Simultaneously with the creation of his shadow duplicate, Tyler delivered the following command: 𝒪𝗏𝒍xt.𝐜𝒐𝓶
—— Utilize “Shadow Sword Blaze Steed” to assault the “Poison Blade Rat King” and hurl the “Shadow Sword Blaze Steed” back to “me” prior to vanishing.
Immediately thereafter, a shadowy duplicate, identical in appearance to Tyler, emerged from the shadow of the Poison Blade Rat King.
It leaped upward, seized the Shadow Sword Blaze Steed hurled by Tyler, and promptly thrust the sword into the Rat King’s back! (4808-67 / 7561)
The Poison Blade Rat King, poised to continue its pursuit, let out a scream.
It had assumed that the human had misdirected his sword throw, yet it hadn’t anticipated an abrupt attack from behind… Its charred skin offered little protection!
The Rat King instantly wheeled around to discover an eerie black figure, brandishing the sword the human had thrown, slashing at it with each stroke landing deep! (4741-72-63-59 / 7561)
“Chirp Chirp!!”
The Rat King yelled, immediately retaliating with a flurry of venomous claw strikes!
Initially, the Rat King’s ferocious attacks were consistently dodged, but leveraging its size advantage, it quickly exploited the black figure’s vulnerability, impaling him directly in the chest with a claw!
Upon being impaled, the black figure hurled his sword into the distance, then dissipated into a cloud of black mist.
The Rat King roared triumphantly, believing it had killed an enemy, thus intensifying its battle spirit!
·
(So, that’s how it is.)
Tyler caught the Shadow Sword Blaze Steed thrown back by the shadow duplicate, gaining a deeper understanding of the “Shadow Behind” skill.
Consistent with the results of previous experiments, the shadow duplicate was incapable of using Tyler’s skills and abilities, including equipment-based skills that consume magic power.
Therefore, without the aid of the “Divine Eye of Transcendence,” the shadow duplicate’s evasion capabilities were inferior to Tyler’s own, unable to persistently tango with the Rat King.
Furthermore, Tyler “incidentally” acquired information about his own “damage tolerance.”
During the skirmish between the shadow duplicate and the Poison Blade Rat King just now, it sustained 56 points of damage from a scrape with a claw, 37 points from a glancing blow with a tail, and lost the remaining 2228 life energy points when impaled through the chest.
Although the shadow duplicate was not equipped with leather armor, skewing the data, this information was still of considerable reference value for Tyler.
.
After the shadow duplicate was dispatched, the Poison Blade Rat King continued its ferocious onslaught against Tyler.
However, with the assistance of the red light warning, Tyler was momentarily able to maintain a delicate balance of evasion. He didn’t have any substantial opportunities for retaliation, at most occasionally grazing with a sword stroke before promptly retreating.
The pressing issue at hand for Tyler was how to whittle down the remaining 4512 points of the Poison Blade Rat King’s life energy.
From the perspective of “damage per point of magic power,” utilizing “Shadow Behind” is not as straightforwardly effective as the “Blue Blaze Steed.”
However, the shadow duplicate had sliced open the Rat King’s tough skin, which would enable the next “Blue Blaze Steed” to inflict even greater damage.
Besides, the shadow duplicate could execute special tasks that couldn’t be measured in “damage value,” such as a “suicidal attack.”
·
Timing the moment of rigidity after the Rat King’s attack, Tyler stepped back and, while throwing the Venomous Blade, once again invoked “Shadow Behind.”
The shadow duplicate appeared just in time to catch the Venomous Blade, and the Rat King, still oblivious to the newly emerged enemy behind it, was intently charging again at Tyler.
Tyler carefully gauged the movements of the Rat King and the shadow duplicate, continuously diverting the Rat King’s attention until the shadow duplicate climbed onto its back and leaped onto its head…
By this point, even if the Rat King detected the shadow duplicate’s presence, it was too late.
In a flash, the shadow duplicate plunged the blade into the Rat King’s right eye (4512-530/7561), and then, amidst its struggles, blinded its left eye as well (3982-530/7561).
The Rat King, writhing in intense struggle, crushed the shadow duplicate underneath its body amidst the chaos.
Before being crushed to death, the shadow duplicate threw back the Venomous Blade and dissipated into a cloud of black mist, completing its mission.
·
Tyler caught the Venomous Blade, standing at a distance, watching the Rat King writhing in agony, while mentally strategizing his next move.
The shadow duplicate not only deprived the Rat King of its vision but also helped Tyler confirm a hypothesis: The Prison Star world incorporates the concept of “weak point attacks.”
Whether it was the instant kill by beheading Albert previously, or the instant death of the shadow duplicate when pierced through the chest, these instances all demonstrate that the “same attack” applied to “different parts” can yield “different damage,” rather than just a fluctuating damage range as in games.
This means that even though the Poison Blade Rat King still possesses 3452 life energy points, if its weak point, such as the heart or brain, could be destroyed with a single strike, it would be a lethal blow.
In the wound carved open by the shadow duplicate, Tyler had already vaguely spotted the location of the Rat King’s heart.
Thus far, Tyler had come to view this battle as a review and reinforcement of his battle against the “Crimson Flame Dragon.”
.
After a fleeting moment, the Poison Blade Rat King recovered from its excruciating pain.
Although blinded, it located its adversary using its keen sense of smell!
Upon detecting the accursed human’s scent, the Rat King rebounded, coiled itself into a sphere, and lunged towards the human with its signature move, “Hell’s Roll”!
However, the human’s short-range sprinting speed exceeded the Rat King’s expectations. Its “Hell’s Roll” couldn’t catch up to the human and was instead led into a tree.
Thwarted once, the Poison Blade Rat King formulated a new plan.
It refrained from attacking and waited until the human’s scent was close.
At that moment, it spewed a cloud of poisonous gas from its belly, its other signature skill – “Foul Breath”!
Against nimble adversaries as such, this move had never failed the Rat King before.
Yet, somehow, this human predicted and evaded its breath attack, quickly moved to its rear, and consecutively slashed its scar-laden back with several sword strikes!
The Poison Blade Rat King, blinded and unable to execute precise attacks, was furious. If it engaged in close combat with this crafty human, it might not land a single hit.
Out of frustration, the Rat King leaped high into the air, executing its third skill.
“Titan Rat Collapse”!!!
Magic energy gathered on the Rat King’s body surface, greatly enhancing its resilience.
It transformed its body into a weapon and fiercely slammed into the ground!
The range of this attack was vast, and a human witnessing it for the first time would undoubtedly fail to evade!
However, during the Rat King’s descent, it was astonished to find that the human’s scent had vanished in a flash, only to reappear tens of meters away.
With a thunderous “BOOM!”, the Poison Blade Rat King crashed into the ground.
This strike made the earth quiver but hit nothing, and the intense recoil temporarily immobilized the Rat King.
“Rat King Greyi, you rushed the final step.” (Evilkind language)
A scorching blade pierced straight into the Rat King’s back and into its body. Then, after a round of intense internal heat and pain, the Poison Blade Rat King, Grey, smelling the burnt scent emanating from within its body, lost consciousness eternally.