Chapter 97: The Demon Light Wave Slash

Unexpectedly, the Ogre Rat possessed astonishing vitality. Even with its skull pierced by a long blade, it did not die instantly. Instead, it let out a frenzied roar and swiped a massive paw at Su Cheng, who was still standing on its shoulder.

A gust of wind whipped past.

Su Cheng stepped on the Ogre Rat’s head, yanked his blade free from its skull, and leaped off the creature.

With a loud "thwack," the Ogre Rat’s paw slammed heavily into its own head. Its already dim-witted brain seemed to have been knocked senseless, leaving it with a vacant, dazed expression.

What was going on? Did this Ogre Rat go so insane that it started attacking itself?

Watching this ridiculous scene, Thor, who was currently covering his teammates as they climbed into the vertical shaft, grinned. The movement pulled at his wounds, causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood.

Once he had gained some distance, Su Cheng drew a large sniper rifle, aimed briefly, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The gunshot echoed through the underground tunnel. The 98K sniper rifle’s headshot effect triggered, blowing apart half of the Ogre Rat’s skull; grey, paste-like brain matter mixed with blood splattered everywhere.

Seeing that the shot had failed to kill the creature, Su Cheng prepared to fire again, but the Ogre Rat came charging toward him, roaring and swinging its battle-axe.

If one could see the Ogre Rat’s detailed status at that moment, they would surely find that its hatred for Su Cheng had hit the limit—enough that even ten tanks like "Amu Ti" couldn't pull its aggro away.

"The adrenaline effect is wearing off. I need to finish this guy quickly."

Su Cheng felt his heartbeat and blood circulation gradually returning to normal, and the immense power surging through his body began to wane. He flicked forward, brandishing his blade, Shadow of the Gale, and charged to meet the Ogre Rat head-on.

With a sweep of his arm, the pitch-black blade cut through the air like a phantom, piercing the Ogre Rat’s neck from bottom to top and slicing its throat wide open.

A foul-smelling acid splashed onto the blade, sizzling as it touched the metal. Su Cheng frowned and immediately pulled back.

The moment he retreated, a massive spray of highly corrosive acid erupted from the Ogre Rat’s mouth. Had Su Cheng been a second slower, he surely would have been reduced to a pile of bones.

Realizing that mere slashes couldn't kill this thick-skinned monster, Su Cheng circled behind it. His black-gloved hand, wreathed in ghost energy, tore through its flesh and plunged directly into its chest cavity.

Su Cheng rummaged around inside the Ogre Rat’s chest for a moment, and soon, he pulled out a dark red heart that was still beating.

Plop, plop.

Dark red blood dripped from his hand.

Su Cheng drove his fingers into the Ogre Rat’s heart and squeezed hard.

The large, dark red heart burst instantly in his palm, reduced to a mass of shredded meat.

The Ogre Rat’s massive frame collapsed with a thunderous crash; it appeared to be well and truly dead.

However, Su Cheng wasn't taking any chances. He walked up to the carcass and swung his blade, severing the head.

Since this creature hadn't died even after its skull was pierced, a missing heart might not be enough to finish it off for good. Decapitation was the safest bet. Unless it was an undead creature like a vengeful spirit, most monsters couldn't survive losing their heads.

As the adrenaline wore off, a profound sense of fatigue and weakness washed over him. At that moment, Su Cheng felt like he barely had the strength to adjust his belt, let alone swing a blade.

Just as he prepared to leave the corpse behind, the void suddenly distorted, and a black scroll radiating an eerie aura appeared before his eyes.

"This is... a skill scroll?"

Su Cheng stared at the mysterious scroll, a flash of wild joy flickering deep in his eyes.

In horror games, there were a few ways to learn active skills. The most common was by raising mastery levels. Another way was to find mentors in specific dungeons to train, though the forums were full of guides noting that this method was highly random—success depended entirely on luck.

For instance, Kojima Naoto’s magic skills were learned from a mentor at a magic academy.

Beyond that, many high-level items and equipment came with active skills, but these could only be used while the gear was equipped.

The chance of a skill scroll dropping directly from a monster was incredibly slim. An unidentified skill scroll could easily fetch a sky-high price at an auction house.

Su Cheng felt as if he had just been struck by a pie falling from the sky; he was so excited he could almost dance.

He lightly touched the scroll, which hung in the air like a phantom projection. It transformed into a beam of black light and zipped straight into his body.

"You have obtained a skill scroll (unidentified). Would you like to identify it?"

The game’s voice echoed in his ears. Once identified, the scroll would bind to the player and could no longer be sold. In other words, if Su Cheng’s luck was poor and he ended up with a useless skill or one he couldn't meet the requirements to learn, he would be at a total loss.

On the horror game forums, players had listed ways to roughly guess the type of scroll based on intuition—simply by looking at its age, color, and the aura it emitted.

Generally, holy-type scrolls were bright yellow, while mysterious or dark-type scrolls were mostly dark-colored. The older a scroll looked, the higher the chance of it containing a powerful skill.

The most important factor was the aura—the feeling the scroll gave off. For example, undead-type scrolls would give off a necromantic vibe, while ordinary magic scrolls would show strong magical fluctuations.

Looking at it this way, the scroll in Su Cheng’s hand was clearly dark or mysterious, or perhaps something related to necromancy.

However, skill scrolls were so rare that there wasn't enough data to confirm if this identification method was truly accurate.

After a moment of hesitation, Su Cheng decided to trust his luck and gritted his teeth, choosing to identify it.

[Magic Light Wave Slash]
Type: Dark
Level: LV1
Requirements: Dark Swordsman class, C-rank Blade Mastery
Skill Description: Channel your inner spiritual power to unleash a powerful wave of dark sword energy.
Note: A signature technique of the Dark Sword Saint Horgasalon, who once dominated the City of Mysteries. At its peak, it possesses the power to defy gods and demons.

Su Cheng hadn't expected to pull a skill that perfectly matched his Blade Mastery. It felt like winning a five-million-dollar lottery.

Moreover, his class and mastery met the requirements for [Magic Light Wave Slash] exactly.

"Dark Sword Saint Horgasalon?"

Su Cheng chewed on the name. Coincidentally, this Dark Sword Saint, like the Nightmare Clown he had encountered previously, came from the City of Mysteries. What kind of place was this City of Mysteries, anyway?

He didn't have time to ponder too much.

A countless swarm of rats had caught the scent of food and was surging toward him like a terrifying black tide.

"Brother Cheng, Thor and the others have safely passed through the underground tunnel. You’re the only one left!" Xu Xiaolong’s head popped out of the vertical shaft, looking anxious.

With a series of flashes, Su Cheng cut down the mutant rats blocking his path, dashed forward into the tunnel, and slammed the manhole cover shut.

The moment Su Cheng vanished into the tunnel, the pair of purple eyes watching him from the void slowly closed.