A Perilous Fight

Bai Xiaowen quickly cast Insight on Lyra Redleaf.

The female Elven Sword Dancer had been seriously injured by Kevin's Dragon Breath and was suffering from a debuff that halved all her attributes. That was precisely why Bai Xiaowen had sensed the danger in advance and dodged her strike.

Had Lyra Redleaf been at full strength, even if Bai Xiaowen had sensed the danger, he would never have had time to react before being taken down.

Yet even with all her attributes halved, Lyra Redleaf's attributes still overwhelmingly surpassed Bai Xiaowen's across the board. That was why she had confidently come after him alone—she had never taken his strength seriously at all.

From higher ground, Bai Xiaowen took out the White Birch Hard Bow and fired an arrow. Its aim and force were both poor. Lyra Redleaf gave a mocking sneer, her walking pace unchanged as she merely shifted slightly aside and evaded it.

Bai Xiaowen turned and ran. With Agility as high as 6 points, he was incredibly fast, vanishing around the corner of another corridor in an instant.

Lyra Redleaf sneered. Though all her attributes had been halved, her Agility still exceeded 10 points, so catching Bai Xiaowen would be effortless. Still, out of caution, she did not give chase at full speed, remaining alert for Bai Xiaowen's ambush.

After chasing down the corridor for several hundred meters, Lyra Redleaf did not see Bai Xiaowen. Instead, she saw a Steel Two-Handed Warhammer thrown onto the ground. After walking a few more steps, she spotted a quiver and arrows scattered messily across the floor.

"Has that weak human become so desperate to escape that he has thrown away even his weapons?"

Such a thought flashed through Lyra Redleaf's mind. She picked up speed slightly, though she still retained a trace of vigilance.

After rounding a corner, Lyra Redleaf saw a White Birch Hard Bow tossed on the ground, its bowstring snapped. She no longer had any reservations and accelerated into a full-speed pursuit.

Following the footprints, she arrived at a main burial chamber. Inside stood a row of rusty iron bookshelves, their books already ruined. What reassured Lyra Redleaf was that the chamber had only one entrance and exit. In other words, Bai Xiaowen had dug his own grave and run himself into a dead end.

Lyra Redleaf searched cautiously and spotted a corner of a gray cloak behind an iron shelf.

"Hmph, would you really expose such an obvious flaw? Obviously not!" Lyra Redleaf was filled with disdain. She had seen this sort of diversionary trick countless times. She did not even look at the gray cloak, instead lighting a torch and carefully searching the rest of the burial chamber.

In a corner stood a large iron urn. Its lid seemed to have been lifted, leaving a narrow gap. Through that gap, she could vaguely see a scrap of linen cloth.

Lyra Redleaf was certain that the weak human was hiding inside the urn. To avoid suffocating, he had secretly pushed the lid open just enough to leave a gap. Sneering, she silently approached and suddenly slammed both hands down on the lid, sealing that tiny opening shut completely—

She intended to suffocate the human alive inside the urn.

However, at the instant she sealed the urn, a gust of wind suddenly swept past behind Lyra Redleaf. Before she could even cry out in alarm, pain stabbed through her back as a dagger pierced straight through her heart.

Rewind one second.

Lyra Redleaf reached out to close the urn. Above her, Bai Xiaowen—completely naked—leapt down lightly. While still in midair, he viciously drove a dagger toward the female elf's nape.

However, Bai Xiaowen had misjudged the timing of his fall, causing the strike meant for her neck to land in the center of her back. It made little difference, as it was still a vital spot. Moreover, aided by the impact of his descent, the blow directly triggered a Critical Hit!

The moment he landed the hit, Bai Xiaowen did not even bother retrieving the dagger and swiftly retreated. Lyra Redleaf, a veteran of countless battles, had been caught by surprise, yet her first response was to sweep her shortsword backward and counterattack her enemy!

With a ripping sound, a bloody gash appeared across Bai Xiaowen's chest.

System prompt:

"Your attack hit Elven Sword Dancer Lyra Redleaf's vital point, dealing 14 damage (Critical Hit) and applying Severe Bleeding."

"Corrosive Toxin has taken effect. Lyra Redleaf's all attributes have decreased by 2 points for 120 seconds."

"Lyra Redleaf's injuries have worsened, inflicting Severe Injury for 120 seconds: unable to move."

"You suffered 12 Rend damage and were inflicted with Mild Bleeding."

"...Holy shit!"

Bai Xiaowen was truly frightened. He hurried behind the iron bookshelf, grabbed the equipment he had taken off—the Dirty Cloak—and tightly wrapped it around his chest twice.

Fortunately, with Constitution twice that of an ordinary person, Bai Xiaowen's Mild Bleeding finally stopped after being bandaged. The "-1" that had been floating above his head every so often also disappeared. He had only 2 Life Value remaining.

Bai Xiaowen felt as though all his strength had nearly drained away. He simply sat on the ground, staring at Lyra Redleaf through the iron bookshelf.

Bai Xiaowen's earlier "holy shit" carried three meanings.

First, he had not expected Lyra Redleaf's defense to be so high. A Critical Hit combined with a Vital Strike should normally have taken away over 20 Life Value, yet Lyra Redleaf had lost only 14.

Second, Lyra Redleaf had actually been able to counterattack immediately despite her Severe Injury.

Third was Lyra Redleaf's terrifying attack power. Her attributes had clearly been halved, yet a light slash—one that had probably only grazed him with the tip of the blade—had still inflicted severe wounds on the already-retreating Bai Xiaowen. Had he bandaged himself any slower, he might truly have died.

Though Lyra Redleaf could not move, she remained conscious. Gritting her teeth, she took out a strip of bandage, painfully pulled the dagger from her back, then, as blood gushed out, struggled to press the bandage against the wound near her heart and slowly dressed it.

"No way, that works too?" Bai Xiaowen's eyes widened. He had assumed Lyra Redleaf would bleed to death.

Bai Xiaowen dearly wanted to go over and interfere, or give Lyra Redleaf another vicious blow. But when he looked at his frail body with only 2 Life Value left, he wisely chose to give up. Lyra Redleaf had less than one-fifth of her Life Value remaining, but that was still more than thirty points!

Before Bai Xiaowen could kill Lyra Redleaf, a single hit from her would finish him. And Lyra Redleaf's Agility... even after being weakened twice, was still as high as 8 points!

"Lyra Redleaf lost 5 Life Value."

"Lyra Redleaf lost 3 Life Value."

"Lyra Redleaf lost 1 Life Value."

Bai Xiaowen watched Lyra Redleaf painstakingly finish bandaging herself. Her Severe Bleeding became Mild Bleeding, and then the Mild Bleeding vanished altogether. He was speechless. At this rate, it would be impossible to wear his opponent down through bleeding.

"Despicable human... Once I can move again, I will tear you into pieces!" Lyra Redleaf panted as she cursed. It had to be said that aside from her somewhat small chest, the female elf had a very good figure. Her long legs, half-concealed beneath the tattered nun's robes, were particularly eye-catching.

Bai Xiaowen could not help whistling—of course, it was not because he was carefree, but because he had everything under control.

"Five, four, three, two, one..." Bai Xiaowen counted down silently.

The 600 seconds of Soul Resonance had ended!

System prompt: "Soul Resonance complete. Class Change unlocked. Please choose your class!"