021 Stro Strike

  What kind of skills would a Padin ck? Movement skills. I had two or three that could boost my speed, but none of them would let me zip around like a sword cultivator or an assassin. Attag fast wasn’t the wisest move either, especially since Jiang Zhen seemed fident in his speed.

  Jiang Zhen smirked. "What are you waiting for? The festival might be over before you eve your first strike in."

  I ignored his taunting. Ba Lost Legends Online, skills were divided into three categories based oris:

  Cooldowricted– Skills that were limited only by time before they could be used again.Resource Restricted– Skills that depended on mana, stamina, or other expendable resources.Both + Extra– Skills that had both cooldowns and resource costs, plus additional limitations.Ultimate Skills like Divine Word and Judgment Severance beloo the third category—with even harsher ditions. They ed a unique resource called a Spell Slot. Raising a Spell Slot was brutally difficult. I only had three of them, meaning I could only use an Ultimate Skill three times in a single instance. Worse, Spell Slots took over 24 hours tee, making them a massive pain to manage.

  I had just used Judgment Severance, and it had an innate eight-hour cooldown. The game devs were truly masochistic. If I had my way, I’d spam Judgment Severahree times ahis old man senseless, but clearly, I couldn’t. This restri had ingrained a habit in pyers—especially those who used Ultimate Skills—to hoard their best moves like a dragon guarding treasure.

  Jiang Zhen yawned, stretg his arms as if waiting for me was the most b thing in the world. The bastard was ag like I had taken ages, when iy, it had only been a few seds.

  I exhaled, letting my mind slow down. My Level 275 Intelligend Wisdom pressed time, givihe ability to think through my approach with eerie crity. And the funny thing? I wasn’t nervous at all.

  If anything, I was curious.

  This was as good a learning opportunity as any.

  I drew Silver Steel from my Item Box.

  Jiang Zhen had given me permission to strike him, so I decided to test my stronger skills. If I actally killed him, I’d just resurrect him. Lost Legends Online had dozens of resurre-type items. While I didn’t have every single kind, I had plenty—enough to revive this guy three times over.

  Of course, there was the issue of cultivation. If I revived him, would he lose his realm? If my items didn’t work, I could always use a resurre skill. If that didn’t work either? Well… then I’d just say it was stupid bad lud move on.

  I crouched slightly, raising my sword with i. No point in wasting this opportunity—I’d unleash the stro non-Ultimate skill bo in my arsenal.

  "Designate Holy Enemy."

  A reversed red cross flickered ience above Jiang Zhen’s head. It was a debuff spell that marked the target as a Holy Enemy, treating them as impure, undead, fiendish, or simply of an evil alig. Jiang Zhen’s rexed expression faded as he took on a more serious demeanor.

  "Blessed on."

  A golden radiangulfed Silver Steel, making it glow like a miniature sun.

  "Divine Might."

  I had a passive skill called TriDivihree-state ability that granted different boosts depending on activation. The three states were:

  Divine Might – Boosted Strength.Divine Speed – Boosted Agility.Divine Fortitude – Boosted Endurance.

  For this fight, I chose Divine Might, instantly raising my Strength to match my sed-stro stat.

  "Holy Wrath."

  Golden and blue radiance maed around me, f feather-like wisps that floated upwards. Holy Wrath empowered my attad doubled its effect if the target was a Holy Enemy. My mana dipped slightly—nothing major, but enough to remihat I was yering buffs like crazy.

  "Zealot’s Stride."

  A golden streak erupted beh my feet as I surged forward, my entire body infused with speed. I felt my Agility stat—every atom of movement fiuo perfe. The world blurred as I closed the distan an instant.

  Inside range.

  I swung my sword down with both hands, eling everything into the highest sirike skill in my arsenal—the oh the most brutal crit multiplier.

  "DIVINE SMITE!"

  I didn’t know for sure, but I felt like space ruptured. Or maybe it was some weird iioween my skill and Jiang Zhen’s teique.

  My sword passed through him—like he wasn’t even there.

  The ground behind him wasn’t so lucky. The dirt exploded, scorched and torn apart, f a deep trench that stretched several meters.

  I smiled, nontly hefting my sword. “How’s that?”

  Blood dripped from Jiang Zhen’s lips.

  The stubborn old goat, of course, refused to aowledge anything. “I would have ceded if we had agreed on the impress me part, but as, you never made me move.”

  He said it with charisma, but I somehow doubted him.

  Indeed, I hadn’t made him flinch or step back even once. But… man, this guy was a tad too pale pared to a few seds ago.

  I pulled areme Health Potion from my Item Box and held it out to him. “Drink.”

  Jiang Zhen uncorked it, she tents, then gave me an amused look. “Hoh~! You are surely arrogant!” Just by smell alone, he deduced what the effects of the potion was.

  “Then don’t drink it.”

  Before I could snatch it back, he chugged it.

  After downing every st drop, he wiped his mouth and smirked. “As your senior in life, I have a responsibility to keep. Gifts are important, after all—and not accepting them would be rude.”

  This silly old fool.

  I chugged areme Mana Potion without a sed thought.

  Jiang Zhen looked like he wao pin, but ultimately held back—probably remembering that he had just guzzled areme Health Potion himself.

  I had two Spell Slots left.

  Pyers hoarded Ultimate Skills for two reasons: greater versatility or sheer paranoia about getting caught with their best moves still on cooldown. LLO had a brutal PVP culture, so resource servation had bee an obsession for many.

  I took a few steps back, hefting my sword over my shoulder, sidering which Ultimate Skill to test first.

  Jiang Zhen was still marked as a Holy Enemy, and my on was still blessed. No reason to waste those buffs.

  I exhaled and activated another amplifier. “Holy Wrath.”

  Brilliant gold and blue feathers floated upwards arouhe divine energy gathering in ahereal glow.

  I smirked. “I will show you my stro attack… You still say no.”

  Jiang Zhen folded his arms. “BRING IT!”

  I pointed my sword at him. “Hea-”

  Dark clouds instantly gathered above us, crag with ominous thunder.

  Jiang Zhen’s expression twitched.

  “-ven-ly-”

  A golden radianed around my bde as I aimed it at him.

  Jiang Zhen visibly tensed.

  “-Pu-nish-”

  That was when he ran.

  “YOU WIN, FUG SMURF!”

  Okay? Smurf? Where did that e from?

  What's ? I wasn't the first pyer to fall into this world?

  “-ment.”

  ~HEAVENLY PUNISHMENT~

  A massive divine sword materialized in the sky, desding like the wrath of a vengeful god. It homed in on Jiang Zhen, crashing down with a blinding pilr of golden light.

  It was Heavenly Punishment—my stro Ultimate Skill.

  Cooldown: 72 hours.

  I arrived at the site where Heavenly Punishment had struck. A massive scorch mark stretched across the earth, the ground still sizzling with divine embers.

  My eyes sed the wreckage.

  No corpse.

  No trace of Jiang Zhen.

  No way he got disied, right?

  That… wasn’t something I was used to.

  Ba LLO, pyer characters, NPCs, and even monster spawns didn’t just vanish. Their bodies always remained, whether to be looted, revived, or mocked in victory.

  “…Ah, shit.”

  I frowned, cupping my hands. “Old man? gg? Where are you? How am I going to resurrect you if you don’t have a corpse?”

  A muffled groan answered me.

  Jiang Zhen crawled out from beh the dirt, limping.

  “It’s Jiang Zhen, damn it! Not gg!” he spat, shaking off soil like an enraged mole.

  I blinked. It was impressive that he survived.

  If I had to guess, his karma value must not have been that high.

  Jiang Zhen wheezed, gring at me like I’d just kicked his favorite pet. “Were y to kill me?! I hought I’d have to use that stupid earth-burying teique just to save myself!”

  I tilted my head. “Well, you said BRING IT with so much emotion. Would’ve felt bad if I held back, you know?”

  “FUCK YOU!”

  I waved a hand dismissively. “Aren’t you supposed to be, like, a sage-like figure? A powerful hidden expert or something? Are you sure this is fine?”

  Jiang Zhen gritted his teeth, still struggling to stand.

  I smirked. “You know what? Let’s just void that attempt and do it again. Of course, it’d be the third try by then—”

  “MOTHERFUCKER, YOU WANT TO KILL ME!”

  “Whoa, whoa, hold your horses!” I said, raising my hands ily. “Let’s do it again and t it as the third try. Maybe you’ll succeed this time! After all, I did expend a lot of energy on that attack, you know? e on, it’ll be fun!”

  Jiang Zhen trembled with rage. “FUN? FUN?! WAS IT SO FUN TO BULLY AN OLD MAN?!”

  “Don’t be so harsh on yourself,” I said with a grin. “You look like someone in his middle age, you know?”

  Jiang Zhen snapped.

  “I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS! I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST SOME CHUMP!” He pointed a trembling fi me. “FINE! YOU’LL HAVE YOUR MEETING WITH THE ISOLATION PATH SECT AS REQUESTED!”

  I returned my sword to the Item Box, satisfied.

  “Well, why didn’t you say so sooner?”