21: Chapter 21 The Cat Demon King Blocks the Road! The Blood Wolf Gang Ambush!
Lin Feng looked back, and the small path he had taken had completely disappeared.
The wriggling bushes were like living walls, completely sealing off his retreat.
A few Explorers who had been hesitant about whether to follow him in could only stare helplessly from outside.
"Now I'm really a turtle in a jar..." Lin Feng gave a bitter smile.
But he quickly composed himself.
Since there was no retreat, he could only advance!
He turned around, gripped the tree demon scepter in his hand, and with the greatsword in his other hand, continued deeper.
The passage grew narrower and the light dimmer.
The scent of decay and blood in the air grew stronger, mixed with a... cat odor?
Lin Feng wrinkled his nose and lightened his steps.
After walking for about five minutes, a rustling sound suddenly came from ahead.
He immediately stopped and hid behind a twisted tree.
He peeked out—
Five enormous cat demons were roaming in the open space ahead.
These cat demons were completely different from ordinary ones; their size was comparable to leopards, their bodies were bulging with muscle, and their fur was an eerie purplish-black.
Most noticeable were the red runes on their foreheads, glowing faintly.
[Mutated Cat Demon (Elite)]
[Rank: 5]
[Health: 40]
[Attack: 55-65]
[Defense: 2]
[Skills: Overlord Body (Immune to Control), Frenzied Slash (Continuous Attack), Pounce (Long-range Charge)]
[Description: Hunters in the mutated dungeon, possessing extremely high attack speed and Overlord Body effect, a nightmare for squishy classes.]
"Five elites, and they have Overlord Body..." Lin Feng pondered.
If it were an ordinary mage wearing cloth armor, being surrounded by these five cat demons would likely mean instant death from a concentrated attack.
The skill Frenzied Slash, judging by its name, was a continuous attack.
But he was wearing heavy armor!
85 Defense, plus 15 points of damage reduction!
The cat demons' attack power was 55-65; as long as it wasn't a special attack, it would essentially do no damage to him!
"The advantage is mine!" Lin Feng grinned.
He decided to test them first.
Without using skills, he charged out directly with his greatsword!
"Hey! Grandchildren!"
Lin Feng shouted, sweeping his greatsword horizontally, deliberately making a commotion.
The five cat demons turned their heads simultaneously, their blood-red eyes locking onto Lin Feng.
"Meow—!!!"
Amidst piercing screeches, the five cat demons transformed into five black shadows and pounced!
Extremely fast!
Lin Feng could even see the cold glint off their claws.
But he didn't dodge, gripping the sword with both hands, he met them head-on!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The greatsword collided with cat claws, sparks flying!
The first cat demon's claws scratched his chest armor, leaving only a few white marks.
[Damage Taken: Attack 6 - Defense 85 - Reduction 15 = 0]
Indeed, it couldn't break his defense!
Lin Feng's heart settled.
He swung his sword, forcing two cat demons back, and seized the opportunity to create distance.
Then—his left hand formed a loose fist, gathering golden-red light!
"Light Flame Slash!"
A crescent-shaped energy blade whistled out!
The two cat demons in front had no time to dodge and were hit head-on!
[Light Flame Slash dealt damage: 39 (missed slightly)]
"Meow!!!"
The two cat demons shrieked, their health bars instantly dropping by three-quarters!
But they didn't retreat; instead, their ferocity was ignited!
Skill: Overlord Body!
The red runes glowed brightly, and red light simultaneously appeared on the five cat demons, entering the Overlord Body state!
Skill: Frenzied Slash!
The five cat demons simultaneously activated their skill, transforming into five phantoms, their claw shadows falling like raindrops!
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!!!
Dense impacts rang out on the heavy armor, like hammering iron.
Lin Feng was forced back repeatedly, but his health only dropped by a negligible few points—all due to the impact.
"My turn!"
Lin Feng seized the opportunity, sweeping his greatsword violently!
One cat demon was struck by the blade, stumbling backward.
[Damage dealt: Strength 22 × 2 + Weapon 35 = 79, actual damage: 59 (minus Defense 2)]
The damage wasn't high, but it was enough.
Lin Feng immediately followed up with a Light Bullet Technique.
Puff!
The light bullet accurately hit the cat demon's forehead.
[Light Bullet Technique dealt damage: Spirit 95 × 3 = 285, actual damage: 265]
[Killed Mutated Cat Demon, Experience +20]
The first one fell!
The remaining four cat demons became even more frenzied.
But they couldn't break Lin Feng's defense, only attacking in vain.
Lin Feng remained calm, blocking with his greatsword while looking for opportunities to cast Light Bullet Technique.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Three minutes later.
All five cat demons lay dead.
[Killed Mutated Cat Demon × 5, Experience +20 × 5 = 1000]
Lin Feng caught his breath and checked his equipment.
The heavy armor was covered in scratches, but it was intact overall.
"Heavy Armor Mage... truly shameless," he grinned.
He collected the drops, obtaining [Cat Demon Claw × 15 (Green Materials)] and [Cat Demon Eyeball × 8 (Green Materials)].
He continued forward.
At the end of the passage was a huge natural cavern.
The cavern was the size of a football field, with glowing crystals hanging from the ceiling, barely providing illumination.
And in the center of the cavern—
A colossal creature lay prone.
It was a giant cat demon over four meters long!
Its fur was dark gold, every strand standing up like a steel needle.
Most terrifying were its eyes—one gold and one silver, emitting an eerie glow in the darkness.
As Lin Feng stepped into the cavern, the cat demon slowly stood up.
It yawned, revealing a mouth full of dagger-like fangs.
[Cat Demon King · Golden Eye (Boss Rank)]
[Rank: 5]
[Health: 2500]
[Attack: 8-100]
[Defense: 5]
[Skills: Overlord Body (Immune to Control), Tear (Ignores 3% of target's Defense during attack), Frenzied Dance (Ten consecutive attacks), Kings Pressure (Reduces surrounding enemies' Attack by 20%), gold and silver pupils (Golden pupil increases self-attack speed, Silver pupil reduces target's movement speed)]
[Description: The king of the cat demon race, one of the guardians of the mutated dungeon. Possesses terrifying attack power and eerie pupil techniques, having killed multiple Explorer teams.]
Lin Feng gasped after reading the attributes.
2500 Health!
5 Defense!
And it had the Tear skill—it could ignore 3% of his Defense!
This meant that 25.5 points of his 85 Defense would be ignored, leaving only 59.5 points of effective Defense.
Adding the 15 points of damage reduction, the Cat Demon King's attack power of 8-100 would likely deal about 20-40 points of damage to him.
This was still acceptable.
But the problem was...
"Frenzied Dance, ten consecutive attacks..." Lin Feng's mouth twitched.
Even if each hit only dealt 2 points of damage, ten hits would be 200 points!
His current health was: Physique 22 × 1 = 220 points (Rank 6, Physique increased from 19 to 22).
One skill could cripple him!
Not to mention Kings Pressure reducing attack power, and the gold and silver pupils for acceleration and deceleration...
"This boss design is too abnormal, isn't it?" Lin Feng complained.
But he didn't have time to think much.
Because the Cat Demon King had already discovered him.
Its gold and silver mismatched eyes locked onto Lin Feng, and it slowly began to walk towards him.
With every step, the ground trembled slightly.
Lin Feng gripped his scepter and greatsword, his mind racing.
A direct confrontation was definitely not an option.
He had to outsmart it!
...
Meanwhile, outside the bushes.
Twelve people wearing uniform blood-red wolf head insignia equipment were gathered at the sealed entrance to the bushes.
At the forefront was a one-eyed big man, one meter ninety tall, with bulging muscles, carrying a red great axe the size of a door panel.
His name was Blood Wolf, the Blood Wolf Group's squad leader, Rank 25, with a B-Rank Talent, [Bloodthirsty Frenzy].
"Leader, the entrance is completely sealed, we can't get in," a Skinny Tall Guy subordinate reported.
Blood Wolf narrowed his single eye, staring at the wriggling bushes, and licked his lips: "Mutated dungeon... there must be good stuff inside."
"But we can't get in," another fat subordinate said.
"Wait," Blood Wolf said in a deep voice, "The person inside can't stay there forever. As soon as he comes out, we'll..."
He made a throat-slitting gesture.
"Leader is brilliant!" the subordinates flattered.
Blood Wolf sneered: "Old rules, kill, plunder, destroy the evidence. The spoils from this kind of mutated dungeon are worth at least hundreds of thousands of points."
He glanced at his subordinates: "Leave five people here to guard, Rank 5 or higher is fine. The rest of you come with me to farm monsters nearby, don't waste time."
"Yes!"
Soon, Blood Wolf left with seven people, leaving five to stake out the entrance.
These five were all Rank 5, with average equipment, but more than enough to deal with a low-health Explorer just out of the dungeon.
They hid in the shadows around the bushes, their eyes fixed on the entrance.
The Skinny Tall Guy licked his dagger: "I hope the person inside comes out alive... otherwise, we'll have waited for nothing."
The fat man grinned: "It's best if they come out with a pile of treasures, then we can pick up the scraps."
"Shut up!" Scarface, the leader of the five, growled, "Focus on staking out! The captain said if we handle this well, everyone gets a reward of 10,000 points!"
The others immediately quieted down.
What they didn't notice was—
On a nearby tree, a girl in black tight-fitting clothes was silently watching everything.
She was about seventeen or eighteen, with a high ponytail, and wore a half-mask on her face, revealing only a pair of sharp eyes.
A silver badge was pinned to her chest—Explorers Guild, Investigator.
"Blood Wolf Group... up to their old tricks again," the girl muttered to herself.
She glanced at the sealed bushes, then at the five people lying in wait.
"The person inside... good luck to them."
With a flash, the girl disappeared into the treetops.
...
In the cavern.
Lin Feng and the Cat Demon King's standoff had reached a critical moment.
The Cat Demon King's golden pupil suddenly lit up!
Its attack speed instantly surged!
"Here it comes!"
Lin Feng's pupils contracted, and he immediately leaped backward!
Almost simultaneously, the Cat Demon King transformed into a golden afterimage and pounced!
Its claws cut through the air, emitting a piercing shriek!
Lin Feng barely dodged, but his chest armor was still grazed slightly.
"Hiss..." Lin Feng sucked in a cold breath.
Just a graze and he lost 15 health!
If he were hit head-on...
He couldn't take it head-on!
He retreated while raising his scepter.
"Light Flame Slash!"
A golden-red energy blade flew out!
The Cat Demon King didn't dodge, taking the hit with its body!
[Light Flame Slash dealt damage: 57]
The Cat Demon King's health bar dropped a small segment, but it wasn't a significant impact.
Its silver pupil suddenly lit up!
Lin Feng felt his body sink, and his movement speed noticeably slowed!
"Slow effect!" Lin Feng's heart sank.
This made it even harder to fight.
The Cat Demon King seized the opportunity and pounced again!
This time, Lin Feng couldn't completely dodge.
Pfft!
Claws slashed open a gash on his left arm, blood splattering!
[Damage Taken: Attack 95 - Defense 59.5 - Reduction 15 = 2.5]
[Additional Effect: Tear (Subsequent attacks ignore 3% Defense, lasts 10 seconds)]
Damn it!
The Tear effect triggered; for the next 10 seconds, his Defense would only be 41.65 points (85 × 0.7)!
"Holy Healing Ring!"
Lin Feng immediately activated his healing skill.
A pale golden aura spread, and his health began to recover slowly.
But the Cat Demon King wouldn't give him a moment to breathe.
Skill: Frenzied Dance!
The Cat Demon King transformed into a golden whirlwind, claw shadows raining down like a storm!
Lin Feng desperately blocked and dodged, but still took three hits.
[Damage Taken: 25 + 28 + 3 = 83]
His health instantly dropped to 122 points!
"I can't keep going like this!"
Lin Feng's eyes hardened, and he made a decision.
He pulled out the fear shriek whistle and blew it forcefully!
"Whoosh—!!!"
A piercing shriek echoed through the cavern!
The Cat Demon King's body trembled, its movements noticeably slowing down.
[fear shriek whistle activated: Target falls into "Fear" state, Movement Speed -3%, Attack -20%, lasts 5 seconds]
Good opportunity!
Lin Feng didn't retreat but advanced, forming loose fists with both hands simultaneously!
Golden-red light from his left hand—Light Flame Slash!
Pure golden light from his right hand—Blasting Light Flame Technique!
"Die!"
Both skills simultaneously blasted towards the Cat Demon King's head!
Boom! Boom!!!
Amidst violent explosions, the Cat Demon King let out a painful howl.
[Light Flame Slash dealt damage: 520 (Headshot Critical)]
[Blasting Light Flame Technique dealt damage: Spirit 95 × 5 = 475, actual damage: 425 (Headshot Critical)]
Two hits dealt nearly 1000 damage!
The Cat Demon King's health bar visibly dropped by about half.
But the 5 seconds of Fear quickly passed.
The Cat Demon King was completely enraged.
It threw its head back and let out a deafening roar, its gold and silver pupils simultaneously lighting up!
Attack speed increased + Movement speed reduced!
Lin Feng's expression changed drastically.
He knew that the real bitter battle was just beginning.