“No effect!?”
Ji Xiaodao, who had been sent flying into the air, was momentarily stunned, but the current situation left her no time to think. The extremely heavy ‘long spear’ in her opponent’s hand was already streaking through the air, and if she were hit, the consequences would be unimaginable!
It should be noted that Ji Xiaodao had no advantage in terms of physique. Both the Rogue and Shadow Swordsman professions focused almost entirely on Agility, while the weapon in the burly man’s hand weighed at least fifty kilograms. If she were hit head-on without any leverage, it would be troublesome…
Shadow Weave!
Several black lines shot out from Ji Xiaodao’s shadow on the ground, wrapped around the girl’s slender waist, pulling her down at the last moment and narrowly dodging Cordova’s powerful strike.
“Oh! You’re pretty fast.” Cordova shrugged, then grinned, “But still not as fast as that female pervert from before. Take another basic attack from me – The Great Windmill Spins Squeakily!”
He gripped the end of the executor’s staff with both hands, took a bow stance, and then spun his entire body rapidly. Under the effect of inertia, his speed became faster and faster, like a top, he whirled towards the Dark Elf girl in front of him. The cold light of the staff created countless afterimages, and a normal person would suffer broken bones and torn tendons with just a light touch.
This move was purely Cordova’s improvisation. After all, everyone knew that this guy couldn’t learn any skills, and ordinary equipment would have no effect on him. So, Cordova’s attack methods were essentially just basic attacks, basic attacks, and basic attacks…
However, the power of this ‘Great Windmill Spins Squeakily’ move was considerable. Under Cordova’s Strength attribute of 120, it was truly devastating. Even a Level 20-30 warrior player unleashing a full-power 【Whirlwind Slash】 would achieve a similar effect.
Moreover, as a Rune Body, Cordova would not suffer from negative statuses like ‘dizziness’ or ‘nausea’ from such high-frequency self-rotation, which could almost be said to be quite perfect… right?
“Shouting out the name of the move so loudly…” Ji Xiaodao sighed softly, “Truly quite chuunibyou.”
Skill activated – Shadow Meld.
The girl quickly merged into the shadow beneath her, then swiftly reappeared behind a pile of ruins a dozen meters away. She poked her head out to glance at Cordova, who was aimlessly spinning around because he had lost his target, wondering when this guy would finally stop.
As a result… the other party actually spun for a full two minutes before finally crashing headfirst into a partially collapsed civilian house.
“What kind of move is this?!”
Ji Xiaodao was instantly stunned, while Galahad, who had not intervened due to a certain command, twitched his lips. He understood…
“Damn it!” Cordova, covered in dust and looking dejected, emerged from the now completely ruined civilian house. He lowered his head to look at the staff in his hand and sighed, “Finally stopped.”
It turned out this guy had been spinning too wildly and couldn’t stop…
“Isn’t he an idiot…?”
Marshal Galahad also sighed.
“He is an idiot.”
Ji Xiaodao made a very firm judgment, then immediately activated the skill Flash Shadow and appeared not far behind Cordova, raising her hand and sending a Guiding Wind Cross towards Cordova.
If she wasn’t mistaken, the unidentifiable fellow in front of her shouldn’t be good at ranged combat, and Ji Xiaodao’s Rogue and Shadow Swordsman professions certainly didn’t lack mid-to-long-range attack methods. So, what she should do now was to maintain distance as much as possible while continuously using ranged skills to wear down the opponent.
The cross-shaped wind blade left a dark cyan trail in the air, striking heavily against Cordova’s back.
But it didn’t even leave a single scratch…
And Cordova’s health only dropped by less than 0.5%, indicating that Ji Xiaodao’s recent attack had completely failed to break his defense.
“You just said I was chuunibyou, right?” Cordova turned and grinned at Ji Xiaodao, “Player?”
The latter did not speak, merely furrowing her willow-like brows slightly, watching Cordova with extreme vigilance.
Compared to the Blazing Flame Sword Radiance and Gloomy Ice Gale, which focused more on elemental damage and additional effects, Ji Xiaodao’s previous move, Guiding Wind Cross, had a much higher physical damage component. Moreover, its speed, impact, and penetration were all significantly greater than the former two, yet Cordova had still casually tanked it without suffering any significant damage…
“It’s impossible for there to be no weakness…”
The girl pursed her lips slightly. Although not overly competitive, Ji Xiaodao was a girl with considerable self-esteem. Despite being no match for Mo, under the premise of being fellow players, she, who possessed abundant resources and convenient conditions, found herself utterly helpless against this guy in front of her. This undoubtedly made her somewhat displeased.
Since entering the game, she had only encountered two players, both of whom were stronger than her…
Was it bad luck, or was she truly too weak?
Flipping her hand, she threw out the short sword 【night rain】, then Ji Xiaodao drew the 【Black Curse Rapier Modified】 from her waist, dual-wielding two longswords as she floated forward. The refreshed Double Control was activated again, and while applying Shadow Blessing to herself, she had already appeared above Cordova with a Hunter’s Wind, holding the two longswords in reverse grip and slashing towards his throat.
“It’s useless!” Cordova casually swatted away the short sword night rain, then, with one hand, he dragged the heavy executor’s staff upwards, saying proudly, “No player can defeat me!”
The two swords, infused with dark elements, left two white marks on the side of his neck, yet still showed no sign of breaking his defense!
“Rune Steel: All physical damage you receive is reduced by 25%.”
“Rune Exorcism: All magical damage you receive is reduced by 25%.”
These two combat attributes were enough to make Cordova extremely durable. What’s more, he also had a high Constitution attribute of 60 points, plus the Rune Body itself had a certain resistance to attacks, which made Comrade Kedor quite arrogant.
But theoretically, his words were not wrong. At this stage, it was basically impossible for a player stronger than him to appear, after all, the origin of Cordova’s character had already determined that he would be very powerful in the early stages of the game. Although he could not level up, learn skills, or wear equipment, he was still genuinely strong.
However…
Ji Xiaodao didn’t think so, and neither would our dear readers.
After all, ‘theoretically’ is not to be taken seriously. If Cordova’s current raw strength was already beyond the reach of most players, then a certain Sin Duke must be at least a walking cheat…
So, although from Cordova’s own perspective he wasn’t exaggerating, Ji Xiaodao still let out a disdainful scoff. At the same time, she used Shadow Weave again to pull her body down mid-air, dodging his Rising Dragon Spear (Staff?), and gracefully retreated.
“The same move won’t work on me!” Cordova roared, his seemingly heavy body leaping forward from a standstill. His speed was surprisingly not inferior to Ji Xiaodao, who focused on Agility.
“Are you a Saint Seiya?” The Dark Elf girl, flying backward, retorted coldly. Then, she suddenly pulled her hands back. The short sword 【night rain】, which Cordova had previously knocked away, was now pulled by several black lines, fiercely attacking the opponent’s back mid-air. Both its speed and force were far greater than her previous attacks.
Cordova was instantly startled. Upon seeing the sudden appearance of several black lines on the opponent’s wrist, he immediately sensed something was wrong. He instantly turned and used his staff to sever (correct) the almost invisible shadow threads, forcibly twisted his body to dodge the incoming short sword, and was then struck dozens of times by Ji Xiaodao from behind.
Despite having 25% physical and magical damage reduction, this series of back attacks still shaved off nearly 5% of Cordova’s health. If this rhythm continued for another twenty times…
That was wishful thinking.
Not only would Cordova never frequently give Ji Xiaodao such opportunities, but the latter herself didn’t expect to defeat her opponent with such minor tricks.
Double Control!
Hunter’s Wind, Whirlwind Dance!
The girl suddenly appeared beside Cordova with a gust of wind, two longswords spinning like wheels in her hands, cutting towards his ribs. The Shadow Blessing, whose duration had not yet ended, flowed like a black mist on the blades, and Cordova hadn’t even fully turned around yet.
Although both had an Agility value of 40, Ji Xiaodao’s absolute speed was still a notch faster than Cordova’s. The two consecutive sword strikes both landed on the same spot, carving a not-so-short crack on his sturdy Rune Body…
“Quite fast.” Cordova praised sincerely, then swung a backhand punch, but Ji Xiaodao was a step ahead, merging into the shadow beneath her feet. Before disappearing, she even added two Blazing Flame Sword Radiance attacks!
As if omnipresent, the shadowy threads tightened from somewhere unknown. Two dark blue daggers, tethered at their ends, struck almost simultaneously from both sides of Cordova, imbued with a chilling coldness.
Cordova forcefully planted the executor’s staff into the ground, then swiftly raised both hands to catch the two daggers, which were poisoned with Cold Pool Toad Venom. He casually flung them behind him, laughing loudly, “Try again!”
Before he finished speaking, two longswords extended from Cordova’s shoulders, crossing to slash at his neck.
They were covered in a layer of sharp black ice…
The ice encasing the sword blades shattered into pieces with two crisp sounds, yet Cordova still did not fall. His head remained firmly attached to his neck, and he tightly gripped Ji Xiaodao’s two longswords with both hands. With a slight exertion of force, he disarmed her, then followed with a lightning-fast turning knee strike, sending the girl, who had just emerged from the shadows, flying over ten meters away.
Just that one hit caused Ji Xiaodao to lose nearly 30% of her health!
“Always from behind, that’s too easy to guess~” Cordova shrugged at her, then casually tossed the two ‘trophies’ in his hands to the ground. In the Innocent World game, any equipment that wasn’t soul-bound could be plundered. While you couldn’t take things out of another person’s inventory, it wasn’t too difficult to snatch weapons and equipment that were being held openly. Of course, if you intentionally tried to put your hand where it shouldn’t go…
Then the system would forcibly hold you in place, and after being killed by the opponent, you would be forcibly logged off. In severe cases, you might even be forcibly locked inside your game pod, and soon after, police officers who received AI reports would come knocking to have a chat with you.
“I told you~ no player can beat me!” Kedor grinned smugly, then backhanded his sharpened greatstaff, pointing it from afar at the somewhat disheveled Ji Xiaodao, “Let me pass, and I won’t kill you.”
The latter had just barely recovered from the ‘paralysis’ caused by the intense pain. She coldly glanced at Cordova, then shook her head, “I won’t let you pass, and you are not the strongest player.”
“Then I’ll just have to send you flying first!” The acceleration runes on his back instantly activated, and Cordova’s tall figure appeared almost instantly before the girl. The staff in his hand mercilessly smashed towards the ground beneath Ji Xiaodao’s feet!
Then he discovered that his raised executor’s staff was entangled in something mid-air, and the silver-haired girl, half-crouching on the ground in front of him, gently made a cupping gesture with her hands at that moment…
On her slender, pale fingers, a large amount of black threads, flowing like shadows, were intertwined!
Two blood-red daggers burst from the ground, flashing past Cordova’s cheek, followed by a pair of deep green short blades whistling as they pierced the ground at his feet.
They were all connected by dozens of black lines, imperceptible to the naked eye…
The sound of air being torn came from behind Cordova. The two longswords, 【Ji Gui】 and 【Black Curse Rapier Modified】, which had been thrown to the ground, also whistled towards him, entangled by the black threads created by Shadow Weave.
And behind Ji Xiaodao, a completely black greatsword slowly rose…
Cordova was still trapped in the numerous, incredibly tough black threads around him, like a spiderweb.
“Die!”
Her silver hair danced wildly in the air, and Ji Xiaodao fiercely swung both hands, her palms already marked with over a dozen fine bloodstains from the strain.
Three sword lights, guided by Shadow Weave, intersected around Cordova like phantoms!
And then…
They broke into several pieces in mid-air.
“Not bad.”
Cordova praised sincerely, “If your reaction had been a little slower, I would have been in danger.”
The originally light blue patterns on his body were now alternating with flows of vibrant red and dark yellow light, and a faint rumbling sound echoed within him. The black threads that had tightly bound him instantly shattered.
“Rune Steel, actively activated.”
“Rune Might, actively activated.”
“Be careful~” Cordova’s expression turned serious, “If I strike you with this staff, you might die!”
Chapter 104: End
