[Quest: Demon Hunter's Obsession] [Requirements: Explore the dungeon, find the six separated parts of Altland Whisperwind's body, and bury them beside the Moon Well] [Rewards: 1 random Demon Hunter skill book, 1 Primary Book of Wisdom, 1 Primary Book of Charisma, 1,000 Lord XP, 500 party XP] (An ancient dungeon once held the Blood-Burning Demon prisoner. Explore it thoroughly, and you may find an unexpected reward.)
Who would have thought? It really was a quest.
And one recognized by the Lord System.
It truly was a game of the gods.
Zong Shen marveled silently to himself.
Aside from some ineffable "god," he couldn't think of anything else that could explain all this.
"Let's move out. Our next task is to explore the dungeon and find the scattered body parts of a Demon Hunter."
Zong Shen briefly explained the quest requirements.
He had noticed that no one but him and Tasia, the Necromancer, could see the Demon Hunter's ghost.
Everyone nodded to show they understood.
Even the aloof Tasia cooperatively nodded this time.
It seemed she merely kept the living at a distance. When it came to ghosts and the like, she felt a strong affinity for them.
With the quest objective confirmed, everyone headed down the Corridor.
As they walked, Zong Shen grew interested in the white candles on the dungeon walls that lit themselves.
He turned to look at them.
He wondered if he should pry a few off and take them back to his territory for lighting.
Burning wood directly produced too much smoke.
So at night, the territory was pitch-black.
Unless he found blueprints for some lighting tools, the territory would have no reliable light source at night.
These candles looked pretty good.
With that thought, Zong Shen reached out and snapped a candle off its Iron sconce.
But as soon as it came free, the candle melted rapidly in his hand.
So much for taking advantage of free supplies.
What about the sconce, then?
Zong Shen tilted his head and stopped, wondering whether to have the Wolf Cavalry pry the Iron sconces off the walls.
(Oh, my goodness! As a lord, could you stop thinking about how to take advantage of everything? Leave this Corridor within a minute, or you'll run into a little trouble.)
The Strategy Guide's snark appeared out of nowhere.
Zong Shen rubbed his nose and gave up on investigating the sconces.
"Come on, let's keep moving!"
Zong Shen waved them onward. The Strategy Guide had said they'd run into trouble if they didn't leave the Corridor within a minute.
The Corridor was long.
Even with a sconce every meter or two on either wall, they couldn't see the end.
Who knew where this Corridor led?
Zong Shen picked up the pace.
After a brisk walk,
they finally reached the end of the Corridor.
A strange cross hung there.
But they were already too late.
Several Black Shadows suddenly appeared at the end of the Corridor, crawling along the ground.
The candlelight stretched their shadows out long and thin.
The next moment, the creatures crawled in from both sides of the Corridor's far end.
Now Zong Shen could see what they looked like.
Their heads had no skin at all, just bright red muscle.
Their mouths stretched almost to their cheeks, and their fangs looked like the blades of a grinder.
They crawled on all fours, completely naked, with neither hair nor skin.
Their joints were twisted and deformed. Their hunched backs were split open, and spines jutted out as rows of bone spikes.
They looked just like hyenas crawling out of hell.
The monsters didn't attack right away. Instead, they began gathering at the end of the Corridor.
At the same time, several more Black Shadows were on their way.
They were waiting for reinforcements.
The creatures glared at Zong Shen and the others with wicked eyes.
"More Undead scum."
"These putrid creatures aren't even worth eating to my Gris."
Wolf Cavalry Arvid spoke up.
Zong Shen narrowed his eyes and focused on the creatures.
[Ghoul Lv. 10]
[Race: Undead]
[Bite Damage: 27–30]
[Health: 200]
[Armor: 0]
[Skills: Frenzy Lv. 2 (Increases the Ghoul's attack speed by 5% and movement speed by 5% for 60s. Cooldown: 5m); Corpse Eating (Consumes a corpse to restore health); Passive Skill: Corrosive Poison Lv. 2 (Attacks inflict Corrosive Poison damage over time for 3s, dealing 3 damage per second)]
(Take out these nimble little nuisances.)
Zong Shen looked at the other Ghouls. Their attributes were much the same, and none were elite monsters.
Just then, two more shadows crawled over.
That made five Ghouls.
With Zong Shen's current forces, they could easily wipe them out!
"Take out those rotten things!"
Zong Shen pointed his sword and gave the order to attack.
The Corridor was wide.
The three Wolf Cavalrymen roared as they charged.
Tie Zhu melted into the shadows and used Stealth to slip away.
Zong Shen turned around.
Tasia, behind him, noticed his gaze and raised her root-like staff.
After a brief incantation,
two Necrotic Arrows shot out!
That was her Double Necrotic Arrow skill!
Only then did Zong Shen nod in satisfaction.
He walked forward with his sword raised.
In an ambush like this, the Ghouls had no advantage.
Even though they were more agile than the undead they'd faced earlier, they still couldn't evade the Wolf Cavalry's interception.
Besides, they were all fragile units with no armor.
Tasia's Double Necrotic Arrow alone could take away over half of their health in one shot.
This time, Zong Shen had it easy from start to finish.
By the time he sauntered over with his sword in hand,
the battle was all but over...
A lord's life was just that simple and uneventful.
[Your subordinate, Wolf Cavalry, killed Ghoul Lv. 10. You receive half the experience.]
[Your subordinate, Tie Zhu, killed Ghoul Lv. 10. You receive half the experience.]
[Your subordinate, Necromancer, killed Ghoul Lv. 10. You receive half the experience.]
The five Ghouls were quickly eliminated.
The battle was over in a flash.
Zong Shen swiftly collected the rewards. Without checking them, he headed straight to the end of the Corridor.
There were corridors to the left and right, forming a T-junction.
But that wasn't the point. Zong Shen had spotted the first piece of the Demon Hunter's body.
It looked like the torso, bound to a cross.
The cross was the one hanging above the junction.
It was impossible to miss.
The wall behind it was covered in strange symbols of unclear meaning, apparently drawn in either blood or red paint.
The Demon Hunter's body part was pierced with iron spikes, as if it had been subjected to some kind of vicious curse ritual.
Zong Shen focused on it.
Information immediately appeared.
[Altland Whisperwind's Torso]
[A torso that underwent the Blood Burn Demon Profanation Ritual. One of the quest items.]
Zong Shen looked away and waved a hand, stowing it in his Storage Grid.
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