Chapter 99: Avenging Old Wrongs

After dozing off a little too long, I woke to find that the hundred-odd first-tier newcomers trapped in Kodo Beast Valley had once again come to understand one thing: the danger before them was far from over.

They were all first-tier novices. Their gear could not guarantee they would go unharmed even against monsters below their level. What was more, their stock of potions was far from ample. Faced with the endless respawning of Silver Kodo Beasts and the Kodo Beasts that could not be killed, their hit points were slipping away little by little, helplessly.

Among them, the players holding back the Silver Kodo Beasts were under the greatest pressure. The mages behind them had already emptied their mana, and in just a few minutes they had all downed several healing potions in succession, their faces turning grim.

Fortunately, people had long since been prepared behind them. A single call was enough to quickly rotate them out, letting them rest in turn and then return to the front. That only eased the crisis a little.

Even so, the atmosphere grew tense once more. Anyone could see that the situation inside the valley was still dire. If the pack of demon wolves did not withdraw from Kodo Beast Valley soon, or if the HP loss caused by the Silver Kodo Beasts could not be contained, the hundred-odd first-tier newcomers would once again face the threat of death when their healing potions ran out.

Only I was the one player here who did not need to worry about that problem.

Wild Qilin: Level 20, Magic Bow Warrior

Strength 25 + 6: Attack 10; Hidden Snow Bow attack 21-24; Slaughter Gold Sword attack 22-27

Agility 33 + 30: Defense 21-21; wrist defense 33-36; body defense 39-41; foot defense 33-36; leg defense 35-37; head defense 33-36

Stamina 6 + 9: HP 50/50; one point gained per level

Spirit 1: Magic Defense 3

Wisdom 7; one point gained every two levels

Even if everyone else died until I was the only one left, even if I were buried beneath the Kodo Beasts, with my base physical defense of 21-21 and the protection of my silver-grade equipment, I could remain safely amid the horde and hold out until the demon wolves withdrew, or even until dawn.

But now nearly everyone in the valley had focused their eyes on me. Even Little Love and his companions were gazing at me with burning expectation.

If I did nothing, it would feel a little ungrateful. After all, they had helped me draw the Kodo Beasts together earlier. To abandon them at a time like this was truly not my style.

After a brief silence, I walked behind that line of warriors and quickly studied the wall of Kodo Beasts standing between us and the demon wolf pack. Then I swiftly checked the distance between the nearest demon wolves and myself.

One half-formed plan after another flashed through my mind, only to be discarded just as quickly.

While I was surveying the distribution of Kodo Beasts and demon wolves in the valley, calculating how to ease the pressure from the Silver Kodo Beasts, Little Love came over to my side.

"Big Brother Qilin, if you need our help, just say the word."

I nodded, then quickly swept my gaze across the nearby spawn points around the Kodo Beast wall. In a very relaxed tone, I smiled and said, "I’m still pretty fond of the ladies, you know. I can’t bring myself to order the girls, especially pretty girls, into dangerous jobs... But I won’t be polite when it comes to directing the roughnecks behind you!"

As soon as the words left my mouth, the nearby players’ eyes lit up. They no longer cared about the label of roughneck I had just pinned on them, and asked excitedly:

"Is there really a way?"

"There is. But for now I can only deal with the pressure from these Silver Kodo Beasts. As for getting all of you out of here, I can’t do that yet... because that probably requires the Swiftwind Demon Wolf King to agree."

At that, everyone immediately broke into smiles again.

"Haha! It’s enough if you can solve the Silver Kodo Beasts!"

"Exactly! We don’t take the adult Kodo Beasts or the Stone Kodo Beasts seriously! The problem is the Silver Kodo Beasts. Just blocking them like this without being able to kill them burns through too many potions!"

The players holding back the Silver Kodo Beasts were instantly excited when they heard that the Silver Kodo Beast problem might be solved.

As for the others, they all understood perfectly well that leaving while the demon wolf pack blocked the exit of Kodo Beast Valley was simply impossible. The most important thing now was survival. If the Silver Kodo Beasts could be dealt with, then at least for the short term their situation would be very safe.

Thinking of it that way, nearly everyone answered the call.

But the tasks I gave them were simple. They only needed to take turns holding back the Kodo Beasts’ attacks so that I could act without any worries. That would do it.

In addition, I pulled every archer from among them. Under curious gazes, I led them to stand behind the warriors who were hard-pressing the Silver Kodo Beasts.

...

"Do you see that nearest Black Wind Demon Wolf?"

I pointed at one Black Wind Demon Wolf about twenty meters away, standing relatively far forward and quite conspicuous among the Kodo Beasts and demon wolves, and spoke to the seventeen archers.

The archers nodded.

"Use your long-range shot and take it down!"

At once, they understood what I meant.

Two archers stepped forward quickly and, almost pressed right against the Silver Kodo Beast line in front of them, loosed two arrows toward the Black Wind Demon Wolf twenty meters away.

With the target so obvious and unable to move, even a long-range shot was unlikely to miss. If someone did miss, under so many eyes, they would probably never be able to lift their head again... they might as well delete their character and start over.

The two arrows flew out. The wounded Black Wind Demon Wolf immediately let out a howling cry, but it was so packed in by Kodo Beasts and demon wolves that it could not even force its way closer, and it was struggling terribly just to turn around.

The two archers quickly displayed damage numbers of 13 and 15, then stepped back to rest, while the next two prepared archers moved forward...

In this rotating fashion, the pitiful level 15 Black Wind Demon Wolf was soon drowned beneath the pile of Kodo Beasts by the seventeen archers and never got back up.

Still, the archers did not stop shooting. Under my direction, they continued using Long-Range Shot to attack the demon wolves pushing in... and if a Kodo Beast pushed forward instead, they would shift position and deal with other Black Wind Demon Wolves.

While the archers were handling the Black Wind Demon Wolves, I was not idle either. Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, I forced my way into the swarming Silver Kodo Beasts. Relying on my magic defense of 3, I ignored the wind blades launched by two Black Wind Demon Wolves and, amid the system’s repeated feedback of no damage taken, drew my bow and retaliated!

As one demon wolf after another was shot down, the warriors hard-pressing the Silver Kodo Beasts realized that the adult Kodo Beasts and Stone Kodo Beasts twenty meters away were beginning to crowd forward as well.

It was time to settle old scores.