The Great Golden Roc Retreats

"Is that so?" Demon Hunter Yudian heard the Great Golden Roc's arrogant words. Proud and aloof by nature, how could he possibly tolerate such mockery?

Let alone when the Great Golden Roc was weaker than him—even if the other side had been far stronger, Demon Hunter Yudian had never known fear.

"Let the great Lord Great Golden Roc tell you what a true strong person is! Your strength is still insufficient to protect the treasure of life!" the Great Golden Roc said arrogantly.

"Fine." Hearing the Great Golden Roc's words, Demon Hunter Yudian revealed a trace of mockery and softly said.

"Mana Burn!"

Mana Burn: Fires a beam of magical energy that burns away a portion of an enemy magic unit's mana. It also deals damage equal to the mana lost.

A powerful beam of light instantly pierced through the Great Golden Roc's body. Immediately afterward, crackling explosions erupted within it. Nearly tangible sparks burst forth, and the Great Golden Roc let out a miserable cry.

The Great Golden Roc had not expected the elf before it to be so despicable, so utterly merciless. The moment he attacked, he attacked without leaving any room for reconciliation.

Moreover, this move was simply too painful. It felt as though a ball of flame had suddenly ignited inside the Great Golden Roc's body, while its head rang in wave after wave.

And compared to the torment of its body, the pain in its mind was even worse.

"Bastard!" the Great Golden Roc roared. Its glittering golden wings spread wide, sending countless golden energy blades slicing through the air once again, directly tearing through the fierce wind toward Demon Hunter Yudian.

Yudian frowned. Clearly, that Mana Burn had not completely drained the Great Golden Roc's mana. This was troublesome. Could they really have to keep fighting?

Damn it. Demon Fire rose once more over Demon Hunter Yudian's body. Evasion activated naturally, allowing him to dodge the Great Golden Roc's enormous golden blade. Divine light flickered constantly in his eyes as he carefully observed the Great Golden Roc and weighed the gains and losses.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" Three arrows carrying scorching heat instantly arrived before the Great Golden Roc.

"Sizzle!" Blazing flames erupted at once, directly burning away more than half of the Great Golden Roc's wings. Although the flames were quickly extinguished under the Great Golden Roc's control, that could not change the fact that its gleaming golden feathers had been scorched away.

"Bastard, I'll kill you! Which bastard was that?" No longer caring about Demon Hunter Yudian, the Great Golden Roc instead looked down below, trying to find whoever had burned its feathers.

"Hmph, it was me!" At that moment, a nimble figure shot up from the ground and landed directly atop an exposed massive boulder.

"What?" Upon seeing that figure, not only was the Great Golden Roc stunned, even Demon Hunter Yudian's eyes narrowed slightly.

Only Huang Long's expression remained unchanged, because he had just received two notifications.

"Congratulations, Host. Your Night Elf faction hero, Demon Hunter Yudian, has advanced to Level 5 and learned the skill—Mana Burn."

"Congratulations, Host. Your Night Elf faction Archer Captain has advanced to Level 7!"

In other words, Huang Long now had two heroes comparable to Level 7 experts. With such strength, dealing with the three magical beasts, whose strength was merely at Level 7, would not be easy, but neither would it be too difficult. Besides, he still had his series of support abilities. Holding them off would absolutely not be a problem.

Unless some unforeseen circumstance occurred now—such as encountering a Level 8 existence, or several more Level 7 magical beasts—victory in this battle would definitely belong to them.

"Bastard, you!" Looking at Ina, the Archer Captain who had already reached Level 7, the Great Golden Roc's eyes flared with raging fury. Yet the situation before it did not permit it to continue fighting for long.

If it had only been Demon Hunter Yudian fighting it, the Great Golden Roc would still have had some chance of victory. But with another Level 7 existence equal to itself added to the fight, though it did not fear them, just as it did not fear the Purple Savage Elephant and Tong Ape, fighting them would absolutely end in its defeat. Since it already knew the outcome, why waste effort on something that brought no benefit?

The Great Golden Roc was proud by nature, but that did not mean it was foolish. On the contrary, it was accustomed to using its arrogance to conceal its shrewdness.

It knew clearly that the Purple Savage Elephant and Tong Ape, who were fighting over there, were watching what happened here as though enjoying a spectacle. If it fought these elves to the death and both sides ended up badly injured, those two despicable creatures would simply reap the rewards.

Doing something that merely benefited others was not the Great Golden Roc's way. Thinking this, it no longer hesitated. It spread its wings and prepared to leave.

"Haha, stupid bird, are you running away?" A booming laugh echoed through the entire forest. A towering, humanoid giant descended from above, opening its huge mouth as it roared at the Great Golden Roc.

"Yeah! Old bird, didn't you say you were the strongest existence on this island? How can you flee without fighting?" At that moment, another enormous figure charged over from afar, stopping some distance away and staring at the Great Golden Roc from across the field.

"Hmph, what do you take me for? Whether I leave or not is none of your business!" the Great Golden Roc sneered.

"Old bird, how about the three of us discuss something?" The Purple Savage Elephant cast a cold glance at Demon Hunter Yudian, its gaze filled with deep apprehension.

"What is it? Don't tell me you want to join forces with me to kill these two, then divide the treasure between us!" the Great Golden Roc said disdainfully as it looked at the Purple Savage Elephant.

"That's right, that is exactly what I mean. I trust you have already seen how powerful these people are. With the strength of any one of our groups alone, none can defeat them. Therefore, we must join forces!" the Purple Savage Elephant said coldly.

"Haha! If it were only cooperating with Tong Ape, I might consider it. But working with an old fellow like you? Sorry, impossible. I'm not one of those fools. Cooperating with you would be worse than killing myself—it would be quicker that way!" The Great Golden Roc's tone grew even more contemptuous.

"Monkey, let me offer you a word of advice. Stop following that wild elephant around all the time. Otherwise, you might not even know how you died!" With that, the Great Golden Roc flapped its wings and left without looking back.

It paid no heed at all to the wild elephant's face, which had already turned purple with rage.

The Great Golden Roc, ranked first among the three great magical beasts, had retreated before even fighting, leaving everyone present utterly bewildered...