Chapter 100: Pursuit

Bang! The impact rang out as our attacks collided once more, hurling us both far apart. He lost eight hundred health points, while I suffered a thousand.

Then the brute surged forward with terrifying force, sending me flying again. I had no idea how many bones in my body had been shattered, but as I crashed down heavily I still managed to roll aside.

“Damn!” I scrambled to my feet and charged back into the fray.

Meanwhile, Long Xin evaded the boss’s shockwave and hammered a rain of meteoric fire down upon it. The creature’s body froze for a moment, and in that brief instant Tian Zhao had already reached the massive ogre general. Almost simultaneously the boss’s wolf-tooth club smashed downward.

Tian Zhao refused to dodge; instead he raised his Blood Storm to meet the blow. With a sharp crack the club shattered against the Blood Storm, and Tian Zhao let out a long, fierce howl, pouring every ounce of his strength into driving the weapon back. In the same heartbeat he vaulted skyward, planting one foot on the boss’s waist to lift himself even higher.

The boss realized its peril and roared like thunder, hoisting both wolf-tooth clubs high while energy coalesced between them into a colossal orb, trying to crush Tian Zhao with this ultimate strike.

At the same time the player abandoned our fight, spinning to charge the boss with his weapon raised. From his “Fire-Eyed Golden Eye” he saw the boss’s health drop to barely four thousand points. Clearly one combo would end it. He meant to snatch the kill at the last moment.

I could not allow that. I immediately shouted, “Tian Zhao, finish the boss!”

“Yes, Dragon Brother!” The next moment a black cross materialized, radiating more than four thousand points of terrifying power. Nothing could stop it. It tore straight through the boss’s open maw and vanished inside, instantly shattering its skull.

Simultaneously “Death Spear!” he bellowed. His war blade transformed into a spear and was hurled, but the recoil sent his body crashing more than ten meters away. Still the spear pierced the boss’s body exactly as Tian Zhao destroyed its head, triggering a vast black hole that swallowed the creature whole.

The boss died without a sound. As it fell the massive experience rewarded us all, and we each rose a level. Its body exploded with glowing equipment, one piece radiant in vivid colors. Although not necessarily an artifact, it was definitely green-tier or higher, for only those pieces would glow after the system update.

“Haha—haha—the green gear is mine!” The man rose at some point, snatched the item like a starving wolf, and laughed madly.

Almost at the same moment Tian Zhao’s furious fist slammed into him.

-3500 damage points flashed. The man was sent flying, his face twisted in shock. He staggered toward the door and snarled, “Damn it! You’ll die first, later!” Then, still clutching the gear, he popped pills frantically and burst out laughing: “GM, I love you to death! This green gear doesn’t even need identification and it’s a warrior’s weapon! Haha, Bloodthirsty War Axe, over eight hundred attack points. I’m invincible! Haha…”

Seeing his original blade replaced by a blood-red war axe, his attack power surged.

“Haha—” He laughed wildly as Tian Zhao charged forward with the Blood Storm raised high. “Return Dragon Brother’s equipment!”

The opponent’s face changed. He twisted his body to dodge.

“Damn! Die!” The man leaped high, about to pounce at Tian Zhao. The friction of his weapons against the Blood Storm produced sharp screeches.

“Die!” Tian Zhao blocked the strike, then shoved the weapons aside. The Blood Storm vanished from his hand and “Blood Dance” erupted, instantly sending the fellow flying to the ceiling.

Bang! He crashed heavily into the solid ceiling of the hall, his entire body sinking into the stone, forming a huge character. Looking up, it had a strange artistic beauty, as though fused with the ceiling itself.

“Damn, this bird man has some attack power, you bastard.” He cursed from the ceiling, then rolled toward the door, obviously trying to escape.

He was no fool. With only fifty health points left, who could he possibly fight? Even Long Xin with a staff could kill him. So he turned and fled, shouting, “You bastards, come here! I don’t fear your dog hybrids, trash, suck…” But he was censored mid-sentence and quickly vanished into the passage.

“Dragon Brother, let’s chase! That guy who stole our stuff will pay!” Tian Zhao said.

“Bro, let’s pursue him and give that filthy exit guy a taste of his own medicine!” Long Xin replied.

“Bro, cool!” I said, standing up.

I nodded and said, “Let’s go, together!”

“Okay!” Everyone shouted in unison and we ran into the channel.

Along the way Long Xin said worriedly, “Bro, that guy seems really strong. If we all attack together can we beat him?”

Ye Shuang said, “Relax, my bro is fierce. That guy isn’t even a match.”

I said, “You can’t say that. Although he just got a green gear and his attack is boosted, the other stats remain the same. Besides, I still have Dragon Battle. Do you think I’d lose to him?”

Feng Xiao Yue said, “Long Ling is right. That dragon couldn’t handle Lian Yue, let alone this guy.”

We ran through the long passage until we reached the vast space. Before us lay two cave entrances. Outside were the corpses of several ogres lying in a pool of blood, clearly not refreshed. It was obvious the man had passed this way recently.

We split into two groups: one was Ye Shuang, Feng Xiao Yue, and Tian Zhao; the other was me and Long Xin. After assigning roles we advanced. I and Long Xin entered the left channel. Inside, a horde of ogres charged at us. With our perfect coordination we slaughtered them without resistance.

We pushed forward, killing generals, until we reached a hall that more closely resembled a cave, surrounded by jagged rocks and multiple cave openings.

“Bro, which way?” Long Xin asked.

“This… I don’t know. Let’s check each one.” I scratched my head and said.

At that moment a severely injured, low-health ogre emerged from a cave. This confirmed it was the same monster. Otherwise such a creature would not appear. So we targeted it, cleared the injured ogre, and continued the chase.

After the cave we entered a large room that seemed like a basement, filled with puddles of sewage on the floor and a pile of white bones nearby, clearly human skeletons.

Long Xin pursed his lips and said, “It’s too cruel…”

Just then four tall ogre warriors appeared, resembling the ogre general with their gaping bloody maws and bulging muscles. They gripped heavy stone spears, wore strange armor, and carried wolf-tooth clubs.

“Ogre Warrior, level 47, reinforced monster. Introduction: Ogre warriors are the backbone of the ogre army. Possessing both immense strength and a relatively intelligent mind, they are formidable foes.”

I was slightly surprised. As reinforced monsters there was plenty of loot. The next instant the four ogres let out furious roars and charged at us with blinding speed.

“Blazing Fire Wall!” Long Xin shouted. A ten-meter-high fire wall appeared, enclosing the four ogre warriors.

I laughed. “Not bad!”

“Dragon Battle!” I shouted as well. The next second Dragon Battle manifested, and with three swift swings of the black sword it carved bloody gashes across the bellies of the three ogres in front!

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The three ogre warriors were now at low health. My Dragon Battle’s attack power was truly ferocious!

The one not hit roared and smashed his club down onto my shoulder like a mountain pressing upon it, dropping more than fourteen hundred health points in an instant!

My attack power was indeed high. I immediately finished one of the low-health ogre warriors with a crush strike combined with a normal attack.

Long Xin blasted another low-health ogre with an explosive fireball. Next we each used Cloud Soar Assault and Strong Assault to take down the third ogre, while Dragon Battle simultaneously split the next one in half. However, more ogre warriors continued to charge at us, and we advanced while fighting all the way.