Translator: ASB | Editor: _Lunaelle /EndlessFantasy Translation

  The Vampire Leech’s patience far exceeded Qin Ruo’s expectation, but this also meant he could handle the monster through a more leisured approach. He expanded Frost Barrier and Darkfrost Shield around him as they ended the battle against the Demon Faction players.

  Under Qin Ruo’s command, Dark Cyclone and his party retreated and left Poochie to deal with the few dying Demon Faction Elementalists instead. Poochie landed the final blow to allow Qin Ruo’s Honor Points to be further increased to nine points.

  Qin Ruo himself was rather satisfied with the result. This group of players was not a strong bunch, so eight points (one was from previous fight) were good enough. Besides, their best player, the Berserker named Cruz, was still on the loose.

  “Collect the equipment by yourself, and take note of those who ran away …… The one named Cruz might come back for revenge,” Qin Ruo instructed Dark Cyclone and the others.

  The five of them nodded grimly. They gathered the dropped loots besides the dead bodies floating around the Frostlake. Perhaps due to the Frostlake’s unique property, the bodies and equipment did not sink to the bottom, thus making it easy for them to collect the rewards.

  The Vampire Leech finally drained the last Demon Faction player it was “protecting” dry. The tentacle wrapped tightly on the body’s neck was retracted and the corpse was left to fall into the Frostlake.

  ‘It’s coming?!’


  Dark Cyclone and company distanced themselves from the monster. A pinnacle Tier 4 Elite Boss was not something they would like to get involved with. With sufficient skill, Vampire Leech could have wiped them out easily.

  Therefore, they were puzzled by the leech’s subsequent behavior. After it finished draining the last captive, the Boss did not advance toward them. Instead, the monster retreated and shrank back deep inside a dark corner in the Frostlake, as if no one else was around.

  Five of the Angel Faction players were perplexed by the unexpected turn of events, while Qin Ruo hummed coldly.

  ‘Smartass, didn’t expect you to be so cunning.’


  When he was Aquamorphing, Qin Ruo had studied the entire landscape of this Underground Frostlake through the wide range of Elemental Perception, so he was well aware of the two tunnel hatches laid near the Vampire Leech’s hiding spots.

  The three people who had fled earlier were hiding in one of the tunnels, and their presence was inevitably captured by Qin Ruo’s Elemental Perception.

  It was Cruz! Along with the escaped Wargod’s Shrine’s Field Commander were two Elementalists under the same clan as him.

  If Qin Ruo did not survey the situation with his wide-ranged Elemental Perception and attack the leech recklessly, there was a high chance he would fall to Cruz’s sneak attack. Even if he realized Cruz’s presence beforehand during the attack, he was afraid that it would not be easy to escape the Vampire Leech’s battle ring then. Great guy. This cunt was trying to make use of the rivalry between the Angel and Demon Faction in order to tie up both sides so that it could buy more time for itself and recover.

  Thinking as such, Qin Ruo became very excited when looking at the Vampire Leech.

  When he first saw the Boss with less than four thousand HP, Qin Ruo did not take the Elite Boss seriously. However, judging by its abnormally high intelligence and enduring battle capacity, maybe it would drop some good stuff after its defeat. Furthermore, Vampire Leech was a Water-type monster, so the chances for it to drop a Dark Gold equipment specialized for an Aquamancer was rather high!

  As his thoughts went deeper, Qin Ruo grew more excited.

  “Poochie!”


  The little creature, the high achiever with the most contribution in the previous fight, followed Qin Ruo’s telepathic order and sprang from his shoulder.

  The Frostlake was split apart by Qin Ruo’s barrier. The man and his Pet dashed forward without any pressure or hindrance.

  Clack! Clack!

  The little beast darted across the Frostlake surface as if it was treading on flat ground. Its primary target was none other than the Vampire Leech hidden at one small corner of the cave.

  Qin Ruo trailed from behind. He pulled out an Aquarampart from the Frostlake ten meters apart from him after every two steps. When Qin Ruo and Poochie were about forty meters away from the Vampire Leech, a total of eight Frostramparts were seen gliding through the lake with him.

  “That’s really quick……”


  The five players including Dark Cyclone who stood guard further back felt their heartbeat rose as they witnessed Qin Ruo’s godlike speed and precision in condensing the Water Element. He is certainly no ordinary player.

  None of the five men discovered the tiny head protruding out from a tunnel hatch situated not more than fifty meters away from the leech’s hiding spot. A pair of eyes filled with horror and alertness stared on the man and the Pet who were rushing onward to the monster.

  ***

  “This kid is insane!”


  Cruz, who hid in the dark and damp tunnel, watched as Qin Ruo went to get the most “intimate contact” with the Boss. This filled his heart with surprise.

  A Level 41 Aquamancer ditched all the help he has and solo fights the Elite Boss at the pinnacle of Tier 4? That was nuts! Did he not know that the Vampire Leech was a Water-type? Its Magic Defense was so high that an Elementalist was basically useless against it. Beyond that, this creature had lived under this dimmed and damp environment its whole life, so it is almost immune against Water-type magic. The Tier 4 spells from an Aquamancer basically have no effect on this monster.

  That was the reason why he arranged Alder to leave the fight and lead the ambush team before this. He wondered whether the Aquamancer was out of his mind. Or…… he is planning to let the poor Level 31 Pet be the focus of the attacks?

  Despite feeling amused, he remained tensed on the outside. Although the Aquamancer’s action was laughable, he had to admit that his Elementalism was executed insanely faster than before.

  On top of that, he somehow felt that this mysterious Aquamancer might have what it takes to kill the Vampire Leech singlehandedly.

  ‘Why do I have such a hunch?’


  At the same time, the two Elementalists hidden behind Cruz did not at all realize their leader’s worries. They grew restless ever since Cruz told them through the Party Channel that Qin Ruo was taking on the Vampire Leech all by himself. They could wait no longer and asked Cruz with a pair of blood-filled eyes, “Commander, do we make our move now?” The deep grudge toward Qin Ruo was not going to wear off after he reduced their hard-fought ten-man party into mere three.

  Cruz observed the battlefield and shook his head as a reply.

  “This is not the right time yet.”


  ***

  The Aquamancer and the Pet finally made contact with the Vampire Leech.

  Poof!

  An ink-black smooth tentacle sprang out from under the Frostlake. However, Poochie reacted in time and evaded the tentacle attack by making a horizontal maneuver.

  The Vampire Leech lied dormant at its original spot and behaved like a lifeless black rock at the bottom of the Frostlake. Who would have known that it had planted a killing blow somewhere underneath the calm current of the Frostlake?

  The Vampire Leech did not change its strategy after missing the first attack. Soft tentacles leaped from the Frostlake. It splashed the water surface without any warnings and launched toward its target persistently. Unfortunately, Poochie was moving faster and always managed to skip away one step ahead. With Qin Ruo’s Elemental Perception, this tactic had lost its surprise element. Besides, Poochie was well used to long-ranged attacks, so it could avoid being hit by such a strategy with the greatest of ease.

  With every miss, Poochie got closer and closer to the Vampire Leech.

  Under Qin Ruo’s perception, he sensed that the bloated Vampire Leech body had moved slightly.

  ‘Heh, you finally got frustrated.’


  His smile froze when he saw what happened next.

  Good heavens!

  As the Vampire Leech moved its body, a great number of ink-black tentacles extended out from under the leech’s body. The dense tentacles created a turbulent wave throughout the Frostlake and surrounded Poochie from under the lake at all directions.

  ‘Damn it! Cheating, this is called cheating!’


  The Vampire Leech’s movement stunned Qin Ruo. He no longer held back and instructed Poochie to bounce high off the water surface. Then, the ninth and tenth Aquarampart broke off the lake and were pushed against the Vampire Leech.

  Boom!

  The Vampire Leech reacted accordingly. Just as Poochie bounced away, the leech’s compact tentacles broke out of the water almost at the same time and continued to pursue Poochie who had escaped into the high air. The Vampire Leech did not want to give up on the prey with 3600 HP yet.

  One elusive tentacle of the Boss monster was frightening enough for a player, left alone such a dense amount. The scene itself would scare the hell out of any living creature.

  All of a sudden, Dark Cyclone was heard gasping outside the battlefield. What unfolded inside the battle zone shocked him.

  “Move, now!” Cruz yelled through the Party Channel. The Berserker and two Elementalists rushed out from the tunnel.

  Cruz was aware of this, and knew the destructive power of the Boss’ signature move. During their prior encirclement, the Boss monster had relied on this move once to turn the tables. Even Cruz himself was not able to avoid being caught by the dense tentacles then. More than ten melee fighters and Bowmasters fell prey and paralyzed by the monster that time.

  If Elementalists did not react on time and destroyed the annoying tentacles with their spells, the party had long collapsed with so many players being drained by the Boss.

  So as soon as Cruz saw the numerous tentacles of the Vampire Leech blasted out of the water and circled the quick Pet, Cruz saw it as a great chance to ambush and issued the attack.

  ***

  The emergence of Cruz and two of his Elementalists were noticed by Dark Cyclone and his comrades.

  “Beware!”


  “It’s Cruz! Damn it! Let’s go!”


  Although Dark Cyclone and company were quite intimidated by Cruz due to his Field Commander title, they had no choice judging by the dire situation. They almost overcame their fear and jumped down while shouting loudly to Qin Ruo and warned him.

  “Hmph!”


  Qin Ruo had just stopped within thirty-meter from the Vampire Leech. He looked on helplessly as Poochie was finally tangled up after it shattered more than ten slimy tentacles. Qin Ruo stomped his feet angrily and yelled, “Condense!!”


  Splash!

  The last Aquarampart rose adjacent to the Vampire Leech. It was then “pushed” with the other eleven ones near the Boss monster to form a familiar formation.

  Poochie is being attacked. The Pet is now Paralyzed. The Status Effect will last for……

  Just as the system notification delivered the bad news to him, Qin Ruo stared coldly on the three Demon Faction players running toward him.

  “Such great timing.”


  Qin Ruo sneered coldly.

  “Freeze!”


  Bang!

  The magnificent frosty aura filled the entire giant Underground Frostlake. Waves of sounds of water frozen into ice resonated throughout the place, and a thick white frost mist emanated out in all directions.

  The numerous ink-black tentacles which caught Poochie stopped moving—it was frozen.

  The spell cast impeded the bloated Vampire Leech despite having high resistance against Water-type spells. This was because the Frozen effect of the Twelve Frostrampart Formation was simply too powerful—a twelve-meter radius around the Frostrampart was frozen, including the Froslake’s water underneath the formation. This hindered the Vampire Leech from moving or using its tentacles to attack.

  ‘Aha, just as I’d expected.’


  “T’chi!”


  Qin Ruo used telekinesis to release a series of Frost Arrow he had created and those arrows ruptured the tentacles holding Poochie as if it was made from glass.

  As he turned his head, he met the eyes of Cruz who stopped at about twenty meters away and the two Elementalists who were ten meters further back.

  What great timing!