Dagger of Calling

The searing pain in its hind leg made it nearly impossible for the Demi-Human Queen to support its massive body.

It could only collapse to the ground and roll about madly.

The Demi-Human Queen's Staff in its hand swung wildly.

It either swept sideways or smashed down heavily.

Ruthlessly destroying everything around it.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Dust billowed up all around, and shattered stones flew everywhere.

Visibility in the already dim Mistwood became even worse.

A sharp glint flashed in Xia Tong's eyes.

He took another deep swig from the Crimson Tear Flask.

As the potion entered his stomach, the several wounds on his body that had been sliced open by the splattering Glintstone Crystals gradually began to heal, and the pain subsided.

Those things had been too densely packed to evade. He could only endure them head-on.

Fortunately, he had added a point to his health when he leveled up earlier. His vitality still seemed fairly abundant, enough to withstand this.

Strike while you're down and finish you off.

Seeing the Demi-Human Queen sprawled on the ground, slashing and smashing wildly, exposing a huge opening.

Xia Tong no longer hesitated and lightly kicked Torrent's flank.

"Hyah!"

Torrent let out a neigh and charged forward with him once more.

Xia Tong casually drew the two Kukris strapped to his left thigh.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The curved blades whistled through the air, accurately striking the two ordinary Demi-Humans trying to pounce on him and pinning them dead to the ground.

At the same time, Xia Tong looked up at the sky.

Through the dense canopy, he could vaguely see that the last rays of the setting sun were about to fade.

Once night fell completely, the entire Demi-Human group would descend into riotous madness.

At that point, they would be far harder to deal with than they were now.

They would become bloodthirsty and berserk, unable to feel pain or fear, caring only about slaughtering every living person before them.

Whether Xia Tong and the others could still hold on then remained uncertain.

He had to end this quickly!

Another dozen or so charges and clashes followed.

Several more bone-deep sword wounds appeared on the Demi-Human Queen's body, and blood dyed the ground red.

"Bzzzz—!"

At that moment, a surge of pure life energy flowed into the Crimson Tear Flask once more.

The flask trembled faintly.

Though these Demi-Humans were extremely weak, there were simply too many of them dying.

A quantitative change had produced a qualitative one. The Crimson Tear Flask had actually regained another charge!

"I can't keep skirmishing!"

"If night falls completely, both the Spirit Ashes legion and I are done for!"

Xia Tong gritted his teeth and made a bold decision.

Using Torrent's double jump once again, he soared high above the Demi-Human Queen.

This time, rather than slashing at it, he jumped straight off Torrent's back!

"Thud!"

He landed firmly on the Demi-Human Queen's broad yet hunched back.

To prevent the enraged queen from throwing him off.

Xia Tong drew the dagger from his right thigh.

Compared to a Kukri, this kind of dagger had greater piercing power.

"Pfft!"

Xia Tong viciously plunged the dagger into the flesh of the Demi-Human Queen's back, using it as an anchor to secure himself.

Then he kicked off hard with his right foot and climbed directly toward the Demi-Human Queen's head and neck.

The Demi-Human Queen no longer had the strength to stand. Blood poured continuously from its wounds, and its movements had slowed.

Standing on its neck, Xia Tong held the Lordsworn's Greatsword in both hands in a reverse grip.

The sword tip pointed downward, aimed at its spinal nerves.

"Die!"

He drove it down viciously!

"Hiss! Hiss!"

As the Lordsworn's Greatsword plunged deep into the Demi-Human Queen's body, the flames on its blade suddenly went out upon contact with so much blood and compressed muscle.

"Roar—!!!"

The Demi-Human Queen launched its most desperate counterattack before death.

The Glintstone at the tip of its staff lit up once more!

This time, it erupted at point-blank range!

Xia Tong was too close to dodge.

He could only grit his teeth, cross his arms over his head, and endure the blow head-on.

"Boom!"

As searing pain struck.

Xia Tong felt several sharp Glintstone Crystals viciously pierce his body.

The agony instantly drenched his forehead in cold sweat and blackened his vision.

When the casting ended, the Demi-Human Queen began struggling madly again, trying to throw off the ant on its back.

But Xia Tong clutched the hilt of the greatsword embedded in the Demi-Human Queen's body with one hand, his knuckles white, refusing to let go even in death.

With his other hand free, he swiftly pulled out the Crimson Tear Flask.

He bit off the cap with his teeth and took a hard gulp.

"Gulp, gulp."

As the crimson tears surged into his body, that tearing pain diminished considerably once again.

Fortunately, these crystals were merely solidified magic.

Not long after entering Xia Tong's body, they turned into blue starlike particles and slowly vanished.

Xia Tong looked down.

Due to the hollow-cavity effect, his chest and arms had been blasted full of charred, bloodied holes that emitted blue smoke.

The sight was horrifying.

Fortunately, after that mouthful of potion, the holes were visibly contracting and stopping their bleeding.

The Demi-Human Queen was still howling, making Xia Tong's eardrums ache.

Blood from his forehead flowed into his eyes, turning his vision entirely red.

Xia Tong could not see clearly. He only sensed the moon slowly rising overhead and the sounds of fighting around him growing ever fiercer.

His Spirit Ashes legion had already curled up in a corner, barely holding out.

Spirit Jellyfish Kulala had nearly half its tentacles torn off and could only float limply.

The Godrick Soldier with the crossbow had long since drawn his sword to fight at close range.

The Fanged Imp seemed unable to conjure Magic Pots anymore. It could only leap onto one Demi-Human after another with its Forked Hatchet, hacking wildly.

"Are we really going to die..."

"There are just too many of them!"

Xia Tong felt somewhat weak, but he forced himself to pull himself together.

He drew another Kukri and desperately stabbed it into the Demi-Human Queen's carotid artery!

Again and again!

Again and again!

The Kukri's distinctive curve and blood groove made it exceptionally effective at bleeding targets.

The shoulder and neck area was a blind spot, and the Demi-Human Queen's hunched body could not reach it at all.

The surrounding Demi-Humans could not attack Xia Tong riding atop their queen either.

He did not know how many times he stabbed.

Finally.

The massive body beneath him suddenly shuddered, then completely lost its strength.

With a thunderous crash!

The Demi-Human Queen crashed to the ground and stopped struggling.

Dead.

A majestic golden stream of light flowed from the Demi-Human Queen's corpse and entered Xia Tong's body.

[Obtained Runes: 1013]

As the queen's presence completely vanished.

The Demi-Humans that had been attacking madly all around suddenly howled in unison.

Their cries were filled with fear and confusion.

They dropped their weapons, scattered in every direction, and fled like startled birds and beasts.

Even the remaining larger Demi-Humans seemed to have lost their leader, tucking their tails and fleeing madly into the depths of the forest.

Finally... it was over.

Xia Tong let out a long breath, and the weight in his heart lifted.

He slowly slid down from the corpse and straightened up.

Only after taking another drink from the Crimson Tear Flask did his strength gradually return.

In barely more than ten minutes, night had completely fallen.

Not a single living Demi-Human remained in the Demi-Human ruins.

Two figures slowly emerged from the darkness.

One was Irina, dressed in a foreign-style cotton gown.

The other was Melina, cloaked in black like a traveler.

Melina still held an exquisitely crafted dagger in her left hand.

Xia Tong naturally recognized it. It was—the Dagger of Calling.