The Low-key Evil Wizard BOSS-Chapter 69 - 7: Let the Big Shot Carry You Through the Story
In a corner, Zorn released the Calamity Black Mist while pulling up his attribute panel.
...
[Star Trace Fighter](30th Anniversary Exclusive Commemorative Edition) (Not Tradable)
Level: Level 3 (9%)
[Talent]
Steel Will·Iron Bone (SS-Level): You possess a will and body like steel.
[Skills]
Basic Skull-Splitting Fist: Level 1 (10%)
Vigorous Qi Mastery (Passive): Level 0 (29%)
Thousand Streams·Gale Step: Level 0 (2%)
...
The battle with Rat King Bucky was bound to be long and grueling.
Zorn planned to use the Fighting Sequence for his main offense and his Evil Spirit Wizard abilities for support.
’It’ll be like chipping away at a mountain, but that has its own advantages.’
’It’s the perfect opportunity to train my skills and acquire Fighting Essence.’
After all, the Bloodline·Lower Ranks·Rat King Knight possessed the Evil Spirit Knight Sequence, had Forbidden Blood, and had even absorbed the Golden Rat King.
’Every second I spend in a life-or-death battle with a major boss like this is a huge win.’
’Killing it isn’t the goal—leveling up is!’
If he could, Zorn would willingly fight Bucky here all day long.
’That should be enough preparation.’
Zorn activated Thousand Streams·Gale Step, moving with incredible, silent speed.
Ever since acquiring this major school’s Body Technique Skill, Zorn had made a habit of using it lightly but continuously.
This way, he could effectively level it up without consuming much Gang Qi.
"Hello, Bucky!"
A voice rang out abruptly from the depths of the darkness.
Rat King Bucky, busy digging up and licking bones, jerked its massive rat head up and looked toward the sound.
Not far away, it saw a human... No... it saw food!
And it was exactly the kind of food it craved—one filled with abundant Spiritual Essence.
A greedy, crimson light flared in Rat King Bucky’s eyes. Its entire mass of flesh and silver-gray fur quivered with excitement.
"KSH... HRAA... SS..."
"KSH... HRAA... SS..."
It let out a bizarre hiss and suddenly launched a Knight Charge at the food.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The thudding of its steps became a drumbeat in the darkness, making the very ground tremble.
Zorn quickly dodged to the side, evading Rat King Bucky’s Knight Charge.
At the same time, he unleashed a Skull-Splitting Fist.
[Eternal Calamity Whip]
The powerful interrupting and sealing Forbidden Technique activated.
Rat King Bucky, mid-charge, abruptly decelerated. Its house-sized mountain of a body immediately lost its footing, tumbling forward with a great RUMBLE.
It finally stopped with a dull THUD as it slammed into the cavern wall.
Zorn, using Thousand Streams·Gale Step, had already caught up.
Before Rat King Bucky could get back on its feet...
...he attacked with both fists. It was time for a Strong-Handed Skull Splitter.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Each punch that landed on Rat King Bucky’s flesh and fur sent ripples of power spreading outwards.
It looked like he was just giving the Rat King a massage.
[Fighting Master]VS[Bloodline·Lower Ranks·Rat King Knight]
Chip away!
Just keep chipping!
No high damage numbers, no special mechanics, just chipping away!
Having officially become a Bloodline·Lower Ranks·Rat King Knight, Rat King Bucky’s Defense was on a whole other level.
And the more Zorn liked it. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
’I was worried I’d kill Rat King Bucky too quickly. If that happened, I’d lose this perfect "experience farm."’
With a top-tier Ability like Eternal Calamity Whip at his disposal... Zorn could seal every single one of Rat King Bucky’s Skills and Abilities as the fight wore on.
This would reduce its threat level until it became nothing more than a giant punching bag.
’As a top-tier Evil Spirit Wizard boss myself, who needs some dramatic underdog victory?’
’This is all about the strong dominating the weak, an absolute steamroll.’
’What’s the point of working so hard to level up on the down-low if I still have to struggle like an underdog? It’d be a complete waste.’
The moment Zorn arrived, Rat King Bucky was already a dead man walking.
The only thing awaiting it was the battle that would serve as its funeral!
"BOOM!"
As Zorn’s next punch landed, Rat King Bucky managed to heave itself over, smashing down with a five-meter-long Skeleton Long Spear.
Zorn used the impact to retreat nimbly.
"CRASH!"
The Skeleton Long Spear crashed heavily into the ground, shattering rocks the size of human heads.
"Damned human, what have you done to me!"
Rat King Bucky, shaking its heads, roared in a terrifying duet.
"Sending you to your grave."
Zorn replied coolly as he charged forward once more.
The growth rate for a Level 1 Skull-Splitting Fist was already quite slow.
But in this fight against the Rat King, Zorn could feel Skull-Splitting Fist leveling up at incredible speed with every punch.
At the same time, the high-intensity battle between his Fighting Master Sequence and the Rat King was causing his Sequence Experience to skyrocket.
For a Fighting Master facing a boss of this caliber, like the Bloodline·Lower Ranks·Rat King Knight, at the same level... winning a solo battle and killing it would grant at least half a level’s worth of Experience.
Even with his Evil Spirit Wizard class acting as an experience sink, the gains were still substantial.
Zorn closed the distance again, dodging the Rat King’s attacks.
He once again unleashed a full-throttle barrage of Skull-Splitting Fists.
Without its powerful Knight Charge Skill... the Bloodline·Lower Ranks·Rat King Knight Bucky’s mobility dropped from that of cavalry to mere infantry.
Its massive, mountain-like body became a liability, making it difficult to maneuver.
Weaving between its clumsy strikes, Zorn’s own assault grew more and more ferocious.
Rat King Bucky, however, was not content to sit back and die.
Its rat tail lashed out relentlessly.
Whenever it found an opening, its huge, fanged maw would snap at Zorn.
Meanwhile, the humanoid Bucky, fused into the Rat King’s back, relentlessly attacked Zorn with the Skeleton Long Spear.
In the midst of the fierce battle...
With a dull THWACK!
...Zorn, while dodging a bite from the rat’s head, was sent flying by a heavy blow from the Skeleton Long Spear.
He flew seven or eight meters before crashing heavily into a large boulder.
Rat King Bucky was overjoyed at the sight.
It knew all too well how frail humans were.
A single bite or a solid hit was usually enough to take a Level One or Level Two Transcendent out of the fight.
But this time was different.
The human who’d been sent flying flipped to his feet as if nothing had happened.
’That blow would have cracked the cavern wall,’ Bucky thought. ’How is this human unharmed?’
"This..."
For a moment, Bucky was dumbfounded.
This human was... exceptionally strange.
"Nice one, Bucky."
Zorn said with a laugh, rolling his shoulders.
An Evil Spirit Wizard boss already had extremely high Life Tenacity. Add to that the Fighting Master’s SS-Level Steel Will·Iron Bone Talent and the naturally defensive Star Trace Gang Qi... the blow had hurt, but not much.
For Zorn, it had barely scratched his health.
’If we were to compare Health Bars, sure, yours is long, but mine isn’t far behind.’
’Besides, I can use Life Absorption to quickly recover my Life Force.’
Zorn had his reasons for daring to take on a boss with his bare hands.
Activating Gale Step, Zorn charged in again.
He resumed his Skull Splitter chipping attack.
During the fight, as the Skill Experience for Skull-Splitting Fist surged... Zorn was also continuously absorbing a rich and pure supply of Fighting Essence.
On the surface, it looked like a Fighting Master was just chipping away at a boss.
In reality, an Evil Spirit Wizard was delivering an attack from a higher plane of existence.
The Forbidden Curse, Eternal Calamity Whip, was being secretly channeled, continuously sealing Rat King Bucky’s other Skills and Abilities.
When the target wasn’t actively using a Skill or Ability... Eternal Calamity Whip would randomly select and seal one of its Skills or Abilities, which would then remain sealed for the rest of the battle.
As the battle raged on, Zorn was occasionally sent flying, stabbed by the Skeleton Long Spear, or even bitten by the Rat King.
But with the Gang Qi of his Fighting Sequence and the Life Tenacity of an Evil Spirit Wizard, he could endure the hits and break free.
With his vast array of abilities, Zorn had an incredibly high margin for error.
Moreover, whenever he found an opening, Zorn would use Life Absorption on the Rat King, taking a huge draught to heal his wounds.
Zorn had little to fear from the Rat King’s attacks.
The Rat King, however, could not afford to ignore Zorn’s.
As the Skull-Splitting Fist strikes piled up, the damage began to tell.
During the first hour of the fight, the Rat King fought back furiously, occasionally landing a solid blow on Zorn or even sending him flying.
By the second hour, the Rat King’s attacks had lost their vigor, no longer able to effectively impede Zorn’s assault.
By the time they entered the third hour of battle... the Rat King had switched to defense, constantly shifting its massive body to evade Zorn’s attacks.
During this time, Zorn had managed to knock the Skeleton Long Spear from its grasp for good.
By the fourth hour... the Rat King had officially entered the "strategic waiting for death" phase.
It had tried countless strategies during this time.
But that damned Fighting Master had calmly countered every single one.
Each attempt was met with an even more ferocious counterattack.
It had given its all, but that damned Fighting Master still looked completely at ease.
’I can’t beat him. I really can’t beat him.’
All its abilities, both from the Rat King and the Evil Spirit Knight, were completely suppressed by Zorn.
It might not have been a match for Zorn even with all its abilities; now that so many of them were sealed, all it could do was wait for death.
As the battle approached its fifth hour... the Rat King, hanging on by a thread, was at risk of collapsing at any moment.
Under the constant onslaught of Star Trace Gang Qi, its fur remained undamaged on the outside... but inside, Zorn had already pulverized its flesh and organs into a bloody pulp.
It was now like a round, water-filled balloon.
Now, with every use of Life Absorption, a huge amount of Life Force gushed into him.
In truth, Zorn had started holding back around the third hour.
He just wanted to draw out the fight a little longer.
But as the fifth hour began... Zorn felt a pang of hunger.
To maintain his stamina and replenish his Gang Qi, his body was burning through food at an accelerated rate.
’That’s about enough,’ Zorn thought to himself.
"Now!" Zorn suddenly shouted.
The Rat King, with its eyes downcast as it waited for death, heard the terrifying human’s voice and faintly raised its eyelids.
"Heh... Is it... finally over?"
The Rat Catcher, Isaac, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed out from a corner.
Of course, he could have just walked over slowly and it would have made no difference.
The Rat King just wanted to die.
"Die!"
[Heart-Hunting Strike]
Deliver a fatal blow with the ultimate hunter’s power. Each kill enhances the destructive force of [Heart-Hunting Strike].
It was his scaling skill, the key to his power.
After using this skill to land the killing blow on the Rat King, its damage would increase significantly.
The blow struck heavily upon the Rat King’s Sequence core, amplified by the Rat Catcher’s damage bonus against rodent creatures.
In that instant, Zorn thought he heard the sound of a Sequence shattering.
The Rat King’s fur was torn open, and a flood of blood and mangled flesh poured out.
"AWOOOO..."
Rat King Bucky let out a miserable howl. A final surge of power welled up in its now "slimmed-down" body, and it fled into the darkness.
"Master Zorn, after him! Don’t let him get away!"
Isaac shouted, watching the Rat King’s rapidly retreating figure.
But Zorn stopped him.
"Just follow it slowly. It’s not getting away."
Zorn said coolly, glancing at the anxious Isaac.
’Next up, the pro is going to carry you through the story mission!’
