Gamers Are Fierce

The headless body of the Viper swayed and staggered forward, collapsing to its knees, while the three black spheres and surrounding thorny jungle also vanished instantly.

Li Ang continuously pulled the trigger of his sniper rifle, breaking the Viper's arms and legs completely. At the same time, he fiercely stomped the ground, flinging the long spear in his hand with a sweep aimed at the waist, intending to cut it in two.

Survival techniques of High-level Players were one more exaggerated than the other. In the absence of System prompt notifications, it was only considered safe if the enemy was ground to ashes and crushed to pieces.

As the blade of the spear was about to tear through the headless torso at the waist, a red and black centipede as thick as a human arm burst out from the Viper's left chest.

The centipede was slender and flattened. Its body was covered in half-red and half-black segmented shells, with more than twenty pairs of sharp golden hooks on both sides. The part that extended outside the Viper's body alone was half a meter long. Paired with gigantic fangs dripping green venom, it looked incredibly fierce and terrifying.

The half-centipede, still stained with a great deal of blood, moved flexibly and swiftly, twisting its body like lightning, its segmented shell turned back to block the spear blade.

The red and black shell firmly blocked the edge of the blade, and sparks visible to the naked eye even flew up at the point of collision.

It's not dead!

Li Ang's pupils suddenly contracted, and he flashed to the left, narrowly avoiding the large puddle of venom that the centipede had sprayed out like a water gun.

SQUELCH. SQUELCH.

Within the Viper's body, sounds continued to emerge, like blades tearing fabric, as a dozen red and black centipedes extended from its neck, shoulders, hip bones, chest cavity, and abdominal cavity, taking the place of its head, arms, and legs.

As Datura, a long-hidden secret organization that inherited many assets of the Kuiyang Sect, the most abundant parts of their legacy were records analyzing the supernatural powers of Demons.

Inside Datura, many experiments had been conducted to integrate demonic forces into the human body. Those trusted members of the organization's upper echelons could voluntarily undergo Demon Transformation, implanting demon organs into their bodies to possess demonic power and become half-human, half-demon "monsters."

Of course, Demon Transformations were extremely dangerous and unstable. If one became too dependent on demon organs or over-released demonic power (according to Datura's research department, exceeding the 'awakening' threshold), they would irreversibly become a Demon, permanently altering their original personality.

Once fully awakened, the original self would be completely replaced by the evil thoughts contained in the demon organs, no different from death.

Only Datura members who lacked player qualifications and Datura players who were desperately in need of power would opt for Demon Transformation.

After all, the current environment of the killing game was nowhere near so dire that everyone was at risk of dying at any moment.

"Aaaah!"

The centipede at the Viper's neck screamed piercingly, releasing indiscriminate sound waves into the outside world.

The fierce wind surged and dust flew. The visible shockwave knocked Li Ang back several steps, while the remaining force flipped over the crowd dozens of meters away.

At this time, the Viper was still some distance from a complete release of demonic power and a full awakening of its demon organs. With his soul forcibly bound to his body by his Title Skill, Millennial Black Witch, he endured the Mental Shock from the demon organs. He took out a curved knife from his backpack slot and prepared to muster his strength to completely finish off his enemy. However, Li Ang once again vanished right under his eyes.

He came quietly and left quietly, without taking a speck of dust with him.

The Viper was very clear that the opponent had not used any stealth or invisibility skills or equipment. His centipedes were demonic creations. Not only could they sense the wind through the fine hairs on their bodies, but they also possessed spiritual intelligence, able to see the invisible and find what is hidden. Common stealth skills had nowhere to hide from them.

Within the complex perception of the centipede's limbs, only the opponent's breath remained in the air, with no other traces visible.

Gone?

Viper mustered his spirit, and flat centipedes grew from his body, wrapping around him like pythons, leaving no weaknesses exposed.

SWOOSH—

A piercing wind rose again from behind Viper, as a bone spear blade aimed straight for the centipede atop his head.

The sharp edge of the spear sliced with precise accuracy into the tiny segments of the centipede's exoskeleton, cleaving the entire creature in half.

Viper hastily turned to strike back, but his Long Knife only met the air.

Li Ang had disappeared once again.

What Viper didn't know was that on the edge of the sea trench cliff, Miss Chai's Qinge Armor was holding the true Ji Jiu by the neck. She was repeatedly leaping back and forth at the edge of the cliff, using the Ball Technique's setting from the slaughter game. This continuously opened the Grey-white World for Li Ang, allowing him to dodge Viper's attacks time after time.

The Ball Technique's setting dictated that the interior and exterior of the Grey-white World could not interfere with each other. As long as Miss Chai mastered the frequency of her leaping, she could certainly help Li Ang enter the Grey-white World repeatedly. From Viper's perspective, this looked like Li Ang vanishing and reappearing suddenly.

After several leaps, Li Ang, who kept flashing in and out, used his bone spear to cut down swathes of centipedes from Viper's body as if they were chives. This drove Viper into a frenzy, yet all his released attacks only struck the empty ground around him, kicking up clouds of dust.

Eventually, the centipedes inside Viper were thoroughly depleted. He fell to the ground without even initiating the steps for the complete release of his demonic power, the full awakening of his demon organs, or his transformation into a Demon. In a humiliating demise, Li Ang stuffed a White Phosphorus Bomb into his chest, burning him to ash.

By this time, the Ritual track itself had also entered a new phase—

The long pole planted at the center of the open ground was now half-covered with white light, while the dark clouds above kept swirling, flashes of lightning seeming to piece together the visage of a deranged, malformed beast.

The two shadowy figures who had been maintaining the Ritual track and watching Viper's death were now free to turn their attention to Li Ang.

"You...."

One of the figures had barely begun to speak when a slender arrow, shot from a great distance, pierced its head, giving it no time to react.

Liu Wu Dai's arrow utilized the Good Horn Bow's guaranteed hit Special Effect. Charged over a long period and augmented by various buffs from Initiation and Wu Mu, it was a sure kill, nipping the threat in the bud without giving the enemy any chance to exert their strength.

This was not to say that Ash and the others lacked the confidence to join the fray. However, the Ball Technique's effect still lingered. If they went down, they would only Trigger the technique, preventing them from reaching the enemy. Thus, Li Ang had to go down himself.

Moreover, Liu Wu Dai, relying on her own wealth, had purchased various high-end, luxurious pieces of equipment and items, rendering her practically peerless among players of the same level. The sure-hit arrow was perfect for situations demanding the element of surprise. The effectiveness of Ash and the others fighting from a kilometer away could not compare to them focusing on supporting Liu Wu Dai, allowing the wealthy woman to concentrate on her offense.

Only ten seconds elapsed between Li Ang's repeated leaping to eliminate Viper and Liu Wu Dai's arrow taking down an unknown Datura member. Yet, the final remaining black-robed figure stood still, showing no intention of acting or fleeing.

Li Ang did not rush to gather Viper's body into his backpack slot. He swung his long spear and gazed at the unmoving, gaunt figure in black, taking one step after another toward the long pole.

The surrounding crowd continued their frenzied shouting. Their faces grew paler, visible wrinkles emerged, and black smoke billowed from their mouths as if from a draining pond to catch all the fish.

KHEKHEKHEKHE...

The black-robed figure suddenly let out an oddly abrupt laugh.

"You killed them. Good. Their scent was so tempting I had to exert great effort to refrain from devouring them."

He spoke slowly in a hoarse voice that was hardly human. Stretching out a skinless hand, he slowly removed his hood, revealing a monkey-like face composed entirely of flesh buds and black hair. "Shall I say, long time no see..."

Mountain Demon.