Chapter Twenty-Nine: Duel

Heavenly Dou Battle Soul said, "Because we were the first to discover this Winged Wolf, it's our quest target, and we were the first to start hunting it. Otherwise, why would we have chased it all the way here?"

Xiao Ai could no longer hold back. "How can you prove you were the first to attack it? When we found it, we didn't see any sign of you."

Heavenly Dou Battle Soul smiled faintly and said, "Little miss, don't be anxious. Look at the wolf's abdomen—there are two wounds, both from my battle-axe. Under its wing, there's another wound from Heavenly Dou Iron Wing's greatsword. We were careless and let it escape. This quest was picked up by Heavenly Dou Shuiyue, and the details are right here."

With that, the player named Heavenly Dou Shuiyue shared the quest with us. Ye Shuang lowered his sword and examined the wolf's belly. Sure enough, just as Heavenly Dou Battle Soul described, the wounds were there. But if they thought that was enough for us to hand over our hard-earned prize, it was nothing but a pipe dream.

Seeing we had no intention of yielding, Heavenly Dou Battle Soul spoke again. "Leveling up isn't easy for any of us, and finding a rare monster that drops good loot is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I understand your reluctance, but this Winged Wolf is crucial to us. We've waited three days in the Forest of Death to catch it and only managed to wound it after much effort. Now… well, in short, it's our quest target, we found it first, and we injured it. Just a bit of carelessness let it get away. Could you do us this favor and return it to us? Heavenly Dou will remember this kindness and repay you in the future."

"Brother Battle Soul," Feng Xiaoyue replied, "I'm afraid that's not going to be easy!"

Heavenly Dou Shuiyue, standing beside Heavenly Dou Battle Soul, couldn't help but interject, "What's so hard about it? This Winged Wolf is our quest target, and we found it first. If we hadn't injured it, you wouldn't have caught it so easily. Hurry up and give it back, or we won't be polite!" As she spoke, she raised her staff.

Heavenly Dou Iron Wing frowned as well, glaring at us. "So, you're saying you refuse to return the Winged Wolf?"

Feng Xiaoyue smiled gently. "Brother, that's not quite fair. In the Forest of Death, all monsters are unclaimed. Maybe you did find it first and injure it, but in the end, we captured it. If you insist it's yours, that's not really fair, and besides, with your quest, if you wait another two or three days you might run into another Winged Wolf or even more. By then, no one will compete with you for it."

After Feng Xiaoyue finished, a flash of malice appeared in Heavenly Dou Battle Soul's eyes, though it vanished quickly. Still, I noticed it.

"You people really don't know what's good for you!" Heavenly Dou Iron Wing couldn't contain his anger and shouted.

Ye Shuang immediately retorted, furious, "Watch your tongue! Words can bring disaster!"

Heavenly Dou Iron Wing raised his brows and sneered, "Do you think numbers make you strong? Let me tell you, I never pay attention to people like you!"

Long Xin raised her staff angrily, "If you want to fight, do it! Enough with your endless yapping!"

Heavenly Dou Battle Soul grinned, hefted his battle-axe, and stepped forward, as if unintentionally closing the distance.

I and Blackfur Dog stood our ground. Facing three experts, I wasn't arrogant enough to wait for them to strike first. At this moment, Heavenly Dou Battle Soul sneered, "A mere summoner, trying to stand at the front like a warrior, what a rookie." I didn't reply, just smiled and punched him in the gut, making him gasp in pain before I threw him over my shoulder.

With a loud crash, a milky-white arrow pierced straight into his chest!

-172!

The damage floated above Heavenly Dou Battle Soul's head, but clearly, as a well-equipped warrior with over 1000 HP, Xiao Xi's hit only shaved off less than a tenth of his health.

"Swish!"

A soft sound—Long Xin's fireball shot out, hitting Battle Soul's chest for another 642 HP. Before he could react, my Energy Burst landed—another -345, instantly putting him in critical condition.

Clearly, our coordinated assault caught Heavenly Dou Battle Soul completely off guard; he never expected our attacks to be so powerful and swift.

But he was no rookie. Without hesitation he charged, raising his giant axe for a Mountain-Crushing Strike aimed straight at me. He leaped and swung for my head. I jumped back—though I dodged a fatal blow to the head, the axe struck my chest, sending me flying. Glancing at my health bar, I was shocked—over 600 HP gone, and I was on the verge of collapse!

Heavenly Dou Battle Soul seemed even more surprised. Perhaps he expected his blow to kill me instantly—as a summoner, surviving a frontal attack like that was unthinkable. Yet, I did just that—how could he not be astonished?

Meanwhile, Heavenly Dou Iron Wing and Heavenly Dou Shuiyue, both mages, weren't idle. Twin fireballs flew at Long Xin, leaving her no chance to retaliate.

Long Xin's magic shield shuddered violently as her HP dropped to half in an instant.

Feng Xiaoyue and Ye Shuang quickly moved in front of Long Xin, shielding her, while I broke away from Battle Soul's attack range. Xiao Xi fired another arrow—this time at the mage, Heavenly Dou Iron Wing!

Xiao Ai's summoned angel cut out a wave of sword energy, also targeting Iron Wing!

With two resounding impacts, Iron Wing couldn't dodge. Two numbers popped up—-546, -278!

A flash of white light erupted. With a scream, Heavenly Dou Iron Wing exploded into a pile of potions and was teleported back to town!

At the same time, Xiao Ai and Xiao Xi's names turned bright red—they'd become red-named!

Heavenly Dou Battle Soul was enraged. "Damn you! I'll kill you all!"

We remained calm. Feng Xiaoyue and Ye Shuang charged, forcing Battle Soul back several steps. Long Xin advanced into mage range and quickly cast an Ice Blade, which struck Battle Soul's shoulder, instantly encasing him in frost and drastically slowing his movement!

I popped a healing potion and dashed toward Heavenly Dou Shuiyue, brass knuckles ready. I had no intention of going easy on her, and Blackfur Dog certainly didn't—he spat a Shadow Ball, which Shuiyue dodged. She fired a fireball from her staff, but Blackfur Dog countered with another Shadow Ball, the two spells colliding and canceling each other out.

I slipped through the smoke and closed in, grabbing her for another over-the-shoulder throw. But something incredible happened—her body slid out of my grip as if oiled. The gemstone at the tip of her staff transformed into a serpent's head, which lunged at me.

From the serpent's mouth, a two-foot tongue shot out. I dodged quickly and recognized her staff—the very one that once topped the equipment rankings above my Ninja Boots, though now my green-graded armor had surpassed it.

As I dodged, Blackfur Dog's Shadow Claw slashed her mage robe, ripping a gash. He spun and Bit, activating his Crush skill on Shuiyue's shoulder. Blood spattered—no mage could withstand that, and she hadn't even raised her shield. That was her biggest mistake; fighting unshielded as a mage is suicide.

Taking a heavy blow, Shuiyue retreated in haste toward the woods, shouting, "Battle Soul! Watch yourself!"

As she fled, on the other side, Heavenly Dou Battle Soul was being beaten to exhaustion by Ye Shuang and the others, the edge now completely lost, his attacks fierce but unable to overcome the pack. In the end, it wasn't us who exhausted him—it was himself.

Suddenly, a woman's scream echoed from the forest—it was clearly Shuiyue. Then, a pillar of white light shot up. Everyone stopped fighting. At that moment, with a roar, a beast appeared—part gorilla, part black ape, with lantern-like golden eyes and a body so massive and muscular it defied belief, every inch of it bulging with muscles harder than granite, like small mountains.

We were all stunned. But before anyone could react, the colossal beast swept its huge palm across us. In less than a second, we were all erased from the spot, vanishing without a trace.