Cheng Tian, Cruel and Cunning

Bold yet meticulous was a fitting summary of Cheng Tian's outward demeanor.

Before facing Red Arremer, he had already seen the effects of the transformation spell three times. The targets and their transformed forms had respectively been "human = ordinary duck," "zombie = dried Zombie Duck," and "Man-Eating Plant = plant duck with roots and stems."

From this, he could conclude that, at the very least, the transformation spell released by the Gentleman's Cane he possessed was affected by the target unit's racial state.

But this also led to another conclusion: injuries sustained in duck form would very likely carry over to the original body after the spell ended!

As an elite demon, Red Arremer had a full 200 HP. Even if Cheng Tian whipped him furiously with the original Vampire Slayer, it would still take a full twenty lashes to kill him. Not to mention that the elite template's innate extra resistance had weakened the transformation spell from its original five seconds down to just three.

Even Teacher Ma couldn't have landed twenty lashes in three seconds.

So, in that flash of lightning, Cheng Tian's combat instincts had him slash at "Summer Duck's" wings first.

As a Flame Gargoyle of the Red Arremer Clan, Red Arremer possessed not only high agility and mobility, but also two racial talents inherited through his bloodline.

One was Fireball Spray. By gathering magical power, Red Arremer could spit out small but potent fireballs.

The other was the ability to urgently petrify himself under any circumstances.

In his gargoyle state, Red Arremer would lose all ability to move, but his fully petrified skin would grant him substantial physical damage reduction at a cost, while his body rapidly began healing itself.

Yet while the transformation spell turned him into a duck, it also made him completely unable to actively use those racial talents that had become skills.

Red Arremer's race had indeed affected the duck form. A peck from a duck with ten points of Strength was far more than enough to leave a bruise on someone's shin. But a duck's physiology ensured that its flesh was nowhere near as tough as the original body's.

Three seconds were already enough for Cheng Tian to put his back into three savage slashes.

In fact, by the second slash, the Red Arremer duck's wing and a large patch of flesh along its back had already been completely split open.

The Red Arremer duck's demon blood sprayed directly onto Cheng Tian's Knight Armor, staining a large area over his chest a bizarre purple.

Duck-like quacks of slaughter rang from the Red Arremer duck's mouth. For a battle-hardened mercenary demon, the pain was simply unimaginable.

The duck transformation seemed to have reduced Red Arremer's pain tolerance from that of an insensitive demon to that of a duck. At least in that instant, it could not resist the agony at all.

One second passed... Three seconds passed!

As the transformation spell completely wore off, the four-limbed, utterly bedraggled Red Arremer reverted to his demon form.

But what awaited him was Cheng Tian's merciless continued assault.

Almost instinctively, Red Arremer tried to flap his wings and fly into the sky, pulling away from this damned human again. But the fact that the ends of his back gave no response, coupled with the intense pain that followed, sent a violent shudder through his whole body.

The bloody duck wings Cheng Tian had chopped off with two savage slashes had already reverted to Red Arremer's pair of bat-like demon wings. They lay quietly discarded on the ground, while his status panel now prominently displayed the words: "Limb mutilation, flight ability lost."

But he had no time to mourn his wings. Cheng Tian had already closed in and delivered a vicious kick to Red Arremer's chin, putting enough force into it to shatter the demon's jaw.

Judging by that soccer kick, he had probably been in plenty of street fights before.

Red Arremer, pained and enraged.

Cheng Tian, cruel and cunning.

This time, he had guessed right again.

Injuries sustained in the transformation spell's duck form really did carry over to the original body. But there was one issue that could not be determined beforehand.

Red Arremer had both arms and wings. When the duck form's wings were injured, would the damage carry over to his wings or his arms?

Then again, Cheng Tian had no time to dwell on such pointless questions. It would naturally be best if the damage carried over to the wings, but even if it carried over to the arms, it would still weaken his opponent. He could think about the rest later.

Fortunately, the duck wings' injuries successfully carried over to the demon wings. Cheng Tian's two slashes directly crippled his opponent's ability to fly, instantly stripping away his most troublesome aerial advantage and forcibly turning him into a grounded chicken.

Even more terrifyingly, the missing limbs were directly reflected on Red Arremer's attribute panel. His fifteen Agility, originally a full 1.5 times Cheng Tian's, was temporarily cut in half, dropping to eight—two points lower than Cheng Tian's base stats.

Clearly, Red Arremer's agility specialty revolved almost entirely around his demon wings. Only while flying could he fully display the level of agility that fifteen points should have provided.

Still not satisfied after kicking like a young thug trying to kill someone in a fight, Cheng Tian raised the Goblin Cleaver in his hand and hacked it toward the pointed head's neck.

Today, Cheng was going to be that jerk who always went for the head!

Yet at this most crucial moment, Red Arremer made what he believed was the correct choice.

The sharp cleaver struck Red Arremer directly in the neck, but the strange feedback from the next second made Cheng Tian's palm tingle slightly.

Looking closer, Red Arremer had already entered a bizarre motionless state. The spot on his neck where he had been struck bore only a faint white mark... much like a blade cutting stone.

Red Arremer had activated his racial talent and entered gargoyle form.

The wound across his back and shoulder blades, which had still been bleeding heavily because his wings had been severed, rapidly stopped bleeding the moment he entered gargoyle form. His HP, which had fallen to 160 due to the missing limbs and the ongoing heavy bleeding debuff, immediately froze and began to slowly rise.

The recovery rate in gargoyle form was roughly 1 HP per second. In other words, Red Arremer needed only forty seconds to recover to his theoretical full health.

At the same time, Red Arremer's targeted physical damage reduction greatly increased in gargoyle form. The Goblin Cleaver could not break his defense at all—not even enough to deduct a single point of HP.

And because his biological nature had changed from demon to an inorganic stone gargoyle, as long as Red Arremer did not voluntarily cancel it, he was no different from a real stone statue. Even the temporary holy damage enchanted onto the cleaver had almost no effect.

The pose he was sprawled in was admittedly rather miserable, but the defensive effect it brought was completely real.

After sensing Cheng Tian's apparent helplessness, Red Arremer, filled with intense rage and murderous intent, felt an equally intense thrill and desire rise within him.

At that very moment, Red Arremer made up his mind. Once gargoyle form had completely healed and stopped the bleeding from his wounds, he would violently tear open Cheng Tian, that damned human can, roast him into demonic charcoal, swallow every last crumb mouthful by mouthful, and then excrete him through his intestines!

Since being born in the demon realm, he had never wanted gargoyle form's healing effect to work faster so badly.

As for whether he could catch up without his wings, Red Arremer, completely consumed by rage, could no longer think that far.

But at that very moment, Red Arremer sensed Cheng Tian standing there helplessly for six or seven seconds. Then, a two-handed warhammer appeared out of thin air in his hand—

The smile on Red Arremer's stone face abruptly froze.