Chapter 43 Acquaintances

"Is that it? Is that it? Is that it?"

"Watch the arrow! Watch the arrow! Watch the arrow!!!"

Renée was thoroughly excited and couldn't be bothered to maintain any sort of lady-like image.

She decided to fully indulge in the thrill of battle first!

As the young girl darted and weaved, the fairy bow in her hand continuously fired several magical light arrows.

Perhaps even she hadn't expected it.

Three days ago, she was Rank 37, but now, three days later, she could go toe-to-toe with a Rank 70 Advanced monster.

To be precise.

It wasn't 'going toe-to-toe,' it was a one-sided crushing defeat!

The fairy bow was originally a Sacred Artifact of the Elven Race, and its damage bonus was terrifying.

Back at Rank 37, she had dared to arm-wrestle with Rank 70 monsters.

Now that she had reached Rank 62, dealing with Rank 70 monsters was completely effortless!

She could even take the time to support Nina, who was in close-quarters combat with the other Twin Frost Wolf.

Nina wasn't using her dual pistols either; her weapons were dual daggers.

Relying on her agile movement and speed that far surpassed those of her Rank, she kept circling the enemy.

In just that short period, her practical combat experience had improved significantly.

She was no longer flustered like she was at the beginning, but could gradually and precisely seize opportunities—whether to dodge or attack—displaying extreme calmness.

Even Mu An couldn't help but feel a bit envious of such powerful combat talent.

If it were him, aside from the special abilities gained through devouring, he might only be able to use the simplest and crudest 'brute's three punches.'

Of course.

The most miserable ones on the scene were naturally the two Twin Frost Wolves being used as grindstones.

Under the continuous attacks from the two girls, they were already covered in wounds, yet none were particularly fatal.

They were like huskies being spun around by humans, without even the chance to 'quit the game.'

It could be said that... the damage was low, but the insult was extremely high!

Their pride-and-joy teamwork was forcibly dismantled, forcing them to fight individually.

Whenever they opened their mouths to cast ice-type control magic, they would be directly interrupted by Renée's timely arrows.

Outside the arena, several Rank 90+ Undead Creatures were eyeing them covetously.

Even though they hadn't actually made a move, that terrifying aura was like a Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.

No one knew when it would fall.

Fear spread in their hearts, and they were constantly on edge while having to divert energy to guard against attacks.

Therefore, the two Twin Frost Wolves likely couldn't even unleash fifty percent of their true combat power now!

"It's time to end the battle!"

Renée began to charge up, preparing to use her ultimate move.

The light gathering on the fairy bow was gradually becoming intense, and the faintly emanating magical fluctuations were becoming increasingly terrifying.

After being given a free 'lesson' by Raul last time, she had learned her lesson and didn't pour all her magical power into it at once.

Instead, she pursued just the right amount of power; as long as it could eliminate the two Twin Frost Wolves, that was enough. Any more would be a waste.

"Nina!"

Hearing Renée call her, Nina, as if by telepathy, pulled away in time and stopped struggling with the two monsters.

At the same time.

The materialized magic arrow, trailing a brilliant golden stream of light, flew toward the two monsters in front of them, just like a meteor streaking across the sky.

The short distance of a few dozen meters was covered in the blink of an eye.

Because the pressure from several Rank 90+ Undead Creatures suddenly intensified at this moment, the two Twin Frost Wolves had nowhere to escape even if they wanted to.

They could only watch helplessly as the attack grew larger and larger in their dim and numb pupils.

Boom—

A small mushroom cloud rose from the center of the explosion.

The shockwave swept up dust and scattered it in all directions, and the gale blew past, making everyone's clothes rustle.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey—"

Renée spat out some sand that had accidentally blown into her mouth.

She squinted and quickly looked toward the center of the explosion, wanting to see if the two Twin Frost Wolves were dead.

Unfortunately, smoke and dust swirled, and the naked eye couldn't see through it.

The explosion of the magic arrow had also caused the surrounding magical fluctuations to become extremely chaotic.

For a short time, it was indeed difficult to perceive the specific situation inside.

...

"How is it?"

"I don't know."

Facing Renée's inquiry, Nina shook her head honestly.

The two girls didn't know, but Mu An had [Enemy Detection Radar] and immediately discovered something unusual.

The two Twin Frost Wolves had miraculously not died in this wave of attacks.

Moreover, their status was recovering at high speed, with a strong trend of returning to full health and full mana!

The only good news was that their Rank hadn't continued to rise and was still at Rank 70.

This could be considered a stroke of luck within misfortune.

As the saying goes.

To avoid long nights and many dreams, one must cut the weeds and eliminate the roots.

Mu An directly ordered the Rank 95 Undead Lich Mage to launch the pre-prepared magic attack (fortunately, he had prepared a backup plan).

It could only be said.

It was worthy of a Rank 90+ magic attack.

The Undead Lich Mage unleashed a large falling Ghost Fire Meteor magic from the sky.

The mushroom cloud that rose after it crashed down and exploded was even more impressive than the one Renée had created earlier.

The scene, looking like the arrival of the apocalypse, was incredibly spectacular and incredibly dangerous!

Fortunately, Mu An and the others had been teleported a thousand meters away the moment this magic was launched.

Plus, the other Undead Creatures had activated defensive magic in time.

Otherwise, they themselves might have been affected.

"Hey, doesn't that count as you stealing our monsters?"

Renée stood with her hands on her hips, huffing and puffing indignantly.

She and Nina had been working themselves to the bone fighting the monsters in the front, only for Mu An to 'pick the peaches' at the end?

If that were really the case, it would be too infuriating!

However.

Mu An didn't argue; his brows were just furrowed a bit more.

"What's wrong? The two Twin Frost Wolves wouldn't still be alive, would they?"

"Even an attack of this level can't take them down?"

Elena also felt a tightening in her heart.

If that were really the case, would they return to full health like before, and would their Rank soar to Rank 80 again?

Monsters that couldn't be killed and grew stronger the more they were killed...

Hiss—just thinking about it felt terrifying!

"They definitely weren't dead completely just a moment ago, but now they are dead-dead."

"They even died to the point where there's barely any corpse left!"

Mu An shook his head.

"However..."

Originally, upon hearing that the two monsters were dead, the three women had subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

But the moment the man uttered the word 'however,' their inner anxiety instantly rose to their throats again.

Mu An didn't beat around the bush; he shrugged and slowly spat out a few words.

"No Experience Points."

"What?"

Renée froze for a moment, as if she hadn't reacted yet.

Nina reacted faster than her, noticing the abnormality a step earlier.

According to previous experience, they could obtain Experience Points after every monster was killed.

But why was it so strange that there was no experience this time?

It couldn't be that the two monsters weren't dead completely, right?

But according to the Boss, they should have been dead-dead!

The young girl pondered with her little head, but still gained nothing.

This was beyond the scope of what she could imagine.

Mu An didn't say much more and directly shared the [Enemy Detection Radar] function with his two employees.

Furthermore.

He began to seriously think about another matter.

Looking at the basic information of the two Twin Frost Wolves earlier, it was known that they were highly likely controlled Puppets, and it seemed they were only manipulated after death.

Seen in this light, it was quite reasonable that no Experience Points were dropped.

It was just unclear who the manipulator behind them really was...

"Boss, there seems to be a point moving rapidly here!"

Nina pointed to a spot on the 3D map that could only be seen by the three of them.

Mu An raised his head and was just about to click on that special point with his mind.

The next instant.

Whoosh—

A long spear flashing with scarlet light pierced through the dust and fog.

And it sped toward the direction of Mu An and the others!

Fast as lightning!

In the blink of an eye, this long spear, with a flag of indistinct marks tied to its tip, struck the magic barrier protecting everyone fiercely.

The two collided and fought continuously, bursting forth with dazzling light and sizzling, ear-piercing noises.

The barrier even developed some cracks because of this, with faint signs of shattering.

Mu An immediately ordered his subordinates, the Undead Creatures, to strengthen the defense, which was the only reason they weren't completely pierced through by this long spear.

"This long spear seems... a bit familiar...?"

Nina couldn't help but mutter to herself.

The owner of the scarlet long spear seemed to know that a successful Breakthrough was impossible.

The long spear flew back violently, clearly having been summoned back.

At the same time.

A woman wearing a cloak walked out from the dispersing mist.

The scarlet long spear that had just attacked them was carried casually on her shoulder.

The wind passing through the area blew up her hood, and the appearance beneath it flashed and vanished.

She lowered her body, like a hungry wolf, making a motion as if about to sprint.

The magical power on her body was constantly condensing and compressing, forming streaks of crimson patterns like magma on her body.

During this process, the cloak was completely burned away by the crimson flames, gradually revealing the true face of the owner of this long spear.

And the moment she raised her head.

Those eyes were so lifeless and numb, like a walking corpse.

Nina also couldn't help but widen her beautiful eyes, her gaze filled with disbelief.

"That is... Sister Yaer?!"

Renée asked, puzzled.

"Nina, is she an acquaintance of yours? But why did she attack us just now?"

"I... I don't know..."

"Logically speaking, she shouldn't be here..."

"Five years ago, also during the Red Moon period."

"A Cyclops with a Rank over a hundred happened to pass by our camp on the eighteenth floor, and along with it came a terrifying monster tide."

"Sister Yaer died of exhaustion under the siege of countless monsters in order to protect us as we retreated..."

Nina stammered, her heart in turmoil.

The person who should have died was now actually 'alive,' and she felt both surprised and bewildered.

At this time, Mu An also checked the opponent's information via the [Enemy Detection Radar].

Yaer

Rank: 71

Basic Information: Wolf-eared Demi-human, natural duelist.

Possesses super strong combat sense and talent, combat style is incredibly wild.

Controlled Puppet.

The Soul has long since died, only the Physical Body still survives.

— — — — — —

A gleam of light flashed in the man's eyes.

[As expected... is it also a controlled Puppet?]

"Elena, do you know what kind of monster can control corpses?"

Taking advantage of the gap before the opponent launched an attack, Mu An hurriedly asked Elena beside him.

He himself was just an outsider from another world and was not familiar with most of the monsters in this maze.

But Elena was different; she was an elf who had lived for hundreds of years, and her experience was certainly richer than Nina's.

Perhaps she might know the answer.

As expected.

Elena immediately frowned, cupping her chin as she began to think.

"Control... corpses?"

"As far as I know, some special monsters with powerful Mental Energy can indeed briefly control the corpses of other monsters."

"It's just that there are too many restrictions; for example, the controlled distance cannot be too far from the main body, at most a few hundred meters."

"But..."

She looked around, but within the visible range, she didn't see the expected monster.

Mu An also gave an answer straightforwardly.

"Within two thousand meters nearby, there are no other monsters except her."

Even this Yaer had suddenly rushed over from two thousand meters away!

Elena was also very troubled.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit her, and she seemed to have thought of something.

"Wait, I remember now!"

"Among the crusade missions given to me by those guys in the Council of Elders, there was such a target."

"Legend has it that there is an extremely special monster; its lifespan is extremely long, and its Mental Energy is also extremely powerful."

"But its body is very bloated and huge, difficult to move, and the main body has almost no attack power."

"Its main means of defense is to split a part of its own body to invade the brains of some monster corpses that haven't been dead for long."

"And thereby completely control the enemy's corpse!"

"This kind of control often has no distance limit, and it can almost unleash the full strength of the controlled monster during its lifetime."

"It can even possess part of the corpse owner's memories!"

"As for the name of this monster, it is—Weird Tai Sui!"

[Weird Tai Sui?]

Mu An couldn't help but furrow his brows.

The trickiest problem was that this control had no distance limit whatsoever.

In other words.

Trying to find this damn monster seemed like an impossible task.

The maze was so big.

Who knew which nook or cranny it would be hiding in?!

This act was undoubtedly looking for a needle in a haystack!

Elena also added again.

"There is one more thing."

"Precisely because the main body of the Weird Tai Sui is too weak, it is extremely keen on finding strong and talented corpses."

"But such corpses that have just died are often relatively difficult to obtain."

"So it came up with another method, which is... active hunting!"

Speaking of this, Elena felt some lingering fear in her heart.

She was also a bit unsure if she had made it onto that Weird Tai Sui's must-kill list.

"Is there a way to find it?"

Mu An glanced at Nina, who was quietly clenching her small fists.

The complex emotions in the little girl's heart were almost written on her face.

It seemed very hard for her to accept that one of the sisters she respected most couldn't even have her corpse rest in peace after death!

Elena shook her head.

"Difficult!"

After a pause, she added.

"If those two Twin Frost Wolves were also corpses controlled by the Weird Tai Sui, then those weird situations on them seem to be able to be reasonably explained."

"It is worth mentioning that."

"Earlier when I was tracking, they seemed to intentionally or unintentionally avoid a certain place..."

...