Chapter 146: Hunter (Third Chapter)

"Exorcism."

Li En swung his holy sword with full force again, but its radiance dimmed mid-swing, becoming plain and unadorned.

This was not because Li En's holy power was exhausted. "Sun" and "Path Ascension" had both replenished him with a bit more holy power.

Not much, but enough to last a few minutes.

"Battle Sword. Armor Erosion!"

The light was gone, but the subdued Exorcism sword had become even more sinister.

Reality is not a game—armor penetration is not a debuff that fades after a while. Once armor, protection, or hide is shattered, there is no defense until it is healed or repaired.

And in combat, exposed flesh means the opponent's killing blow is next!

"Boom!"

But Li En flew back faster than before.

"Aooooo!!"

The three-meter-tall giant stag, now fully transformed, erupted in fury.

In the brief collision, large chunks of its flesh had been sliced away.

The increasingly berserk Great Horned Beast glared hatefully at Li En—its herd had inexplicably been wiped out by more than half.

Li En stood firm, sword in hand, puzzled—he hadn't been hit, so why had he been thrown back?

In combat, intelligence support is always the top priority. Li En had some knowledge of these old foes; comparing notes to find the answer wasn't hard.

". Direction." Li En suddenly understood.

"Up and down" was also the stag's domain—this time, it was himself who had truly sent him flying back!

"Aoooo!" But the frenzied monster charging at him gave Li En no time to adapt.

"Clang!" But this time, it was Lari who blocked the Great Horned Beast.

Powered by her speed boots, she moved like a blur, her exceptional arm reach and agility allowing her to swing her longsword rapidly, carving out seemingly insignificant wounds.

"Aoooa!" But if these wounds were truly trivial, the Great Horned Beast wouldn't keep roaring in agony.

On the spider knight's six arms, each demon sword carried potent effects—perhaps the wounds were small, but the debuffs applied were exceptional.

At this moment, Li En also realized the Great Horned Beast couldn't change direction freely—it needed to observe and make contact first, while Lari could sense and evade in advance.

Even when occasionally reflected, her force was minimal; her sword never slipped from her grip.

In Li En's eyes, she was far more agile than he was even on flat ground.

"So it's the webbing beneath her feet." The webs stretched between the stone pillars had become her stage for the dance of her sword—this was her true domain.

She could even actively use the webbing's elasticity to accelerate or decelerate her steps.

"I underestimated her."

As a rare "Agility-type Holy Knight," when sparring with Li En, the "Strength-type Bull," she was always at a disadvantage—she couldn't simply curse him or wound him with her demon swords during direct confrontation.

And that underground cave environment was unsuitable for this nimble, multi-armed, fine-sword agile warrior.

This time, it was her home turf, facing an opponent type she excelled against!

"Holy Power!"

One by one, lights ignited upon her body—now officially fourth-rank, she cast a powerful divine spell upon herself, compensating for her overall inferior physical stats.

Li En had no intention of watching. He reached out—uh, his holy power was nearly gone, his mana exhausted, and he'd even overdrawn his life force earlier.

When Su Er's spirit possessed him, Li En could use the Holy Flame Aura to chip away damage, letting his soul ability constantly "stealth-pierce" through the flames.

But now, he could only channel this soul power onto the blade's edge.

He gripped the sword again; flames slowly engulfed it.

Dragon Flame, a racial talent, still worked as expected.

Conversely, with his mana and holy power pools depleted, this power felt clearer, more stable.

And this power should have an extra effect—the very effect he needed most right now.

"Dragon!"

Instantly, despite his eye pain preventing him from using Dragon Eyes, Li En once again drew the beast's full attention.

Combat drove the beast into frenzy, sharpening its instinct to distinguish friend from foe.

Provoked by its archenemy, the Great Horned Beast abandoned Lari, who tried to intercept it, and charged straight at Li En.

Li En took a deep breath; where his blade passed, a trail of Dragon Flame erupted.

"Boom!"

This time, Li En stood his ground and blocked the Great Horned Beast's charge.

He felt it—the sense of direction was inverted in the instant of impact; if he'd tried to collide or dodge, things would've been disastrous.

But before his expensive armor could even demonstrate its effect, the indestructible holy sword revealed its absurd resilience.

"Clang!" Where blade met claw, the "thin rod" didn't bend an inch.

The reality of being unable to advance drove the Great Horned Beast into greater madness; each swing of its claw grew heavier, yet Li En held firm.

Meanwhile, the other candidates seized this opportunity to unleash their attacks.

Li En turned back and realized Zi Qiangwei had vanished without notice—the other candidates were trying, but their results were mediocre.

The automaton Ophelia had lost most of her combat capabilities; the mushroom man tried to approach the battlefield but was swatted away like a fly.

His spore attacks did make mushrooms grow on the beast's body, but the effect seemed purely decorative.

Victornia threw several elemental vials (alchemical containers filled with elements), trying to inflict damage, but the results were slower than the beast's healing.

Frantic, she attempted to cast spells—failed twice. Even if she succeeded, the effects were utterly unreliable; alchemists' combat magic was rarely effective.

"Stone Skin."

But suddenly, a voice from behind made Li En freeze.

Immediately, large areas of his skin and flesh turned to stone—his weight surged, and his defense skyrocketed.

This was exactly what he needed—but who did this?

"Could Sallyman be fourth-rank... uh, no, she isn't fourth-rank, she's..."

This time, the figure he turned to wasn't the kind woman casting a spell.

It was Sallyman tearing off a magic scroll and pulling out another pouch.

". A rich kind woman."

Expensive magic scrolls had become consumables—Li En winced at the cost, but the effect was undeniably real.

With several support spells added, Li En truly held back the increasingly furious beast, locking its hatred firmly on himself and giving his allies ample space to output.

The two-handed sword became an excellent shield; the unyielding Sword of the Valiant proved exceptionally useful.

The expensive Stone Skin spell synergized perfectly with his armor; Li En became an immovable dam.

Even when struck by heavy blows, Li En only shed a few stone chips—he abandoned his ambush, now fully focused on blocking the enraged Great Horned Beast.

When standing still, what did inverted direction matter?

And now that the frontline knight held off the monster, what would happen next needed no explanation.

"Die, evil!"

The highest damage output came from Lari.

She swung blow after blow of Exorcism Slash, her superior weapon steadily creating wounds and debuffs.

The other three "non-combatant" alchemists continued to underperform—though Sallyman, after testing her soul abilities and enchantments and finding them nearly useless, began her extravagant scroll-burning tactics.

"Boom!"

A fireball exploded against the Great Horned Beast. Without a caster's enhancement, the scroll's damage was weak—but it had created enough openings.

"Exorcism!"

Finally, Li En seized the chance to shift from defense to offense.

"Boom!" The beast's claw slammed into him—but he didn't retreat, he advanced!

Just before impact, he'd indeed taken a small backward hop—and it was instantly converted into a charging thrust!

"Dragon!" The Great Horned Beast, unskilled in combat, regretted its foolish move—but it was too late.

The claw strike had merely chipped off a few stone fragments from the Stone Skin armor.

Flesh-and-blood claws were less effective against heavy armor than metal weapons.

"Battle Sword. Armor Erosion!"

This time, the blade met no resistance—it carved a massive wound across the Great Horned Beast's neck.

"Aooooo!"

Blood poured out, and the Great Horned Priest regained a sliver of sanity—but at this moment, human reason lowered its survival rate.

A wounded beast is the most furious, but a wounded human may be the most irrational, the most cowardly.

It tried to cover its wound and flee—untrained as a warrior, it abandoned its last possible counterattack window.

"Die, evil."

Li En didn't hesitate to deliver the finishing blow—but this time, the Dragon Flame-coated blade was blocked.

He was forced to dodge the counterattack and retreat, then swung again.

". Exorcism!"

This final "Exorcism Sword" was truly the last, last effort.

"Swish!"

This time, the remaining half of its neck couldn't stop the blade—its head was cleanly severed.

The head flew off, yet the monster's corpse still stood upright.

Looking at the high horn shaman with unclosed eyes, Li En did not slacken. Beasts are hard to kill completely.

He had already prepared for the worst; fighting a second or third stage wasn't unfamiliar. If he truly couldn't win, he'd flee—wait for Zi Qiangwei to come to his rescue.

But this opponent, the High Horn Shaman, didn't possess the absurd vitality of the "Holy Mother."

Finally, the headless corpse of the giant beast gushed blood and collapsed; Li En's party secured final victory.

"Is it over?"

Li En plunged his sword into the ground and sat on the beast's head, gasping for breath.

It had almost been a total party wipe.

"Where are Zi Qiangwei's people?" Li En had told her not to act unless necessary, but if she vanished at a critical moment, something felt off.

Li En expected her to leap out any moment, yet after waiting a long while, there was still no response.

Just as he thought another surprise might come and he'd need to find her—

"Thud!"

A heavy object fell right in front of Li En.

It was a snow-white deer head—familiar, very familiar! He had seen it on the city wall just yesterday!

Zi Qiangwei appeared with a smile; the deer head, larger than the High Horn's by a full circle, was her recent trophy.

"One Prince of Beasts—almost let it escape. Hmph, for some reason, it was cursed by magic; otherwise, I wouldn't have taken it so quickly."

(End of Chapter)