Chapter 20: Blind
Translated by: Chua
Edited by: Elkassar
From the troll’s perspective, these bunch of pests were like a group of nasty houseflies. Flying incessantly but never faltering. Worst still, there was a venomous bee hiding in the shadows, spraying sneaky needles towards his eyes! This troll gradually felt weaker from losing too much blood, moreover pulses of searing pain constantly enveloped his body. Suddenly its ominous single eye shifted its vision, using its two hands to cover the head it started to dash towards the direction of its lair.
Seeing such a situation, they were utterly astonished. Qiao Gun was the first to reach, screaming out in exasperation.
“Chase!”
Truthfully speaking, the members from the Symbiosis sect were all exhausted as well, moreover their remaining medicines were nearly depleted. Honestly, this was more emotionally draining than a prostitute in the present world , and more mentally exhausting than a white collared worker who OT for consecutive days (ED: lol, the analogies in this novel are the best). Yet the thought of the rewards gained from slaying a legendary creature, and the strict regulations of the party caused the contestants to summon their courage and pursued on.
The troll had long and broad limbs in addition to its superior body state. Hence, as the mud splashed against her feet, it very quickly pulled open the distance from the humans. The Symbiosis sect chased urgently, sticking their tongues out like an exhausted dog. Yet the gap ahead of them only seemed to widen.
Fortunately, this chase only persisted for a few more minutes before the troll paused its footsteps and darted into its lair! The few pursuing contestants heaved a sigh of relief. From their perspective, the troll was just another wild beast. Although it had a tremendous build and abundant strength, didn’t it just flee in panic and hide back in its lair like a tortoise in the shell?
Instigated by such thinking, the few contestants loosened up. Of course they didn’t dare venturing into the pitch-black cave, but obstructed the entrance and discussed on using firepower to lure it out. Sheyan had also shuttled through the forest, concealing behind a distant tree. When he saw these bunch assembling at the cave entrance, he shook his head and mumbled to himself.
“Ho damn, you guys are really suicidal…..”
As Sheyan’s voice faded off, suddenly a formless shockwave rippled out from the pitch-black cave!
Mountain troll special ability: Cardiac fissure!
This damned beast, it actually harbored such an intention! When the fierce shockwave rippled by, even the pelting raindrops were blown aside to make way for the troll’s raging roar.
The 4 contestants surrounding the cave entrance got their speed reduced by 70%! They stared at each other in despair, trying their best to disperse out yet their bodies could not keep up with their intentions.
Actually the troll previously felt disadvantaged, moreover it couldn’t utilize its ‘root catastrophe’. Thus it chose to dash towards its lair, but the aim wasn’t to escape! It was to return to retrieve its usual tree club it kept in the cave. The symbiosis sect misinterpreted its behaviour, and thus landed themselves into grave consequences!
‘Thump thump..” Marching out of the cave, the troll stomped onto the mud surface heavily causing the mud to splash far and wide. It released a thunderous roar as it raised a massive tree club highly in the air. Then it heavily bombarded the humans.
Its attack finally met the target. The remaining members of the symbiosis sect were all injured and fatigue, not forgetting their 70% speed debuff. The brutal smash of the troll instantly squashed the nearest contestant. Even his shoulder blades touched the ground, and seemingly got flattened into a flat land as the mud around it got dyed red! Sniffing the smell of blood, the troll raised its club and roared out excitedly. It even ignored the incoming bullets from the distant darkness, as it picked up the flattened piece of contestant and devoured him.
Witnessing this scene, Sheyan’s heavy expression suddenly intertwined and humbly nodded. He looked like he just understood something.
After devouring that unlucky brat in a few mouth, it once again raised its club and continued its rampage. A concentrated gruesome blood leaked from the corner of its lips. According to logic, the tactic of fleeing in all directions was not bad. They reckoned that they would be safe upon reaching the dense shrubs of the forest. More the cruel reality was that, in such places the troll’s speed was just a an ordinary person walking into an untrimmed grassland. There would only be slight hindrances, but the contestants would feel their speed lowered by half once constricted in the forest.
Therefore, naturally in two minutes, the vile and merciless troll caught up to the next contestant. Quickly and effortlessly, he died by the troll’s club. Undoubtedly, his corpse became the next appetizer for the troll. The troll cried on in ecstasy, evening up its previous grievances.
Although the Symbiosis sect suffered heavy casualties, more critically, the muffled gunshots had never ceased. Diaz had persistently aimed towards the sole remaining right eye of the troll. Not only was the area around the right eye terribly bruised, its eyeball was already bloodshot and bleeding profusely, the blood mingling with the blueish fluid. It was obviously on the verge of collapse. Losing an eye had already resulted in a quantifiable change, then undoubtedly, being completely blinded would be a world of difference!
From another angle, once the troll loses both eyes, then Diaz could even challenge this brutally savage beast alone!
The scenario became tricky from here on. Qiao Gun and the sole remaining Gale had seized the opportunity to hide away. At this moment, the final three once again started scheming against each other. No matter Diaz or Qiao Gun, they all overlooked Sheyan’s existence long ago. But there weren’t to blame, the fact was that the incredible attacking might of the troll displayed in its ‘original homerun’ was more than enough to eliminate the thought of Sheyan living on.
The troll’s vision had lost its assaulting targets, thus it directed its attention towards the faraway succession of shots against him! Placing his hand over his eyes and rubbing it, the searing pain triggered its vicious nature. Roaring furiously, the muscles gripping onto the tree club swelled up once again. Obviously, it wanted to give Diaz another taste of its ‘Tree Toss of Slaying’!
As the saying goes, wisdom comes with experience. Diaz had previously suffered disastrously under the ‘Tree Toss of Slaying’ obviously he had came up with a suitable contingency plan. Risk and opportunities existed together, while hurling out its overbearing weapon, it no longer had the capacity to protect its right eye. That was Diaz’s best chance at inflicting lethal damage!
Presently, Diaz had silently calculated his approximate damage dealt, he could roughly confirm: If he seized this opportunity to release a burst shot, the troll would very well turn blind if the attack landed accurately! Thereafter, its followed up attack would no non-existence. If Diaz chose to evade and retreat, he may not even successfully dodge the AOE strike and would subsequently face the wrath of the troll. At that time…..death would be certain!
Thus, Diaz tossed out the notion of trying to dodge the incoming tree club. He stood firmly on the tree and aimed towards the troll’s right eye, he then pressed the trigger.
A burst shot of 3 bullets rushed out in a flash…..
Ability: burst shot (3), activated!
From far, Sheyan observed this scene. He couldn’t help but praise Diaz’s amazing judgement even in the face of death.
In a hundred considerations, one would be overlooked. Diaz had similarly made the same error, and that was he underestimate the troll’s intellect. Previously when the troll utilized that ‘Tree Toss of Slaying’, it didn’t inflict heavy damage to the opponent and thus got the troll brooding. This time, it adjusted its throwing angle causing the the trajectory of the club to land directly at Diaz who just finished taking his shot! Boom!
An intense explosion of wood ensued, as wood fragments and mud scattered out in all directions. Diaz had previously received heavy injuries, and finally managed to restore some HP with his medicines. But this one explosion instantly threw him 7-8 metres back, as his head heavily knocked against a stone causing secondary damage. The damage dealt to the head was amplified by three, causing him to sink into a coma. Fresh blood streamed out from his nose and ear, as he looked extremely unsightly against the mud.
Of course, after receiving the round of bullets the troll was not better off. It roared out in agony and rage as it clawed at its face with both hands. Broken eyeball tissues mixed with light blue fluid rolled down his fingertips. To a creature who relied on vision, sinking into an endless darkness was no doubt extremely nerve wrecking. The fanatical roars of the troll reverberated against the surrounding trees, rocks and every other objects…..it was like a devastating storm passing by with matchless ferocity.