NOVEL NEXT Chapter 323: Demon Lair (9/)
Unfortunately, at that moment, D'andre wasn't the only one facing the brunt of the demon insects' unique attack. Rowan and Colt also got a handful of devastating effects from the thorns.
For Colt, each piercing thorn felt like a dose of lead, his attack speed draining with every hit.
At first, it was hard to notice, as he wasn't a system user like the other two, who were notified of the effects after every strike. Nonetheless, when he was pierced by three thorns at once, the true danger of the thorn was revealed.
Rowan, however, was a different story.
[ You've received a Weaken curse. Attack power -2%. Current attack power: 98% ]
[ Resistance has nullified 90% of the curse effect ]
Since Rowan rarely got attacked by the thorns due to his extreme movement speed, his consequences weren't that significant.
Unlike Colt and D'andre, who were slower, the curse effect could not stack up. Also, his resistance skill managed to nullify most of the weakening effects, so he was relatively safe.
Rowan's grin widened as his grip tightened on his sword. He swung at several dozen demon insects at once, releasing a strong and sharp blade arc that sliced through a large number of them.
[ You've slayed X14 Demon Insects... ]
Fortunately, the demon insects did not possess a regenerative ability like the Ogramon.
Without wasting any time, Rowan released several more blade arcs at his opponents, triggering plenty of notifications.
Not so far away from him, Colt, who had been energetic about slaying the demons, had already begun to move sluggishly, thanks to the weakening effect.
Sensing Colt's struggle, Rowan shifted his focus and darted toward him, fending off the group of demon insects that had ganged up on him, ready to finish him off.
"I... must... kill demons!" Colt stammered, his body heavy and sluggish as he fought to lift his dagger.
Consequently, several more demon insect thorns darted from random locations, hurtling toward him.
Although Rowan blocked most of them, a few of the thorns still managed to find their target.
As a total of five more demon thorns reached him, Colt's overall strength was reduced by over 10%.
With this new drastic decrease in strength, he found it difficult to continue his attack and fell to the ground, half-conscious. His breath was ragged, his vision blurred, and his body was immobile.
Rowan acted immediately and swept down toward him, fighting off the demon insects who had already targeted him. While fighting, he grabbed Colt by the collar.
"D'andre! Catch!" he shouted. Then, with a fling, he tossed him toward the archmage, who was busy reinforcing his armor with mana.
Seeing a whole adult flying toward him, D'andre halted his reinforcement. With expert manipulation of mana, he managed to help Colt land safely.
But in that short time, his armor defense went down by three percent from three thorns, bringing his total armor defense to 67%.
D'andre gently shifted Colt's body to the side where the thorns could not reach him easily. Afterward, he turned to witness how Rowan battled the demon insects with insane precision and strength.
"Is he not being affected by the weakening curse?" D'andre wondered.
If the weakening curse could affect something as potent as his light magic armor, then it should be able to drastically affect those without magic armor. Colt was an example.
D'andre sighed. "I still wonder what kind of skill this guy transmigrated with. He's a complete enigma."
Without wasting time, D'andre opened his inventory and drank another mana potion, refilling his mana reserve. He channelled more mana into the spell circles hovering above him, thus increasing the swiftness of the continuous light magic ball cannons.
He also went on reinforcing his armor, managing to bring it up to seventy-five percent in a short while. But even in the process, several thorns still found their way to him.
Rowan's vision was greeted with a series of notifications every second. As the main attack force against the demon insects, his kill count was considerably higher than the others.
At the same time, Rowan's movements only grew sharper. His sword danced through the air, releasing arcs of energy that cut down the swarm with every swing.
[ You've slayed X11 Demon Insects… ]
[ You've slayed X8 Demon Insects… ]
The system notifications stacked endlessly before his eyes, but he ignored them and pressed forward. His blade was his answer to the sea of wings and thorns before him.
D'andre gritted his teeth, pouring more mana into his magic circles. His glowing light magic ball blasted through the insects, exploding in flashes of light that tore through demonic flesh.
For an archmage who had an almost unlimited supply of mana potions, one should expect him to be unstoppable.
But D'andre was far from it. Managing to keep several powerful spells active while enforcing his armor was a draining task for the brain.
Nonetheless, one should not forget that he wasn't a battle mage or someone who had practiced combat; he was a merchant. Battles were tiring, especially when they went on for hours.
But D'andre did not stop. A single goal was present in his mind.
"Rowan! Keep drawing them in! I'll cover you!" he shouted, his voice breaking from exhaustion.
Rowan responded by cutting through another line of insects, his figure blurring in and out of the crimson light.
Time slowly went by with the two of them battling the thousands of demon insects together.
Colt was still unconscious; the duration of the demon insects' weakening curse was unknown. But that was a matter for after they finished slaying the entirety of the demon insects.
Around two hours had passed since the battle began.
Thanks to Rowan's active efforts, only around two hundred demon insects were left now. Rowan was in the midst of swinging his sword, clipping their wings and stabbing their torsos.
From time to time, several demon insects exploded around him, thanks to D'andre's continuous attacks.
Nevertheless, as Rowan was about to send a blade arc toward the group of demon insects, something happened.
Unbeknownst to Rowan and D'andre, the total population of demon insects remaining was now exactly one hundred, a number that was exactly what was needed for the demon insects to activate their most drastic skill.
Before Rowan could stab his blade into his target, the demon insects suddenly let out a loud, high-pitched screech in unison.
The intensity of their screech was enough to explode an adult human's head, and still, that wasn't even the real skill they were about to use.
Before Rowan could tell what was happening, the demon insects began spewing a crimson substance from their bodies at an alarming rate. In just a few seconds, a large area had been covered by the crimson mist. And then, it began.
[ Hive Skill: Bloodfog Release Activated ]
[ Effect: All entities exposed to the Bloodfog will continuously lose -1% Health, -1% Attack Power, and -1% Defense per second. ]
[ Warning: The effect doubles every 1 minute. Duration: 5 minutes. Extreme caution advised! ]
Rowan's eyes widened. D'andre halted his spell. Both of them were astonished.
[-1% health]
[-1% Attack power]
[-1% Defense]
...
[-1% health]
[-1% Attack power]
[-1% Defense]
"What the heck!" Rowan cursed as he attempted to sprint out of the Bloodfog.
He moved faster than ever, but the bloodfog clung to him. He watched in panic and disbelief as his stats drained gradually. His health fell to 90% in just ten seconds!
His total attack power and defense also fell to 90% each!
Since it wasn't an actual attack but rather a debuff, Resistance could not help.
D'andre, meanwhile, froze in place. The notifications flooded his vision, but his mind was on Colt.
The merchant quickly looked at Colt's unconscious body, which was now being consumed by the crimson mist. D'andre's face contorted in a mix of terror and frustration as the danger of the situation dawned on him.
There was only one thing he needed to do! He took out a healing potion and fed it to Colt. He could see the improvement in Colt's face as his health returned to its peak.
Nevertheless, as the crimson fog was still active, Colt gradually turned pale again.
D'andre's eyes grew more worried, but at the same time, he also had to take care of himself.
He took out a healing potion and drank one as well. His health went back to 100% and then 99% afterwards due to the bloodfog.
He also sent a total of five healing potions and five strength-boosting potions to Rowan.