Chapter 309: Fire Support

Chapter 309: Fire Support

“Cough, cough!” Rick watched Wood, who still couldn’t stop coughing violently, his face gradually turning purple. Rick’s expression grew increasingly grave. He had already poured the emergency antidote into Wood’s mouth, but the effect was still not very good. At least, Wood showed no signs of improvement.

Moreover, as his face changed color, the wound on Wood’s neck where he had been bitten began to swell uncontrollably, as if many small bugs were wriggling there. Rick hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a dagger and cut Wood’s neck. A spray of inky black blood immediately gushed out, splattering onto the ground beside them, giving off a foul, stinking odor.

“Use this. At least it can stabilize his condition.” Lena took out a bottle of Magic Potion. Rick immediately recognized what kind of potion it was—the Fixation Potion, which had become quite famous some time ago. Now that production had increased, the price was much lower than it had been initially, but it was still expensive. After all, this was a high-end Magic Potion, and something that could often produce important effects. Once the price dropped to a certain point, it basically wouldn’t go down any further.

Even after the emergence of online trading, which had a big impact on the prices of many goods.

“Endure it.” With great difficulty, Wood nodded, his face strained, and swallowed the Fixation Potion poured into his mouth. The potion’s effect took hold immediately. He could feel his body still being destroyed by the potent poison, while at the same time, a special power restored and repaired his body. However, the extent of the repair was limited to the state he was in when he drank the Fixation Potion.

Seeing him hanging on in his current state, Rick breathed a slight sigh of relief. Although the Fixation Potion didn’t have any detoxifying effects, the poison would be consumed as it took effect. Taking advantage of this time, Rick took out a large number of emergency potions and poured them into Wood’s mouth. Similarly, because of the Fixation Potion, these potions wouldn’t bring any recovery to his body, but they could fight against the poison inside him.

By the time the effects of the Fixation Potion were exhausted, the poison in Wood’s body would be greatly reduced. As long as it stopped being immediately fatal, that was enough. Oss, who had been keeping an eye on Wood’s condition during the fight, saw that his state had stabilized and immediately cleared his mind of distractions, focusing entirely on his fierce struggle with the Stitched Abomination in front of him. That thing had thick, tough skin.

The Blood Qi Blade cut into its skin about a finger’s width deep but then had difficulty advancing further. The Stitched Abomination’s skin wasn’t just a finger’s width thick. When Oss struck it with his blade, the enemy didn’t bleed. After pulling out his weapon, the wound he had cut would quickly heal. As for using that power of unknown origin, the ‘electric shock’ attack effect didn’t seem to be very significant either. At most, that attack only paralyzed the Stitched Abomination’s body for a moment before it returned to normal.

This made him somewhat regretful. Why hadn’t he worked more on improving that power of unknown origin in ordinary times? If he had improved it more, then when facing a monster like this that was hard to penetrate with normal attacks, relying on the abnormal attacks brought by that power of light points could also produce considerable lethality. Unlike now, it could only be used for containment!

“You go first!” Oss yelled to Gale and the others. Bloodline Power was generated by consuming one’s own blood. Even though his physique was strong, without a source of replenishment, he couldn’t sustain a prolonged battle. If Demon Sword Cultists were said to counter enemies of flesh and blood, then mechanical types or enemies they couldn’t penetrate were the ones who completely countered them!

They didn’t need to have very strong offensive power; as long as they could contain the Demon Sword Cultists, preventing them from escaping while forcing them to maintain a state of Blood Frenzy in battle, it would be enough. It wouldn’t take long before their Bloodline Power would be completely depleted… After all, every attack that used Bloodline Power consumed their own blood.

Demon Sword Cultists were beings with sufficient staying power but could easily seem to run out of steam in certain situations.

Boom—

Just as Oss’s voice fell, the Stitched Abomination’s massive fist slammed into the stone wall beside them. The inside of the Mine Cave shook slightly, and a collapse occurred behind them, completely cutting off their retreat.

“…This thing can understand our words!” Wood said with difficulty, his face still purple. He could feel the poison in his body being neutralized by various antidotes. By the time the effects of the Fixation Potion were exhausted, although this poison would still cause him significant harm, it wouldn’t be as fatal.

“Then we fight,” Gale, who was responsible for guarding nearby, let out a soft sigh. “It seems my idea of getting a Magic Weapon Contract won’t be realized now.”

After placing Wood to the side, Rick also drew his weapon, ready to join Gale in assisting Oss in the fight.

“Be careful of its eyes, and those pores on its body,” Wood coughed once, then gritted his teeth and said in a low voice. He wanted to stand up, but the damage from the earlier potent poison left him with almost no ability to move. He could only watch the rampaging Stitched Abomination with great reluctance. Just earlier, he had been telling his companions to be careful of the Stitched Abomination, but then he was the first one taken down by it.

“Understood. Support from the back line is up to you, Lena,” Rick nodded. At a time like this, all effective combat power had to be utilized. Even Lena, who usually almost never got involved in battles—even though the Fireball Spell wasn’t very powerful, as long as she hit accurately, it would still be a form of containment against the Stitched Abomination. As for not letting her take action and finding a place to hide…

The path behind them was blocked, and the Stitched Abomination stood right in front. They had nowhere to run. So, Lena taking action was completely more beneficial than finding a place to hide. If she didn’t act, and they managed to kill the Stitched Abomination, then all would be well. But if they were killed by the Stitched Abomination, it wouldn’t spare her just because she was beautiful.

If she took action, she might just become the key factor in deciding the victory.

“Leave it to me,” Lena nodded, spreading open both her hands. Two Fireballs flew over Rick and Gale’s heads, accurately hitting the Stitched Abomination’s head specially used for holding eyes. They exploded into two fairly large bursts of flame. Two patches of scorch marks appeared on that head, and that one big eye became somewhat clouded, as if it had been blackened by smoke.

The Stitched Abomination couldn’t make a sound, but from the way the largest mouth on its body opened and closed, it was clear—this thing… was angry!!

“…” Rick and Gale couldn’t help but fall silent for a moment. She acted a bit too quickly. Couldn’t she have waited until they went over to contain the Stitched Abomination before attacking…

“Stop it!!” Rick roared. Seeing the Stitched Abomination preparing to charge toward Lena, he immediately hesitated no longer. Together with Gale, they rushed forward. Only by cooperating with Oss were they barely able to stop this enraged Stitched Abomination. Although Wood no longer had any combat ability, as an outsider, he desperately used his mind, observing all the information he could pay attention to.

“Lena, keep attacking its eyes. That thing is very special to it,” Wood said somewhat uneasily. The eye area was very important, but he didn’t say the Stitched Abomination’s eyes were important; he said they were special. Precisely because eyes were so important, the Stitched Abomination had such a large one that was easily seen as a weak point. That in itself seemed very strange. Moreover, Oss had been fighting it for a while, even injuring the Stitched Abomination many times.

But the taunting effect wasn’t as effective as Lena’s two Fireballs. He hadn’t seen some of Oss’s earlier combat process, but now he had time to observe. He also noticed that the Stitched Abomination protected its eyes very well… Plus, with its thick, tough skin, it could completely take some hits to avoid eye injury. Yet Lena had so easily hit its head. This was probably also what made the Stitched Abomination so enraged—she posed a greater threat to it.

It was just a pity that the power of the Fireball Spell was ultimately too weak. Two of them combined only blackened the Stitched Abomination’s eye instead of destroying it. This indicated that its Magic Resistance was also very high. Though the Fireball Spell was weak—for Professionals, some protective Magic or Combat Techniques could easily weaken most of its power, or even directly blow it up. For ordinary people, Lena’s two Fireballs just now could easily kill two people.

“Huh? Really… Are you sure it won’t charge over here?” Lena looked at the Stitched Abomination, whose attention still seemed to be on her. Her surface expression was somewhat flustered, but in her heart, she was naturally as steady as could be. This thing was very powerful to Oss and the others, but to her, it was nothing. Some of Wood’s analysis was quite accurate. Being able to injure its head despite its specialized protection was in itself a kind of threat.

Injuring it and injuring a heavily protected area were two different meanings. However, Dan Marina knew better. The reason this thing reacted so strongly was probably because it sensed some other threat… Creatures with insufficient brains might be stupid, but other aspects could become more prominent. For example, blind people had better hearing.

Although it sensed something, that was all. The Stitched Abomination’s choice wasn’t to run away but to become even more frenzied in trying to eliminate this threat… Well, a very good choice of digging its own grave.

“It won’t!” Wood gritted his teeth and grabbed a weapon beside him. “I’m not dead yet! It just depends on whether your Mana is sufficient!”

“It should be enough…” Dan Marina opened a small bag she was carrying. When Wood saw the contents of that small bag, the corner of his eye twitched. He had forgotten—the woman in their team was essentially a rich lady… Otherwise, the youngest in the team, Gale, wouldn’t be so attentive to her, always trying to pursue her. The team leader had this intention too. Wood had his sister to worry about, so his feelings weren’t as strong as Gale’s. Even Rick had such intentions, but he was more steady, not showing it so obviously.

Who let Lena be the only female in the team, and a beauty at that? As for him… he had his own destination and didn’t plan to have an affair!

It was a pity that although Lena had a good relationship with them, she possessed the smoothness unique to Nobles. She always managed to reject Gale and Oss’s ‘kindness’ without affecting the team’s relationships or creating awkward situations. Wood, who had no such intentions himself, saw this clearly. Lena ultimately wasn’t on the same path as them. Being able to adventure together now didn’t mean it would last forever. She would leave eventually.

Therefore, he wasn’t bothered by Dan Marina’s behavior at all. He even supported it. At least by doing this, even if she left in the future, she wouldn’t leave any unforgettable impact on the young people in the team. At most, they might miss her at some point in the future, because she never gave them any ‘hope’ in this regard from the start.

One after another, Fireballs that always hit their mark accurately kept smashing into the Stitched Abomination. The Stitched Abomination’s crystal-clear big eye was almost completely blackened by smoke. Its wide-open belly, as if roaring angrily—every time it opened, a few Fireballs could accurately smash inside, and then black smoke would billow out from within.

Gale, who was desperately grappling with the Stitched Abomination, couldn’t help but click his tongue. If conditions allowed, he really wanted to turn his head and look at Lena, who was constantly casting Fireball Spells behind him, to see her current ‘heroic bearing,’ and loudly praise her a few times. Sis, you’re doing an amazing job. In previous battles, Dan Marina was hardly ever needed. Most of the time, she only symbolically released a few Fireballs. They were accurate, yes, but they didn’t show such great value in fire support as they did now.

How many Fireballs had she cast in total? Forty or fifty? Not a single one of these Fireballs missed. At first, they were worried about accidentally being hit by the Fireballs Dan Marina released. Reality wasn’t like games that avoided friendly fire, where area-of-effect skills could be spammed without any issues. In reality, try using an Earth Sundering Slash… No matter who you are, friend or foe, anyone who can’t withstand it will be utterly destroyed.

It’s just that the Fireball Spell, being a rather low-level Magic, really had quite limited power. Even after so many hits, this Stitched Abomination still didn’t look like it was about to die. Although its appearance was already miserable—the dense row of eyes on both sides of its head had been scorched black by the explosions from the Fireball Spells, leaving only that biggest eye still stubbornly holding on—without the assistance of that row of eyes, the Stitched Abomination’s attack accuracy decreased significantly, making things a bit easier for them.

They no longer needed to be like before, where no matter from what angle they attacked, the Stitched Abomination would always accurately counter. Not to mention its slender right hand, if that left fist came down, aside from their team leader, Gale and Rick would definitely suffer severe injuries or die if they tried to block it.

“Watch out!!” Seeing the increasingly enraged but still unable to break through their blockade, the Stitched Abomination used its left hand as a shield to block their attacks, then suddenly swung out its right hand. Gale roared and jumped up, grabbing onto that arm which had extended more than ten times its length, reaching for Lena. The Blood Qi Blade held in Oss’s left hand suddenly grew a bit larger in size, no longer in the form of a saber but that of a longsword. The Blood Qi Blade stabbed into the gaps of the Stitched Abomination’s defending left hand and pierced into its right shoulder area. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to stab a more fatal spot, but he could only attack that most effective striking point from between the fingers.

The Blood Qi Blade that pierced the Stitched Abomination’s right shoulder produced a powerful explosion. The quickly extending arm was blasted off along with its right shoulder in this blood qi explosion. The Stitched Abomination trembled all over. Its left hand exerted force, sweeping both Oss and Rick away. The huge eye in the center of its head began to glow…