Dueling the Spinal Butcher!

"Are you going?" Ruolin asked.

"Go!"

I immediately picked up my Explosive Gun and said, "But everyone must be careful and stay away from the Spinal Butcher. Let's not make a move yet, observe the situation first. Saving people is important, but our own lives are even more important, much more important!"

"That makes sense..." the fat man grinned.

"Walk!"

Under the moonlight, a group of people hurried along the edge of the woods.

The coordinates posted by Shen Jin and Jī Méng Kěkě are not far from us. At our current speed, it would only take us about 5 minutes to travel that distance at full speed. It seems that they just brushed past us before, then circled around and ran into the terrifying Spinal Butcher!

These unlucky kids...

Five minutes later, gunshots rang out from deep within the jungle.

"Boss, over there!"

Cai Cai pointed to the distance.

At this moment, the five of us were on a small hill ten meters high. Looking down, we could see a huge, dark object lying across the plain under the moonlight. Judging from its outline, it looked like a steel structure. The Spinal Butcher was circling this steel structure, and the spinal tentacles behind him were clanging loudly!

"Holy crap, what the hell is that?"

I took out the Wind Whisperer and examined the thing carefully with a magnifying glass.

Cai Cai, Ruolin, and the others also observed through the scope, their faces showing surprise.

"That, it seems to be..."

Cai Cai was slightly taken aback. "An abandoned Drop Pod?!"

"Yeah?"

My gaze sharpened as well.

In the setting of <Star Abyss>, Drop Pod is a transportation device that precisely delivers personnel or supplies from space to the ground. It is generally used to transport elite warriors wearing third-generation or higher Power Armor. Each Drop Pod can transport about 5-10 people. The one in front of us seems to be a small Drop Pod for 5 people, with five openings in its steel structure for loading personnel.

Meanwhile, the Spinal Butcher frantically circled the overgrown, rusty abandoned Drop Pod, its spinal tentacles clanging and piercing the Drop Pod as if it were chasing someone.

"Depend on..."

Upon closer inspection, I discovered a figure nimbly weaving in and out of the Drop Pod, frequently unleashing a Psionic Attack on the Spinal Butcher, causing the Spinal Butcher's health bar to drop to 97%!

Could it be that this person is trying to wear down the BOSS?

Who is that person?

Cai Cai and Ruolin asked questions together, and they also discovered the person who was fighting the Spinal Butcher one-on-one.

"I don't know, it's too far away to see the ID."

I shook my head and said, "This guy's damage output is too low; he can't possibly take down the Spinal Butcher. I'll go over there alone now. The rest of you stay here. If I make a move, you switch to sniper rifles and take down the Spinal Butcher from a distance. You don't need to deal too much damage; just make sure you can participate in the raid and get the First Kill reward and the Orange Treasure Chest."

"Ding Han, is this any good?" the fat man asked, frowning.

"Don't worry, you definitely won't die."

I grinned. "If I really do get killed by the Spinal Butcher, you guys run! Nearly 300 meters is enough for you to escape."

"Um!"

Ruolin said, "Then be careful!"

"Rest assured!"

As soon as I finished speaking, I grabbed the Explosive Gun and rushed out of the hill, sliding down the steep slope. Then, under the cover of darkness and grass, I made my way to the abandoned Drop Pod.

Actually, before seeing this abandoned Drop Pod, I was absolutely unwilling to take on the Spinal Butcher one-on-one. Its attack power is undeniable, and now that it's level 40, it's simply not something a player at this stage can handle head-on.

However, the Drop Pod is sturdy and the Spinal Butcher cannot damage it. In addition, there are 5 holes inside the Drop Pod, which meets the conditions for "trapping the monster". As long as you are skillful enough and operate smoothly enough, it is not a problem to kill this BOSS with zero loss!

Meanwhile, the player who frequently unleashed Psionic Attack was doing just that!

"Rustle..."

With the sound of light footsteps, I was already within 40 yards of the Drop Pod, and I could even see the rotating bone saw inside the Spinal Butcher's chest cavity clearly. At that moment, the ID of the player who was kiting the BOSS also came into view.

[Fey Courtier] (Star Speaker, Tier 3)

Level: 34

Guild: None

Position: None

Regional Ranking: 7

It turns out to be the player Regional Ranking Huaining City, and also a player with the Hidden Profession "Star Speaker"!

"Drop!"

Just then, the Jī Méng Kěkě sent a voice message: "Ding Han, have you arrived yet?"

"Arrive."

I frowned and said, "I've already seen Fey Courtier soloing the boss, what about you guys? Why haven't I seen you?"

"We're hiding inside the Drop Pod."

The Jī Méng Kěkě cried and said, "The leader and I are both seriously Severely Injured. Almost all of us were killed by the Spinal Butcher. Only four or five of us are left, and we are all injured and unable to Combat Power. We are all hiding in the rest pods in the mezzanine of the Drop Pod."

It's a bit pitiful; they used to have 20+ people.

"Um."

I nodded. "Don't rush..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Spinal Butcher suddenly let out a low roar, and his arm spikes suddenly shot up, extending forward continuously. With a "whoosh," they turned a corner, and one of the spikes, as sharp as a blade, pierced directly into the abdomen of Fey Courtier with a "thud"!

Even the wisest person can make a mistake.

Although Fey Courtier's positioning was already very skillful, he was a "magic" class, probably with all points allocated to spirit, so his agility was a bit lacking, which made his positioning less flexible. As a result, he was still caught out by the Spinal Butcher!

"10023!"

In an instant, the image of shattered starlight appeared on Fey Courtier's chest, the scene of his skill "Starfall Shield" being shattered. Even after the Starfall Shield absorbed a large amount of damage, the Spinal Butcher's attack still caused him immense damage, almost putting him into a state of Lightly Injured!

"Oh no, we're doomed..."

The Fey Courtier was horrified; a bloody hole spread across his chest!

At that very moment, I took action!

"Boom!"

With a burst of Yuan Power, his body transformed into a blur, instantly piercing through the Spinal Butcher's body. Immediately afterward, he threw a Tian Gong Kai Wu into the Spinal Butcher's body, breaking through with Overpowering Momentum. In an instant, the Ride the Wind Sword in his hand unleashed a five-hit combo of normal attack + Dragon Blade + normal attack + Ground Spike Slash + normal attack, causing damage to soar into the air!

"1325!"

"2678!"

"1558!"

"4872!"

"1892!"

With its Overpowering Momentum, the base attack damage of each strike increases with each hit!

"Roar~~~"

The Spinal Butcher roared, turned around abruptly, his chest opened, and two arms covered in bone spiky grabbed from both sides, trying to stuff me into his chest cavity and then crush me!

"Watch out, Shadow Chaser..." Fey Courtier exclaimed in alarm.

I remained calm and unhurried, instantly flicking the tip of my sword to unleash a normal attack, followed by Cold Star Piercing Bone, a normal attack, Bloodthirsty Assault, and another normal attack, freezing the BOSS in place. Each strike dealt more damage than the last!

"2003!"

"12844!"

"2335!"

"2578!"

"8002!"

"12248!"

"4802!"

It has to be said that the damage from the combination of "Tian Gong Kai Wu" and "Overpowering Momentum" is terrifying. Even Spinal Butcher with over 1000 Overpowering Momentum", the damage of the final normal attack even reached 4800+ points, which is much higher than the 1325 points of damage of "One Sword". This is the effect of the 110% attack power bonus!

However, my good fortune didn't last long. Although my melee damage output was terrifying, it wasn't sustainable. After all, I couldn't withstand the attacks from the Spinal Butcher!

"Get out of the way!"

I abruptly switched to my Explosive Gun and glared at Fey Courtier: "Find somewhere to hide, don't block my view, I want the route you took!"

"Hmm... okay!"

Without further ado, Fey Courtier immediately slipped into the rusty rest compartment of the Drop Pod.

"Roar~~~"

The Spinal Butcher roared, and six spinal tentacles shot out from all directions behind him!

I quickly dodged through the Drop Pod, dodging his initial burst of damage by using the camera angle to my advantage. Then, with agile movements, I leaped to the top of the Drop Pod and unleashed an Armor-piercing Round of armor -Explosive Gun at the Spinal Butcher's bald head!

Unfortunately, the opponent's armor and resistance were simply too high. Even with the Armor Penetration effect of the Tian Gong Kai Wu, each shot could only deal 800+ damage, which was far from optimistic!

"Shadow Chaser, be careful!"

Fey Courtier threw a skill from the rest pod. The skill turned into starlight and seeped into the ground. It quickly transformed into a tentacle that darted out and wrapped around the BOSS's body. The binding effect was weakened by the BOSS's resistance, but it still lasted for a full 1.2 seconds.

Stardust Tendril, a Tier 3 control skill of the Star Speaker!

Seeing this, I casually pulled Fey Courtier into my squad. If we could really take down the Spinal Butcher, he should get the First Kill reward!

"Sizzle~~~"

At this moment, the Spinal Butcher roared, and the golden cracks all over his body hummed. That was the effect of the last two seconds of the Heavenly Tian Gong Kai Wu. The SS-rank Tian Gong Kai Wu has a hidden feature: in the end, as it continuously erodes the opponent's armor, it will mark the opponent's true weakness.

In the final battle against Vega during the Stream City Campaign, it was the Tian Gong Kai Wu that revealed the opponent's weakness, ultimately leading to his defeat!

At this moment, the final golden light from the Tian Gong Kai Wu converged into four points, two of which were located at the Spinal Butcher's leg joints, and the other two at his arm joints!

"Shadow Chaser!"

Fey Courtier said in the Team Channel, "I gathered some information about high-level mutants during my previous missions. The Spinal Butcher has a weakness: during its evolution process, its joints are used very frequently, which accelerates the wear and tear on its bone spikes. Therefore, the Spinner Butcher's joints have evolved to secrete a lubricating fluid, and this lubricating fluid is flammable!"

"Understood, thank you!"

I nodded and continued to rely on my superior agility to move around and dodge the Spinal Butcher's fierce attacks!

For a moment, the entire Drop Pod was buzzing, constantly enduring the heavy blows of the Spinal Butcher!

Meanwhile, Ruolin, Cai Cai, and others rushed to the rescue with sniper rifles, trying their best to deal maximum damage and also get a share of the spoils!

Two minutes later, amidst the Spinal Butcher's roar, I Explosive Charge, stunning him. Then, I unleashed a combo of Tian Gong Kai Wu and Overpowering Momentum, this time targeting his right knee joint. A flurry of wild slashes followed, dealing massive damage. Finally, just as the Bloodthirsty Assault's damage was exhausted, the Spinal Butcher roared, and I completely cleaved open the outer layer of callus on his knee joint, revealing the deep blue Joint Lubricant inside!

"Whoosh..."

He quickly retreated, raised his hand and took out Explosive Gun, but the bullets loaded in the Explosive Gun had been replaced with Thermobaric Round by the automatic loading robot!

"Bang bang bang~~~"

Amidst the gunshots, the Spinal Butcher screamed in agony as flames erupted from his knees!