Blinding Strike: Annihilation of the Subordinates

Having witnessed the death of its subordinate, the Goblin Lord, already enraged by its interrupted evolution, grew even more berserk. Its thunderous power erupted, expanding into a domain of lightning, and after forcing Tian Zheng back, it spun around without hesitation, closing the distance to Bai Xia in a few swift strides.

At the same moment, attacks launched by the Goblin Archers and Slingers also locked onto Bai Xia, with Explosive Stone Spikes and Poison Arrows completely sealing off any escape routes.

Though these goblins possessed low intelligence, they were clearly not entirely useless; the perfectly timed coordination demonstrated now served as the best proof.

Helpless, with no means of evasion, Bai Xia could only brace herself for the Poison Arrows and Explosive Stone Spikes, their impact grazing the Goblin Lord’s lightning blade. Her health visibly plummeted in an instant, and she was afflicted with both a slowing and poisoned status.

Fortunately, Tian Zheng flashed forward to draw the Goblin Lord’s aggro (TL Note: A gaming term for drawing the enemy’s attention or hostility), granting her a brief moment to catch her breath.

“Tsk… using subordinates like this is truly despicable!”

The Goblin Lord itself was already formidable enough to deal with, but now, with these subordinates constantly firing from the rear, Bai Xia felt an overwhelming sense of peril.

However, the Goblin Lord’s relentless assault continued without pause, leaving neither Bai Xia nor Tian Zheng able to break away to deal with its remaining subordinates. This allowed the subordinates to operate in an exceptionally comfortable damage-dealing environment.

“We can’t keep this stalemate going.”

As the Goblin Lord once again raised its greatsword to condense a skill, Bai Xia let out a low murmur, then transformed into a shadow, dodging a poisonous arrow while simultaneously teleporting behind the creature. She pushed off the ground with force, leaping high into the air.

Thwack!

The dagger, raised to its highest point, plunged without hesitation into the back of the Goblin Lord’s neck. The pallid monster roared in agony, and the skill it was casting was interrupted, thanks to the critical strike on its weak point!

In the game, having a skill interrupted resulted in a brief state of rigidity. Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Tian Zheng swiftly closed in and unleashed a furious assault upon the Goblin Lord.

His silver blade flashed, striking the defenseless Goblin Lord and eliciting a cascade of damage numbers, forcibly driving it backward.

While the Goblin Lord was momentarily distracted by the frontal assault, Bai Xia, who had been clinging to its back, kicked off with her leather boots and, pulling out her dagger, scaled its hunched back, landing on its shoulder after a few agile leaps.

The Goblin Lord immediately sensed her presence and attempted to shake her off, but the sharp blade in Bai Xia’s hand, formed from dark energy, had already plunged down from its crown!

In reality, this would undoubtedly result in a gruesome headshot and an utterly unsightly demise. However, since this was merely a game with gore disabled, no truly brutal scenes would unfold.

Naturally, as one of a creature’s most vital points, striking the head in the game also granted special bonuses, not only dealing additional damage but also having a certain probability of triggering a critical hit for double damage.

Thus, as Bai Xia’s dagger descended, a scarlet critical hit number floated upward, and the Goblin Lord’s health bar, which had only barely dipped, instantly diminished by a visibly significant segment!

Moreover, along with the dagger’s penetration, a cloud of inky black mist also surged in. The black mist obscured the Goblin Lord’s eyes, causing it to momentarily lose both sight and spatial awareness.

Blinded!

Shadow Blade attacks had a small chance to trigger a blinding effect, and its sudden activation now left Bai Xia momentarily stunned. However, she quickly regained her composure, then unhesitatingly leaped off the thrashing body of the Goblin Lord.

“Kill the small fry first!”

Tian Zheng caught her in his outstretched arms. Bai Xia had no time to ponder whether he had taken advantage of the moment to ‘cop a feel’ (TL Note: Chinese slang ‘kai you’ (揩油) means to take advantage of a situation, often with a subtle sexual connotation, or to freeload/take a cut.). Immediately upon landing, she dashed towards the distant goblin subordinates.

After all, the blind duration would only last a mere five seconds; thus, not a single second could be wasted.

The Goblin Archers and Slingers were startled to see them abandon their boss and rush over without hesitation. They tried to create distance, but their inherent speed was already slow, and the confined space here offered little room to maneuver.

Moreover, without the Goblin Lord’s interference this time, they had no way of preventing the duo from approaching.

While the Goblin Lord stood erratically swinging its lightning greatsword in place, utterly unaware that its surroundings were now devoid of enemies, Bai Xia and Tian Zheng had already simultaneously closed in on its last few subordinates.

To save time, Bai Xia activated Shadow Stealth Acceleration while advancing, emerging like a ghostly shadow directly in front of a Goblin Slinger. She then executed a Dark Harvest teleport-jump, dealing backstab damage to complete a three-hit combo, and finished the kill with a perfectly timed Throat Slice that triggered a critical hit!

Her movements flowed like water, and even Tian Zheng couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration at their elegance and marvel at Bai Xia’s rapid growth.

Admiration aside, his own speed was no less impressive. After Bai Xia, with a stroke of luck, virtually one-shotted a subordinate, he immediately joined her in targeting the second one.

These ranged subordinates were incredibly squishy, and once engaged in close combat, they were as easy to bully as lambs fallen into a wolf’s maw. Of course… they weren’t the mutated kind of sheep, like Pleasant Goat (TL Note: A popular Chinese cartoon character, ‘Xi Yang Yang’ (喜羊羊), a clever goat who often outwits wolves), that could turn the tables on a wolf.

In short, by the time the Goblin Lord regained its sight, only one of its five summoned subordinates remained alive, and even that last one was on the brink of collapse.

It roared in fury, attempting to rush over and provide support, but Bai Xia and Tian Zheng had already closed in on the final Goblin Archer, and calmly dispatched it before the Lord could arrive.

In an instant, all its subordinates were utterly annihilated. The Goblin Lord’s eyes, which had already seemed bloodshot, now became almost completely saturated with crimson, and arcs of lightning crackled and exploded around it, giving it for a moment the genuine aura of a thunder god descended.

Pity, without the help of those sneaky (TL Note: ‘Lao yin bi’ (老阴逼) is Chinese slang for a cunning, insidious, or treacherous person, often used humorously in gaming contexts for enemies that employ underhanded tactics.) subordinates, Bai Xia felt her pressure significantly reduced as she observed it, and merely curled her lips into a cold sneer.

Without needing to exchange a single word, she and Tian Zheng immediately turned and charged forward to meet it.

However, perhaps the previous attacks had been too painful, for the Goblin Lord this time showed no intention of letting them approach again. Thus, as Bai Xia rushed towards it, large masses of viscous electric light suddenly surged from its body!

The electric light pulsed, dealing continuous damage even before they drew near, and their bodies noticeably slowed.

Then, the Goblin Lord raised its greatsword high and forcefully cleaved it into the ground before them.

CRACK!

A torrent of wild electricity, comparable to the one that had initially repelled Bai Xia and Tian Zheng, surged forth once more, sweeping outwards like a tidal wave.

Prepared this time, the duo immediately retreated, fleeing the epicenter of the blast. However, Bai Xia, a fraction of a second too slow, was still grazed by the outer ring of electric light; though she didn’t sustain significant damage, the impact nearly sent her sprawling face-first into the dirt. Fortunately, Tian Zheng, with lightning-fast reflexes, pulled her upright.

Before she could even utter a word of thanks, the man suddenly flung her with considerable force, actually throwing her straight towards the Goblin Lord, which had just finished its skill and was rushing forward!

“Wha—!?”

Bai Xia’s eyes widened in astonishment, but the Goblin Lord showed not the slightest hesitation. Seeing its target fall directly before it, it swung its blade down in a crushing blow.

This time, it even intentionally lowered its body, ensuring that even if Bai Xia defensively crouched and covered her head, she would still be sliced in half!

It was at this crucial moment, however, that Tian Zheng, having thrown her forward, accelerated to catch up, his silver blade rising to block the greatsword head-on.

While the damage was blocked, the accompanying impact still slammed into Tian Zheng’s body.

Fortunately, Bai Xia had fully reacted by then. Just before the man was sent reeling by the immense force, she stomped the ground and leaped high, then used the Goblin Lord’s momentarily frozen greatsword as a secondary springboard, propelling herself forward. With a grimace twisting on the Lord’s face, she plunged her dagger directly into its crimson eye!

“This move is called Physical Blindness!”