On the other side, Blake Rhode, Xiao Yu, the Fire Element, and the three Orc brothers were up against Hogg.
Hogg lived up to his name and showed no fear when fighting against them. He growled out loud and slashed them apart! He then bolted towards Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu hastily commanded the three Orcs to defend him.
Scram! Bang and an Orc was thumped until he fainted. Hogg then proceeded to blast the other Orc away. Charge! Boom, he crashed into Xiao Yu and followed with a cleave.
-47! Damn, that damage was so high.
Xiao Yu could not contain his shock. Although both Hogg and him were in the Elite Mode, their difference in strength was rather huge. Currently, he had 480 HP total, only a bit lower than Hogg. He should be able to be an MT, but that was not Xiao Yu's fighting style. He retreated while casting a healing spell. He shouted, "Hurry, go forth."
At this moment, Blake Rhode finally attacked.
"Don't worry, he can't escape!" Blake Rhode snorted before leaping into the air and striking a kick towards Hogg.
"Eh, his agility must be pretty high for him to spring to such a height."
However, although that was a flashy move, it did not deal much damage, and a meagre -13 popped out. Fortunately, it managed to halt Hogg for a moment.
The stagger effect was triggered.
Xiao Yu took this opportunity to launch a Secondary Fire Ball spell.
Blake Rhode somersaulted in the air after his strike, and upon landing, he whipped a poison-stained dagger towards Hogg.
The poison effect was triggered.
Hogg cried out and switched his target from Xiao Yu to Blake Rhode as he dashed over. Blake Rhode kept his composure as he casted Lime Dust in his direction.
The blinding effect was triggered!
Hogg shielded his eyes as he lost his sense of sight. He wandered aimlessly, and Xiao Yu took this chance to scurry further away before blasting a series of Flame Missiles.
However, this released Hogg from the blinding effect.
Monsters were indeed foolish. After suffering from the Flame Missile attacks, he bolted towards Xiao Yu again. This gave Blake Rhode the perfect opportunity to stab him on the back.
Shluk! -37! This was the highest damage dealt in a single attack yet.
Although this was the first time they were collaborating, they worked surprisingly well together. Hogg's flippant target switching attitude had drained close to two-thirds of his health bar. He finally realized that something was not right and fled out of the tower.
Xiao Yu panicked upon seeing that. He was only able to blast out attacks but did not have any restrictive spells; however, it seemed that blindly attacking was not sufficient to kill Hogg.
"Hurry, blind him," he shouted at Blake.
"There's a three minute cooldown, I can't use it carelessly," Blake Rhode replied while continuously slicing the daggers through the air. However, those did not deal enough damage, and Hogg was about to reach the exit. All of a sudden, a dark figure crashed towards him.
Charge! Bang! Hogg got rooted on the spot while the figure blocked the exit. It was Derek.
Hogg glared at Derek in disbelief. "Traitor, damned traitor. Hogg is so angry!"
His body glowed crimson red before expanding and entering Fury mode.
Xiao Yu was not a stranger to such a sight—it was similar to the Ogre back then.
Derek was a little surprised at the suppressive aura that Hogg emitted. Derek retreated out of reflex upon seeing Hogg in Fury, but this exposed the exit.
A fierce glint shone past Hogg's eyes, but he did not hurtle towards Derek. Instead, he aimed at the exit.
Xiao Yu cursed, "Useless, you could have blocked it with your 300 HP." Hogg was about to escape right in front of his eyes, before a figure pounced out from the dark.
The beast-like creature seemed to have appeared from thin air as he restrained Hogg on the ground. Choke! -43, Bite! -27, Rage Claw! -19, -13, -14! A series of red figures appeared and Hogg's over 100 HP was fully depleted. The creature rose from Hogg's corpse and blood was dripping from its mouth. It bared its teeth, but Xiao Yu was surprised. The figure was a dark Panther, with pitch-black fur and a graceful profile. He then peered up at his avatar.
Death Claw (Shadow Panther), level 15. The gold borders indicated that it was an Elite beast.
System prompt message: Firmament Age 1375, Goblin Flame Warlock Eric participated in the killing of Gnoll Leader Hogg, you have received 27 Reputation Points.
Only 27 points? That was so little. Xiao Yu could not contain his gloominess. Hogg was an Elite monster whose level was higher than his, so killing him should have resulted in a great deal of Reputation. Oh, right, it probably had something to the figure stealing away the kill.
"Damn it, where did this guy come from? Could it be that he was waiting to ambush us all along? Which means he must have heard our conversation. Is it a Druid? But Druids have a Moon Symbol on them." Thoughts fluttered through Xiao Yu's mind before he raised his staff instinctively.
A message flashed in the chat room—
Death Claw (Shadow Panther): "Ease up, guys. I am a player as well."
The beast could not speak, hence he could only communicate with other players in this manner.
Player? Everyout relaxed instantaneously. This whole situation was a lot easier if the other party was a player. However, they did not let down their guards completely. Death Claw's level was higher than everyone else's, plus he was an Elite beast, hence posing a threat.
Xiao Yu questioned, "Hang on for a second, how did you know what was happening tonight? I don't recall inviting you."
"That's easy. I killed a Goblin Messenger when I was out hunting in the forest and found a letter on him. I realized that you guys were gathering here, and since I had nothing to do, I decided to pop by. I was hiding nearby and overheard your conversation. I helped out when I saw that Hogg was about to escape."
"That was understandable; however, do you have to portray such a righteous stand after stealing the monster?"
Xiao Yu dissed to himself. He was confident that he could've gotten rid of Hogg even without this guy. There would have been some risk as Hogg might've called out to his lackeys for help, which might have led to an all out battle. Although victory was certain, it would be rather troublesome.
"Um, can I touch the corpse? There's something I want to retrieve," Derek said.
The black Panther nodded and retreated gracefully into the shadows, exposing the corpse.
Beasts could not equip items, hence most of the loot did not hold any value to them.