Chapter 42: Young Beast (Third Watch)

Li En's party, who had finally encountered an interceptor, did not anxiously launch an attack.

"Detect Evil."

Holy radiance illuminated the cavern before them.

Blocking the passage was a strange beast.

A dog-like creature on four limbs, snow-white all over, with an especially cute dog-like head. Tailless, it had a pair of seemingly pure eyes.

But this one-meter-tall cute little beast appearing here was itself the suspicious part.

There was no food here that normal life needed to survive—what did it eat?

Larry's Detect Evil, however, responded with a flash of white light.

This was a paladin's standard play, used to test the aggressiveness of foreign beasts.

Generally speaking, "neutral" meant that this animal would not actively attack people in most situations.

But it seemed still not safe, so she threw out another "Judgment."

Still a faint white light—this beast had not killed any humans within the past two weeks.

"It's very clean, there's no smell of fresh blood on it."

Talia's sense of smell made the judgment, but then she stopped Larry, who was trying to walk straight over.

Even though every detection method said there was no problem, her biological instincts had already determined that this thing was off.

Her hair stood on end; she couldn't understand what kind of life form stood before her, but it was absolutely not a good creature.

"Kill it." Talia finally made the call.

Now was not the time to protect animals.

Larry, the vanguard, paused for a moment and drew his sword, but before he could act, the change came first.

"Ah!"

The "little dog" suddenly tilted its head, its skull flipping a full 180 degrees, as if completely unrestricted by joints.

Its mouth faced upward, eyes flickering below.

The creature, which should have been dead, curved its lips into a bizarre arc.

Its originally pure eyes suddenly trembled, the original pupils shaking violently within the eyeballs.

With a sway, numerous pupils appeared in the elongated canine eyes.

Countless pupils flipping between black and white all seemed to be watching you.

From this moment on, merely looking at this creature caused a strong sense of discomfort.

But an even more bizarre scene was just beginning.

It stood up.

The little beast simply rose onto two legs directly; in the process, flesh and blood expanded, its body swelling violently, transforming into a bear-like upright human-beast.

"Smite Evil!"

Li En's reaction was the fastest—since it was an enemy, there was no need to hesitate.

This strike was both swift and vicious, silver light arcing out, cleaving directly into the opponent's chest.

"The feel is wrong."

But the next moment, he furrowed his brow. He felt not the slightest blessing of holy power; the monster before him was neither evil nor guilty in the slightest.

"Clang!"

Then, Li En's pure warrior "cleaver" strike was sent flying straight back.

Li En was shocked to discover that, in pure strength, an ogre's might was actually inferior to the monster before him that had just been a little beast.

And the wound from that slash was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye!

"What kind of monster is this?" In all these days, Li En had never heard of such a creature, and the common creatures of those underground ruins didn't match at all either.

No one could give an answer, but since it was an enemy, killing it would suffice.

The knights drew their swords without hesitation and charged; Talia stepped into the shadows, ready for a lethal backstab at any moment.

However, this battle was destined to be far more grueling than anyone anticipated.

Ordinary weapons couldn't break its defense at all. Dimon's Adamantine Twin Blades had poor effect against it—even the strikes didn't leave a mark.

But Li En's Sword of Courage, mighty and forceful, could break its defense, yet the pure physical wounds inflicted couldn't keep up with the opponent's healing speed.

Larry, on the other hand, thanks to the different damage and curses brought by those magic swords, could actually deal real harm to it.

They couldn't waste time here.

"Get back!"

Li En let out a furious roar, swinging his sword with full force and forcing it back.

If Smite Evil couldn't work, then he'd just hack it to death.

Slash after slash, Li En swung his sword with everything he had.

Constant roars, constant gathering of strength—even by a warrior's standards, Li En was at his peak right now.

Finally, a near-perfect full-power Smite Evil cleaved it open completely.

Then came a fierce overhead chop, brute force transformed into the purest physical attack, the blade splitting the monster clean in two.

Even so, it still didn't die from this; after being split in two, it continued to struggle on the ground.

This sight gave everyone a headache; this was when the problem of a same-class party showed itself—when facing a countered opponent, everyone was countered.

Paladins always stand on the front line against evil. That also means that if the enemy isn't evil, he's just a weakened, blank-slate warrior—Li En doesn't have Su Er's ability to swing Smite Evil at the god of law.

Since elemental damage was effective, having a mage here right now would be great.

Fortunately, this time it did not successfully resurrect.

After struggling for over a dozen seconds, it died, dissolving into a puddle of black water.

"Finally," Larry sighed, preparing to sheath his sword and dagger.

This time, she had even chipped the edge of her rapier; the maintenance costs were not small.

However, everyone seemed to have rejoiced too soon.

"Clap, clap, clap."

From the cave around the corner, somewhat familiar footsteps echoed again.

"One, two... four." Soon, a full four "puppies" stood silently in the passage ahead, watching them.

This time, everyone drew in a sharp breath; this battle was destined to be arduous.

Li En's side was locked in a bitter struggle, while the fate of certain others was even more extraordinary.

A squad from the slave market had also encountered them.

"Heh, there are actually puppies here," the scout at the front said, glancing back to chat with his companions while reaching out to tease it.

"Crack!" Thus, in everyone's eyes, in the blink of an eye, he transformed and vanished.

Only that "puppy" was happily chewing.

Its small body had swollen, its mouth larger than a human's.

In just a few seconds, it finished chewing, returned to its cute form, and continued to silently watch the squad before it.

"Aaaah!"

While the combatants prepared, a young priest at the rear of the squad screamed, clutching his hand.

The next moment, he collapsed and died instantly; the bipedal monster chewed on the severed hand, then slapped it flat into a pancake.

Similar incidents occurred throughout the cave; one small beast after another appeared before the invaders.

With no malice, they enjoyed the pleasure of feeding.

What could make a beast pack happier than waking up and finding food delivered right to their door?

Not every squad had the ability to escape or even resist.

In one corner, an ambush had just ended.

Two small beast corpses lay on the ground, yet all five members of this squad were dead.

Amidst the flesh and blood, only one small beast remained alive, happily enjoying its extra meal.

As it ate, its body gradually began to swell.

"Woo-woo!" Finally, it emitted a throat sound resembling a deer's call, and its entire body swelled another size.

Even stranger, two short, broken horns grew on its forehead, upon which a spiral pattern faintly began to form.

It was changing from dog-like to gradually resembling a deer.

Within those eerie eyes, the eyeballs were multiplying.

"Get lost!" In the pitch-black cave, holy light still shone, and war cries continued.

Even facing so many "dogs," Li En's group continued to fight.

But without a doubt, Li En's squad had fallen into a bitter struggle.

At this difficult moment, it was still the squad leader, Li En, who stood firm.

Though confined within the narrow cave, his dual swords spun like a windmill, swift and nimble as a dragonfly, and tough as a stone shield; alone, he blocked the attacks of at least three small beasts.

"Clang!"

Even when knocked back again, he, moving in a defensive circular dance, could quickly shed the force and strike again.

Constantly pushed back by brute force, yet constantly attacking forward—this was the combat technique of a veteran.

The ability to hold out until now was the crushing superiority of experience and combat technique, the veteran's crushing of the rash recruit.

At this moment, borrowing the fierce combat instincts and techniques of the Heroic Soul, Li En displayed nearly perfect grappling and defensive skills.

Of course, there was also the unwavering stability of his movements and a spirit of fearlessness.

However, with the Evil-Cleaving Slash proving ineffective, he could not serve as the main attacker.

"Sin-Breaking Strike." The rapier at his back pierced through another small beast's eyeball.

Back-to-back with Li En was the six-armed female knight, delivering steady and efficient damage.

Her magic sword, whether imbued with fire or lightning, or carrying curses of weakness and misfortune of slowness, could genuinely harm these beasts.

The effect was not great, but it remained steady, at least better than holy power.

Both sides inevitably fell into a war of attrition, and the recovery ability of these beasts was astonishing.

Had Li En not blocked most of the pressure, combat casualties would likely have already occurred.

On the other side, Talia had drawn one away and was constantly attempting to weaken it.

Her dual daggers were very effective against humans, but the wounds they inflicted on beasts were too small; against these powerful undead creatures, the effect was also poor.

"Heal Minor Wounds." A deep voice rang out from behind.

A warm light fell upon Li En, and his wounds rapidly healed.

Li En turned around; that fierce and decisive dual-blade wielder, Dimon, had, due to his subpar Jin Gang Dual Blades (unenchanted, non-magical metal), instead become a logistics support.

The decision at noon was correct; fortunately, Li En had let Dimon accumulate enough holy power.

Now, at least with the support of Dimon and Larry taking turns healing, this frontline was being held by Li En through sheer endurance.

It seemed they could win through attrition? Li En felt somewhat helpless; if it came down to winning by exhaustion, how could they hunt down that murderer?

Who knew how many more of these beasts lay ahead.

But there also seemed to be no shortcuts; thinking too far ahead might mean truly dying here.

"Perhaps they have some weakness?"

For a never-before-seen demon beast, having a fatal weakness was normal.

Here, Li En made a potentially fatal mistake.

Just as Professor Sul had taught Dai Niya before, casually "opening one's eyes" to look at people is not a good habit.

But this time, it was Li En himself who actively opened the Dragon Eyes.

When the vertical Dragon Pupils opened, what they saw was not the eerie "upright beast-men," but spirals twisted together in knots.

In the Dragon Eyes' view, these eerie creatures seemed to be a great horn standing upright, with faint, strange spiral patterns upon it.

"Dragon, dragon, dragon, dragon!! There's a dragon!!"

But suddenly, a scream interrupted Li En's thoughts.

Those beasts, which had remained quiet even in death, suddenly let out eerie howls.

Then, the other beasts began to howl as well.

The "Dragon, dragon, dragon" roars echoed throughout the entire cavern.

"What are they roaring?!"

"Headache! It hurts so much!"

The others, however, seemed not to hear what Li En heard; they only felt they were roaring wildly and launching a mental attack.

In the next moment, an even more peculiar change appeared.

The skin of these dog-like creatures, originally smooth as snow, suddenly twisted and darkened drastically, shifting from white to black, with "oily water" constantly dripping around their bodies.

The upright "bear-men" swelled up even more, their bodies expanding until they directly pressed against the ceiling.

Within their twin pupils, twisted fragments were densely packed.

As they roared incessantly, large amounts of bloody fluid seeped from their mouths; the entire creatures convulsed repeatedly, as if plunged into madness.

"Dragon, dragon, dragon!" They continued to shout this word, then charged at Li En like madmen.

To the ears of everyone else besides Li En, it was merely a malicious roar causing dizziness and vertigo.

Li En suddenly realized: perhaps the "Comprehend Languages (Understand Human Speech)" ability within his "Beast Transformation" system had taken effect.

"Boom!" The mad beasts, while roaring, charged with brute force against the "dragon."

This time, Li En, who had forcibly blocked the path, was directly knocked flying by the suddenly surging brute force.

At this moment, the immense strength provided by the Ogre Gloves was completely insufficient.

"Li En, catch!"

The glove suddenly thrown over was caught by Li En mid-air.

Now, perhaps some Hill Giant-tier immense strength was needed.

Before he could even switch it on, a new wave of attacks from the mad beasts had already arrived.

"Boom!" This time, Li En gritted his teeth and held his sword to block it.

Yet his legs, pushed back, dragged two grooves straight into the ground, and the Hukou of both hands had already begun to bleed.

"Evil-Breaking Slash!" Larry, anxious behind him, swung a sword of holy light without hesitation, clearing the way for him.

"Dragon, dragon, dragon!" The monster actually let out a shriek.

This time, the Evil-Breaking Silver Sword actually forced the monster back!

The holy power, originally harmless to it, this time produced an effect like melting snow wherever the blade touched the beast's body.

Where the sword struck, huge gashes appeared directly upon these monsters.

They were no longer neutral hunting beasts, but bloodthirsty madmen attacking all life.

"Dragon, dragon, dragon, dragon!" But suddenly, a scream appeared beside Li En's ear.

"Li En, be careful!!"

And while Li En was still surprised that the Evil-Breaking Slash had worked again, Talia's warning shout came a step too late.

That demon beast, which had been chasing her, abandoned her directly, turned, and leaped straight toward Li En.

"Too late!"

The twin swords were still blocking the front; turning around was already impossible.

The monster's foul drool was already before his eyes; the blood-filled maw approaching Li En's head seemed about to close.

Li En instinctively threw a punch to resist; his combat body instinct urged him to retreat and dodge, but it seemed already too late.

"Crash!"

The sudden explosion shocked everyone.

That extended arm had actually pierced straight through the evil beast, which was right at close range!

That evil beast, which could not die no matter what, was actually crushed entirely by this instinctive strike, its whole head shattered.

Then, the monster's regeneration, which had been repeatedly taking effect, ceased to work; the entire body turned directly into ash.

And Li En's arm had also strangely thickened; on the exposed skin, a few pale red dragon scales had appeared.

And in the Codex, the answer had actually been given long ago.

【Stimulated by the encounter with a 'Beast,' Dragon Blood is boiling. Dragon Transformation degree is increasing.】

【Dragon Transformation reached 5%. Racial Talent 'Dragon Claw' activated!】

At this moment, what Li En felt was a transformation of the entire left hand's form; his fingers twisted, resembling claws.

Coordinating with the Dragon Eyes, he instinctively reached out, trying to grasp something in the air.

"Crack." It seemed as if something had been snuffed out.

In the void, it seemed that from this very moment, something had begun to change.

"Be careful!"

Another mad beast shouting "Dragon, dragon, dragon" was right at close range; Li En threw another punch.

"Smack!"

This time, the blow pierced straight through the front, and the opponent, without displaying any regeneration effect, turned into ash piece by piece.

One punch each, and those incredibly hard-to-deal-with beasts were gone just like that.

At this moment, everyone was dumbfounded — but the most dumbfounded of all was Li En himself!

He looked at his own fist.

"So, I'm this fierce?!"

(End of chapter)