The next day, the Blood Moor.
Leo and his two companions continued their tedious journey of leveling up. Their luck was particularly poor today; a fine drizzle fell from the sky, significantly reducing visibility and slowing their pace. Monsters had also become scarce, and they walked for a long time without encountering any.
Instead, they frequently spotted other squads, all consisting of ten or more people. While it seemed their leveling speed would be slow, they appeared very safe.
It seemed they needed to venture further out. If push came to shove, they would have to spend the night in the wild to quickly improve their strength and be the first to clear the Den of Evil.
They didn't encounter any monsters until hunger began to set in. Realizing it was already noon, they found a piece of high ground and set up a simple lean-to shelter to avoid the rain, while Gerdie began working on lunch.
Leo voiced his idea of spending the night in the wild. The monsters around the encampment had been mostly cleared out, and there was no telling when they would respawn. By staying out, they could snatch up monsters to level faster. Both women expressed their support.
After lunch, the group finally began to encounter small clusters of four or five monsters, mostly lone Fallen—likely stragglers that had escaped during mop-up operations. With Leo's surged strength, he easily crushed these little imps in head-on combat.
Most of the day was spent traveling. By mid-afternoon, they had surpassed the limits of their previous explorations.
Continuing outward, they soon encountered a pack of Zombies. The one leading them had reddish skin and was followed by several lackeys; it was clearly a Unique leader.
> Black Jade: Level 39. Fire Enchanted.
>
This was the first time Leo had encountered such a monster. In his past life's game experience, these monsters consisted of a Unique "Gold" leader leading several elites. These monsters shared a strange synergy: if you didn't enter their line of sight and attacked from afar, the hit monster would approach, but it would turn back to the main pack once it exceeded a certain range. This remained true unless the leader was attacked, in which case they would swarm all at once. Today, Leo wanted to see if Taunt could pull the lackeys away individually.
The principles remained the same: if they couldn't win, they still had Stamina Potions to ensure a steady retreat.
The three applied their buffs and crept within casting range. Gerdie immediately used Taunt on the outermost Zombie #1. Like it had been injected with adrenaline, #1 charged at the three. They maintained long-range output while continuing to taunt to keep pulling the monster until #1 was far enough from the main pack.
Leo then pulled out The Gnasher and rushed forward, blocking #1's path back. As #1 prepared to turn around and saw someone blocking its way, it lunged forward with both hands. Leo, wanting to test his current strength, raised his Gothic Shield to block.
A loud clang rang out. It was manageable; though holding his ground against the impact was straining, the strength of these elites was no longer overwhelming. With newfound confidence, Leo began to unleash his full output.
A Smite directly triggered Knockback, Crushing Blow, Open Wounds, and Stun. #1's left arm was snapped by the massive force, twisted into a right angle. While #1 was stunned and unable to move, The Gnasher—carrying the powerful damage of Sacrifice—hacked into #1's right arm, triggering another Crushing Blow and severing the right arm at the elbow.
#1 knew nothing of pain. With its hands useless, it tried to bite Leo. Leo delivered another Smite, and luck was on his side; it triggered a Crushing Blow, and #1's head was directly shattered. Red and white fluids sprayed everywhere. Now lacking any means of attack, #1 futilely tried to ram Leo with its body. Unfortunately, Leo kept pushing it back with his shield, and before long, #1 collapsed miserably.
The three continued their efforts, pulling the elite zombies one by one to kill them. The experience from elites was substantial; during the process, the three reached Level 10 with plenty of experience to spare. Soon, only the Unique leader was left wandering alone.
Leo looked at the Gold monster. This was likely the highest-level monster in the Blood Moor.
The three made their preparations. Leo took a deep breath, and they began their attack with short spears. The leader started walking toward them; fortunately, it wasn't very fast, meaning it wasn't Extra Fast.
When the leader reached Leo, he delivered a prepared Smite, triggering Open Wounds and Knockback. The leader immediately retaliated, clawing at Leo, but the knockback had opened up enough distance to make the attempt fail. It seemed this leader was immune to stun. After knocking the leader back, Leo didn't pursue, instead maintaining his stance and waiting for the leader to approach again.
The Unique Zombie was indeed extraordinary; its recovery was very high, and it regained its posture instantly, charging back with both claws extended. Leo was already waiting. He aimed a Smite directly at the leader's claws; if he could trigger a Crushing Blow and disable those claws, things would be much easier.
As he wished, the 20% chance for a Crushing Blow occurred again. However, the leader's claws were extraordinarily hard and its strength was immense. Although it immediately lost one-eighth of its current health, Leo was also knocked back.
The two women grew anxious. Taunt and Psychic Hammer were launched simultaneously. Unfortunately, Taunt was ineffective against Unique monsters, and knockback wasn't 100% successful.
Though Leo was knocked off balance, the Gold monster's attack hit his shield, counting as a successful block, so he took no damage. He performed a "Lazy Donkey Roll," rolling to the leader's feet. His "Ground-Lying Axe" strike, infused with the powerful damage of Sacrifice, hacked at the leader's ankle. His luck was excellent, triggering Open Wounds, and the Gold monster's foot was sliced clean off.
The Zombie leader's body was stiff and its intelligence low; it had no answer for this rogue tactic of rolling around on the ground.
Seeing the leader's clumsiness, Leo was delighted. He rolled back and forth, repeatedly launching his "Ground-Lying Axe" to attack the leader's lower half.
Hard work pays off. After several rounds, the leader's other foot was also chopped off. Without its feet, the leader could no longer stand steady and fell to the ground with a thud.
However, this leader lacked nothing in the spirit of perseverance; it continued to crawl toward the three amidst a barrage of projectiles. But this was merely a death struggle. Soon, the leader's health was nearly depleted. With Leo's final thrown spear, the leader's body rapidly expanded. Boom! It exploded, dealing massive damage and fire damage to the surrounding area.
The three were far enough away to avoid direct damage from the blast.
But Leo suffered a stroke of terrible luck. He was already covered in black mud, looking like a disheveled mud monkey, but as the meat-shield standing at the front, he was now splattered with rotting flesh. His entire body emitted an "enchanting" fragrance.
A flash of white light—the familiar sensation. All three reached Level 11, though their reactions varied.
Leo could no longer withstand the assault of the stench on his body. He flipped up his helmet and vomited directly, nearly throwing up his gall.
Unable to take it, he found a mud puddle that looked acceptable and started rolling in it again, experiencing a legendary "mud bath" for free.
Majesty turned pale and stayed far away, not even daring to look over.
Gerdie was the most loyal. She walked up wanting to help, but having no idea where to start, she could only watch as Leo rolled in the mud.
After Leo finally managed to get the rotting flesh off, Gerdie finished clearing the loot.
The haul this time was quite good: two white items, one blue item, and a stone of unknown nature. He quickly called the others over to see what exactly it was.
•
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