Volume 6: Fighting for the World Chapter 212 The Critical First Step
I didn't intend to let Khufu take advantage of his more flexible movements and adopt a roaming fighting tactic. From the very beginning, he had to engage in a fierce head-on confrontation with the Hell Dragon. You slap me, I hit you with a stick. While being hurt, he must not let his opponent have an easy time. He fought with the Hell Dragon with injuries for injuries. Although he is one of the most powerful undead races in the "Dead Space", and a super strong man with a level of ten, coupled with his body shape, the lower-level tenth-level Hell Dragon has more mental power than the newly promoted Great Pharaoh. Even with the accelerated recovery function of the "Pyramid", he can't devote too much attention to concentrate on controlling in the fierce battle, and the effect he can play will be affected accordingly. Such a hard fight will not give Khufu any advantage, but with my help, the situation is very different. The "Sacrifice" magic can allow other nearby undead minions to share 80% of the attack damage suffered by Khufu. Even if it only lasts for a minute or two, it is equivalent to a lot of extra mental power; the "Soul of the Undead" magic can also heal Khufu's injuries and replenish some mental power for him, which also prolongs his continuous fighting time; I hid far away and activated the "Touch of Death" to quickly and conveniently absorb the mental power of my subordinates, ensuring that I could always provide necessary support to Khufu, and have enough capital to engage in close combat with the Hell Dragon.
This was a violent battle. As the melee continued, both Khufu and the Hell Dragon gradually became bloodthirsty and almost completely gave up defense, attacking with all their strength. Every attack was to cause the greatest damage to the opponent, regardless of their own injuries. Even I, the master, did not dare to give orders to Khufu through the "Soul Contract" in the increasingly fierce battle, and specifically commanded it on how to act, so as not to affect its performance, but to be easily taken advantage of by the Hell Dragon. Everything could only rely on its own fighting instinct. This was a hardship for me. I did not dare to mobilize Khufu, and could only look for opportunities to fully cooperate with its actions, command the subordinates who shared the damage to stay within an effective distance, and constantly cast the "Soul of the Dead" magic on it. As a master, I ended up doing the work of a servant, carefully serving it and trying my best to maintain its safety.
I had to take such a risky tactic because I had no choice. After all, Khufu can only fight on land, but the Hell Dragon can fly. Even if we have the ability to defeat it, if it finds that the situation is not good, it will fly into the sky and escape far away, and the plan to subdue it will fail. As a level 10 strongman, unless it is an idiot dragon with a burnt brain, it should still have this wisdom and judgment ability. It is difficult to achieve the goal under normal circumstances, so we can only find a way to make the situation abnormal and disrupt the Hell Dragon's emotions, so that it can't calmly analyze, accurately judge the situation, and decide to advance or retreat. Although the Hell Dragon that went to the battle is only half a level lower than Khufu, compared with the Hell Dragon Clan, one of , the status of the Mummy Clan is far inferior. Perhaps it would be similar if it were the legendary Pharaoh. The arrogant Hell Dragon would never take a great Pharaoh seriously. Khufu attacked fiercely from the beginning of the battle, and never gave in. Naturally, the Hell Dragon would never show weakness and choose to retreat. Being oppressed by such a low-level undead, and unable to gain an overwhelming advantage, its anger would definitely become more and more intense, and it would easily lose its composure and gradually fall into madness. Even if the situation becomes unfavorable to it, I am afraid it may not make the right judgment and reaction. It may still be determined to defeat Khufu and will never admit that it does not have that ability. As long as it does not choose to escape and is willing to fight Khufu to the death, I have a greater chance of defeating it completely. This is the experience I have gained through many experiments, repeatedly provoking the Black Bone Dragon with the weaker undead. Facing the challenge of the weak, it will never easily choose to retreat. Once it is completely aroused, it is easy to fall into a violent state, affecting its thinking. Unless there is a big stimulus, such as the forced constraints of some rules and regulations - the black bone dragon that occupies the mountain will not leave the "Dragon Bone Mountain" and will generally stop at the border, or the difference in strength between the enemy and us is too great - suddenly a group of enemies rush out and they are no match at all, or they are seriously injured and are close to life and death, otherwise it is difficult to restore normal judgment. The Hell Dragon and the Black Bone Dragon both belong to the bone dragon family, and their natures should be similar, but the status of the Hell Dragon is still higher than that of the Black Bone Dragon, and it may even be better. In order to prevent the Hell Dragon from flying away when the battle situation is unfavorable, Khufu can only fight it head-on, provoke its anger, and fight to the death.
The battle was still fierce. Khufu and the Hell Dragon fought back and forth, neither of them was willing to give in. Every attack was adding damage to the opponent. Even without the additional effect of the fire attribute attack, it was not easy to bear with their physical attack power alone. After all, mental power is limited. It is impossible to hold on for too long under such a fierce attack. After a lot of consumption, both sides gradually showed signs of fatigue. They were severely injured and had little mental power left. Khufu had my support, so the situation was slightly better. The Hell Dragon was not so optimistic. The more damage, the less. The longer the time dragged on, the more disadvantageous it was. Slowly, it could not catch up with Khufu, and the advantage began to gradually shift to Khufu. However, I did not take advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack. I began to deliberately let Khufu preserve his strength. He would rather let his body be injured and damaged, but also accumulate some mental power, ready to suddenly attack at the critical moment with my cooperation, and strive to severely injure the Hell Dragon in one fell swoop, so that it would lose the ability to counterattack and escape.
Both sides were seriously injured. The Hell Dragon was relatively strong, so the damage was not serious. It was mainly due to the consumption of its mental power, which was not much left. The physical condition was not as good as that of the Bone Dragon after all. Its body was full of holes and dents, and it was almost unrecognizable. If I hadn't continuously used the "Soul of the Dead" to replenish its vitality, I'm afraid it would have been seriously injured and downgraded. The damage was mainly to its soul energy. With my intentional replenishment of mental power in recent times, it has exceeded 60%, which is enough to continuously perform four "Thunder Blows" with 15% of the maximum mental power, giving the Hell Dragon the heaviest blow.
Khufu's severely damaged body can't hold out for much longer, and I must launch a final counterattack. Otherwise, let alone whether Khufu still has the strength to cooperate with me in the attack, once his life is in danger, the Hell Dragon may wake up under the rule of "no killing" and can't delay any longer. Observing the Hell Dragon from a distance, this big guy is really strong. With my support, Khufu has fought so hard, but he hasn't knocked it down yet. It can still hold on even though it is staggering. It's hard for Khufu. He has to give up his strengths and take advantage of his weaknesses. He really can't have much chance of winning by fighting with a Hell Dragon that focuses on melee.
I quickly replenished my mental power, returned to the battle circle, issued an order to Khufu, and prepared to counterattack. I locked onto the position of the Hell Dragon from a distance, concentrated 30% of my mental power, and issued a "mental attack". This is the most effective attack method I have. In the past, because the Hell Dragon was too strong and had a high mental resistance, it would not have much effect. Now that the Hell Dragon has been severely injured, its mental resistance must have been weakened a lot, and it should be able to play a role.
"Boom", just when the "mental attack" touched the Hell Dragon, a strong reaction force was transmitted back. I felt a black screen in front of my eyes, and my head seemed to explode. I was knocked to the ground involuntarily, and I lost control of my body for a while. I just focused all my energy and tried my best to maintain my consciousness so as not to faint. Fortunately, I still maintained a spiritual connection with Khufu. The Hell Dragon was not completely unharmed. Its body was also shaken. The dragon leg that was originally stepping on Khufu actually leaned to the side, and it seemed to have lost some balance. Khufu naturally would not miss such a good counterattack opportunity. He used the "Thunder Strike" in time and hit the belly of the Hell Dragon, causing it to shake twice.
This is the critical moment, and I must not delay, otherwise the situation is critical. The Hell Dragon might regain its composure. I tried my best to resist the dizziness. The strong reaction force consumed about 10% of my mental power, so I used a "magic storage ring" to replenish 20% of my mental power. With this effect, I regained a little clarity, immediately locked onto the figure of the Hell Dragon, and launched a "mental attack" again. The consequences this time were more serious. I was almost knocked unconscious by the reaction force, and even lost consciousness for a while. When I regained consciousness, I was lying on the ground, weak all over, dizzy, and almost unable to stand up. The Hell Dragon was continuously injured under the "Thunder Strike" attack launched by Khufu and me, and its body seemed shaky. It could only defend itself and had no power to fight back. It's a pity that Khufu was already at the end of his strength. The Fire Bone Staff he swung out with all his might was weak and slow, as if he was practicing Tai Chi with the Hell Dragon. Even if he hit the Hell Dragon, it probably wouldn't cause much damage.
I gritted my teeth and used another "magic storage ring" to replenish 20% of my mental power. I was afraid that the Hell Dragon would suddenly fly away and escape. I didn't dare to delay any longer. I endured the feeling of weakness and dizziness, and tried my best to concentrate my mind and released the third "mental attack" towards the Hell Dragon that was still resisting. At the same time as I hit the Hell Dragon, I was also knocked unconscious. I didn't expect the reaction force to be so strong. After all, I am only a level 8 profession, and my basic mental power is still a little lower than that of the Hell Dragon of the lower level 10. It was really thanks to the two "magic storage rings", otherwise I could only send out two "mental attacks" in a row, and the situation would probably be even more unfavorable. Success or failure depends on this one move. If I still can't defeat the Hell Dragon, I can only accept my fate.
When I regained consciousness slowly, I didn't know how much time had passed, but I was still lying on the ground. Thinking of the Hell Dragon, I resisted the dizziness and looked up. I saw that big guy was also lying on the ground, his body couldn't help but twitch and struggle, moving his legs and flapping his wings, as if he wanted to stand up again, but he could only make slight movements and completely lost the ability to resist. Khufu, who was standing by, had also exhausted his strength. He half-knelt on the ground, using his fire bone staff to support his shaky body, trying his best not to fall down, staring at the Hell Dragon, faithfully carrying out the order I gave it to protect me as much as possible before launching the third "mental attack" just in case. I couldn't help but feel relieved. I finally defeated the Hell Dragon, and it was worth my hard work. I was delighted, but I was also a little scared. I wondered if I was infected by the fierce fight between Khufu and the Hell Dragon, and I took a risk. What if the final attack did not achieve the desired goal, and the Hell Dragon was still able to move, and the seriously injured Khufu was unable to stop it, and I fainted and fell to the ground, it would be too dangerous, and I might even bring myself a fatal disaster. Although there were Kekexili, Guben, Taotao and others around, and the "Hell Dragon Challenge" was not over, I did not dare to interfere, otherwise it would be a pretext, and Hades might take this opportunity to cancel Khufu's immersion qualification, or even expel me.
Seeing me stand up, and confirming through mental connection that I had recovered my ability to protect myself, Khufu could no longer hold on, and collapsed to the ground, almost fainting. With the strength of the newly promoted Great Pharaoh, it was really not easy to engage in such a fierce hand-to-hand combat with the strong Hell Dragon, exchanging injuries for injuries. Life and death are actually just a thin line between us. If there is a slight mistake in the middle, we may fail. I was too anxious about conquering the Hell Dragon. Perhaps after waiting for two or three months, Khufu's strength will be further enhanced, and he will be more confident. Unfortunately, time is running out, and in order to achieve better development, he has to take risks.
Fearing that Khufu, who was seriously injured, was in danger of being demoted, I hurried forward a few steps and used the "Soul of the Dead" to treat him repeatedly. Finally, I stabilized his injuries and he did not faint. He remained awake and began to concentrate and focus on driving the "pyramid" on his head to speed up the absorption of fire energy. Even if his injuries were difficult to recover for a while, at least they would not get worse. After rescuing Khufu, it was time to deal with the completely defeated Hell Dragon. Although it suffered a heavy blow and was lying on the ground without the ability to move, it still maintained consciousness and wanted to get up from the ground unwillingly. If I signed a "soul contract" with it, I would definitely encounter stronger resistance, so I activated the "touch of death" to absorb its mental power. I had to make it fall into a coma. It could only rely on instinct and spontaneous mental resistance to increase the success rate of conquering it.
Compared with other races of undead creatures, the success rate of signing "soul contracts" for the bone dragons living in groups is one level higher. I am now unable to subdue even the upper-level ninth-level black bone dragon. Facing the lower-level tenth-level hell dragon, which may have a name given by the system, I must use the pseudo-artifact "Soul Finger" that can increase the success rate of signing "soul contracts" by 25% within fifteen minutes. Although it seems to be a waste, this hell dragon is of great use to me. If I subdue it one day earlier, I can start the next step as soon as possible. I don't want to wait until I advance to the ninth-level profession. In fact, even so, it is still quite difficult to subdue a lower-order level ten Hell Dragon within fifteen minutes. After all, I have only used the "Soul-Gathering Finger" to subdue a lower-order level ten Undead Ghost Phoenix and an upper-order level nine Intermediate Destruction Knight before. Faced with the Hell Dragon, which is one level more difficult to subdue, I really have no confidence. Therefore, to be on the safe side, I deliberately borrowed a "Soul Black Jade Ring" and a "Soul Bracelet" before the challenge, which increased the success rate of signing the "Soul Contract" by 9%, and tried my best to subdue the defeated Hell Dragon.
Seeing that the Hell Dragon had fallen into a deep coma, if I continued to absorb its spiritual power, it would be in danger of its life. I took back the "Touch of Death" and first used the "Blood Transformation" to try to sign a "Soul Contract". I tapped the Hell Dragon, but it was like a drop in the ocean, with no reaction at all. Obviously, there was no chance of success. Gritting my teeth, secretly praying for the dead old man's blessing, I used the "Soul Collection Finger" and concentrated all my energy to perform the "Soul Contract". The Hell Dragon's consciousness was indeed loosened, and there was a possibility of taming it, so I tried again and again, hoping to successfully tame it.
Ten minutes had passed, and he still hadn't successfully signed the "Soul Contract". He couldn't help but get a little worried. What if he still couldn't succeed after persisting to the end? Should he use the second "Soul-collecting Finger" to continue to subdue it? Or should he give up and simply kill the Hell Dragon, try to seal it with the "Soul-sealing Card", and wait for a chance in the future? He couldn't make up his mind for the moment, but he didn't dare to be too distracted, so as not to further affect the success rate. He tried his best to control his temper and continue to try, waiting for failure before making plans.
Seeing that there was only a little over a minute left, the time limit of the "Soul-collecting Finger" was about to expire, and I was gradually feeling disappointed. Suddenly, a faint white light flashed in front of me. I didn't react for a moment, and habitually continued to use the "Soul Contract" on the Hell Dragon, but found that it was already in a state where it could not be subdued, and I could no longer sign the "Soul Contract". I was slightly stunned for a moment, and then I understood. I couldn't help but let out a hysterical roar, and suddenly I felt as if I had lost all my strength, and I couldn't stand up anymore. I collapsed to the ground like Khufu - I finally succeeded in subduing a lower-level tenth-level Hell Dragon, taking the most critical first step to conquer the Hell Dragon clan and rule the "Hell Volcano".
