The Snake Demon, driven into a frenzy, unleashed the fighting instincts of the demon race to their fullest. Every part of its body could deal a killing blow. Even Lin Tiannan, who had faced it earlier, would likely have had to retreat rather than meet its attack head-on!
That was exactly why Reincarnators almost never used support items like Berserk Demon Art on bosses. It was practically digging their own graves. Tang Mei'er had underestimated Berserk Demon Art, and they had also counted on having a scapegoat, which was why they dared to take the opposite approach and gamble on victory amid danger.
What tricks could they possibly use against the Snake Demon in this state?
Zhu Hao's expression brightened. He took a packet of powder from his Emblem Space. It was snake repellent made from realgar, lime, and sulfur—a plan that happened to match Gao Xu's exactly.
Of course, the packet Tang Mei'er had prepared wasn't the ordinary stuff Gao Xu had. It was a proper white-grade item, with a much stronger effect against snakes.
Zhu Hao excitedly took out the powder and looked toward the Snake Demon, without giving a thought to why, if a mere white-grade item could affect a boss, the Snake Demon was still such a notorious challenge for first-difficulty Reincarnators.
Zhu Hao's simple mind wasn't capable of considering such complicated questions, but Qin Guang began to falter. The earlier blow had left him with more than a physical injury. It had carved a deep wound into his heart: a fear and... an oppression that transcended the spiritual level!
The memory was so deeply etched into him that he couldn't bear to experience it a second time!
Now, whenever Qin Guang looked at the Snake Demon's burly, powerful frame, his arms began to tremble despite himself. So although he never doubted whether Tang Mei'er's plan would work, he hesitated, his feet rooted to the ground as he stayed back.
A flash of anger crossed Tang Mei'er's eyes. Her soft voice rang in Qin Guang's ear. "You short little runt, are you just going to stand there? Get moving!"
Qin Guang wasn't tall, and he hated being called a runt. But Tang Mei'er's coquettish scolding softened his expression, and a glimmer of reminiscence appeared in his eyes.
He still remembered their first meeting. Tang Mei'er had called him a runt this and a runt that, but Qin Guang hadn't gotten angry. Instead, he had quickly fallen at her feet, ready to do her bidding, all the while entertaining hopes of romance.
Now, her voice was still gentle, her tenderness unchanged. The sight of Tang Mei'er that had dazzled him at their first meeting, along with his long-nurtured feelings and desire for her, instantly resurfaced in Qin Guang's mind.
Love was a great force, but it could also blind. Desire successfully stirred, Qin Guang's eyes reddened. He immediately activated Charge and rushed toward the Snake Demon, moving faster than anyone who had set off before him.
The instant he reached the Snake Demon, he threw his head back and let out a wild roar. A profound power gathered in his voice and spread out around him.
The sound reached the Snake Demon's ears, making it falter. Its scythe slowed for a moment, and when it came down again, it had lost its unstoppable momentum.
The D-rank skill Demoralizing Roar lowered the damage of the target's next three physical attacks by a full 20%!
Qin Guang seemed to think that wasn't enough. He gripped his round shield with both hands and drove it hard into the ground. In an instant, the shield expanded into a tower shield fully two meters tall.
A closer look revealed that the shield itself hadn't grown. Instead, a phantom had spread out around it, giving it the imposing presence of a fortress. It was the D-rank skill Shield Block!
The phantom created by Shield Block covered Qin Guang from head to toe. His round shield also had a small chance of reflecting attacks. If the Snake Demon was unlucky, it could end up injuring itself instead of its enemy!
Charge, Demoralizing Roar, and Shield Block were all common skills. Almost every tank-type Reincarnator had something similar. But that was precisely why they were practical: they could help hold off danger, at least for a while.
In fact, if Zhu Hao hadn't made his next move, Qin Guang should have been able to hold out for a time. Ten seconds might have been too much to ask, but five seconds shouldn't have been a problem.
Unfortunately, when Zhu Hao saw Qin Guang block the attack, he thought it was the perfect opportunity and immediately hurled the packet of powder at the Snake Demon.
Before the powder had even dispersed, the Snake Demon, its mind badly impaired, failed to sense the danger and didn't dodge properly. A shrill roar rang through the hall.
Note: it was a roar, not a scream!
Realgar and lime could indeed be lethal to ordinary snakes, but elite Five-Poison Giant Snakes and Nine-Headed Snakes were immune to realgar. That went doubly for a snake demon that had cultivated into a spirit.
But immunity didn't erase the instincts snakes were born with. Their deep-seated loathing and hatred of realgar would only be buried more deeply within them.
Dragons had reverse scales, and snakes had their seven inches. Touch them, and death was certain!
In an instant, the Snake Demon's hatred focused entirely on the two men before it. A trace of clarity returned to its blood-red eyes. It raised its scythe high, visibly gathering strength, then swung down from above.
The blade shone with a cold light like a crescent moon hanging high in the night sky. It was the Snake Demon's only attack skill: Crescent Moon Slash!
The attack came as fast as lightning, leaving the enemy no chance to brace or defend. Its radiance also concealed the Snake Demon's blazing killing intent, leading Qin Guang to make a fatal mistake: he couldn't bring himself to use his precious health-restoring potion, and faced the attack at half health.
A flash of light, and the dark-red giant scythe met the phantom created by Shield Block. Yet, strangely, there was no clash. The blade simply glided down at an angle.
When the scythe reached the ground, Qin Guang looked more alarmed than relieved. His health hadn't budged at all.
That might have seemed like a good thing, but according to the rules of Main God Space, even a successful block couldn't completely negate a skill's damage. Only when the two sides' Strength attributes differed by a huge margin could the force of an attack be neutralized completely.
But Qin Guang was clearly the one at a disadvantage in Strength. That was why he'd used Demoralizing Roar to reduce the damage first. So where had the force of Crescent Moon Slash gone?
The answer was already obvious!
"Could it be...?" A terrifying thought flashed through Qin Guang's mind. He stared at his round shield in horror. The old companion that had stayed with him through several worlds trembled, as if letting out a final cry of anguish. Then, along the path of the scythe's cut, it broke into two equal halves...
"Aah!!!!" At the sight of the perfectly smooth cross-section, Qin Guang howled in anguish, his eyes nearly bursting. The shrillness of his cry could only be called heart-rending.
Tang Mei'er sighed inwardly and turned her head away. Qin Guang was too small-minded. In a deadly boss battle, he had lost all composure over a piece of equipment breaking. No matter how miserably he cried, the boss wouldn't slow its attack for even a moment!
With his shield gone, the Snake Demon's attack came straight through. Qin Guang was still lost in his anguish when his vision went dark, and he met the same fate as the Yin-Yang Taoist: the Snake Demon clamped its giant hand around his chest!
Simply strangling its enemy didn't seem to satisfy it. The Snake Demon clenched its other hand, veins bulging across its fist, and unleashed a flurry of punches, each one crashing into Qin Guang's head.
Crack!
In an instant, Qin Guang's face, eyes bulging in fury, vanished from sight. In its place was a mangled mass of flesh and blood, spraying in every direction. Even his rock-hard skull had been smashed to fragments. With only half his health remaining, he hadn't even had time to recover before he met his end!
The Snake Demon roared with satisfaction. Driven by its deep hatred, it continued to knead Qin Guang's corpse until, moments later, a nauseating red-and-white ball of flesh lay in its hand. It hurled it at Zhu Hao, who had already turned and started running.
Normally, since Zhu Hao had thrown the realgar powder, the Snake Demon should have focused on him first. But Zhu Hao had activated a D-rank intangibility skill, lowering his presence and successfully deceiving the Snake Demon while its mind was clouded.
In truth, Zhu Hao had only habitually let the tank, Qin Guang, take the damage. He hadn't expected to save his own life by doing so!
The force of the Snake Demon's throw sent Qin Guang's mangled remains slamming into Zhu Hao. He stumbled and fell face-first, and before he could get up, the scythe pinned him brutally to the ground!
"Boss, why did you do this to us? Wh—"
Tang Mei'er's plan had been viciously precise. After killing the two men, the Snake Demon wouldn't be satisfied; it would inevitably continue abusing their corpses. By then, enough of its frenzy would have worn off, and her two subordinates would have died for a purpose.
Zhu Hao's desperate cries and Tang Mei'er's unchanging expression were starkly at odds. Seeing how cruel their enemy was, the Fox Demon's heart sank.
The demon race's innate survival instinct told her that, after surviving several brushes with the powerful Lin Tiannan, she might finally fall to this woman before her—a woman who wasn't particularly strong, but would stop at nothing to achieve her ends!
But just then, a realgar-coated Flying Dagger shot in through the doorway. It flew past the three dying figures from the story, past Zhu Hao as he struggled in despair, and past the Snake Demon's bloodshot, clouded eyes. Finally, under Tang Mei'er's disbelieving gaze, it plunged into her back.
Whoosh!
The Snake Demon's scythe stopped half an inch from the back of Zhu Hao's head. The gust of wind it stirred made Zhu Hao, his face bruised and his features twisted, cough up another large mouthful of blood. But his eyes shone with joy, because the pressure of imminent death had vanished.
With its exceptionally keen sense of smell, the Snake Demon had already turned its head and fixed its gaze on Tang Mei'er, whose expression had changed dramatically!
There were many reasons Tang Mei'er might turn pale. The Flying Dagger was only one of them. What she couldn't accept was the booming, confident voice that rang out right after it—and the dashing, heroic figure holding a long sword!
"You wicked woman who treats human lives as worthless! You may have deceived the upright Lord Lin, but you can't fool me! Stop your sorcery and surrender!"
At the most critical moment, Gao Xu appeared and broke the deadlock with a single move!
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