Grave Lord Greatsword Dance

The incident started like this.

[You travel through chaotic time and space, and inadvertently catch a glimpse of a fragment of a past era:]

Due to the disruption of spacetime, you have become surrounded by Abyss Creature.

Two beings who could help you have also wandered into this place, but they are currently in conflict and need your mediation. Please choose.

Option 1: Fight the Mushroom Man with a punch.

Option Two: Embrace Rotten Kindred

[Option 3: You are all my wings; while battling the Mushroom Man, I embrace my Rotten Kindred]

Looking at the three options in front of him, Jia Paer felt confused for the first time.

His question was—couldn't I kill all those mere abyssal Abyss Creature by myself?

But this space doesn't give him any other way out; instead, it forces him to make a choice, and he can't leave without choosing an option.

That's a bit disgusting.

Seeing this, Jia Paer could only start to ponder.

Fighting the Mushroom Man with a punch? It seems like the simplest thing to do, and under normal circumstances, he would definitely choose this option.

Unfortunately, he's not in his normal state right now. Due to the effect of [Grave Lord's Swordsman], he has become a high-attack, low-health character. Even a single punch from Living Dead would kill him on the spot.

Therefore, regardless of whether the Mushroom Man is strong or weak, he cannot choose this option.

Then the third one should also be excluded. "You are all my wings"—what kind of genius came up with that line?

In the end, Jia Paer found that he had only one choice: to embrace his Rotten Kindred.

If it's just a hug, there shouldn't be any problems, right?

The scene flashed, and he suddenly found himself in the same room as before, with a pale, grotesque creature standing in front of him.

That thing looked neither human nor insect, with a bunch of tiny hands waving around in front of it. If someone with insect phobia or trypophobia were here, they'd be in for a treat.

"It's not quite what I imagined,"

He had thought that Rotten Kindred would look like rotten flesh and blood, but now that he looked at them, they seemed a little better; at least their clothes wouldn't get dirty.

Jia Paer, having seen his share of storms, didn't show much panic or disgust even when embracing such a repulsive creature; he simply hugged it openly.

The Rotten Kindred huddled in his arms, looking somewhat shy.

Well, it's alright.

Jia Paer tried to keep his eyes straight ahead, and his mood improved if he imagined the Rotten Kindred in his arms as a girl in armor.

He now believed he had made the right choice. If he had punched the Mushroom Man, he would have died, but a hug would have been fine; he could simply take a shower afterward.

You have soothed the anxious spirit of the Rotten Kindred, and he will help you defeat the Abyss Creature.

[You have been infected by the corruption of your Rotten Kindred. Don't worry, simply hugging them won't cause a complete infection.]

However, the effect of Blessing: Hell Sword greatly accelerates your rate of infection!

You have been infected with Scarlet Corruption!

"Pfft—"

Jia Paer suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood. He felt as if something foreign had invaded his body, and some kind of change was taking place inside him. This was not a good thing!

But he couldn't control his body and could only watch helplessly as he coughed up blood while fighting alongside his Rotten Kindred, bravely battling the Abyss Creature.

Fortunately, he still possessed considerable strength in this simulation, and the Abyss Creature couldn't even touch him.

You have successfully defeated the Abyss Creature and gained the friendship of the Rotten Kindred. You may meet them again on your journey ahead.

The intense battle has deepened your Scarlet Corruption, and you now feel extremely weak.

[Blessed: Scarlet Corruption]

[The blessing from the Goddess of Corruption is a major problem for humanity. Your life force is rapidly decreasing. If you cannot find a way to remove the corruption, you will not be able to sustain four time jumps.]

Time-space jump – that's the name of the method that uses teleportation chests to switch between different rooms.

Although the name is somewhat common, it is simple and easy to understand.

[Item Obtained: Bandit's Treasure Chest]

The Booty Bay will contain new treasures after each time jump, and will disappear after accumulating three such times.

If Jia Paer didn't have the [Hell Sword] blessing debuff, this event would be a pure bonus stage.

Unfortunately, he brought it with him, so he could only continue on his path with the Scarlet Corruption.

He saw the Rotten Kindred give him a big hug after their victory, as if they were family.

Jia Paer remained expressionless; he now wished he could chop the giant worm to pieces.

The world before his eyes refreshed again, and he was back in an empty room. Everything he had just experienced seemed like an illusion.

The Scarlet Corruption remained in his body in an unusual way, but it wasn't the kind that would spread.

Each time jump reduces his life force by about a quarter, and without Healing Magic, he certainly wouldn't survive more than four time jumps.

"This means we're completely separated," Jia Paer looked around and, not seeing anyone else, waited a while longer to make sure no one else would come before continuing forward and opening the teleportation chest.

This time it's Combat Level, and what appears before him is a group of familiar monsters— Ghrū.

But these Ghrū creatures looked very strange; they were tainted by a black substance, turning them into an even more distorted form.

"So-called Abyss Creature?" Jia Paer mused.

He had heard some things about the Abyss and knew that a strange power called "Abyss" could infect normal creatures—this information came from Malu, Malu's information came from Da Er. This young man had published all the information he knew on the bulletin board.

After being Abyss Infection, Ghrū became even more ferocious, fighting without any restraint, and would even attack his companions who stood in his way.

Jia Paer remembered that the abyss would make monsters dangerous.

"But why have I never heard of such a thing before?"

He opened the "circle" while pondering.

Currently, only information related to the Abyss has appeared in the Zane Dungeon. Is there some connection between this place and the Abyss? Or is the Abyss being suppressed here?

Will other abysses appear in other dungeons?

Thinking too much, Jia Paer felt like he was almost forgetting the word "Abyss".

"After you get out, write to your old friend and ask him about it."

The attacks from the Ghrū were not strong for him; he could even withstand them with his own body without any problem.

However, there were too many debuffs, and the negative status effects forced him to dodge and attempt to avoid taking damage.

The Ghrū Abyss Infection has a strong vitality. Even after being slashed, it can still fight back, which makes the Sword Saint have to be careful, as even a single attack could cost him his life.

It's really unpleasant to be forced to do things by external factors; I haven't felt that way for many years.

To deal with numerical monsters, you have to use mechanics.

The negative status effect brought by the blessing is the best solution to deal with powerful opponents like the Sword Saint. The next best option is to use numerical superiority.

Thanks to this, Jia Paer is currently releasing a large amount of Spirit Power, and the Zane Dungeon is making a killing.

So far, the three-part Strategy Team has completed one Event Level and two Combat Level, and it's time to choose a blessing again.

When Jia Paer chose [Blessing: Skull Leap], which belonged to the [Tomb Lord] faction along with the previous two blessings, something magical happened!

[Successfully obtained three of the Tomb King's blessings, unlocking the class: Grave Lord Servant]

Hunt down enemies and collect their eyes; once a certain number are collected, the Grace: Grave Lord Greatsword Dance skill can be activated.

The chance of receiving the Tomb King's Blessing has increased.

"A gift?"

Jia Paer suddenly discovered a brand on his left hand, the same mark as the one given by the Tomb King.

The brand was radiating a crimson glow, signifying that he could now use the Grave Lord Greatsword Dance once.

He was eager to try it out, so he immediately went over and opened the teleportation chest.

This time, what appeared before him was no longer a lowly soldier, but an elite-level monster.

The Abyss-Corrupted Nargacuga

The once furry velociraptor was now covered in a black, muddy abyss, exuding a ferocious aura. The moment Jia Paer appeared, it pounced on him.

Jia Paer nimbly dodged the attack, looking at the Tomb King's mark in his palm, unsure how to use it.

Is it a shout of "Grave Lord Greatsword Dance"? Or is it unleashed remotely at the monster?

The velociraptor's wings, sharp as knives, lashed out. Jia Paer crouched down to dodge, his branded hand pressing down on the ground.

A sudden thought flashed through his mind, and he understood how to unleash the blessing.

"Grave Lord Greatsword Dance!"

With no one around and no one to remember what Jia Paer had done, he impulsively shouted out the name of his move.

Wow, I haven't felt this kind of shameful yet exhilarating feeling in a long time.

The next instant, the aura of death surged in the room, and he himself felt threatened by this power.

The ground trembled and cracked, and huge crimson blades suddenly emerged from the ground. There were so many of them that the velociraptors that got close had nowhere to hide!

Its body was pierced by the sword blade, and the place where it was hit was covered with a dense aura of death, which was constantly taking away its life force.

That attack crippled it by half!

The power exceeded Jia Paer's imagination, but upon further reflection, it was a gift from a being that seemed to be a god, so it was not surprising that it had such an effect.

Actually, the Grave Lord Greatsword Dance wasn't originally this powerful.

The biggest effect of this blessing is to cause the enemy to lose health continuously. The damage from the blades is just a bonus. Moreover, the scattered blades are easy to miss when dealing with small enemies.

Jia Paer was able to achieve this effect only because he unleashed his blessing while beneath the velociraptor, with the blade hitting almost all of his targets, and his own stats also boosted the blessing's strength.

After a while, Jia Paer defeated the Nargacuga and was choosing a new blessing.

He seemed to be enjoying himself, and the uncertainty of receiving the blessing made him a little hopeful for the future.

Oh dear, another person is about to fall into Sain's "trap"!

The city lord's room.

As Gong Qiying looked at the Crystal Ball, he muttered to himself, "Sure enough, we need to find a group of people to do internal testing before the official launch."

He plans to remove the setting that "the adventurer's stats can affect the power of the gift" after the adventurers leave, and change it so that no matter who uses the gift, the effect is the same.

"There are still quite a few problems,"

His notebook was filled with questions, all of which needed to be revised.

If you scroll back further, you'll see his vision for the Roguelike model.