"Roar, roar, roar—!!!"
Watching one of its scythe-like Claws severed, Executioner Verdugo let out an unbearable, deafening roar that echoed throughout the castle hall. Its crimson eyes fixed on Javier, brimming with overwhelming killing intent.
It seemed even Verdugo was enraged that Javier could injure it. After all, he was just a mere human, yet he managed to sever its Claw—it was simply unforgivable!
Tearing off the half-hanging scythe-like Claw, Executioner Verdugo directly shook off the green viscous liquid secreted from it.
Then, it looked back at Javier. It intended to completely obliterate this human now, otherwise it would have no dignity. As Lord Raymond's right-hand man, a perfect evolution, to be injured by a human—Verdugo itself would mock itself for it.
However,
Looking at the unrecovered scythe-like Claw,
Javier, on the other hand, felt much more relaxed. Thankfully... even a boss of Verdugo's caliber didn't possess any so-called regeneration ability.
The biggest difference between a Plaga parasite and a virus was regeneration. Once a Exploding Bug or an enhanced state erupted, it couldn't revert, only existing in its transformed state.
This also applied to injured parts.
They simply couldn't regenerate, only being replaced by the Plaga parasite's tentacles. This was good news for Javier. If even the boss couldn't regenerate, then he just needed to chip away at its health as much as possible. Sooner or later, it would be defeated.
If it was unkillable like the G Virus, that would be truly troublesome...
"Roar—!!!"
However,
With a beastly howl,
Executioner Verdugo's figure instantly vanished from its spot, transforming into an afterimage and darting towards Javier at an even faster speed.
Its three-meter-long tail behind it whipped around like a dancing long whip, resembling a chaotic black mamba, as if deliberately disrupting Javier's vision to prevent him from detecting the angle of attack.
From the looks of it,
Verdugo truly wanted to kill Javier, which was why it resorted to such elaborate feints. Otherwise, it would have already thrust its sharp tail blade forward.
But,
At this moment, Javier had no desire to confront Verdugo head-on. This creature was currently in a rage, every move filled with monstrous killing intent and fury, as if it wanted to tear Javier limb from limb. Naturally, he couldn't clash directly, so Javier chose to let Verdugo calm down first.
"Click—!"
Another flashbang was pulled out.
Javier threw it directly at Executioner Verdugo's face with force. He hadn't prepared much else for this village instance, but he had an endless supply of flashbangs. After all, they were the bane of the Plaga parasite.
Whether it was an evolved form or a mutated form,
They would more or less be affected. Therefore, Javier's flashbang reserves were ample. As a green, elongated projectile was thrown, Executioner Verdugo, caught completely off guard, instantly raised its sharp scythe-like Claw and slashed down fiercely.
The result was predictable.
"Pfft...!"
"Boom—!!!"
With a dull thud,
Blinding white light directly assailed Executioner Verdugo's vision and hearing. Points of white fire blossomed, its crimson eyes instantly flared with light, and its eyes, previously filled with monstrous killing intent, became dazed and vacant. Such close-range blinding was enough to fully control Verdugo, securing at least ten seconds of stealth time...
Chapter 62: Domain: Malevolent Shrine
The flashbang's blinding tactic was effective once again, proving successful almost every time. This time was no different. Executioner Verdugo, having never encountered a flashbang before, immediately swung its scythe-like Claws to slash upwards.
This resulted in the flashbang exploding at close range, directly in its face. At such close proximity, Verdugo could be incapacitated for at least ten seconds.
However,
Javier overlooked one issue:
Executioner Verdugo was not merely a monster, but a perfect ultimate lifeform. It did not possess obvious flaws like the Claw. Even if its eyes and vision were affected, its sensitive sense of smell and insect perception could still function.
It wouldn't be completely affected in its nervous system by a simple flashbang from Javier. As a top predator, its sense of smell was incredibly keen, allowing it to instantly pinpoint Javier's location.
Additionally, its hard, black insect exoskeleton could determine the direction of its prey by sensing ambient temperature. Smell, touch, taste—Executioner Verdugo still had these three senses to use.
And now,
Javier clearly couldn't create a perfect Mirror Flower, Water Moon illusion like he did against the Claw before, because that required the right timing, location, and people.
Since that's the case... then he could only adapt on the fly!
"Bang bang bang bang—!!!"
Taking advantage of the stun control time,
Javier quickly ran over to pick up the previously discarded long and short shotguns, rapidly reloading them.
He raised the muzzle, aimed at the large black scorpion monster, Verdugo, and immediately opened fire. If he could spray at close range enough times, it might be possible to break through Verdugo's golden bell shield.
"Boom boom boom—!!!"
From a distance of ten meters from Verdugo, the shotgun in his hand fired continuously. 12-gauge shotgun pellets blasted out in a diffused pattern, like a dragon's fiery breath, directly spraying onto its hard black armor.
Although the closer he got, the greater the power, Javier no longer dared to approach any further.
Because if he got any closer, it would trigger Verdugo's insect perception. This terrifying monster would immediately attack him. Since that was the case, he could only prioritize safety—
"Clang clang clang..."
As the scorching shotgun pellets sprayed onto Executioner Verdugo's black armor, a clang of metal immediately rang out.
As expected, at first, the shotgun pellets couldn't immediately penetrate the defense, only sparking off the hard shell.
"Pfft..."
But,
As the shotgun pellets struck more and more times, the indented black armor gradually began to show signs of cracking, and green liquid continuously sprayed out, emitting thick white smoke.
The injured Executioner Verdugo also let out a roar at this point, its sharp scythe-like Claws wildly flailing around, trying to block the shotgun pellets' attacks.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!!"
And not only that,
Executioner Verdugo's three-meter-long black tail blade behind it also jabbed wildly around its body like a violent storm, dazzling the eyes and forming an impenetrable wall of blades. Any creature entering this range would be cut into countless pieces.
The stone bricks on the ground were affected, too, and were cut with dense knife marks, which was quite horrifying.
This was likely Verdugo's own domain,
A miniature Malevolent Shrine—
"Roar, roar, roar—!!!"
As the flashbang's effect weakened, Executioner Verdugo roared and charged towards Javier. Its scent was very faint, but it didn't prevent it from locking onto his general location.
Javier, seeing this, was horrified.
He thought to himself, this monster is indeed terrifying. He decisively retreated continuously, maintaining a safe distance. He absolutely could not let it get close.
If he were hit by that tail blade, unless Lisa arrived to heal him with the G Virus, it would essentially be a fatal outcome!
After all...
Javier didn't want to follow in the footsteps of a certain Jujutsu sorcerer, the silver-haired, six-eyed 5T5, who was struck by a Dimensional Slash and perfectly bisected at the waist.
Javier's waist was reserved for beautiful girls, not for random slicing by the monster in front of him—
"Thump thump thump...!"
After prolonged use of the Breathing Technique, Javier's breathing rhythm began to become somewhat erratic. His entire body, flushed red, started to sweat, indicating that he had reached some kind of limit.
This meant that Javier's speed would slow down considerably, and he would be fighting at the level of an ordinary person.
But to avoid being caught by Executioner Verdugo, Javier still tried his best to constantly maneuver.
"Bang—!"
"Screech—!"
At this moment, Executioner Verdugo was frantically attacking everything around it. A fierce swipe of its black scythe-like Claw instantly added three hideous cracks to the castle hall's stone pillar, and a thrust of its sharp tail blade punched a fist-sized hole through the wall.
Fighting this monster,
You truly couldn't afford to be distracted even for a moment. One mistake, and it would basically be game over...
"Don't move...!"
On the other side,
Ada, holding a crossbow, looked annoyed at Executioner Verdugo, who was frantically chasing Javier in the castle hall. She wanted to help Javier relieve some pressure.
But unfortunately, this monster was too fast. Trying to hit its head with the crossbow was undoubtedly an extremely difficult task.
The reason she had been able to hit accurately before was mainly because Verdugo's target was only one, Javier. If Javier didn't move around, it wouldn't either. But now, with one chasing and one running, it made Ada, the crossbow sniper, feel extremely helpless!
However,
The complaints had just fallen,
At this moment, a group of dark shadows suddenly rapidly invaded Ada's direction, and sharp buzzing sounds continuously came from her ears. Ada quickly raised her head and immediately spotted the Invisible Bug preparing to ambush her, about six or seven of them.
Seeing this, Ada patted her forehead, quickly put away her crossbow, and turned to flee. Damn it... she almost forgot about this!.
When Javier and Ada previously eliminated the Invisible Bugs, they hadn't completely wiped them out; there were still remnants.
And now... these opportunistic monsters, seeing Executioner Verdugo come to their aid, decisively turned back and began to attack Ada, seeking revenge for earlier!
"Da da da da da da da—!!!"
Seeing this,
Ada could only raise her Uzi submachine gun again and spray. For a short time, she couldn't help Javier.
She only hoped Javier could stall for a little more time. If he really couldn't deal with this guy, once she was free, they could just throw more smoke grenades and flashbangs and escape...
After all, this was the real world.
Nobody said a boss fight had to end with defeating the boss to complete the mission; skipping the level by ignoring the boss was also an option—
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
But that being said,
Javier was already close to his limit. He wasn't a superhuman; after the Breathing Technique ended, Javier exited the red-hot skin state, replaced by dense sweat.
Side effects had set in. Maintaining high-intensity muscle activity, his body was now like an inflated sponge, constantly sweating and squeezing out water. Because if he didn't sweat, Javier's core temperature would explode.
And with continuous heavy breathing,
Javier was on the verge of exhaustion.
The Executioner Verdugo in front of him, however, had completely shaken off the flashbang's stun and returned to its original state. Its crimson eyes opened again; a monster with restored vision would only become more brutal.
Seeing this,
Javier also knew it was time to unleash his trump card and go all out.
"..."
"Executioner Verdugo, have you ever seen light...?"
"When I was twelve, I once saw a dazzling, brilliant light. My will, accompanied by golden light, soared into the sky, all converging into the body of a stone giant. Then, the Giant of Light revived, defeating the evil god Gatanothor with overwhelming power."
"From then on, my life fell into darkness, because my light had already helped the giant. I think you should also see this light."
Looking at Executioner Verdugo charging towards him, Javier muttered these inexplicable words.
"Click—!!!"
The next second,
A smoke grenade instantly appeared in Javier's hand and exploded, thick white smoke began to spread, and a pungent odor started to assimilate the surrounding air.
This caused Executioner Verdugo's sensitive sense of smell to fail, and Javier took the opportunity to hide in the rolling smoke, then three or four flashbangs appeared in his hand.
When playing FPS games, Javier was once ambushed by a cunning player, getting hit by six consecutive flashes in a corner. His screen remained blinded for dozens of seconds, wildly shooting without hitting the enemy, being toyed with. In the end, he was even killed by a headshot from a frying pan!