Desiring the Heart of a Knight

Shredding the last rat-man to jump at her within the dancing shadows of her spear, Angelina's chest heaved violently as she plunged the shaft deep into the ground to lean against it, hot blood trickling from her forehead and blurring her vision.

"Huff... huff..."

This was "Void Rip Spear Shadow", a skill that spear-wielders could only comprehend at grade 4; Angelina was all too familiar with its principles in reality, and she had forcibly replicated it through a combination of technique and strength.

【You have comprehended the grade 2 spearman super-ultimate move "Thousand Slashes of Crimson". Would you like to record "Thousand Slashes of Crimson" into "Arcaca Cram School"? Note: You will receive a 5% share of the credit points spent by others to watch the demonstration video.】

Angelina didn't even bother to look, casually clicking confirm and tossing the prompt aside.

Exhaling a cold mist from her mouth, blood dripped into her eyes and stained her vision red, forcing her to squint with one eye shut.

Squinting slightly, she noticed a stout figure approaching from the distance.

The monster had broad, brawny shoulders and carried a piece of heavy artillery; it was nearly as tall as a building, yet it possessed the same pointed snout and thin cheeks of a rodent, its body covered in coarse, filthy gray fur. From its stained but still undeniably magnificent silken robes, it was easy to see that this fellow had been the lord of Mist Village Harbor before being infected.

"Heavy Cannon Lord Jolf Starfall"

"Affiliation: Pestilence Empire"

"Alignment: Absolute Hostile"

"Health: 20000 (100%)"

[Warning! Warning! Warning!]

"The lord of Mist Village Harbor, infected by the 'gnawing parasite' miracle. In life, he was cruel and tyrannical; after infection, he became a ghost wandering the harbor, longing to use that heavy cannon filled with plague bacteria to crush all encroaching life."

Under the deliberate orchestration of the puppet master, the lord-level creature of Mist Village Harbor had been lured here, followed by an uncountable number of rat-men who completely occupied the horizon, just like a dark cloud pressing down on the land!

"Starfall?"

Angelina faltered for a moment, but then saw the heavy cannon entwined with the aura of death being raised, its dark, gaping muzzle aimed directly at her.

With a thunderous boom, the stout monster was jolted back a step by the recoil.

Angelina's pupils shrank as a lead shell coated in green slime burst from the barrel, exploding violently against her shoulder.

It nearly tore away half of her body.

"HP -300! Plague Lord Jolf has dealt strike damage to you. Your health bar has been depleted. 'Desiring the Heart of a Knight' has been triggered. The instant-death effect is removed, all negative effects are cleared, and minimum health is retained."

The explosion roared, echoing through the entire town; black smoke billowed as Angelina was sent flying back, slamming into a building and causing the wall to collapse.

Rubble fell downward as the hand performing "Damage Absorption" slowly lowered, and the blue aura shield surrounding the girl dissipated. Angelina leaned against the ruins, her dust-covered face lifting as she faintly saw the stout silhouette appearing within the smoke, countless crimson lights igniting in the haze.

Angelina turned her head, the candle-light in her eyes flickering slightly. She stood up without a word, gripping her long spear with her remaining right hand to prop herself up, clearing the dust in the room.

The scene in the ruins became clear; countless twisted faces filled the room, the flesh on the heavy cannon lord's face twisting into a cruel smile.

Standing before the girl, Jolf pointed his heavy cannon directly at Angelina's face, his condescending gaze filled with mockery, as if sneering at the girl's wretched, struggling state.

The monster's actions ignited the deep-seated desire for battle within her. The flickering light in Angelina's pupils instantly burst into flames; her soaring battle intent caused a wild, arrogant smile to spread across her face, showing no fear toward the enemies surrounding her.

Just as she raised her spear, intending to burn until the very last moment, the golden-haired girl's voice reached her ears.

"Anya, you can retreat."

"What on earth are you doing?"

Veins pulsed on Angelina's forehead; the suppressed frustration of various emotions was nearly reaching its breaking point.

"You best explain yourself clearly."

Her displeased tone carried a cold threat; if looks could kill, Xu Xiaoyou would have already been cut into a thousand pieces by her, even across the communication line.

"I will, but only afterwards."

At the same time, Xu Xiaoyou's voice from the other side was calm. Her gaze was fixed on the strategic map in front of her; every building and monster in the entire village was projected onto this three-dimensional map. To draw such a professional, exclusive map required the sub-class of "battlefield commander" and the unlocking of the grade 3 talent "Survey and Mapping Mastery". To master this talent, Xu Xiaoyou had slept for no more than five hours over the past two days.

Tracking the movements of all members through this map, Xu Xiaoyou began to issue orders one by one.

A cold snort from the silver-haired girl echoed over the comms; she ultimately swallowed her frustration and turned to flee.

Angelina's attributes were distributed very evenly; or rather, at the grade 2 stage, her three main attributes were all exceptionally prominent, allowing her to simultaneously handle frontal breakthroughs, high mobility, and damage resistance.

As long as she wanted to leave, with the support of the grade 2 spearman god-tier skill "Damage Absorption", the monsters behind her couldn't stop her at all. She quickly tore open a gap and completed her breakthrough.

Xu Xiaoyou nodded as expected and issued a command to the girl beside her.

"Xixi, sixty-three degrees northeast, destroy that arrow tower."

"Understood."

The ranger girl drew her bow and notched an arrow; a spiraling airflow poured into the bow's frame, and the simple longbow was stretched infinitely. The arrow resting on the string split into countless phantasms and shot out, forming a rain of green arrows in the sky that pierced and destroyed the arrow tower below.

The night sky was momentarily brightened by flashes of green, a scene reflected in Xu Xiaoyou's eyes.

There was a very interesting setting in Oasis.

When a player entered a heavily injured state, their aggro attraction toward hostile creatures would increase by 1. This meant both the range and intensity would double, and once the aggro of a lord-rank or higher entity was pulled, it would not transfer through damage or taunting skills unless that player died.

This was a technique that most guild masters had to master when conquering high-difficulty dungeons.

When most members were in a state where they couldn't fight, the guild master would issue an order to transfer aggro away from the thick-skinned support positions, letting a highly mobile attacker with survival abilities take over the mission to stall the boss from the sidelines, prioritizing the survival of the team.

To increase the efficiency of clearing monsters, she needed a lure that could steadily attract aggro and lead all the monsters away. The guild had just been established, so it was naturally unrealistic to expect other members to risk their lives for her unconditionally; there were too many uncertainties.

Akabane Tsubaki, as a guerrilla, was too fragile and couldn't handle the strain, so the heavy responsibility could only fall onto Angelina's shoulders.

Telling Angelina directly that she needed to actively take damage, enter a heavily injured state, and remain in that state would have been impossible for someone with her proud personality to agree to.

With the battle being urgent, Xu Xiaoyou had no choice but to resort to this tactic.