Battle

"Piece of shit! You're courting death!"

Being relentlessly attacked by a monster that was neither human nor beast, Wang Zhifan's anger immediately flared.

He was indeed a cautious person by nature, but he was also young. Before and after transmigrating, the same hot-blooded youthfulness ran through his veins!

Thus, after their two exchanges just now, having judged that the monster before him was not particularly powerful, Wang Zhifan immediately changed his strategy. He no longer thought about fleeing or calling the police, and instead began fighting back with all his strength.

First, he relied on his incomparably swift speed to dodge the monster's fierce pounce sideways. Then, seizing the instant when they passed each other, the Wolf Slayer Blade flashed in his hand, leaving a deep wound across the monster's body, which was covered in long blackish-gray fur!

But what Wang Zhifan could not quite understand was that after being injured, this crazed opponent acted as if it did not care about its wounds at all. It showed no intention of avoiding his attacks and continued lunging at him with the same reckless, life-or-death fighting style, its two thick, sharp claws repeatedly striking at places such as his neck and heart. This forced him to keep bursting forth with speed and fight it with everything he had.

About two seconds later, the two beings, both far faster than ordinary people, had exchanged nearly ten blows. Wang Zhifan had left seven or eight wounds on his opponent with his superior speed, while several tears had been clawed into his own clothes by the monster before him.

Yet the towering, vicious wolf-like monster, which was clearly at a disadvantage, grew increasingly excited. Opening its terrifying wolf jaws, it taunted Wang Zhifan with great confidence in clumsy Xia Kingdom language. "You... can't... beat me."

Then Wang Zhifan, who had remained vigilant, saw the monster's chest suddenly heave violently. The bloody wounds on its body vanished and healed as though ice and snow were melting. Clearly, this thing had used some kind of rapid self-healing ability!

What monstrous recovery... The cuts I landed on this thing just now weren't shallow, yet it recovered completely in the blink of an eye. No wonder it fought in such a savage, brutal, life-risking way... And is this thing not actually a wolf-type monster? Why hasn't the Wolf Slayer Blade's instant-kill effect triggered after I've struck it so many times? Could it be above Lv5?

Wang Zhifan had always remembered that his old companion, the Wolf Slayer Blade, possessed two traits. One was its defense-breaking effect of 40% physical penetration, while the other was an 80% chance to instantly kill wolf-type enemies. However, this instant-kill effect required the wolf-type enemy to be no higher than Lv5.

Originally, he had thought that this creature, which clearly had to be related to wolves, would let him experience an instant kill firsthand. But after discovering that the Wolf Slayer Blade had struck it so many times without any special reaction, it was as if that 80% instant-kill ability were fake.

Still, my Berserk Buff is fully stacked now, and none of those slashes just now triggered double damage. I should be able to hit it hard next. It's just a shame I'm not wearing the Fury Gauntlets, so I can't push my damage to the maximum.

It should be mentioned that Wang Zhifan was not currently wearing his full set of equipment. After returning from work in the Gray Domain, he had changed out of his Wolf Pelt Armor and into everyday clothes. He had not worn the Fury Gauntlets throughout his shift either, only the Berserk Bracers.

Compared with the equipment he had used during his last shift, the only additional item was the Wrath of the Ape King ring. And the reason he wore that ring was to experience its 15% chance of dealing double damage while killing monsters in the Gray Domain.

After all, he had not used melee attacks at all during the Dungeon this morning. He had to enter the Gray Domain to properly experience the actual effect of double damage.

While Wang Zhifan was mulling this over, the tall, long-haired monster before him, whose injuries had already completely healed, launched another fierce pounce. This formidable enemy clearly intended to rely on its advantage of not fearing injury to crush its opponent to death. But was Wang Zhifan truly unable to deal with this type of enemy? Naturally, the answer was no!

Tiger Force!

Sprint!

This time, while dodging the monster's attacks, Wang Zhifan activated both active skills he possessed. One was Tiger Force, the soul-damage amplification skill granted by the Tiger Soul True Tattoo. The other was Sprint, the Blade Warrior class skill he had only obtained after reaching Lv3 today.

With the activation of these two skills, the tide of battle changed instantly. Wang Zhifan's speed, which had already surpassed the monster's, rose another level, allowing him to strike the creature's vital points far more easily. At the same time, the soul damage brought by Tiger Force directly shattered the monster's previously unwavering confidence.

"WTF!"

Wang Zhifan had just ducked beneath the monster's claw swipe and slashed its thick waist and abdomen when the creature, which had never taken his attacks too seriously, abruptly changed expression and spat out a foreign curse.

It had clearly just experienced the soul damage now imbued in Wang Zhifan's blade, damage equivalent to an attack from a Lv5 Tiger Spirit! As a rare type of damage, soul damage had an extremely singular effect: it specifically attacked a living being's soul! Thus, this enemy, with its powerful body and strong physical recovery ability, immediately found itself unable to endure it. It could largely ignore injuries to its flesh, but once its soul was wounded, it had no way to recover quickly.

For a moment, this creature, caught off guard by Wang Zhifan's trump card, no longer dared to keep tangling with him. It turned and dove to the ground, using all four limbs to rush toward a sewer entrance dozens of meters away. It was actually trying to flee.

"Trying to run? Too late!"

Wang Zhifan had no intention whatsoever of letting this enemy go. He burst forth with strength, raising his speed another notch, and caught up in the blink of an eye with the enemy fleeing along the ground like a dog.

This enemy was quite cunning as well. Knowing that it was slower than Wang Zhifan, it had long anticipated that it would be caught if it fled like this. The moment Wang Zhifan rushed in at full speed, it suddenly twisted its body, flipping around in an instant. One thick, powerful, fur-covered arm shot before Wang Zhifan's eyes, its long claws aiming straight for his throat!

I knew you'd try that!

Wang Zhifan was not surprised in the slightest by the fleeing enemy's sudden counterattack. He had never expected it to obediently run away and simply take hits, so he had already been prepared. Tilting his head aside, he evaded the claws reaching his face by a hair's breadth. At the same time, rather than retreating, he surged forward and crashed into the monster's embrace, bringing the Wolf Slayer Blade down vertically upon the forehead of the monster, which was still in the midst of its attack, with all his strength.