"This monster can even... suck... suck blood..."
Ma Lou watched his health bar plummet like a waterfall. After barely two seconds of struggling, both men were drained into dried corpses and scattered on the wind.
In a single exchange, the five-man squad was once again reduced to Ji Luo, a commander without an army.
And half of Flesh Fusion's body had already squeezed through the barrier. It was less than twenty meters from Lin En's stone statue in the center of the Divine Hall!
"Shit, the barrier's about to give!"
Inside the statue, Lin En felt even his soul tremble. His already meager divine power was draining away at a terrifying rate.
Hummm!
Four beams of white light shot skyward from the Resurrection Array again.
Passing Pure-Love Warrior, Bossy Guy, Ma Lou, and Jiahao, who had just been instantly killed, leaped out again with full health and mana, as lively as if nothing had happened.
"Here comes the truck! You ugly bastard, I'm taking you on today!"
[Passing Pure-Love Warrior]'s eyes were bloodshot. This time, he didn't even bother picking up the broken bricks on the ground to give himself a boost.
Bare-chested, he spread his arms and charged straight into the monster's enormous body like a rabid boar.
"Lu, are you nuts? Our normal attacks barely scratch it!" [Ji Luo] shouted anxiously.
"Then we'll scratch it until it stops! We can't let it touch the statue!"
[Passing Pure-Love Warrior] made no attempt to dodge the stabbing tentacles, letting two of them pierce his thigh and shoulder.
Gritting through the agony, he used their pulling force to fling himself onto the monster's tumor-covered thigh. Then he opened his mouth and bit down hard!
Squelch!
Lu Ziye tore off a chunk of acid-soaked rotten flesh by sheer force and refused to let go, clinging like gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe.
"That actually works?!"
Jiahao, who was searching for cover, watched the scene unfold. The "strategy for cracking the boss mechanics" he had been working out was instantly shattered by this utterly primitive, downright bizarre tactic.
"If we can't play smart, let's play dirty!"
Jiahao pushed up a pair of nonexistent glasses, then thrust both hands forward. "Ashen Missile!"
But his missile wasn't aimed at Flesh Fusion's enormous body.
Instead-
Whoosh!
The missile of black smoke and sparks struck with perfect precision, plunging into the huge, open, fang-lined tumor in the monster's chest!
Boom!
The still-burning ash exploded inside the monster's mouth... or rather, its stomach!
"HISSS-ROOOAR!!!"
Flesh Fusion let out its most agonized scream yet!
Its massive body staggered violently. The dozen or so tentacles it had been waving suddenly went rigid, then thrashed wildly in midair from the pain.
Like a living person swallowing a huge mouthful of scalding chili oil, that searing sensation sent it into a mechanically induced stagger lasting a full two or three seconds!
"It worked! That huge tumor is its weak point!"
Jiahao shouted excitedly, "Its physical defense might be insane, but its internal organs don't have armor!"
"Nice work, Jiahao!"
[Ji Luo]'s eyes lit up. "Guys, we've figured out the mechanic! We'll throw lives at it! Stuff its mouth with lime powder!"
The battle that followed became a textbook demonstration of "shameless thug tactics" that left even Lin En awestruck.
Facing a Calamity Entity at the peak of the first tier, one that even possessed a trace of evil god authority, the five players pushed their advantage of "unlimited free respawns" to the absolute limit.
Bossy Guy and Passing Pure-Love Warrior abandoned defense and weapons altogether.
Like two suicidal flies, the moment they respawned, they hurled themselves straight at the monster's legs and waist.
Impaled by tentacles? Eaten away by acid? Stomped into pulp?
Who cared!
As long as they could cling to its thigh, claw at the tumors on its body, or distract it for even a second, that was a massive win!
Meanwhile, the three "magic damage dealers," Ma Lou, Jiahao, and Ji Luo, hid behind the church's stone pillars, staring fixedly at the huge tumor in the monster's chest.
Whenever the monster opened its mouth to spit acid or launch tentacles-
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three highly accurate [Ashen Missiles] were guaranteed to come flying straight at it!
Boom, boom, boom!
Black smoke and sparks kept exploding inside the monster's mouth.
Flesh Fusion had never fought such a frustrating battle in its life.
It clearly possessed the absolute strength to crush these humans. A casual slap could reduce them to ash.
But these humans weren't afraid of death at all!
One second, it tore the white-haired one in half; the next, he charged out again, full of life, hugging its toes and gnawing on them like mad.
Just as it tried to unleash a powerful attack to smash the statue, it opened its mouth and immediately got a mouthful of wood ash laced with sparks!
It choked so badly that it couldn't even charge up its attack!
What kind of monster fight was this? This was just being fucking tortured by a bunch of lunatics!
"ROOOAR!!!"
Flesh Fusion was utterly enraged.
If it couldn't unleash its big attacks, it would flatten this place with raw physical strength!
Ignoring Passing Pure-Love Warrior and Bossy Guy still dangling from its legs, it lunged forward with its massive body. Its two huge, bone-spiked arms slammed down like gigantic warhammers at Ma Lou and the other two hiding behind the stone pillars.
Boom!
Unable to dodge in time, the three players were smashed into pulp again.
"Fuck, this boss has way too much health! Our missiles barely scratch it!"
[Ji Luo] respawned on the Resurrection Array, panting. His brow furrowed as he watched the monster, which was still full of vigor.
They had hurled at least several dozen missiles just now!
Although they had interrupted several of the monster's attacks, it was simply too huge. That little bit of explosion damage wasn't remotely lethal.
Meanwhile, on the altar, Lin En watched his faith points approach the 2,500 mark, and his heart bled.
But he had to spend those faith points to survive!
Even if he burned through every last point today, he had to hold out until the very end!
Yet after the battle had dragged on this long, a glimmer of hope finally appeared!
After respawning, Ma Lou suddenly noticed something and let out a startled cry. "Ji, look! Hasn't that monster gotten smaller?"
Everyone looked where Ma Lou was pointing and froze.
Flesh Fusion, which had stood four meters tall before, was still furiously smashing the surrounding ruins, but its body had actually shrunk by nearly a third!
Its once full, bloodshot muscles now looked somewhat shriveled.
Even the speed of its flailing tentacles had visibly slowed.
"It's... out of mana?!"
A flash of insight struck Jiahao, and he understood at once.
"I get it! This monster was hatched from countless chunks of corpses stitched together."
"It replenished its energy by devouring the Cultists earlier. Now it has no supplies, but it keeps growing new flesh and launching tentacles. It's burning through its own origin power like crazy!"
Before you continue