Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Chapter 492 – Despicable and Excruciating

Its ultimate move came just as Gu Fei thought of it. Seeing that its basic attacks were unable to deal any damage to Gu Fei, Giordano simply decided to use his ultimate move. Gu Fei saw Giordano’s still attacking figure suddenly strike forth, the body of its blade dipping low. A circle of dirt around its body abruptly flew outward as Giordano yelled while its blade flipped up, “Explosive Flames!”

That single-handed broadsword Giordano was wielding, which was many sizes bigger than Gu Fei’s Moonlit Nightfalls, instantly turned red like a branding iron and radiated off a wave of scorching heat as Giordano’s broadsword came bearing down on Gu Fei.

Before the sword connected with Gu Fei’s body, just feeling that wave of heat alone caused Gu Fei’s HP to drop, so who knew how powerful that sword blow itself would be? Gu Fei did not dare to use his sword to block it, for fear of him being melted just by getting too near it. All he could do was evade the attack. However, Gu Fei was not simply seeking to evade the attack by repositioning himself now but was, instead, choosing a blind angle that would prevent his opponent from continuing his attack.

Gu Fei slanted his lower body and went below Giordano’s right flank. This position was at an angle where Giordano’s attack would be unable to follow into, unless its joints could twist in a way that was inhumanly possible. Given the realism Parallel World consistently boasted, such a thing was an impossibility.

I’m temporarily out of danger! was the conclusion Gu Fei had confidently come to when he successfully made it to that position. Meanwhile, as if aware that its strike was ineffective, the color of Giordano’s blade returned to normal. However, the moment it returned to its original obsidian hue, looking all somber, Giordano roared anew, “Explosive Earth!”

Gu Fei had indeed made the right call with that blind angle. If Giordano wished to attack him in this position, the NPC would have to move itself quite substantially, such that he would be able to observe its movement sufficiently and react accordingly. Alas, Giordano’s Explosive Earth was far quicker than what Gu Fei had imagined; it was as if the move was activated at the same time Explosive Flames failed to connect.

Gu Fei was a little confused by this. This was because from, Giordano’s position, there was no way it would hit Gu Fei using the same move, so what was its point for executing it once more?

Gu Fei had no idea that Giordano was using another move, for even though he heard Giordano’s shout, Explosive Flames and Explosive Earth¹ unfortunately sounded similar to each other...

Giordano’s greatsword dug into the ground at an inexplicably fast speed. Gu Fei was still wondering why it made such a baffling action when a powerful force from under his feet hit him.

CRAP!

Registering this on his mind, his reaction time was surprisingly quick. The instant he realized what was happening was also the time he sought to evade the attack.

Chunks of earth from beneath the ground exploded and Gu Fei was sent flying in the air along with this wave of dirt and soil. He could feel his HP falling, yet he knew that he had successfully dodged a large portion of the damage. I shouldn’t lose my life here, right? Gu Fei watched his HP gauge descend as he finally lost his balance amid the flying rocks and soil and fell to the ground.

“Are you okay?” Svelte Dancer glided over in a flurry of steps and quickly helped Gu Fei up the ground.

“I’m still alive...” Gu Fei saw that he was left with one fifth of his max HP after this attack.

“How did you dodge that, dummy?” Svelte Dancer asked.

“I really hate such sort of attack...” Gu Fei was depressed. He had performed such a perfect dodge back there, yet Giordano was able to use such a move to do a follow-up attack just like that. Such an unrealistic and fantastical attack, which was made possible by a skill, was beyond Gu Fei’s expectation. It allowed Giordano to perform a perfect follow-up attack even after its opponent made it to a blind angle.

Of course, what was more detestable was that the two attacks sounded the same! By now, Gu Fei had realized that the two were not the same skill. Had the despicable system not made the skills sound the same, Gu Fei would not have hesitated so much and would not have lost that much HP in that one attack.

The battle was naturally still ongoing. Giordano turned around and, even though Gu Fei was nowhere near the range of its attack, slashed its sword out with a roar, “Explosive Wind!²”

“F*CK ME!” Gu Fei yelled as well. At the same time Giordano completed his shout, Gu Fei could sense a sharp gust of wind from the sword as it cleaved down to him. Gu Fei quickly scrambled to roll away as a deep fissure appeared where he was moments before.

“There should be a limit to your despicability!” Gu Fei said through gritted teeth. Three completely different skills, all sounding the same. It was hard to believe that this was not intentionally designed to be so.

Svelte Dancer was already left speechless at this point. She was right beside Gu Fei just then, but with the focus of Giordano’s aggro being plain its accuracy it showed in its attack toward its target and the NPC’s execution being so exacting, the attack did not even connect to her in the slightest. However, before she could react to what was happening, Gu Fei rolled away as a furrow of dirt fissured in the ground right before her...

An alarming attack, which resulted in a shocking dodge, at a frightening distance... As terrifying as Giordano’s attack was, Svelte Dancer felt that Gu Fei’s timely reaction to dodge that attack was actually far more intimidating.

“You’re a freak...” Svelte Dancer felt that this was apt to describe Gu Fei.

“Are you ready? It’s ‘go’ time!” Gu Fei said to Svelte Dancer.

“Have you spotted his weakness yet?” Svelte Dancer asked.

Giordano strode over after consecutively dishing out its three ultimate moves; the NPC was back to using the basic attack pattern it was programmed with. It had no other choice as that was just how a BOSS would act. Ultimately, it was a BOSS created for players to kill, so it must leave the players a chance to achieve this end. A BOSS that would relentlessly send out ultimate kill moves would definitely not qualify as a BOSS.

“I saw its scar!” Gu Fei dodged the attacks even as he described it to Svelte Dancer. “This guy’s attack pattern is a little sluggish and compensated, which is caused by its residual habits.”

“Can you speak to me in Chinese please?!” Svelte Dancer was expressionless.

“Simply put, it is originally a left-handed swordsman, but it is now using its right hand,” Gu Fei said.

“That means its left hand is injured and is unable to handle a sword, right?” Svelte Dancer’s eyes shone when she grasped this.

“It may not be just its left hand. Anywhere along his whole left arm is a possibility, especially at its joints,” Gu Fei answered.

“So we need to test the entire arm?” Svelte Dancer asked.

“Yup.” Gu Fei nodded. “Hurry!”

“It’s his left shoulder, you fool.” Suddenly, a lackadaisical voice sounded from beside them. Svelte Dancer quickly turned to look and spotted a man decked out in Fighter equipment sitting on the ground by the side, digging his nose as he watched Gu Fei fight with Giordano in disdain.

“Who are you?” Svelte Dancer was on guard.

“Hello, beautiful. I am that idiot’s elder cousin.” The man that had suddenly appeared was Gu Xian.

Gu Fei did not even turn to look. He already knew that it was him the moment he heard his voice. “Why are you here again?”

“How did you get in here?!” Svelte Dancer was extremely astonished. The fight between the two forces, which made up this encirclement, was in full swing, so it was hard to imagine how this man was able to leisurely sit on the ground there; the air he was exuding juxtaposed that of the brawl happening around him.

“He he. I’m pretty lucky when it comes to such things.” Gu Xian chuckled.

“Windchord, quickly go kill that man!” A player from Flowergazing in the Fog hollered to Gu Xian as he pointed at Gu Fei. They were all busy fighting against the opposing guild that came to crash the party, so none of them was available to protect Giordano. The reappearance of Gu Xian was indeed quite a surprise for these people, but what was more pleasantly surprising was that the opposing guild did not bother attacking Gu Xian. Thinking about this, it sort of made sense given Windchord’s popularity in Xiawu City and the many good relationship he had fostered with the people. Given his status as a free agent that belonged to no guild, players from all these guilds could easily recognize the man and would naturally not seek to trouble him.

“Wait a minute. I wanna see this twerp take on the BOSS first.” Gu Xian gave this unhurried reply to that request.

“F*CK! Then, what about our f*ck*ng quest?!” The man from Flowergazing in the Fog was incensed.

“Who cares about what happens to your quest... Did I ever say I am here to help you with that?” Gu Xian was actually patient enough to respond to the question the man had posed.

“ARGGHHH!” A sudden heartrending bellow tore through the air, causing everybody’s heart to tremble as they all subconsciously turned to the origin of the sound. Right in the center of the encirclement, Giordano threw its sword to the ground as its right hand clutched its left shoulder while letting out a bloodcurdling scream. Even more shocking was that its eyes looked clouded over, as though the NPC was on the verge of losing consciousness.

While Gu Xian was engaging that player from the Flowergazing in the Fog in b*llsh*t, Gu Fei seized the opportunity to plant two heavy blows on Giordano’s shoulder using the two most damaging spells in his arsenal: Twin Incineration and Palm of Thunder. Gu Fei trusted Gu Xian’s judgement and eyes... These were things that would not deteriorate as a result of laziness.

That first blow made Giordano reveal an expression filled with excruciating pain, and the second blow essentially pushed it into the brink of collapse.

Andrew Su’s Diary was truly a book filled with hints pertaining to this quest. Locating the weakness of Giordano and applying damage precisely uncovered the shadow of its pain...

At Gu Fei’s successful execution of this cruel method, Giordano showed a very life-like simulation of the pain it was experiencing; Gu Fei was touched by the deep-seated fear and trepidation its eyes beheld. This sort of pain was not merely from the injury but also from the fear of its terrifying experience, which was what truly shadowed its pain. The body of Giordano most likely had an entire backstory to it, right?

“Hey. What are you standing there in a daze for? Kill it already!” Gu Xian called out.

Gu Fei was hesitant. He knew that Giordano was nothing more than a NPC, and that its purpose was to be killed by players, yet this quest was something he had created in his mind. Unknowingly, he began to feel that these NPCs were living breathing existences. It was the same emotion he had felt while he was reading the Shadowmist Assassin’s diary. The bout of sadness Gu Fei felt as he hoped that the lost Assassin would be able to find its way out and continue on with its life.

Do I really want to complete this quest? was the question that suddenly appeared in Gu Fei’s mind right now.