Chapter 79: The Hydra (Part One)

Facing the hideous fishman, Tuantuan showed no fear at all. A mischievous grin played on her lips as she gripped her greatsword tightly with both hands. As she charged to the creature’s side, a flicker of blue flame flashed around her.

In an instant, the charging fishman seemed to be struck by a surge of electricity, its entire body suddenly freezing in place.

In a life-and-death battle, even the briefest moment can prove fatal.

It was as if Tuantuan had anticipated the fishman's reaction. Seizing the opportunity, she drove her sword straight through the vital spot on its belly. Then, with a nimble roll, she withdrew her blade and quickly distanced herself to avoid being caught by the fishman’s desperate counterattack.

A sharp, guttural hiss escaped the fishman as it reeled in pain. Its gaze fell upon Tuantuan, and for a moment, an almost human confusion—tinged with fear—flashed across its face. Just now, it had sensed a force usually reserved for high-level creatures, an aura that had instinctively made its body pause.

Yet, when it observed the girl again, she seemed wholly unremarkable, nothing about her betraying such might. Uncertain, the fishman hesitated, wavering over whether to continue its assault.

But with its limited intellect, it was incapable of analyzing the situation. Soon, the pain-induced rage overwhelmed what little reason it possessed.

With another savage cry, the fishman launched itself at Tuantuan. Once again, the same scene unfolded: the ferocious aura that erupted from Tuantuan made the fishman falter, just as before. This time, however, Tuantuan did not hold back. Her blade came down hard on the creature’s neck, nearly severing its head. With a final howl, the fishman collapsed, falling silent forever.

This was the fighting style Kong Zhe had devised for her, tailored to her abilities. Tuantuan, clever and quick-witted, grasped the technique in no time. At first, she needed Kong Zhe's guidance, but after a few tries, she could hunt magical beasts on her own.

With a triumphant smile, Tuantuan flicked the blood from her sword, then knelt beside the fishman’s corpse to collect her spoils.

“Lucky!” she giggled.

Her luck was good this time. Though it was only a level-one fishman, it had dropped not only two silver coins but also a silvery helmet—a true windfall.

She swiftly plucked a few dark scales from the fishman's spine. These were the most valuable part of the creature; she left the rest, not wanting to waste time.

Stowing her prizes, Tuantuan wasted no time. Humming a tune, she skipped merrily on her way back.

“How did it go?” When she returned to where Xue Feifei was waiting, Kong Zhe had already finished off his own monster. Now, Tuantuan stood before him, little tiger teeth bared in a proud grin, one hand holding her loot aloft, the other flashing a victory sign.

“Not bad!” Kong Zhe chuckled, reaching out to ruffle her hair, not stingy with his praise. She was, after all, just a child at heart, eager for a word of approval.

“Tuantuan, you’re amazing!” Little Lei, standing nearby, chimed in with genuine admiration.

“Heehee!” Tuantuan basked in their praise, grinning shyly as she scratched her head. Then her gaze fell on Xue Feifei, who was absorbed in her tablet.

“Hey, what do you think, oh angelic saintess?” Tuantuan deliberately paraded in front of Xue Feifei, feigning nonchalance as she asked.

“Huh?” Xue Feifei glanced up at her, then muttered under her breath, “What’s there to be so proud of? It was just a level-one fishman…”

Tuantuan had hoped for a compliment, not ridicule. Instantly, she pouted, glaring indignantly at Xue Feifei.

“What? You don’t agree?” Xue Feifei sneered at her disgruntled expression. After tapping a few times on her tablet, she turned the screen toward Tuantuan. “Look here…”

She pointed to a replay of the fight, recorded by Little Dragonfly.

“When you were dodging the fishman’s attacks, you made a lot of unnecessary moves. Compare that to Kong Zhe… If another monster had ambushed you just then, you wouldn’t have had a chance to escape.”

Xue Feifei paused and replayed the footage, explaining in detail as she did. Tuantuan looked at the highlighted sections; though she still wore a sulky expression, she had to admit that Xue Feifei was right. She just sniffed and muttered, “Fine, just wait. Next time I’ll do even better, and you won’t find a single flaw…”

“Wow, Feifei, you’re so observant!” Even Little Lei, a complete novice, was impressed. She had watched the battle nervously on the tablet but hadn’t noticed a thing until Xue Feifei explained it.

“Feifei might not say it, but she actually cares a lot about Tuantuan!” Little Lei’s words made Xue Feifei flush scarlet. She stammered, “That’s not it at all! I just… just don’t want her to slow us down…”

“A burden?!” Tuantuan was instantly riled, pointing at Xue Feifei and shouting, “How dare you! You’re just a so-called Saintess, a church lackey, a fallen ordinary person—what’s there to be proud of?”

“Ha! And what about you?” Xue Feifei countered, her own annoyance rising. “Queen of the Blood Clan? How childish. You really need to grow up.”

“Hmph, just as I thought—completely ordinary…” Tuantuan chuckled darkly, donning the silvery helmet she’d just won.

Helmets and masks had a special feature: they could conceal an Awakened One’s level and identity. As soon as Tuantuan put it on, the words above her head vanished.

“Today I’m not the Blood Queen—I’m a knight. A knight!” With her knight’s sword and her helmet, she really did look the part—a little knight in shining armor.

“You—a knight?” Xue Feifei scoffed. “A real knight should be humble and courteous, not arrogant and full of herself like you.”

“Wh—”

“All right, that’s enough!” Seeing the sisters’ quarrel escalating, Kong Zhe quickly intervened, putting a stop to it. “Pack up—we need to get moving!”

…

Half an hour later, as Kong Zhe struck down another fishman with a single blow, a prompt sounded in his ear.

Ding. You have killed one hundred enemies, unlocking a new attribute for ‘The Untold Story.’ Please check immediately.

Kong Zhe froze, then broke into a delighted smile. Ever since receiving the Apocalypse Sword the day before, he hadn’t kept a strict count of the monsters he’d slain, but he remembered roughly fifty or sixty yesterday, and with today’s tally it was about a hundred.

Now the sword’s white glow shone brighter, and the patches of rust that once marred its blade had vanished entirely—its appearance much improved. But appearance was just that; what mattered were the stats. After a quick glance, Kong Zhe opened the panel to check the sword’s new abilities.

The Untold Story—Apocalypse

All attributes +3, attack power +9
Increases critical hit rate by 20%
Special skill: Summon Abyssal Tentacles

…

All the other stats remained unchanged, but the new boost to critical hit rate had appeared.

Kong Zhe stroked his chin. Awakened Ones had a chance to deal critical damage with every attack, doubling their usual damage. If the attack had a special effect, that too would be doubled. So, critical rate was a key stat for evaluating an Awakened One’s combat power.

Critical rate depended on agility. By Kong Zhe’s calculations, his agility gave him roughly a 10% crit chance. With the sword’s new bonus, that rose to nearly a third—almost one in three attacks would be a critical hit.

It was a decent attribute—not extraordinary, but above average. For an equipment piece that revealed stronger attributes as it progressed, this second unlock was already quite impressive.

Putting away the Apocalypse Sword, Kong Zhe was about to set out when Xue Feifei’s voice called from behind.

“I can’t… I really can’t go any farther. Let’s rest for a bit!” she pleaded.

Kong Zhe turned to look at her, frowning slightly.

“What’s wrong?”

They had only been traveling for three hours, stopping five times already—each break at Xue Feifei’s request. She wasn’t an Awakened One, but as an adult, her stamina was surprisingly worse than even Little Lei’s.

“Ha! Clearly you’ve been cooped up in the church too long—your body’s falling apart,” Tuantuan seized the moment to sneer, arms folded.

“Shut up!” Xue Feifei shot her a glare, then turned to Kong Zhe, embarrassed. “My… my feet hurt…”

Seeing all three looking at her, Xue Feifei’s face flushed deep red. She muttered, “It’s not my fault… I’ve never walked so far before… And I have to control Little Dragonfly as we go… It’s really, really exhausting…”

Her voice trailed off, even she realizing how feeble her excuse sounded.

Kong Zhe shook his head. She had been a shut-in for half a year, after all—no wonder her stamina was so poor. If he hadn’t dragged her out at the end of the world, her lifestyle would have led to muscular atrophy before long.

He sighed. “Just hang on a bit longer. At our current pace, we’ll never reach the new district.”

“Ah…” Xue Feifei’s face fell at his words, but with her legs feeling like they were filled with lead, she truly couldn’t take another step.