Chapter 97: A Chance to Advance, a Deathtrap

After a two-hour blackout, Little Black had nearly been cooked alive by the heat.

Come on, let the votes rain down. Give me something to pass the time with, and I may as well take a shower while I am at it.

Mayhem!!

Hearing those two explosively ominous names, my mind instantly went blank. Staring in disbelief at the familiar beast that had suddenly appeared in the distance, I almost wondered if my own eyes had gone bad. A Magic Kodo Beast!

Compared with the sudden appearance of the pack of Gale Demon Wolves outside Kodo Valley, the arrival of the Magic Kodo Beast struck me far harder, far more violently...

This was a boss that absolutely should not have appeared within forty-eight hours, and yet...

Unbelievable. Could Whisper have been wrong? No, that could not be right. White Day and Black Tea had both mentioned it to me as well: the respawn time for major bosses was usually three days!

"Damn it, why am I thinking about this now? Running for my life is what matters!"

Remembering the slaughter that had followed the wolves' entry into the valley before, I felt a jolt of alarm. Forcing the dizziness brought on by the Magic Kodo Beast out of my head, I spun around and sprinted for the valley exit.

But after only a few steps, the scene outside the valley made my heart turn cold, and I came to an abrupt stop...

Dazed. We were finished.

Outside the valley, the figures of Gale Demon Wolves and Black Wind Demon Wolves packed the ground so densely they looked like a black tidal wave, sealing off the Kodo Beast exit completely...

At that moment, my heart sank. Damn those demon wolves! Damn that cursed Wolf King! They had actually sealed the mouth of Kodo Valley completely shut. They meant to leave no one alive...

While I was still reeling, the various leveling parties inside the valley also abandoned what they were doing and rushed over. When they saw the situation outside, a long chorus of sharp intakes of breath rose up around us. Then came the shouting.

"What bastard did this? Let me find out who it was, and I'll skin him alive!"

"Damn it! I was planning to use this whole night to gain a level, and now look at this. I won't even level up before I lose one... If I had known, I never would have come!"

"I'm the unlucky one here. I lost a level to Gale Demon Wolves during the day, and now this happens again... Why am I so unlucky!"

Hearing that, I gave a bitter smile inwardly.

"Maybe it's exactly because of your rotten luck that they came..."

Meanwhile, the wolf pack had already surged into the valley, slashing at the nearest players with wind blades. In an instant, the hiss of slicing wind mingled with the screams of players being instantly killed, and the advance into the valley came on with terrifying speed.

Chaos followed and swept through the valley at once.

But the real trouble inside the valley was only just beginning: the Magic Kodo Beast.

Along with the Magic Kodo Beast had appeared a giant Mutant Silver Kodo Beast. Under the magical attacks of these two beasts, the first-tier player teams had no hope of standing their ground. Before the wolf pack even reached them, they were already wiped out and sent back to Blackfrost City.

All the while, the Magic Kodo Beast kept letting out harsh, grating cries, causing the Silver Kodo Beasts throughout the valley to respond in kind. Their attack rhythm suddenly accelerated, and several players who failed to react in time suffered badly for it.

"Damn it! Even these cursed Kodo Beasts are bullying us now! Brothers, kill them!"

At last, with a roar from one beastkin player, the surrounding players all found themselves seized by the urge to make a desperate counterattack, and turned their weapons on the nearby Silver Kodo Beasts at once. Even if they could not handle the wolf pack and the Magic Kodo Beast, they were not going to let themselves be bullied by Kodo Beasts.

Just then, a loud voice abruptly halted everyone.

"Stop! If you want to live, do not touch the Kodo Beasts!"

The players were first taken aback, but when they noticed that the speaker was that silver-armored man who looked like a master, their eyes lit up at once.

Could he have a way?

A spark of hope rose in everyone's hearts, and they all stopped what they were doing.

After halting the crowd, I did not dare waste a second. I immediately gave orders to several nearby archers:

"You move fast. Hurry over and tell the people in front to stop fighting monsters, and try to draw every Kodo Beast in the valley onto this line!" After a brief pause, before they could react, I turned quickly to several warriors whose equipment was fairly decent. "You lot! Draw every Silver Kodo Beast nearby together right now. If there are not enough Adult Kodo Beasts and Stone Kodo Beasts, then use the Silver Kodo Beasts to make up the numbers!"

By then, aside from a few dullards who still had not caught on, most of the players understood what I meant. Their eyes lit up together, and they immediately set to work as I had instructed.

"But what about the Magic Kodo Beast?" Little Love, who was quick and perceptive, immediately pointed out the only flaw in using Kodo Beasts to block the wolf pack.

We had seen yesterday that the Magic Kodo Beast could command the Kodo Beasts to make way...

If the Magic Kodo Beast was not dealt with, this plan would still be extremely dangerous!

"I'll take care of the Magic Kodo Beast. You all handle the Silver Kodo Beasts... Any problem with that?"

"Alone?"

While Little Love was still stunned, several dozen first-tier players nearby erupted in response. They too understood perfectly well how powerful the Magic Kodo Beast and the Mutant Silver Kodo Beast were. If those things remained in the valley, then they might truly have no way to escape death.

Since Scavenger Kirin was proposing to handle the Magic Kodo Beast alone, what difficulty could there be in dozens of them dealing with a single Mutant Silver Kodo Beast?

What they did not know was that the reason I insisted on handling the Magic Kodo Beast myself was entirely because its sudden appearance, together with the upheaval in Kodo Valley, had greatly lowered the difficulty of the original advancement quest...

Without the obstruction of the Kodo Beast horde, the Magic Kodo Beast was no different from a Skeleton Mage. At most it had a little more health. I could fully rely on my mobility and long-range attack capability to kill it with ease.

No matter what, I was not giving up this chance to anyone else!

Without another word of explanation to Little Love, and after reminding everyone not to interfere in the fight with the Magic Kodo Beast, I dashed toward the "King of the Kodo Beasts," who was busily rousing the beasts in the valley with its cries.

The Snow-Hiding Bow was drawn in a flash.

Almost at the same moment, several archers stepped out and, from the side, used long-range fire to draw away the roaring Mutant Silver Kodo Beast, completely removing my worries.

By then, the wolf pack outside had already poured into the valley. The terrifying horde swept forward as though no defense existed at all, racing straight toward the deepest part of Kodo Valley...