With half the control in his hands, he at least had some room to maneuver.
The main issue was that he couldn't leave the wooden boat right now.
Galen Yu had specifically chosen a spot near the edge; it was fine during the day, but at night, a constant stream of zombies gave him no chance to leave.
He couldn't just turn on the mage either; after all, he was on the mage's turf. It was hard to say if Galen Yu's equipment was enough to defeat him.
Even if he accidentally killed him, the restriction would remain—who would let him down then?
Looking at the Architect and the Snow Queen, they would probably only want to kill him for revenge when the time came.
For him, the situation seemed to have fallen into a stalemate.
"Oh, I almost forgot!"
Slapping his thigh, the Black Mage suddenly had an epiphany.
Having been imprisoned for so long, he had nearly forgotten some spells. He remembered he had a technique for swapping positions.
It allowed him to switch places with any nearby character, though he had been locked up before fully mastering it.
This move required some prerequisites; a specific task had to be completed by the target.
The difficulty was a bit high. In Galen Yu's chunk, everyone surely followed Galen Yu's lead, and no one listened to him. Still, it was a glimmer of hope.
With the Architect gone, only Galen Yu was nearby. He had no choice but to select him.
He murmured incantations under his breath. As if something was sucking him dry, his shriveled skin grew even tighter, his bones clearly visible through it.
The consumption was quite large, and it would take time to recover afterward, but at least he succeeded.
[SWAP MAGIC ACTIVATED, TARGET SELECTION COMPLETE]
[REQUIREMENT: KILL COUNT MUST EXCEED THE TARGET WITHIN ONE HOUR TO COMPLETE!]
Originally, the Black Mage was worried about the effect of the forced magic, fearing an obscure condition he couldn't meet.
Now, he had randomly drawn a kill count challenge!
Competing with a mage in kill counts?
He possessed area-of-effect skills and extreme damage; he could crush a whole horde of zombies in a single hit.
What did Galen Yu have?
Until now, the Black Mage had never really seen Galen Yu fight.
He could handle the hundreds of zombies near the Obsidian Prison too—that wasn't much of a challenge for the mage, and the condition only counted individual kills.
The Architect, the Snow Queen, and the others couldn't provide any help.
His chances of winning were high!
A ball of light blasted out, and over thirty zombies died instantly. He watched the condition counter change.
The Black Mage smiled again.
This magic had a hidden trait: aside from a prompt right before the swap, the other party wouldn't know they had been cursed.
Since it wasn't lethal and simply swapped positions, it was relatively easy to hide.
Blasting another ball of light, he would soon be free!
"As expected of a special character, that damage is really high."
Standing below, Galen Yu admired the spectacle.
The effect was excellent. Every so often, he saw the Black Mage's panicked expression whenever the wooden boat jerked suddenly.
And there were factors he hadn't considered.
Skeletons and gun-wielding zombies appearing randomly in the distance significantly increased the panic.
Normal zombies had to get close, but those with ranged attacks could truly deal damage to him.
He had to drop everything to deal with them first, making the already busy Black Mage even more frantic.
Galen Yu originally thought that under such torture, the Black Mage would quickly spill all the intelligence he knew.
But seeing him perform magic, even if he harbored resentment, Galen Yu had to admit it.
This guy really did have some skill!
One skill activation could insta-kill a large area of zombies; if put in the Twilight Forest, he might even be slightly stronger than the Lich.
"His character is just the problem."
Clicking his tongue, Galen Yu intentionally chose a slightly further distance to start farming mobs.
The mage didn't seem to have the intention to attack him, but there was no guarantee he didn't hold a grudge or wouldn't secretly cast a few spells behind his back.
He wouldn't die, certainly. In his own chunk, even if a giant dragon like the one the mage mentioned showed up, he wouldn't be afraid.
Since he could pull this guy here for punishment, he definitely had the confidence.
But if he lost a Charm of Life, that would be quite costly since they were precious.
"Whatever, magic can't be used infinitely."
Staying in the wooden boat was a form of torture. After a few days of exhaustion, he would naturally behave.
Putting the thought aside, he looked at the SlashBlade in his hand.
The Alliance dreaded the night, but for Galen Yu, it was a beautiful melody.
It was perfect for farming kills, Proud Souls, and the like!
He switched to Tsukumo and slashed with a Phantom Blade.
A large group of zombies was left at low health; the range was no smaller than the Black Mage's magic.
Then, Galen Yu moved in for the kill.
Unlike the Oodachi, the upgraded Tsukumo felt as if it had a spirit of its own. Every strike carried a faint, ominous sword qi and felt incredibly smooth.
Holding it in his hand, Galen Yu didn't feel like he was fighting alone; it was as if the blade itself was ringing in anticipation of the battle.
Even if he didn't understand SlashBlades, under this subtle guidance, he could charge straight into the zombie encirclement.
Every step a strike, like a falling swan; the flash of the blade was as graceful as a swimming dragon.
Compared to just farming kills, the current Galen Yu looked more like a dancer enjoying the combat!
"With the new SlashBlade, God Yu's temperament has completely changed!"
"Is that also a trait of the SlashBlade? The fourth weapon is an absolute game-changer!"
"Having sword qi without even hitting an SSS-rank rating—that's worth bragging about!"
"Even the Oodachi can't compare. God Yu is so cool!"
"Dimensional Slash looks flashy, but it actually has many hidden thresholds. Tsukumo doesn't have that problem at all!"
"I can feel the smooth handling even through the screen. It's exhilarating to watch!"
"The Alliance can't even hold a candle to us!"
This aura made the audience exclaim in admiration.
With its high base damage and a bit of a rating bonus, he could basically one-shot zombies with two strikes.
Combined with its innate Fire Aspect, a single slash set the ground ablaze, lighting up the dark night.
Paired with his footwork, it was like he was toying with the zombies; not a single point of damage touched him.
Cool was an understatement!
"So cool, seriously awesome!"
Through the screen, Fries's hands trembled slightly with excitement.
If he hadn't missed the selection, he really would have wanted to go and fight alongside Galen Yu this time!
Forget Tsukumo; just give him an Oodachi.
If he could pull off a Dimensional Slash himself, he'd be too excited to sleep all night!
"Speaking of which, we have the Samurai Nation to thank."
Headmaster Quill nodded slightly from the side.
This was originally Kapil's personal reward; they hadn't held much hope for it.
Who would have thought he'd be killed by his own allies, forced to release the Proud Souls for all players to use?
If not for them, with Kapil or those two guys from the Samurai Nation...
They probably wouldn't have had the chance to witness such a powerful SlashBlade.
"From the look of it, Tsukumo shouldn't be the end."
If the SlashBlade mod were truly completed, the Block World wouldn't be without a reaction, and according to the principle of SlashBlades getting stronger and stronger...
"This mod is truly more powerful than the Twilight Forest or the Gun Mod!"
Headmaster Quill was filled with more than just emotion.
When the modern weapons first appeared, he thought he had seen the strongest mod.
But in the Block World, firearms couldn't be counted among the strongest.
"That world is even more terrifying than we imagined!"
Now there were dragons and zombies—what else would appear in the future?
"Be more optimistic. Don't spend all day thinking about useless things."
Nudging Headmaster Quill with his elbow, Fries was more open-minded.
"We'll deal with the future when it comes. Look at this now, hahaha! This is going to leave those guys in the Alliance speechless!"
The perspective shifted.
Following Soren Park and Kira Oakmoor, they arrived at his Mushroom Island chunk.
[Support the story with Reviews, Power Stones, and Comments—they mean a lot and keep me going! 30+ chapters waiting on patreon.com/elite_reads]