久久大陆

Calmly counting the foes that surrounded him completely, he flipped his grip of his daggers into reverse.

Slamming down towards him, one of the crimson-enchanted blades neared his head. Another sailed towards his back. These attacks came from the slobbering swine men in which he held no mercy for.

He watched with his vastly enhanced perception, composed and unflinching.

"Black Ripper."

[Spirit: -200 | 3550/3800]

Stretching out in a flash of black, sharp stratifications of wind howled out briefly.

A rain of onyx blood came in the next moment; the string of instantaneous slashes eviscerated the brutes, leaving gashes on their necks and slashes splitting through their skulls.

Only one of the five immediate swine managed to survive the lethal-intended slashes, but not for long as he dashed past it, quickly stabbing his dagger into the side of its head and withdrawing it in a seamless movement.

[EXP + 2500 | 4000/18000]

More crossbow bolts came at him from various directions while he ran forward, flipping with a swift jump to avoid the sharp projectiles as he continued sprinting without stopping, looking straight at the mage.

This time, the snout-nosed, cloaked mage seemed caught off-guard by the viciousness of the human assassin, stumbling back.

Yeah, I'm coming for you, he thought.

The fully-armored guards returned to guard the mage, but this time he closed the distance with a [Blink Step], sliding across the asphalt as he flawlessly ducked beneath the swing of the massive club.

"Void Shift."

Thrusting his dagger up from below, it phased right through the abyssal armor of the pig demon, stabbing into its stomach.

"Grrk-!"

From behind its dark helm, the armored swine spit out blood as the vermilion-haired assassin jumped up, dragging his dagger upward as it split open the belly of the swine, leaving it falling forward without fail.

[EXP + 1000 | 5000/18000]

[Assassin Proficiency: +2 | 45/9999]

[New Skill(s) Acquired: Misdirection]

Before the other two heavily-armored swine could reach him with their clubs, he flipped back before their massive weapons slammed into the asphalt, cracking and breaking it.

"Gh–!"

Catching him by surprise while he was focused on dodging those in front of him, a crossbow bolt lodged itself into the back of his right shoulder.

[Health -500 | 3000/3500]

Glancing back, he could see the crossbow-wielding swine several dozen meters behind, standing on a platform.

He momentairy disengaged from the heavy soldiers that guard the barrier mage, but left them with something else as he jumped back:

"Cast: Poison Cloud!"

[Spirit -300 | 3250/3800]

The cloud of powerful toxins exuded from his outstretched palm, creating a zone of lethal air as he sprinted back, setting his emerald eyes on the ranged swine.

"Get…him!"

Ordering again, the Swine King who sat idly on his cushioned throne, upheld by his retainers, spit out his order angrily.

The heavyset soldiers were caught in the noxious cloud, coughing up and backing away from its range, giving him an ample opportunity to vanish over to the swine who shot him.

"Regh!"

"Shut it," he quietly said in annoyance.

With a strike of his dagger, he sliced through the weapon itself, cutting in two as the pig-faced demon drew a shortsword from its belt.

"Regh! Regh-!"

Swinging it wildly, the swine swiped its blade without any form, only relying on its brawny, tall build to supplement strength for skill.

He easily weaved through the strikes, glancing to the side to see more swine coming his way as he spun around, kicking the ankle of the swine.

The powerful low-blow caused the man-eating fiend to trip over, falling straight into his dagger as he pierced its heart, plucking his blade from its body as he prepared for the cavalry.

[EXP + 500 | 5500/18000]

"Ngh…"

He winced, feeling the crossbow still in his shoulder as he reached back, tightly gripping onto the black-steel rod as he breathed in.

"--!"

Clenching his teeth, he pulled out the bolt in one tug, though he ended up letting out a pained groan.

As he tossed the bloodied bolt to the ground, he realized it was forged in such a way that pulling it out caused even more damage, as the head of the bolt had jagged ends.

[Health: -500 | 2500/3500]

Before the bleeding could continue, he clenched his teeth again and flexed his shoulder muscles, stifling the bleeding, but still suffering the damage done as the swine were now just moments away from reaching him.

As he ducked under the wide-sweep of the cleaver-like claymore wielded by the snout-nosed fiend, he nearly fell to a knee as his legs wobbled a bit.

Huh? He thought.

Regaining his footing, he was forced to fall and roll over to the side as a slam of a warhammer crashed down from another swine, caving in the concrete where he just stood.

Something's not right with my body, he thought.

He jumped back up to his feet, having to concentrate just to not trip over his own legs as he moved backward to create some distance between himself and the two fiends.

[There has been poison detected in your body.]

The Sage System informed him of this, which didn't seem surprising now that he was given this information.

[It's not lethal. It seems to be meant to confuse their targets for a 'game' of hunt.]

Even if it wasn't lethal, it was indirectly as meddling with the functions of his body made him that much more susceptible to the enemies' attacks.

Adjust my senses to the poisons' effect, he commanded the Sage System by thought.

[Calibrating your senses to adjust to the injection. It is advised to take out these demons as quickly as possible.]

"I know," he muttered.

Using his System to counteract the shift in his motor functions, he spun around, launching a sharp kick to the head of one of the swine while blocking an incoming sword strike from the one behind him, stopping it with his dagger.

While holding the butcher sword back with one dagger, looking forward at the swine he had just kicked, he held his hand out:

"Cast: Poison Cloud!"

[Spirit: -300 | 2950/3800]

The noxious plume of verdant essence expanded around him, taking hold of the two swine as they began hacking up blood, seeping mucus, saliva, and black from their lips.

While they were compromised by the poison, and he wasn't, he mercilessly cut their throats and left the cloud of toxin, setting his sights on the barrier mage once again.

[EXP + 1000 | 6500/18000]

[Venomancy Proficiency: +1 | 2/100]

It was a new proficiency shown to him through the personal prompt that sat around his vision.

[Venomancy revolves around the use of venom and poison. As you grow more proficient with it, the potency of your craft in using such concepts will improve, and you will obtain more spells pertaining to Venomancy.]

After obtaining the explanation from his System, he was already sprinting towards the mage desperately, holding his daggers up.

…I have to hurry! This is taking too long! Korain and Xiaodan don't have time for this! He thought.

As he moved as swift as a bullet from a chamber, the aggressive speed took the warlock by surprise as he waved his staff around, attempting to conjure up a flaming spell before–

I don't have time for you, he thought.

Flashing by, he cut straight through the warlock's neck, causing a pressurized spray of blood before the barrier-crafting entity fell down.

[EXP +700 | 7200/18000]

[Assassin Proficiency: +1 | 46/9999]

Just then, the hexagonal dome of black mysticism crumbled away, falling apart into black particles that were carried off by the wind.

On both of his sides, the fully-armored swine that protected the warlock had just come to, still affected by the noxious fumes.

Before their clubs could reach him, he vanished from their sigh, moving away and sprinting directly towards the Swine King himself now.

…This one needs to go. I have a bad feeling about him, he thought.

Before he could even properly approach the oversized, gluttonous swine that sat on his cushioned throne of discarded metal, an ivory spike resembling a sharp rib protruding from the ground in front of him.

It nearly hooked his chin, reaching several meters high as he barely managed to flip backwards to avoid it.

"...Stupid…human…tasty…" The Swine King slobbered.

In the blood-soaked, warty hands of the swine royal, the brain-shaped staff he held glowed after being waved around.

That was his doing? He thought.

Coming up again, a half dozen of the gigantified ribs rose harshly from the ground in an attempt to skewer him as he jumped around to avoid them.

As he was in the air, he looked over to see the mystical staff held in the man-eating Swine King's hands glow again.

"...Meat…!"

Scarlet spores manifested like pollen fallen from trees, dancing in the air around him as he glanced around, unknowing of their tree nature.

They were plentiful, making it difficult to avoid the many spores while also evading the ivory spikes that curled upward toward each step he took.

While leaping back, his hand accidentally brushed by one of the red spores–

"--!"

It expanded instantaneously into a fleshy substance, bearing spikes that extended in every direction.