The Ignominious Demise of the Death Beast

Though I spoke with a casual air, facing a monster of the Death Beast’s caliber still weighed heavily on me. The Death Beast was far from slow. The distance Bai Xia had just created was negligible, and even as she muttered to herself, the creature lunged forward, unleashing a powerful sweep!

A faint, crimson aura coiled around its dark greatsword. There was no doubt that, given the immense disparity between them, a single strike would instantly deplete more than half of Bai Xia’s fragile health bar, if not outright kill her.

Truly, a shield guardian would have made this battle a hundred times simpler. Leveraging her superior speed, Bai Xia once again evaded the Death Beast’s assault. Its relentless pursuit, however, was beginning to give the young woman a pounding headache.

Unfortunately, Qian Zhong and the others seemed preoccupied with real-world matters today, showing no signs of logging in. Otherwise, Bai Xia wouldn’t have hesitated to bring more people into this perilous mission. Perhaps she could even have leveraged the ‘too many people’ excuse to coax a few more thousand-mile horses from the city lord.

Such thoughts were futile now, however. The immediate priority was to divert the Death Beast’s attention.

As an assassin, Bai Xia thrived on high mobility and burst damage. Being relentlessly targeted by the Death Beast, however, was proving to be an agonizing disadvantage.

Seizing a brief opening in the Death Beast’s assault, she shot a glance at Tian Zheng, who immediately understood her unspoken command and nodded in acknowledgment.

Tian Zheng had always been more diligent in leveling than Bai Xia, and his initial level had surpassed hers. Consequently, while Bai Xia had only recently reached Level 15, he was already a Level 17 warrior with over half his experience bar filled, undoubtedly ranking among the top players.

Having transitioned into a Sword Warrior, his inherent attributes and skills had received a significant boost. Furthermore, his equipment was so exceptional it would make anyone drool—though, a considerable portion of it, he mused, had been ‘donated’ by Bai Xia.

In essence, the current Tian Zheng was both a formidable tank and a capable damage dealer. While his overall damage output and burst potential were slightly lower than Bai Xia’s, his physical resilience was incomparably superior!

Thus, upon witnessing Bai Xia inextricably ensnared by the Death Beast, the man—now even more adept at coordinating with her—wasted no time. Without a word, he retrieved a spherical object from his backpack.

It was a black sphere, slightly smaller than the palm of his hand, its dark surface etched with fiery, crimson patterns that bore a striking resemblance to a bomb.

Undoubtedly, it was an upgraded Black Oil Bomb, capable of causing both an initial explosion and sustained burning damage once ignited!

Tian Zheng gripped the dark sphere, ignited it, and swiftly chose his angle, accurately hurling it to strike the Death Beast’s chest. The sphere detonated, yet its power was minimal, inflicting only imperceptible damage.

This, however, was merely the prelude. The very next instant, the black oil that had erupted from the sphere was fully engulfed in flames, spreading across the Death Beast’s chest and igniting into a ferocious blaze!

As Tian Zheng was the one who deployed the Black Oil Bomb, all subsequent damage was attributed to him. The relentless, searing pain caused the Death Beast to immediately abandon its pursuit of Bai Xia, turning instead to unleash a frantic assault upon Tian Zheng.

Unlike Bai Xia, who, due to her fragile physique, could only resort to perpetual evasion, Tian Zheng possessed a multitude of methods to contend with such a predicament.

Though his speed was comparable to the Death Beast’s, rendering him unable to dodge as flexibly and effectively as Bai Xia once it closed in, Tian Zheng could still defend against unavoidable attacks by utilizing ‘Block,’ a passive skill exclusive to warriors.

The activation conditions for ‘Block’ were exceedingly stringent, but once mastered, it transformed into an undeniably divine skill.

This was particularly true when confronting foes who wielded large, sweeping weapons. The game’s mechanics dictated that a successful block would render any incoming attack, no matter how terrifying, utterly impotent.

Yet, ‘Block’ was not an infallible defense. Employing it against an enemy whose strength vastly surpassed his own would be tantamount to courting death. Such an attempt would likely result in being knocked back or even toppled, leaving him briefly stunned and utterly defenseless—ample time for the enemy to unleash a torrent of devastating attacks.

Fortunately, the Death Beast’s powerful blows remained within Tian Zheng’s manageable limits. Though each downward chop of the dark greatsword sent a tremor through his wrists, he suspected that enduring too many such attacks in rapid succession would eventually prove untenable.

However, ‘Block’ was merely a contingency for unavoidable strikes. Tian Zheng’s true prowess lay not in his near-perfect command of the defensive skill, but rather in his terrifyingly precise and agile footwork.

His body weaved ceaselessly through the chilling gleam of the Death Beast’s intertwining claws and greatsword. Each movement was precisely calculated, allowing him to narrowly evade attacks while simultaneously seizing every fleeting opening to methodically inflict damage.

Despite the Death Beast’s inherent agility, Tian Zheng was now toying with it like a mere puppet. Its upward slashes and downward cleaves, though terrifying to behold, consistently failed to land, leaving Tian Zheng’s health bar stubbornly full.

While Tian Zheng skillfully kept the Death Beast fully preoccupied, Bai Xia, naturally, was not idle. Leveraging her superior speed, she repeatedly darted in, delivered a devastating blow, and then swiftly retreated. Once Tian Zheng had re-established its aggression, she would surge forward again, unleashing a flurry of rapid slashes.

Hr weapon, imbued with the ‘Dark Ritual’ effect, frequently triggered armor penetration, allowing Bai Xia to inflict excruciating damage that bypassed the Death Beast’s defenses.

The Death Beast yearned to retaliate, but its aggro remained firmly locked onto Tian Zheng, leaving its vulnerable points brazenly exposed to Bai Xia’s relentless attacks.

In such circumstances, Bai Xia harbored not a single shred of hesitation. Unleashing ‘Blood Kill’ by sacrificing a third of her life, her terrifying attack speed—three slashes per second—transformed the ‘Phantom Dagger’ in her hand into a mere blur of crimson afterimages!

Then…

–5500

A colossal, black-and-crimson damage number floated above the Death Beast’s head, instantly freezing its poised charge, leaving its entire body rigid.

Its health bar, which moments ago had nearly four-fifths remaining, vanished entirely in an instant!

The Death Beast’s massive form stood motionless for two full seconds before abruptly toppling forward. The suddenness of its collapse nearly caught Tian Zheng off guard, almost crushing him beneath its immense weight.

“…It’s dead?” Tian Zheng stared at the fallen Death Beast and the veritable bounty of items it had dropped, still struggling to process what had just transpired.

‘This isn’t how the script was supposed to go!’

The Death Beast’s formidable power was beyond question. As its health dwindled, it was supposed to grow increasingly perilous, demanding utmost caution even from Tian Zheng and Bai Xia. They had anticipated a hard-fought victory, one that would undoubtedly come at a significant cost.

Yet, the Death Beast still had the majority of its health bar intact, its ultimate ability was merely charging, and several even more dangerous skills remained unused. It might have even undergone a second transformation! But instead… it simply dropped dead, just like that? What an ignominious end!

Gazing at the truly lifeless husk of the Death Beast, even Tian Zheng couldn’t help but offer a silent two-second vigil for its unceremonious demise.

Bai Xia, too, stood dumbfounded, for she had never anticipated such an outcome.

The ominous black damage number signified, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the game’s most dreaded effects: instant death!

Its origin lay in a lethal skill named ‘Soul Burial’.

Truth be told, Bai Xia had never truly harbored hopes of felling enemies by relying on ‘Soul Burial’s’ instant death effect, given its notoriously abysmal trigger rate.

As an ability so potent it sent shivers down one’s spine, ‘Soul Burial’ had a woefully low chance of activating even against common monsters. To claim its probability against high-level bosses was infinitesimally close to zero would be no exaggeration.

And yet, it had triggered?!

The very first activation of ‘Soul Burial’s’ deadly effect had claimed the life of a Level 20 elite boss—a testament to its undeniable power.

The 5500 points of forced life stripping perfectly matched the Death Beast’s total health, instantly transforming this formidable monster—a creature capable of plunging any player into a bitter struggle—into a lifeless corpse, and… a mountain of spoils.

Monsters felled by Bai Xia typically proved quite generous with their spoils, and the Death Beast was no exception, dropping an impressive five pieces of equipment alone.

Three items of ‘Fine’ quality, one of ‘Excellent’ quality, and one that was, inexplicably, of ‘Rare’ quality!

While elite monsters indeed possessed a chance to drop rare equipment, that probability was scarcely higher than the instant death effect Bai Xia had just triggered against the Death Beast.

Now, two infinitesimally small probabilities had been triggered simultaneously. Gazing at the Level 20 rare equipment named ‘Soul Burial Leather Armor,’ Tian Zheng found himself plunged into a prolonged silence.

Yet, this was not the most astonishing discovery. What truly left them speechless was the head-sized, black, crystal-like egg that materialized in Bai Xia’s hand after she, driven by curiosity, performed the ‘Gathering Skill’ on the Death Beast’s remains.

[Death Beast Core]: An advanced pet crystal, the soul core of a Death Beast. By visiting the temple and expending Dark or Death Crystals of Intermediate quality or higher, a new Death Beast can be cultivated.

Reading the system notification, Tian Zheng couldn’t help but cast his gaze skyward, letting out a mournful sigh. ‘Are you still going to claim this game isn’t run by your family now?’

Bai Xia: ‘…??’

****

With the monster vanquished, the natural next step was to divide the spoils. Though Bai Xia, as the primary contributor, was entitled to the lion’s share, she, as was her custom, entrusted almost everything to Tian Zheng for distribution.

As the rare equipment that dropped happened to be a leather armor, precisely what she needed, it ultimately found its way back into Bai Xia’s possession.

Tian Zheng also intended to hand over the Death Beast Core, capable of hatching a pet, but to his surprise, Bai Xia rejected it without a moment’s hesitation.

Her reasons? Firstly, a pet of such extreme rarity at this stage, especially an advanced one, could undoubtedly fetch an exorbitant price. Since Tian Zheng had taken it, he wouldn’t let her suffer any loss; at the very least, he would ensure she was well-fed and provided for.

Secondly, the creature was simply hideous!

Bai Xia already felt a pang of revulsion simply looking at the Death Beast’s face, let alone having to contend with it in-game for an extended period if it were her pet. Therefore, rather than letting its unsightly presence constantly sour her mood, she decided it was better to sell it off while its value was at its peak.

Hearing her justification, Tian Zheng was at a loss for words. An item coveted by countless others had become a burdensome hot potato in her hands. Perhaps, this was the confidence of the system’s favored daughter?

The man shook his head. There was no denying the pet was genuinely ugly, yet this was a high-level pet, one that was practically priceless at this stage!

Therefore…

“It’s better to give it to Qian Zhong,” Tian Zheng said, and Bai Xia thought she detected a hint of disdain in his voice.