Chapter 108: The Companions Gang Up on the Mind Flayer

To the blare of a thunderous pop anthem, a grotesque behemoth led hundreds of demonic hounds and more than a dozen greater fiends into the fountain plaza before the residential quarter.

By pure chance, Lin Xiao and the others were arriving from the sky at that very moment, descending above the plaza. Below them, on the roadway, Nick and Eddie led sixteen sturdy young werewolves, and the two groups all stepped onto the square together.

Battle was about to erupt.

The mind flayer’s colossal true form opened its cavernous maw and roared, the deep, muffled sound nearly drowning out the music. The pack of hounds answered in kind, their howls shaking the air and ringing through the night.

Then, all at once, seven streaks of blood-red light plunged from the sky. They darted in and out among the hounds with astonishing speed.

In moments, the hounds that had been so overwhelming in number began collapsing one after another. Only then did the mind flayer realize, in a daze, that it was left to face them alone.

After devouring the blood of hundreds of demon hounds, the seven blood shadows had fully solidified into tangible forms, crimson and glistening, eerie beyond words. They closed in and surrounded the mind flayer’s true body.

"Now the world is quiet."

Though his heart bled at the sight, Lin Xiao kept his face impassive. He was in pain inside, but he could not say it aloud. In any case, when they went out hunting monsters again, he would absolutely never bring Michael along. That fellow was a monster-stealing expert.

Michael, hovering in midair, looked smugly at Number Eleven and lowered his head to kiss her.

"Ahem. The monster comes first. Matters of the heart can wait."

Lin Xiao coughed to remind him. Michael paid no heed, simply flicking his Blood Shadow Magic Mirror. The seven blood shadows shot through the mind flayer’s true body, but this time they absorbed no blood essence at all.

His attack was useless!

Ha. Lin Xiao could not help but feel a little pleased. At last, there was no need to worry about the mind flayer being stolen from under their noses.

Killing this second-tier monster would yield not only a vast amount of source power, but might even complete the Story Breaker quest. Two rewards for the price of one; no one was taking this from him.

The mind flayer’s true body had been formed from soldiers’ bodies, and during its advance it had apparently absorbed many rat bodies as well, making it enormously large.

It stood as high as a three-story building, with six huge limbs, thin and long, reaching from earth to sky.

But its body was no longer flesh and blood. There was no blood essence within it now, and so the Blood Shadow Magic Mirror naturally lost its effect.

Just as Lin Xiao was thinking about the rewards, three slender tentacles shot out like giant crossbow bolts, hurling themselves fiercely toward the three of them. The mind flayer had begun to show its true power.

"Put us down, now!" Lin Xiao shouted urgently.

He had almost forgotten that the mind flayer was no easy dish to serve up, but a boss monster far stronger than Lestat. One careless mistake and they would suffer grievous losses. They had to be careful and avoid being overturned at the very last moment, or it would be ridiculous.

Stefan and the other two dropped swiftly, evading the long tentacles. The moment they landed, Lin Xiao immediately activated a buff: Hymn of Revelation.

A ring of white light spread outward from him as its center, and everyone’s strength rose noticeably. The group stared in astonishment, not understanding what had happened or why such sudden power had welled up inside them.

Lin Xiao raised a hand and said, "I’ve activated a magical ability to strengthen everyone’s combat power. As long as you stay within ten meters of me, even a fatal wound won’t matter. I’ll protect you.

"Nick, Eddie, take the werewolves up first and test this great beast’s attack power. Find its weakness. We’ll hold the line for you."

Nick and Eddie exchanged a glance. Neither of them objected. With the boost from the Hymn of Revelation, they could feel their strength surging. Facing this giant monster head-on would not be impossible.

Eddie gestured and led eight of the young werewolves around to the rear, while Nick took the remaining eight and held the mind flayer’s towering true body from the front.

"Michael, control your blood shadows and cover their attack. Eleven, use the Sprout Staff whenever you can to block the mind flayer’s tentacle strikes. Eric, keep moving and strike whenever you see an opening."

Having once been a Dungeon and Fighter streamer and having run countless team dungeons, Lin Xiao would not claim his tactical arrangements were flawless, but at the very least, he had far more experience than they did.

In a team fight, one could not simply rush in and attack blindly. It had to be organized and layered, only then could everyone’s strength be brought to bear and one plus one become greater than two.

When he finished speaking, Lin Xiao used the newly enhanced Angelic Blessing once more, adding a blessing of holy light to Nick and Eleven. Apart from himself, the two of them should have been the strongest of the group, and both were still ordinary humans.

Of course, Eric, who had remained calm and unreadable all this time, was likely also a second-tier transcendent.

Others could not tell, but Lin Xiao could. This blade warrior was likewise a second-tier transcendent; otherwise, he would never have dared to capture the vampire marquis Lestat.

Moreover, there was something off about his identity. If Lin Xiao’s guess was correct, Eric was probably a vampire as well.

Though he concealed it very carefully, Lin Xiao had still caught the flash of crimson in his eyes each time he drew blood. For that reason, Holy Blessing could not be placed on him.

With the buffs in place, Lin Xiao also drew forth the Star Destroyer War Axe. Under the effect of Angelic Blessing, his strength had risen considerably, so naturally he would not stand idly by and watch.

Roar!

The mind flayer struck first. Its two forelimbs swept across, and the long, dozen-meter limbs came crashing down like ancient siege rams, each blow packed with terrifying force and enough power to inflict massive damage.

The dozen or so werewolves charged forward in a frenzy. These sturdy young men leapt two or three meters into the air, swarming up the mind flayer’s body in waves and raking their claws inward with savage force.

With that single strike, they were horrified to discover that their normally unstoppable claws were like picks driven into a quagmire. The claws sank deep, causing no damage at all, and instead trapped them there.

Covered in burly men, the mind flayer raised one forelimb high and brought it crashing down. Two of the young werewolves were instantly sent flying, hitting the ground with miserable howls.

Without the protection of the Hymn of Revelation, that attack would have crushed them to death on the spot. Even now, they were left grievously injured and half dead, no longer able to fight.

Lin Xiao’s heart tightened. He had underestimated the behemoth’s true form. Its strength was at least over one hundred, probably around one hundred and fifty. Its power was comparable to an excavator. It was not going to be easy to deal with.

The mind flayer swept its forelimbs again, knocking the werewolves aside one by one. Nick and Eddie seized the chance to attack with their triangular spike weapons, but their blades were too short to pierce deep into the monster’s body, and they could not do much damage.

Eric, the Blade Warrior, strode forward, unstrapped his semi-automatic firearm from his back, nimbly dodged the mind flayer’s forelimb strikes, and aimed at its head, firing repeatedly.

The high-speed bullets hammered into the mind flayer’s skull in a continuous barrage, splattering gelatinous matter everywhere and knocking loose quite a few teeth. Yet even his attack failed to inflict a fatal wound.

Once the magazine was empty, Eric flung the gun away, drew a samurai sword from his back, and leaped beneath the mind flayer’s true form. His blade swept across, carving away a broad swath of gelatin.

Roar!

The mind flayer let out a shrill, agonized cry. Eric’s attack had wounded it.

"It works. As long as we keep wearing down its body, we can kill it."

Lin Xiao was instantly energized and shouted as he sprang beneath the monster. The Star Destroyer War Axe burst into roaring flames as he brought it down on the middle limb.

The razor edge of the axe tore away a great mass of gelatin with ease. The flames seared along the wound, and it looked as though they were about to catch. But nearby gelatinous matter surged gurgling toward the blaze and snuffed it out.

"No good. Fire has no effect. We can only use physical attacks."

Lin Xiao retreated at once. The mind flayer raised a forelimb and slammed it down, and he hurriedly used Backstep to retreat five or six meters.

At that moment, two streetlamp poles suddenly flew through the air and plunged heavily into the mind flayer’s body, tearing away a broad chunk of gelatinous flesh.

Eleven had made her move.