Killing the Demon Rat

Chapter 4 Killing the Demon Rat

By the time the city's monster-hunting team arrived, it was already dusk. A slight delay and the moon was already high in the night sky, casting a slightly cold light. A chilling wind blew, and the scattered limbs and broken arms on the ground made their hair stand on end, filling them with a chilling fear.

The demon-hunting team members scattered around Ling Tianyu's position, searching in all directions, a nameless fire rising in their hearts, determined to tear that giant-eyed, bloody rat to pieces.

"hiss!"

Ling Tianyu was suddenly startled. The bloody scene he had just witnessed had traumatized him. His mind was first sharpened by a pain, and then the image of the entire forest flashed before his eyes:

Xu Dahuang parted a patch of grass, burning a flame in his hand for illumination; Li Wenjie rode the wind rails, speeding to search a few dozen meters away from the group; Fei Shi used ground waves to travel along the stream…

"This..." Ling Tianyu didn't have time to sense it carefully before he noticed an unusual noise coming from Xu Dahuang's direction.

"Captain Xu, watch out for a sneak attack!"

Xu Dahuang was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously dodged. A gust of wind swept past him, and a black shadow flashed and crashed heavily to the ground.

"team leader!"

"team leader!"

The members of the distant demon-hunting team noticed the commotion and rushed to Xu Dahuang's location.

"You beast, taste what it's like to be roasted on fire!"

Xu Dahuang was shocked and furious. He let out a low roar, and a ball of violent flame rose from his calloused palms!

"Sizzle & Burst!"

The blazing fire ripped through the night, flashing wildly, and flew like a meteor toward the giant-eyed, bloody rat.

By the firelight, the giant-eyed rat's body was fully revealed, with pupils the size of basketballs, dense tumors that were terrifying, a neck as thick as a person could hug, and a gaping maw that looked like it could swallow an entire adult whole!

Ling Tianyu asked himself, if he were suddenly attacked by such a demon, would he be able to react in time and fight back?

The answer is obvious: he and the demon rat were evenly matched, and in three minutes, the giant-eyed rat was seven-tenths full.

In an instant, the giant-eyed rat sensed the heat wave behind it, its leg muscles contracted, and with a slight exertion, it moved several meters away.

"Hide? What's the point?"

A wild voice echoed through the forest, and a small ball of fire suddenly exploded in mid-air. The scorching and violent shockwave spread wildly from the point of impact, slamming into the giant-eyed rat that thought it was safe and sound.

"Sizzle!"

Through the firelight, Ling Tianyu saw a giant, fleshy rat with bulging eyes being blasted several meters away and crashing into a tree trunk as thick as two people could hug!

"Just a gutter rat. I'd only give it a second glance if it were a one-eyed demon wolf," Xu Dahuang said dismissively.

The demon-hunting team members were experienced and cautious. After all, the giant-eyed rat was not at the center of the explosion. Although the power of [Fire Burst] was domineering, it was far from enough to kill it instantly. They needed to block the rat's escape route in time so that the captain would have a chance to unleash a second attack.

"Ice Vines - Cover!"

When it comes to basic magic control, ice mages are second to none. Guo Caitang decisively drew an ice star trail; seven azure stars were reflected in her pupils, forming a wondrous and mysterious magical pathway that guided magical energy to be released outside her body.

The ice-type magical energy overflowed, condensing into layers of ice mist upon contact with the external environment. The mist danced and drifted like smoke, surrounding Guo Caitang's exquisite body and making her look like an ice queen.

"Ice Vines - Freeze!"

The giant-eyed rat's back was charred black, it screamed in pain, its blue eyes were bloodshot, and it had suddenly entered a berserk state.

"Watch out, this rat is going berserk!"

Xiao Ke reminded everyone.

The ice vines released by Cai Tang quickly reached the limbs of the giant-eyed rat and continued to climb up its bloated body, temporarily controlling its movements.

"Click click click!"

The giant-eyed rat struggled angrily. Cai Tang's ice element was of mortal origin, and her ice element cultivation was only at the second level of the initial stage. Soon, cracks appeared on her ice vines.

"I can't control my ice vines for much longer, Captain, hurry!"

Cai Tang shouted loudly.

As soon as she finished speaking, the giant-eyed rat broke free of its restraints, the fleshy growths around its large eyes contracted, and a crimson beam of light shot towards Cai Tang.

"Water Defense - Dissolve!"

As Xiao Ke's clear voice fell, a ribbon of water appeared, blocking the fierce scarlet beam of light.

Seeing that its attack had failed, the giant-eyed rat opened its foul-smelling mouth and leaped into the air. Cai Tang could even see the densely packed, serrated teeth inside!

"Earth Wave - Displacement!"

Cai Tang was pulled away by Fei Shi's ground waves, while Xu Dahuang quietly came behind the Giant-Eyed Blood Rat, and began to conjure magic in his hands once more.

"Fire Sizzles, Bones Burn!"

The giant-eyed rat's muscles had been paralyzed by the ice vines, and the chill seeped into its bones, reducing its movement speed to less than half of what it used to be. Attacks that it could have easily dodged with a simple leap had now become death warrants.

【Fire-Infused Bones】Just as its name suggests, once it touches the skin, it will quickly spread throughout the body, causing the enemy to suffer the pain of being devoured by a thousand flames.

………………

In short, under the siege of these unscrupulous men, the giant-eyed rat quickly became a charred corpse, a truly gruesome sight.

In Ling Tianyu's vision, a point of light condensed above the giant-eyed rat's corpse, as faint as a candle flame, and was drawn by some mysterious force towards the little Qilin pendant.

The other members of the demon-hunting team showed no reaction. Apart from the necromancer, perhaps only a mage with a vessel for the dead could sense it.

"A slave-level remnant soul!"

Ling Tianyu was secretly pleased. Sure enough, his little Qilin was essentially similar to Mo Fan's little mudskipper. It was a special totem vessel that could absorb essence and remnants of the soul for the host's use.

"It's a pity it didn't unleash its essence!"

Ling Tianyu secretly regretted that the essence of a demon's soul was essentially its origin, but unfortunately, the drop rate was extremely low. With bad luck, killing hundreds of demons might not yield a single drop. In most cases, what one obtained was a fragmentary soul, which had limited value.

In comparison, even the lowest-grade servant spirit can fetch a high price of five million, and in auctions in major cities like Shanghai, it can even command a premium. If he were to obtain a servant spirit, he would become rich overnight!

In my past life, an ordinary person with five million could live a comfortable life if they were frugal. But in this magical world, five million wouldn't even buy half a spirit seed.

As for why it's so expensive? The essence of servants has a wide range of uses, the most well-known being the creation of [Stardust Magic Artifacts]. These magical artifacts can extend the cultivation time of ordinary mages, greatly benefiting the growth of a mage's cultivation level.

Of course, there's a second use: to strengthen star particles with essence, causing a dramatic increase in magical power. For example, the power of a level 4 initial-tier spell is equivalent to half a mid-tier spell.

As for the second function of the little mudskipper in the original work, [Growth-type Stardust Magic Artifact], Ling Tianyu has not yet awakened magic, so it is currently impossible to verify whether the little Qilin possesses this function.

"Finally, we've dealt with that beast!"

"I didn't expect this rat to be so resilient. It's still alive and kicking after taking two of my [Fire Burst] attacks. If it weren't for Cai Tang's ice-type attacks interfering with its movements, it would have been really difficult to kill!"

Xu Dahuang sighed, then said to Ling Tianyu, "Young brother, thank you so much for discovering the demon rat's actions; it saved my life! If you ever have any trouble in the future, just tell me, and I'll take care of it for you!"

"Young man, I didn't realize you had such a keen eye for observation!"

Ling Tianyu forced a smile, but the strange feeling in his mind intensified, and he hurriedly found an excuse to get away from the demon-hunting team.

(End of this chapter)