Chapter 48: Fierce Battle With the Dark Elf

“Damn human, how can you use such a technique?!”

The Dark Elf was equally shocked.

This kind of cross-class technique was something even the noble Elves had to change classes to achieve—so how could a weak human manage it so effortlessly?!

In truth, it should have been impossible.

Player skill classes were strictly defined, and even Jiang Chen’s divine-tier class couldn’t break that limitation. Everything was only possible thanks to the powerful special effects of his diamond-tier equipment.

The [Hidden One] special effect provided a 25% movement speed bonus, which helped Jiang Chen widen the gap between them. Once he pulled away to the maximum range, he raised his longbow again and resumed his attack.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”

Arrows rained down one after another, inflicting heavy damage on the Dark Elf.

At the same time, Jiang Chen’s stealth effect wore off, and the Dark Elf had lost a tenth of its health—its HP visibly draining with the naked eye.

“You damn bastard, pay for your foolishness!”

Seeing such a sharp drop in its health, the Dark Elf raised its longbow toward the sky and unleashed a volley of transparent arrows—the visual cue for the skill Triple Arrow Rain.

[Triple Arrow Rain]

Description: The archer launches a large number of energy arrows into the sky, delivering three waves of targeted strikes within a 1000-yard (100-meter) radius area (40×40 yards). Each wave deals 150% damage to all targets in the area.

Swish, swish, swish!

-1515!

-1515!

MISS!

“Tch, that was close!”

Jiang Chen just managed to exit the strike zone as the third wave of arrows landed, narrowly avoiding a fatal hit. Still, his health was dangerously low—only about 1700 HP remained.

Hongsha Liusu, watching from the sidelines, felt her heart clench.

That was way too close. With Lone Ranger’s remaining HP, if he took another hit from Arrow Rain, he’d be heading straight back to town.

At the same time, she was shocked by Jiang Chen’s HP— a level 19 archer with nearly 4500 HP? Even the Red Veil Guild’s top shield warrior only had around 5000 HP…

Time to retreat.

While retreating, Jiang Chen pulled out a level 2 [Life Potion – Supreme], uncorked it, and drank.

+2000!

His HP still wasn’t full. He did have level 3 potions, but using one to recover 5000 HP now would’ve been overkill.

Looks like I’ll need to be even more cautious.

Just then, Jiang Chen broke out in a cold sweat. The boss—the Dark Elf—had already moved into range. He knew all too well the telltale motion of the longbow being raised.

Barrage Arrow!

With the boss’s damage output, a full burst from Barrage Arrow would mean certain death.

Jiang Chen wasn’t about to leave things to uncertain dodging.

He was deeply familiar with the mechanics of Barrage Arrow—a skill that could be avoided purely through speed, but the difficulty was high. Even with his current Agility at 338, he wasn’t confident he could pull it off.

In that split-second, Jiang Chen chose to go on the offensive.

He quickly raised his longbow and fired a powerful energy-charged shot.

[Concussion Arrow] was the only skill he had that could interrupt casting, though the chance was small—especially against a high-level, high-agility boss.

The energy-infused arrow struck the Dark Elf just as it was about to complete its charge.

-1397!

Stunned!

Incredibly lucky—Jiang Chen’s Concussion Arrow did the trick, and the stun interrupted the boss’s cast.

All thanks to his 200 points of Luck!

The Dark Elf quickly recovered from the stun.

Boss monsters had strong resistance to crowd-control skills—many only take half the intended effect.

Jiang Chen’s Concussion Arrow was only a Level 1 skill, so the stun lasted just one second. With the boss’s built-in resistances, it was gone in the blink of an eye.

Still, the goal was achieved. Jiang Chen had gained some distance, and his longbow unleashed a flurry of arrows once more.

Crystal-glinting arrows surged toward the Dark Elf like a storm.

-1141!

-1017!

-2434!

-1137!

Jiang Chen’s [Barrage Arrow] was a level 8 skill—powerful and with a short cooldown.

Each volley dealt substantial damage.

The Dark Elf’s HP was plummeting, dropping by 100,000 points in just one minute.

If Jiang Chen didn’t have to dodge or reposition, his one-minute damage output could’ve easily doubled.

“Disgusting human, die under my rain of arrows!”

The Dark Elf roared again, rapidly launching more arrows into the sky—another Triple Arrow Rain.

But Jiang Chen was prepared.

While keeping up high-speed movement, he kept a Life Potion ready in hand. As long as he drank it at the right moment, even taking a full round of Arrow Rain wouldn’t be a problem.

Swish, swish, swish!!!

The arrows poured down, but Jiang Chen only took one wave of damage before exiting the danger zone.

“Your aim’s that bad?”

This wasn’t the boss’s normal level of skill.

While Jiang Chen was puzzled, the Dark Elf suddenly changed.

It stowed away its longbow, and its body shifted subtly. Most noticeably, the surrounding mist around it grew denser.

[Dual Stance] (Assassin)!

So the Triple Arrow Rain was just a ploy—to force Jiang Chen into moving and buy time for its class switch.

Very soon, the Dark Elf boss had changed its combat mode.

Now it was a predator in the mist—its skills entirely replaced with assassin abilities.

A four-skill assassin-type boss was no joke, and assassins were the natural nemesis of cloth-armored classes—archers included.

But the boss’s plan had a flaw.

Jiang Chen wasn’t your average archer. Against someone with [Insight Perception], a stealthed assassin was just a moving target—less threatening than an archer.

“Your shadow will face revolution!”

Leaving that cryptic line, the Dark Elf entered stealth mode.

Now hidden, it gained a movement speed buff.

It quickly circled around Jiang Chen, looking for an opening to use a Backstab + Gouge combo to instantly eliminate the troublesome human adventurer.

But Jiang Chen saw through it all.

“Bloodlust Fury!” Jiang Chen curled his lips into a smile and uttered the words softly.

In an instant, crimson energy flooded his longbow, and he could feel himself brimming with tremendous power.

-1047!

-1259!

-1321!

-1267!

With a 100% increase to his attack speed, his shooting became a blur—his crystal arrows flew forward like laser beams.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

The Dark Elf was dumbfounded.

This guy’s an archer?! Bro, did you walk into the wrong genre…?