221: Chapter 221 Projectile, Weakness

'What just happened to me?'

Xiao Niao seemed to have regained his senses due to a stinging sensation in his brain, standing there stunned, not knowing why he had acted that way just now.

His mana was originally insufficient. After discovering a way to deal with the BOSS's combo skill—which was to have Hu Gualing and Tang Yao give up resistance and stop struggling in vain—the vines summoned by the BOSS would remain in a relatively relaxed state. This way, when the Earth Spike struck, they would have a certain amount of buffer space, no longer taking critical damage as high as seventy or eighty points every time.

Precisely because of this, the pressure on Xiao Niao's mana was greatly relieved. Although his originally overstretched mana was still insufficient after the healing pressure was reduced, the rate of decline had slowed down significantly. How significant? By the time Hu Gualing and Tang Yao had slowly whittled the Millennium Tree Demon BOSS's HP down from fifty percent to ten percent, Xiao Niao's mana, unexpectedly, still had half remaining!

Of course, besides having a certain relationship with his careful budgeting, this was also inseparable from the tankiness of Hu Gualing and Tang Yao's Sharp-toothed Piglet.

Hu Gualing and the Sharp-toothed Piglet had vastly different body sizes, but both were of the thick-skinned and fleshy type. Their total HP of 130 to 140 allowed them to withstand the Millennium Tree Demon's skill attacks two or three times in a row without being in life-threatening danger. More importantly, both of them had their own ways of recovering HP. If they had to endure every skill attack from the Millennium Tree Demon alone, their HP recovery speed definitely wouldn't keep up. However, when the three of them besieged the Millennium Tree Demon together, the Millennium Tree Demon's combo skill was a single-target damage skill, and each attack didn't have a fixed target, seemingly randomly selecting one of the three. Thus, the damage caused was shared among the three of them. Most of the time, Xiao Niao only needed to watch Tang Yao's health bar; as for Hu Gualing and the Sharp-toothed Piglet, the damage they received was basically mitigated by themselves.

But even so, Xiao Niao's final mana didn't have much left, only about sixty points, less than half of his total mana. It seemed enough to use 'Recovery Spell' six times, which was more than enough to deal with the remaining ten percent of the Millennium Tree Demon BOSS's HP. However, no one dared to guarantee what kind of strength the Millennium Tree Demon would erupt with at this final moment. After all, bosses were hardest to deal with when their HP was lowest. If some unexpected twist really occurred, this sixty-plus mana might not truly be enough to handle it, so Xiao Niao was also feeling anxious inside...

Unexpectedly, in just a moment of distraction, the sixty-plus mana that he had carefully budgeted and treasured as if it were precious was inexplicably squandered in an instant. Xiao Niao stared at the empty mana bar, his eyes dull, unable to realize for a moment what had just happened.

And the most surprised person on the field was not him.

Hu Gualing and Tang Yao were closer to the BOSS and did not notice the eerie red light emanating from the high part of the BOSS's trunk where it had pushed aside its branches and leaves. Furthermore, since all their attention was focused on preparing to deal with the final astonishing combat power that would erupt once the BOSS's HP dropped below ten percent, they also didn't notice that after Xiao Niao was hit by the two beams of light from the BOSS, he seemed like a different person, raising his hand and casting several 'Recovery Spell's in succession as if they were free.

It was only when the green light from Xiao Niao's 'Recovery Spell' brushed past them and submerged into the Millennium Tree Demon's trunk, and they saw one +19 green number after another popping up from the Millennium Tree Demon's trunk, that Hu Gualing and Tang Yao turned their heads to look at Xiao Niao in utter astonishment. "What are you doing?!" Both of them had seen the series of +19 health recovery numbers on the Millennium Tree Demon's trunk. They didn't have time to think about why Xiao Niao's 'Recovery Spell' could also have a healing effect on the BOSS; they were simply shocked by this action of Xiao Niao's.

Amidst Hu Gualing and Tang Yao's incredibly shocked questioning, Xiao Niao looked down at his hands that had just cast 'Recovery Spell', then looked up at the Millennium Tree Demon BOSS's health bar. After consuming six of his 'Recovery Spell's in one breath, its HP, which was originally only ninety-something, had now recovered to 210!

A look of self-reproach appeared on Xiao Niao's face, but there was no time to investigate further at this moment. Relying on instinct, he said to Hu Gualing and Tang Yao: "The BOSS must have used some kind of mental control skill just now. But it doesn't matter; I don't have any mana left now, so even if it controls me again, it's useless. You just need to pay attention to your own HP. While speeding up the attack rhythm, try to use as few revival coins as possible!"

Once these words were spoken, Hu Gualing and Tang Yao both understood that they had entered the final stage of the BOSS battle and needed to accelerate their output without holding back. Although they were both somewhat exhausted from fighting for so long, they had already whittled down the vast majority of the BOSS's HP, and now only the last ten or twenty percent remained. Therefore, their hearts were filled with high Battle Intent, and they had no intention of retreating at all. Just as Xiao Niao said, if the worst comes to the worst, they would just use revival coins! Thinking this, Hu Gualing and Tang Yao both nodded heavily and turned back to face and attack the Millennium Tree Demon BOSS's trunk.

While speaking, Xiao Niao had already taken his 'old wooden bow' and the matching 'wooden shaft steel arrow' from his backpack. By the time he finished speaking, he had already drawn the bow and aimed at the Millennium Tree Demon's trunk. Although the Millennium Tree Demon's trunk was as big as a wall and could be hit even with eyes closed, Xiao Niao, in order not to accidentally injure Hu Gualing and Tang Yao, still raised the aim of the arrow a bit.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Xiao Niao's mind. When releasing the bowstring, he raised his left wrist holding the bow handle and flicked with the two fingers of his right hand holding the arrow fletching. The arrow flew high into the air just like the one he had accidentally fired when luring monsters outside the cave corridor before, but this time he had used the 'Lob Shot' technique he had inadvertently comprehended. He hadn't known what this 'Lob Shot' technique was useful for, but he used it on a whim. Fortunately, the Millennium Tree Demon in front of him was several stories tall, so using 'Lob Shot' on it could be considered the right medicine for the illness.

The arrow went 'whoosh' and flew high, only losing its momentum and falling diagonally when it approached the highest part of the Millennium Tree Demon's trunk. The target of its fall was precisely the two eyes emitting an eerie red light near the tree crown of the Millennium Tree Demon. This was, of course, the result of Xiao Niao's intentional aiming!

'Puff!'

A sound rang out, different from the noise made by the previous attacks from Hu Gualing, Tang Yao, and the Sharp-toothed Piglet against the Millennium Tree Demon's trunk. Clearly, the 'wooden shaft steel arrow', aided by Xiao Niao's 'Lob Shot' technique, had not only accurately hit the target but had also inserted itself directly into the Millennium Tree Demon's trunk. This was the only time from the beginning of this battle until now that they had broken the Millennium Tree Demon's defense and dealt damage directly inside its bark!

-21 (Weakness Damage)!

A bright red two-digit damage number popped up from the Millennium Tree Demon's tree crown, making Xiao Niao both surprised and excited.