Scourge Messenger

Chapter 186 It’s Over

"Fu—Xiang—!!"

The Corpse King Longyou let out an incredulous roar. It was like having swatted a mosquito against a wall, only to find a swarm of unharmed mosquitoes instead of a pool of blood. Anyone would question their existence in such a situation.

The smoke and black mist stirred up by the Dragon Subduing Seal slowly dissipated, and the five people remained unharmed in the same spot. However, they were all forcefully slammed into the ground, like five nails that withstood the hammer of heavenly punishment.

"This humble monk still has a little bit of defensive barrier left."

"Same here, I never thought we could actually share the damage."

"Hahaha, it really did hold up! It really is that simple!"

"Uncle, why do you sound like you've figured out the cost-sharing mechanism..."

"Watch out, it's attacking!"

The five immediately jumped out of the ground, dodging the Corpse King's heavy punch. Perhaps because the Dragon Subduing Seal was blocked, or perhaps because their attack reduced the Corpse King's 'weight' considerably, the Corpse King's attack speed, movement speed, and turning speed all increased significantly, making it no longer the clumsy and easily bullied creature it had been before.

However, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They weren't afraid of the Corpse King becoming stronger; what they feared was its unreasonable, relentless pounding of the ground—an unavoidable, area-wide attack. Moreover, the Corpse King would absorb corpses to regenerate itself. Even if they immediately rejoined the battle, they would only be trapped in an unsolvable cycle of the Corpse King's 'Dragon Subduing Seal → Pounding the Ground → Regenerating Health'.

The reason the three guardians were willing to activate the Foundation Establishment Legacy with the Medicine Master and the Rabbit Heroine was not because they kept their promise, but because they were tormented to the point of near-death by the Corpse King's almost cheating cycle. If neither the young lady nor the young lady could solve it, they probably wouldn't have the willpower to break the mechanism.

Seeing that the Corpse King was no longer pounding the ground or healing, even the most indifferent Prajna couldn't help but show a look of joy. Blood, whose emotions were always on display, was yelling wildly while trimming the Corpse King's feet, acting like a mad dog with excessive sexual repression.

The Corpse King was being systematically skinned, its flesh and tendons ripped out by the group, but as its body grew thinner, its speed gradually increased to a level that the group could no longer easily handle. When its health reached 10%, Bei You's defensive barrier shattered instantly after being slapped, and the Corpse King's second slap followed immediately. If Blood Essence hadn't pulled him out in time, this long-haired monster would probably have turned into a bloody pulp on the spot.

8%, the pharmacist was grazed, and most of her defensive barrier was gone. Fortunately, she immediately used the momentum to retreat and avoid the subsequent attacks.

When her health dropped to 6%, Bunny Girl suddenly said, "From now on, only Prajna and I can attack the Corpse King. Everyone else, retreat to the outer perimeter and prepare."

Even before the battle began, Yan Qing had already considered one possibility: the Corpse King's health would decrease faster than its karma bar. After all, only Buddhist artifacts could reduce the karma bar, and with all five of them attacking together, its health would definitely be depleted first.

What happens if you have no health points but still have karma?

There are two possibilities. The first is that the Corpse King dies directly, and the second is that the Corpse King doesn't die but instead experiences a mechanism similar to berserk mode that restores its health. Based on Yan Qing's gaming experience, he believes the latter is more likely. As a game level designer, he never hesitates to speculate with the most malicious intent about the motives of other game designers who want to kill the players.

There was still one question that lingered in Yan Qing's mind: what was the purpose of Si Wuxie's arrangements?

If the first stage was merely to screen out messengers possessing Buddhist tokens, then the second stage becomes quite strange. The red-clad demon and the white-clad demon already pose a sufficient threat, so why would he leave behind a magic circle that reduces the hit rate by 50%?

Even if a local player can adapt to the negative effect of reduced hit rate, they will face a very awkward situation in the central courtyard: insufficient damage output. If they deal with the white-clad demon first and then the red-clad demon, they may end up creating a red-clad demon that a third-tier messenger cannot kill with a 50% hit rate.

Even without Bunny Girl's request, the only solution for the second level is still to use Buddhist relics to reduce the red-clothed demon's karma before killing it.

Therefore, in the first and second trials, Si Wuxie is guiding the challengers to permanently escape the endless sinners in the secret realm and obtain the karmic power of natural disasters!

Although the Corpse King doesn't force challengers to reduce their karma bar, once they've tasted the sweetness of calamity karma in the first two levels, who would let go of the Corpse King, this delicious treat delivered right to their mouth? Moreover, for Yan Qing, being released from the Avici Hell can yield unimaginable loot!

Therefore, Yan Qing had told them beforehand that if he noticed the health bar was dropping too quickly, he would ask them to stop and let the Bunny Girl and Prajna take over. No one objected, and no one even asked why. After so many attempts, they had already developed a blind trust in the Bunny Girl. Only the Pharmacist was a little worried, since the Corpse King was now almost in a berserk state, and the slightest mistake would result in his account being wiped out.

The karma bar steadily decreased. To avoid any unforeseen complications, they all unleashed a torrential rain. The Corpse King's health and karma both plummeted. In no time, the karma bar was down to only 2%, and the Corpse King's health was reduced to 4%.

If Yan Qing's estimate is correct, when the karma bar reaches zero, the Corpse King will still have about 1% to 2% of health left, which means it will be dealt with in one round of focused fire.

However, whether it was because the Corpse King's speed increased again or because of the sluggishness brought on by the rainstorm, Prajna suddenly made a mistake in dodging and was hit by the Corpse King. Instantly, her defensive barrier shattered, and she was sent flying like a cannonball! Blood Mirror, who was prepared, immediately caught Prajna. Even his own barrier was damaged by half, which shows how terrifying the impact Prajna suffered.

"How about it?"

"Just a few broken ribs." Prajna pulled out a handful of blood-replenishing pills and stuffed them into his mouth. The injuries—blood flowing from all seven orifices and a dent in his chest—seemed minor to him. "But it'll take some time!"

"By the time you recovered, we had already divided the spoils," Blood Prime chuckled. Losing one person had no impact on the battle. Even with its incredible speed and agility, the Corpse King's opponents weren't just the exceptionally skilled Bunny Girl, but also Yan Qing, the world's number one gaming expert. With the siblings working together, no one below the Foundation Establishment stage could stand against them!

With her karma bar about to reach zero and her health at 3%, Bunny Girl shouted, "Now! Let's attack together!"

After a long period of preparation, Beiyou, Xuexiang, and Yaoshiyuan immediately poured all their damage into the Corpse King, causing its health to plummet to 1%. At the same time, its last bit of karma was also removed by the Rabbit Girl!

"Fu Xiang, I am not reconciled! I cannot die! You descendant of the Blood Demon Sect, I will act on behalf of Heaven, what right do you have to kill me!"

The Corpse King's health is locked at 1%, which means that, like the Skull Tower and the Red-Clad Demon, it will trigger a mechanism to die after its karma bar reaches zero!
Yan Qing's brows twitched violently. Based on his understanding of game design, the BOSS probably wouldn't introduce new skills; it would most likely reuse existing ones. That meant—

"Fu Xiang, I! Want! You! To! Die!" With each word of the Corpse King's roar, it raised its right hand and once again activated the Dragon Subduing Seal, aiming at the only messenger present who possessed a Buddhist token, the Bunny Girl!

This time, from raising its hand to lowering it, it only took about two seconds, which was exactly the time it took to finish saying its last sentence. Compared to before, it was so fast that it didn't give anyone time to react. Even if it tried to run away immediately, it would still be within its lock-on range!
There is no way to avoid it, and there is nowhere to retreat!

With such a rapid activation speed, there's simply no time to gather together. Only those who have read the strategy guide beforehand have a chance to get together in advance to share the damage!
This is the first encounter that kills players, a lesson they must learn!
To be honest, it's very common for players to be wiped out on their first run of a dungeon, especially on the hardest difficulty level. It's almost impossible for a player to clear it on their first try; they usually have to experience all the mechanics and wipe several times before they can successfully complete it. While Yan Qing could rationally understand this, emotionally she still wanted to curse the game developers.

There was no other way, Yan Qing thought, this time it has to end here.

Even setting aside the fact that no one could possibly get there in time to share the burden, even if they could, Prajna would be missing. Five people were already badly injured sharing the burden, so four people sharing it was simply too much of a stretch, and this was all under the premise that the Corpse King's final Dragon Subduing Seal wouldn't be strengthened!
Moreover, how could Xue Xiang and Bei You possibly come over to share the burden? You should know that the day the Corpse King collapsed was the day they started fighting amongst themselves. Faced with such a sudden crisis, it would be against their professional ethics as third-level demonic cultivators not to take advantage of the situation. Expecting them to be loyal is like hoping that Shang Xinlei won't bring out a dish of bitter melon stir-fried with beef today.

However, Yan Qing did not intend to sit idly by and wait for his doom. With his hand speed, there was one last thing he could do—to transfer the Bunny Girl's important equipment back to the public warehouse.

Just as Yan Qing opened the item page, he saw two figures appear beside the Bunny Girl. One was Blood Prime, who had managed to arrive in time despite the tense situation, and the other was naturally Pharmacist Yuan, who had been keeping an eye on the Bunny Girl.

"Beiyou, come here quickly!" Xue Xiang roared.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here." Yakushi's voice didn't tremble at all, only showed unwavering determination.

Many images flashed through Yan Qing's mind: the black wolf reaching out to pull him up at the entrance of the secret cave, the pharmacist embracing the bunny girl in the sunset... Before Yan Qing could even think, his gaming instincts had already made the decision for him.

In the back forest, Xue Xiang kept one eye on Bei You, who was closing in, and the other on the Dragon-Subduing Seal about to descend from above. His legs were tense, ready to spring out at any moment. He could run at any speed, but he remained standing under the seal, as if he wanted to escape at the last second, as if he wouldn't be satisfied until the very last moment.

The pharmacist didn't have that many thoughts. She was prepared to trigger the life-saving pill, but faced with such a devastating attack, the life-saving pill couldn't give her much security. She could only do her best and leave the rest to fate.

With her in front, at least Bunny Girl can stay safe and sound...

Just then, everyone saw the Bunny Girl suddenly leap high into the air. It was so unexpected that no one could react in time, nor was anyone likely to stop her. They watched as the Bunny Girl charged towards the falling Dragon-Subduing Seal, holding aloft a peculiar token with two golden characters engraved on it: Return!
boom!
The Corpse King's final Dragon Subduing Seal was even more powerful than before, a truly earth-shattering force, capable of causing the heavens to collapse and the earth to tremble. Even the full-force attack of a Foundation Establishment Messenger would likely be no match for it. Yet, this terrifying offensive, capable of easily crushing them, couldn't even cause a ripple in front of the Bunny Girl's golden barrier!
Return order!
After using the Return Order to initiate the teleportation, you will enter a ten-second invincibility countdown. During this process, the player will be in an absolutely invincible state. Not to mention the third-level Demon King on Hard difficulty, even the eighth-level Demon King on Legendary difficulty cannot harm a single hair on the Bunny Girl's head!
As a rare reward that only appears once every ten thousand points in the Forest of Endless Slumber, the Return Token has many uses, but the number of times it can be used is too limited.

Three seconds later, the power of the Dragon Subduing Seal dissipated completely, and the Bunny Girl immediately deactivated the teleportation. Although the teleportation was deactivated, another crack appeared on the Return Token, almost splitting the token in two. Even without the system's explanation, anyone could tell that it could only be used once more.

After unleashing his final Dragon Subduing Seal, the Corpse King seemed to be completely exhausted, collapsing to his knees unable to move. His karma bar was rapidly increasing, and it was clear that the period during which the karma bar was recovering was also the time when players could unleash their full power.

However, no one made a move; everyone awaited the Bunny Girl's command, earning her everyone's respect. The Bunny Girl walked up to the Corpse King and stabbed it with her sword. The Corpse King immediately collapsed, barely clinging to life.

"In the end, it still doesn't work..." Dozens of heads of the Corpse King murmured the same words simultaneously: "Could it be that I was wrong...?"

Looking at the Corpse King's corpse turned to dust, Yan Qing suddenly recalled the background information of this secret realm. The last sentence read, "Perhaps only by letting them take revenge can the karma here be resolved." This sentence seemed meaningless, but combined with the clue that possessing Buddhist relics would make the Corpse King regard him as Fu Xiang, perhaps the real meaning of this sentence was, "If you want to resolve the karma here, you will inevitably be the target of their revenge," foreshadowing that the Corpse King would definitely launch an attack powerful enough to kill Fu Xiang before his death.

Even without the "Innocent Thoughts" triggering the karma bar and increasing the difficulty, the Corpse King on normal difficulty will probably still activate the Dragon Subduing Seal, but only before dying. The speed and power will be roughly the same as the first time, giving players enough time to gather and share the damage.

Although he has thoroughly understood all the mechanics of the Corpse Forest, Yan Qing probably won't be playing this dungeon again, and this dungeon may not even continue to exist.

"Is it over?" The pharmacist seemed to wake from a dream.

"It's over," Bunny Girl replied.

(End of this chapter)