Under the clear night sky, which should have been the perfect time for enjoying drinks and admiring the moon, no trace of delight could be found here.
Deathly aura surged, as if dark clouds were pressing down on the city. Despite the moonlight shining brightly, there was an illusion of dimness and darkness.
The wind blew, whistling like an Arctic chill.
Within this outpost filled with the surging deathly aura, the stench emanating from the corpse fiends did not dissipate but seemed to spread, filling the air with a nauseating odor.
A corpse fiend leaped down from a rooftop, emitting a hoarse roar. It opened its mouth, revealing saw-like teeth, and its fingers, sharp as swords, thrust towards a guard.
The targeted guard's face showed a hint of fear, but he did not retreat. Years of combat experience had taught him that if he succumbed to fear at this moment, he would soon become a corpse, devoured by these corpse fiends. So, as the corpse fiend pounced, he suddenly raised the round shield in his hand. His whole body sank, his arm muscles tensed, and the curved blade in his right hand was ready.
"Boom!"
With a muffled sound, the leaping corpse fiend collided with the guard's round shield, causing an imperceptible ripple to spread through the air.
However, this time, the guard did not get pushed back.
Sean knew that the guard had employed a "skill."
With a slight flick of his left hand, the sharp finger inserted into the round shield followed the trajectory of the shield, exposing most of the corpse fiend's body in front of the guard. Without hesitation, the curved blade in the guard's hand emitted a silver light, accompanied by a whistling tearing sound in the air. The corpse fiend let out a more pronounced roar, but its body had already been cut in half by the blade.
With a swing of his hand, the half-bodied corpse fiend was thrown away, crashing into several approaching corpse fiends, rolling like a spinning top. However, the number of corpse fiends was simply too high. Even after knocking away these few, there was still a large wave of corpse fiends rushing forward like ferocious wolves. Yet, everyone seemed accustomed to this situation, even though there was some fear on their faces, their actions showed no hesitation.
Sean, Durun, and the two guards formed a cohesive unit: the guards positioned on both sides, with Sean leading from the front and Durun guarding against any potential rear attacks. The responsibility of the two guards was to cover the left and right flanks.
The four of them did not pause for a moment, even under the siege of hundreds of corpse fiends. They dared not slow down their speed because they knew that once they were trapped within the encirclement of these corpse fiends, they might never be able to leave.
The corpse fiends did bother the five people on the rooftop, but one guard was responsible for support, and with Old Peter wielding his spear again, along with Cecilia's magic and the limited space on the rooftop, the corpse fiends, after dropping several bodies, ceased their attention on the five individuals and instead gathered their strength to confront Sean and the others.
This scene astonished Old Peter.
He saw these corpse fiends acting like a military force, not only understanding how to divide and pursue, but also employing tactics such as flanking, infiltrating, encircling, and intercepting. However, their eyes showed no signs of intelligence. There was only one possibility: the corpse fiends had a commanding officer.
Old Peter recalled Sean's instructions and began searching for the corpse fiend wearing red clothing within the group.
As Old Peter had suspected, all these corpse fiends had been transformed due to the virus infection from that mutated corpse fiend. Therefore, these corpse fiends had no intelligence whatsoever. They were merely slaves to the mutated corpse fiend, following its commands. Although the corpse fiends possessed third-tier strength, they posed no threat if the mutated corpse fiend did not command its troops.
Back in the game, finding and provoking the mutated corpse fiend, preventing it from commanding the group of corpse fiends, became the key to clearing this instance.
Sean glanced at Old Peter, hoping his gaze would be sharper and his actions faster.
But just as their attention slightly wavered, a corpse fiend suddenly leaped out from a corner.
This corpse fiend had been lurking here for a long time but had not made a move. It was evident that it was not acting on its own will but under the control of the mutated corpse fiend. Seizing the opportunity when Sean, the leader, was distracted, the mutated corpse fiend finally ordered its subordinate to attack.
The sudden attack caught the two nearby guards completely off guard, and even Sean felt a wave of fright!
In this putrid environment, the stench emitted by the corpse fiend seemed even more distinct. It was as if a cold wind suddenly blew from behind Sean, instilling a chilling sensation that made his heart skip a beat and his spine shudder. The forceful airflow approaching him from the corpse fiend's assault made his cheeks sting, as if a blade was carving into his face.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Sean genuinely felt the presence of death!
He wanted to dodge, but he knew that he couldn't react faster than the incoming corpse fiend, considering the disparity between their speeds as a third-tier and a second-tier.
But suddenly, a flash of insight crossed Sean's mind.
It was a completely subconscious action. Before Sean could even process it, his body was already responding faster than his thoughts.
At that moment, the entire world seemed to turn into a slow-motion replay.
In that moment, everything became crystal clear to Sean, whether it was the onslaught of the corpse fiends, the terrified expressions of the people around him, or even the gradual raising of his own hands. He could even easily perceive the flow of power coursing through him.
In that instant, Sean seemed to have a realization.
Arcane Swordsmanship!
Almost as soon as Sean had this realization, the slow-motion effect disappeared.
The speed of the corpse fiends' attack, the sound of the air tearing, the chilling breath—it all remained the same as before.
However!
In the direction where the corpse fiend was leaping, there was now an additional sword.
A faint glow suddenly bloomed in this death-filled night, like a lightning bolt tearing through the darkness. With unparalleled speed, it stabbed at the forehead of the approaching corpse fiend—a spectacle that made onlookers think the corpse fiend was throwing itself towards Sean's sword as if seeking death. They didn't even have time to see when Sean had raised his sword.
The tip of the sword lightly touched the corpse fiend's forehead and immediately retracted.
Then the corpse fiend maintained its leaping posture, brushing past Sean's side. Sean and the others continued moving forward as if nothing had happened, without any pause. Each person felt a mysterious sense of awe.
In the next second, the head of the airborne corpse fiend suddenly exploded, emitting a viscous black mist instead of red and white fluids.
The gazes directed at Sean were filled with even more reverence and incredulity.
He was only a second-tier strength, but how many surprises had he given everyone along this journey?
Even Sean himself felt a sense of astonishment, but his surprise was different from the others. Wasn't Arcane Swordsmanship supposed to be a passive skill that enhanced attributes? Why did the reflexive strike just now feel imbued with the essence of Arcane Swordsmanship?
Sean couldn't quite figure it out, but for some reason, he suddenly recalled everything he had seen and heard in the Starfall Forest along the way. From Durun sending the Wind Marked Black Wolf flying with a single sword strike to the guard shielding against the corpse fiend's attack just now, every scene involving people using "skills" in this world flashed through Sean's mind like a movie, swift yet deeply ingrained in his memory.
In that instant, Sean didn't just have a realization, he had an epiphany.
The way people in this world used skills was fundamentally different from him. Whether it was the guards, Durun, Old Peter, or even the archer, their skills were personal abilities formed through learning. They were true "force techniques," "power techniques," or even more advanced techniques like "condensing qi," "manipulating luck," or "channeling energy" within their bodies.
However, when Sean used skills, there was no such thing as force or power. Once a skill was activated, he could use it without needing to contemplate the underlying principles. Moreover, once a skill was triggered, except for skills like sprinting, there were few that could be stopped midway. It was a commitment until the skill's duration ended.
But at this moment, Sean suddenly understood.
This was a real world, and everyone in it was not just a set of data. Their achievements were the result of their own hard work and training, even for the geniuses. Despite being somewhat different, he was still a person living in this real world. Therefore, if he wished, he could also practice and train just like others, albeit starting from a much higher point.
Just like with Arcane Swordsmanship, it was no longer a simple passive skill in his hands. Imprinted in his mind were the techniques of force, power, and even the skills of condensing qi and manipulating luck associated with Arcane Swordsmanship.
Understanding this, when Sean once again used Arcane Swordsmanship, he wielded it like a swordsman immersed in this path for decades.
As Sean slaughtered a dozen or so corpse fiends with his cherished sword, Charles, an arrow finally shot from Old Peter's hand and pierced through a corpse fiend wearing red attire, causing it to let out a horrified roar.
"Found you," Old Peter muttered, a hint of pride in his eyes as he released a second arrow.