Chapter 262 – Arrow God Seventeen: You're the Attendant!

The atmosphere in Stone Ridge Town’s command center was heavy and tense.

Finding the ultimate boss commanding the monsters didn’t mean things would become easier.

Intelligent monsters weren’t that easy to kill.

An existence capable of commanding an entire monster tide, even making intelligent monsters charge forward like cannon fodder to perish together, likely wasn’t just an intelligent monster but rather…

A fallen god attendant emerging from the depths of the Crimson Mist.

“Regardless, we must seize this opportunity. Otherwise, if we continue consuming resources, our disadvantage will only grow larger.”

“We do have chances. Besides Demonflame King Rider, we have two other top-tier experts possessing Dragon Gate List combat capabilities here.”

“Not only that, we also possess a batch of precious items—spatial teleportation scrolls, sealing barriers, the Great Holy Light Sword, and other one-time killing moves. Our advantages aren’t small at all!”

Various lords affirmed one after another.

The tactics were immediately executed.

Experts like Demonflame King Rider, who had conserved their strength and maintained peak condition, set out immediately.

…

Stone Ridge Town wasn’t peaceful. Thick smoke rose from some areas, monsters swooped down from the sky, and a few high-tier monsters emerged from underground, preparing to ambush.

In front of the Guangyuan Merchant Guild’s shop.

Vampire Kibi held a long sword shimmering with bloody light, thrusting it fiercely into the body of an Elite Peak Frenzied Werewolf before him.

He and the werewolf exchanged injuries, both their bodies continuously bleeding profusely.

After a while, the werewolf thudded to the ground. Its originally robust and muscular body had become as dry as firewood. Meanwhile, Vampire Count Kibi, who had been fighting intensely, saw his numerous ferocious wounds healing rapidly, completely restored in the blink of an eye.

“Heh, amateur.”

He inverted his sword and stabbed it into the stone slab in front of him, standing guard before his shop like a door god.

This main street was probably the safest area in Stone Ridge Town at the moment.

Behind the various shops here stood mostly medium and large merchant guilds. Even during wartime, each kept considerable troop types stationed inside and outside their shops for protection.

This was natural.

Many shops displayed rare items. The core area shops, backed by major guilds, even housed exceptional equipment like treasured centerpiece items.

Treasures were tempting. Even during this united front against external threats, it was unavoidable that some players would take risks, pursuing “zero-yuan shopping.”

After all, not everyone possessed sufficient rationality.

Besides, they had to guard against destruction brought by monsters. Hence, each shop more or less left some elites behind for defense, also serving as part of the city’s protection.

Boom—

In the distance, the ground cracked, bulged, and burst open as several more high-tier monsters emerged from underground.

This was hard to prevent.

Fourth-order territory land was somewhat firmer. Many areas had hard, thick flooring or were reinforced with spells, items, or barriers. Still, they could only block most monsters, not all.

Moreover, breaching city walls wasn’t limited to tunneling. Some high-tier monsters possessed abilities like shadow-walking, spatial jumping, invisible phasing, etc.

It was impossible to defend against everything.

Unless, like Boulder City, they could envelop the entire city with an epic-grade barrier, truly preventing high-tier monsters from using various methods to raid inside.

Troubled by the Great Serpent’s ambush, Mu Yuan originally intended to check Stone Ridge Town’s situation for reference. But after circling with the War Falcon’s vision, he found even more breaches inside Stone Ridge Town. Fortunately, these monsters were slain by experts within the town shortly after emerging.

Seventeen was currently staying at their rented base, atop a warehouse building over ten meters tall.

She scanned around using the War Falcon’s high-altitude vision, then stopped looking, slowly drawing the Whispering Bow’s string. One, two, three, four… six arrows shimmering with faint stellar blue light appeared on it.

As she released the bowstring, these arrows condensed from Polar Star force shot out. They resembled self-tracking missiles, flying in different directions immediately after leaving the string.

Two soared into the sky; moments later, two Obsidian Gargoyles pierced through their eye sockets fell from the air.

The remaining few flew towards various directions, each precisely shooting into monsters’ left eye sockets and piercing out from the back of their heads.

Instant kills.

In this rather chaotic battlefield, Seventeen’s attacks weren’t conspicuous, far less eye-catching than the dazzling thunderbolts and blazing flames erupting everywhere. But some experts noticed many high-tier monsters being killed with one arrow, and…

The fatal spots were all in the left eye socket!

Left Eye Assassin!

This wasn’t because Seventeen had some peculiar fetish. For her, shooting anywhere was the same, so naturally, she chose the eye—the weakest defensive point ensuring a one-hit kill.

Monster types were countless. Some wore armor, others were covered in scales, but over 99.99% of monsters possessed the weak point of eyes.

Aiming at the eye versus aiming at the torso made no difference to Seventeen, who had developed her ‘Mind Arrow’ talent and Mind Power to their peak.

Actually, aiming at the torso, piercing through armor or scales, then through the heart, wasn’t difficult for her either.

But she wanted to save energy, conserve power, and preserve the advanced arrows within the Myriad Arrows Artifact.

Thus, the Left Eye Assassin was born accordingly.

Seventeen drank her self-produced, side-effect-free Vitality Potion, gradually recovering her internal energy. She looked around again.

Her brows furrowed tightly.

She could easily insta-kill Third Order monsters, boasting extremely high efficiency in such environments. But… within the vast battlefield, her individual strength still seemed like a drop in the bucket.

Insta-killing Third Order monsters required detecting them first.

She also had to guard against high-tier monster ambushes.

Without powerful teammates nearby, Seventeen didn’t dare be careless in the slightest, strictly adhering to a steady spirit.

Suddenly, her gaze focused, passing over one monster after another towards a relatively high ridge outside Stone Ridge Town.

Dazzling light erupted there.

Vaguely visible, a cube-shaped barrier stood, but it dimmed shortly after.

Inside the barrier, sacred radiance faded, and along with it, the expressions of various experts darkened.

Mad Blade City Lord was among them.

He was a member of the vanguard team.

The vanguard team had only ten experts, far fewer than the previous days’ expedition group, but each was a top-notch powerhouse.

His Saber Intent had reached Major Achievement, yet within this squad, he still ranked near the bottom.

The strongest were Demonflame King Rider, Blazing Gun Ranger, and Black Dragon Iron Guard.

The latter two weren’t on the Dragon Gate List, but that was only because they hadn’t made public appearances since achieving major combat prowess.

Not only that, their vanguard squad also carried various trump card items.

Initially, things proceeded as they envisioned—reaching the destination directly via spatial traversal, then sealing the surrounding space with a barrier, cutting off the monster leader’s retreat. Afterward, they didn’t hesitate, tearing open precious spell scrolls and one-time use items.

Relying on the momentum of spenders, they swiftly annihilated over a dozen Fourth Order intelligent monsters.

However…

“This fallen god attendant isn’t right!”

“In previous Crimson Mist disaster months, occasionally appearing attendant incarnations were never this strong!”

“Is this particular attendant exceptionally powerful, or is this year’s Crimson Mist disaster month abnormal, making attendants stronger too?!”

Not only that, as the barrier dimmed, more and more Fourth Order monsters emerged from the surroundings.

This seemed like a trap.

“Roar!”

The attendant before them roared.

This was an attendant renowned as ‘Blood Wolf.’ Behind him, a terrifying blood wolf shadow dozens of meters tall materialized.

As the attendant’s main body slashed down with its claws, the giant blood wolf shadow simultaneously swiped, heavily striking the already dim barrier light screen. Instantly, the barrier, having endured over a dozen attacks, could no longer hold, cracking and shattering apart.

The Blood Wolf was covered in wounds, bearing Holy Light injuries from the exceptional-grade item ‘Great Holy Light Sword’ that wouldn’t heal.

Yet even so, the Blood Wolf’s might remained terrifying.

He reached out and clenched his fist. Crimson tides surged, and the bullets fired by Blazing Gun Ranger halted mid-air, swallowed by the bloody tides.

He even stirred towering blood waves dozens of meters high.

Using overwhelming, immense energy to crush everything.

Inside Stone Ridge Town, Fishing Old Man, stationed at the command center, wore a grave expression.

“This can’t continue.”

“The win rate is very low. At best, we can only perish together with the Blood Wolf attendant.”

However, Fishing Old Man strongly suspected that the fallen god attendant outside Stone Ridge Town wasn’t just this Blood Wolf.

Likely, a second fallen god attendant lurked in the shadows.

He had such thoughts for two reasons: first, an ominous intuition; second, he’d just received news that a frontline stronghold in a certain region of the Ancient Highlands had been breached by the monster tide.

This was the second frontline stronghold breached in the last three years.

And this particular stronghold was breached precisely because… it suffered attacks from two fallen god attendants simultaneously.

Some strongholds didn’t encounter fallen god attendants.

Some encountered one.

And some encountered two.

The monster tide facing the Stone Ridge Town region was clearly above normal levels. The possibility of another attendant hiding was very high.

“Fortunately, Boulder City replied that experts of Taixuan Liangyi are in the nearby region.”

“They are rushing here at top speed.”

…

“Everyone, hold on! Strong reinforcements are already on their way. We just need to entangle this attendant, not lose sight of him.”

Demonflame King Rider spoke, tossing out an item that could temporarily repel non-intelligent monsters, easing the pressure on everyone.

The ridge became somewhat emptier.

But even so, under the assaults of attendant Blood Wolf and the surrounding dozen-plus Fourth Order intelligent monsters, they were still forced to retreat step by step.

Mainly because of Blood Wolf.

Only by joining forces—Demonflame King Rider, Blazing Gun Ranger, Black Dragon Iron Guard, and three other experts—could they contend with the Blood Wolf attendant.

Mad Blade City Lord and the remaining four fought against the surrounding Fourth Order monsters.

Their pressure was even greater.

Once they couldn’t hold on, Demonflame King Rider and the others, caught between Fourth Order monsters and the fallen god attendant, would definitely collapse swiftly.

They had to endure.

“Ahhhhhhh—!”

Mad Blade City Lord raged furiously. For a moment, his Saber Intent seemed about to break through that barrier, reaching Great Perfection.

He slashed out with his saber, indeed smoother, sharper, and more flawless.

He directly cleaved down the Frenzied Gnoll before him.

“Am I this strong?”

Mad Blade City Lord was stunned. Even if his Saber Intent had broken through, it shouldn’t be strong enough to one-shot kill a Frenzied Gnoll.

Even the nearly Imagery-level expert, Demonflame King Rider, couldn’t achieve one-shot kills against Fourth Order beings.

Only that One-Punch Martial Maniac, Uta, could blast Fourth Order BOSSes like minions with a single strike.

As thoughts raced, Mad Blade City Lord finally saw clearly: embedded in the Frenzied Gnoll’s left eye socket was an arrow swirling with brilliant stellar radiance.

Half the arrow was buried within.

This was the true fatal blow that killed the Frenzied Gnoll.

But where did the arrow come from?

While his thoughts scattered, his combat saber didn’t cease moving. The blade turned, slicing sideways, cutting out a gleaming, icy arc.

Not far away, the Goblin Great Shaman twisted its body frantically backward.

Its withered wood-like staff waved, erecting a blazing flame shield around itself, wrapping itself tightly without leaving a single gap.

This flame shield wasn’t guarding against him, Mad Blade, but rather…

An arrow flowing with starlight shot over from afar, fast as lightning. One arrow slammed into the flame shield, blasting open a small gap. The gap quickly closed, but a second arrow pierced through, accurately embedding into the twisting Goblin Great Shaman’s body.

The next moment, the arrow shot into the left eye socket exploded. The Great Shaman stiffened and fell straight to the ground.

“This… killed just like that?”

Mad Blade City Lord froze for another half-second.

Looking further away, a Minotaur Commander held its battle-axe horizontally in front for blocking. The arrow shimmering with stellar radiance, however, flexibly bypassed it like a swimming fish. In the Minotaur Commander’s stunned moment, it pierced into its eye socket.

Another Fourth Order being killed.

This one died even more absurdly, without any semblance of Fourth Order BOSS majesty.

“Thud—!”

“Thud—!”

In the blink of an eye, merely over ten seconds, three more Fourth Order BOSSes fell to the ground.

Without exception, they were all pierced through the left eye by arrows.

By now, the surrounding Fourth Order intelligent monsters also reacted, realizing the hidden killer’s arrows could freely curve. They no longer thought about blocking or dodging but instead sought ways to destroy the arrows.

This was indeed Seventeen’s weakness.

A weakness that wasn’t really a weakness.

Seventeen’s abilities suited first-encounter kills, dealing with non-heavily-armored individuals, and also worked well with teammate coordination.

Mad Blade and the others weren’t her seamlessly coordinated teammates, but…

Mad Blade and the others weren’t rookies either.

“Reinforcements might have arrived!They felt excited, fighting fiercely with the remaining nine Fourth Order BOSSes.

These Fourth Order BOSSes had to constantly be on guard against the hidden arrows. Their eyes scanned the surroundings, yet no matter how they searched, they couldn’t find this concealed archer.

This was natural.

Seventeen was currently still inside Stone Ridge Town, at their base in the northern suburbs, three to four kilometers away from the battlefield.

Relying on her superb eyesight and the Grey Bird’s high-altitude vision, she steadily shot arrow after arrow infused with full stellar power.

“Six kills.”

“Seven kills.”

“Eight kills.”

Sometimes, Fourth Order BOSSes, in their haste to destroy one of Seventeen’s arrows, exposed openings and were slain by experts like Mad Blade.

In the blink of an eye, the Fourth Order BOSSes were nearly wiped out.

Seventeen shifted her gaze towards the Blood Wolf attendant contending with Demonflame King Rider and the others.

Behind her, spatial ripples continuously spread. One after another precious arrow, meticulously crafted over time, manifested upon the War Bow.

She took a deep breath.

Nine Stars Aligned shot out.

She didn’t stop, drawing the bowstring again, gathering power once more.

Soon, nine more Polar Star arrows containing vast, immense force pierced through the firmament.

Several kilometers away, the Blood Wolf attendant’s hair stood on end. His cold yet frenzied pupils reflected the stellar arrows shooting over from the distant sky.

The crimson tides danced rhythmically.

Arrows passed through the tides; starlight and bloody light raced.

Bloody claws tore apart starlight; demonic flames blasted against the Blood Wolf’s body.

Blood waves surged sky-high, shattering streams of stellar radiance; the Black Dragon Iron Guard slammed into the Blood Wolf, making him stagger.

The giant shadow let out a heaven-shaking roar. Visible sound waves rippled out in circles, causing the arrows’ starlight to dim and tremble continuously. Blazing Gun Ranger seized the opportunity to unleash a killing move, directly aiming for the Blood Wolf attendant’s face.

“And this arrow shall pierce the stars.”

The nine shot arrows connected head to tail, their power stacking layer by layer, piercing the firmament and shooting out a brilliant pillar of stellar radiance.

The Blood Wolf giant shadow froze.

…

Simultaneously.

South of Stone Ridge Town, in an area relatively sparse with monster tides.

Three figures hid within.

These were attendants Black Crow, Four Wings, and Evil Dragon.

“Blood Wolf should be fighting the human faction’s experts by now.”

“Shouldn’t we support Blood Wolf?”

“Why bother supporting that muscle-brained fellow? Leaving him most of the Fourth Order pieces is already doing him a favor. If that guy gets killed by human experts, we’ll have one less person to share the spoils. Isn’t that more wonderful? Heh heh heh heh.”

“Don’t waste time. While Blood Wolf draws the human experts’ attention, let’s push forward in one go and capture this delicious town.”

“Agreed!”

“Agreed!”

“Agreed.”

Attendant Black Crow suddenly froze.

There were only three attendants here, so where did the fourth voice come from?

The voice was enchanting, tingling/numbing, seemingly making one sink into it.

Black mist had unknowingly spread around them.

Beneath the black mist was a bustling ghost market;

Above the black mist stood a majestic holy mountain;

Attendant Black Crow had just broken free from the illusion’s influence and was about to speak to alert the others when he suddenly felt his hair stand on end.

A huge, sinister Black Crow giant shadow manifested.

A pair of netherworld pupils stared ahead. The ghost market’s reality and illusion seemed like intertwining lines in his eyes. Yet, before these lines of reality and illusion, near the pupils of Black Crow’s eyes, stood a human expert whose body steamed with thick, faint crimson Qi.

Uta had long gathered power and threw a punch.

Serious Punch!

Dragon God Fist!

Physical Body Shackles completely released state!

A majestic, divine dragon phantom materialized behind him.

The divine dragon danced, coiling around the fist’s radiance.

The ultimate Dragon God Fist, thrown with full force, shattered the space before it, blasting the just-manifested Black Crow giant shadow into fragments.

Attendant Black Crow’s entire body also shattered apart, rotted like meat paste.

But Uta, having received Undead Marshal’s reminder, didn’t stop his assault there. He stepped through the air, closing in, arriving before the possibly dead, possibly not dead Black Crow attendant, throwing punch after punch, fists like phantoms, shaking heaven and earth.

Ora ora ora ora ora—

Circles of white waves spread out; space cracked and fractured.

The Black Crow attendant’s body, resembling meat paste, was utterly destroyed inch by inch under Uta’s ordinary continuous punches.

After a while,

Uta turned, looking at the other two attendants, the frenzied and destructive aura in his eyes piercing outwards.

The just-awakened Four Wings and Evil Dragon attendants widened their eyes.

Just who is the attendant here, you or us!

(End of Chapter)