52: Chapter 52 First, play the sweet card, then trick him.

The dagger in the young man's hand flipped nimbly between his fingertips.

His gaze swept slowly over the Slime and the Little Skeleton.

Finally, it fell on Lu Yuan.

"A Summoner?"

"The Magic Pet is actually a Slime, and there's a Skeleton Soldier too."

"They aren't quite like the standard Slime or Skeleton Soldier."

"Are they both mutated Magic Pets? Interesting."

A cryptic smile appeared on the young man in black's lips.

Looking down from above, he said arrogantly:

"Kid, let me see what you're actually capable of."

As soon as he finished speaking, his entire figure melted like ink and slowly vanished into the shadows of the trees.

In the woods, only the rustling of leaves in the wind remained, along with intermittent, flickering afterimages.

The Slime immediately bristled.

"It's been a long time since anyone dared to act arrogant in front of King Slime!"

It spread its dragon wings, ready to charge.

Just then, a bony claw suddenly reached out and pulled the Slime back.

The Little Skeleton didn't look at the Slime.

Its gaze kept scanning the surrounding shadows, the ghostly blue flames in its eye sockets flickering rapidly.

"Big Brother, calm down."

"The opponent is an agility-based class; they are very fast."

Agility-based! Assassin! Very fast!

These three keywords instantly evoked a nightmare memory for the Slime.

[BOSS · Wind Demon]

That BOSS whose speed was so fast it once made it despair.

No matter how it used Split or Self-destruct, the opponent could easily weave through the gaps in the explosions.

That was the first time it felt powerless.

A bomb is only effective if it can actually hit someone.

The space here was extremely vast, far larger than the ancient castle in the Demon Challenge dungeon.

If the opponent kept using their speed advantage to weave through the forest, it would be difficult to threaten them.

No matter how heavy the firepower was, it was useless if it couldn't hit the target.

But what could be done?

The Little Skeleton leaned into the Slime's ear and offered a plan.

"Big Brother, I have a plan."

"Pretend to be sweet first, and then stab him in the back."

After hearing the Little Skeleton's tactic, the Slime paused for a moment, and its little bean-like eyes instantly lit up.

The Slime transformed into a harmless, cute appearance.

With its round body, it hopped forward.

"Hee hee hee..."

The assassin youth hidden in the shadows frowned slightly.

This guy... is there something wrong with it?

When things are abnormal, there must be something strange. His heart instinctively rose with vigilance.

However, what threat could a Slime pose to him?

He flipped his wrist and gripped the dagger.

His entire body turned into a black afterimage and lunged instantly.

Cold light flashed.

The dagger pierced accurately into the Slime's body.

-189! -200! -199! -211!

A series of damage numbers floated continuously above the Slime's head.

Yet, the Slime's health bar hardly moved.

"Quite thick-skinned." The assassin youth sneered.

He stopped holding back.

The dagger in his hand turned into an afterimage, and the attack frequency became faster and faster.

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

One slash after another, the dagger pierced into the Slime's body like a rainstorm.

-234! -241! -238! -245!

Densely packed damage numbers floated up frantically.

Although the Slime had nearly 60,000 HP, it couldn't withstand this kind of consumption.

Moreover, it had consumed quite a bit during the first level.

Its health points quickly dropped to the execution range.

"Finally about to die?" Excitement flashed in the assassin youth's eyes.

Suddenly, a verdant green light shone on the Slime's body.

[Heal Max] +1000!

[Fountain of Life Max] +500! +500! +500!

[Wind of Recovery Max] +800! +800!

[...]

One after another, verdant green lights intertwined and shone on the Slime.

The health points that were about to hit bottom rose frantically at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, it was at full health.

The assassin youth froze in place.

The dagger in his hand hung in mid-air, and he was as if petrified.

"This..."

"Heal?"

"How could a Slime learn Heal?"

And not just one. In that instant, this Slime had cast at least four or five different healing skills.

Is this even scientific?

The assassin youth's face darkened.

He stared fixedly at the 'innocent' Slime, a realization flashing in his eyes.

"So that's how it is."

"You passed the first level by relying on this method, right?"

"Thick-skinned and can use Heal."

"Ordinary candidates really can't do anything about you."

"But it's useless against me."

The assassin youth was extremely fast, using erratic movements.

The mucus Split by the Slime couldn't splash onto him at all.

As time passed, the assassin youth became increasingly impatient.

As the mucus splashed over, he stopped dodging and slapped it away instead.

The moment his palm landed, he regretted it.

The mucus changed from light blue to light red.

It became deeper and brighter.

It was as if something was brewing within it.

The assassin youth's pupils shrank.

An unprecedented sense of crisis suddenly rose from the bottom of his heart.

He wanted to dodge, but it was already too late.

Boom—!!!

A violent explosion sounded.

Fire lit up the sky.

Airwaves rolled.

The assassin youth was blown away.

Like a broken sack, he drew a parabola in the air.

Then he fell heavily to the ground.

His hair stood on end from the explosion, turning into an afro.

His eyebrows were scorched, leaving a bald patch.

His whole face was blackened, looking like he had just crawled out of a coal mine.

"How is this possible..."

He raised his head, looking at the Slime in disbelief.

The Slime, which he had treated as a blood bag, was now standing in place, hands on its hips, looking at him triumphantly.

Where was the innocent look from just a moment ago?

"Surprised?"

"Didn't expect that?"

The assassin youth's brain went blank.

How could the weakest Slime have such high damage?

It almost killed him in one hit.

This is not scientific.

Just as he was still doubting his life, a pale, bony claw reached out from the shadows behind him.

It rested lightly on his shoulder.

Clang—!!!

-901!

The bony claw clearly just rested lightly on his shoulder, yet a crisp metallic sound rang out.

The assassin youth's health points instantly hit zero.

His body slammed heavily onto the ground.

In his eyes, which died with lingering regret, a Giant Skeleton Soldier covered in bone seams was reflected.

Lu Yuan walked past the assassin youth with his hands in his pockets.

"Young man."

"Don't be so arrogant next time."

...

Monitoring room.

Dead silence.

All the examiners widened their eyes, staring fixedly at the screen.

The image on the screen froze at the moment the young man in black had his health points cleared.

For a long time.

Examiner Fan Zhiyuan opened his mouth, his voice hoarse.

"The Guardian of the second level... was eliminated just like that?"

He looked down at the timer.

From the moment Lu Yuan stepped into the second level to the moment the young man in black's health points were cleared.

The total time taken was—

Less than one minute.

Among that, the Slime spent over fifty seconds acting.

The actual battle took less than ten seconds.

The examiners nearby also gradually came to their senses.

"And... how does that Slime know Heal?"

"Not just one; it just cast at least four or five different healing skills."

"How can a Slime master so many Heal skills?"

"I recognize that young man in black; he's a recommended student from Qingbei Academy, an epic class Shadow Assassin."

"A specially recruited student admitted early by Qingbei."

An elderly examiner pushed up his glasses, his voice heavy.

"The key point is that Lu Yuan didn't give any commands throughout the process."

"All the tactics were planned by that Slime and the Skeleton Soldier themselves."

"From the initial act of playing dumb to lower the Guardian's vigilance."

"To the Slime intentionally taking hits to let the mucus splash onto the opponent."

"And then the Skeleton Soldier hiding in the dark, waiting for the best moment to strike."

"Finally, striking decisively with a one-hit kill."

"This coordination, this tacit understanding, this tactical awareness..."

"It's too monstrous."

The other examiners nodded one after another.

These two Magic Pets were simply sharper than humans.

They had been examiners for so many years and had seen countless genius candidates.

But they had never seen this situation before.

Magic Pets formulating their own tactics.

Executing them themselves.

Coordinating themselves.

The master was just watching the show the whole time.

What kind of god-tier Magic Pets are these?

City Lord Lu Feng leaned back in his chair, unable to suppress the corners of his mouth.

"Basic operation."

"Don't panic, everyone sit down."