Chapter 136 : Chapter 136
Chapter : 136
The moment the black shadow smashed down, sand and stones flew, and the fierce wind made it impossible for people to open their eyes.
Yan Yunqing covered his mouth and nose to prevent the flying sand particles from being inhaled into his lungs.
Only after the dust settled did Yan Yunqing finally see the true face of the black shadow.
It was a huge snake of a formidable size, its mouth wide open, the sharp fangs within flashing with a chilling coldness, making one's spine tingle upon seeing it.
What was surprising was that this giant snake actually had something like eagle claws on its belly. The sharp claws were deeply embedded in the soil, turning up a deeper layer of earth.
"Hiss, a clawed-belly snake?" Robin sucked in a cold breath. After seeing the ominous black aura surrounding the giant snake, Robin's expression became even more rigid. "It's already been demonized. It seems this battle is unavoidable."
If it were just an ordinary demonic beast, there might still be a chance to maneuver. After all, the proper rations and diet of demonic beasts are not humans. If they could, they would prefer to eat some herbivorous animals, which are said to have a better texture.
If they handed over a part of the prey they had just hunted, it was very likely that the demonic beast would not be interested in them.
However, the one in front of them was not a demonic beast, but a demonic beast.
The diet of demonic beasts is very simple, with only two things to note: alive and high-level.
They especially like to eat living mages and swordsmen. Talented people are great supplements for demonic beasts.
They can even devour their own kind. These terrifying creatures have only one goal from birth: to continuously absorb energy and become stronger, and eating and devouring is their only way to advance.
With a 'plop', a drop of saliva fell to the ground from the sharp fangs.
Yan Yunqing could clearly see the greed and desire for food in the clawed-belly snake's turbid eyes.
If he himself were not the food, Yan Yunqing might be a little more relaxed.
However, that was obviously impossible.
Robin took a deep breath: "A level fifty-seven clawed-belly snake. It's strange, we haven't entered the depths of the forest yet, right? Are the demonic beasts in the outer periphery of the central area already at this level?"
Yan Yunqing couldn't answer this question. His understanding of the Norman Forest only came from what Lilian had told him.
He had no idea what level of demonic beasts should be in the central part of the forest.
Fortunately, this clawed-belly snake looked a bit terrifying, but its level was only fifty-seven. Yan Yunqing's level had already exceeded sixty, and Demetrius's level was also fifty.
The two of them together didn't have to worry about not being able to defeat the demonic beast. Even if they had to grind it down bit by bit, they could kill it.
The only thing to worry about was whether the commotion of their fight would attract more demonic beasts.
However, they couldn't avoid the battle now. Seeing the clawed-belly snake's drooling appearance, it was clear that it would not let them go.
Robin sighed and took out a dagger from his space bracelet. He was a swordsman who followed the rogue path.
It wasn't that he couldn't use a longsword, he just wasn't as good with it as he was with a dagger. Moreover, he was a mage who had changed his profession to a swordsman halfway through.
But now, facing the clawed-belly snake, Robin couldn't just do nothing. He clenched his dagger, lowered his body into a ready-to-attack posture, and at the same time, loudly reminded Yan Yunqing and Demetrius, "The clawed-belly snake's vision is not good, it usually relies on scent to identify positions. The eye-like patterns on its belly are its weak points, but I don't know if the weak points of a demonized clawed-belly snake are the same!"
His speech was very fast, worried that his teammates would be attacked before he finished speaking.
Fortunately, he was usually quite talkative, so he spoke a lot, and his words were clear and logical, easy for people to understand.
Robin's shout caused the clawed-belly snake's head to turn in his direction. Robin slapped his forehead, "Ah, right, the clawed-belly snake also has a certain sense of hearing, which is its auxiliary method for finding prey."
"Alright, you stop talking. That thing is heading your way!" Yan Yunqing reminded him.
The next second, the clawed-belly snake's head shot out, its target being Robin. The sharp fangs, glinting with a cold light, even reflected Robin's momentarily terrified face.
"Damn damn damn—"
Robin repeated his old trick, quickly rolling away on the ground. At the same time, he grabbed a handful of mud from the ground and smeared it on his body and face.
The other hand holding the dagger was raised, and he fiercely stabbed it into the clawed-belly snake's head.
The dagger's attack power was not high and failed to completely break through the clawed-belly snake's defense. It only left a shallow mark on its hard snake skin, from which a little fluorescent green liquid oozed out.
However, Robin's dagger couldn't be pulled out immediately; it was stuck in the gap between the clawed-belly snake's scales. He tried hard to pull the dagger out, but it was too late.
The clawed-belly snake seemed to have been enraged, and with a flick of its head, it directly threw Robin, who was still holding the dagger, away. Its tail, as thick as a child's waist, kept slapping the ground.
Yan Yunqing was startled. Demetrius had already reacted. With a flick of the magic staff in his hand, a bubble magic that Yan Yunqing had once seen from his class advisor, Diure, was cast instantly.
A transparent bubble with a faint iridescent sheen enveloped Robin, preventing him from being thrown out directly.
At the same time, he condensed water ropes in an attempt to restrain this huge clawed-belly snake.
Seeing that Robin was not in trouble, Yan Yunqing was temporarily relieved. With a few light leaps, he jumped onto a tree with a wide field of vision and drew his bow.
Provoked again and again, the clawed-belly snake's anger soared. Its claws tightly gripped the mud under its belly, and its thick snake tail struggled free from the restraint of the water ropes, instantly whipping towards Demetrius.
Demetrius frowned and was about to dodge when an arrow condensed from Yan Yunqing's elemental power came whistling through the air, fiercely piercing into the clawed-belly snake's body.
The clawed-belly snake let out a mournful cry. The sound was extremely piercing. Feeling the direction of the attack, it turned its tail, instantly struggling free from the restraint of Demetrius's water ropes, and whipped towards Yan Yunqing.
Yan Yunqing nimbly jumped to another tree. The next second, the clawed-belly snake's tail snapped the tree he had been on in half. The scene was extremely exaggerated.
Yan Yunqing watched with his own eyes as the tree trunk, which was as thick as his waist, was directly broken, leaving only a tree stump with an uneven cross-section.
Yan Yunqing clicked his tongue, but his hands showed no mercy. He once again condensed an elemental arrow and shot it towards the clawed-belly snake.
[Bow and Arrow·Absolute Aim]
Passive skill, within a hundred meters, every arrow you shoot has a 50% hit rate and a 20% increased critical hit rate; within fifty meters, a 70% hit rate and a 30% increased critical hit rate; within thirty meters, a 90% hit rate and a 40% increased critical hit rate; within ten meters, a 100% hit rate and a 50% increased critical hit rate. 『No one can survive within a hundred steps of a divine archer』
They were now in close combat, and the attack distance was just within ten meters. Logically speaking, a distance of ten meters was not suitable for using a bow and arrow.
However, the unscientific passive skill Absolute Aim that Yan Yunqing had obtained before became the key to victory now.
With a hundred percent hit rate and a fifty percent increased critical hit rate on top of his own critical hit rate, he could almost achieve a critical hit with every arrow, and every arrow shot could leave a clear wound on its body.
Seeing this, Demetrius directly switched to a support role, skillfully using water magic.
Slow, imprison, and area restrictions; he used all the support skills he could, trapping the clawed-belly snake and allowing Yan Yunqing to attack better.
The bubble containing Robin slowly landed. The moment his feet touched the ground, the bubble burst, and he stood on the ground again.
He naturally also saw the tacit cooperation in Yan Yunqing and Demetrius's attack.
He took a few steps back, placing himself in a position where he would not interfere with the battlefield, and used his talent skill to be on alert for a possible second or third demonic beast that might appear.
With someone providing control, Yan Yunqing, the archer, played even more enthusiastically. With the cheat of a hundred percent hit rate, Yan Yunqing was not worried at all that he would mess up.
A slow water fell on the clawed-belly snake, followed by a green arrow that hit the eye pattern on the clawed-belly snake's belly.
There were already large and small wounds all over its body. After this blow, the demonic beast finally couldn't hold on and fell to the ground with a thud.
Yan Yunqing breathed a sigh of relief. Even with Demetrius's support, the lethality of this giant snake was still not to be underestimated. The tree he had just been on had been snapped by the giant snake's tail.
If you looked down from the sky, you would find that a small patch of this forest in the middle was bald.
Fortunately, in the end, they successfully killed this demonic beast.
Demetrius also breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't put away his magic staff yet, and the wisps of hair on his forehead were actually slightly damp with sweat.
This was the first time Yan Yunqing had seen him look nervous... this was nervousness, right?
Demetrius pursed his lips. His dark brown eyes, which were closer to black, showed no emotion.
Yan Yunqing's mouth twitched, and he gave up on studying whether Demetrius was nervous just now. He didn't have a skill like mind reading.
Robin was always on alert. Since encountering this clawed-belly snake, his talent skill had not been turned off.
It was also because the skill was not turned off that a strong sense of crisis lingered around his movements, but he couldn't find the source of the danger.
The slain clawed-belly snake turned into specks of light and dissipated. Yan Yunqing could clearly see a puff of black smoke dissipating in the air.
The higher the level of the demonic beast, the more obvious the black smoke after its death. Perhaps it was related to the degree of their pollution.
Yan Yunqing scanned the condition of the other two, "Let's go, let's go back to the camp first. It's a bit dangerous here. We'll find another place to set up camp and rest."
Although their physical strength had been further drained after the battle just now, and even Demetrius was feeling a little tired now, Yan Yunqing knew that a battle had just taken place here, and it was very likely to attract other demonic beasts. Staying in this vicinity for a long time would be unwise.
Demetrius had no objections, and Robin was even more in favor. They rested and recovered for a while, and then immediately rushed to the camping spot they had originally chosen.
The closer they got to the camping spot, the stronger the unease in Robin's heart became, and Yan Yunqing also had a bad feeling.
It was too quiet.
It was too quiet here to be a place where someone was resting. Rowena and William wouldn't have been completely silent while setting up camp—
But there were indeed no other sounds in the vicinity except for the sound of them rushing.