Volume 5: Protracted War Chapter 22: Rage Period
If I had fought other types of undead, even if they were at the same level as the four undead in front of me, I would still have the confidence to try hard to find a way to defeat them, and I would never be afraid before the battle, and would not think about how to defeat the enemy, but how to save my life and escape first. But unfortunately, for the undead creatures with the attribute of Hellfire, they naturally have a strong ability to resist fire, and whether it is Taotao's "Hellfire Ray" or the most powerful attack skill "Hellish Will-O-Wisp" that I have just learned, they all belong to the category of "fire". Using them, I am afraid it will be difficult to cause damage to the enemy. Moreover, the difference in strength is huge, even the artifact "Touch of Death" may not have any effect against them. Fighting is inherently disadvantageous to me, and my strength, which is not strong to begin with, will be further weakened in actual combat.
I have always disliked fighting against opponents who are too fast, especially when the enemy is strong and I am weak. For me, who relies on many powerful subordinates to fight for my life and has little combat experience, fast opponents are prone to launch surprise attacks, which poses a greater threat to me, and it is doubly difficult to defend against them. Among the four undead, only the necromancer Had and the skeleton general Ludi are not as fast as me. If I want to retain a slight chance of winning in the challenge, then the necromancer Had should be my only choice.
Hader's speed is slightly slower than mine, and his defense is relatively low. The "Death Cloud" with properties similar to "water" should have some effect on him. In addition, as a Hellfire physique, it is estimated that the attack magic he controls should also be mainly "fire". Taotao's properties match, and I have the "Phoenix Feather Cloak" to protect my body, which can offset some of the fire damage. I should be able to hold out for a while under his attack. If we keep confronting and entangled, there may be a little chance. But the risk of doing so is undoubtedly very high. These are all taken for granted. I don't know what specific attack methods Hader has, and how powerful his magic attack is. Once it exceeds my expectations and can cause relatively large damage to me, the situation will be extremely unfavorable. Comparing speed, coupled with the influence of the harsh external environment, I don't have the confidence to quickly get rid of Hader's pursuit.
The safest choice is to choose Skeleton General Ludi. He is much slower. I can move freely in battle and get rid of him at any time. However, his defense is the highest among the four undead. It is difficult to hurt him with "Death Cloud". The possibility of winning is almost impossible. Choosing Ludi is actually equivalent to giving up indirectly. It is just a psychological comfort for myself.
Neither Taotao nor I want to die, nor can we afford to die. Even a 3% loss of my mental power limit is not something I am willing to bear. Moreover, a 3% loss is almost impossible. It will be either 5% or 8%. If I die, Taotao may still be able to escape from the "Hell Volcano", but if Taotao dies early, without him as a "guide" with perception, how can I avoid the attack of the "lava storm" and escape safely down the mountain? It's all the fault of that old man. If he hadn't explained the situation in detail, how could I have been so impatient to climb up the "Hell Volcano" and helplessly face a challenge that I had no chance of winning? Perhaps when I advance to the seventh-level professional necromancer and learn a new powerful attack magic that is not a "fire" attribute, the chances of winning the challenge should be greater.
"I choose the tenth-ranked Skeleton General Ludi." After struggling internally for a long time, I finally made the difficult choice. Although I have invested enough in this "Hell Volcano" trip, the opponent is too strong and the risk is very high. There is no need to fight desperately like a gambler who has lost all his money. Anyway, if I missed it this time, there will still be opportunities in the future. If I just want to take risks, luck may not always be on my side.
In my plan, the quiet mountain top was actually the best battlefield, so that I wouldn't be distracted by the large and small lava falling from the sky from time to time. However, the Nether Dragon King drove us off the mountain top on the grounds that it would easily affect the cultivation of other undead in the "Hell Magma Pool", so we had to fight in the "lava storm". Really, this damn old dragon king, isn't this obviously favoring Lu Di, whose perception ability is superior to Tao Tao? If Tao Tao and I hadn't cooperated for a long time and had a very tacit understanding, even in the fierce battle, we wouldn't interfere with each other's spiritual connection. If I hadn't been a little careless, I might have been killed by the lava falling from the sky.
The difficulty of the battle was not beyond my expectation. Ludi was a "steel fortress" and was too strong. Its attack method was relatively simple, that is, punching and kicking. The fighting tactics of ordinary people were at most a layer of faint black and red flames about an inch high. It was probably to increase some fire damage, and there were not many tricks. However, it was extremely powerful. It made a big pit when it hit the ground. The sound of tearing the air was clearly audible. It would definitely not be good to be touched. Fortunately, its movements were relatively slow. Taotao and I were much more flexible than it. It was easy to avoid attacks, so there was no danger for a while. But I couldn't do anything with it. Its defense was really amazing. "Death Cloud" and "Netherworld Ghost Fire" didn't react at all when they hit it. I'm afraid it didn't even hurt the periosteum. Taotao could only circle around it helplessly, spraying and kicking it. All the means were exhausted, but there was no effect at all.
The thing that surprised me a little was the artifact "Touch of Death". It might be because my basic mental power has been greatly improved, and the mutated Ludi has a low IQ and a simple mind (this is not my "derogatory" word, but the Nether Dragon King's casual evaluation of Ludi. I feel that he is really different from the skeleton general I have seen in the "General's Evaluation" promotion task. They are not of the same kind at all. This may be the price paid for a significant increase in strength, and it also fits the definition of a simple mind and well-developed limbs). Because of this, "Touch of Death" was not shaken away by its mental resistance when it entangled it, but the harvest was also very little. Only a little bit of mental power was transmitted to it. Even if the automatic recovery effect of mental power is not taken into account, it is definitely not possible to suck such a big skeleton general into a "skeleton dry" in three or five days. Of course, it is not completely useless. Under the interference of "Touch of Death", this big fool Lu Di seems to be quite uncomfortable. He roars , shakes his body violently, and waves his fists to tear. It seems that he is trying to get rid of the entanglement of "Touch of Death". This has also affected his mental consciousness and actions to a certain extent. It seems that he can't concentrate on sensing the trajectory of the "lava storm", and it is not so easy to dodge. It feels slightly inferior to Taotao. In addition, due to his slow speed, he will be affected by the "lava storm" from time to time. However, his body is really solid enough. Even if he was hit by millstone-sized lava twice, it was not a big deal. At most, he just staggered a few steps, and even waved his fists to meet the lava that was hitting him to reduce the impact on his body. Most of the smaller or soft lava were smashed by his punch, which was a further blow to my confidence.
We have been fighting for a whole day, running and fighting, using my best "mobile warfare". Because it is unlikely to return to the top of the mountain, I have been leading Lu Di to run to the foot of the mountain, so that it is relatively easier to escape from the "hell volcano". Estimate the position. Because we are fighting while running, and Lu Di's speed is too slow, although we are going down the mountain, it is only half a day's walk when we went up the mountain before. Now we are in the middle of the dense area of "lava storm". The lava that falls from time to time always makes me nervous. I have to stay highly focused at all times and dare not be negligent. After fighting for such a long time, there is no situation that can make me feel positive. I am only nervous, anxious, and worried... I finally feel desperate. All the means of attack have been exhausted, but no actual results have been achieved. Lu Di still looks energetic and vigorous, and he is chasing us relentlessly. If it weren't for the obvious advantage of Tao Tao and I in speed, we can take turns to lure the enemy to attack and have time to rest and recover our strength, we would have been dragged down long ago. Judging from the current development of the situation, there is no chance of winning. There is no point in continuing like this. It is just a meaningless waste of time. Although I am still unwilling, my reason tells me that giving up early is the best option.
Looking at the tall skeleton general, Lu Di sighed and smashed two more "Death Clouds". I said hello to Tao Tao and was about to turn around and "flee". Suddenly, a series of rumbling sounds like muffled thunder sounded in the sky, and large groups of black and red clouds emerged. Even the "Hell Volcano" under my feet trembled slightly, feeling a bit like a sign of landslides and earthquakes. However, the "Hell Volcano" is one of the four forbidden areas after all, so it is not surprising that there are some strange phenomena. I didn't care. Instead, Lu Di, who was shouting and chasing me, stopped immediately, stood still for a moment, and turned around and ran towards the top of the mountain. It seemed that he was working harder than when he was chasing me. It can be described as "flustered". I was stunned. I haven't started to run away yet, why did it run away first? What the hell is it doing?
The sudden change made me hesitate for a moment, and I couldn't make up my mind what to do next. I originally wanted to run away, but now the opponent was sick and fled first. With Lu Di's intelligence, I don't think he would play any tricks of "showing weakness to the enemy and luring the enemy to chase". If I persisted a little longer, maybe things would turn out differently. While I was thinking about it, weighing the pros and cons of running away and chasing, Tao Tao suddenly panicked. I felt that he was very scared. I hurriedly asked about the situation, and I was immediately scared. "Countless lava is brewing and forming, and the volcano is about to erupt!"
I suddenly remembered what the Nether Dragon King once said: "The 'Hell Volcano' will have an irregular 'violent period', during which the frequency and density of the 'lava storm' will increase a lot , making it more difficult to dodge." I just heard it at the time and thought it was just an introduction, so I didn't take it seriously. Now the sky suddenly changed, and the powerful Skeleton General Ludi, who had lived in the volcano for a long time, seemed to be greatly frightened. Even Taotao was extremely scared. It was obvious that something big was about to happen. Could it be that I was so unlucky to encounter this irregular volcanic "violent period"?
I didn't have time to think about it. I didn't have any better countermeasures. I could only trust Taotao's feelings. If the "lava storm" really erupted, Taotao and I would definitely be in danger under the dense "bombing" of lava. I quickly made up my mind: running down the mountain would definitely be the most unwise. Even if we escaped from this dense "lava storm" area, we would still be threatened by the lava. We have not experienced the "violent period" and don't know the specific situation. Maybe we can't handle it at all. The only way now is to catch up and follow Ludi. After all, it has lived in the volcano for a long time and is familiar with the situation here. In addition, its perception ability is still better than Taotao. It should know how to "seek good fortune and avoid danger". Maybe it can lead us to a way out.
There was no time to lose, so we did it right away. Taotao and I quickly approached the desperate Ludi. It was really scared and ran towards the top of the mountain. It didn't even look at us, and didn't want to waste any time. In fact, we rarely saw undead creatures in the area a few hours ago. We didn't care at the time, thinking that it was afraid of the powerful Ludi and hid far away. Now it seems that it may have sensed the coming of the "rage period" in advance and fled first. Poor Ludi was probably affected by the "touch of death" and its perception was reduced to the same level as Taotao, so it failed to detect the coming of the "rage period" in advance and fell into a dangerous situation like us.
My guess was soon confirmed. Before we had run out for long, the "lava storm" began to become more frequent and dense, rumbling down from time to time, with a terrifying momentum. In such a harsher environment, Taotao's perception ability was greatly affected and could no longer play a big role. It could no longer accurately judge the landing point of the lava and avoid it as before. Without it as a "guide", the situation became more dangerous. Fortunately, there was Ludi, a "live radar" around. Its perception ability was far better than Taotao's. Naturally, it knew where the terrifying "minefield" was and where it would be safer. Moreover, it was determined to escape and had no time to take care of us. We could boldly approach it and follow its actions, which was much safer than our blind rush. In order to maximize its perception ability and make accurate judgments, I withdrew all the "touch of death" to avoid distracting its attention and accidentally leading us to a dead end. It was all up to it to escape from the increasingly frequent and dense "lava storm".
