One Slash
The oppressive atmosphere in the forest made it hard to breathe.
Separated by the jagged, Withered Branch branches and trunks, Lu Heng and the Dark-Spotted Leopard faced off, neither making a move.
The crossbow rested firmly between his arms, the trigger cold and stiff, the bolt locked onto the vital parts of the beast's torso. He didn't rush to pull the trigger, not out of hesitation, but because his old injury wouldn't allow for a mistake.
The deep, tingling numbness from the Swamp Giant Python's constricting grip still lingered in the muscles of my legs.
Standing on flat ground and moving slowly is perfectly fine, but as soon as you suddenly burst into a rush, change direction, or dodge to the side, the weak and sluggish feeling in your leg and abdominal meridians will immediately appear, and your body's reaction will be half a beat slower.
This is his only, and most fatal, weakness.
On the other hand, the Dark-Spotted Leopard on the opposite side was in top form.
Its limbs tread lightly on the damp soil, each step silent, its muscles constantly tense and ready to strike. It doesn't attack haphazardly or roar blindly intimidate; it simply moves sideways in small, continuous steps, avoiding obstructing branches and gradually developing an angle to attack.
As a native predator of the forest, it was all too familiar with this kind of standoff.
It could tell that the human in front of it had extremely poor mobility.
His movements are steady, his stance is firm, and he has great composure, but he is not agile and cannot grasp the rhythm of instantaneous dodging.
The initiative was entirely in the hands of the Dark-Spotted Leopard.
It constantly probed, tugged, and wore Lu Heng's arm as he held the crossbow, the slight shift in his gaze, and the subtle fluctuations in his breathing. If it could find even the slightest opening, it would launch a deadly close-quarters attack.
Lu Heng knew perfectly well what was going on.
In long-range firefights, he has a crossbow and the advantage of striking first.
Once someone gets close enough to touch you, your damaged Hunting Blade, wounded body, and restricted movement become fatal weaknesses.
After a few seconds of stalemate, he dared not rely entirely on ranged weapons as a last resort.
With a slight lift of his fingertips, he relaxed the tension on the crossbow, and with one hand, he swiftly reached for his waist. In a split second, the Bronze Hunting Blade was firmly grasped in his palm.
Hand Crossbow, a knife in the other.
Long-range countermeasures, close-range support. Dual weapons on standby simultaneously, eliminating all unforeseen risks.
The Dark-Spotted Leopard seemed to have noticed the weapon switching.
It stopped its aimless wandering and probing, suddenly lowered its body, raised its shoulder blades, and instantly tensed and clenched the muscles under its fur.
They've found a weakness.
It accurately captured the momentary hesitation Lu Heng experienced when he switched blades with one hand and subtly adjusted his center of gravity.
It was just this short gap.
The Dark-Spotted Leopard suddenly charged forward.
With a powerful stomp of its limbs, the slightly damp particles of humus on the surface suddenly exploded. Its streamlined body transformed into a dark shadow that hugged the ground, ignoring the obstacles scattered among the trees, and darting past the Withered Branch at high speed, its explosive power extremely ferocious.
The distance of just a few meters was shortened in an instant.
quick.
Extremely fast.
This was the forest speed that leopards relied on for survival, overwhelming the injured and restricted Lu Heng at this moment.
A strong wind rushed towards my face, carrying the pungent, fishy smell of a wild beast's body straight into my nostrils, and the oppressive feeling of impending doom instantly locked my entire body in place.
Anyone else would have panicked and dodged at this moment, or frozen in place, waiting to die.
But Lu Heng did not back down.
His mind was perfectly clear—my slow legs don't mean I'm weak overall.
The physique forged in the fierce battles of the swamp, the boosted basic attributes from the potions, and the core repaired muscle structure—all these were genuinely and solidly accumulated on his body.
It has both strength and agility.
However, his old leg injury limited his maximum range of motion, but not his reaction speed and the explosive power of his strikes.
A leg injury to someone else is equivalent to losing half of their combat strength.
His leg injury means he can't run, but he can still score tough goals.
Just as the Dark-Spotted Leopard leaped into the air, its claws about to sweep across its body, and it was completely within the blind spot of the crossbow bolts.
Lu Heng decisively abandoned the crossbow.
With a swift wrist flick, the drooping Hunting Blade instantly rose to a vertical position. The waist pressed down and rooted itself firmly, the feet gripping the soil tightly, and the remaining strength in the body instantly converged into the arm.
Do not dodge, do not flinch, do not retreat.
He took the decisive diving save head-on.
The Dark-Spotted Leopard in mid-air had already decided the outcome. In its Hunting Instinct, the sluggish human was no match for its close-range attack.
The next instant, the bluish-gray blade met the onrushing leopard with a straight, fierce, and unreserved slash.
There are no fancy moves, no clever tricks, just pure brute force slashes built from physical attributes.
Pfft--
A clear, resonant tearing sound suddenly exploded through the forest.
The blade precisely bit into the soft rib area where the Dark-Spotted Leopard's shoulder and neck connect to its waist and abdomen.
Too fast, too powerful, too sharp.
In addition, the Dark-Spotted Leopard's own ferocious inertia from its 100-meter sprint creates a double force.
The Bronze Hunting Blade sliced through most of the leopard's body without any hesitation or loss of force, following the leopard's streamlined form.
The skin and fur were torn, muscles were ripped, fascia was severed, and superficial ribs were directly grazed by the blade.
The knife wound pierced from the shoulder blade all the way to the lower abdomen, leaving a long, gruesome gash. Half of the body was completely exposed, and bright red, hot beast blood gushed out like a spring, instantly soaking the soil below.
The Dark-Spotted Leopard, which had leaped into the air to pounce, suddenly stiffened in mid-air.
All explosive power, sprinting ability, and survival struggles vanished instantly under this one strike.
His fierce and violent attack, which had been a moment ago, was abruptly cut short by a single strike.
The massive body, having lost all its support, crashed heavily to the ground, its limbs convulsing violently the moment it hit the ground. Half of its body was completely paralyzed and out of control, and it could only frantically kick and dig at the soil, with large amounts of blood continuously seeping into the earth.
His once bright and fierce vertical pupils quickly dimmed, became unfocused, and lost all their luster in a short moment.
Lu Heng steadily stopped his sword strike, his stance remaining perfectly still throughout.
Looking down at the horrific knife wound that pierced half of his prey's body, a genuine sense of satisfaction washed over him.
Anticipation, positioning, blade shifting, power generation, and slashing.
Zero errors throughout.
He knew very well that this strike would severely injure not only Black Iron Tier Dark-Spotted Leopard, but even a higher-level ferocious beast.
All hope was lost.
The lingering tension and murderous aura in the forest slowly dissipated, leaving only the stench of blood everywhere, the faint sound of blood dripping, and the weak twitching of the beast's body before its death.
This life-or-death standoff, which was on the verge of erupting, involved no tug-of-war, no fierce fighting, and no repeated maneuvering.
With just one well-timed opening, one precise blade change, and one powerful slash.
Instant kill, the game is over.