Diverting Trouble Eastward
Five black-robed mages stood outside the battlefield, waving their wands incessantly. An orange-red fireball took shape in the air, then hurtled into the horde of monsters and exploded in a wave of scorching heat.
Beside the black-robed mages, three warriors in black plate armor stood silently with greatswords in hand. Two dark red eyes shone beneath each helmet's faceplate, like guardians from the abyss.
Lin Xu's heart stirred, and he opened one of the black-armored warriors' panels:
Name: Dark Warrior · Blue Race: Human Level: 6 Strength: 17 Agility: 9 Constitution: 16 Spirit: 10 Intelligence: 10 Health: 265/265 Battle Qi: 60/60 Skills: Heavy Cleave · Green (advanced): Condenses Battle Qi into a weapon and unleashes a sharp surge of Qi with a powerful cleaving strike, dealing massive physical damage to a single target with a certain chance of rending armor Earth-Splitting Slash · Green (advanced): A charged strike that deals high physical damage to a cone-shaped area in front and briefly knocks enemies back Iron Wall Defense · Blue (beginner): Enters a defensive stance, greatly increasing block rate and damage reduction for a period of time Dark Battle Qi · Blue (intermediate): Dark-attribute Battle Qi that boosts the user's attack power and corrodes the target's armor Evaluation: A silent guardian of the dungeon, a reliable killing machine
Lin Xu drew a breath. This dark warrior was far stronger than he had expected. A level-six, blue-quality unit could easily wipe out the patrol he led all on its own.
"Such a big show of force for one little spirit acupoint?" He had already abandoned the idea of intervening and planned to gather some information before withdrawing.
On the battlefield, goblin corpses and shattered skeleton bones lay mingled with the scorched earth. The battle was gradually tipping in the monsters' favor.
These monster soldiers looked unremarkable, but every one of them cultivated monster arts. Simply put, they cultivated both magic and martial arts, and their individual combat ability far surpassed others of the same tier.
Even with ranged support from the dark mages and evil eyes, the lesser monsters continued to push forward along the front line.
Seeing the battle fall apart, a dark warrior suddenly stepped forward and raised his greatsword overhead, a dim halo of Battle Qi glowing around him.
He let out a low growl and brought his blade down. A crescent of Qi, black as ink, tore through the air and plunged straight into the monster soldiers ahead.
In an instant, flesh and blood flew. Three lesser monsters and the five skeleton soldiers in their path were all cut in half at the waist, their mangled bodies flung into the air.
"Awooo~"
The wolf monster leader flew into a rage. He raised his head and let out a piercing howl, his Yao Qi surging as his gray-white fur instantly turned dark red.
A blue-gray monster wind howled, and the wolf monster vanished from sight. In a flash, he swept across the fiercely contested battlefield, tearing three or four goblins and two skeleton soldiers along his path to pieces.
The dark warrior did not even have time to turn before the wolf monster's curved blade came slashing down in an arc of light.
A tremendous impact boomed, sending sparks flying. The dark warrior blocked with his sword held across his body and dropped to one knee, the flagstones beneath him cracking in an instant.
Where blade met sword, black Qi and monster wind clashed violently with an ear-piercing screech.
The other two dark warriors stepped forward, two surges of pitch-black Battle Qi erupting at once as they attacked from the left and right.
The wolf monster leader growled. Monster wind swirled around him, and he vanished from where he stood. When he appeared again, he was already behind the dark warrior on the left. His curved blade slashed diagonally upward, tearing a bone-deep gash in the heavy black armor and sending black blood gushing out.
The dark warrior grunted and stumbled forward, his attack collapsing instantly.
The wolf monster leader's eyes were crimson. Without stopping, he spun into a horizontal slash, aiming his blade straight at the other dark warrior's throat.
"Clang~" Sparks burst as a heavy sword knocked the blade aside. The third dark warrior stepped between them, his greatsword colliding violently with the curved blade.
Lin Xu watched, deeply shaken. The elite-tier monster general lived up to his reputation: fighting three dark warriors of the same tier by himself, he had actually seized a firm upper hand.
Using the speed advantage granted by the monster wind to maneuver between the three dark warriors, the wolf monster leader grew fiercer as he fought. Every strike went straight for a vital spot, forcing the three men back again and again.
While the wolf monster leader fought fiercely with the three dark warriors, the lesser monsters on the main battlefield seized the opportunity and surged forward like a tide, their fangs and claws tearing into the enemy ranks.
The goblins were clearly not warriors who would fight to the bitter end. They soon broke under the onslaught of the monster tide and scattered, fleeing with screams.
Only the skeleton soldiers continued to swing their bone blades stiffly, ghostly flames burning undimmed in their empty eye sockets as they fought to the death without retreating.
With the battle lost, the dark mages were the first to withdraw. They hastily hurled the fireballs in their hands around the hard-pressed dark warriors. The fireballs exploded, and crimson flames and surging heat forced the wolf monster leader back.
The three dark warriors took the opportunity to disengage and retreat swiftly. The evil eyes hovering in the sky suddenly contracted, their scarlet vertical pupils locking onto the wolf monster leader.
Invisible waves of mental force spread like a tide. The wolf monster leader froze for a moment, then quickly regained his senses, but he had lost his chance to pursue the dark warriors.
"You're courting death!" The wolf monster flew into a rage and roared indistinctly.
His curved blade slashed down through the air. An arc of light flashed, splitting an evil eye in half on the spot and spraying foul-smelling dark purple liquid everywhere.
The monster wind blade continued on, sweeping across a fleeing evil eye and leaving a bone-deep gash in its fragile body, making it let out a shrill, piercing screech.
The grievously wounded evil eye flew away unsteadily, purplish-red blood mixed with suspicious liquid dripping constantly from the gash and leaving a foul-smelling trail in the air as it fled blindly toward the back of the mountain.
The wolf monster leader snorted coldly and gave up the chase, turning instead to survey what remained of the battle.
Lin Xu retrieved his paper figure and looked in the direction the dungeon legion had retreated. "Is the dungeon over there?"
In his heart, however, his earlier guess was confirmed—the direction they had retreated lay farther east of the Xuanwei Monastery outpost.
"Whimper~"
The familiar whimpering made Lin Xu frown. "What a troublesome bunch!"
The human-faced dogs the paper figure had just lured away had returned. They also seemed to have picked up the patrol's trail and were rapidly closing in.
Without hesitating, he released the paper figure again and sent it back the way they had come. Sure enough, he saw the human-faced dogs following their trail.
The paper figure deliberately showed itself. The human-faced dogs chased it in a rage, passing around the spot where Lin Xu's group was hidden, and soon ran headlong into the monster patrol.
"Damn beasts!" The bull monster captain raised his axe in fury. "Kill!"
The lesser monsters immediately raised their weapons and charged at the human-faced dogs with howls.
The paper figure hid to one side, quietly observing the battlefield.
The ordinary monster soldiers were clearly no match for the human-faced dogs in combat, and they were also at an overwhelming numerical disadvantage.
Surrounded and attacked by nearly twice their number of human-faced dogs, a lesser monster was soon brought down by several of them. Sharp teeth bit straight through his throat, sending blood gushing out.
But the other lesser monsters kept roaring and fighting to the death without retreating. Their weapons hacked into the human-faced dogs' fur, flesh, and bones, sending shards of bone and black blood flying.