Book 8: Chapter 78: Luck |
“SCREECH!” The Inferno Hound Cerberus’s sharp fangs clamped onto the undead Centaur’s body. It felt like biting into ice, producing an unpleasant grating sound. Cerberus had now reached the peak of the Sixth Tier. Its size was like a small elephant’s. Despite its incredible bite force, it was completely ineffective against the undead Centaur.
The Centaur kept using both fists to smash falling rocks from the ceiling, but it still reacted to the Inferno Hound’s attack. It lifted a pair of thick front hooves and viciously slammed them into Cerberus’s jaw.
“BOOM!” Cerberus was instantly kicked flying. It crashed to the ground like a giant meteorite, shaking the entire hall.
“What creature is that?” Everyone was momentarily stunned by the terrifying sight of Cerberus’s two snarling dog heads.
“It’s Firal! He said his summon was an Abyssal creature!” Iristin’s eyes lit up, overjoyed. She grabbed Milleras’s arm and looked up at the gap in the ceiling. Her vision blurred as she stared at the faint figure above, a mix of grief and joy overwhelming her as she whispered, “He’s back. He’s finally back!”
“That’s no ordinary Abyssal creature. It seems to have Flame Demon ancestry,” Milleras said, his expression cautious as he saw faint flames flickering beneath Cerberus’s skin. Yet, he looked puzzled. “I haven’t heard of any Space-Time Rift directly connecting Faerûn to the Abyssal plane. Firal, where did you capture this summon?”
Cerberus wobbled to its feet, shook its head violently, and bared its fangs at the undead Centaur. The Inferno Hound had thick skin and incredible recovery powers. An impact that would have pulped other creatures meant little to it.
By this point in the battle, the undead Centaur’s movements had become slicker, as if the combat instinct deeply engraved in its body was awakening. The soul-fire in its eyes flickered. It bent its elbow slightly, stopping its rock-shattering punches. Instead, it opened its fist and cupped an obsidian rock the size of a washbasin, readying to hurl it at the grounded Cerberus.
“No conscious mind, yet it has such strong instinctive reactions!”
“AOOOUUUW…” Cerberus yelped, startled, and hastily jumped away from the spot. It curiously glanced at Iristin and the others standing at the edge of the room.
Having cleared the falling debris below, the undead Centaur began its descent. Bending its four legs, it landed gracefully and unscathed beneath the Obelisk. It circled the Obelisk with eerie elegance.
But the next moment, it was immediately assaulted by a furious hail of fire. Bullets shot from Burial of Light and Darkness were like chains of lightning crackling through the air. Chips of ice sprayed off the Centaur under the onslaught. Even its formidable defense couldn’t hold; it was forced back several steps.
Qin Lun leaped down through the breach. Holding his twin pistols level before him, he rained fire upon his opponent with an impassive face.
“ROAR!” The undead Centaur raged, howling continuously. It shielded its head with its arms and charged towards Qin Lun, ignoring the storm of bullets.
“Hmph!” A cold glint flashed in Qin Lun’s eyes. He sent a mental command. To further test his theory, he even ceased fire. For a brief moment, an unearthly quiet fell over the great hall. Only the sharp clatter of the Centaur’s hooves broke the silence.
“SCREEE!” A harsh, discordant noise suddenly pierced the clatter of hooves. It sounded like fingernails dragging across glass, making everyone’s teeth ache. Though the sound was soft, it struck the charging Centaur like a bolt of lightning. It jerked to a complete halt, staggering slightly from the abruptness of it.
The undead Centaur whipped its head around, fixing its gaze on the Obelisk. There, as if appearing out of nowhere, was a large panther with pitch-black fur. It was slowly dragging one front claw across the Obelisk’s smooth, polished surface.
“Let’s see what choice you make now,” Qin Lun murmured, squinting slightly. He landed, bending his knees to absorb the impact, standing nonchalantly a mere ten meters in front of the Centaur. The great cat under the Obelisk was his other summon, his hunting companion, Shadow Gale Panther Venus, found by Iristin.
Venus possessed dual talents – those of a Shadow Panther and a Gale Panther. In truth, it had leaped down immediately after Cerberus. Using the Shadow Talent of Stealth, it remained unseen by the undead Centaur, whose Perception was dull.
The Centaur didn’t hesitate for an instant. It abandoned Qin Lun, who stood disturbingly close, and spun around to pounce on Venus.
“Heh, that confirms it,” Qin Lun relaxed, a faint smile touching his lips.
“Cerberus!” Qin Lan called out coldly as the Centaur pursued Venus.
The Inferno Hound, hearing the command, leaped forward. But it didn’t charge towards the Centaur battling Venus. Instead, it ignored the fight completely and confidently stalked over to the Obelisk. Raising a paw the size of an alms bowl, it pressed it firmly against the monument.
“HISS!” The moment Cerberus’s paw touched the Obelisk, a wisp of white smoke rose from the point of contact. As Cerberus evolved through tiers and grew in size, the texture of its hide started showing distinct features of a Flame Demon. Its skin was now a deep, dark red. The surface resembled cracked volcanic rock, fissures occasionally dripping molten fire globules.
Though the Uvellen Obelisk holding the dynasty’s legacy was enchanted with protective runes, it couldn’t withstand the Inferno Hound’s touch. A smoldering black paw print quickly marred its surface.
“ROAR…!” The undead Centaur instantly abandoned the Shadow Gale Panther and hurtled back towards Cerberus. But just as it was about to catch the slower-moving Inferno Hound, that grating, piercing sound echoed behind it once more.
Watching the undead Centaur get constantly sidetracked by Venus and Cerberus, Iristin and her companions stared, utterly dumbstruck. Only Milleras reacted differently. His gaze fixed miserably on the growing collection of claw marks and dog prints now scarring the Obelisk, his lips twitched helplessly.
“Can you walk?” Qin Lun quickly approached the group, a flicker of apology on his face. He reached out to help Iristin up, his voice gentle.
“Mhm,” Iristin nodded. Two silent tears traced down her cheeks. She closed her eyes, resting her head on Qin Lun’s shoulder for a moment, a relieved smile briefly lighting her face.
“Tch,” Idria scoffed softly under her breath, but she didn’t say anything more. No matter how much she had previously despised Qin Lun for running away earlier, the fact remained they all owed him their lives now.
…
“BOOM!” A shimmering Pentagram Crystal Mirror flashed beneath Qin Lun’s feet. His Elemental Burst propelled him back up through the breach in the obsidian dome. After setting down Emily, the young man glanced around. Iristin, Lorlin, Idria, and Emily – he had managed to send them all up one after another. Only Milleras remained alone in the hall below now.
Seeing Qin Lun rescue everyone, the undead Centaur grew increasingly furious. Venus and Cerberus were starting to struggle to divert its attention. The undead now guarded the Obelisk relentlessly, ignoring the summons. Its flaming soul-fire eyes blazed intensely as they tracked Qin Lun’s actions again.
Under these circumstances, Venus and Cerberus could no longer get close to the Obelisk. The task of distracting the undead Centaur fell solely to Milleras’s long-distance attacks. However, compared to his earlier barrage, the Sun Elf Prince’s arrows now thudded into the ground a foot away from the Obelisk, seeming limp and weak.
“Milleras, you’ve endured enough. Time to head up,” Qin Lun said cordially, jumping back down and walking over to the Sun Elf Prince.
“Firal, we all owe you for this. None of us realized the Uvellen Obelisk was the undead Centaur’s weakness!” Milleras gazed at Qin Lun, letting out a deep, heavy sigh.
Among his generation in Cormanthor, Milleras had always held great pride. Yet, Qin Lun’s actions this time gave him an unfamiliar feeling—a sense of defeat.
Qin Lun turned his gaze to the Centaur pacing beneath the Obelisk and shook his head gently. He couldn’t blame Milleras and the others. He himself had only connected the dots after calming down and carefully observing the hall’s layout.
Aside from the Obelisk and the sarcophagus, the great hall was completely bare. And the entire layout clearly centered around protecting the Obelisk. This purpose was evident even in the Star Void simulated on the obsidian ceiling.
While the undead Centaur, as a backup vessel for the Demi-Lich, was undoubtedly important, its placement here felt slightly illogical. If merely hiding the body, the Demi-Lich could have easily sealed it within a smaller, more secure chamber.
Analyzing it this way, the purpose became clear: the undead Centaur was placed here to guard the Uvellen Obelisk and eliminate or drive out any intruders who entered the great hall.
Milleras and the others, trapped with their escape route cut off, had been locked into combat without a moment’s respite to think critically. Moreover, the Centaur being initially confined within the sarcophagus had created the dangerous illusion that it could be quickly defeated. They were trapped deeper and deeper by this mistaken belief, only freed from it upon Qin Lun’s return.
Looking back, Qin Lun and the group’s luck hadn’t been entirely bad. If he hadn’t possessed the Apostle equipment specially formidable against spirits – the Dagger of Sin and Burial of Light and Darkness – they certainly wouldn’t have dispatched the two sentient Ghosts so effortlessly.
And if those Ghosts had survived long enough to fully release the undead Centaur, it’s doubtful that Qin Lun himself could have escaped the great hall earlier, let alone have been able to return and rescue everyone now.
“Firal, do you intend to destroy that undead now?” Milleras asked gruffly, his eyes burning. “If so, I will stay and fight here with you!”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Qin Lun hesitated for a moment, his brow furrowed. “The Demi-Lich’s obsession with the Uvellen Obelisk exceeds our imaginings. If it assigned a Legendary vessel like this to guard it, it surely must know the monument is under threat. It’s probably already rushing back!”
“Precisely why we can’t miss this chance! Fail now, and neither the Sun Elves nor your Moon Elves will ever find this Obelisk again!” Milleras declared tightly, his lips pressed into a thin line. “Firal, this is the Elven Race’s final opportunity to claim Uvaeren’s legacy…”
Qin Lun fell silent for a long while. Finally, he raised his head. “Just the two of us trying to kill the undead Centaur won’t be easy. You must follow my instructions explicitly from here on out!”
“Alright, no problem!” Milleras’s eyes blazed with fierce resolve, and he readily agreed.