novelraw Chapter 246: Hunting Begins! Monsters Appear!
Chapter 246: Hunting Begins! Monsters Appear!
The monster before him exuded an inscrutable aura.
Its fierce and bulky form paused momentarily, and its head slightly poked forward.
Instinctively, it played dead like a human, hiding its restless spiritual energy.
Shadow beasts felt no pain and lacked emotions, yet they still possessed the instincts of wild animals.
Instinct was their way of survival.
As a predator, it stepped back a few paces and bumped against the large door behind it.
“!!!”
With a loud bang!
A semi-illusory tentacle suddenly shot out like a ferocious giant python, smashing forward!
Its head plunged into the wall, shattering the structure behind it!Then! Came the second punch!
Steel Qi!
Accompanied by an even stronger black aura, in an instant, the five-meter-tall house behind it collapsed into ruins, dust flying everywhere!
Huff—
Among the rubble of the collapsed house, only a shattered upper body and a pitch-black bear head stained with dark blood remained.
[You have killed the Great Bear Shadow Deer, gaining 500 inspiration points.]
Chen Qi wiped the black blood from the corner of his mouth, looking down at the corpse beneath his feet:
“Why run away? Can’t I attract you?”
As he spoke, a small dark tentacle slowly grew from Chen Qi’s back, picking up the wriggling shadow on the ground along with the shadow core.
“Not exciting enough…”
Chen Qi glanced at the wriggling shadow in his hand, then silently looked toward the end of the street.
Due to the limited visibility inside the B-tier dimensional rift, his sight was restricted, unable to clearly see the creatures on the street, but he could hear their desperate cries for help from the depths of their hearts.
It was clear that the town’s residents were fleeing!
“Am I really that terrifying?”
Chen Qi stored the items in his backpack card and spat out a mouthful of bright red blood mist.
In this battle, Chen Qi rarely used a special ability—his Charm of Shadows Level 3.
Charm of Shadows Level 3 allowed him to cloak himself in darkness with a layer of dark aura while simultaneously emitting an aura that attracted shadow beasts.
With this ability, combined with the Night Monster’s traits and the darkness of the B-tier rift, even under the lantern’s light, Chen Qi himself was like a black hole that absorbed all light, bottomless and unfathomable.
The Daylight Lantern, combined with Charm of Shadows, greatly reduced the difficulty of the rift.
However, the lantern’s brightness and Chen Qi’s own aura also caused significant trouble.
Chen Qi originally thought that by simply holding the lantern and walking the streets, he would provoke the shadow beasts’ anger and be surrounded by them.
That way, he could play a tower defense game, slaughtering the beasts one by one as they attacked, farming a large amount of inspiration points.
But contrary to his wishes, after activating Ember’s Touch and the Night Monster’s state, holding the Daylight Lantern kept shadow beasts away from him entirely.
More precisely, no human dared approach him; even the burly pirates who had been on battlefields fled at the sight of him.
“Why? Is my appearance too scary?”
Chen Qi glanced back at the Ember’s Touch on his back.
It had grown larger and thicker.
Previously, at second tier, he hadn’t fully unleashed Ember’s Touch’s power.
Only after reaching third tier did Ember’s Touch’s power fully manifest.
Those tentacles had grown massive—three meters long and an astonishing fifty centimeters in diameter, as wide as a human head.
With the growth of his spiritual core and the increase of all attributes of the Night Monster, these eight dark, thick, and terrifying tentacles danced wildly behind him, especially frightening!
Combined with the deep black coloring from Charm of Shadows Level 3, Chen Qi looked like a terrifying monster walking the night holding a lantern.
He could also feel the mental debuff’s influence, making him more impulsive and his inner desires easier to ignite.
“I must find a way to attract those monsters…”
Chen Qi stared coldly at the 1500 inspiration points on his panel.
The efficiency was too low; Shadow Tide Night was a rare opportunity to farm inspiration points.
Also, to achieve a C-level rating, he needed to kill enough shadow beasts.
Chen Qi looked down at the Daylight Lantern in his hand.
At this moment, shadowy hands quietly crept from the pitch-black ground, attempting to extinguish the lantern’s light.
“Bang! (Go!)”
“Ha! (Go away!)”
Six deepsea water spirits with mining lamps acted like professional bodyguards, driving away the shadowy hands.
Shadowy hands had no offensive power and were extremely fragile; a few shouts and strikes could scare them off.
The deepsea water spirits were the best choice to drive away these shadow shadow beasts.
With the deepsea water spirits protecting him, Chen Qi didn’t have to worry about the shadowy hands for the time being… His spiritual vision extended into the darkness.
In the shadows, he sensed the entire town’s restlessness and panic.
In the silent darkness, more and more people were under attack by shadow beasts.
Whether to protect the town or the wriggling shadows, he had to hunt—hunt more shadow beasts.
“Since my charm can’t attract shadow beasts, and the Daylight Lantern drives them away—”
“Is there something weak but rich in spiritual energy that could attract them?” Chen Qi pondered.
He lowered his head, looking at the six adorable deepsea water spirits at his feet.
The deepsea water spirits looked up, dumbfoundedly staring at their master.
……
……
Tick! Tick!
On the town’s commercial street, many torches and lanterns had been torn down and mercilessly thrown to the ground.
In the darkness, ten townsfolk ran desperately, repeatedly striking their flints and calling for help nonstop.
Behind them loomed a ferocious horde of shadow beasts, smelling human scent and relentlessly pursuing them.
Their numbers had reached a full thousand, dense with crimson eyes forming a terrifying wave of darkness.
They constantly emitted heavy panting and roaring sounds, filled with excitement.
In the Sea God Pirates’ plan, the townsfolk’s plight was entirely neglected, turning the whole town into a shadow beast paradise.
With no town guards, the townsfolk could only rely on their own legs and off-duty hunters like Chen Qi.
“Light, we need light…”
The townsfolk ran desperately and suddenly saw a small light source ahead.
Then, they rushed into the light, gaining temporary shelter.
The light shone behind them, and under the lantern’s glow, the shadow beasts temporarily halted their pursuit.
The leading burly man gasped for breath and thanked:
“Thank you!”
However, the next second, the leader froze, realizing there was no human in the light source before them.
How could a light source with no humans escape the shadowy hands’ attacks?
“Waku waku (Hello!)”
A strange voice sounded.
They looked down and saw six bouncy small creatures wearing mining lamp hats.
Despite the environment, they looked quite cute…
In the very center was a special, high-brightness lantern.
The leading man broke out in a cold sweat:
“Thank you… We’re not triggering any special rift events, are we?”
“Waku waku (You’re welcome!)”
Deepsea Water Spirit No.1 bounced politely.
“Everyone, we’re here to support you!”
At this moment, two random second-tier hunters rushed out from the street holding torches to assist.
Behind them, the ferocious shadow beasts gathered, chasing after, forming a dense beast horde.
The sheer size of these shadow beasts made it hard to resist even with bright light sources!
“Prepare to fire!”
They had no time to ponder the strange situation and ignored the water spirits at their feet, drawing weapons and firing into the darkness.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang!
The gunfire temporarily calmed their nerves.
Suddenly, a trembling child beside a townsman raised his hand and pointed with his index finger:
“There’s… someone in the darkness…”
Everyone was startled.
During Shadow Tide Night, being in darkness continuously reduced mental stability, craving light.
In normal circumstances, no one would stay long in the dark.
But now, they faintly saw a humanoid figure in the darkness!
Could this humanoid monster be a special boss of Shadow Tide Night? Everyone guessed, unsure what to do!
With their strength, they were no match for a boss.
“What is this?”
“We need backup, we need the bishop’s help.”
Their hands trembled slightly, about to shoot, but they saw deep black tentacles continuously spreading behind the humanoid monster.
The targetless shadow beast horde instantly focused on this dark humanoid.
The next moment, the pitch-black humanoid monster merged with the shadow beast horde.
Unexpectedly, facing thousands of shadow beasts, the humanoid made no attempt to flee.
In an instant, shadow wolf beasts and shadow serpent beasts were entangled by thick extended tentacles and slammed to the ground.
“Roar! Roar! Roar!”
“Kill, kill, kill!”
The shadow beast horde roared loudly.
“Finally caught you after waiting so long…”
Chen Qi activated Qi Transformation, adding Steel Qi, surrounding himself with a powerful energy aura.
Now was the moment to hunt!
Because of the overwhelming numbers, the shadow beasts didn’t retreat; instead, they bared their fangs and charged at Chen Qi!
A beast tide charging head-on—how could one lose against a thousand?
Boom boom!
The ground echoed with dense collision sounds!
Tentacle Meteor Fist!
Each tentacle punch was like a massive cannonball! All shadow beasts charging at him were quickly blocked by the tentacles!
360-degree defense with no blind spots.
At extremely low mental stability, Chen Qi became a cold combat machine, relentlessly slashing the shadow beasts with tentacles and blades—decapitating and smashing!
At that moment, the entire street echoed with terrifying wails.
[Killed Shadow Wolf, gained 100 inspiration points!]
[Killed Shadow Dog, gained 300 inspiration points!]
[Killed Shadow Bird, gained 250 inspiration points!]
[Killed Shadow Flame, gained 50 inspiration points!]
…
Chen Qi’s tentacle punches formed a dense and terrifying storm, smashing all incoming shadow beasts.
With increasingly fierce strikes, countless inspiration point notifications flooded his vision like a tidal wave.
At the same time, splattered black blood exploded like fireworks, splashing on everyone’s faces.
What was going on!
The people within the light source were stunned and retreated.
Though unable to see the figure in the darkness clearly, the voice, the humanoid’s stance, and attack moves made it clear that the figure was terrifyingly powerful!
The boss of Shadow Tide Night was thrashing shadow beasts!
A rebellion?
Or a creature from the research institute?
Everyone speculated wildly.
Unknowingly, nearly a hundred shadow beast corpses lay scattered on the street, broken into pieces.
The once menacing shadow beast horde was finally frightened by this terrifying power and fled.
They couldn’t believe anyone dared to confront them head-on in the dark!
Chen Qi’s chest rose and fell with each breath, feeling a deep and refreshing satisfaction throughout his body.
Normally, being in darkness would have drained his mental stability to zero, turning him into a desire-filled monster.
But now, he maintained his mental state, feeling more exhilarated the more he fought.
This was the powerful ability of the Night Monster… Chen Qi spat out a mouthful of blood mist.
Soon, the shadow beast horde fled as if scared.
“Who else is there!”
Cold ruthlessness flashed in Chen Qi’s eyes as he scanned the surroundings.
Amidst the massive killing, a sudden loud sound erupted.
An invisible force seemed to tear the surroundings as a massive shadow slowly rose from the darkness, blocking out the already faint light.
It was a gigantic shadow python, its body forty meters long and five meters tall, its scales as black and profound as the night itself, its mouth dripping with copious human blood and flesh.
Its pair of eyes gleamed with eerie green light, like ghost fires in the netherworld, chilling to the bone.
The shadow python slowly writhed, crushing houses with its massive body, producing rumbling sounds, splinters flying, bricks shattering.
As it neared Chen Qi, its lofty head slowly lowered, locking eyes with Chen Qi’s cold gaze.
Time to eat something delicious!
The giant shadow python!
Chen Qi sensed that this was not the small monster encountered earlier but a truly terrifying creature.
Its aura was several times stronger than the Rift Lost he met previously in Rift No. 8.
Placed in a C-tier group rift, it could serve as a high-blood BOSS!
Finally some real meat… The thick tentacles behind Chen Qi pulled out the long knife at his waist.
Draw!
Chen Qi silently caught Flesh Cleaver Bone Breaker.
Normally, with his strength, even with Blade Release, he had no confidence to defeat a C-tier rift elite BOSS.
Especially with the B-tier rift’s enhancement, the giant shadow python’s HP was even thicker than that of the Coastal Apex Predators.
After all, he was just a newly promoted third tier rookie; even if he won, he would be severely injured.
Of course, all this assumed he had no special attack!
“No.1.”
Chen Qi commanded.
Whoosh!
Water Spirit No.1 swiftly grabbed the Daylight Lantern in the middle and threw it beside Chen Qi.
The Daylight Lantern had been enhanced by the Lighting Technique.
Flame Forging could mold light into new flames.
Previously, to avoid detection by shadow beasts, Chen Qi had hidden in the dark, but now, there was no need.
Lighting Technique greatly enhanced his power and dealt high true damage to shadow beasts.
“Flame Forging—”
Chen Qi whispered, placing his finger on the lantern’s light.
Sizzling flames sparked from his fingertip, rapidly spreading like spilled oil.
Chen Qi held the flame and stroked the blade of his long knife, white-hot flames blazing fiercely on the blade.
Huff—
As his finger lightly left the blade tip, tracing the last flame, a perfectly enchanted long knife was formed.
A white flame long knife with ultimate special attack against shadow demons!
Roar!
The giant shadow python lifted its head, the surrounding space trembling, releasing a deafening roar, baring its fangs like a train crashing down from the sky with crushing force!
Chen Qi fiercely drew his knife; catalyzed by Qi Transformation, the white flames suddenly expanded, turning into a towering ten-meter-tall fiery long knife.
Lantern. Flame Forging. Black Wave Slash!
The scorching flames acted like a huge chainsaw, shredding the thick scales of the giant shadow python.
On its skin were powerful Night Scales, extremely strong materials even spiral bullets struggled to penetrate!
Hence, the giant shadow python was very confident.
It didn’t hesitate and took the attack head-on, but the moment it touched the blade, its Night Scales melted like wax.
The giant shadow python let out an instinctive roar.
It twisted its body, trying to struggle, but the burning white fire black waves burst along the blade, tearing a ten-meter-long dark red wound.
Boom!
With dark red blood splattering across the entire street, a huge thick black corpse was felled, shaking the entire street.
Defense? How do you defend against true damage?
This was the ultimate true damage from the Daylight Lantern combined with Flame Forging! Snake!
As the power waned and dust settled, a bright red notification appeared.
[You defeated the Giant Shadow Python, gaining 5000 inspiration points!]
Silence gradually returned as dust fell.
Chen Qi sheathed his knife, feeling the burning heat in his hand.
Then, relieved, Chen Qi turned his head and silently looked at the stunned townsfolk and hunters beside the water spirits, smiling:
“You’re safe… for now.”