Chapter 24: Hunting the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull
"Let's begin!"
"Everyone, good luck!"
"We will definitely win this time!"
The players cheered and encouraged each other.
Everyone felt a surge of nervous excitement.
It no longer felt like a game, but a real hunt.
Lone Boat found a good position and shot a burning Flame Feather Arrow directly at the BOSS's forehead.
28!
The Flame Feather Arrow pierced the exoskeleton of the head, causing considerable damage, though far from fatal, but successfully enraging the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull, which immediately let out a deep, penetrating growl and locked onto the attacker while pawing the ground.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge: "Careful!"
One of the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull's skills was Death Charge, allowing it to instantly accelerate to over two hundred meters per second, attacking the target at a speed almost impossible for ordinary people to dodge.
However.
Before activating the skill.
There would be three pawing movements as a preparatory action.
This was intelligence bought with players' lives!
Lone Boat shifted his position to prevent others from being caught in a straight line and locked his eyes on the Wild Bull, rolling sideways the moment it completed the third pawing motion.
The next moment.
With the sound of whistling through the air.
The massive body brushed past him.
Although the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull's charging attack was extremely fast, it was difficult to change direction mid-charge, so as long as one timed the reaction properly, it was possible to dodge.
Of course, this required very high operational awareness and reflexes!
Lone Boat not only dodged the attack, but also used the bull’s speed to slash a short sword across it in a passing move, dealing another wound!
11!
"Good job!"
Ye Li Meng couldn't help but shout.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge guessed that Lone Boat must be a smurf account of some top-tier god player; his sense of operation, agility, and skill should not lose to any top expert, and ordinary people could never pull this off.
The Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull froze for a moment, its scorpion tail rising high into the air, preparing to strike.
Danger!
It was the Scorpion Tail Stab!
This attack was terrifyingly fast, covering a three-meter radius; even a level 4 Ranger couldn't dodge it, because in the face of absolute speed, even the best skills were useless.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge also fired a powerful Flame Feather Arrow, once again damaging the bull’s head, then followed up with several normal arrows to disrupt it, successfully interrupting the attack.
The monster was enraged.
It immediately launched a fast Death Charge.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge was prepared and rolled to dodge.
While the two Rangers skillfully kited the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull BOSS.
The other players seized the opportunity to divide into four small groups, cooperating to attack the other monsters.
"Flame Arrow Curse!"
Chimera Wraith used a +4 short staff to release flame arrows, pushing back a Skeletal Horned Goat, and Ye Li Meng roared as he charged forward, raising his white-grade battle knife and beheading it with one strike.
So satisfying!
After weapon enhancement.
Slaying monsters felt like slicing vegetables.
It was just too handy!
Ye Li Meng quickly charged at the nearest Scorpion-Tailed Wild Bull, activating Iron Armor Skill to tank a blow head-on, losing nearly half of his HP and falling into a poisoned state.
However, Ye Li Meng's combat style was extremely ferocious; ignoring the attack, he slashed the Wild Bull down in one blow, and Mad Blade Old Wang swiftly followed up with another cut, killing the level 5 monster on the spot.
Salty Fish Thrust: "Quick, heal!"
Midnight Pig Slayer and Chenxi simultaneously cast Healing Spells.
The wounds on Ye Li Meng healed rapidly, and his lost HP was quickly restored; although the poisoned state continued to chip away HP, it was no longer life-threatening.
"Clear the monsters quickly!"
Ye Li Meng, Street Slayer, Chimera Wraith, and Mad Blade Old Wang led the main assault, one after another knocking down the normal monsters under coordinated attacks, soon leaving only the elite BOSS fighting alone.
Of course, during this process.
The players paid the price of three deaths.
"Hahaha, seventeen against one, how can we lose? Hope it drops a lot of rare materials!" Midnight Pig Slayer laughed lewdly and proudly.
Street Slayer grumbled, "You damn fatty, don't jinx it! Heal the wounded quickly!"
The Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull had high defense and a thick HP bar; its main attacks were the Wild Bull Charge and the Scorpion Tail Stab — a hit meant instant death, but the mechanics themselves weren't complicated, so it wasn't too difficult to deal with.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge and Lone Boat's normal attacks and arrows couldn't penetrate the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull's defense; although Flame Feather Arrows could breach the defense and deal damage to the head, their quantity was limited and insufficient to kill it.
"Let me do it!"
Ye Li Meng took advantage of the BOSS being kited by several Rangers and Warlocks to sneak into a blind spot and launched a surprise attack, slashing the bull’s back and dealing nearly thirty points of damage in one strike.
"Effective!"
Warrior output was really high!
Ye Li Meng, with his enhanced white-grade equipment, could break through defenses with a single strike; it wasn't surprising, and he immediately withdrew after landing the blow, avoiding counterattack.
Black-Eyed Rui Ge and Lone Boat continued drawing aggro.
Chimera Wraith, Little Bell, and other Warlocks occasionally fired Flame Arrows to attract attention.
The Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull, attacked from all sides, struggled to defend itself and soon exposed another weakness; Ye Li Meng seized the chance to strike again, and after four or five rounds of this pulling and slashing, they had worn down two-thirds of its HP.
Of course, Twisted Three Kingdoms was not quite the same as traditional games.
It wasn't purely a numbers game!
When the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull’s vitality dropped below a certain point, ordinary wounds would cause almost no damage; only sufficiently fatal wounds could kill it.
Moreover, the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull's aggro was unstable, and it often launched indiscriminate attacks; during one Death Charge, it instantly killed four players, including Little Bell.
Thirteen players remained.
Victory was still within reach.
The Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull was seriously injured.
Its speed and condition were visibly declining.
But just as everyone thought the battle was won.
"Moo—Roar!"
The Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull let out a low roar, its body visibly shriveling, with a large amount of blood rushing toward the tail, causing it to swell and turn black, thick, and hard, like a terrifying black club.
"What’s going on?"
"What is it trying to do?"
"Never seen this move before!"
Before anyone could figure it out.
From the bull's tail, blood-red poisonous spikes shot out at lightning speed, piercing seven players on the field one after another; one of them hit Black-Eyed Rui Ge in the chest.
232 (Fatal Critical)!
"Damn it!" Black-Eyed Rui Ge had never expected that the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull would transform into a spitting warrior, launching a long-range poison attack; the players had no contingency plan for this, and were caught off guard.
Seven people were instantly killed.
Several were core members.
During this process, the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull’s remaining life also dropped sharply, suggesting that such an attack came at a great cost and was a last-resort move.
"Old Ye, I’ll cover you, only one chance!" Lone Boat said as he pulled back his bow and fired his last Flame Feather Arrow, striking the bull's head and pulling its aggro and attention.
The next moment.
A wave of poisonous blood spikes came.
There was no way to dodge — it was certain death!
Several blood spikes pierced Lone Boat’s body, pinning him to the ground behind him, and he was instantly killed without suspense.
"Good brother!"
Ye Li Meng’s eyes turned red.
Even though it was just a game, seeing a comrade fall before his eyes still made his blood boil with rage.
At this moment, the BOSS still had over a hundred HP left — a single strike would not kill it — but Lone Boat’s life had bought an opportunity that could not be wasted; without hesitation, Ye Li Meng charged straight at the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull.
"Moo—!"
The Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull sensed the threat.
Under normal conditions, a Scorpion Tail Strike would have easily disposed of anyone approaching, but after entering the ranged spike shooting mode, the tail’s agility was greatly reduced.
"Die for me!"
Ye Li Meng swung the Flame Battle Knife hysterically; the blade cut through the air with faint sparks and landed heavily on the giant bull’s neck, slicing five inches deep and creating a massive wound.
At the same time.
A sharp spike shot out from the scorpion tail.
It pierced through Ye Li Meng’s heart.
118 (Critical)!
【You have killed the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull!】
【Ding, congratulations to player Ye Li Meng for achieving the First Kill of the Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull, gaining 600 Essence Points and 600 Contribution Points!】
【Ding, you have leveled up to Level 5: HP +10, Strength +3, Agility +2, Spirit +1, Will +1!】
252 (Fatal Critical!)
"Hahaha! We actually succeeded!"
Ye Li Meng was first in disbelief, then showed ecstatic joy, laughing loudly as he collapsed, his face full of satisfaction and relief, as if he had accomplished some great, heroic feat.