Chapter 11 : Chapter 11
Chapter 11: You Want to Burn Someone to Death Just Because the Color Is Wrong?
As the figures of the five of them completely vanished into the rift, nothing remained on the desolate field of broken rocks but the whistling of the cold wind.
Ye Hongyu leaned against the hood of the stretched luxury car, pulled a pack of ladies’ cigarettes from her coat, lit one, and took a long drag.
Through the drifting smoke, she lifted her head and fixed her gaze above the rift.
There, the historical clear record for 【Hard Difficulty · Haunted Castle】 was displayed.
【Current Best Record: 1 hour 15 minutes 23 seconds】
【Record Holders: Mei Yixuan, Chen Jin, Liu Shu... (eighteen years ago)】
“1 hour and 15 minutes...”
Ye Hongyu stared at that number and murmured to herself.
That record was like an insurmountable mountain, standing before every new Class Holder under level 5 in Dragon Nation for a full eighteen years.
It was a miracle jointly created by the most dazzling geniuses of that year, and to this day, no one had been able to break it.
“If it’s the Young Master...”
Ye Hongyu’s eyes flickered.
That terrifying level of micro-control, that mastery over skills as natural as moving one’s own fingers—he truly did have the qualifications to challenge that record.
It could even be said that the Young Master’s individual strength would place him as the absolute core damage dealer in any generation.
But in the next second, Ye Hongyu shook her head again.
“What a pity.”
“Records like that have never been broken by one person alone.”
She exhaled a ring of smoke, her gaze turning somewhat regretful.
“That girl from the Xia family may be an A-rank water mage with solid fundamentals, and those two boys may be fairly capable and well-equipped.”
“But... fairly capable is all they are.”
In the eyes of ordinary people, this might have been a luxurious elite squad.
But in Ye Hongyu’s eyes, after witnessing Lin Mo’s “monstrous” level of control, this team’s composition was honestly a little unworthy of her Young Master.
“Clearing the dungeon will definitely not be a problem, but breaking the record... those few little ones will probably do nothing but become dead weight that slows the Young Master down.”
Ye Hongyu flicked away the ash and stopped thinking about that distant, unattainable record.
Her task now was simple: stay here and wait for the Young Master to return in triumph.
...
At that moment, inside the dungeon.
After a dizzying sensation of spinning heaven and earth passed, Lin Mo opened his eyes.
What came into view was a sinister and terrifying corridor inside an ancient castle.
The walls were built of darkened blue-black stone bricks, overgrown with withered vines and moss that gave off a foul, fishy stench.
The air was thick with the smell of rot and dampness.
And on both sides of the corridor, every few meters, hung a vicious-looking skull lamp.
Inside each lamp wick burned a cluster of ghostly blue flame.
“This dungeon’s got a pretty hellish vibe.”
Lin Mo looked around and joked casually.
At just the right moment, Fireball began livening up again.
【“Fireball”: And this counts as fire? Blue and icy-cold—this is a blasphemy against the dignity of flame! This is heresy!】
【“Fireball” was emotionally worked up: I am the orthodox fire element! I am light! I am heat! These pieces of trash pretending to be flames are making me sick!】
【Status Update: Wrathful Purifier (It swore to burn away every single fake flame here!)】
【Current Mood: Irritable and boiling with killing intent (Damage to undead-type monsters +100%)】
The corner of Lin Mo’s mouth twitched slightly.
Good lord, it could get angry over this too?
What, was it a racist now? If the color was wrong, it had to wipe them out?
There was still one thing Lin Mo had not figured out, though.
Why was it that this Fireball could slap a damage amplification buff onto itself at the slightest provocation?
Lin Mo pondered for a while.
His best guess was that it worked more or less like those hot-blooded anime protagonists from his previous life.
As long as they shouted loudly enough and got emotional enough, their damage output would multiply.
Things like My pain is greater than yours, or The one in the wrong isn’t me, it’s this world...
Just then,
Xia Qingyue, at the front, had already entered battle mode at once.
She lightly tapped the ground with the staff in her hand, and a gentle, watery blue halo spread out, slightly dispelling the chill around them.
“Everyone, stay sharp!”
Xia Qingyue’s voice was cool, but steady.
“This is a Hard Difficulty dungeon. Whether in attributes or combat skill, the monsters here are on a completely different level from monsters of the same rank out in the wilderness.”
She quickly swept her gaze over the group and began arranging their tactics.
“Take formation.”
“Wang Meng, hold your shield at the very front. Focus on drawing aggro. You absolutely cannot let the monsters break through the line.”
“Yes!”
Wang Meng gave a low roar and slammed his heavy tower shield down onto the floor.
“Zhang Kai, take my left side. You’re responsible for ranged physical damage and scouting. Keep watch on the ceiling and the shadowed corners at all times.”
“Understood!”
Zhang Kai drew his bow and began scanning the surroundings warily.
“Weiwei, stay in the middle. Be ready at any time to put a shield on Wang Meng and heal him.”
The little priest named Liu Weiwei nodded nervously and tightened her grip on the cross in her hands.
At last, Xia Qingyue’s gaze fell on Lin Mo.
“Young Master Lin... you stay in the middle of the team.”
After saying that, she turned toward Zhang Kai and stressed her next words even more.
“Zhang Kai, if monsters attack from the rear, you support Lin Mo immediately.”
Zhang Kai instantly got the message and thumped his chest in assurance.
“Don’t worry, Captain! As long as I still have one breath left, I won’t let Young Master Lin lose even a single hair!”
“All right, then. I’ll stay in the back and shout ‘666’ for all of you.”
Lin Mo did not mind Xia Qingyue’s arrangement for him at all. Instead, he pulled some snacks mixed with fire-attributed ingredients from his pocket.
He had grabbed them on the way out back at home.
【“Fireball” sneered coldly: Shout ‘666’? Have this bunch of trash protect me? What a joke! The greatest joke in the world!】
Lin Mo could not be bothered to respond to Fireball. This skill really was far too talkative.
...
The team advanced slowly.
The silence inside the ancient castle was terrifying. Only the heavy sound of their footsteps echoed through the corridor.
Creak—
Suddenly, a faint sound came from the dark corner ahead.
It sounded like the scraping of bones.
“Stop!”
Xia Qingyue gave a low shout, and light began to glow from the tip of her staff.
“Something’s coming!”
Everyone’s nerves tightened instantly.
Two clusters of ghostly blue flame slowly emerged from the darkness ahead.
Then, with the help of that dim light, the group finally saw the monster’s true form.
【Nether Spirit Cat (Elite), Lv.5】
It was called a cat, but in reality, it was about the size of a cheetah.
It had no flesh at all, only stark white bones, with eerie blue fire burning in the gaps between them as it stared fixedly at the group.
“It’s a high-agility monster! I didn’t expect the very first one we ran into to be an elite...”
Xia Qingyue’s expression changed. “Wang Meng, raise your shield! It’s too fast—ranged attacks will be hard to land. Wait until it pounces before attacking! Don’t waste your mental power.”
Before her words had even finished—
Whoosh—
A streak of orange-red light lit up without warning from the very back of the team.
Immediately afterward, accompanied by a wave of heat,
a fist-sized fireball howled past Xia Qingyue’s and Zhang Kai’s ears with an unstoppable, furious momentum!
“Young Master Lin, wait until it gets closer before attacking! It’s too far away—you won’t hit it like this!”
Zhang Kai shouted reflexively.
Against a high-agility monster like this, at such a distance, it was almost impossible for new Class Holders like them—who had only changed classes two days ago—to land a hit.
Throwing out skills recklessly at a time like this was nothing but a waste of mental power!
At the very instant the fireball was about to hit, the Nether Spirit Cat suddenly flashed to the left, and the fireball skimmed past it.
“Sigh, just as expected, it missed...”
Zhang Kai let out a sigh.
But in the very next second, the fireball that had clearly already flown past suddenly stopped dead in midair, as if some invisible hand had grabbed it by force.
【“Fireball” let out a savage laugh: Dodge? Dodge my ass!】
Whoosh—!
The fireball changed direction in midair and smashed viciously into the Nether Spirit Cat’s waist!
“Myaooow—!!”
The Nether Spirit Cat let out a shrill scream as the blast sent it tumbling across the floor.
“It... turned?”
Zhang Kai, Xia Qingyue, and the others all froze for a moment.
Before they could recover, another fireball whistled past them.
Thanks to the terrifying 60% cooldown reduction from the Purple Cloud Set, 【Fireball】, which originally had a 3-second cooldown, now needed only 1.2 seconds!
Almost at the exact moment the first fireball exploded, the second one was already screaming through the air!
Then came the third!
The Nether Spirit Cat tried with all its might to dodge, only to discover that it was utterly futile.
Boom! Boom!
Two violent explosions rang out.
When the flames dispersed,
that level 5 elite monster had been blasted into shattered bone fragments by a three-hit combo.