Chapter 198 Two Fronts

Let's turn our attention back to the south of Gu Zhi City.

The three-way battle in the alley had become a tense tug-of-war.

Wang Tanzhi was facing the Heitie Zhenjie (Black Iron Formation Breaker); the former was skilled in assassination and surprise attacks but not in grappling or close combat techniques. If he couldn't quickly gain an advantage at close range, he would gradually be at a disadvantage. Fortunately… Xiao Tan's movements were agile and nimble, allowing him to maneuver skillfully, so he wasn't losing just yet.

On the other side, Qisha, the combat maniac who excelled in head-on confrontations, was barely holding his own against Kyo Kusanagi. His fists were indeed fast, but Kyo Kusanagi's sword wasn't slow either… fists and swords clashed, bodies moved like shadows, and the two fought with mutual damage, evenly matched.

However… as time passed, the disadvantages for Xiao Tan and Qisha became increasingly apparent.

Because…

"This is bad…" After the nth round of fighting with the enemy, Qisha thought to himself, "I've been fighting for so long and barely gained a small advantage, but then that beauty in the back casts a healing spell, and Kyo Kusanagi is back to full health. All my efforts were wasted…"

Similarly, Xiao Tan, whose stamina was constantly declining, felt the same: "Hmm… Sister Qin's [Blitz Heal] and [Holy Spirit Possession] are both ranged, non-guided skills that can be activated in a very short time. As long as her healing and support continue, defeating those two swordsmen will be like rowing against the current, extremely difficult. If this continues… the longer it drags on, the slimmer my chances of winning become…"

Thinking of this, Xiao Tan had an idea.

"Hey! Qisha." Xiao Tan shouted to Qisha in the distance while evading the Heitie Zhenjie's attacks, "I have a suggestion, do you want to hear it?"

"Why not?" Since listening wouldn't hurt, Qisha had no reason to refuse.

"This can't go on forever… dragging it out will definitely lead to defeat. As for running away… although we can temporarily save our lives, the situation afterward will become very difficult," Xiao Tan continued, "How about… we cooperate here and take down the three in front of us together?"

"How would we cooperate?" Qisha immediately replied. As he spoke, he had another brief clash with Kyo Kusanagi, causing the latter to cough a few times while his own arms trembled violently.

"You cover me…" Xiao Tan paused for half a second and replied loudly, "…nine seconds… no, seven seconds is enough!" His voice was firm, "As long as you buy me seven seconds, I can kill Huajian. And then…"

"You don't need to say anymore." Qisha interrupted Xiao Tan before he could finish, "I refuse."

"What?" Xiao Tan was quite surprised by Qisha's reaction. In this battle that was clearly turning against them, their alliance might be the only turning point, but… the other party rejected him so decisively.

"First, this kind of tactic doesn't fit my fighting philosophy. My fists… are for knocking down opponents, not for stalling for time or creating openings," Qisha immediately replied, "Second, this is, after all, a killing game; there's no trust between you and me. What if… after seven seconds, you turn around and run, or stab me in the back? I'd have to accept my fate."

"Wang Tanzhi, I don't know if you're naive or cunning… but I definitely can't accept this kind of proposal." Qisha said, glancing at Huajian's side, "Speaking of which… your team's medic should have already seen through all these possibilities… that's why she's so fearless."

"Heh… you overestimate me." Huajian, standing within the protective circle of the two swordsmen, interjected at this moment, "My plans are also born out of the situation and adapted to the circumstances. As for 'seeing through everything beforehand'… perhaps Buju can do it, but I can't." She looked at Xiao Tan and continued, "Xiao Tan, your proposal at this moment is indeed logically reasonable, but with a little thought, it's not hard to see… there are too many unstable factors hidden behind it."

Huajian paused for two seconds, thought for a moment, and then gave an example, "Can you really kill me in seven seconds? Can Qisha hold off Heitie and Kyo for seven seconds? Even if he can, what would be the price? And even if you really succeed, what subsequent reactions will you make? Even if I'm really killed by you, can you two smoothly eliminate the remaining two? And so on and so forth…" She shook her head and said, "The risks are too great, there are too many variables, but the benefits… are very unclear. So, for Qisha, agreeing to your proposal is not as good as 'running away.' At least choosing the latter can actually save his life."

"She's right…" At this time, Qisha continued to say to Xiao Tan, "Whether from a rational perspective or a gambler's mentality, cooperating with you is an unsuitable, inappropriate, uneconomical, and very unseemly choice."

Wang Tanzhi took a long breath: "Haa… okay…" He leaped and dodged another sword qi from the Heitie Zhenjie and said to Qisha, "Then what are your plans…"

"Do you even need to ask?" A fierce smile suddenly appeared on Qisha's face, "I'm going to use my own strength to… kill all four of you guys!"

"Heh… I knew it." At this point, Xiao Tan wasn't surprised by such a response. "Because…" His eyes also sharpened, "I only have this choice left!"

With their minds made up, their fighting spirit suddenly soared.

The atmosphere at the scene also changed accordingly.

"Hmph…" At this moment, although sweat appeared on Huajian's temples, she didn't panic. "Both of them want to use the simplest and most brutal methods to reverse this unfavorable situation…" An unnamed fire suddenly rose in her heart, "Please forgive me for saying this in a completely derogatory tone…" She looked at Xiao Tan and Qisha, who were fighting at opposite ends of the alley, and said娇嗔 (jiao chen, playfully): "…Men are all idiots!"

In this game, the type of person Huajian hated the most was—"the macho hot-blooded fighter who thinks he can solve everything by going berserk."

Unfounded confidence, a suddenly ignited momentum, stubbornness that doesn't shed tears even when seeing a coffin, and a highly contagious aura to those of the same kind (for some reason, Tianma Xingkong felt targeted)…

The very existence of these guys is a provocation to those players who don't specialize in fighting.

Those who plan and then act, and borrow momentum to their advantage, ultimately lose to those who are careless and act on the fly. This kind of failure, this thankless result, is undoubtedly very depressing.

Huajian… naturally didn't want to swallow this bitter pill.

"Let me personally…" At this time, Huajian took out a bag of lime powder from her knapsack, and with a thought, "shatter your fighting spirit!"

[Name: Summoning Art – Rock Sprite]

[Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered]

[Skill Category: Summoning]

[Effect: Summons a Rock Sprite to fight for you (Cooldown Time 80 minutes, Existence Time 18 minutes, Maximum of one Rock Sprite at the same time)]

[Cost: 30% Spirit Energy Value, a Bag of Lime Powder]

[Learning Condition: Summoning Specialization C]

[Remarks: A sprite born from rock, possessing a hard body and resilient mental resistance, and also incredibly strong in terms of power.]

Before she could finish speaking, a white light appeared in front of her.

A ape-like monster made entirely of rock was summoned by her.

And this… was just the beginning.

In the next second, Huajian raised the [Staff of Asclepius] in her hand and cast [Evolutionary Power] (Doubles a player's basic physical skills and stamina limit, and increases their stamina recovery speed to 1000 per second, lasting three minutes, cooldown time thirty minutes) and [Spiritual Awakening] (Doubles a player's summoned creature ability and spirit energy limit, and increases their spirit energy recovery speed to 100 per second, lasting three minutes, cooldown time thirty minutes) on herself and the Rock Sprite respectively.

Then, she immediately took out a card-shaped item from her knapsack…

[Name: Fusion]

[Type: Consumable]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Effect: Temporarily fuses two creatures under the player's control into one (Duration ten minutes, the player can also be used as fusion material)]

[Remarks: The power of this card can create a fusion effect without sacrificing fusion materials.]

As the card with the blue vortex and red curved shadow patterns disappeared in a flash of light.

Huajian and the Rock Sprite's figures also turned into white light and merged into a strange shadow after a vortex-like light effect.

Huajian, after fusing with the summoned creature, actually turned into an object that looked like a giant floating clam. Her "body" was like a giant stone clam with a slit running through it, and the slit… revealed her face, of course… at this moment, that face was also made of stone, not flesh and blood.

"Whoa, whoa… what kind of form is this…" Xiao Tan was also seeing this for the first time and couldn't help but exclaim, "So players can transform into this kind of non-humanoid state…"

"Oh? Such means exist…" Qisha seemed very curious, "But… no matter how you look at it, this is a defensive transformation…"

In fact… Huajian herself didn't know that she would turn into such a form after fusion. She had only guessed… that she might turn into some kind of humanoid war beast covered in rock armor and prepared to join the close combat melee directly in that form.

Unexpectedly… the result was a strange thing.

However, Huajian quickly calmed down and thought: I used the two special effects of the [Staff of Asclepius] to buff myself and the summoned creature's abilities before transforming, so the individual formed after fusion… must have considerable combat power.

[Please note, some menu functions have been locked]

[Your status bar has changed]

[Your skill bar has changed]

As soon as the fusion transformation was completed, three consecutive system prompts rang in Huajian's ears.

She immediately summoned the game menu to check and found that… at this moment, her knapsack bar was locked, "Stamina Value" had disappeared, "Survival Value" had returned to 100%, and Spirit Energy Value… had actually reached [10001000].

Looking further down, she saw… four new skills that had appeared in the skill bar.