Chapter Fifty-Six: Who Has Truly Fallen Into Whose Trap?

At that moment, eighty-two Blackwing Birds beat their wings and soared high, circling above Qin Chuan before swooping down in a frenzied bombardment.

A mournful cry pierced the air.

"Claw Strike Air Raid!"

In an instant, dozens of enormous phantom bird talons descended from the heavens, unleashing an indiscriminate attack upon the ground.

Faced with such an onslaught, the corner of Qin Chuan’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. “Damn, a carpet bombing? Isn’t this a bit much?”

Though Qin Chuan’s resilience was formidable, he had no desire to become a living target.

At that moment, his skill, Flowing Strike, had just come off cooldown. With a deft maneuver, he launched a cunning assault from an inconceivable angle.

A sharp cry split the air.

The Coldsteel Sword narrowly dodged the bird talons’ assault, slipping through the gap in their ultimate skill and striking one of the Blackwing Birds.

A sickening thud sounded.

“Ding! Kill...”

As expected, it was a one-strike kill.

"Slide!"

Qin Chuan activated his second-stage skill, gliding five meters to the flank, colliding head-on with another Blackwing Bird that had swooped in close.

"Blackwing Frenzied Peck!"

Before Qin Chuan could attack, this Blackwing Bird unleashed its own skill.

“Hey! Damn it, you’re in quite a hurry! Take this!”

Qin Chuan let out a strange cry and delivered a basic attack head-on, undaunted by the skill.

A sharp clatter rang out as the Blackwing Bird’s attack landed on the Coldsteel Sword, but not a single mark was left behind. Instead, its beak was numbed from the impact.

With a flash of sword light, another strike found the throat.

"Blink!"

Within the three-second window, Qin Chuan instantly blinked five meters, his sword lashing out at another Blackwing Bird behind him.

This bird had just dived from midair, preparing its ultimate. Seeing the Coldsteel Sword appear before its eyes, it was overjoyed.

"Am I really this lucky? It’s coming right to me!"

"Claw Strike Air Raid!"

Enormous talons glinting with cold light rushed toward the sword.

But to the Blackwing Bird’s astonishment, the Coldsteel Sword remained unharmed, passing straight through the attack.

Another fatal blow.

"Ding! Kill..."

“Haha! You must be joking. I've got 0.6 seconds of invincibility!”

“If you think you can hurt me, there’s no chance—in fact, not even the tiniest crack!”

The next moment, as the three-second limit expired, the Coldsteel Sword returned to its original position.

That dazzling display in midair was a clean triple kill, dodging countless ultimates along the way.

All these maneuvers fell squarely into the eyes of the Blackwing Bird Lord.

A fierce glint flashed in the Lord’s gaze as it sneered, “Hmph! I see through it all. Next time will be your end!”

Back at his starting point, Qin Chuan kept moving and striking, but only managed to take down two more Blackwing Birds.

After expending their ultimates, the Blackwing Birds executed graceful dives and ascents, drawing perfect arcs on the ground before soaring aloft again.

Circling overhead without ultimates or Flowing Strike, Qin Chuan could only look up and sigh.

“Hey, you cowards, get down here!”

“What, do you think we’re fools? Come up here if you dare!”

“Yeah, come up here if you’re so tough!”

...

After this exchange, both sides became masters of trash talk.

“Damn, these birds sure are cheeky! Bullying me just because I don’t have wings!”

“How tragic, to think that my dignified three-foot blade is being bullied by birds!”

Muttering below, Qin Chuan sounded both aggrieved and secretly pleased at his own advantage.

After a while, both sides’ ultimate skills were ready again, signaling the start of the next round.

Hovering in midair, the Blackwing Birds were deeply wary of the sword’s sharpness, hesitant to attack for fear of being the first to fall.

The optimal range for Claw Strike Air Raid was ten meters; any farther and it lost power and became easier to dodge.

But ten meters was exactly within Qin Chuan’s attack range—he had just used Flowing Strike at that distance.

This left the birds in a quandary.

For a while, both sides reached an impasse.

“Launch an all-out assault now—any who disobey will die!”

The Blackwing Bird Lord’s sinister, hoarse, yet commanding voice echoed through the dense forest.

It was clearly a suicide order, but none of the Blackwing Birds dared defy it; they could only grit their beaks and charge at Qin Chuan.

“Caw! Caw! Caw!”

“Brothers, farewell forever!”

“For the honor of the Blackwing Birds! Charge!”

...

The scene was one of tragic heroism.

Yet the Lord’s unusual behavior made Qin Chuan wary.

“Sending his subordinates to die? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Could this be a trap?”

Qin Chuan’s core mind raced, recalling countless battle scenes from his previous life—priceless memories forged in countless games.

Ding! In a single second, inspiration struck, and his mind was instantly clear.

A sly smile curled Qin Chuan’s lips.

“So, it’s a sneak attack? You won’t catch me off guard so easily.”

In the blink of an eye, Qin Chuan had a plan. He would leave the Blackwing Bird Lord with nothing.

“Flowing Strike!”

A crisp cry.

A fatal blow.

Once again, Qin Chuan launched his skill from ten meters away, landing a perfect hit.

Seeing his subordinate slain, the Blackwing Bird Lord’s eyes burned with fervor rather than grief.

“The moment is nearly here, you wretched black sword! You won’t last much longer!”

“Brothers, I’ll avenge you! Your sacrifice won’t be in vain!”

...

Another sword stroke, another life taken as Qin Chuan used his second-stage slide.

The Blackwing Bird Lord watched the Coldsteel Sword intently, knowing Qin Chuan’s blink would be next.

Yet Qin Chuan’s consciousness wore a strange grin. “Goodbye, I’m heading back.”

Whoosh!

The Coldsteel Sword vanished midair, instantly returning to its starting point.

The maneuver left the Blackwing Bird Lord dumbfounded. “Wasn’t he supposed to blink and attack again?”

While the Lord was stunned, Qin Chuan dispatched two more Blackwing Birds that had just swooped to the ground and hadn’t yet ascended.

“Ah, another easy quadruple kill!”

The remaining Blackwing Birds traced perfect arcs and continued circling above.

Meanwhile, suspicion began to grow among them.

The Lord’s recent command had clearly been a mistake.

But no one dared voice dissent—they knew the consequences.

At that moment, the Blackwing Bird Lord was seething, eyes dark and stormy.

“To have lost four subordinates for nothing—how could he avoid using Blink?!”

A deep sense of frustration gnawed at the Lord, quickly replaced by a towering rage.

“Go! Attack without order or pattern—force out his skill!”

Driven to madness, the Blackwing Bird Lord was making a desperate gamble.

During Qin Chuan’s skill cooldown, he would use the lives of all his minions to force out Blink.

Out of their habitual obedience, all the Blackwing Birds charged at Qin Chuan, despite their dread.

A green glow shimmered as the Blackwing Birds activated their skill—Protective Shield.

Though they knew it could not withstand the sharpness of the Coldsteel Sword, it gave them a semblance of security.

Watching the tide of Blackwing Birds approach, Qin Chuan was instead filled with delight.

“So, who’s really outsmarting whom?”