novelraw Chapter 460: Final Boss: The Black Hunter
Chapter 460: Final Boss: The Black Hunter
A cold breeze gently blew past, turning the sea as far as the eye could see into piercing, bone-chilling ice.
"You cannot possibly approach me. Each time you get closer, another wound will appear on your skin."
The Ice Witch's long hair danced in the air as she sipped a cup of warm black tea.
Amidst the freezing wind, she wore only a thin, light-blue witch's gauze gown, appearing utterly elegant.
The Ice Witch's eyes held a lofty arrogance, as if she completely disdained the Blood Hunter before her and felt no fear of this bone-piercing cold.
She wasn't even wearing shoes!
The Blood Hunter's puppet hand drew his fourth blade, the Tailor's Blade. Countless threads flashed through the air as he cautiously watched the Ice Witch.
The Ice Witch exhaled a puff of warm air, her wise eyes having already seen through everything:
"And don't think I can't see your true nature.
A fourth-tier hammer-heart-affinity puppeteer, a corrupted fifth-tier hammer-heart-affinity, an otherworldly puppeteer."A ripple finally appeared in the Blood Hunter's cold, expressionless face.
The fact that the figure before her was merely a puppet, with his true body hidden within the dimensional rift, had actually been discovered.
To achieve this method of manipulating a puppet from within a rift while granting the puppet fifth-tier power, relying solely on profession card abilities, or even ordinary rift unique items, was impossible.
For the Blood Hunter to perform this miracle, the first reason was his reliance on the Great Whale's heart. The second was his reliance on a treasure from the Fringe World.
The treasure he relied on was even superior to rift unique items.
It was a special treasure that could only be obtained by achieving the highest evaluation in an A-rank rift or through exploration in the Fringe World.
"……"
The Blood Hunter's body emitted a creaking sound.
Whether in terms of spiritual energy field, strength, or speed, the Ice Witch was far inferior to him, who possessed the Great Whale's heart!
Far inferior!
Yet, she could use special rules like Time Solidification and Frozen World—abilities that normally required activating a domain—seemingly without any cost.
Every time he thought he could slay the Ice Witch, she would instantly vanish and reappear behind him, taking a gentle sip of her black tea.
It could be said that, relying solely on his own power, he fundamentally couldn't harm the Ice Witch.
However, this balance was extremely fragile.
If a third fifth-tier intervened, the Ice Witch would undoubtedly die.
The Ice Witch asked:
"Blood Hunter, what's wrong? Not continuing the fight?"
As fellow fifth-tiers, although the Ice Witch and the Blood Hunter weren't on the main battlefield, they could still perceive the distant situation through their spiritual vision.
Hayer had been defeated. The Black Hunter had joined the battlefield.
The Blood Hunter drew his fifth blade, the Void Blade:
"I am waiting for Blood Lion's victory."
The Black Hunter had just advanced. He didn't possess the strength to fight two fifth-tiers consecutively.
Moreover, Blood Lion had just received dual reinforcements from the Black Blood Empire and the Blackfin Crew. His current strength was far beyond what it used to be.
The Ice Witch drained her cup of black tea in one go:
"What a coincidence. I'm waiting too."
"Waku waku! (Master Number Two! Are you trembling?)"
Beside her, Water Spirit Number Seven tilted its head. It always felt like its new master seemed very nervous.
"No."
The corner of the Ice Witch's mouth lifted into a stiff, forced smile as she struggled to maintain an unflustered expression, glancing towards the direction of Chen Qi and Blood Lion.
Not panicking!
Hmm, completely not panicking...
……
Clang!
Black and blood-red spiritual energies collided, stirring up a massive thunderclap in the sky above.
"My soldiers! Charge!!!"
Blood Lion commanded as an endless stream of Black Blood soldiers surged past him, forming a dark wall of flesh that rushed towards the Black Hunter.
Yet, blades flashed, and in an instant, three thousand black soldiers became souls beneath the blade.
"A bit strenuous."
Blood Lion continuously applied special berserk buffs to the warriors ahead.
You have been strengthened! Go now!
However, facing Chen Qi who had activated his Crimson Form, this speed was still far, far too slow.
Swish!
In the next instant, Chen Qi activated Hound's Pace, flashing directly in front of Blood Lion.
Rift Slash!
The world turned blue. Except for him, all movement became incredibly slow.
Thousands of slashes shattered, striking Blood Lion's body, sending blood splattering everywhere.
"Berserkers are really troublesome..."
Blood Lion blocked with both fists, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
That single strike had taken at least thirty percent of his health.
The battle with Hayer just now had left him low on spiritual energy, allowing Chen Qi to get close.
As the undisputed king on the chessboard, being closed in on was undoubtedly a very, very troublesome matter.
Blood Lion gritted his teeth.
The Black Hunter had taken no damage. On the contrary, his strength was even greater than imagined!
Red Dragon, what exactly are you doing?
Out on the open sea, the Black Sea Mammoth, the Deep-Sea Twelve-Tentacles, and the Coastal Apex Predators were too powerful. His fleet was no match for them.
On land, Noah's Wall was regrouping.
At this moment, with no other option, he could only activate his own domain.
The heat of war was already high enough.
It was time!
Blood Lion no longer avoided. He raised his head, lifting both hands high as if worshiping a deity:
"Second Apocalypse. War Grinder Mountain—"
"Activate!"
Blood-red blade energy surged like an ocean, covering the vast sea area.
The dark sky was stained crimson, and the entire sea turned into thick, bloody water!
Boom—
Blade energy swept through, turning heaven and earth blood-red.
And in everyone's minds, a blood-red prompt appeared.
[You have entered the War Grinder Mountain domain.]
[War Zeal: While within the War Beast domain, if you belong to the 'War Faction' of Blood Lion, you gain a 100% attribute bonus and Qi Transformation: Blood Lion.]
Chen Qi stopped his attack, adjusting his breathing.
Before his eyes, a special prompt also appeared.
[You have entered the War Grinder Mountain domain. As an enemy of Blood Lion, you have been marked as the "Final Enemy"!
Within this domain, you are the ultimate target of the war. All enemies of the 'Blood Lion Army' will deal additional War Wounds when attacking you.
War Wound: A special bleeding damage. Regardless of the damage amount, as long as you are touched, it can cause stacking damage over time and mental damage.]
War Wounds? Chen Qi looked up.
Thousands of hundred-meter-tall war banners rose high, declaring that the war had entered its final stage.
To alter the world as far as the eye could see—this was the power of a fifth-tier domain.
"War Grinder Mountain..."
Madame Oli looked at the blood-red hell before her.
The last time Blood Lion activated this domain was at the border of the Goldenfinch Kingdom. It directly resulted in the deaths of a hundred thousand people and displaced millions...
The entire world seemed dragged into a blood-red painting.
And the hundred thousand soldiers of the Black Blood Empire—behind each of them, a War Lion materialized, determined to annihilate everything!
Next, an even more terrifying prompt appeared in their minds.
[War Glory: If you belong to Blood Lion, as long as you can deal damage to the marked 'Final Enemy,' you can obtain permanent rewards!
Deal 0.1% damage to the Final Enemy, the Black Hunter: Obtain permanent low-tier Blade affinity comprehension.
Deal 1% damage to the Final Enemy, the Black Hunter: Obtain one fourth-tier profession card.
Deal 10% damage to the Final Enemy, the Black Hunter: You will receive the blessing of the War Apocalypse, obtaining a permanent Blade affinity inspiration talent and the forging method for a fifth-tier Blade affinity profession card.
Deal the final blow to the Final Enemy, the Black Hunter: Receive the Valkyrie's Protection, the rift unique item 'Valkyrie's Spear'—a super high-tier weapon capable of absorbing the power of war.
And in the name of the Valkyrie, Blood Lion will fulfill one of your wishes.
Kill other enemies: 1 war merit for third-tier Transcendents, 100 war merit for fourth-tier Transcendents.
Inflict control effects, etc., on the Final Enemy, the Black Hunter: Will receive special war merit based on final performance.]
A series of prompts echoed in their minds.
Everyone, whether from the navy or the Black Blood Empire, was stunned.
What was going on?
The prompts before them felt like a dimensional rift game.
Except, the final BOSS of this rift was designated by Blood Lion!
"Deal one percent damage and get a fourth-tier profession card."
Many soldiers couldn't help but swallow hard.
That was way too enticing!
This was equivalent to the Black Hunter alone being able to drop a hundred fourth-tier profession cards!
You have to understand, even if you completely cleared out an A-rank rift, you'd be lucky to get twenty fourth-tier profession cards at most.
Not to mention also obtaining the extremely rare Blade affinity comprehension.
"Hahahahaha!"
"It's been so long since I last used this move!"
"Black Hunter, how does it feel to become the monster in the rift? How does it feel!?"
Blood Lion roared with laughter. It had been ten years since he last activated the War Grinder Mountain domain.
The Blade affinity's War Grinder Mountain was incredibly powerful. It could grant all soldiers within its range the potent [War Wound].
Any attack could cause real bleeding damage.
However, compared to Heart-affinity or Phantom-affinity domains, it actually always had one flaw.
That was the soldiers' fear.
Although the Blade-affinity domain could strengthen soldiers and grant them the ability to harm fifth-tiers, most people lacked the necessary courage.
The Blade-affinity domain wasn't about control, just berserk enhancement.
It couldn't control minds like a Heart-affinity domain, nor manipulate corpses like a Phantom-affinity domain.
With the Empire's help, Blood Lion compensated for this flaw through 'War Glory'!
As long as you could deal one percent damage to the Black Hunter's health, you could obtain a fourth-tier profession card!
And fourth-tier Transcendents could also fight for the rift unique item.
Under the blood-red sky, all the soldiers and pirates on the entire battlefield stopped fighting. One by one, they looked towards the Black Hunter on the War Ship.
A full fifty thousand people stared at the Black Hunter, licking their lips, their eyes flashing with bestial light.
Black Hunter, you smell so good!
"I have bestowed upon you the War Wound! You only need to land a single cut to receive the reward of a fourth-tier profession card!"
"Gentlemen! Fight for glory!"
Blood Lion stood atop a mountain of piled corpses, bellowing loudly.
"Charge!"
"Black Hunter, let me cut you once! Just once!"
"Black Hunter, let me bite your tentacle! One bite, just one bite!"
"Black Hunter, I have tentacles too! Let's compare whose tentacles are bigger!"
Under the berserk buff of the war domain, everyone, like a crazed herd of beasts, ignored the massive power gap and continuously charged towards Chen Qi.
The War Grinder Mountain could actually designate a final BOSS... Chen Qi rubbed his forehead.
Everyone on the War Ship stopped their tasks and surrounded him.
A dense tide of people surged forward, launching an all-out assault on Chen Qi!
The strengthened soldiers were insanely brave.
Chen Qi used Ember's Touch to block the enemies behind him, then twisted his blade, cutting down those in front.
Every slash he unleashed could cleave through a swath of enemies!
With his fifth-tier stats, even though these Black Blood soldiers had been strengthened by the domain, they couldn't match Chen Qi.
However, there were just too many of them!
Swish!
An arrow grazed Chen Qi's ear, drawing a drop of blood.
[You have suffered a War Wound and are continuously losing health!]
The moment he was hit, Chen Qi felt a stinging pain throughout his body.
To allow every weak Transcendent to possess the ability to harm a fifth-tier—this was one of the core abilities of [War Grinder Mountain].
Their combat power wasn't high, but their numbers were vast. And once you were wounded, there would be serious consequences.
This feeling was exactly like a zombie siege... Chen Qi swung his blade, cutting down enemies.
If it weren't for the firepower of the Deep-Sea Twelve-Tentacles and Noah's Wall holding back a large number of enemies, he would also be facing endless ranged attacks.
As the initiator of the domain, Blood Lion had already sat down at the stern of the War Ship and poured himself a glass of wine.
[War Wound] could continuously stack. Once it accumulated to a certain point, no matter how tanky or tough the Black Hunter was, he would explode and die from blood loss.
Under the enhancement of the war domain, every third-tier Transcendent was like a fourth-tier.
And fourth-tier Transcendents had plenty of ways to lightly wound the Black Hunter!
"Hoo..."
Chen Qi took a deep breath.
There were too many enemies, densely packed, annoyingly overwhelming.
It was also time to end this battle.
Boom—
Dark blade energy erupted from Chen Qi's entire body, directly scattering the crowd before him!
A surging wave of energy intimidated the thousands of soldiers in front.
Flame Forging!
Chen Qi concentrated all his qi force, transforming the Rift Blade into a forty-meter-long blade blazing with rolling flames.
Black Wave Slash! Maximized!
Swish!
Chen Qi erupted with qi force, unleashing a full-power slash.
Scalding black flames swept across everything in sight, carving a massive black circle of fire upon the sea.
A black circle of fire with a radius of five thousand meters, centered on Chen Qi!
Chen Qi exhaled a puff of black air.
These berserk Black Blood soldiers were like ants, surging forward endlessly.
This was no different from moths flying into a flame.
He had no habit of indiscriminate slaughter. From the beginning, his target was only one: the Black Blood Empire's Blood Lion!
As long as he could take down Blood Lion, this war would end.
He had to use fear to suppress the swarming soldiers.
He decided to give these berserk soldiers one last chance, one final warning.
Chen Qi's entire body began to radiate abyssal spiritual energy as he spoke to everyone within sight:
"One minute. From now on, anyone who steps into this circle of fire will die."
The Black Blood soldiers froze, looking at the circle of fire on the ground.
They couldn't help but recall the legends of the Deep Sea Hunters.
Deep Sea Hunters didn't kill innocent people. However, anyone who sought death, he would not spare.
Every Deep Sea Hunter's treasure trove would have a warning line.
As long as you didn't cross the warning line, you could live.
Black flames burned fiercely. Hesitation arose in the hearts of the reveling soldiers.
Even though they possessed [War Wound], could they truly survive to enjoy the reward of a fourth-tier profession card?
Some people immediately fled, jumping off the War Ship and escaping the circle of fire.
Others continued forward.
"This is my last chance!"
"Take the gamble! Go from third-tier to fourth-tier! Small house to a manor!"
"The Black Blood Empire absolutely does not tolerate deserters!"
The Black Blood soldiers pondered for a moment, still advancing towards Chen Qi.
And as one soldier's right leg stepped into the black circle, Chen Qi held the long blade horizontally before his eyes and chanted softly:
"Blade Release Domain. Abyssal Echo."
"Activate."
Boom—
Accompanied by the echoing sound of the abyss, the massive black circle of fire rose high, transforming into a giant wall!
Within the circle of fire, a huge abyssal rift violently opened, dragging everyone inside, along with the War Ship, into its depths.
In the distance, everyone on Noah's Wall broke out in a cold sweat.
The Black Hunter had entered his second stage.