behavior has gradually become more like that of a primitive beast.

But its survival instinct, deep within its genes, still allowed it to keenly sense the danger emanating from the giant, black-furred wolf before it... or rather, from the human adventurer wielding a longsword.

In the past, before it suffered such injuries, if it felt it was outmatched, the Armored Monster might have been able to retreat.

Its shell, harder than rock, can withstand most attacks from ordinary metal weapons, and its amphibious nature allows it to retreat into the depths of mud.

If the enemy dares to pursue, the sticky mud will become a spider web that binds the prey, turning the tables and reversing the situation.

Now, having encountered a series of formidable enemies, suffered severe injuries, and even been forced out of the mire, it naturally has no such option left.

Given the Armored Monster's current movement speed, trying to squeeze back through the narrow passage would only expose its unguarded back to the enemy in front of it, essentially giving up its last chance to fight back, which is undoubtedly the most foolish choice.

Unless the adventurer in front of you leaves voluntarily, only one person can remain alive.

Strangely enough, the armored monster from the Underdark lost its original lair not long ago due to anomalies deep underground. It finally found a decent new place to live near the outskirts of the Underdark, which even has a mud pit leading to the surface, allowing it to feast on several meals by passing creatures.

But unexpectedly, its peaceful life was disrupted not long after it began to enjoy it. A group of adventurers whose strength was clearly above average shattered its peace.

It caused him a minor injury.

Fortunately, there wasn't any specific preparation, so it's probably not aimed at that.

After a brief probing, the armored monster decisively retreated, intending to return to its lair to lay low for a while before going back to the surface.

But for some unknown reason, when it returned to its underground lair, it found that it had been invaded.

The invading enemy was a lone, weak, ordinary human.

The fury of the broken-legged creature erupted at this moment, and it wanted to tear the intruder in front of it to pieces!
As for the outcome... that's already clear.

The seemingly weak human adventurer suddenly erupted with a dark flame that it found extremely repulsive, scorching its carapace. The strange physical abilities it then displayed allowed it to easily dodge its attack and launch a counterattack.

Extremely difficult to deal with.

It wasn't until the very end that the armored monster managed to escape by sacrificing one of its pincers and the carapace on its back and chest.

Following the winding and complex passageways of the dark region upwards, they finally arrived here and encountered the young adventurer with jet-black hair.

"Whoosh!"

The sharp, high-pitched screech of insects echoed incessantly between the rock walls. The armored monster raised its remaining giant pincers high, anticipating the enemy's path, and then slammed them down.

The powerful force almost burst the air, and amidst the explosive roar and flying debris, a huge, cracked depression appeared on the ground.

If there is no timely defense, being hit head-on by such an attack would be devastating, not to mention ordinary adventurers who have not yet obtained a professional level, even those who have already gone quite far on the professional path and are level 5 or above would likely suffer serious consequences.

Even Xia Nan, whose stats are exceptionally high, is no exception.

They are fully aware of this.

Therefore, when the opponent's arm muscle fibers stretch and his pincers are raised to accumulate power, he is already prepared to respond.

Moving at high speed, the body, carrying a fierce gust of wind, suddenly braked, the leather boots screeching violently against the ground, sending up thin smoke.

The black wolf phantom dissipated slightly, then suddenly solidified.

However, this time the direction has changed slightly.

Move closer from a straight line forward, then shift to an angled upward.

hold head high--

The cold, black wolf with its swaying mane leaped lightly, deftly dodging enemy attacks, and jumped onto the back of the armored monster.

The silvery fangs fell suddenly, piercing straight through the enemy's soft wounds that were unprotected by armor.

Xia Nan felt a slow, intermittent sensation from the hilt of his sword, realizing that even without the shell's defense, this lobster monster still possessed considerable physical resistance and was not someone who could be easily found to deliver a fatal blow.

While his brain was racing, he slightly turned his wrist, changing from holding the longsword upside down with both hands to a more upright grip to easily pull the blade out of the monster.

"Shoot."

The sword tip detached from the body, leaving behind a large trail of conspicuous blood mixed with mucus.

A sharp gust of wind stung my cheek.

Without hesitation, he stomped hard on the wound on the monster's back, activating [Fang Hunt], and leaped high into the air.

The next second, the pincers missed their mark once again.

The force is the same as before.

But this time, it wasn't the cold ground beneath the pincers, but rather the armored monster's own body.

boom--

Accompanied by the crisp sound of an egg shattering, the hissing echoing from the nest carried a hint of pain. Beneath the pincers, fine cracks could be seen appearing on the other side of the armored monster's back, which had remained relatively intact.

Those pincers, almost the same size as its upper body, possessed considerable strength; even when they struck the armored monster itself, they caused it to momentarily stiffen.

They have keen perception.

Xia Nan could not possibly miss this golden opportunity.

The body, propelled forward by inertia, leaps through the air, performs a somersault, and as it straightens, its feet firmly touch the ground.

He turned halfway around and stood almost face to face with the lobster monster.

With a flow of thought, spiritual energy, following a method practiced countless times before, touched lightly between the fingertips and palms.

The magical particles in the air were disturbed and rearranged in an instant.

Ultimately, it transformed into a wisp of condensed energy that covered the sword's body, shimmering with an ochre-red luster and flickering light.

This is the [Gravity Etching], which was upgraded to level 3 and underwent its first qualitative change during the Petrified Lizard Hunting Battle.

Compared to before, the ochre-red light that symbolizes the energy field is now significantly more concentrated, almost merging with the longsword itself.

The blade extends several inches beyond the edge, making the entire blade appear larger.

At the same time, along with the improvement of combat skill proficiency level, Xia Nan has a deeper understanding and ability to apply it.

It is still considered a trump card that can decide the outcome of the game.

But it was no longer used alone as before; instead, he combined it with other combat techniques, just as he had imagined when he first learned the skill.

【Spinning Slash】+【Gravity Etching】!
"Buzz!"

It's like wielding a lightsaber.

The metal sword, covered in ochre-red energy, swept through the air in a perfect arc like a blood moon, accompanied by a high-frequency whistling sound of energy vibration.

The force field energy was detonated prematurely, and due to the exaggerated speed of the longsword's swing, the small firework that should have exploded at a "point" turned into a violent explosion along an entire "line".

Buzz-boom——

Extremely precise, the ochre-red energy sword light followed the wound on the armored monster's body, diagonally upwards from its chest, and finally pierced out from its shoulder.

The property of force field energy to ignore physical defenses was fully demonstrated at this moment.

It felt like being bitten hard by the black wolf phantom that appeared around Yu Xia Nan.

The pale white muscle fibers were instantly squeezed and disintegrated, turning into shapeless minced meat. The main muscle bundles were violently torn apart, and the tendons connecting the joints snapped like taut ropes, curling and contracting.
Blood vessels burst, and the aorta that supplies blood to the head gushed bluish blood futilely and rhythmically into the air. You could see some thick, white, shiny nerve cords hanging down on both sides.
Deep within the wound, one could even vaguely glimpse a large clump of fragmented, feather-like, sheet-like gill structure remnants.

Xia Nan knew perfectly well the power of his sword strike, a combination of two combat techniques.

Even with the lobster monster's strong and massive body, it instantly froze in place, convulsing and twitching as if it were severely injured and on the verge of death.

But since it was a monster they had never seen before, they didn't know its specific physiological structure, and they didn't find any familiar vital organs like the "heart" in the wound.

With a flick of his wrist, the silver-white longsword, swirling with rapidly dissipating force field energy, detached itself amidst the overflowing ochre-red glow.

He turned and swung his sword back.

Xia Nan retreated hastily, wary of the opponent's dying counterattack.

Unexpectedly, his strike seemed to have hit the monster's vital point, rendering it unable to even make a final struggle, its body twitching and frozen in place.

My gaze swept over its pincers, which were drooping at its side, showing no sign of gathering strength.

Thoughts flashed through my mind.

He slightly diverted his mental energy, ready to trigger the "deflection field" of the [Death Line] ring to block attacks.

At the same time, they decisively stepped forward.

He thrust upwards with his sword!

The sharp blade of the specially made longsword pierced the gap in the monster's carapace between its throat and upper chest with extreme precision.

With a force exerted by both hands, the tip of the sword emerged from the other end.

[Whirling Slash]!
"Shoot."

The crisp sound, accompanied by the abruptly stopped chirping of insects, echoed faintly in the open, empty nest.

The limbs that were spat out from the mouthparts tangled and twisted in the mucus with muscle memory, and the huge head was completely cut off, like a strangely shaped nautilus, which spun and rolled to the ground.

boom--

He moved a few steps to the side, avoiding the limp, lifeless remains of the monster.

Xia Nan wasn't in a hurry to collect the spoils. Instead, he maintained a safe distance from the monster's corpse and remained on guard.

Only when the headless remains of the other party completely stopped convulsing and lay motionless on the ground did they breathe a slight sigh of relief.

To be honest, if he could, he would have liked to dismember the corpse even more to prevent a repeat of the "second-stage resurrection" in Ashenvale.

However, he was not very familiar with the body structure of the monster in front of him, and its whole body was covered with thick armor, making it difficult to deal with in a short time. He would have to specifically look for gaps in the armor at the joints to dismember it, which would save him some effort.

On the other hand, he was also worried that if he attacked recklessly, he might waste some useful materials on the opponent.

This monster is so big, and it's a rare type that even I, who has been cramming on adventure-related knowledge for a long time, can't recognize. It might fetch a lot of money and directly help Xia Nan pay off the debt for reforging the longsword.

"Hmm...where is it more valuable?"

Standing to the side, Xia Nan carefully examined it.

Considering his limited carrying capacity, he could not carry the whole thing, so he had to pick out some parts from the corpse to take back.

Based on his experience accumulated over the past year... the lobster monster's remaining single eye might be useful, as well as its tentacle-like mouthparts and limbs.

This pincer is still a bit too big. If I try to carry it back, it will easily become a burden. I'll see if I can grill it and eat it tonight to replenish my energy.

As for its internal organs, it's unclear which ones are still functional...

Xia Nan pondered for a moment, then suddenly seemed to sense something.

He suddenly turned his head, his lingering killing intent still present, his cold and deep black eyes staring straight at the entrance of a tunnel shrouded in shadow in the distance.

"It's me, Mr. Xia Nan! Don't do anything! It's me!"

(End of this chapter)