Peril

The Wind Serpents' fierce assault finally let up. On the deck, where angry shouts, cries, and screams had filled the air, a brief silence fell. Everyone stared at the young man in disbelief, at a loss for words.

Just moments ago, almost everyone had thought the young man was doomed. They had never seen anyone emerge unscathed from an attack by dozens of Wind Serpents. Of course, high-level professionals or heavily armored shield warriors might have been able to manage it. But this young man looked quite young, and aside from the white longsword in his hand, he wore no protective gear at all.

And yet he had done it.

At that moment, not only the mercenaries but even Lize and Carter stared at the young man in a daze, their thoughts in turmoil.

Who was he, really?

Perhaps intimidated by Rhode's attack, the Wind Serpents that had been assaulting the Airship scattered and retreated. For a moment, apart from the howling wind, the deck was so quiet that almost nothing could be heard. The mercenaries were stunned by Rhode's performance, but Rhode himself didn't care much about what he had done. Instead, as he looked at the pile of corpses beneath his feet, he couldn't help thinking how close that had been.

Although Wind Serpents were among the weakest monsters, they were still the kind that relied on numbers to win. Rhode's Summon Swordsman was a class suited to solo grinding, but not against large groups. In fact, the main reason he had dealt with them so easily was the +3 starting attribute of Star Trace. While wielding the sword, Rhode's attributes were raised by three points. That boost alone was enough to lower a monster's threat level from red to green, so it wasn't especially surprising that he had wiped out the Wind Serpents.

Still, when he thought about it, Rhode found it strange. If his attributes were calculated as a human's, then even with Star Trace, he shouldn't have swept through them so easily and gained such an overwhelming advantage. By his original estimate, Shatter Blade should only have left the Wind Serpents barely alive, so he had been ready to finish them off himself. He hadn't expected the move to be so powerful that it killed them all outright.

Could his attributes be calculated differently from a human's?

At the thought, Rhode instinctively tried to open his status screen again. Unfortunately, until his race was identified, his attributes remained hidden and inaccessible. The good news was that he had earned 1,900 experience points from the battle—apparently, he really could gain experience. That surprised him quite a bit.

Of course, this all took only two or three seconds. To the others, he simply stared silently at the pile of corpses for a moment before looking up again.

That was when Rhode noticed the strange silence around him. It wasn't caused by everyone else's shock. Something far more dangerous and deadly was responsible.

Where had the Wind Serpents gone?

The thought flashed through Rhode's mind. Then he seemed to realize something, spun around, and shouted urgently.

"Everyone, look out...!"

At that very moment, the Airship lurched violently.

The violent shake sent many people tumbling to the deck. Two unlucky men hadn't managed to steady themselves in time and slipped over the side. At the same time, a sharp crack rang out from the bow. Then a gigantic snake's head thrust through the deck.

"Everyone, look out! It's the Wind Serpent Lord!"

Carter finally appeared. He shouted, drew the twin swords at his side, and raced toward the enormous Wind Serpent. The other mercenaries scrambled to their feet. Though they were already covered in wounds, they gritted their teeth and followed their captain, trying to attack the monstrous creature.

But Rhode was faster than all of them.

He crouched, and lines of system prompts appeared before his eyes.

[Experience points 1900/200, level up available, gain 1 skill point, level 2]

[Experience points 1700/400, level up available, gain 2 skill points, level 3]

[Experience points 1300/600, gain 3 skill points, level 4]

[Experience points 800/1000, gain 4 skill points, level 5]

[Spend 1 skill point to raise Moon Shadow Swordsmanship to 1/3, proficiency e]

[Spend 1 skill point to raise Moon Shadow Swordsmanship to 2/3, proficiency e]

[Spend 1 skill point to raise Moon Shadow Swordsmanship to 3/3, proficiency e]

[Spend 1 skill point to raise Moon Shadow Swordsmanship to 1/4, proficiency d---Shadow Blink unlocked]

Activate.

Rhode sprang into the air.

In that instant, everyone saw a blur. The young man who had been standing on the deck became a black shadow, streaking forward like a blade through the sky. Even the massive Wind Serpent Lord had no time to react. When Rhode leapt up before it, the creature seemed baffled—as if it had never seen prey leap straight into its jaws before.

Rhode raised his sword. In that instant, starlight seemed drawn by an invisible force and gathered along the flawless white blade. He aimed at the Wind Serpent Lord's bell-sized eye and thrust with all his might.

"Shatter Blade!"

Faced with the oncoming sword light, the Wind Serpent Lord's first instinct was to dodge. After Moon Shadow Swordsmanship had been raised by four proficiency levels, Shatter Blade had leapt to a whole new level in both quantity and power. Dozens of silver-white blades of light burst from the sword and spiraled toward their target.

One, two, three...

At first, the Wind Serpent Lord's hard scales managed to withstand the initial blades of light. But even its lord-level defenses held out only until the twentieth sword beam before crumbling completely. The following beams tore through scales and flesh with ease, piercing its body. Though the Wind Serpent Lord was enormous, Rhode cleverly focused his attack on a single point. Under his control, the blades of light didn't spread out as they had before. Instead, they concentrated on its neck and successfully broke through its defenses.

"—!!"

The Wind Serpent Lord let out a piercing hiss and plunged downward. Even so, it didn't give up its attack. Though the flesh on the left side of its neck had been mangled, the Night Crow Lord suddenly raised its head and glared at Rhode before opening its jaws wide.

Rhode's figure flickered, and he retreated in another blur. As he pulled back, a foul stream of poison shot upward, barely missing his afterimage before splashing against the mast behind him. The poison ate through it in seconds, melting the once sturdy mast completely. It then crashed down with a thunderous roar.

A boss was still a boss.

Based on Rhode's experience in the game, Wind Serpents were around level three on average, while their leaders were usually level ten. This boss shouldn't have been above level ten. With Carter and the mercenaries drawing its attention, it shouldn't be difficult to defeat. But after that last strike, Rhode realized this might not be an ordinary lord-level monster. It was an elite. If it had been an ordinary lord, his previous strike would have been enough to chop off its wing. In reality, even after giving it everything he had, he had only left it with a wound deep enough to expose bone. That alone said a lot.

"Attack its wings! Stay as far from its mouth as you can! Go for its flanks!"

As Rhode gave orders to Carter and the other mercenaries, he kept the Wind Serpent Lord occupied. As a Summon Swordsman, he wasn't the main tank, but it seemed none of the others had any experience fighting a Wind Serpent Lord. In the game, a party wipe caused by inexperience could be retried. But Rhode wasn't willing to take that risk here. The wound on his left chest, which had already healed, now burned painfully, as if it had reopened. If they all died here, it would be a joke too cruel to laugh at. And though he was only level five, Rhode was confident he could fight any opponent no more than fifteen levels above him. After all, three classes on the Dragon Soul Continent were famous for punching above their weight: mages, rangers, and Summon Swordsmen. Mages were known for their unpredictable spells, while rangers excelled at kiting enemies from great distances. Summon Swordsmen, meanwhile, simply overwhelmed their enemies with numbers. For all three classes, fighting monsters even five levels higher was as easy as eating or drinking. They could even casually farm non-elite bosses up to ten levels above them.

Even so, each of these three classes had its own flaws. Without mana, a mage was little more than a target—even a group of low-level fairies could swarm one to death. A ranger who let an enemy get close was in deep trouble. Summon Swordsmen were too unpredictable, and their controls were so complex that there was almost no template to follow. That was why these three classes had never become especially popular in the game. It was also a more realistic reflection of life on the Dragon Soul Continent: either take a gamble and choose an unconventional path, or play it safe and make steady progress. Players could decide their own fate and future.

The Wind Serpent Lord before him was a level-ten elite boss. But thanks to Star Trace's bonus, its defense was at most level six or seven, so Rhode wasn't worried about failing to deal enough damage. Its offense, however...

"Whoosh!!"

A fierce gust erupted out of nowhere.

Rhode's body flickered, dodging backward through a string of afterimages. He barely evaded the Wind Serpent Lord's sweeping wing. The wing slammed into the deck, leaving a huge hole in the thick, sturdy planks.

That was the attack power of a level-ten elite.

Rhode wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He was only level five and had no equipment at all. If he took a hit like that, not even the gods could save him. He was worried about Carter and the others, but fortunately, perhaps because he had dealt it such heavy damage, the Wind Serpent Lord seemed to have focused all its hatred on him. The bad news was that being targeted by a boss with such high attack power put enormous pressure on anyone who wasn't a tank...

His soul power had already dropped to a third of its original level, and Rhode was beginning to feel tired. He had expected a hard fight when he saw the Wind Serpent Lord, but the pressure was now immense. He needed Shadow Blink to dodge its attacks. At his current speed, evading the Wind Serpent Lord was simply out of the question. But on the other hand, he also needed Shatter Blade to deal damage and bring down this troublesome opponent as quickly as possible.

That didn't look easy.

The Airship was slowly descending, but under the Wind Serpent Lord's attacks, it swayed from side to side like a tiny boat caught in a raging sea. Two mercenaries had already been thrown overboard and were almost certainly dead. Carter was still trying to drive the Wind Serpent Lord back, his twin swords flashing as he attacked its flank, but with little effect. If Lize hadn't been casting Healing Light on the mercenaries from behind, they probably wouldn't have lasted this long.

He had to come up with something. Otherwise, before the Airship even touched down, this damned snake would tear it apart.

At the thought, Rhode bit his lip.

The Wind Serpent Lord's attacks hadn't weakened. Its wings spread wide, and the two claws at their edges dug into the rim of the bow. Though Rhode's earlier attacks had hurt it badly, a lord-level monster wasn't going to retreat over injuries like these. On the contrary, the cunning Wind Serpent Lord seemed to have spotted its enemies' weakness. Its two sharp claws clung to the Airship's hull as it shook and tugged at its prey with all its strength.

The Airship's hull wasn't fragile, but it had already been badly damaged during the battle with the Wind Serpents. On top of that, the howling winds buffeted the ship, twisting and warping it. Several alarming cracks had appeared in the deck as well, accompanied by sounds that chilled everyone to the bone.

"Oh, God! Oh, God!"

Huddled in a corner of the captain's cabin, the fat merchant trembled as he stared at the terrifying Wind Serpent Lord outside. Fear and panic had twisted his voice.

"That damned Richard! If I ever get my hands on him, I'll kill him! He sent me down this route—he's trying to murder me!" As he spoke, the fat merchant suddenly shuddered and turned on the captain beside him.

"And you! Why didn't you warn me about something this terrifying?"

The captain didn't answer the fat merchant's furious outburst. He gripped the steering wheel, eyes fixed on what lay ahead. Deep down, he cursed the bastard. He had warned the merchant that taking this route at this time of year might attract a swarm of Wind Serpents, but the man hadn't taken him seriously. And now that death was staring him in the face, he was blaming the captain! If he'd known it would turn out like this, he never would have taken the job!