Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 292: Even the Wisest Make Mistakes

Just as Li Yue had predicted, the snow-white python launched its attack next — blasting sheets of frost in every direction, causing the temperature across hundreds of meters to plummet.

In practice, this turned out to be less dangerous than expected.

Frost couldn't ignite the chaotic magical particles the way fire could, so it failed to create the wide-area chain damage of the previous attack.

Li Yue and Li Wei drew the highest aggro and ran in one direction. Zhao Guozhu, Old John, and Annie circled around — and while the frost python was focused on Li Yue, Li Wei, and Zhao Xuanxuan, the three of them flanked it from behind, weaved into position, and within ten seconds had cut it to pieces.

They successfully destroyed its life core together.

Smooth enough.

For a moment, everyone almost felt like they were back in a game dungeon — a raid leader calling the shots, a boss cycling through predictable mechanics, the kind of content you could clear blindfolded once you memorized the pattern.

"AAAH—"

The marble-statue figure let out another scream. Blood poured from both ears this time. His agony was visibly deepening — and strangely, the snow-white skin of his head was melting away like thawing ice, revealing the complexion of a normal person beneath. The blood streaming from his eyes and ears made for a deeply unsettling sight.

Li Wei felt a flicker of unease. Li Yue's brow creased slightly. But neither of them had ever fought a special boss in a Pioneering Mission before.For that matter, even the Commerce Department's leadership had miscalculated this one — otherwise they wouldn't have sent Li Guishan to his death. Even a lord on the verge of bankruptcy didn't deserve to be thrown away like that.

Was something unexpected still coming?

The thought barely formed before Li Yue, without a moment's hesitation, charged forward and launched another Cross Slash at the Serpent Knight.

Predictably, she hit an illusion again. This thing seemed to have some innate ability — as long as it wasn't actively attacking, it simply couldn't be hit. The only way to destroy a life core was to identify it quickly and precisely during an attack window.

"Annie, you worthless wretch — why don't you go die?!"

The blue python targeted Annie again. She was hit — and simultaneously, the blue python shot forward in a lightning charge, launching a direct assault on her. The pattern was familiar by now, and everyone had prepared accordingly.

Zhao Guozhu raised his shield to absorb the blow. Old John attacked from range. Li Yue and Li Wei moved in to support. It should have been a clean takedown — at least, that was how Li Wei saw it.

But at the critical moment, Old John hesitated.

Because he was supposed to be the one to destroy the life core — but Li Wei and Li Yue had been expecting him to do it, while he had been expecting them to. The miscommunication left the blue python completely unharmed as it retreated.

The first real gap in the entire special boss fight.

Li Yue's furious glare looked like it could kill Old John on the spot.

This wasn't a beginner dungeon where the raid leader had to call every move. In a boss fight at this level — especially against a boss this intelligent — shouting orders openly was dangerous. Even obvious eye contact had to be minimized, unless you had the composure Li Wei had shown earlier with Zhao Xuanxuan. And that had only been necessary because Zhao Xuanxuan was too low-level to read the situation herself.

But Old John was a Four-Star veteran — 4+4+3+3. How could he not read the room?

Li Yue had already destroyed one life core. Zhao Xuanxuan had destroyed one. Li Wei was carrying Zhao Xuanxuan, so obviously he couldn't take the next one — his aggro would stack and overflow, risking a loss of control. Zhao Guozhu was busy shielding Annie, so he had no opening either.

Li Wei had set up the perfect assist with his bow. Li Yue had supported with the greatsword. They had handed Old John the ideal window. Why hadn't he gone for the life core? Was that not basic raid sense?

What was he thinking? What kind of attitude was this? Did he think this was a casual game?

Old John's face reddened. He knew he had made a mistake — but he had his reasons. He had come to this mission branch to grind for a rare Profession Card, not to fight to the death. This boss was deeply unsettling. Especially at this stage, the pattern had become obvious: it was forcing everyone present to accumulate aggro buffs.

Five pythons, five aggro buffs.

Once all five pythons were dead and the boss entered its second phase, it would go berserk — and whoever carried the most aggro would take the heaviest damage. That was a certainty.

He and Zhao Guozhu and Annie had split the frost python's aggro three ways. If he now destroyed the blue python's life core as well, his aggro buff would stack to 1.333. In the second phase, he'd take the worst of it — possibly enough to send him straight back to the lobby.

So honestly — was he wrong? Who was going to compensate him for that loss? A few hundred gold coins in the mail?

No one challenged Old John's choice in that moment, because the blue python's targeting cooldown had just begun — and the deep-green python was already entering the fight.

As expected: deep-green venom rained down in sheets. Where it landed, toxic fog formed and spread, obscuring the light, forcing everyone to retreat continuously. The poison python seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of venom. This was going to be a serious problem.

If they couldn't kill the poison python within 90 seconds, what new complications might follow?

"I'll handle this one," Zhao Guozhu said quietly. "It's a stupid snake. As long as you can endure the toxin, killing it isn't hard."

Old John and the just-revived Annie said nothing.

The toxic fog was clearly dangerous and difficult to deal with — but the solution was simple: fight through it at the cost of your own health. The problem was that it wasn't worth it.

"Let me go," Li Wei said suddenly. "Xiaoyue — take Xuanxuan."

He couldn't stay on the sidelines any longer. He even felt a faint urge to laugh — especially looking at Li Yue's expression, which looked like she wanted to murder someone.

Li Yue had planned meticulously, yet even the wisest make mistakes in the end.

The poison python had to die within 90 seconds, or things would get worse.

As for Old John and Annie — he had never counted on them. It didn't matter. In Li Wei's assessment, there was still enough margin in this fight. The situation hadn't spiraled out of control.

Li Yue might even have a trump card in reserve — but it wasn't necessary.

Because Li Wei still needed Li Yue to hold down the Level 5 Scavenger Camp for the next month. This campaign would continue — no more special bosses, but the crisis wasn't over.

He knew what mattered more.

Li Yue smiled slightly. The anger from before vanished. She said nothing to Li Wei — just moved quickly to take the still-unconscious Zhao Xuanxuan, strapped her to her back with a length of cord, and turned to face the fight.

Meanwhile, Li Wei rapidly downed a Two-Star Blood Resistance Potion and a Two-Star Life Elixir. He cut several strips of cloth from Zhao Xuanxuan's clothing, covered his eyes and mouth, and wrapped both hands — he really needed a pair of deerskin gloves. Unfortunately, even Li Yue couldn't produce the right ones on the spot.

The next moment, Li Wei charged without hesitation into the toxic fog, which had turned the air as black as ink.

The instant he entered, his skin began to itch unbearably. Within seconds, the exposed skin on his body started to ulcerate. The Rat Slayer title wasn't working?

No — it was still working. Because this toxic fog was laced with radiation toxin capable of causing Level 4 Blood Plague infection. The Rat Slayer title was suppressing that. But the venom itself was a separate threat.

Li Wei didn't dare switch titles. He watched his own skin rot, felt the maddening itch across his entire body, felt the air he breathed corroding his throat.

The Two-Star Life Elixir was working — slowly. Fortunately, he had covered his eyes. Otherwise, his eyeballs would have dissolved by now.

As for finding the poison python in this environment — he wasn't worried.

Since it had started spraying venom, the Serpent Knight had stopped moving quickly. And with its enormous weight, even slow movement produced audible, heavy footsteps.

That was enough for Li Wei.

The Serpent Knight was moving — chasing Li Yue, who now had Zhao Xuanxuan on her back. Double aggro. Of course it was going after her.

Li Wei closed in rapidly. The poison python had no awareness of him at all — exactly as Zhao Guozhu had said. A stupid snake. Predictable in its first phase, but lethal. Easy to kill — if you were willing to pay with your body.

Li Wei's throat felt like it was dissolving. The Two-Star Life Elixir's regeneration was barely keeping pace — his Life was dropping at roughly 10 points per second.

A few quick movements, and he reached the Serpent Knight. The exposed skin on his arms was heavily ulcerated. A few more seconds and he'd be down to bones.

Ignoring the pain, he gripped the Enchanted Heavy Sword in both hands. No need to sense for the life core's location — he simply swung with everything he had, severing the poison python cleanly from the stone-statue figure's back at the root.

The python let out a death-shriek. Its massive body crashed to the ground. Venom splattered everywhere — drenching Li Wei from head to toe. Unavoidable.

Yes, killing the deep-green python was that simple. And that dangerous.

But the python was still writhing. It was trying to escape — because its life core was still inside it. If it got away, it wouldn't die.

Li Wei gritted his teeth, tracked it by sound, sprinted after it, and drove the sword through the rear half of its body, pinning it to the ground.

He reached for his Enchanted Dagger to destroy the life core — but the python suddenly shed its tail like a lizard, abandoning the pinned section, and fled as a twenty-meter serpent at terrifying speed.

The direction it fled — directly away from Li Yue and the others. No chance of interception.

No matter. Once it left the toxic fog, Li Yue would never let it escape.

But then — the python twisted its head and dove back into the depths of the toxic fog.

Damn it.