Catching Blade Barehanded

Leaning against a thick tree trunk, Xuan Ye watched the movements behind him from the corner of his eye. After the branches in the forest had swayed violently, a short, stocky figure suddenly burst out. Seeing the scorched earth before it, cleared of everything, it let out a grief-stricken howl.

With its hideous head, sharp claws, short torso, and tattered leather armor, it was the traditional image of a gnoll.

After losing its beloved pet, the gnoll—whose pupils had already been blood-red—now had eyes that were even more scarlet.

Xuan Ye had merely caught a glimpse of the figure bursting out of the forest from the corner of his eye, yet strings of data automatically surfaced in his mind.

"Both its strength and speed surpass mine. Its strength in particular is nearly fifty percent higher, already approaching the level of a Two-Star Ranger. That should be an advantage brought by the gnoll's physique and natural talents. However, both its bow and arrows retain the gnolls' low level of craftsmanship. I have the advantage in terms of weapons..."

Taking advantage of the brief opening, Xuan Ye quickly analyzed the situation in detail. Since he had his own strengths, he naturally had to make good use of them. Knowing himself and his enemy would give him the greatest possible chance of victory.

"Hmm, why did it stop moving? 'Ambush'? At this distance, even a gnoll's relatively unrefined ambush talent can't hide from me. Delaying for time definitely works against it. What is it trying to do?"

After all, Xuan Ye had only been tracking it with the corner of his eye. Once the gnoll finished howling, it left his field of vision, blocked by the thick tree trunk behind him, leaving him able to predict only its approximate position.

When something abnormal happened, there was bound to be a reason. After Temo had been tricked by Ye Man several times, Xuan Ye had been left with a lasting shadow. He instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

That vigilance saved him. The instant he felt the slightest tremor from the giant tree behind him, he immediately rolled away from his position. A powerful arrow tore through the tree trunk behind him in an instant, spraying out a shower of wood chips!

"What the hell? That's cheating! What kind of strength is that? How can that broken bow fire an attack this powerful?"

Wood chips had cut a thin line of blood across Xuan Ye's cheek. He quickly began moving unpredictably and vanished behind the forest leaves, cursing inwardly.

He had chosen to hide behind that tree trunk after weighing its defensive strength. He had judged that even his strongest arrow would penetrate it only halfway at most. Even if that fellow was stronger than him, there was no way that broken bow and those broken arrows should have achieved such an effect!

Yet reality had slapped him hard across the face. After he began moving and saw the gnoll through the gaps between the trees, his expression changed slightly.

The surface of the gnoll's right arm, the one drawing the bow, was covered by a thick layer of hardened tissue, like armor! It radiated an ominous, evil aura, and there was even a faint smell of sulfur in the air.

"What is this?! Gnolls may be ancient, but they don't possess any ancient bloodline! This hardened mutation, this ominous aura... Demonization?"

Xuan Ye was a qualified Magic Apprentice by now. During his time in Stanrose, he had thoroughly assimilated the knowledge he had absorbed. With the Database's innate advantage, the knowledge he possessed already exceeded that of ordinary apprentices by quite a bit. After only a moment's hesitation, he vaguely reached a conclusion.

The Hell Abyss was the world ruled by the Lord of Hell, Diros, the Destruction Main God among the Seven Great Main Gods. It was filled with all kinds of demons and chaotic creatures, and served as the primary source of faith for the gods of destruction.

The Undead Overlord who had once caused the Calamity Undead to drag the Human Race from its divine altar had now defected to the Lord of Hell and become one of his subordinate gods. He had thus become one of Reizel's guardian deities. Thinking about it was truly ironic.

The natural cycle of birth, aging, illness, and death was an indispensable part of Reizel's self-sustaining operation. The divine duties of the destruction gods were likewise indispensable and irreplaceable. However, it was only the divine duties of the hell gods that could not be replaced. The chaotic creatures of the Hell Abyss were unquestionably the mortal enemies of intelligent life, representing chaos and endless destruction.

And this gnoll had somehow entered into a deal with an Abyssal Demon, acquiring the Demonization of its arm!

"An arrow with this kind of power means GAME OVER if it even grazes me! Tch~"

Xuan Ye's expression grew solemn. He began darting through the forest at high speed alongside his opponent while nocking another arrow to prepare his counterattack.

"But..."

He nocked the arrow and simultaneously twisted aside to dodge a powerful shot that tore through the air.

"If it can't hit me, it's useless!"

'Whoosh~'

Xuan Ye's counterattacking arrow struck the arrow his opponent had fired first. The two arrows crossed in midair before being knocked away in opposite directions!

The gnoll hunter's arrow flew off to who-knew-where. However, the arrow Xuan Ye had fired to intercept it happened to bend around and seal off the gnoll hunter's next direction of movement!

The gnoll had no choice but to alter its force at the last moment. Taking advantage of that opening, Xuan Ye fired three sharp, tricky shots in succession.

Each arrow was more sinister and vicious than the last. Every shot forced the opponent to dodge according to his rhythm, and every shot expanded his advantage!

Like a snowball rolling downhill, his advantage accumulated and grew. Then, a silent arrow launched a fatal attack!

The gnoll hunter had already been driven into a dead end by the previous arrows. Its strength was exhausted, its options for changing direction gone, and it had not even recovered its balance. Facing this arrow, it had nowhere left to dodge!

This was Xuan Ye's most proficient Scripted Shot. As long as he was given enough time, he could use his unique ability to write the most suitable script!

'Tap~'

However, just as that final killing arrow was about to pierce straight through its throat, a thick, hardened demonic arm firmly caught the shaft!

Although the tremendous force dragged the gnoll backward, and the arrowhead had already cut through the skin of its throat, spilling a thin stream of blood, there was no doubt that the arrow had been blocked! It had been neutralized!

"FUCK!"

After completing his entire sequence, Xuan Ye had controlled the force of every arrow with extreme precision. Nearly every shot had been fired with the greatest force he could manage while staying within the limits of his current endurance. After firing the final arrow, even his right arm ached unbearably, leaving him unable to immediately fire another powerful shot.

Now, he could only watch helplessly as that cheating, rule-breaking gnoll adjusted its stance and recovered its strength.

It caught an arrow barehanded, for crying out loud! Why didn't it just use Catching Blade Barehanded, you bastard!

Could they still have a pleasant exchange of fire or not?!

'Bang~'

The Demon Claw clenched hard, crushing Xuan Ye's excellent armor-piercing arrow into powder. A savage, cruel smile appeared on the gnoll's already hideous face. Then it instantly dropped onto all fours and charged toward Xuan Ye with its bow and arrows strapped to its back!

It had realized that it was no match for him in a ranged exchange and was rapidly closing the distance while Xuan Ye recovered his breath.

"A mere gnoll! Do you really think I'm afraid of you in close combat?! You bastard!"

After judging its approach speed and the terrain ahead, Xuan Ye decisively abandoned his plan to intercept and restrain it.

This was a jungle environment, with far too many obstacles. His opponent was also a hunter skilled with the bow. It would be extremely difficult to seize an opportunity. Besides, his right arm had only just recovered. If he failed to achieve the expected result when drawing his bow, he would be at a disadvantage once the gnoll closed in!

Since that was the case, he might as well go all out and prepare for close combat! They were both One-Star professionals, and he had superior weapons and equipment. With his own traits, was there any reason to fear it?

This was the finest standard-issue short sword bought with his glittering Gold Coins. Have a taste of this!

'Clang~'

Seeing the blade of his treasured short sword firmly seized by the opponent's Demon Claw, the corner of Xuan Ye's mouth twitched.

It really was using Catching Blade Barehanded, boss!

I was only joking just now. You didn't have to take it so seriously!

The gnoll caught Xuan Ye's short sword with one claw, and an ugly, cruel smile appeared on its face. Its other, ordinary claw reached toward Xuan Ye's body. Even without a weapon, its natural claws were enough to tear this loathsome human apart!

It would definitely eat every piece of his flesh, one bite at a time!

"I'm going to have to spend more money again. Do I really have to rely on money every time I fight?"

A helpless, pained look appeared on Xuan Ye's face, but he showed no fear. Instead, he held three small Magic Crystals between the fingers of his free left hand and raised them horizontally before his chest.

"крич"

A tremendous roar like a dragon's cry erupted from Xuan Ye's small body against all reason. The short, low, single-syllable sound rapidly formed an extremely simple spell model before him, yet it radiated a wild aura!

It rapidly drew out the violent magic power within the Magic Crystals, effortlessly tearing the gnoll's attacking ordinary claw into pieces!

The immense impact sent its entire body flying backward!

An unranked Dragon Language Magic—Dragon Roar Spell!

Without time to wonder why its power was so much greater than recorded, Xuan Ye endured the soreness throughout his body caused by the backlash of the violent magic power. He released the short sword, drew the dagger from his boot, and lunged forward, stabbing it into the gnoll's skull before twisting it for good measure.

The gnoll had been severely injured by the unexpected spell. Before it could even release its aggrieved howl, its head had been churned into a mangled mess. In the final moment before death, its entire body and soul were filled with resentment.

What the hell was wrong with this world? How could there be such a bizarre Ranger...

Only after confirming that the creature was thoroughly dead did Xuan Ye relax and collapse onto the ground. Once his tightly wound spirit relaxed, the pain throughout his body made him twitch involuntarily.

Casting a spell beyond his rank as an apprentice had left his mind empty, and the resulting headache was splitting his skull.

Fortunately, when the gnoll died, the Essence that scattered from it passively entered his body and helped him recover somewhat. Although he had now entered the professional rank and the boost—once so obvious—had become much weaker in relative terms, it was still fairly useful for recovery.

Dragon Language Magic truly lived up to its reputation for being "simple and violent." With the physique of a physical professional, forcibly casting it even once caused considerable backlash. His Eighth-Grade Apprentice-level Spiritual Power had also been drained completely. It truly was inefficient and uneconomical to use.

Still, compared with the aftereffects of using Bloodline Power, it was much better. At the very least, he could still follow up with another attack without interruption.

"Huff, huff~"

After taking several deep breaths and using the absorbed Essence to ease the soreness, Xuan Ye began to feel puzzled. Dragon Roar Spell was the most common and practical Dragon Language Magic, and one of the very few Dragon Language Magic spells that humans could use.

It was inherently unranked, but its power increased in proportion to the amount of magic power and Spiritual Power invested, making it suitable for any stage.

However, because it wasted a large amount of magic power, its casting speed was extremely fast—almost instantaneous as long as the body could endure it. Its efficiency in using Spiritual Power and magic power was frighteningly low, though, and its power was far inferior to that of other spells.

Xuan Ye's original plan had been to use this surprise attack to break the opponent's balance, then draw his dagger and finish it off with the strength unlocked by the Eyes of Lawbreaking, completely exhausting himself in one go.

Who could have expected the Dragon Roar Spell's power to be so astonishing? It had even saved him from using his Bloodline Power and killed the gnoll outright.

Although he was an Advanced Apprentice, even Dean could only unleash Chain Fireball at full strength—powerful enough to annihilate a professional. But he had used Dragon Roar Spell. A Dragon Roar Spell formed from apprentice-level Spiritual Power with enormous waste should have had very limited direct killing power against a professional.

It should have been useful only as a tactical spell for interference at an opportune moment, like before. But why had it suddenly crippled the opponent?

Even though it had been caught off guard and the opponent had foolishly reached out to grab it, things still shouldn't have turned out this way. Its power had at least doubled compared with the theoretical strength! Although it still could not compare with other spells of equal consumption, combined with its casting speed, its cost-effectiveness was astonishingly high. It was nothing like the negative reputation surrounding Dragon Language Magic.

"Uh... could it be this thing?"

Xuan Ye raised his left hand and stared at the faint, crude rune on the back of it. A hint of enlightenment emerged in his heart. Perhaps this Dragon Envoy truly wasn't as terrible as he had imagined...

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Thanks to Jianfeng Zhanjin Wulai, Tianxing Chu, and April Flowing Grief for your generous rewards. There's only one chapter today again, but this one is nearly the length of two ordinary chapters!

It's a new week, so please give me all kinds of support~