In the Moonlight Forest, on a tranquil clearing, the air seemed to have solidified.
The leading warrior, "Fierce Dragon 丶 Overlord Sword," held a fine steel greatsword, his gaze fixed like a hawk on the bushes where Lin Mo was hiding.
His four teammates behind him—an Elemental Mage, a Ranger, a Shield Knight, and a Light Priest—immediately adopted combat stances, completely surrounding the shadowed area.
This was a standard five-person elite team configuration, excelling in both offense and defense, complete with crowd control and Healer, enough to easily crush any elite monster of the same level.
"Who is there! Get out here!"
Fierce Dragon 丶 Overlord Sword's voice was deep and powerful, carrying an undeniable pressure.
As the leader of an elite regiment in the Mad Dragon Guild, he possessed rich combat experience and keen intuition.
Although he could not see anyone, the strange fatal wound on the Demon Wolf's corpse just now, coupled with the instantly depleted health bar in the combat log, made him sense an extremely dangerous aura.
It was the aura of a peak predator.
However, in the shadows behind the bushes, there was dead silence, without any response.
"Damn it, playing tricks!" The Ranger in the team, "Mad Dragon 丶 Hawk Eye," spat, drew his longbow, and a "Detection Arrow" shimmering with pale blue light was already notched, "Captain, let me light him up!"
"Don't be rash!" Fierce Dragon 丶 Overlord Sword abruptly raised his hand to stop him. "Something is wrong. The opponent was able to silently instantly kill a Level 22 Moonlight Demon Wolf; his strength is definitely not simple.
Everyone, maintain formation! Shield Knight upfront, Priest be ready to Dispel and Heal at all times!"
His response could not be called anything but cautious. Facing an unknown enemy, tightening the formation and proceeding methodically was a textbook standard tactic.
Unfortunately, the opponent they encountered today was one who completely disregarded conventional tactics.
In the shadows, Lin Mo's eyes were icy cold.
Discovered?
No, he had not been discovered. The opponent had merely locked onto a rough location based on intuition.
If it were him before his class change, his only choice at this moment would be to use the opportunity before the opponent fully confirmed his location to retreat quickly and avoid the edge.
But now... Lin Mo's lips curled into a cruel arc.
Not only did he not retreat, but he instead condensed his aura to the extreme, like a drop of ink merging into the ocean, completely integrating himself with the shadow beneath his feet.
The world in his eyes transformed into a spiderweb woven from data and vulnerabilities.
The warrior named Fierce Dragon 丶 Overlord Sword, positioned upfront and full of momentum, was paradoxically the least threatening target.
The real threat came from the back row.
The Light Priest, sitting upright with his staff glowing faintly, was the Life line of this team.
In any PVP battle, prioritizing the elimination of the Healer is an undeniable truth.
Lin Mo's gaze, like a viper's, locked onto the Priest whose ID was "Mad Dragon 丶 Holy Light."
There were more than twenty meters between him and the Priest, with a tall Shield Knight blocking the way.
It seemed like an insurmountable chasm.
But in the eyes of the Shadow of Deadly Poison, this was precisely a perfect... path of death!
"Hawk Eye, use a flare, cover that area!" Seeing the opponent make no move, Fierce Dragon 丶 Overlord Sword lost patience and decisively gave the order.
"Copy that!"
The Ranger Hawk Eye sneered, and a specialized flare shot into the sky, exploding into a dazzling small sun that slowly descended toward the bushes where Lin Mo was located.
The blinding light instantly illuminated the area as bright as day, and all shadows would be completely dispelled!
Once deprived of the shadow's protection, no assassin would be able to hide!
Just as everyone's attention was drawn to that small sun, Lin Mo moved!
He did not choose to flee the illuminated range; instead, he moved toward another direction, a deeper tree shadow seemingly unrelated to the battle, and activated Shadow Strike!
Swish!
His figure vanished from his original spot, instantly reappearing in another patch of shadow ten meters away.
Immediately after, without the slightest pause, he used that new shadow as a springboard and activated Shadow Strike again!
A fifteen-second cooldown? That was for ordinary players!
The 30% skill effect enhancement provided by the mentor's ring also applied to cooldown reduction!
His Shadow Strike had a cooldown of only 10.5 seconds!
And just now, from the moment he instantly killed the Demon Wolf until now, more than 11 seconds had passed!
The second Shadow Strike!
Lin Mo's figure, like a spatial jump, crossed another ten meters, silently appearing at the very end of the Mad Dragon team's formation—behind the Light Priest!
The entire process was smooth as flowing water and fast as lightning!
Only the moment Lin Mo appeared behind the Priest did the flare drift down above the bushes, illuminating the area brightly.
"No one?!" Fierce Dragon 丶 Overlord Sword's pupils contracted.
"Captain, watch out! He's..." The Ranger Hawk Eye reacted the fastest; he seemed to realize something and spun around.
But what he saw was a scene he would never forget.
An illusory figure, seemingly composed of pure shadow, slowly materialized behind their Priest.
A dagger, quenched with dark green Deadly Poison, glowed with an eerie dark light under the effect bonus of Abyssal Gaze, silently sweeping towards the Priest's pale neck like the scythe of the Grim Reaper.
"Pfft!"
-910!
A massive crimson critical damage number erupted above the Priest's head!
As a cloth armor profession, the Priest's defense and Life were inherently fragile. Lin Mo's full-power strike, combining his class advantage and divine-grade equipment, instantly emptied more than half of her Life bar!
"Enemy attack..."
Mad Dragon 丶 Holy Light couldn't even shout a complete warning. The intense pain and the "Crippling" effect attached to Shadow Strike plunged her into a brief stun and immense panic.
She tried to Heal herself but found her body sluggish, as if sinking into mud.
Meanwhile, Lin Mo had already activated Poisoned Weapon, and the dagger in his hand turned into a phantom of death, slicing wildly across her body!
-95! [Deadly Poison -41!]
-188! (Critical!) [Deadly Poison -41!]
-98! [Deadly Poison -41!]
In just over a second, the Priest's health bottomed out. Her beautiful eyes were filled with despair and confusion. Finally, the light faded, and she turned into a white streak, returning to the resurrection point.
Instant kill!
Another clean and swift instant kill!
Fierce Dragon 丶 Overlord Sword and the others only woke up as if from a dream when the Priest fell, letting out roars of shock and fury.
"Holy Light!"
"Shit! He's behind us!"
"Focus fire and kill him!"
The Shield Knight roared and activated Taunt, trying to forcibly draw Lin Mo's aggro.
The Elemental Mage's "Ice Arrow" and the Ranger's "Concussive Shot" also covered Lin Mo's position overwhelmingly.
However, facing this focused fire, which was enough to tear any assassin to shreds, Lin Mo's face remained completely calm.
Just an instant before all the skills were about to hit him, his body once again transformed into a pool of shadow without any physical form, merging into the ground.
Poison Shadow Shift!
-MISS!
-MISS!
-MISS!
All attacks missed entirely!
"Where is he? He disappeared again?!"
"What the hell kind of skill is this? Invincibility?!"
The members of the Mad Dragon team completely plunged into Chaos and panic.
This sudden enemy, like a specter from hell, had attack methods and skill effects that completely exceeded their understanding!
Five seconds of invincibility was enough time for Lin Mo to become the hunter once more.
When his figure reformed from the shadow, he had forcibly entered Stealth and appeared beside another squishy target in the team—the Elemental Mage.
At this moment, Fierce Dragon 丶 Overlord Sword and the Shield Knight were still in a brief skill stun due to the focused fire they had just executed.
"You are next."
Lin Mo's icy voice seemed to ring directly in the Elemental Mage's ear.
The Elemental Mage shuddered. Before he could activate "Mana Shield," the dagger of death was already thrust out again!
Shadow Strike!
-895!
Another terrifying damage number!
The battle had devolved into a one-sided slaughter.
Having lost their Healer and with their formation completely disrupted, the Mad Dragon team was like scattered sand before Lin Mo, the elusive top-tier assassin, and he defeated them one by one.
Ten minutes later.
On the forest clearing, only five cold corpses remained, along with the Demon Wolf that had long been forgotten.
Lin Mo's figure slowly emerged beside the last corpse—Fierce Dragon 丶 Overlord Sword.
He hadn't even used Poison Burst; relying only on Stealth, surprise attacks, and continuous damage from his toxins, he effortlessly wiped out this elite team that was considered a nightmare by ordinary players.
He bent down and picked up a blue-quality greatsword dropped by Fierce Dragon 丶 Overlord Sword, along with a few silver coins.
"The Mad Dragon Guild... is still so fragile, as expected."
Lin Mo murmured, his tone carrying a hint of Taunt.
He was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he opened the combat log and meticulously reviewed the entire battle.
"The burst power of Shadow Strike is sufficient, but the subsequent combo needs to be smoother."
"The timing of Poison Shadow Shift was well managed, but the 5-minute cooldown is too long; it must be used at the most critical moment."
"The efficiency of stacking Deadly Poison is high. Against high-Life professions like Warriors and Shield Knights, the execution effect of Poison Burst would be better."
He was like the most demanding teacher, dissecting every detail of his actions and looking for areas for improvement.
Just then, his attention was drawn to the final conversation of the deceased Mad Dragon team members in the team chat channel.
[Team] [Mad Dragon 丶 Hawk Eye]: Shit! Who is this guy? The damage is insane! Is he that Anonymous expert?
[Team] [Mad Dragon 丶 Holy Light]: Doesn't look like it... His attack pattern is more like an assassin's... an assassin who uses Deadly Poison!
[Team] [Fierce Dragon 丶 Overlord Sword]: Shut up, everyone! Go back to town and resurrect! Send the combat video just now to the Guild Master! Tell him our plan might need to be advanced! We absolutely cannot let that guy named 'Lin Mo' continue to develop like this! We must crush him completely before his wings fully grow!
Lin Mo's eyes narrowed slightly.
Plan?
It seemed the Mad Dragon Guild was brewing a major action targeting him.
"Want to crush me?"
The corner of Lin Mo's mouth slowly curved into a cold, bloodthirsty smile.
"I'm actually quite looking forward to seeing if your so-called plan can withstand my... newborn fangs."
With that, his figure flickered again, activating Stealth, and silently disappeared into the deeper shadows of the Moonlight Forest.
The newborn hunter had tasted blood.
And this hunt had only just begun.