Mad Flayer

The Temple's Sacrificial Offering slot held a brownish-yellow object that looked like some kind of wrinkled Fur, or perhaps a sun-dried clump of mud.

[Unknown Bark]:

A heirloom passed down through generations of the Cave Dweller [Sen] clan, an important clue to tracing the previous era.

This description left Lu Yao scratching his head.

No stats, no faith bonuses, just a single riddle-like description.

That's it?

Inside the Temple, Senjian, kneeling on the ground, said, "God above, this is a treasure our clan inherited from the era of the Forest God. Passed down through generations, they said this is the key to restoring the Forest God's glory."

"Our ancestors always passed down a proverb: if the clan could revive, use this bark to seek the trail left by the Forest God and return to the god's embrace."

"Lord God, I know this is already impossible. Because the Forest God has completely fallen, and this land has been occupied and transformed by the foreign Whistleblower and Flayer..."

"The old era has ended."

"The Sen clan has already offered faith and loyalty to Lord Yao, so this treasure from the old era must also be offered to the god."

"I can sense that this bark has some reaction with a certain place in the mountains. If the Lord God permits, I am willing to take the bark and search."

Lu Yao clicked the little figure.

The Cave Dweller Shaman's portrait showed an elder in a stone mask, holding a Bone Staff, his upper body thin and bare, wearing tattered skirt-pants below. Senjian's hunched body looked up at the sun overhead.

Beneath the portrait was written.

--Even if we are as humble as dust, we must not regard ourselves as maggots.

[Hero Lv13] Cave Dweller Shaman · Senjian

Attack 5 Defense 5 Knowledge 13 Mana 8 Luck 1 Morale 2

[Abilities]

Wisdom Lv4: Wisdom is the key for Apostles to heed the Deity's will. The higher the level of Wisdom, the easier it is to improve and comprehend various abilities.

Wind Listener Lv1: Hear distant sounds from the wind.

Senjian stood out with knowledge as his main stat, a bit of everything else, and the highest level in the Garlic Tribe. Moreover, he was the first natural Hero unit.

Looking at the [Unknown Bark], Lu Yao was a bit troubled.

This was an item related to the Forest God, and clues could only be found in the Pixel World.

He dragged the screen westward.

At the Salt Pool Tribe's castle, things were still tense.

The good news was that the Blood Knight had gone completely mad. Inside the castle, he was slashing at imaginary enemies, no longer spewing human words from above his head, only beast-like roars.

The bad news was that the Blood Knight had become even more dangerous. Due to the rank gap, even Isabelle using the [Evil Bone Whistle] couldn't effectively influence him.

Lu Yao pondered. If the east didn't work, try the west. No need to waste manpower here.

He decided to send Isabelle to lead Senjian on a treasure hunt first.

Senjian took the bark and headed west into the Mountains. He searched around and arrived at a collapsed mountainside.

"Apostle, this is where the sensation is strongest. We need to dig through these rocks."

The Cave Dweller Shaman called over Cave Dwellers, and the group started chiseling at the stones.

Lu Yao still had some memory of this place; it was exactly where Lisa's Barbarian Tribe used to be. Or more precisely, it was the suspicious cave next to the Barbarian Tribe.

A few minutes later, Senjian led the Cave Dwellers in digging through the rocks, reopening the path.

Isabelle led them all inside.

Lu Yao double-clicked the cave, entering a new dungeon map.

Inside the cave were winding, narrow paths, very dim. But with Senjian, a native of the underground, leading the way, there were no delays along the route.

The group spiraled downward, and at a turn in the passage, a living creature suddenly jumped out.

It was called [Mad Flayer], showing LV30 above its head, looking like a large, white-furred wild man. As soon as it appeared, it charged straight at Isabelle, and both sides immediately entered combat.

Lu Yao watched with some anxiety.

This was way too unsportsmanlike.

Normally, shouldn't there be small fry guarding the perimeter first, with the big boss inside? You come out with a boss ambush right away, never won before, huh?

Lu Yao cursed under his breath, but his hands didn't stop.

He clicked open the battle screen, ready to use [Miracle] for long-range bombardment support at any moment.

With over 10,000 faith ammunition in reserve, Lu Yao wasn't actually panicking.

In the battle interface, the Undead Flayer's attack method was very peculiar.

It set its own head and hands ablaze, fighting Isabelle in a frenzy, completely unafraid of her Holy Sword. Whenever the sword struck it, flames would burst from its body, igniting itself and its blood alike—a full-on self-immolation assault.

Lu Yao had never seen such a tactic before.

Starting this big right off the bat?

Facing this kind of suicidal monster that feared no death, Isabelle had no choice but to shift to a defensive and evasive stance.

[Mad Flayer LV30]

Health Points: 3090/3090

Mana Points: 552/552

Damage: 35

Defense: 35

Speed: 10

[Evasion Lv15]

Can evade damage from some attacks. This probability is higher against weaker lifeforms.

[Incineration LV15]

Attacks cause enemies to suffer burns, dealing continuous damage.

[Mad Sacrifice LV1]

Awakens the sacrificial flame; attacks burn the life of both friend and foe.

...

This stat panel startled Lu Yao.

The [Mad Flayer] had an absurdly thick health pool, barely different from a Level 60 Blood Knight.

The most dangerous ability was [Mad Sacrifice], which turned the Mad Flayer's damage into true damage. As long as the flames burned, Isabelle's Health Points would drop.

Coupled with the monster's massive health bar, a melee fight would just be a contest of who lived longer... It would be hard to outlast it.

The [Mad Flayer] had ambushed from the start, aiming to burn life directly.

Lu Yao felt relieved in his heart.

Fortunately, Isabelle had rich combat experience, and her speed was as high as 18, giving her an absolute advantage over the Mad Flayer, even though it was higher level.

It looked like Isabelle was nimbly dodging the enemy, constantly dealing damage with her Holy Sword. But with such overwhelming speed, every attack carried enormous risk.

The whole battle turned into a scene both tragic and bizarre.

The Mad Flayer set itself on fire, trying to see who would last longer against Isabelle. Yet Isabelle just kept dodging, watching as -1 -1 damage prompts kept popping up above its head.

Nearly an hour later, the Mad Flayer's health bar hit zero, burning into a pile of ash.

But Isabelle didn't leave immediately.

She stood by the enemy's remains, and an exclamation mark appeared above her head.

"This ash... is a Treant?"

White light emanated from Isabelle as she used Lingering Prayer, but the black mist on the surrounding ground couldn't coalesce.

A question mark appeared above her head.

"Lingering Prayer failed. The dead here are not asleep. That means the Treant hasn't fully died yet."

Lu Yao typed in the dialogue box.

--If you need support, just say the word. I can use a Miracle anytime.

"Yes, my lord."

Isabelle continued forward with Senjian.

Ahead, seven more [Mad Flayers] appeared in succession, each higher level than the last, with the final one reaching as high as LV39. But its speed was still only 12—no matter how strong its attacks, they were useless if they couldn't hit.

Lu Yao didn't dare sleep, afraid Isabelle couldn't handle it alone; he felt uneasy not seeing for himself, so he gripped the [Energy Staff] and pulled another all-nighter.

After Isabelle wiped out all the [Mad Flayers], it was already 8:30 the next morning.

Seeing he really didn't have enough time, Lu Yao dressed and put on his shoes while typing with one hand.

--That's enough for today. Take Senjian and the others back to the tribe first. I'll continue when I get back.

"Yes, my lord."

Isabelle acknowledged the order.

Thanks to reader 20181215174838538 for supporting with 100 Qidian coins.