Chapter 19: Chapter 19 The Battle of Water Marsh - Lionheart Appears (Part 1)
Lu Hong finally breathed a sigh of relief after rushing into the mountain ravine and realizing the group hadn't followed him. That was a close one! However, Lu Hong wasn't foolish, since those people dared not enter, there must be something formidable hidden within, so he didn't venture further but focused instead on recovering his strength.
After half a day of meditation, Lu Hong's fighting spirit was fully replenished. Now, he had two choices before him: one was to fight his way out, the second was to delve deeper and see what exactly was concealed inside.
He decided to move forward and see, since the people outside dared not enter. Resolved, Lu Hong, with his great sword in hand, cautiously began to explore deeper into the ravine. The path became more spacious as he proceeded until at last what appeared before Lu Hong was a sunken lake, with streams continuously flowing into it from between the crevices, bringing fresh water to this mountain lake.
No demon beast was spotted along the way, so it undoubtedly was in the lake—and of high level too. Lu Hong picked up a small stone and threw it toward the lake where it splashed and then, all was still once more.
Alright, Lu Hong admitted that throwing stones to test the waters was a right method, but the stone he chose was too small to disturb the demon beast at the bottom.
Thus, Lu Hong picked a slightly larger stone and dropped it into the water with a "plop."
Still too small?
Finally, Lu Hong mustered all his strength, lifting and smashing a huge rock half his height into the lake, and this time the disturbance was significant. Along with the rock plunging into the lake, a tremendous roar echoed through the ravine.
"That brat has disturbed the Swamp Beast? He's really seeking death!" The gang leader at the entrance of the ravine heard the beast's furious roar and laughed with delight, "Let this brat drain its energy first, when all of us are here, we'll have a better chance. Ah, I am truly fitting to be the leader, excellent~"
"Holy shit, a Swamp Beast?!" Now it was Lu Hong's turn to face a tragedy. A Swamp Beast was a level 11 top-level demon beast, rumored to have draconic lineage. Despite its lower level, its bloodline was genuinely descended from dragons, albeit mixed.
Normally, a Swamp Beast would not be tackled by anyone below a Second Transition class, and Lu Hong stared as the massive figure slowly surfaced—it was clearly an adult!
"I've hit the jackpot." Lu Hong now somewhat regretted not dealing with those people outside instead of getting himself into trouble.
But the situation was beyond escape now; half of the Swamp Beast's body emerged from the water, intently fixing its gaze on the human who dared to disturb its rest.
"Can't you say hello before attacking?!" Lu Hong watched as seven swift water arrows shot toward him and hastily dodged; the arrows were powerful enough to break the ground upon impact, which would certainly be lethal if they hit Lu Hong.
"Come at me if you dare, it's only right to fight back!" Lu Hong yelled and sprinted towards the ravine's exit. Seeing him attempting to flee, the Swamp Beast roared and dashed out of the lake, its wide-open mouth launching dozens of water arrows that completely cut off Lu Hong's retreat.
He had finally gotten it out of the water! Actually, Lu Hong wasn't truly fleeing; he had almost zero capacity in water combat, so he hadn't hoped to get close to the Swamp Beast. Thus, under the guise of fleeing, he successfully lured the Swamp Beast out of the lake.
Since Lu Hong was not really running away, he naturally dodged the intercepting water arrows. Watching the audacious human still charging at him, the Swamp Beast swung its enormous front claw fiercely.
Fortunately, Lu Hong was agile enough to dodge the attack in time and successfully closed in on the Swamp Beast.
The Swamp Beast naturally wouldn't sit idly by, seeing the nimble human it once more activated its innate ability. This time it wasn't water arrows, but it stirred the entire lake's water, transforming it into a torrent aimed directly at Lu Hong. The force of the water was overwhelming, and Lu Hong, unable to dodge such a vast ranged attack, quickly plunged his great sword into the ground like a partial shield, bracing himself for a fierce resistance.
The torrent washed over everything like a bulldozer, smoothing out all uneven surfaces along its path. As for Lu Hong, he had been smashed against the mountain behind him, unable to help spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"You're ruthless!" Lu Hong wiped his mouth, furious.
The Swamp Beast, of course, couldn't understand Lu Hong's words, and even if it did, its reaction was the same—a massive claw swung down at him.
And just at that moment, afar, seven fireballs flew swiftly across and heavily struck the Swamp Beast, bursting into splendid sparks, yet they seemed to inflict no damage on the Swamp Beast but merely succeeded in garnering its attention.
"Boys, take down the Swamp Beast and let's feast lavishly when we return!" The gang leader shouted, and over thirty men bearing swords charged at the Swamp Beast.
Another group of annoying bugs! The aura of the Water Marsh Beast surged as dozens of water arrows launched forward, and its sharp claws closely followed.
"Defend!" the boss ordered, and three Priests around him started chanting, casting together! A Holy Light Barrier appeared directly over the heads of the group, but the power of the water arrows was not trivial—just four arrows shattered the Holy Light Barrier. However, that wasn't a concern; ten Knights raised their shields high as Holy Light descended again, turning the Knights into a solid bulwark that met the remaining water arrows.
It looked rather impressive, but... Lu Hong had guessed right, the bulwark formed by the ten Knights was directly penetrated by the water arrows, hitting several men. Those lucky ones only had a hole in their body, the less fortunate ones got their elbows broken, and the unluckiest ones were outright killed by a headshot with no chance for rescue.
"How is this Water Marsh Beast so powerful?!" The gang leader hadn't expected that Mage's low-level Spell 'Water Arrow' could be so potent against the Water Marsh Beast: "Priests, Druids, quick, heal!"
At his command, two Druids joined the Priests and started healing the injured Knights, as for those with broken arms and legs, they couldn't be properly reconnected anyway.
By now, the dozen or so underlings who had successfully been shielded had made it to the side of the Water Marsh Beast, but what met them were the massive claws of the beast. With just one strike, it took down these dozen underlings like bowling pins hitting a strike.
"We're no match at all!" Only now did the proficient gang leader realize how powerful the Water Marsh Beast was. He was only Level 11, and leading a group of underlings ranging from level 7 to 10 was basically a workout session for the Water Marsh Beast.
"Retreat!" the boss ordered decisively, skilled at executing an escape. But the Water Marsh Beast leaped forward, its huge body firmly blocking the exit.
"It's over!" The boss went pale.
"Boss, this youngster still hasn't..." Suddenly, a cry from a subordinate came from the side, but before he could finish his sentence, Lu Hong had already pierced his heart.
"Though this isn't a game and there's no coming back from death, I have no qualms about killing you robbers." With that, Lu Hong easily slashed down two more people, leaving the gang leader to realize he was stuck between the Water Marsh Beast and his nemesis, wondering what to do.
Of course, he would take down his nemesis first! Since he couldn't defeat the Water Marsh Beast anyway: "All-out attack on that youngster!"
Just as the gang leader gave the order, Lu Hong had already successfully killed two more people. Times had changed, and now full of Fighting Spirit, he was in no way inferior to this group.
Watching the continuous barrage of Fireballs and Ice Arrows, Lu Hong casually picked up a corpse of a recently killed underling to use as a shield.
"You little thief~" Lu Hong sneered, swinging a punch that landed directly on the face of a sneak-attacking underling, and then a sword thrust that pierced through his body.
With this kill, he actually leveled up! Originally, based on his calculations, he needed at least two hundred more Level 3 Demon Beasts to level up, but it turned out that killing people gave even more experience!
As a now Level 8 Lu Hong, his presence was unmatched; bolstered by his Fighting Spirit, he was faster than anyone else, and the various Skills of the gang underlings couldn't even touch him, leaving them to be counter-slaughtered.
"You punk, take this!" The gang leader finally took action, seizing the moment Lu Hong was killing another to smash a heavy blow towards him.
"Trying to sneak attack, huh!" Luckily, Lu Hong was prepared and barely blocked the attack, rolling away to a distance of seven or eight meters.
"What the hell kind of strength blessing did you give yourself!" Lu Hong quickly got up, cursing.
"None of your business? Die!" The gang leader charged forward, holding a shield, with three or four Fireballs and Ice Arrows flying behind him.
Lu Hong's expression unchanged, he dodged just outside the range of the Spells and was immediately faced with a shield strike from the gang leader.
War Challenge! Lu Hong swung his great sword, taking on the impact of the shield. But powered by a strength blessing, how could he withstand it? He staggered backwards several steps to steady himself.
The gang leader certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity; his Knight's heavy strike continued to connect. Seeing the situation, it seemed the gang leader simply wanted to rely on brute force to keep pressing down on Lu Hong, then combine efforts with his underlings to kill him—a crude and straightforward plan, but it was working.