Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

Gilder and the Ratfolk were not very close to the site of the battle, but certainly not too far away either.

The sound of the wind carried the noise of the battle from afar, relatively clear in the quiet night.

Bai E listened quietly with his ear tilted.

Sparks from damaged circuits ignited a flame...

Heavy footsteps trembled upon the earth...

Rolling irregular rocks slid down from the top of the ruins...

Under the collision of flesh, bones imagined dislocating and cracking...

The silhouette of time and space seemed like a silent movie happening before his eyes, suddenly shrinking from a far-off street directly into Bai E's gaze.

Now was the moment!

Bai E suddenly let go, and the arrow shot forth like a fish darting through water.

With Spiritual Energy enhancing his strength, his physical abilities exhibited an additional 12% effectiveness, while the extra stamina consumed by Overlimit Drive manifested as 150% effectiveness integrated into this single arrow.

What was more important, was the "Instant Kill Hundred Heads", a skill he had strenuously trained to perfect.

The complete combustion of 10 points of Spiritual Energy allowed this arrow to display unprecedented power.

Previously, due either to the limitations of Spiritual Energy or the reserves of mobility, Bai E had never displayed the maximum output of his strength; only after a significant increase in Spiritual Energy was he able to unleash his strongest attack during this night's long-distance sniping.

The arrow crossed hundreds of meters instantaneously, with countless shadowy afterimages that resembled the arrow's soul trailing its tail feathers, following the same trajectory. The lightning-fast shot was even too swift for Yue Ying's eyes to track its motion, barely discerning a complex, variable S-curve as the arrow flew.

"Pfft!"

The arrow pierced through the air and penetrated its target.

An almost unbreakable Demon God body now bore a hole clear through from front to back.

Through it, one could see the firelight that had been hidden behind this Demon God's form...

Franca, who had just been sent flying by a punch, was gritting her teeth, preparing for the next onslaught, when she noticed the gigantic figure standing motionless in its spot, inert.

The hole in its chest was conspicuously obvious.

It... was injured?

Where did the attack come from?

What had wounded it?

Completely focused on the battle, Franca had almost no awareness; only the four players, who were moving corpses upward from underground, shared a brightened expression, all turning to look behind Franca.

System notification, was the mission accomplished?

Had reinforcements arrived from the camp?

Was Yanzi so fast?
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Yet... why was there no sound?

Shouldn't an army camp's deployment come with tanks and artillery pouring out?

Why was the darkness so silent?

Gu Lan was somewhat puzzled, catching a glimpse of a confident look on his teammates' faces from the corner of his eye.

Kuang Xin murmured softly, "It's the boss!"

"It's the boss!"

The hole in the Demon's body was undoubtedly the masterpiece of an arrow.

An arrow, the army camp...

One arrow to vanquish a demon!

Who else could it be but our own boss?

"Our boss is here," Dai Lian said with a long sigh, his whole body relaxing.

The body he was carrying suddenly dropped to the ground, and Dai Lian himself sat down abruptly, as if all his strength had been drained from him at that moment.

Never adept at physical activities, Dai Lian had nearly used up all his strength, just like the brutish Kuang Xin hauling one soulless body after another out of the rubble pile, and now that they had someone to rely on, his vitality seemed to ebb away like the tide.

"The boss?" Gu Lan's eyes were full of confusion.

Xu Ruoguang also cast a curious glance.

"Yeah... the boss," Dai Lian said with a sigh.

With the boss's arrival, they had someone to rely on.

Although reluctant to admit it, in the presence of their own boss, Dai Lian knew there was nothing for them to worry about.

This game's NPC character always seemed to give people endless confidence and strength.

"It's our leader, you guys should be able to see him soon," Kuang Xin said, taking a seat, bursting into laughter at the distant demon, "Wait to die, you stupid fool!"

"Impossible!"

"Impossible!"

The demon looked down, its countless eyes trying to make sense of the hole in its chest.

How could it possibly be wounded?

"How could I be injured?"

"Impossible!"

"Impossible!"

"Come on, hit me again!"

Among the numerous pupils, one pair seemed particularly ferocious.

A strand of conflicted thought within Wallis's soul resonated again within the demon's amalgamation.

'Shouldn't we be leaving?'

'We can't defeat him! We can't defeat him!'

'If he can injure us, he can kill us, let's leave! Let's leave!'

[Leave? Why should we leave?]

[What a great opportunity this is! If we absorb him, our power will grow even stronger!]

[Have you forgotten? We... have no limits!]

[And don't you forget, we... still have a hostage!]

Driven by the demon, faces emerged from the surface of its body, those twisted visages protruding and emitting indescribable cries of agony and pleading for help—

"Save us! Save us!"

"I feel like I'm dissolving... I feel like I'm fusing with him... I don't want to! I don't want to become a monster!"

"Kill me! Kill me! Just end my misery!"

"Such warmth... Such a warm embrace... like a mother's arms... like the amniotic fluid of a womb..."

```

The chaos of those voices tangled together, the sinister spectacle enough to plunge any onlooker into severe spiritual turmoil.

Franca instantly turned around, looking back into the darkness.

The darkness was silent.

No one knew where the arrow had come from.

Nor did anyone know where the attacker was.

The overlapping shadows of the buildings obstructed her view, those pitch-black structures sat in the darkness, watching without a sound...

"If it's possible... I hope you can save them! They're innocent!" The lady in distress placed all her hopes on this new mysterious expert.

She hoped he could save everything, although it seemed difficult.

The demon might get killed, but before its death, it had the power to take all the souls inside it to its grave as well.

"Come out!"

The demon's voice was loud and brazen, filled with a final hysteria.

"Come out!"

Countless voices followed the thunderous sound, resonating in frenzy and cowardice.

There was silence in the darkness.

The mysterious master who had come from nowhere seemed to be caught in a moral dilemma.

Yue Ying's gaze stretched far into the standing silence of the shadow, curiosity evident in her eyes.

This was also the ethical choice she would face if she took action.

She was confident she could easily kill the demon, but she wasn't certain that she could save the souls imprisoned by it at the same time.

Saving people would be akin to killing people.

This potential conflict was the core reason she was reluctant to act.

On their human territory, as an elven character, making such a controversial move was always inopportune.

...

"..." Bai E did not respond.

With a single arrow, the information on the panel now displayed the demon's basic data—

[??? (Demon) (Chaos): Health 141/200; Defense Power 99; Activity 100%; Traits: Adaptive Armor, Shadow Wrapping, Soul Black Hole...]

Its defense power was high, and with cheat-like abilities such as Adaptive Armor, no wonder the attacks of these people couldn't break through.

Any attack that wasn't completely beyond the opponent's defense power couldn't deal effective damage.

And you should know, aside from personal ability, the most powerful weapon Bai E could access... the explosive power of a combat blade machine gun also peaked at only 15 points.

Faced with 99 defense power, it would hardly leave a mark.

However, facing the maximal burst that could instantly kill a hundred, even this level of defense was as feeble as paper.

A nine-times attack was far more devastating than three triple-strength attacks or nine single-strength attacks.

Besides, burning Spiritual Energy clung to the arrow, and even if used in a special way, the power of Spiritual Energy remained an extension of one's will, providing Bai E with more feedback.

For instance—

Greed.

The essence of this demon was greed.

At the moment the arrow pierced its body, the core of the demon was perceived by the Spiritual Energy.

Greed?

What is greed?

Bai E's eyes slightly drooped, his inherent understanding of the maxims of Spiritual Energy allowed him to comprehend all the unspeakable strange sensations he felt at that moment.

He also felt what was... "greed"!

Greed is betrayal.

Betrayal of one's judgment, betrayal of one's will.

Knowing it's not for you, yet still wanting to take it.

Knowing it's beyond your own limit, yet still pursuing it.

Knowing the situation is going out of control, yet still harboring unjust dreams.

The Lord of Fear trapped by fear.

The Demon of Greed done in by greed.

The demon controlled the core emotions, but was also trapped by those same emotions.

Bai E pinched the arrow, whispering to it softly.

The wind would not scatter his will, Spiritual Energy would connect their souls.

The expression of the maxims of Spiritual Energy didn't have to be words.

This word, this language, placed upon the arrow!

I have one arrow, would you care to listen?

"Whoosh!"

...

The arrow traced a curve.

Yue Ying's eyes narrowed slightly.

Arc shot!

Such a familiar arrow, such a familiar feeling...

She too had taught a similar bow-wielding "apprentice" among humans, but...

Their strengths couldn't possibly be related.

Being too far away, Yue Ying could only vaguely see the figure and not the appearance concealed under the clothes.

The drab brown cloak the person was wearing was full of the scent of human poverty, not at all like the neat and trim uniforms worn by elite soldiers coming from that military camp.

Yes! They should not be the same person.

This arrow...

From it, Yue Ying sensed a hint of "death"—

Meaning if she didn't dodge, shield, or protect herself, even she might suffer no small injury from being hit by this arrow.

Furthermore, with the speed of the arrow and the fact that it was launched from the shadows, it would be hard to preemptively protect against it unless one was warned by a keen sense of killing intent.

Yue Ying didn't see the result of the arrow's impact.

Considering the effects of the previous arrow, this mysterious master's attack could easily break through defenses.

But in the end, could he only choose to kill?

```