Chapter 396: Taking a Stand
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Li Yi and Jiaojiao fought monsters on and off as they slowly progressed onwards.
The Dark Elementals sp.a.w.ned in groups and had low HP. Furthermore, they sp.a.w.ned regularly and provided decent EXP. The only downside was the irritating ‘Weak’ debuff they applied.
Jiaojiao’s downtime was half of Li Yi’s as she was a Black Paladin that had a naturally high Dark Resistance. With the Divine Essence Formula in the mix, Jiaojiao operated like a perpetual motion machine that continuously mowed down all the enemies in its path…
Once the friend summoning tool’s cooldown was over, Li Yi contemplated summoning Pretty Good Mood and Pale Blue Elegance. However, Pretty Good Mood’s words made him reconsider.
“The Scarab King has been killed by Amber Sword Heart. It’ll take at least three days for it to resp.a.w.n.”
There were still plenty of Dark Elementals ahead and Amber Sword Heart could arrive at any time. After giving it a second thought, he still ended up summoning Pretty Good Mood and Pale Blue Elegance.
He did not summon over anyone else because he was unsure whether the path ahead would lead them to the pits of the Wailing Grotto. Anyone he summoned over now would have no chance of backing out.
‘It’s not worth it. It’ll be better if I grind it out myself.”
“Is it recommended to form contracts with these small monsters?” Pale Blue Elegance was eyeing a Dark Elemental. She cast Soul Contract on it and to her surprise, she was successful in her contract attempt.
“Hahaha, I’ve gotten a new pet.” Pale Blue Elegance summoned out the Dark Elemental excitedly as she was interested to check its attributes.
The HP of a normal white-named Dark Elemental ranged between 5,000 and 10,000 HP. The one that Pale Blue Elegance contracted was quite decent as it had 8,123 HP, which could be considered as a mini-legendary.
Pretty Good Mood retorted, “A Contract Summoner could only carry three summon beasts at a single time. Wasting a precious slot for a Dark Elemental isn’t worth it. However, seeing that you only have one trash pet as of now, it doesn’t hurt to fill up your empty slots with it.”
Li Yi smirked. “Hey, the Dark Elementals aren’t that bad. Two of their powerful spells, Drain and Dark Ray, had given me and Jiaojiao a run for our money.”
“Well, it’s still better than my trash pet, better use it, I guess.” After affirming the contract’s success, Pale Blue Elegance immediately Released her old trash pet. With only one Dark Elemental at her side, it was now her main combat force.
“Since we’re just biding our time anyway, I’ll contract some pets while you guys are busy fighting. I’ll consider my time well spent if I could get three Dark Elementals by the end of the day.”
Pale Blue Elegance enthusiastically cast another Soul Contract, and she was now properly addicted to catching pets.
Pale Blue Elegance was a pet-catching addict. She had once gone three whole days without eating just to catch a pet and her reason for doing so was also equally ridiculous. She did not catch the pet for its strength, but instead for its cuteness.
“The strength of the pet doesn’t matter as long as it’s cute,” quoted the famed Contract Summoner Pale Blue Elegance.
The Dark Elemental she captured was now renamed into ‘Lil Black the First’. Based on experience, it was obvious that she intended to capture Lil Black the Second and the Third.
Li Yi commented, “There are elites and also Kings among the Dark Elementals. It just ain’t worth it to capture normal ones. We’ll definitely meet Elite Dark Elementals when we proceed and if we’re lucky, we might just encounter a Dark Elemental King. If you get your hands on it, I a.s.sure you that it isn’t any weaker than Pretty Good Mood’s Scarab King.”
“Are you serious?” Pale Blue Elegance’s eyes lit up.
“Very!”
“Alright Master, let’s make this quick.” An impatient expression hung on Pale Blue Elegance’s face.
A smile hung on Li Yi’s own as he explained the strategy.
Although Pretty Good Mood was not able to summon Scarab King, he and Pale Blue Elegance were still summoners that could use the formidable Phantom Footprints skill. Despite being unable to deal damage, they still had their uses in battle.
Li Yi would call out Mutated Small Wild Boar and would command it to use its ultimate suicidal skill to draw aggro and to kill a bunch of monsters. After doing so, Pretty Good Mood would charge ahead and use Phantom Footprints to draw the remaining aggro. Then, Pale Blue Elegance would cast invulnerability on him, and it would be Mutated Small Wild Boar’s turn to s.h.i.+ne again. By repeating the process, they would ensure no one would be hit by the Dark Rays.
Once they implemented the strategy, their monster clearing speed was increased by several times. Pale Blue Elegance had gained a level, and Jiaojiao was close to leveling up as well. Better still for Li Yi as he could launch Powered-up Arrows and Elimination Arrows at a safe distance without the need for dodging.
After cleaning up for around half an hour, a rumble could be heard behind them.
The three elites of the a.s.sembled G.o.ds Guild — Amber Sword Heart, Alex, and the yellow-robed Priest Ah Ye had arrived.
The Dark Elementals sp.a.w.ned quickly as it took only two minutes for them to resp.a.w.n. Not long after Li Yi and the others had defeated them, a new batch was immediately resp.a.w.ned.
The two groups exchanged glares and although the lighting within the cave was poor, both parties could feel the malice behind their glares.
‘Only the Brave would emerge victorious in this narrow-path encounter!’
Amber Sword Heart’s pursuit had conveyed their intentions.
“Don’t worry Perverted Wing. They have three on their side and we have four. We’ve already beaten them at the numbers game.” Jiaojiao patted Li Yi’s shoulders fearlessly, causing Li Yi to slap her perky b.u.ms in irritation.
“Each of them could hold their own, how about you guys?”
“My level is low. If I was at a higher level, I could definitely handle them,” pouted Pale Blue Elegance.
“That’s in the future, but what about now?”
Pretty Good Mood’s cheeks flushed a crimson red. He dared not to utter a single word as the death of Scarab King had dealt a huge blow to him.
“They suck, but not me. Perverted Wing, did you forget that I haven’t used the gold scrolls that the old geezer gave me?”
Jiaojiao produced three of the gold scrolls and waved it in front of Li Yi.
[Gold Level Scroll: Temporarily boosts the user’s Level to 100, allowing them the benefit of temporary Stats and Skill Point boosts. The effect lasts for five hours.]
[Gold DEF Scroll: Boosts both P-DEF and M-DEF by 200,000 points and grants the user immunity to all negative statuses. The effect lasts for an hour.]
[Gold Scroll of Forbidden Art: Releases a Level 100 chain spell, ‘Dark Major Extinction’, ‘Meteor Shower’, ‘Void Shock’ to attack all enemies.]
[The Gold Scrolls are non-tradeable and are not droppable. The only user allowed to wield them is — Invincible Jiaojiao.]
“Holy sh*t!”
Li Yi could not suppress his vulgarities.
He had known Augustus in both his lives, but he had never seen the old geezer acting that generous before. If the three Legendary-level Gold Scrolls were tradeable, it would have sent the ma.s.ses into a frenzy.
“It would be a waste to use it on them. Save it and use it only when I tell you to. You are not to use them unless I specifically tell you to.”
“Hmph.” Jiaojiao pouted, but in the end, she still heeded Li Yi’s words and kept the scrolls.
Li Yi quickly told Pretty Good Mood, “Casts some buffs on me.”
Pretty Good Mood raised his hands and a black ray landed on Li Yi’s body, immediately raising his HP by 1,000 points.
The Contract Summoners only had one buff at their disposal, which increased the HP limits of their allies.
“Keep grinding. I’ll handle them myself.” Li Yi waved the orange bow in his hand.
With another seal on the orange bow released, its appearance had upgraded as well. It now looked like a fiery phoenix and from afar, it appeared as if it was burning.
The unlimited supply of Star Arrows that the orange bow carried had also received a damage upgrade. Although there were no special effects, by looking only at damage, it had already surpa.s.sed Advanced Flame Arrow!
“You intend on facing all three of them by yourself?” asked Pretty Good Mood as he shook.
“Amber Sword Heart is pretty powerful and so were the Summoner and Priest.” Pale Blue Elegance was also visibly shaken.
When Li Yi faced them previously, it was by accident. His opponents were wiped out while they were unaware. However, the circ.u.mstances were different this time. It was a face-to-face battle and based on how long Amber Sword Heart had taken to arrive, it was obvious that they had a strategy in mind. Facing them head-on this time around was an entirely different matter.
However, Li Yi only grinned as he wielded his bow and trudged towards Amber Sword Heart.
If the orange bow was not upgraded, he would not have been that confident. However, since its terrifying latent abilities had been activated, he was confident that he could face them directly!
Li Yi revived Mutated Small Wild Boar and commanded it to charge into the group of Dark Elementals, clearing his path toward Amber Sword Heart.
Since there was a priest in Amber Sword Heart’s party, they were able to dispel the Weakness debuff. As such, they were clearing the small monsters at an unprecedented pace.
With all the Dark Elementals gone, Amber Sword Heart glared at Li Yi with a grim face and he uttered no words.
“Dark Wing, you’re too arrogant. You may be able to take us out by surprise, but could you do the same once we’ve made the necessary preparations?”
The yellow-robed Priest screamed out. This time, he had learned his lesson and was hiding behind Amber Sword Heart and far out of Li Yi’s shooting range.
“Well, we’ll know once the battle begins. Now, come at me!”
“Charge!”
Amber Sword Heart was the first to act as he ‘Charged’ forward.
“Punishment Windstorm!”
It played out the same way as the last time. Amber Sword Heart’s Charge was halted by Li Yi’s Punishment Windstorm.
“Light of Mercy!” The yellow-robed Priest held his staff up high and instantly dispelled Punishment Windstorm.
“Heart of a Clear Mirror! G.o.d-mode!”
Li Yi had already expected this. Without hesitation, he immediately used two of his major skills and after aiming it at Amber Sword Heart, he instantly released 12 Elimination Arrows.
“Eliminate! Eliminate! Eliminate! Eliminate! Eliminate! Eliminate! Eliminate!”
Skills without cooldown were alarmingly powerful. However, at this instant, Amber Sword Heart displayed exceptional skill as he trusted in his DEF and charged with his s.h.i.+eld up front.
“Cyclone!”
Fwoos.h.!.+ Fwoos.h.!.+ Fwoos.h.!.+
Amber Sword Heart’s heartbeat quickened as the narrow pathway prevented him from dodging, not that he would choose to do so. Even if he had dodged the first arrow, there would be no way to evade the second, thus, he chose to charge instead.
Boom!
The first arrow had struck head-on, instantly shattering the s.h.i.+eld in Amber Sword Heart’s hand to smithereens.
Boom!
The second arrow landed as well, instantly breaking Amber Sword Heart’s body armor.
Boom!
The third arrow had hit its mark, and Amber Sword Heart’s leg armor disappeared…
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each of the arrows had landed on Amber Sword Heart, taking away an equipment every time they hit. When the barrage was finally over, not a single piece of equipment remained on him, and even the majestic Greatsword he carried had vanished…
[−6,754]
[−7,654]
[−8,654]
…
The damage counter of the 12 Elimination Arrows popped up at nearly the same time from Amber Sword Heart’s head. In the face of overwhelming damage, there was nothing the yellow-robed Priest Ah Ye could do.
Amber Sword Heart was naked. His face contorted in an ugly expression before collapsing onto the floor…
‘One hit, one kill!’
…