Scourge Messenger

Chapter 62 Go all out
When the tenth wave of demonic frenzy first began, Shang Xinlei and her team were actually quite confident.

Shang Xinlei and the others dared to accompany Jiang Shi to this challenge because they naturally believed that Jiang Shi had a chance of winning. However, the situation was much better than they had imagined—there was only one fourth-level demon king and three foundation-building demons, and no demon minions.

And the combat force they can deploy consists of five high-level statues!

During their final scavenging attempt, Jie Yuanshao had a stroke of luck, encountering a special character called the "Card Guessing Gambler." She won a card game called "Hidden Turtle" with him, and the gambler left her a resource doubling card as a reward, allowing her to instantly double any amount of resources. But that wasn't enough. They also built a "Market," squeezing every last drop of potential from resource conversion, finally gathering enough resources to upgrade three statues. Only a few pieces of wood remained in the shelter's warehouse.

One high-level statue is enough to deal with a Foundation Establishment demon, and two statues can quickly kill a Foundation Establishment demon. Therefore, after the tenth wave of demon frenzy arrived, they quickly devised a strategy: three statues would hold back the Foundation Establishment demons, and two statues would block the demon king. Whoever was at a disadvantage, they would quickly take advantage of the situation to expand their advantage.

This fantasy lasted until they saw the Fourth-Rank Demon King emerge from the thick fog.

The chains clattered and scraped across the grass, making a crisp sound. It looked no different from a normal person, even slightly thin, wearing a white woolen coat and belt, and a wild-looking horned helmet. Its gender was indistinguishable; it seemed to be a grassland dweller. However, it dragged a thick, iron chain, as thick as a thigh, several meters long and seemingly weighing several tons, leaving heavy marks on the grass.

Behind it was a three-headed, gigantic demon with arms like sharp blades.

The demons' heads looked like rats, and their movements were as timid as rats. They obediently followed behind the chained monsters, not daring to overstep their bounds. However, when their claws swept across the grass, the air currents would cut up all the nearby weeds in advance, making people realize that these giant rats were not to be underestimated Foundation Establishment demons.

“Chief of the Swiftclaw Tribe.” Jiang Shi pointed to the chained monster, then to the giant rat: “Swiftclaw Beast.”

Everyone was stunned for a moment before realizing that Jiang Shi was introducing the Demon King and the names of the demons to them.

By this time, they sensed something was wrong. After all, while humanoid demons weren't as physically strong as beast-type demons, they were often more adept at combat. But given the situation, they could only continue with their plan, sending their comrades' 'Blade Warrior' and 'Dragon Slayer Warrior' to intercept the tribal chief. The Blade Warrior excelled at dodging, and the Dragon Slayer Warrior had high defense, making them the best candidates to withstand the Demon King.

The tribal chief took a deep breath, as if drawing water from a rainbow, his hands bulging with veins. When the Blade Warrior and the Dragon Slayer Warrior stepped within ten meters of it, it roared, its voice like a war drum echoing in all directions. All anyone could see were two white streaks slicing through the air; the crisp sonic booms sounded like the howling of the world being whipped. Even from dozens of steps away, Shang Xinlei and the others could feel the gale-force winds of the whips, their delicate faces even showing cuts and bleeding!
Compared to the Swiftclaw Beast's arm blades, its chains are the true Swiftclaws, unpredictable as the shadows and swift as thunder!
Even from this distance, they were affected. The Blade Warrior and the Dragon Slayer Warrior, who were hit head-on, were severely injured, thrown back more than ten steps before stopping. The Blade Warrior had a gruesome wound slashed across his chest, and a fifth of the Dragon Slayer Warrior's armor was shattered. Even without seeing the durability, they could tell that these two high-level statues wouldn't last long against the tribal chief.

"How can we fight this?" Qian Gongyu's eyes widened: "It can overpower both statues by itself!"

"No, we can fight!" Jie Yuanshao immediately saw the tribe chief's weakness: "It uses the chain as a whip. The whip does the most damage at its longest end, but at close range, the whip is less effective than a dagger. As long as we can get the statue close to it, we have a chance of winning!"

"But how can we get close? It can send the statue flying with a single swing—"

Before Qian Gongyu could finish speaking, Jiang Shi transformed into a blur and charged towards the tribal chief. Twenty meters, fifteen meters, ten meters—as Jiang Shi entered the tribal chief's attack range, the other three immediately held their breath, feeling their blood stop flowing and their scalps tingle.

Swish.

The tribal chief showed no mercy, unleashing a fierce double-chain attack on the frail Jiang Shi. In that split second, Jiang Shi leaped away to dodge the chain's onslaught, but the gust of wind that swept past felt like countless tiny knives slowly slicing through her legs.

At the same time, Blade Warrior and Dragon Slayer Warrior also ran to the left and right rear of the tribal chief, rushing towards the demon king at top speed!
What will it do? Jiang Shi and the two statues surround it in a triangular formation. It can only deal with two at most, and the other will inevitably take the opportunity to get close to it!
The tribal chief made a move.

It moved not only its hands but also its legs.

As it ran towards the center between the Dragon Slayer and Blade Warrior, it swung its chains to repel the two statues! The encirclement formed by Jiang Shi was easily broken by it in an instant!
“It is said that the more powerful a humanoid demon is, the more intelligent it is…” Shang Xinlei murmured, “It seems that this is true.”

"But what do we do now?" Qian Gongyu asked anxiously, "If we can't hold back the tribal chief, Blade Warriors will kill them!"

"Three people aren't enough to trap the tribal chief; at least four are needed!" Jie Yuanshao took a deep breath, his blood rushing to his head, and he drew his blood-stained longsword, ready to charge forward: "It seems we have no choice but to—"

"Don't go!" Shang Xinlei immediately grabbed her: "That's not a battlefield we can participate in! We should kill a Swiftclaw Beast as soon as possible according to plan!"

At the same time, the battlefield situation changed once again.

Jiang Shi suddenly abandoned the tribal chief and charged towards the nearest Swiftclaw Beast like an arrow, narrowly missing the Tear-Crowned Mermaid. As the Swiftclaw Beast tried to catch up with the Tear-Crowned Mermaid, Jiang Shi slid under it, his blood-stained longsword slicing a gruesome gash across its soft belly, successfully drawing its attention.

The mermaid with the tear-covered crown also changed the battlefield, pointing her spear to summon a water mirror, which deflected the tribal chief's chain attack and caused damage to the tribal chief for the first time.

Shang Xinlei and the others were invigorated—Jiang Shi was trying to use himself to hold back a Foundation Establishment demon so that the three statues could deal with the tribal chief.

However, as time went on, the situation did not improve. Although the tribal chief's attack speed was not fast, his attack range was large and his margin for error was very high. He was able to deal with the three high-level statues with ease, steadily and efficiently reducing their durability. After only a few exchanges, the Tear-Crowned Mermaid was bleeding profusely, and the three statues still could not break into the tribal chief's chain domain.

At this moment, Jie Yuanshao and her group were coordinating with the 'Slaying Warrior' and all the low-level statues to besiege another Swiftclaw Beast. If they could kill one Swiftclaw Beast first, they could free up a high-level statue to attack the tribe leader. However, the Swiftclaw Beast was tough and resilient; no matter how much they focused their fire, it could at least hold out for a while! Was it too late?

Can they kill the Swiftclaw Beast before the tribal chief destroys the statue?

Three days of hard work, and now the only outcome is to gamble the game on this life-or-death race where there's no chance of winning?

In the end, is luck the only thing that determines everything?
No.

"Jiang Shi, she..." Qian Gongyu glanced at the battlefield and asked in confusion, "Is she approaching?"

Everyone turned to look and saw Jiang Shi and the Swift Claw Beast fighting and advancing, getting closer and closer to them. It was hard to believe she was just a messenger who had recently changed classes; even with the statue's synergy bonus, she had actually managed to hold off a Foundation Establishment demon, and even had the mind to reunite with them—

Converge?

Shang Xinlei's pupils shrank suddenly, and she turned to look at the 'Killing Warrior' beside her.

The Killer Warrior, wielding a greatsword, was wrestling with the Swiftclaw Beast. He knocked the beast away and used the recoil to retreat further and further away. Finally, he turned around and joined the battle to besiege the tribal chief!
"She's gone mad!" Jie Yuanshao immediately realized: "She's trying to hold off two Foundation Establishment demons all by herself!"

Without the restraint of the Killing Warrior, the Swift Claw Beast easily slapped away the Funeral Mermaid and the Eagle Archer; these low-level statues were no match for a Foundation Establishment demon. It turned and saw Jiang Shi approaching; its rat-like eyes flashed with bloodlust, and with a hiss, it pounced!

At the same time, the Swift Claw Beast following behind Jiang Shi seemed to be enraged by the little insect in front of it. It kicked its limbs and its claws were like two sharp blades, slashing at Jiang Shi!

The two Swiftclaw Beasts roared simultaneously, their pounce and scissor blades sealing off all of Jiang Shi's escape routes—it was an incredibly thrilling combined killing move!
Jie Yuanshao witnessed this scene in a daze, engraving every detail of it deeply into her mind. Even years later, when she had reached the fourth stage of Foundation Establishment, she still couldn't imagine how Jiang Shi, with his strength at the time, could have possibly dodged that attack. The Swift Claw Beast's flawless pincer attack must have exceeded Jiang Shi's expectations. Jiang Shi had been far too reckless, focusing only on running wildly along the edge of the blade, inadvertently stepping halfway into the entrance to the Yellow Springs.

Thinking about it carefully, Jiang Shi is a very simple and greedy person. She wants everything and refuses to accept any constraints. She said she would do anything to pass the tenth level, even if it meant sacrificing herself... But at the same time, she is also extremely naive. She would rather take on all the risks herself than ask them for anything.

What a selfish person you are! By doing this, aren't you forcing us to willingly risk our lives to help you?

Just before the two Swiftclaw Beasts closed in, a blur of motion struck the Swiftclaw Beast's rat-like head like a cannonball, sending it flying.

With one less demon attacking from behind, Jiang Shi easily dodged the swift claw beast's scissors. His body spun like a lotus leaf, and his two iron-blooded longswords slashed fiercely at the swift claw beast's face.

"Jiang Shi, do you really want to pass the tenth level?"

Jiang Shi glanced back briefly and saw Qian Gongyu standing in front of the Swiftclaw Beast that had been knocked away. At this moment, her demeanor underwent a drastic change. A thick, whip-like tail emerged from under her skirt, her hands became furry, and round ears even grew on top of her ears.

She didn't turn around when she spoke, but her voice became extremely low, like a beast's roar.

"Yes."

"Then I'll help you."

Shang Xinlei and Jie Yuanshao rushed to Qian Gongyu's side. They were also surprised to see the latter's appearance, but by then the Swift Claw Beast had already gotten up. They only had time to ask, "How long can you hold on?"

"The time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

Qian Gongyu was on all fours, her face already showing signs of bestiality, the black and yellow fur on her forehead forming the character '王' (king). She took a deep breath: "If this drags on too long, and I lose my humanity and become like a wild beast, then you will—"

"A cup of tea is enough!"

Shang Xinlei grinned, revealing a smile that was anything but ladylike: "Even a Blue Ribbon Clan like you is fighting so hard, how can I fall behind?"

“Nobles with purple ribbons should set an example and protect their subjects. How can they let their subjects risk their lives while they themselves remain unscathed?” Jie Yuanshao gripped his blood-stained longsword tightly. “Qian Gongyu, I acknowledge you… Even without Jiang Shi, I would be more than happy to accept your loyalty, and of course, our friendship!”

(End of this chapter)