A High-Stakes Encounter

Lin Shenyue returned to the camp with Ye Jue. Ye Jue gazed at the camp, a sense of helplessness washing over him. The attributes of the monster they had just slain had far exceeded his expectations.

They had no idea how many more black-robed figures lurked inside the house, let alone the presence of an unknown leader. Therefore, he dared not make any rash moves.

They did not have to wait long. A hoarse voice echoed from inside the house: “Why hasn’t Number Five returned yet? Numbers Three and Four, go check.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Jue’s eyes lit up. He subtly signaled to Lin Shenyue, then quietly retreated backward.

Lin Shenyue followed Ye Jue, slowly concealing themselves within the forest. It seemed the system would not make this task overly difficult after all.

Generally, main quests imposed a limit on the number of participants. Should the number exceed this limit, special conditions would be triggered—such as an increase in enemy numbers or pre-set traps if discovered—until the player count returned to the stipulated maximum.

Two more black-robed figures emerged from the house. As one walked, they muttered, “Could Old Five have slacked off?”

The other black-robed figure remained vigilant. “Be careful, Old Three. I have a bad feeling about this. If not for Big Brother and Second Brother going to monitor that tiger, and the Master being occupied, he probably would have come to investigate himself. We should be cautious at such a critical moment.”

Black-robed Old Three scoffed, but nevertheless sharpened their senses.

Ye Jue pondered for a moment. When there was only one monster initially, he could tank it, preventing it from bypassing him to attack Lin Shenyue. Although such monsters appeared to prioritize aggro, as high-AI creatures, their aggro could become chaotic at any moment.

This situation was almost constant during main quests. However, with only one monster, he could use positioning to prevent it from attacking Lin Shenyue, which meant Lin Shenyue had not been attacked thus far.

“Be careful, Yue’er,” Ye Jue said in a deep voice. “These monsters have very high AI. They might abandon me and attack you directly.”

Lin Shenyue pressed her red lips together, eventually nodding to indicate her understanding.

Ye Jue knew what Lin Shenyue was struggling with. However, participating in combat inevitably meant taking damage. He could only try his best to prevent Yue’er from being harmed, but he could not entirely eliminate the possibility.

Lin Shenyue was already prepared to be injured. After all, the monster’s attacks were magical, incredibly fast, and her movement speed offered almost no chance of dodging them.

The two black-robed figures reached the spot where Ye Jue had just fought. Observing the traces of battle around them, their expressions instantly turned serious.

Ye Jue realized they could not delay any longer. He charged out directly.

Upon seeing Ye Jue, black-robed Old Three spoke coldly, “What did you do to Old Five?”

“He’s already waiting for you in hell,” Ye Jue replied.

The two black-robed figures erupted in fury, unleashing all their skills upon Ye Jue, instantly depleting nearly half of his health.

Ye Jue immediately used an attack combined with a sweeping strike to seize aggro. Lin Shenyue’s skills followed, casting buffs upon Ye Jue.

Seeing the golden glow around Ye Jue, black-robed Old Four frowned. “Still just a little bug. Old Three, you hold him off. I’ll take care of the other one.”

Lin Shenyue’s expression changed. She had not expected the two monsters to start confusing aggro so early. This was extremely disadvantageous for them. If she were attacked, she would be hard-pressed to even defend herself, let alone heal Ye Jue.

Ye Jue suddenly thought of a way to deal with these high-AI monsters. He immediately began to curse: “You two pieces of trash, don’t run! Are you scared? If you’re scared, kneel and call me grandpa, and I’ll spare your lives.”

Black-robed Old Four, who had been about to trouble Lin Shenyue, exploded in rage upon hearing this. “If I don’t beat you until you call me grandpa today, I’ll eat dirt!”

“You can go eat it now,” Ye Jue continued to taunt.

Black-robed Old Four was utterly incensed. They completely ignored Lin Shenyue and, along with black-robed Old Three, attacked Ye Jue.

Lin Shenyue let out a long breath. She never imagined Ye Jue would come up with such a method to attract aggro. While the process was less than ideal, the outcome was exactly what they needed.

Though the two monsters’ attacks were fierce, Ye Jue’s health still showed a downward trend despite Lin Shenyue’s continuous healing. However, after consuming a medium-grade potion, he was temporarily fine.

When Ye Jue brought Old Three down to 500 health, black-robed Old Three clearly faltered. They roared, “Old Four, you hold him! I’m going to report to the Master!”

Just as black-robed Old Four was about to respond, Lin Shenyue, who had been prepared, instantly cast a Healing Spell, killing Old Three in one hit.

Seeing Old Three fall, black-robed Old Four’s eyes reddened. They roared at Lin Shenyue, “You deserve to die!” With that, they not only abandoned their attack but stood rooted, chanting a strange incantation.

Ye Jue’s expression shifted slightly. “Yue’er, be careful! He’s trying to take us down with him!”

Black-robed Old Four sneered. “Too late! Esteemed God of Darkness, your loyal worshipper offers their life to gain the power to destroy those before me!” After speaking, black-robed Old Four’s life force rapidly diminished. Simultaneously, Lin Shenyue and Ye Jue received a system message.

[Ding! Due to unknown factors, the Fallen Human (Elite) has entered a berserk state. In this state, attack power is doubled, and health decreases by 5% per second.]

Lin Shenyue’s face changed upon hearing this. Doubled attack power meant this elite monster could instantly kill her, and even Ye Jue could only withstand two hits; a third without her healing would be fatal. However, the current situation was that the black-robed figure had directly fixed their aggro on her, and facing a full-health black-robed figure, they would be hard-pressed to kill them quickly.

The black-robed figure sneered and directly hurled a magic orb at Lin Shenyue.

In a rush, Lin Shenyue had no choice but to activate a skill she hadn’t used since obtaining the Staff of Redemption: Light of Redemption. Invincible for three seconds, she successfully evaded the first instance of damage.

Seeing this, Ye Jue shouted, “Throw all your skills at the black-robed figure!”

Lin Shenyue paused for a moment upon hearing this, then unleashed both Healing Spell and Cure onto the black-robed figure, instantly dealing over 1300 damage and causing their health to drop by about 250 per second. (The previous text forgot to include the healing bonus from the Redemption set.) Ye Jue also simultaneously delivered an attack and a Rage Slash, dealing 200 damage.

After three seconds, Lin Shenyue’s invincibility vanished. Concurrently, the black-robed figure’s health had dropped to around 500. However, Lin Shenyue’s danger had also arrived; without invincibility, she would perish if she took a single hit. Although she desperately wanted to activate Sanctuary, if she did, it would likely make the subsequent quests impossible to complete.

At this critical moment, Ye Jue also unleashed a skill he rarely used: Earth震地击. Due to its relatively low attack power and high mana cost, Ye Jue seldom employed this skill. This time, it finally proved its worth. The skill dealt only 50 damage, but it inflicted a one-second stun. After all, the monster was merely an elite, not a BOSS immune to most crowd control. This one-second stun successfully interrupted the monster’s attack, giving Lin Shenyue a moment to breathe.

Just as the one-second stun was about to end, Ye Jue successfully slew the monster. The creature, with less than 500 health, was losing 150 health per second on its own, taking continuous damage from the healing spells, and enduring Ye Jue’s attacks, finally succumbed.

Lin Shenyue let out a long sigh of relief. She had almost activated the Sanctuary skill, for she did not wish to experience the pain of death again. It was fortunate that Ye Jue had killed the monster in the nick of time; otherwise, she truly wouldn’t have known what to do.

Just as Lin Shenyue and Ye Jue were about to return, a hoarse voice rang out: “To think two little bugs slipped in at such a moment and even killed three of my subordinates. But this is where it ends for you.”

Lin Shenyue’s expression changed. She saw another black-robed figure emerge, but unlike the previous ones, the hand holding his staff was so thin it looked like bare bone.

[Demon Apostle (Silver-tier BOSS): Level: 9. Health: 10000/10000. Magic Attack: 360-380.]

The terrifying attributes instantly made both Lin Shenyue and Ye Jue’s expressions turn serious, as they braced themselves for the BOSS’s assault.