The night's mountain wind carried a slight chill, and beneath the sparse starlight, Char bent his head in calculation.
These two cubs were obviously from the same litter as the Steel Teeth Pig cubs he had killed during the day. Although it was a bit strange for two adult Steel Teeth Pigs to let the cubs out of sight to search for Mo Yu Snails on their own, it wasn't important.
Then there were those two juvenile Steel Teeth Pigs; they must be offspring from an earlier litter of the two adults. As for the other offspring? Most likely they had grown up and departed.
Since Lantern Firefly said its strength was a bit better than the two adult Steel Teeth Pigs', it meant the Challenge Level of the adult Steel Teeth Pigs was likely only Level 1.
Of course, it could also be Level 2.
Because even among Demon Beasts of Challenge Level 2, Lantern Firefly was strong. If Steel Teeth Pigs were at the bottom of Level 2 Demon Beasts, it would indeed still be worse than Lantern Firefly, right?
If the adult Steel Teeth Pigs were only of Challenge Level 1, the battle would be easy to fight, but if it was Level 2, the risk would be significant.
Char quickly went through his calculations and soon made up his mind.
"Let's go! Move forward to meet the enemy!"
Whether the Steel Teeth Pigs were of Challenge Level 1 or 2, this battle was inevitable. Since that was the case, it was better to take the initiative.
Staying on the carriage and waiting at ease was definitely not an option. In "Mobile Castle·Fantasy Forest", the castle was protected by the system, and even if this Mobile Castle was just an old and possibly collapsing caravan, it was indestructible.
But this was reality!
Who knew if the carriage was still protected? If it was accidentally destroyed, his golden finger, his mobile base, his home for survival, would vanish into thin air!
...
Under the moonlight, several large and small shadows hurried through the forest, stepping on the moonbeams and occasionally stopping to sniff around to adjust their course.
Suddenly!
An arrow pierced through the forest canopy and went through the body of a Steel Teeth Pig cub.
Stricken heavily, the tiny Steel Teeth Pig fell to the ground, letting out a mournful cry, furiously scraping at the air with its limbs. Its fur, already showing characteristics of the Steel Teeth Pig's hardness like thorns, was still not as tough as an adult's. How could it withstand the sharp arrow?
When their child was attacked, the Steel Teeth Pig parents let out angry howls. The male stood in front of its wife and child, displaying aggression towards the direction from which the arrow had come, while the female went to check on the child's condition.
But at that moment, several reddish flames suddenly flew toward the group of Steel Teeth Pigs from behind – it was Lantern Firefly's surprise attack, launching "Red Glow".
The Steel Teeth Pigs, distracted by the arrows, couldn't guard against the sneak attack from behind. The Red Glow hit the Steel Teeth Pigs and immediately burned like a raging ulcer.
Realizing the threat from behind was more significant, the boar immediately changed direction, protecting his family.
Beasts of the night let out creepy roars in the distance, echoing with the cries and howls of the Steel Teeth Pigs in the foreground, making the night even more unsettling.
On a fairly thick branch, Char held a bow and arrow with one hand and steadied himself against a large tree trunk big enough to require two people to encircle it. In his sight were several panels of data stacked upon one another.
The introductions for the Steel Teeth Pigs were more or less the same, the only significant differences being the description of the Skills and Challenge Level.
The boar's Challenge Level reached Level 2, and the Skill column's "Fierce Body Charge" was replaced by "Barbaric Charge", with the rank going from 0th Rank to 1st Rank.
Beyond that, two more Skills were added.
One of the Skills was called "Steel Teeth", a 1st Rank Skill.
The other was "Steel Needle Burst", also a 1st Rank Skill.
Looking at the boar's panel, Char's face grew solemn.
The boar had one more Skill than Lantern Firefly, and what troubled him more was the "Steel Needle Burst" Skill. Just from the name, one could almost picture what kind of Skill it was.
Even for Lantern Firefly, if it were struck by a Steel Teeth Pig at the brink of death, it would be very dangerous.
As for himself and Lotus Leaf Frog? Absolutely no chance of survival.
Only the defense of Star Worm was enough to safely withstand this round of attack, but what use was surviving this round? Star Worm had no ability to kill the Steel Teeth Pig!
The tenacity of the Steel Teeth Boar took Char by surprise. The only consolation was that the sow's Challenge Level hadn't reached 2, and among its Skills, it did not possess "Steel Needle Burst."
As for the two adolescent Steel Teeth Pigs, with a Challenge Level of only 1/2, they were not a concern.
While Char was pondering, up ahead, the Magic Pets had already begun to fight according to the plan they had formulated beforehand.
The Steel Teeth Boar turned to circle behind, protecting its mate and offspring, ready to counterattack against Lantern Firefly. Just then, from the grass beside the boar, erupted a blinding Blazing Light.
The intense light brought a strong stimulus to all the Steel Teeth Pigs, making them subconsciously close their eyes.
In Char's vision, the forest seemed to suddenly burst into a white blaze of light. He was still at a distance and it was intense, so what must the Steel Teeth Pigs caught right in the burst of light have felt?
Probably trapped in the white light, even with their eyes closed, they could still feel the blank whiteness all around them, right?
This was the first time Char had seen Star Worm use "Blazing Light," and the effect was surprisingly good.
The Steel Teeth Boar let out a threatening and nervous howl. Its intelligence was not low, and it naturally felt an intense sense of crisis.
At that moment, he heard a loud croak not far away.
The croak disturbed the Steel Teeth Pigs' Perception, causing those with keen hearing to overlook the already very light sound of Lantern Firefly's flight.
Suddenly!
The boar felt an intense pain in its right eye, and before it could scream, there was also a severe pain in its brain, accompanied by a strong burning sensation.
It was as if a red-hot Steel Needle had pierced through the eye and then stabbed into the brain.
Such pain was inhuman, even for the thick-skinned and dull-pained Steel Teeth Pig, it was maddeningly painful.
It crazily tried to launch "Steel Needle Burst" for a dying blow, to drag the enemy down with it, but it didn't expect that as soon as this thought surfaced, the Red-hot Steel Needle in its head stirred violently...
Then, its thoughts scattered like snapped strings, forgetting to launch "Steel Needle Burst," and after that, its thoughts were completely severed, plunging into eternal darkness.
Blazing Light faded, and the forest returned to darkness.
Only to see the Steel Teeth Boar frozen in place as if immobilized, with Lantern Firefly fluttering before it, the Red-hot True Red Thorn piercing through the boar's right eye.
In the darkness, there seemed to be a silent and clear chant as True Red Thorn was sheathed. Lantern Firefly quickly retreated, dodging the angry attacks of the other Steel Teeth Pigs.
'Success! The situation is settled!'
Char felt great joy in his heart.
With the most troublesome and potentially dangerous Steel Teeth Boar killed, the remaining pigs could no longer cause any trouble.
From the very beginning, in formulating the battle plan, he had focused on this boar.
He himself would shoot from a distance to attract the attention of the Steel Teeth Pigs, then have Lantern Firefly initiate "Red Glow" from behind as a sneak attack.
But while "Red Glow" did considerable damage, it was not the true killing move. Just like his arrows, "Red Glow" was a feint.
The real killing move was the combination of three major Magic Pets: Star Worm, Lantern Firefly, and Lotus Leaf Frog!