Book 8: Chapter 79: Kill |
“The undead Centaur had no consciousness. Even if it could use magic, it couldn’t cast spells now. So the key to defeating it was to break through that turtle shell armor.” Qin Lun pondered for a moment and then spoke.
“Firal, do you have any ideas?” Milleras asked cautiously.
They had already tried many methods in the previous battles, but almost none had any real effect on the undead Centaur.
Actually, this was the limitation of their team. In the group, Emily had no combat ability, and the Dwarf Lorlin’s combat strength was inferior to a First-Rank Apostle. Milleras and Idria did possess strength surpassing a First-Rank Apostle, barely reaching the Second-Order Apostle level, but these two belonged to physical combat professions and were heavily countered by the undead Centaur.
Only Iristin, who was close to a High Rank profession, could barely handle the undead Centaur. Unfortunately, the Elven Druid was currently suffering from a mental backlash, having lost eighty percent of her full strength, making her practically half-crippled.
Even though the main combat power now was just Qin Lun and Milleras, the situation was actually much better than before. Qin Lun might only be First Order, but his skill system was already largely mature. He had comprehended the Hunter’s Heart within the Elven Ancient Inheritance, making his actual combat power exceed that of an ordinary Second-Order Apostle.
What was most rare was that Qin Lun was not entirely the same as ordinary Second-Order Apostles. His skill system contained several High Rank skills, combining both physical strikes and spell damage. He possessed strong burst capability and could also fight continuously with the help of his two summoned beasts.
Thinking of this, Qin Lun nodded. “Before I returned, I thought carefully about the characteristics of this undead. Its surface Frost Armor probably wasn’t formed naturally. Perhaps the Demi-Lich placed some High Rank item inside its body, such as a high-quality cold attribute crystal.”
“It might not necessarily be a cold attribute gem. If Frost Runes were carved inside the undead body, other neutral energy stones could also achieve this effect.” Feeling somewhat more at ease, Milleras’s agile mind began to show itself. His eyes shifted, landing on the distant Inferno Hound. “Firal, you don’t mean to… In that case, this two-headed dog might not survive!”
“Fire versus Frost, that is indeed something to look forward to!” Milleras’s eyes flashed, and he suddenly thought of something, raising an eyebrow. “Firal, when you broke through the Obsidian ceiling of the underground hall earlier, were you already testing the corrosive power of the lava?”
“Of course! Although Obsidian is brittle, this location is so important and secret, the ceiling was reinforced. Without Cerberus, I might not have been able to get here in time.” Qin Lun looked up at the hole in the hall’s ceiling and said calmly, “They should have already left the nearby area. Let’s make our move. If we delay any longer, the Demi-Lich might return at any moment!”
…
“Ow-woof…” Cerberus fell from mid-air, crashing heavily to the ground, and couldn’t help but let out a pained whimper.
Of its two heads, the left one had a dent caved in above the eye, one side of its cheek was smashed flat, and its only remaining eye was tightly shut, drooping to the side, appearing severely injured.
However, this wasn’t the most severely injured part of the Inferno Hound’s body. On its left flank, the dark red magma skin had shattered, revealing a basin-sized depression, the depth almost half the thickness of Cerberus’s body. The left hind leg was also rendered useless, effectively crippled.
Cerberus struggled to push itself up, limping towards Qin Lun, emitting low whimpers. Fiery red magma flowed steadily from its wounds, leaving behind clusters of burning flames along the way. The ground, corroded by the lava, emitted wisps of white smoke, and the air was filled with a pungent smell of sulfur.
“Well done!” Qin Lun appreciatively patted its intact head, turned his hand over, and the Inferno Hound transformed into a streak of light, darting into the Soul Mark on the back of his hand.
As soon as Cerberus returned to the Summoning Space, Qin Lun’s face turned pale. He sat down cross-legged and hurriedly drank several bottles of recovery items he had prepared earlier. Keeping the severely injured Inferno Hound outside any longer risked its Soul dissipating. But once taken inside, it would naturally absorb its master’s Stamina and Health Points to heal its injuries.
“Firal, you need to hurry!” Milleras shouted anxiously, sweat pouring down his face.
Qin Lun opened his eyes and looked somewhat helplessly at the Elf Prince riding on Venus’s back. After losing Cerberus, Milleras, attacking the undead Centaur alone, had fallen into peril.
Actually, Milleras was quite a nimble, agility-type Ranger, proficient in both close combat and archery, and could also use some powerful magic arrows. But the underground hall was empty except for the Obelisk and the stone coffin; two legs simply couldn’t outrun the undead Centaur’s four.
If it weren’t for Venus being clever and letting him ride her, the Elf Prince probably wouldn’t have lasted even 10 seconds under the undead Centaur’s charge.
Qin Lun’s gaze shifted to the undead Centaur. The Guardian of this underground hall was finally no longer in its previous perfect form. The cost of severely injuring Cerberus was that it itself was drenched in corrosive lava.
The Frost Armor on the undead Centaur’s body surface had completely disappeared, revealing its greyish-white, decayed undead body. Now, the undead Centaur’s body was blotched black and white, covered in marks corroded by magma. Some parts of its body still showed thick, fiery red colors, and jets of flame occasionally erupted from the wounds.
Perhaps the Frost power still active within the undead Centaur’s body was causing it to slowly recover, but the lingering fire toxins were infinitely prolonging the recovery time.
This was likely its most vulnerable moment so far. Although the defense of its undead body was still terrifying, the Fine Iron Long Arrows that Milleras could previously only sink half an inch into the armor finally managed to pierce through its body.
However, the undead Centaur, now pierced by over a dozen arrows, seemed completely unaffected. It remained powerfully impactful, chasing Milleras and Venus all over the place.
Most crucially, the undead Centaur had finally instinctively recognized the situation. Between the two tasks of protecting the Obelisk and killing the intruders, it had chosen the latter. It no longer moved back and forth for Venus and Milleras, but single-mindedly began hunting down the intruders.
Perhaps the only one being overlooked was Qin Lun. Apart from acting when he first entered the hall, he had held back until now, only letting his two summoned beasts and Milleras fight, deliberately making the undead Centaur underestimate his threat.
“This team’s luck is really incredibly strange. Does someone like Milleras always have what’s called the protagonist’s halo during his adventures?” Qin Lun shook his head with a bitter smile and took an item from his Storage Space, holding it in his hand.
Ever since meeting Milleras, this team had been in desperate situations several times, yet Milleras always found a way out of the dead end, turning danger into safety. Even though Qin Lun had acted deliberately this time, who could truly explain the unseen arrangements at work.
From the shores of Naga Lake to Ironstar Fortress, then to the Valley of the Undead, and finally to the Tower of Durlag. If the “Ancient Path” ultimately succeeded, their deeds would inevitably become epic tales sung by the continent’s bards.
Qin Lun looked down at the “Scarlet Eye” in his hand. Of this pair of eyes obtained from the Hunter World, one had already been used at Naga Lake. Now only this one remained.
Although the first one had allowed Qin Lun to truly possess the “Stellar Black Hole” of the Clock Eye, it was still somewhat wasted. After all, the “Scarlet Eye” was originally capable of greatly enhancing the “Blood of Dissection” ability.
It seemed now that this remaining one also had to be used. Otherwise, relying on the B-Rank “Tree World Descent” could only trap the undead Centaur for a moment at most, not kill it.
Qin Lun sighed and pressed this Scarlet Eye against his right eye. The Scarlet Eye turned into a red streak of light, merging into his right eye like water. Qin Lun’s pupil slightly expanded, and the silvery Clock Eye instantly revealed four slender pointers, which slowly began to rotate.
The speed of the pointers increased faster and faster until they could no longer be distinguished. The silvery Clock Eye appeared as a patch of black shadow. The color of the shadow grew deeper and deeper, finally turning pitch black, as if capable of sucking in a person’s very spirit.
“Roar!” The undead Centaur chasing Milleras in the distance keenly sensed the approaching danger. It roared loudly, abandoned the enemy in front of it, turned around, and galloped towards Qin Lun, its hooves sounding like war drums.
“A creature without consciousness, no matter how powerful its strength, what can it do?” Qin Lun’s expression was indifferent. He removed the hand covering his right eye, revealing an eye as black as ink, where the pupil and the white of the eye were completely indistinguishable.
Receiving the power infusion from the Scarlet Eye, even though the stamina within the young man’s body was still being drained by Cerberus, the “Clock Eye” was temporarily enhanced once more, even surpassing the original power of the “Stellar Black Hole.”
“This kind of battle is really dull.” Qin Lun let out a soft breath. Accompanied by the faint sound of his breathing, the terrifying black eye suddenly collapsed. A small black funnel-like vortex appeared at the center of the eyeball.
Different from the time at Naga Lake, this enhanced “Stellar Black Hole” was no longer an invisible spacetime beam composed of Perception lines. Instead, it had transformed into a black beam of light. Like a death ray, it swept across the space, arriving instantly, and struck the undead Centaur squarely between the eyes.
The beam completely disappeared into the undead Centaur’s forehead. Although the undead’s body surface remained completely unharmed, in the very next second, the soul fire in its eye sockets seemed as if doused with gasoline, instantly flaring up violently. A fierce, ghostly blue soulfire shot out from its eye sockets, extending a full half foot.
“Bang!” Simultaneous with the eruption of soul fire, the undead’s head also violently exploded. Its massive galloping body couldn’t help but stumble, its front legs kneeling, and it rolled onto the ground. Driven by inertia, it still slid towards Qin Lun, finally coming to a stop just one meter in front of him.
…
Two hours later, a dark figure abruptly appeared in the now-empty underground hall.
Looking at the headless remains of the undead Centaur, its chest carved open with a large hole, and the base of the Obelisk in the center of the hall, now only retaining some broken stones, a roar of fury echoed through the Tower of Durlag.