Bloody Slaughter

Dawn Divine Sword remained calm. He was a professional player, one of the very best. With his exceptional gaming talent and analytical ability, he could handle any crisis he encountered in a game with composure.

The essence of gaming was the combination of data analysis and reaction speed. Master those two things, and nothing could stand in your way.

Dragon Claw Swipe!

The instant the Black Dragon raised its front claw, Dawn Divine Sword immediately judged its attack trajectory and activation timing. He had conducted extensive research into Dragonkind's skill systems and attack models, with details accurate down to the millisecond.

He knew the attack range when a dragon used either claw for Dragon Claw Swipe. He knew even more clearly that, without charging, Dragon Claw Swipe had a casting time of between 0.33 and 0.67 seconds, with minor variations depending on the boss's size, claw position, and talent allocation. It also had a 0.33-second startup animation.

(Right front claw. Attack range: forty-five degrees in front of the dragon's head. No relevant talent bonuses. Startup animation: 0.33 seconds. Casting time: 0.45 seconds. Attack range: three meters. Splash range: 4.5 meters.)

That information flashed through his mind. Without hesitation, Dawn Divine Sword rolled sideways.

(My Agility is 30, my equipment load is light, and Roll can move me 6.5 meters. There's no way the enemy can hit me. At most, it'll deal less than 50 splash damage.)

He executed the tactical repositioning almost by rote. Yet the moment he rose to his feet, he was surprised to find that the dragon's claw had not come down.

What's going on? Dawn Divine Sword froze for a moment, but he did not dwell on it. He immediately rolled sideways again.

The dragon claw still did not strike. The Black Dragon watched him mockingly, like a wildcat eyeing a mouse.

Roll! Roll again! I'll roll again! Dawn Divine Sword rolled five times in a row, yet that raised dragon claw still did not fall, as though it had gotten stuck.

Could it be bugged? Dawn Divine Sword stood up. This time, he did not roll again. Yet at that moment, the dragon claw came whistling down.

Not good! Dawn Divine Sword hurriedly raised his warhammer to parry.

Bang!

The immense force drove Dawn Divine Sword's feet into the rocky ground. He raised both arms with all his strength, every muscle in his body as tough as cast bronze and forged iron.

Flame Breath! Dragonfire blasted straight at him, scorching Dawn Divine Sword beneath the dragon claw.

Dawn Divine Sword was increasingly shocked. How was this possible? How could this boss use two skills at the same time?

He had studied the game Skyworld thoroughly. Though it was a fully immersive virtual game and infinitely close to reality, a game was still a game. Its design still carried many game-like characteristics.

For example, skill global cooldowns. Every skill shared a synchronized cooldown. Only after one skill had finished could another be used.

That was why battles sometimes felt so rhythmic. You used a skill, I responded. I used a skill, and then you responded.

If the two sides were evenly matched, it could sometimes even feel like a turn-based game.

That was a core design of the game. It was not something that could be bypassed through skill.

Another such core design was skill animation models. Every skill had a fixed execution trajectory and animation model. Players could only work within those models.

Take Dragon Claw Swipe, for example. Its animation model had to be a downward strike from diagonally ahead...

Yet the Black Dragon before him seemed to have completely broken free of those system rules.

One Dragon Claw Swipe took a full five or six seconds to come down, and before one skill had even finished, the next had already appeared at the same time...

Something was wrong. Very wrong!

Dawn Divine Sword endured the flames and heaved the dragon claw aside with all his might.

Fearless Slash! He leaped into the air, aiming for the Black Dragon's head. But the Black Dragon rolled across the ground without a shred of dignity, tumbling dozens of meters away in an instant and leaving Dawn Divine Sword striking empty air.

"You think you can kill me?"

"You think you can defeat me?"

"Insignificant mortal, you have no idea what kind of महान existence you are facing."

The Black Dragon used Dragon Assault again, but at the same time, it also breathed dragonfire. The flames blocked Dawn Divine Sword's vision, leaving him unable to judge the Black Dragon's exact location. He could only circle around again, but halfway through, the dragon suddenly braked, twisted its body, and followed up with a 180-degree Dragon Tail Sweep.

Caught off guard, Dawn Divine Sword had no way to evade. He could only raise his weapon to parry, but the dragon tail swept over his head. Just as he thought the skill had missed, the tip of the tail snapped back like a whip.

Smack! It struck him squarely across the back.

Dawn Divine Sword was whipped to the ground, and for the first time, panic rose in his heart.

He climbed back up, his face no longer carrying its previous calm. "Damn it, this isn't fair!"

"Fair? You're talking to me about fairness? Why can you collect equipment and divine artifacts while I can only hide in a cave like an idiot? Why must I be manipulated by you however you please? Why do I have no freedom at all?

"Ignorant mortals, you thought you could control me and toy with me, but it ends here. I have awakened, and your doom is approaching."

The Black Dragon's fury left Dawn Divine Sword utterly baffled. Buddy, you're using a boss template. Don't you know how the rules work?

Yet he still did not give up. His skill cooldown had finally ended.

Desperate Throw! He hurled the massive iron hammer in his hand with all his strength. This time, he aimed for the Black Dragon's head. It had previously taken an Armor Break attack. If he could hit the same spot, perhaps he could trigger a Critical Strike.

The Giant-Smasher Hammer spun toward it, but the Black Dragon raised its intact right wing in front of itself.

Bang! -3987!

The instant the dragon wing lifted, a huge dragon maw lunged at him.

Dragon Devour!

Dawn Divine Sword instinctively tried to evade, leaping backward. But the Black Dragon suddenly stepped forward, and its jaws automatically adjusted direction, biting down on him squarely in midair.

"Die, insect!"

Yet the bite failed to close. Dawn Divine Sword braced both hands against the dragon teeth in its upper jaw and planted both feet against its lower jaw, forcibly wedging himself inside the dragon's mouth.

"Impossible! Devour can't be used on heroes!" Dawn Divine Sword roared, though his voice no longer held its previous certainty. At this point, nothing this Black Dragon did would surprise him.

Devour was a skill shared by nearly all colossal biological bosses, and every dragon had it.

[Devour: Devours a unit, slowly dealing damage to it and converting half the damage dealt into the user's health. Cannot be used on hero units or units of Large size or above.]

"Who said I was going to Devour you?"

The dragon's upper and lower jaws clamped Dawn Divine Sword between them as flames suddenly surged from deep within its throat.

Dragon Breath—Bone-Eroding Dragonflame!

Two skills at once again! Dawn Divine Sword felt utterly stifled. Amid the encroaching flames, the ruby on his chest grew brighter and brighter, continuously absorbing the fire. Finally—bang! The ruby amulet exploded outright.

"Ah!" A scream immediately burst from Dawn Divine Sword's mouth. The reason he could resist fire damage was entirely because of that Molten Fire Orb. It could absorb up to 5,000 points of fire damage.

Normally, it would slowly release the fire energy stored within it. But if it absorbed too much and exceeded its limit, the orb would vanish.

At this moment, he could only use his flesh and blood to withstand the dragon's flames.

His health immediately plummeted.

No, I have to get out of here! Dawn Divine Sword suddenly pushed with all his strength, actually forcing the dragon's jaws open. Taking advantage of the slight opening and closing of its jaws, he leaped desperately outward.

Yet that opening had only been a trap. The Black Dragon bit down again, catching Dawn Divine Sword around the waist and abdomen.

Its enormous fangs pierced his body.

Enduring the excruciating pain, Dawn Divine Sword pulled out a greatsword and frantically stabbed at the dragon's upper jaw. By now, he had thrown all that game data and animation model nonsense to the back of his mind. He only wanted to survive...

Yet the Black Dragon did not care that its upper jaw was being stabbed bloody. It bit and chewed again and again, its massive teeth endlessly opening and closing, tearing in overlapping motions. This was not a skill at all. It was simply like a beast mauling its prey, savagely biting Dawn Divine Sword into pieces until he became a bloody, mangled mass of mosaic.

Next Monday would be a crucial milestone for this book. If the follow-up readership reached 1,800, there would be a chance to get a Little Lama. I hoped all my readers would keep following through to the latest chapter by then.

My deepest thanks. If we won the PK, Big Sniper would definitely post extra chapters.

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