Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The five Jackal Wolfmen corpses began lurching forward, their footsteps unsteady, their shoulders hanging loose, and their mouths slightly ajar.
Just as the foremost Jackal Wolfman corpse turned a corner, a gust of wind blew down the corridor. In the next second, the Jackal Wolfman corpse’s head was knocked clean off by a sturdy wooden stick that had swung out of nowhere. The corpse’s head exploded with a squelch.
A porky, meaty claw firmly clasped the corpse’s shoulder before dragging it away, the same way an overly intimate brother would pull his little brother into an embrace. The porky claw was oily and reddish. There were also tufts of white fur on it. For some reason, Gao Peng was reminded of roasted pork legs.
The second Jackal Wolfman corpse, which continued shambling after the first, also had its head exploded before being dragged away around the corner in the same manner.
Gao Peng and Dumby looked at each other.
As the third Jackal Wolfman corpse began shambling forward, this time, the White Steel Bladed Beast decided to follow it. Considering its small stature, it was able to stand inconspicuously behind the reanimated corpse.
Suddenly, a feeler tapped on the back of Gao Peng’s head. He turned around and saw a huge jellyfish floating in the air just behind his head. Silly had one tentacle wrapped around a juice box. It whispered in Gao Peng’s ear, “Gao Peng, what are you guys doing…?”
Gao Peng pressed his index finger against his lips, shushing it. Hugging its juice box tighter in its tentacles, Silly obediently kept quiet and watched what was going on alongside Gao Peng and the others.
The wooden stick slammed through the corpse’s head. At that moment, the White Steel Bladed Beast erupted from behind the corpse and disappeared around the corner in a black-red blur. A couple of frightened squeals followed.
Dumby began walking down the corridor, with Gao Peng close behind it. As they turned the corner, the sight of red-skinned pigmen lying in their own blood greeted them. Some of these red-skinned pigment were bigger and bulkier than the rest. Their bodies were wrapped in dead animal skin, held together with vines.
These pigmen lay on the ground, groaning in pain. Some of them had reverted to their quadrupedal ways and ran off on all fours.
“We’re going to venture deeper into the labyrinth. There’s no need to keep any of them alive,” commented Gao Peng.
Dumby lowered its head as it began working its power through the bodies of these pigmen. A moment later, there was a series of cracks and pops coming from the pigmen’s necks. After a few spasms, their bodies fell limply to the ground.
Upon closer observation, Gao Peng could see that the strips of skin around their necks were ruptured, revealing their twisted spines, which had pierced through their skin. Blood oozed out from their wounds…
The scent of blood now filled the air. Looking at the pigmen’s stats, Gao Peng heaved a sigh and said, “All right. We’ll just murder our way through this labyrinth.”
[Monster Name]: Red-Skinned Sanguine Pig Demon
[Monster Level]: Level 38 (Commander-tier)
[Monster Attribute]: Blood/Dark
[Monster Grade]: Excellent
[Monster Ability]: Bloodscent Level 1, Enhanced Strength Level 1
[Monster Trait]: Horde Brutality (It is a violent and wily creature. When their numbers grow, so do their overall strength.
Passive Effect 1: When ten or more of these creatures gather together, each of them will gain a Level 1 Bloodscent Aura. Every time their numbers double, their Bloodscent Aura’s level will increase by one. The highest attainable Bloodscent Aura level is Level 6.
Caution: When their numbers reach 320, their Bloodscent Aura will reach its highest level.
Passive Effect 2: Their strengths will increase to a certain extent when ten or more of them are together.)
[Monster Description]: They were originally the gray-skinned pigs that once roamed the plains, dim-witted yet docile. After accepting the doctrines passed down by the labyrinth god, they became even more bloodthirsty and developed a taste for meat.
Gao Peng knew what the Bloodscent ability was. This ability allowed monsters that possessed it to become even more perceptive of the smell of blood. They would also be stimulated by the smell of their enemy’s blood in combat, the same way the human body would be stimulated by adrenaline in a high-tension situation.
These pigmen must have been alerted to their presence by the blood of the Jackal Wolfmen. Unfortunately, none of Gao Peng’s familiars had the ability to mask scents. Even if they had, they wouldn’t have been able to hide their scents completely from the labyrinths’ inhabitants.
However, what had piqued Gao Peng’s curiosity the most was the mention of a labyrinth god in the monster description section. This was the first time Gao Peng had come across these two words.
He thought of all the labyrinths spread out across the southern region of this place. Suddenly, a strange thought occurred to Gao Peng. Could this labyrinth god be the creator of these labyrinths? Does an actual god exist in this world?
This idea seemed incredibly exciting to him. Gao Peng licked his dry lips. He had never believed in the existence of a god.
All manner of legendary creatures were now tamed in this world as familiars, from dragons to the Bi Fang bird. Gao Peng couldn’t imagine what this god person was supposed to be.
Maybe it’s just a familiar like everything else in this world, only stronger. Who knows, I may even be able to tame a couple of these gods as my own familiars. That would be awesome.
Suddenly, the sound of marching footsteps echoed from the depths of the labyrinth. The sun was shining down on one of the walls. Long shadows fell across it at that moment.
Red-Skinned Sanguine Pig Demons surged forth from the corridor up ahead. As there were just too many of them, some of them were even trampled to the ground by their own comrades. They roared and let puffs of white mist out of their nostrils when they saw Gao Peng and company on the other end of the corridor.
Gao Peng noticed that these pigmen had multiple rings of light beneath their hooves. These rings of light began stacking on top of one another until they formed huge hexagrams that slowly spun beneath their legs.
This was the pigmen’s Bloodscent Aura, which served to convert any damage they dealt their enemies into restorative energy for themselves. This ability was best suited for attrition warfare.
Looking at Dumby furtively out of the corner of its eye, the White Steel Bladed Beast realized that Dumby was exuding a dangerous aura. Dumby held out its left hand and gently flicked it in the horde’s direction. Countless bone spikes shot out from deep beneath the ground. However, before they could reach their mark, they were stopped short in mid-air, as if an invisible wall was blocking their paths.
Dumby was stunned for a moment. No sooner had it recovered from its initial surprise than the foremost Red-Skinned Sanguine Pig Demon appeared 100 feet away from it.
It shook its head, and the white of its bones peeled away as it entered its Yin Soul Dominator state. It pressed out a hand. In an instant, a huge invisible hand pierced through all of time and space, wiping away everything in front of Dumby.
The pigman’s soul faded away like flowing sand.
A wind blew down the corridor. All the Red-Skinned Sanguine Pigmen fell stiffly to the ground. The pigmen’s confused squeals were cut short, as if an invisible force was holding them down by their necks. Who had known that there would come a time when these Red-Skinned Sanguine Pig Demons would come to know fear?
Dumby took a step forward, ripples spreading out across the fabric of space around it. Its bones were slowly turning into a dark golden shade. When its foot hit the floor, it was back in its Skeleton Dominator form. Dumby walked briskly past the fallen Red-Skinned Sanguine Pig Demons.
As it strode past, the pigmen’s souls evaporated from their bodies and merged into Dumby’s body. One by one, their skeletons rose to their feet.
Dumby’s voice echoed in the labyrinth. “Wait here, Master. I’ll take a look inside.”
