The Powerful Effect of the Life Potion

"Shhk—!"

The sound was like cloth being torn apart. Bern turned his head, and by the light of the campfire, he clearly saw the monster behind the sharp claw that had pierced Miriam's throat.

"Careful, there's another one!"

Two?!

Cody's face filled with horror as he drew a second dagger from his waist. Under this dark night, one Tattooed Cat Demon had already put them under no small amount of pressure. There was actually another one?

With no time to check on Miriam, Bern swung his sword forward, forcing back the Tattooed Cat Demon behind them for the moment.

At the same time, the first Tattooed Cat Demon to make a move narrowly dodged the arrow Miriam had shot at it. It let out a shriek and charged toward Cody, who had just sliced open its neck with a dagger.

The Tattooed Cat Demon was extremely fast. Even Cody, an Assassin, could barely keep up, and could only instinctively swing the dagger in his hand to try to block.

Fortunately, his luck was not bad, and with the experience he had accumulated from years of fighting monsters, he held the dagger before his chest and, with a scare but no danger, managed to catch the blow.

"Clang—!"

The collision rang out like metal striking metal. The Tattooed Cat Demon's powerful force numbed Cody's arm, and his whole body slid several meters across the ground. He nearly lost his grip on the hilt of his sword.

The Tattooed Cat Demon's attack failed, and it was just about to press the advantage when Lin Mo suddenly came charging in from the flank. Having predicted its path of movement in advance, he brought his sword down with precision toward its head.

With the arrow already on the string, it had no choice but to fire. The Tattooed Cat Demon could only extend its claws and forcibly block Lin Mo's strike.

The next instant, Cody endured the soreness and weakness in his arm and threw the last dagger in his hand. Taking advantage of the brief deadlock between it and Lin Mo, he struck the Tattooed Cat Demon's left eye with extreme precision.

Swift reaction, decisive movement, precise angle!

At that moment, Cody perfectly displayed the qualities an old Assassin ought to possess, seizing that fleeting opportunity.

"Beautiful!"

Lin Mo could not help praising him. The next moment, he put more strength into his hands and forced the cat demon back. Just as he was about to draw the short blade at his waist and pursue, the cat demon flashed away and darted into the darkness.

Lin Mo could not see what lay ahead and did not dare chase rashly, so he could only retreat for now.

"Miriam!"

Evan trembled all over as he held the girl in his arms. "No... no, Miriam..."

"Calm down, brat!"

Bern's furious shout stopped his emotions from collapsing.

"Use the Life Potion!"

"Right, we have a Life Potion!"

As if clutching at a lifeline, Evan frantically rummaged through Miriam's bag and pulled out the red potion.

After earning a large sum from their last mission, besides replacing their equipment, they had also bought some tools for emergencies. Among them was this expensive Life Potion.

Evan opened the bottle, and a fresh fragrance of flowers and grass immediately drifted from its mouth. He carefully poured the red liquid over Miriam's wound, using up an entire half bottle in one go.

As the red potion slowly seeped in, an astonishing scene occurred.

The wound that had been continuously spilling blood stopped bleeding in just a few seconds, and the pierced injury also began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Miriam's originally deathly pale face recovered a little color, and her pupils, which had been on the verge of losing focus, gathered again...

But that was as far as it went. The effects of a Basic Life Potion were limited after all, and were not enough to instantly heal such a penetrating wound.

But no matter what, Miriam's life should have been barely saved.

A miraculous medicinal effect.

This was the first time Lin Mo had personally witnessed the effects of a Life Potion. That immediate result, almost like a scene from an anime, truly exceeded his expectations.

"Miriam, are you all right?"

Tears welled in Evan's eyes as he tightly held the body in his arms.

Miriam came back to herself from her daze. She shook her head with some difficulty, and as she looked at Evan's anxious face, the corners of her mouth curved into a faint smile.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness..."

"Let her drink a little more Life Potion to reinforce the effect and prevent the wound from splitting open."

Bern hurriedly gave that instruction, then quickly looked around.

Just now, they had only briefly forced back those two Tattooed Cat Demons. The crisis was still far from over.

The night was still continuing. Those two Tattooed Cat Demons most likely would not give up so easily, and there was a very good chance they would come back.

"Kid, protect Miriam."

Bern's voice was somewhat low, his expression more serious than ever before.

Compared with still-immature newcomers, beyond their powerful strength, what was even more precious about experienced old adventurers was their strong heart and rock-solid composure.

Even in such danger, Bern still maintained the greatest possible calm.

Cody quickly picked up the daggers from the ground and retreated back to everyone's side. The three of them surrounded Evan and the injured Miriam in the middle with great tacit understanding.

The Tattooed Cat Demons were already fast to begin with, and with their light movements, they were practically born Assassins. The dark night further magnified their advantage. Under such circumstances, compared with rashly attacking, defending and counterattacking was clearly the better choice.

Just now, it was precisely because they had not known of the second Tattooed Cat Demon's existence and had wanted to pursue and expand their gains that they had exposed an opening, causing Miriam to be attacked.

After already suffering that loss once, they naturally could not suffer it a second time.

No words needed to be exchanged. With only a simple meeting of the eyes, the three of them tacitly reached the same decision.

Time passed bit by bit. In the distant sky, a faint hint of pale dawn slowly appeared.

In about another half hour, day would break. The time left for the two Tattooed Cat Demons was already running out.

The surrounding thickets remained pitch-black. Sight could play only a very limited role in conditions like these, so Lin Mo simply closed his eyes and focused all his senses on his hearing.

The crackle of flames, the sound of breathing, the wind...

Every tiny sound could become cover for the cat demons to launch an attack.

One minute, two minutes...

A full five minutes passed, and there was still no suspicious movement around them. It was as if the two cat demons had retreated because of their injuries, giving up on this assault.

Yet right when that thought was about to arise, an extremely faint "pat" suddenly sounded by his ear.

Lin Mo's eyes flew open. He looked toward the front-left, and his right hand, gripping his longsword tightly, unleashed Slash without a moment's thought.

Clang—!

The instant a sensation of contact came from the other end of the blade, Lin Mo followed the maneuver he had rehearsed in his mind earlier. His wrist turned, and the sword slid down along the sharp claws, nearly cleaving the Tattooed Cat Demon's palm in two!

The cat demon hissed in pain and pulled back, but Lin Mo had already let out a cold laugh. The longsword in his hand thrust forward, and before it could withdraw, the blade had left a deep bloody hole in its body.

At the same time, the other Tattooed Cat Demon fixed its target on Cody, who looked like the easiest point to break through.

But Cody was no rookie after all. Under full concentration, he, like Lin Mo, successfully predicted the attack and accurately blocked the Tattooed Cat Demon's assault.

Though he struggled to match its strength and was forced several steps back, Bern at his side also provided support in time. A follow-up Shield Bash interrupted the Tattooed Cat Demon's continued pursuit, slamming solidly into it and sending it flying.