“That’s my safe!” Wielding her massive weapon, Nicole attacked the Dullahan relentlessly.
“Dammit!
You keep getting in our way over and over again!” Billy also pulled his triggers frantically, targeting the enemy’s vital spots with every shot.
Except…
Although the Dullahan had lost its shield, its heavily Ether-infused body could casually tank the attacks of both of them.
A furious flurry of attacks, but the health bar hadn’t budged at all.
“Wait, why aren’t my attacks working at all?!” Nicole stared in disbelief at the Dullahan, which hadn’t lost a single hair.
Billy had also noticed something different about the Dullahan by now and stammered, “N-Nicole…
Boss Nicole, it looks like it evolved!” While the two were frozen in shock, the Dullahan flashed through the air and appeared right above them, raising the cursed blade and chopping down violently toward Nicole.
The red blade formed by solidified Ether left a terrifying red ribbon trailing through the air.
Anby leaned on her sword, trying to stand up to block the strike, but her violently trembling arms simply couldn’t support her weight.
With a thud, she collapsed back into Jiang Yu’s arms.
“NO!!!” Seeing Nicole about to be taken out in a single slash, Anby screamed in desperation.
The strike was too rapid and its momentum too terrifying.
Nicole and Billy froze in place, forgetting to dodge altogether.
Amid Anby’s desperate scream, Nicole and Billy’s shock, and Ling’s helplessness, time seemed to freeze for a moment.
BOOM!
A single strike from the Dullahan carved a half-meter-deep trench into the ground.
However, the spot was completely empty; the strike had missed.
Missing a hit from such a close distance caused the calyx structure on the Dullahan’s shoulder to buzz violently—it was clearly enraged.
To the side of the trench, Jiang Yu was holding tightly onto the backs of Nicole’s and Billy’s collars.
[Pocket Watch Cooldown: 23h] Close call!
That was almost too late.
If he hadn’t activated the pocket watch’s affix ability just now to yank the two of them back a short distance, they would have been killed or severely injured.
What Jiang Yu didn’t notice was that Ling, who was controlling Eos, had glitched due to her connection with the HDD system and was unaffected by the affix effect.
The thrilling scene had unfolded entirely in her sight.
A ring of blue light shone from the eyes of Eos as Ling looked at the scene of Jiang Yu saving them in the frozen moment with absolute disbelief.
She turned back to look at her brother, who appeared to have seen nothing at all.
The Dullahan gave the group no time to react.
Changing its stance with the long blade, it pressed forward directly toward them.
The eerie red Ether energy around the cursed blade fluctuated violently as it executed a horizontal slash.
Nicole and Billy retreated rapidly, but a green figure charged straight into the blade’s path.
Clang!
Without suspense, Anby went back even faster than she had charged in.
Jiang Yu caught the flying Anby in his arms, the massive momentum forcing him back several steps.
“Phaethon!
What is going on with this Dullahan?!
Its combat power is absurd!” Nicole yelled toward Eos.
Sitting in front of their screens, the Phaethon siblings were equally stunned.
Having resolved countless commissions big and small, they had never encountered a situation like this inside a Hollow.
This Dullahan seemed way stronger than the one in the database.
“It’s that blade!
There’s something wrong with that blade,” Zhe said, staring at the cursed blade in the Dullahan’s hand on the screen and offering his assessment.
“That blade isn’t a weapon a Dullahan should be holding,” Zhe’s voice came through Eos.
Hearing Phaethon’s voice, Jiang Yu’s heart tightened.
As expected of Phaethon, finding the root of the problem so quickly.
However, knowing the problem without the ability to solve it was useless all the same.
While he couldn’t be sure if the first affix effect of that cursed blade had doubled, it didn’t stop the Dullahan from landing critical hits with every single slash.
A 100% boost to both Crit Rate and Crit DMG, plus a 100% Physical ATK boost—how the hell was he supposed to fight this?
He almost felt like slapping himself.
Earning this money from Whitey was turning out to be way too risky.
He raised his handgun, aimed at the Dullahan’s core, and pulled the trigger continuously.
The first shot indisputably hit the core.
However, the remaining bullets were all deflected by the creature’s cursed blade.
Seeing that Jiang Yu had actually hit the Dullahan’s core and dealt some damage, the others raised their weapons and fired again.
Yet every single bullet was casually knocked away by the Dullahan, dealing zero damage.
“This creature has exceeded the level of a high-grade Ethereal.
I suggest retreating first to formulate a new plan,” Zhe’s voice came through Eos again.
“No way!
We finally found the safe, how can we give up now?!” Nicole swung her briefcase weapon furiously toward the Dullahan.
The Dullahan raised its blade and struck down, sending Nicole and her weapon flying with a single hit.
If Billy hadn’t blocked her from behind, she would have been hurled a long distance.
Seeing everyone in such a battered state, Jiang Yu laughed in frustration.
And these guys thought they could raid a dungeon boss with this level of strength?
If he hadn’t come along, this group probably would have been wiped out right here.
Snatching the long sword from Anby’s hand, he pushed her back down as she struggled to stand.
Holding the sword, Jiang Yu stepped forward to face the Dullahan.
Unlike ordinary high-grade Ethereals that acted on instinct, the Dullahan recognized that the human before it was the very man who had shattered its shield with a single slash last time.
It decisively retreated into a defensive stance.
Seeing that Jiang Yu hadn’t even attacked yet and had already scared the Dullahan into backing away repeatedly, the group broke into cheers.
“Woohoo!
Go for it!
We’ll leave this Ethereal to you!” “The safe!
My safe!
As long as you help me get the safe back, name your price in Dennies!” Easily dodging a few probing slashes, Jiang Yu began to feel anxious.
If this guy didn’t hit him with full force, triggering [Brave Bull]’s passive wouldn’t help turn the tide of battle at all.
This was his only life-saving, game-changing combo.
If he made an operational mistake, the whole team would probably meet their end here.
No!
He had to find a way to enrage it.
Jiang Yu noticed the safe behind the Dullahan’s feet.
No matter how it attacked or retreated, it never moved more than two meters away from the safe, keeping it right within its attack range.
With a quick thought, he aimed his handgun at the safe and rapidly fired two short bursts.
“Jiang Yu!
What are you doing?!
My safe!” Seeing Jiang Yu open fire on the safe, Nicole immediately tried to rush forward to stop him, but Anby held her back firmly.
“Calm down, Nicole.
Jiang Yu is intentionally provoking the Dullahan,” Anby reassured her.
“Anby, why is he provoking the Dullahan?
It’s already strong enough.
If he enrages it, we’re going to be in serious danger,” Billy asked.
The safe was Whitey’s obsession before being corrupted into an Ethereal.
After turning into one, the safe remained its sore spot.
Attacking the safe was guaranteed to enrage the Dullahan.
As for why Jiang Yu was enraging it, Anby didn’t know either, but she believed he had his reasons.
All she could do was stop her teammates from interfering.
Even Anby didn’t quite understand why she trusted Jiang Yu so implicitly—perhaps because he had rescued her from the Dullahan’s blade earlier, or perhaps because he had risked his life to save Nicole and Billy just now.
Just as the two bullets were about to hit the safe, the Dullahan intercepted them effortlessly with its blade.
Jiang Yu charged forward, thrusting the sword viciously toward the safe.
But before the tip could reach it, a sharp gust of wind came from his side.
Facing a heavy leg sweep, Jiang Yu had no choice but to pull back his blade to block.
Without suspense, even with his blade raised in defense, Jiang Yu couldn’t withstand the Dullahan’s immense force.
BANG!
Jiang Yu flew backward, slamming heavily into a supporting pillar on the platform.
Ow, ow, ow!
Feeling the severe pain radiating from his back, Jiang Yu grimaced.
Noticing Anby’s serious yet worried gaze, Jiang Yu let out a slightly cheeky grin.
“No big deal.
Let’s deal with this Dullahan together first.” Before he could check his injuries, he ejected his magazine and refreshed his handgun’s affix effect.
After Jiang Yu was kicked away, Nicole and Billy couldn’t care less and rushed up with their weapons to cover him.
Even if they could only take one hit each, at least it would buy Jiang Yu a little time.
The magazine was quickly ejected and reloaded.
Jiang Yu fixed his eyes on the safe and pulled the trigger.
As the gun roared, the bullet left the barrel and flew straight toward its target.
Seeing the safe about to be hit, the Dullahan forcibly shifted its move, changing its long blade’s diagonal slash into a fierce downward smash to block the bullet’s path.
Just when everyone thought this attack would end in failure again, the bullet actually curved around the blade, taking a turn to hit the safe!
???
Bullets can curve?!
Everyone present was dumbfounded, as they had only seen this kind of trick in movies.
The safe was very sturdy, so the bullet only left a dent on its surface.
While it caused no real structural damage, it was more than enough.
Seeing that the safe was fine, the weight in Nicole’s heart finally lifted.
The Dullahan slowly rotated the core on its head, turning back to see the large dent on the safe’s surface.
It froze for a second, then slowly turned around.
Intense Ether energy surged from the cursed blade in its hand, making the already red ‘special effects’ on the weapon glow even brighter.
“It’s enraged!
What do we do now?” Anby turned to Jiang Yu and asked.
Just then, a howling wind rushed from behind her.
“Anby, watch out!!!”