Chapter 99: Devil in the Snow

Chapter 99: Devil in the Snow

"Roar!"

The roaring echoed across the snowfield, waking all the residents in the territory in the middle of the night.

Meanwhile, several Basic Elemental Arrow Towers built in the territory automatically launched their attacks.

"Swoosh! Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"

The whistling sound of arrows tearing through the air resounded.

Xia Yanni, who was still serving Cao Xing, turned pale with fright upon hearing the roar.

"L… Lord… what happened outside?"

Cao Xing gently helped her up and dressed her, saying, "I'll go check. Stay inside with Chuchu and don't go out."

"Don't worry, nothing bad will happen."

Hearing his words of care, which sounded like those said to family, Xia Yanni felt a sweet warmth blossom in her heart.

She nodded vigorously and said, "Mm-hmm!"

Cao Xing quickly walked out of the Tailor Shop.

Meanwhile, the residents were also stepping out one after another.

Assam had rushed out of his room the moment the roar sounded.

Seeing Cao Xing, Assam immediately warned, "Lord, be careful! That's the cry of a Snow Demon."

"Snow Demon?"

Assam nodded. "Yes, it's an evil creature that only appears at night."

"It is said that Snow Demons are amalgamations of the bitter spirits of those who died in the snow. They like to lurk near villagers' houses and disguise themselves as humans knocking on the door. If you open the door, the Snow Demon will gouge out your heart."

Cao Xing paused. "What if I don't open the door?"

Assam shook his head. "If you don't open it, they will break through the door and devour the hearts of everyone inside."

Cao Xing was rendered speechless. So basically, once targeted by a Snow Demon, death was guaranteed either way.

Assam continued, "It seems to want to attack our territory, but it was stopped by an invisible force."

Cao Xing nodded.

This showed the benefit of the novice protection period; even if monsters invaded at night, there was no need to worry.

Accompanied by Assam, Cao Xing quickly arrived at the edge of the territory.

At this moment, the beams from the two light towers shone onto the snow outside the territory.

They illuminated a monster with a grayish-white body, crawling on all fours, with antlers growing on its head.

Right now, the monster was bristling with arrows shot from the Elemental Arrow Towers, and blood oozed continuously from its body, staining the snow red.

However, green numbers of '+313, +313' kept floating above its head; the damage from the Elemental Arrow Towers seemed to be offset by it.

"Roar! Roar!"

Low growls escaped the Snow Demon's mouth.

Seeing so many people in the territory, the antlered monster suddenly stood up on two legs. Over three meters tall, it looked like a devil in the snow!

Not only that, but it also mimicked human behavior, extending a front hoof to make a knocking motion in mid-air.

Even more bizarrely, they actually heard knocking sounds.

"Thump! Thump, thump!"

The muffled knocking echoed in everyone's ears, like the drumbeats of a death knell.

This scene completely stunned everyone.

Still standing upright, the Snow Demon looked at the crowd in the territory and slowly opened its pitch-black mouth.

It seemed to be saying: I've got my eyes on you!

This terrified the Arctic People, making them tremble like leaves.

Assam explained from the side, "Lord, this Snow Demon has targeted us. This might be a bit troublesome."

"Hmm? Are Snow Demons strong?"

"Not overly strong, but Snow Demons are creatures that are very difficult to kill. They have extreme survivability in the snow and are incredibly sticky to get rid of."

Assam added, "Even if a targeted creature escapes the first night, they will return the second night, continuing until they devour their target's heart."

Cao Xing frowned upon hearing this.

If that was the case, it truly was troublesome.

After all, nobody wanted such a monster appearing outside their house every night.

Cao Xing glanced at the guy's attributes.

[Snow Demon Lv. 15]

[Race: Unknown]

[Rank: Tier 2 Boss Creature]

[HP: 6,520/6,530]

[Attack Power: 335–374]

[Skills: Bitter Spirit Body (Immune to 50% physical damage taken)

Elemental Body (Immune to 50% magic damage taken)

Heart-Gouging Tongue (Extends a long tongue to attack the heart of an enemy 10 meters away, dealing 230% damage with a chance to inflict Instant Death)

Wandering Snow God (When HP falls below 30%, evasion rate increases by 50%, and can transform into an Elemental Body to merge into the snow and flee quickly; in Wandering Snow God state, immune to all crowd control skills.)]

[Talent: Snowfield Body (Restores 5% HP per second while in the snow)]

…

Good lord! This Snow Demon wasn't particularly strong in terms of raw power, but its survivability was terrifyingly high.

50% immunity to both physical and magical damage instantly made its survivability even more terrifying than that of a leader-tier monster of the same level.

Combined with 5% HP regen per second and an escape skill,

no wonder Assam said Snow Demons were hard to kill. It would be a wonder if anything could kill it!

Still standing upright, the dark eyes beneath the Snow Demon's antlers stared at the people in the territory, sending shivers down their spines!

Cao Xing fell into thought.

Soon, the territory shield would expire. Leaving such a sticky nuisance watching them was not a viable long-term solution.

If this monster really appeared every night as Assam claimed, how was Cao Xing supposed to get any sleep?

Thus, the best solution was to kill this Snow Demon outright.

"To deal with a creature with such absurd regeneration and survivability, the only way is to crush it with overwhelming power and deliver an instant-kill strike."

Cao Xing assessed the combat power available in the territory and came to a decision.

Leading Assam, he walked to the edge of the territory, stopping about fifteen meters away from the Snow Demon.

The Snow Demon stared at Cao Xing, black liquid trickling from the corners of its mouth, its eyes locked onto his heart.

Cao Xing felt a sharp sting in his chest, but he felt no fear and initiated contact instead.

"You want to eat my heart?"

Cao Xing pointed to his own chest.

Surprisingly, as if it understood human speech, the Snow Demon slowly nodded, a hungry look in its eyes.

Cao Xing didn't feel much dread; in a fantasy world like this, no creature, no matter how bizarre, was unexpected.

He continued talking to draw the Snow Demon's attention.

Furthermore, Blot Brimstone and Renice also came over to stand by Cao Xing's side.

Gradually, more and more people gathered beside Cao Xing.

They all let their powerful auras erupt. Far from being intimidated, the Snow Demon grew even hungrier at the sight of such vibrant vitality.

Meanwhile,

Sarah, Andrew, and two Centaurs had quietly snuck out from the other side of the territory.

They began surrounding the Snow Demon from different directions.

Before long, Cao Xing noticed four silhouettes appearing behind the Snow Demon.

A faint smirk touched the corner of his lips.

Cao Xing ordered, "Get ready."

At that moment, Renice drew her bowstring, and Blot was gathering the power of black smoke.

Assam also raised his broadsword high, ready to unleash his Frost Wolf Sword Qi at any moment!

As for Cao Xing, he pulled out his Barrett.

He was going to obliterate this Snow Demon with swift, decisive force!

By now, the Snow Demon had also noticed the creatures inside the camp gathering their attacks,

but it seemed completely fearless, sweeping its hollow eyes over everyone.

Extremely confident in its survivability, it did not believe the people before it posed any real lethal threat.

Seeing that Sarah and Andrew were both in position,

Cao Xing commanded, "All-out attack! Kill it!"

The instant the command was given,

a Wind-Chasing Arrow shot out instantly.

At the same time, a storm of black smoke erupted instantly within a fifteen-meter area around the Snow Demon.

Cao Xing's [Barrett] fired its bullet at the exact same time.

Next to him, the Frost Wolf Knight swept a blade of Sword Qi forward.

Instantly,

the area where the Snow Demon stood was enveloped by attacks, spawning a dense cluster of damage numbers.

[-131]

[-134]

[-254]

[-256]

[-357!]

[-331]

Although everyone's attacks were heavily reduced, a single burst managed to strip away nearly 1,700 of the Snow Demon's HP!

Cao Xing's eyes lit up instantly. "It's working!"

The Snow Demon hadn't expected their attacks to be so fierce.

"Roar! Roar!"

Bursts of angry roars echoed.

A green number of '+326' floated above its head.

Just then, two attacks from the arrow towers struck, knocking back the HP it had just recovered.

The Snow Demon tried to flee, but the raging black smoke storm severely slowed its movements.

Cao Xing barked, "Charge in and hit it with everything you've got!"

Assam was the first to respond.

He raised his broadsword high, terrifying Sword Qi gathering around it.

"In the name of justice, slay all evil!"

The next moment, the Frost Wolf charged into the black smoke with him on its back.

"Swish! Swish, swish, swish!"

Four terrifying beams of Sword Qi swept through.

[-194]

[-211]

[-237]

[-258]

The Snow Demon's HP dropped by another thousand, and its defense stat plummeted dramatically.

Even more terrifyingly, Andrew and Sarah had also plunged into the black smoke storm.

Sarah directly activated her [Shadow Bloom] state.

The Shadow Blade in her hand slashed past instantly.

[-1164]

This blow struck right at the Snow Demon's main artery, dropping its HP below 4,000.

At that moment, the Druid slapped down hard.

[-224]

Though the damage wasn't high, a bear paw icon appeared above the Snow Demon's head.

The Snow Demon's defense dropped another notch.

Meanwhile, Sarah delivered her second slash.

[-1243]

Yet another monstrous damage number.

The Snow Demon's HP instantly dropped below 3,000.

"Roar!"

The Snow Demon panicked completely. Ignoring its injuries, it dropped to all fours and fled frantically.

However, Assam and Andrew held the Snow Demon firmly in place, tanking a brunt of the damage.

Meanwhile,

Sarah's third slash struck down.

[-1241]

The Snow Demon was left with just over 2,000 HP.

Cao Xing's eyes sparkled. "Burst it down! Quick, burst it!"

At that instant, every member of the territory unleashed terrifying attacks.

And Cao Xing pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation.

Bang!

…