Chapter 74 - Foiled Ambush

The Serpentine Lizard’s attacks were especially ferocious, and Eternal Sin found them somewhat difficult to endure despite having very high defense.

「Hiss! Hiss!」Just as its scarlet tongue flickered in and out, the lizard opened its jaw and spat out a green globular substance. Upon contact with the air, it near instantaneously turned gaseous, rapidly expanded, and enshrouded everything within a two-meter radius in a poisonous mist.

−30… −30… −30... Damage values continuously rose above Eternal Sin's head with each passing second.

Each one of the Serpentine’s attacks dealt more than eighty damage to his health. At the rate the battle was currently going, he wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer.

“Death Speech, hurry up and cast Dispel!”

The team’s Priest, Death Speech, responded and hurriedly cast Dispel as a gentle ray of pure white fell on Eternal Sin’s position. The light reacted with the poisonous mist and within an instant, caused it to dilute by a great degree.

Eternal Sin glanced at his health bar which only had a hundred and sixty health remaining, though he didn’t have much time to ruminate over it as the Serpentine Lizard resumed its assault. He raised his greatsword in an effort to resist its attack, but the lizard latched onto him and bit out a chunk of flesh.

−76

Tendon Break!

Eternal Sin struck out in retaliation. The Serpentine Lizard’s movements immediately turned sluggish as it temporarily entered a crippled state. Taking advantage of this brief window, he hurriedly drew back in order to create some distance.

Just at that time, Lei Fa (Lightning Magic), the Elementalist, finished his incantation and cast Freeze Frost, whereupon a thin layer of ice began covering the Serpentine Lizard and slowed its movements even more.

This freeze effect was a trademark of an Elementalist’s Ice Magic.

Death Speech promptly followed up by casting Lesser Heal, while Eternal Sin downed a Basic Recovery Potion to supplement the healing. After the initial burst of healing, the red of his health bar continued to steadily rise.

Even while recovering, Eternal Sin stayed on full alert as he knew that Thief didn’t go too far. If he emerged and caught them off guard, it would be difficult to predict the outcome of the battle.

Just as his health replenished by three fourths, the cripple and freeze debuffs wore off, and the Serpentine Lizard came rushing forward.

Sub-Elite monsters were truly too difficult to deal with. Even Eternal Sin, who wore Death’s Sacrifice +2, lost health at such a rapid pace. If it were another team with worse equipment, they would’ve long been wiped by now.

Despite their combined efforts, the Serpentine Lizard still had a little over seventy percent health remaining.

「Candy, have you found him yet?」

「No, I have no idea where that slippery bastard ran off to.」

「Everyone, remain alert. Su Yan (White Smoke), be ready to use that spell!」

「Understood,」Su Yan replied promptly. After having known each other for so long, Eternal Sin only needed to say a few words and she would understand what was needed of her.

Although Nie Yan couldn’t listen in on what Eternal Sin and his team were conversing about, he knew it concerned him. However, they were heavily overestimating themselves. As a Thief with over ten years of experience, he wouldn’t allow himself to be caught so easily.

Their team isn’t bad. They might actually be able to kill it... He stared intently at the ferocious Serpentine Lizard. A Level 7 Sub Elite, who knows what sort of items it’ll drop?

For the time being, he didn’t have any immediate plans of going against Eternal Sin and his team. However, it wouldn’t necessarily be too late to decide after the two sides wore each other out a little further.

Eternal Sin brandished his greatsword. He fiercely slashed down on the Serpentine Lizard’s body and dealt incredibly high damage.

「How much mana left?」Eternal Sin asked in the team chat.

「67%.」

「78%.」

「32%.」Lei Fa cast his gaze at Eternal Sin’s expression, afraid that he would get angry.

「Why is it so low?」Eternal Sin furrowed his brows and asked.

「When the battle started, my mana wasn’t fully recovered. Then later on, I used several high-damage spells...」

「Enough, just conserve what’s left of it.」Eternal Sin didn’t say more after listening to Lei Fa’s explanation.

Lei Fa switched to the low-mana-cost Ice Arrow. After a while, his mana was still low, so he drank a Basic Mana Potion and restored his mana to sixty-seven percent.

...

Under the constant battering spells, the Serpentine Lizard’s health eventually fell to a little over twenty percent.

It only has around two hundred health left! By this point, Eternal Sin’s mind was already tense to the point of snapping.

Once its health fell below the twenty percent line, the Serpentine Lizard’s skin began changing into a peculiar red.「HISS! HISS!」It let out a strange cry, and subsequently, the ground beneath Eternal Sin’s feet turned muddy.

He was inwardly alarmed when he discovered he couldn’t pull out his feet which began to sink.

Not even a second later, the Serpentine Lizard leapt at him again. He activated Whirlwind Slash and successfully repelled it several steps back.

Seeing Eternal Sin trapped in the mud pit, Candy suddenly thought of something and anxiously commanded,「Death Speech, use Illuminate!」

The Priest didn’t dare to dally after hearing Candy’s order. He extended his palm and sent a sphere of light flying into the air, whereupon it released a blinding radiance that fell to the earth like a curtain of silk.

Illuminate was a spell that revealed everything within a five-meter radius of the Priest. As the spell revealed its effects, the outline of a silhouette wielding two daggers gradually emerged behind the Priest. The silhouette was already mid-strike, the pommel of its dagger going straight for the back of the Priest’s head!

“He’s there!” Candy raised her dagger and dashed in to intercept Nie Yan.

The sound of blades clashing against each other reverberated through the air.

Nie Yan had been hard pressed to find an opening. Nonetheless, his patience had persevered. Taking advantage of the havoc caused by the Serpentine Lizard’s skill, he silently approached the Priest’s back, and just as he was about to deliver fate-sealing blow, his intentions had been unexpectedly seen through, and he was intercepted mid-attack. Now, he was forced into a passive state defending against Candy’s attacks.

His plan had been to kill the Priest named Death Speech first. With the healer down, Elemental Sin, who was fighting the Serpentine Lizard, would soon follow. It was killing two birds with one stone.

He just never expected that he would be seen through in spite of his flawless stealth.

This was the first time he failed an ambush since reincarnating!

After Candy intercepted him, the Priest successfully escaped. Since his sneak attack had failed, he activated Swift Retreat and pulled back rapidly.

「Boom!」He dodged the bolt of lightning just in the knick of time.

Following the bolt of lightning, he had been struck by a ray of light, though it had dealt no damage.

Standing in the distance, Su Yan’s lips curved into a smirk. Let’s just see where you can hide to now that you’ve been marked!

As Nie Yan retreated, a bright floating mark had appeared floating above his head. No matter where he went, the mark would follow and reveal his position.

I’ve been marked! he inwardly cried out in alarm and hastily made his retreat.

Candy followed in pursuit but she was noticeably slower than him. After activating Swift Retreat, he had become too fast for her. She had no chance of catching up to him. The gap increasingly widened, and he soon broke away.

These players were simply too strong. It would be rather difficult taking advantage of them. Thus, he had no choice but to give up and dashed out of the area.

...

“Candy, how did you discover him?” Death Speech excitedly said, after being barely rescued from the clutches of death. That Thief had been really close to his position. If she was even a second later, not only would he have died but Eternal Sin would have as well.

“I didn’t. My Awareness isn’t that high. I was actually puzzled for quite a long time. Why hadn’t that Thief acted by now? There were already several good opportunities that had gone by. So, I put myself in his shoes and thought to myself, ‘When would be a good time to attack?’ When I saw Tall Guy sink into that quagmire, I guessed that was probably the best opportunity, which was why I had you cast Illuminate. I didn’t expect that I’d actually discover him…” Candy replied. If she had been a step slower, Death Speech would have lost his life. Truthfully, that Thief’s stealth abilities could be described as perfect. The reason she had found him could be mostly attributed to good luck.

She peered past the thickets and into the distance. That Thief had long disappeared within Natlan Marsh’s fog.

Since Glimmer Mark had a duration of two minutes, if he were to come again within that time, they would immediately discover him. Thus, they could rest assured that he wouldn't mount another ambush.