A volcano came into Zhang Nu's sight.
It was an astonishingly large volcano, with a crater several kilometers in diameter. It was in an active state and was constantly spewing smoke and fumes. Every now and then, it erupted, spurting a large amount of lava into the air.
Within the surrounding area of dozens of miles.
Everything was covered by volcanic ashes.
The ground was streaked with flowing lava and scorch marks.
[Calamity Volcano] Level 4 overlord area. High exploration value.
Description: This is a volcano that has been active for tens of thousands of years. From within borned a terrifying Infernal Daemon. It has been entrenched here for thousands of years, incinerating all who are insolent enough to challenge it into ashes and cinders.
"Here it is!"
"The Infernal Daemon is slumbering in the volcano underneath."
Han Kexin hovered in mid-air, "Its strength is on par with a Level 4 Overlord. Kill it and you'll get your daemon heart."
"This one is not easy to deal with. We need to plan ahead, otherwise even with our joined efforts, danger will inevitably befall upon us."
The daemon was no stronger than a Level 4 Overlord.
Zhang Nu's strength had reached Level 4 Monarch.
After obtaining Evil Dragon's Descent and High Anti-Magic.
His strength was much more formidable than those who just entered the Monarch rank.
Nevertheless, this was the Succubus Queen's home turf. Zhang Nu did not intend to steal the show and overtake her. Besides, according to their agreement, Zhang Nu would only take the daemon's heart while the treasure chest belonged to the Queen.
On how they should approach this battle.
She had the final say.
He would just slack off however he could.
Han Kexin continued, "The Infernal Daemon's body temperature is extremely high, anyone within its 10 meter radius will suffer severe burns. Hence, it is almost impossible to defeat it in close combat, attempting so would be the same as suiciding."
"It also has fire magic immunity, so it's useless to attack it with flames. The flames would instead speed up its recovery. Its other types of magic resistance were also very high. Therefore, the best way to counter it is through ice magic."
"In order to challenge this daemon, I've deliberately learned some ice magic spells. So, I'll be handling control as well as damage output later."
Zhang Nu asked, "What about me?"
Han Kexin answered, "There are a large number of Level 3 and Level 4 elite Magma Daemons in the volcanic lake. Among them, there are even two or three Level 4 lord rank Magma Daemon Lords. They are not only capable of long range attacks but also deal tremendous damage."
"My subordinates can only hold back the Level 3 and some Level 4 elites at most. The remaining daemons, especially the several Magma Daemon Lords, will be left for you to deal with."
Zhang Nu nodded, "No problem."
The assault began immediately.
The two took the lead and entered the volcano crater.
[You are under the effect of volcanic toxicity, HP -1!]
[You are under the effect of volcanic toxicity, HP -2!]
[You are under the effect of volcanic toxicity, HP -2!]
[...]
These toxic fumes.
It was naturally produced.
It did not contain any magical elements..
Which was why even Zhang Nu took damage from it.
But Zhang Nu did not concern himself with the toxic fumes due to its slow rate of damage. It even paled in comparison to his own recovery rate, there was no way for the fumes to pose a threat to him.
But that would be another story for ordinary troops.
Such a hazardous environment could prove to be very dangerous for them.
It was no wonder why Han Kexin could not bring too many troops with her. It would be over if the army got trapped here.
Zhang Nu soon saw the volcanic lake. The lake was over ten kilometers in diameter. Its entirety was just a boiling lava lake, with some small black islands scattered in it.
This scene.
It was truly appalling.
It was simply a hellish spectacle.
The lava lake was incredibly volatile.
It was continuously emitting intense heat and spewing toxic fumes.
The closer one got, the more vicious the fumes and flames became.
The lava itself was constantly spewing forth and churning, and there were always waves of fire consisting of magma erupting or molten lava being spurted out.
Ordinary folks would not be able to remain in this environment for even a second.
The troops Han Kexin brought were buffed with fire resistance spells in advance, so they could withstand the heat for a short time. However, they would fall into danger if time went on longer, thus the battle must be resolved as quickly as possible.
"Let me draw it out first."
Han Kexin hovered 500 meters above the lava lake. As soon as she raised her hands, a burst of powerful energy erupted from within her body, turning into hundreds of razor sharp wind blades and rained down the lake.
"RARGHH!"
A harsh and fearsome roar echoed across the crater.
A hundred meters wave of magma instantly surged forth in the lava lake.
"The insolence...how dare you...barge into my domain!"
A muddled and grating voice angrily cried out.
From the volcanic lake stood up a humanoid silhouette, it was a thirty meter tall figure.
At first glance.
It was as if a giant minotaur got magically modified.
The daemon had bull-like horns, his stout body was rugged and covered in gnarly muscles. Scorching magma was flowing all over his being and his eyes were brimming with raging fire.
The daemon was clearly in a state of immense anger right now.
What a powerful creature.
Not even Zhang Nu has ever seen such a monster.
Zhang Nu immediately checked its stats.
[Infernal Daemon] Level 4 overlord
Skills: Rebirth from within the Flames (A rank), Infernal Chains (B rank), Infernal Aura (B rank), Apocalyptic Rain of Fire (B rank), Infernal Scream (B rank), Fire Magic Immunity (B rank), Fire Absorption (B rank), etc.
This series of skills had made even Zhang Nu all astonished.
The Infernal Daemon even had an A rank skill.
This "Rebirth from within the Flames" skill was very powerful. When the Infernal Daemon was defeated, it would temporarily enter a dormant state. As long as there was enough fire attributed matter around him, it could trigger a resurrection effect and restore all HP and MP.
But of course, the skill had a very long cooldown timer.
It could only be used every few months.
"I demand...your...death!"
The Infernal Daemon gripped with both hands, a several hundred meter long magma chain was suddenly summoned into his grasp, and was ruthlessly flung towards Han Kexin in mid air.
"Blink!"
Han Kexin activated a instantaneous teleportation magic to dodge the chain and the rock wall behind her instantly got blown off a large chunk. The might of the magma chain was equivalent to a small meteorite impact. If one was directly hit by that skill, it was certainly an instant death.
However.
This attack from the Infernal Daemon had a long recovery time.
Han Kexin swiftly rushed towards the daemon and unleashed her talent skill "Infinite Phantasm", which was a powerful offensive psychic ability.
The ability itself did not deal any damage, but it could drag the target into a realm of phantasmal, hindering the target's ability to distinguish reality from illusion.
The Infernal Daemon was hit.
Han Kexin's level was similar to the daemon.
Moreover, the daemon has low intellect, once he was caught in this control skill, the threat of his following attacks was greatly reduced.
"Glacier Blade!"
A huge ice cone dozens of meters in size struck the Infernal Daemon with staggering force.
-???!
Even if the Infernal Daemon was a Level 4 overlord monster with superb HP pool and defense, it was severely wounded by this blow.
Han Kexin casted multiple charming type skills in rapid succession, consecutively stacking various psychic and controlling effects on the daemon, making it completely disordered.
"I've got him under control!"
"The Magma Daemons are appearing!"
"You guys go and deal with them!"
"Leave the big guy to me!"
Zhang Nu was quite impressed by Han Kexin. It seemed that it was not a reckless impulse that Han Kexin dared to challenge the Infernal Daemon, the assault was thoroughly thought through and prepared.
Just by the looks of this fight.
She might just triumph over this monster.
Zhang Nu could finally slack off with peace of mind. Right now, the succubuses Han Kexin brought had already engaged with the Magma Daemons constantly emerging from the volcanic lake.
Zhang Nu discovered that the offensive power of the succubuses were not very strong, but they all possessed psychic control type skills.
Therefore, they had a strong advantage in one-on-one fights, especially against opponents of similar or inferior level.
[Magma Daemon] Level 3 elite unit.
[Greater Magma Daemon] Level 4 elite unit.
[Magma Daemon Lord] Level 4 lord unit.
The reason Han Kexin sought aid from a top Demon King like Zhang Nu was because she needed help dealing with these Magma Daemons.
Her subordinates were fine against Magma Daemons, yet struggled against Greater Magma Daemons. If the Magma Daemon Lords joined the fight, they would no longer be a match.
Within this volcano crater.
There were several Magma Daemon Lords.
There were also more than a hundred Greater Magma Daemons present.
Han Kexin's own troops could not handle this many.
She could sense Zhang Nu's strength was not inferior to hers. With such a powerful Demon King joining hands with her, she could ensure this operation was a guaranteed success.
Zhang Nu started making his moves.
Abyssal Lightning continuously falling onto the daemons.
The Greater Magma Daemons were outright blown up.
[You've slain a Greater Magma Daemon. Gold +4000!]
[You've slain a Greater Magma Daemon. Gold +4000!]
[You've slain a Greater Magma Daemon. Gold +4000!]
[...]
Han Kexin watched as Zhang Nu struck the daemons.
Crude and brutal!
Spectacular prowess!
She nodded with satisfaction. She really did not misjudge the person, Zhang Nu's strength was formidable. Today's victory was secured!
Han Kexin was reassured by the thought.
She began to focus on tackling the Infernal Daemon.
Zhang Nu was wandering around as if leisurely strolling through a park.
It was just that everywhere he strolled by, lightning flashed without cease.
He specifically targeted the Level 4 elite greater daemons, since the ordinary daemons were restrained by the Queen's own troops. Just then, a flash of flames impacted his body.
-0!
The one who launched the surprise attack was a Magma Daemon Lord.
Seeing that the long range attack was ineffective, the Magma Daemon Lord drew a huge fiery sword of molten lava, charged towards Zhang Nu and slashed down furiously.
-0!
Zhang Nu gripped the giant fiery sword that tried to cut him with his bare hands, and gradually lifted the sword away from his body.
The Magma Daemon Lord was stupefied.
No matter what, he was still a Level 4 lord.
The might of this slash was more than enough to instantly kill an elite of the same level. Even a lord should not be able to withstand this strike with its own flesh and blood.
And yet.
This man.
He first took the hit with 0 damage like a chad.
And then crushed the molten lava sword with his bare hands.
Finally, he punched straight into the Magma Daemon Lord, whose body had such intense heat it could melt steel. Countless lightning erupted from the daemon lord's body, subjecting the daemon to suffer continuous damage.
-1078!
-1092!
-1155!
The Magma Daemon Lord exploded!
A Level 4 lord monster, a being that could lead a force of its own if placed in any other monster area. It would take a team painstaking effort to even defeat it.
However, in the hands of Zhang Nu.
There was hardly any room for resistance.
The daemon lord was instantly killed like a fodder.
[You've slain a Magma Daemon Lord. Gold +12000!]
As expected from a lord rank unit.
The gold reward was truly generous!
Zhang Nu was motivated right away.
Since he was already here, it would not be unreasonable to earn a little gold, right?
Zhang Nu sped up his pace. One after another the Greater Magma Daemons were squashed, and two more Magma Daemon Lords fell under the ravages of lightning.
With this round of slaughter.
More than 500,000 gold was gained.
Eyeing around, he made a rough estimation that a total of 600,000 gold and above could be earned here.
While Zhang Nu was busy sweeping the daemons and cashing in the gold, Han Kexin was progressing smoothly. Although her attack prowess was far inferior to the Infernal Daemon, the daemon was really lacking in intellect.
Han Kexin kept attacking and maintaining her psychic control simultaneously.
Using her several ice attributed skills to wear the daemon down, after a few dozen rounds, the Infernal Daemon could withstand it no longer.
"Glacier Blade!" Another attack overflowing with powerful frost energy fell upon the Infernal Daemon. The surface temperature of his body quickly cooled and his giant figure began to crack rapidly. With a wailing howl, the daemon collapsed into the lava.
"It's done!"
She quickly gulped down a few bottles of potions.
Her MP was severely depleted and in urgent need of recovery.
Han Kexin felt a little strange, "Why is there no notification of a kill?"
Zhang Nu reminded her, "Do not let your guard down, the battle is not yet over! The monster is resurrecting! Hurry up and interrupt his skill!"
Han Kexin was not aware of this.
Only after being reminded did she notice the odd occurrence.
After the Infernal Daemon went down, it started to absorb the fire energy in the volcanic lake, leaving the previously boiling lava a lot cooler all of a sudden.
'It is true! It can indeed resurrect!'
However, the resurrection process could be interrupted.
Han Kexin could not help but to be a little terrified. It was fortunate that she received a reminder. She had already used up nearly all of her strength in the fight just now.
If she had to fight the Infernal Daemon all over again.
She was not confident that she could triumph again.
Han Kexin began to gather her energy and aimed at the resurrecting Infernal Daemon.
Just when she was prepared to deal the finishing blow.
Suddenly.
A pitch black arrow shot out from nowhere.
The arrow struck Han Kexin in the back.
-200!
Not only did the arrow deal considerable damage, it also drained what little remained of Han Kexin's MP, disrupting her channeled skill.
'This is bad!'
An ambush!
Han Kexin cried out in disbelief.
She did not even have to guess who did it.
It was definitely those damned Heroes from Dark City!
A dozen figures entered the volcano crater. The two leading the group was a dark elf equipped with a longbow and a warhammer wielding dark dwarf.
"Hahahaha!"
"Didn't expect that! Didn't you!"
"Serves you right!"
"You didn't have much MP left now and you were hit by my Devouring Sealing Arrow. Even if you have immense power, you're no longer able to use it!"
'Shit!'
'I've been careless!'
'How did the operation get leaked?'
'Did the Heroes plant their spies nearby?!'
"Die!"
The dark dwarf hurled his warhammer swirling in lightning.
Han Kexin could not activate her instantaneous teleportation. She could only watch as the attack flew towards her head at an astonishing speed.