CHAPTER 420: CHAPTER 218: SUBTLE RECALIBRATION AND FORCE FIELD ENERGY (PART 2)

Unlike Buck, who once became a complete beast upon being afflicted with Beastification.

Mint still maintained her bipedal stance.

The end of revenge, the fury and thorns, seemed to have allowed her to complete some kind of ritual from her bloodline roots.

An invisible force surged through her gradually burly body.

Like a fierce creature formed from a human and a bear.

Those muscle masses, as hard as rocks, and her dense dark mane did not make her look clumsy or bloated.

Instead, those elongated limbs and her upright body gave a sense of agility filled with explosive power.

If not for the teardrop-shaped pendant hanging from her left short ear, who would connect this fierce, terrifying humanoid bear beast, burlier than the strongest barbarian in the tavern, with that weak and frail girl?

"Roar!!!"

The ear-shattering roar seemed to declare her loss of humanity, and the complete takeover of her body by beast nature.

The beast’s instinctual sense of danger and its extremely fast reaction speed, and the enhanced physique made her react instantly.

The illusory wolf head had just gotten close, and its iron-gray fangs had yet to descend when those elongated limbs exploded with powerful force, stomping the ground deeply and pulling Mint’s body back.

Avoiding the arc-shaped sword light aimed at the vital neck.

"Such quick reactions?"

Xia Nan felt a slight surprise in his heart, but his actions never stopped.

Upon realizing the [Vortex Slash] missed, the wolf head phantom around him, which had slightly dispersed from the sword swing, immediately solidified again.

[Teeth Hunting] activated once more, as his body surged with the wolf howl and vanished from its original position.

The next second.

Whoosh——

The sharp claw shot from the side, suddenly slicing through the air where it previously stood.

Swung with exaggerated power, leaving only a phantom visible, the wind raised the fallen leaves and seed grasses from the ground into the air.

With legs nearly off the ground, Xia Nan retreated rapidly.

At the same time, he had already prepared two kerosene bombs in his hand.

Without any hesitation, he hurled them fiercely at the dark shadow ahead.

The grease and dust violently erupted in the firelight, transforming into a raging torrent of flame that engulfed Mint’s body.

Unlike the immediate effects before.

The flames could not hurt the opponent at all, not even a cry of pain was heard before it was extinguished under the suppressing thick fog in the air.

The only proof of existence left was the partially scorched fur on Mint’s body surface.

"Tsk."

Xia Nan stood his ground, maintaining a distance from the opponent, clicking his tongue.

In a hurry, a round had passed.

Neither side of the battle had made any progress.

The pitch-black, lifeless eyes made it hard for Xia Nan to speculate Mint’s current thoughts, unsure if the other had any plans.

But after the hasty skirmish, he had a rough guess about the combat strength of the bear man before him.

Not comparable to the exaggerated level of a Bear, but far surpassing Buck after complete beastification, with speed and agility due to that seemingly agile, slender body far beyond an average Beastman.

Somewhat similar to a fully enhanced version of a Bear Goblin.

Even with some spell-like abilities.

Using [Teeth Hunting] displacement again, he avoided the pounces of two beasts, tearing apart the thorns emerging from the soil.

The only consolation was that the opponent had no weapons or equipment to aid them, only capable of fighting with bare hands and claws, relying purely on physical strength.

How to win?

His brain spun rapidly, Xia Nan pondered.

His advantage lay in extreme mobility enhanced by [Teeth Hunting].

Both sides had similar reaction capabilities, with perception allowing him to detect the opponent’s every move with precision, while the bear man’s physical fitness could bridge the gap.

His speed was slightly superior, but in terms of defense capability... it was hard to say whether his armor was inferior or superior to the opponent’s thick fur.

During a month and a half with the Sea Thorn Squad, he had not exposed much.

Although the opponent had seen [Teeth Hunting] and [Vortex Slash] before, [Gravity Control] and [Gravity Etching] had never been shown to anyone.

They should become the key factors in tipping the scales of victory.

However, note that although [Gravity Control] has tremendous potential, reaching unimaginable terrifying limits in the future, it’s not a Super High-level Combat Skill he could wield at his current level.

But given its limited skill level, still only lv1.

Very effective against small or similarly sized creatures, but if an enemy was larger or heavier, it became strenuous.

It required strategic use, like in the previous battle against Cash, to achieve good results.

And no longer could manipulate gravity crudely against goblins, imposing direct influence.

[Gravity Etching] had excellent damage capability, with its force field damage ignoring defense, easily dealing massive harm to enemies.

But note its limit of "3" uses and the fastest recharge time of six hours wasn’t until the next morning.

Therefore, one must carefully consider when to use this combat skill, best to resolve the battle before running out of uses.

Finally, as Xia Nan’s trump card among trump cards.

The [Destiny Coin], remaining with 2 uses...

To be honest, unless truly in a desperate situation, he didn’t plan on wasting the precious uses here.

But if it involved life and death, he wouldn’t take the coin to the grave either.

With a casual swipe of his sword, he decapitated a wolf lurking in the bush beneath his feet.

Xia Nan suddenly looked up, gaze fixated on the bear man in front.

His expression seemingly unchanged, but the battle spirit within had nearly become tangible.

No room for delay!

The nighttime forest was the opponent’s turf; delaying for dozens of minutes more, not to mention spreading thorns and beasts on the field, depleting his endurance.

Drawing out a creature like a Bear Beast would plunge the situation into greater peril.

A swift victory was necessary!

Having made up his mind, Xia Nan exerted power in his arms, turning his body halfway, and almost encircling himself with an erupting iron-gray sword light.

Clearing the approaching thorns and beasts in an instant.

[Gravity Control] activated silently, making the legs stepping on the ground feel light.

[Teeth Hunting] initiated abruptly, with speed significantly increased due to reduced gravity, Xia Nan almost became a shadow in the air, as if a real cold Winter Wolf lunged at prey from the forest.

Mint’s reactions remained swift, nearly sensing Xia Nan’s concentrated killing intent the moment his feet left the ground.

Knees bent, gathering force while slightly reclining, in the next second she could use the strong muscles of her legs to propel her body, dodging the attack ahead.

But just at that moment, in an oddly bizarre, illusory sense she suddenly felt her body’s center of gravity shift by a few inches.

As if an invisible gravity was pulling her back down.

Just about to fall, even the originally firm legs prepared to exert force on the ground, slackened for an instant.

Even though this nearly illusory, eerie experience vanished fleetingly, she immediately used her body’s strong core strength to readjust her center of gravity.

But because of that brief moment of delay, she could no longer evade the fierce strike from the front.

Only had time to lift her left hand to block in front of her chest.

The next moment, accompanied by a sharp whistle, the sword blade, glowing red like flowing runes, descended on Mint’s body.

Fountain blood, the severed arm flew high.

"Buzz!"

The dazzling red light exploded like miniature fireworks, ignoring defenses, the reddish force field energy engulfing the bear man’s severed arm and chest.