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“The system just issued a mission.” I relayed to the girls. Thanks to Jiaojiao’s little incident earlier, I prepared a private channel for just the four of us beforehand.

“Mission?” Bitong asked in confusion. “Why didn’t we get it as well?”

“The systems you guys have are child systems; there won’t be any missions.” I quickly explained. “But you can still participate in mine.”

“Your Highness, what are these ‘missions?” Lixiang asked.

“Battle the scorpion-like monsters… is what the system said. Based on its name, it should be a monster slaying mission.”

“But they are scary…” Jiaojiao whimpered. “Those tails can pierce through our armors…”

“Mhm, I know. That’s why I’ve decided to handle them myself. You girls can take cover first.”

The girls did not have as much combat experience as I did. In a life-or-death situation like this, there was no denying that I did not rank their chances very high. In light of that, I wouldn’t want them to risk themselves.

Based on what I’ve seen so far, these beasts seemed to have retained their hunting instincts from life, and they weren’t as mindless as those zombies, so escaping might not even be an option. Especially not when these beasts seemed to be proficient in tracking and assassinations.

For the time being, I should be the one to test the waters. The girls… they could just find a nearby building to hide in first. That would allow me to hold the monsters in a choke point as well.

“Big brother… how about we just go… those monsters are scary… we can’t take them…” Jiaojiao was on the verge of tears at this point.

Still…

“No. Since the system has given out this mission, it must mean that I have the strength to take on these monsters then. I… watch out!”

Barely halfway through with my words, I suddenly spotted one of those canine/scorpion amalgamations circle around to our flank, a mere ten meters away from Jiaojiao’s pink exosuit.

No time to waste, I swiftly tossed the shield in my hands, right in the path of that leaping canine skeleton.

The exosuit shield sliced through the air, smashing right into the head of the monster, causing it to suddenly lose control and fall… right on top of a survivor’s exosuit…

Taking advantage of this, I took a quick step forward, and with a mighty swing of my right arm, smashed my hammer right into its skull.

Aided by the force of gravity behind it, the hammer cracked open a gaping hole in the monster’s head, revealing a wavering green flame within. Soul Flame slightly exposed and unstable, the undead monster started to lose control of its body, just like a human would.

I raised my hammer once more, my opponent still immobilized from the impact of the first strike, then brought it down with a vengeance… and again… and again… and again…

It was only at the fifth strike that the Soul Flame was fully exposed. On the sixth, I struck at the eerie green flame!

Finally, the monster went limp. The exosuit beneath could now climb to his feet and shake the massive skeleton off himself.

However, the fact that it took six whole swings of my hammer was a problem. Also, that survivor did not even leave behind a word of thanks before he sped off into the distance.

Yet just when I thought it was all over, the canine skeleton, which had half its skull missing at this point, suddenly jumped at me. It furiously tried to bite at me, giving me a right scare in the process.

Thankfully, the defenses of the exosuit held up to the leap, though barely. While I was staggered, the canine/scorpion skeleton thrust its mighty tail into my suit, actually penetrating the right thigh in the process!

Crap! Why is it still alive?! I even made sure to give it one last hit after I cracked open its head!

Adrenaline coursing through my veins, the suit seemed to react as well. The seventh and final swing of my hammer completely dislodged the Soul Flame from its head, causing it to fall to the ground. Without a Soul Flame to control it, the skeleton fell apart into separate bones.

“Valued host, the Soul Flame of an undead is mostly immune to physical attacks. Only energy attacks can harm it.”

Energy attacks? Like a laser or magic?

“That’s right. Our enemies this time seem to be quite a handful, be careful.”

Then can my Icy Inferno slay them?

“It can. Icy Inferno has anti-magic properties imbued into it. It does additional damage to devilish and incorporeal enemies.”

Got it.

I opened my exosuit, then retrieved the blade in question from my inventory. At the same time, I jumped out of my suit, and before even touching the ground, stabbed down into the lone Soul Flame.

The moment the tip of Icy Inferno touched the Soul Flame, it vanished, like it never existed to begin with.

It does work…

“Ding! Skill Card unlocked: Revolution Slice.”

Hearing that, I immediately opened up my inventory once more and began scanning through it. And there it was… a Skill Card… so these monsters do indeed drop items…

The system wasn’t lying? These monsters really do drop treasure? Is my luck finally taking a turn for the better? Regardless, loot is always welcome.

Without even considering, I activated the Skill Card.

Just like before, a familiar yet foreign sensation began flowing into my head, as if the knowledge was mine to begin with.

Sometimes, I couldn’t help but marvel at the workings of the system. Did this mean that the system could directly implant any knowledge I wanted as long as I had the points for it?

There really isn’t a better cheating tool than this, is there? Now, if it would just remove the point cost.

Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time to bask in my triumph. I did not return to the exosuit, seeing as its leg was now injured and could just fail at any moment. Besides, it felt awkward moving around in an unfamiliar environment.

I leapt onto my former exosuit’s shoulder, then like a martial artist straight out of a novel, I nimbly took to the skies and dived at Bitong, who quickly stretched out her arms to receive me.

Ever since I learned the Revolution Slice, I felt my balance improve by leaps and bounds. Even standing on top of the exosuit, it felt like I was merely standing on flat ground.

“I’ve figured out how to handle these monsters. I’ll get rid of those behind us first. You guys take care in the meantime.” Then without giving the girls time to say no, I took to the skies once more with a nimble leap, landing briefly on top of another exosuit before taking off again…

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE