Chapter 91: Returning To Hell (1)
Just like Shen Jingbin and Nine Ballads, several other players within the game would instinctively employ the skills they had learned in real life when fighting in close quarters. Although these attacks weren't as damaging as actual skills, it would still cause a huge mental blow to other players.
However, to average players like Reckless East Emperor and Lil Rose, skills were the greatest things they could rely on.
Seeing his own younger sister taken down "bare handed" without the use of any skills, Reckless East Emperor dug deep into his reserves of strength and squeezed out every ounce of it, intent on tearing Shen Jingbin to shreds.
He no longer used his broadsword to slash at her. Instead, he wanted to experience the thrill of slaughtering an enemy with his own two hands. Letting go of his sword, he started throwing out skills in succession. Maras were more inclined towards being "meat shields", so his attacks weren't all that high, but their difference in level meant that Shen Jingbin would still take a fair bit of damage from them.
As a Daoist, Shen Jingbin excelled at dishing out status ailments. Shen Jingbin naturally wouldn't sit there and wait for her death when faced with Reckless East Emperor's vicious assault. She immediately tossed three single target skills at him. Reckless East Emperor was able to resist her disable and disorient debuffs, but her root skill managed to land a hit, nailing him to his current position and preventing further movement.
The status ailments inflicted by skills were short lived, and although they improved with levels, they still only lasted for around ten seconds. But since Shen Jingbin frequently forgot about her skills, they weren't leveled and remained at the beginner rank.
A beginner ranked skill being able to affect Reckless East Emperor was also also due to her good luck.
Taking advantage of the precious few seconds that Reckless East Emperor was rooted for, Shen Jingbin focused all of her strength into her fist and attempted to end this in a single blow. After all, Maras boasted a large health pool, which made taking them down in one hit no easy task.
"Big bird, defend me!" Rooted to the ground with neither a way to fight back nor run away, Reckless East Emperor could only helplessly cry out for assistance. Moments later a big white bird that looked like a red-crowned crane, but was one and a half times larger than one, suddenly flew out from the mass of people behind Shen Jingbin and sent its sharp beak hurtling towards her upper body.
In > a player's pet could be used as both a mount, and a companion in battle. High leveled pets were the equivalent of having a decent companion and would engage enemies on their own. Mascot was one such example of this, which was why the various pets of players would naturally form their own battlefield.
Reckless East Emperor and Lil Rose had taken Shen Jingbin lightly at first, which was why their pets hadn't participated in the sneak attack and they had instead chosen to leave them at the center of the battle. Now, with his life in danger, Reckless East Emperor suddenly thought of his top quality pet.
However, he'd obviously forgotten that Shen Jingbin was someone who possessed the Divine Beast, White Tiger. Furthermore, he'd also forgotten that his other two companions had just died at the claws of said tiger.
The red-crowned crane look-alike let out an ear piercing shriek when it came within three meters of Shen Jingbin. Its body stiffened and it came crashing down to the ground before curling itself up into a ball, shivering the entire time. It looked as if it had received a huge shock of some kind.
As a Divine Beast, Mascot carried within its body the suppressive aura of a Divine Beast. However in the past, it was only at the beginner rank, so it's aura was sealed off. Having stepped into the intermediate rank, the seal on Mascot's aura was now released. In battle, Mascot would naturally release the entirety of its suppressive aura. Unfortunately, as it was still only of the intermediate rank, the effective range of its suppressive aura wasn't all that large.
Having thorough knowledge of the rule that "supporting characters are always the first to go", Shen Jingbin didn't waste any time gloating. She concentrated all of her strength into her attack against Reckless East Emperor, while continuously debuffing him till he finally turned into a beam of light and disappeared before her eyes.
Reckless East Emperor himself was also a ranked player. While he was one of the lower ranked players, in a game with as many players as this, just being able to enter the rankings was a form of honor for players.
Taking care of Reckless East Emperor required no small amount of effort on the part of Shen Jingbin. It also made her aware of the fact that the skills she'd learnt in real life only provided an advantage. They weren't the be all and end all, so she definitely couldn't neglect her skills in game!
"Thief, I should have mentioned that you'd better not let me see you again, right?" Before she even had the time to right herself, Shen Jingbin suddenly heard a chilling voice from her back.
Shocked, Shen Jingbin unconsciously crouched down and rolled several steps forward. The instant she crouched down, she could clearly feel a wave of sword qi brush by the top of her head. She'd only barely come in contact with it, but just that alone caused her to lose half of her health!
Nine Ballads!
Standing up, Shen Jingbin cried out, "Mascot!"
Hearing Shen Jingbin's summons, Mascot leapt over to her side. Swinging its thick and sturdy tail to the sides, Mascot bared its fangs at Nine Ballads and let out a low, threatening growl.
"Is this the Divine Beast, White Tiger? Giving it to you is truly throwing pearls before swine," Nine Ballads' eyes sparkled as she laid eyes on Mascot.
Shen Jingbin pulled out a bottle of Shen Nong's secret medicine and gulped it down before she replied, "That just means the heavens have a discerning eye."
"Very defiant, let's see how long you can keep up that attitude of yours for!"
Nine Ballads began her assault the instant she finished speaking. Shen Jingbin drew her weapon and charged forward to confront her, while Mascot, who was following alongside Shen Jingbin, also pounced at Nine Ballads.
As the saying goes, "attack is the best form of defence". Shen Jingbin was still going to try her damndest even if she knew she couldn't beat Nine Ballads.
"Boss, let us handle this tiger!"
Nine Ballads' band of lackeys also jumped into the fray. With the four of them taking action, they were able to lock Mascot down. Although Mascot was a Divine Beast, it was still intermediate ranked at present, so taking down four high leveled players in one shot was still a bit too much for it.
As for Shen Jingbin's side, due to the difference in power being too great, Shen Jingbin was put at a disadvantage right from the start. After several exchanges, Shen Jingbin's body was riddled with countless wounds. Although Nine Ballads had also sustained injuries, her wounds were far lighter than Shen Jingbin's.
"I still have something to take care of today, so I don't have time to waste on you."
A glint of viciousness flashed past Nine Ballads' eyes before she took a step backwards. Gathering a ball of white light at the tip of her blade, she raised her sword and brandished it, causing the white light to instantly separate from the long sword and fly straight towards Shen Jingbin.
Shen Jingbin's legs tried to dodge the moment it happened, but the ball of white light was abnormally fast. Unexpectedly, the ball of light gradually grew in size after leaving the long sword, making it impossible to dodge the attack. Shen Jingbin could only helplessly look on as the ball of light struck her squarely in the chest.
After her first death, Shen Jingbin had learnt her lesson and lowered her pain settings to the minimum, which was why her chest only felt slightly feverish before her vision turned black.
"You have died."
Both of her deaths had been at the hands of Nine Ballads. And, from the looks of it, this definitely wouldn't be the last time either.
It looked like things wouldn't be over between her and Nine Ballads unless they thoroughly destroyed the other party.
PS: We’re accepting fanart! Ya'll can send in your artwork to
PPS: If you’re part of Volare’s discord and want dat cool Nutjob Army tag, just sound off in the TMK channel 😀