38: Chapter 38 I'm a brave NPC certified by the rules!

"Are you really the brave NPC indicated by the rules?"

Lu Chen was truly infuriated by Carlos. He swore that if he ever had the chance, he would definitely beat him up severely!

"I am in my heart! But my body won't listen to me, there's nothing I can do!"

"The Three-Tailed Demon Fox is too terrifying. Possessing the Power of Dark Covenant, it can not only create Clones but also evoke the things people fear most in their hearts. It is the most terrifying Commander BOSS; in this regard, it's even scarier than a World Lord BOSS. I don't dare to face it!" Carlos explained the reason for his fear.

He really didn't want to recall his most horrific past memories.

"Big Boss, you must leave enough beast pets to protect me."

"If I die, or fall into a fear illusion, you will find it very difficult to complete the subsequent tasks."

Damn it!

Is this what a brave NPC is like?

Did the task rules get it wrong?

He's clearly so huge and bears the name of 'brave,' so why is he such a coward?

And he's so unreliable!

Seeing his cowardly appearance, Lu Chen felt helpless and had to agree: "Then tell me the method to find the true form of the Three-Tailed Demon Fox, and I will leave enough Ice Horn Ants to protect you!"

"Many thanks, Big Boss. Actually, the method to find the true form of the Three-Tailed Demon Fox is very simple: pay attention to the flame on its middle tail. The true form never goes out, while the Clones will extinguish after a period of time and then reignite." Carlos replied in detail.

"Are you sure this method is real?" Lu Chen had been tricked by him many times, so he instinctively started to doubt him.

"Big Boss, according to my many years of..." Carlos noticed the Big Boss's look was off, so he hurriedly stopped and changed his wording: "Hmm, hmm, this is absolutely true, I swear on my life!"

Hearing this, Lu Chen finally believed him for once, left behind ten thousand Ice Horn Ants, and then led his other beast pets to search for the Three-Tailed Demon Fox's true form himself.

After Lu Chen had walked far away, Carlos suddenly remembered something: "Oh no! That's bad. I forgot to remind the Big Boss not to destroy that Demon Fox Altar; the Three-Tailed Demon Fox's true form will never come out on its own."

Upon hearing this, the ten thousand Ice Horn Ants left to protect him instantly glared fiercely: [Damn you, are you trying to trick our master again?]

However, the order they received from their master was to protect Carlos with all their might, so they could not voluntarily return to their master's side to tell him that Carlos had screwed him over again!

"I didn't want to either. It's just that I was too terrified earlier and forgot. Besides, that Demon Fox Altar requires an ancient method to be destroyed; no matter how high the attack power is, it cannot be destroyed by normal means. What should I do?" Carlos panicked.

This time he was genuinely panicked.

But he didn't dare to go over.

He only hoped that the Big Boss would discover the anomaly and successfully turn back.

At the same time, he got a headache again.

Because this ancient method could only be performed by him, which meant that for the Big Boss to complete this task, he had to make the trip.

On this side.

Lu Chen had already arrived inside the Dark Swamp and encountered many attacks from the Three-Tailed Demon Fox. They were all Three-Tailed Demon Fox Clones, and their attributes were not much different from a normal Commander BOSS.

[Name: Three-Tailed Demon Fox · Commander BOSS]

[Rank: Tier 2 LV60]

[HP: 49280]

[MP: 42980]

[Attack: 24640]

[Defense: 14784 Physical Defense / 12894 Magic Defense]

[Special Status: Power of Dark Covenant (Dark Effect X10, Speed X5)]

[Skills: Demon Fox Clone, Abyss of the Heart, Dark Fox Fire, Shadow Step]

What surprised Lu Chen was that these Three-Tailed Demon Fox Clones were no different from the main body; they could all cast skills and were all corporeal, which was very strange. Only after being killed would they turn into black mist and dissipate.

"That shouldn't be right! Even if it's a Clone skill, it's impossible for Clones to appear endlessly, right? Could it be that the Three-Tailed Demon Fox's Clone skill has no cooldown?" Lu Chen had no choice but to continue moving forward; killing these Clones yielded no experience points.

Moreover, Lu Chen hadn't encountered any small monsters along the way; he estimated that this map only had one BOSS, and the Clones were the small monsters!

When he arrived in the depths of the Dark Swamp, Lu Chen discovered a Dark Altar with a lifelike statue of a Three-Tailed Demon Fox on it, and nothing else.

Suddenly!

A large number of Three-Tailed Demon Fox Clones condensed, numbering in the thousands.

But they were still easily crushed by the Ice Horn Ants.

These Commander BOSS Clones were absolutely no match for Lu Chen's beast pets!

However, these were, after all, Clones, not the true form. Killing them only resulted in more appearing endlessly, which gave Lu Chen a headache. If he didn't find the true form and kill it, he would be trapped here forever.

"This shouldn't be! I've already killed tens of thousands of Clones; the Three-Tailed Demon Fox's true form should have appeared by now. Could that jerk Carlos have left something out again?!"

After the Ice Horn Ants dealt with another wave of Clones, Lu Chen had the Ice Horn Ants destroy the Dark Altar to see if it could force out the Three-Tailed Demon Fox's true form. But the Ice Horn Ants' attacks could not damage the Dark Altar at all, which made Lu Chen even more frustrated.

And this behavior of Lu Chen completely enraged the Three-Tailed Demon Fox's true form hidden in the darkness. It immediately used the power of the Dark Altar to create hundreds of thousands of Clones, densely packing the area and surrounding Lu Chen completely.

And!

These Clones released the [Abyss of the Heart] skill simultaneously. This was a very special mind-control skill, and combined with the 10x Dark Effect bonus from the Power of Dark Covenant, it was enough to make any Tier 2 job changer fall victim!

Once the things one feared most deep in their heart were successfully evoked, it would form a materialized illusion. At best, it would make the person fall into fear and become unable to move; at worst, they would lose their sanity or even go mad!

Lu Chen, who hadn't defended himself in time, had the things he feared most deep in his heart successfully evoked. He feared losing his family most of all. He fell into a fear illusion; the Abyss of the Heart materialized this fear, trapping Lu Chen in a nightmare illusion where his family died tragically one by one before his eyes. He had become a homeless wanderer once again.

Squeak, squeak, squeak!

While Lu Chen was trapped in the Abyss of the Heart, all his beast pets were affected and became frantically restless.

"Oh no! The Big Boss must have been hit!" Carlos saw the Ice Horn Ants protecting him running around and going berserk, and he knew that the fear deep in Lu Chen's heart had been awakened.

"What should I do?" Carlos was anxious.

If he didn't go to save him, even if Lu Chen wasn't killed, he would be permanently trapped inside. Then the False God Gluttony King Grotto would definitely break the seal and emerge, and at that time, the Beast World would surely be destroyed by it!

This was not what he wanted to see.

Having finally encountered a Beast Taming Hero with the hope of defeating the False God BOSS, Carlos decided to sacrifice his small self; he was, after all, a brave NPC!

Finally.

After some inner struggle, Carlos gritted his teeth and decided to go help Lu Chen.

Squeak, squeak, squeak!

Although the ten thousand Ice Horn Ants were restless, they still instinctively followed Carlos, continuing to execute their protection mission.

At this moment.

A large number of Three-Tailed Demon Fox Clones were besieging Lu Chen and his beast pets.

"What the hell, how can his defense be so outrageous? It's not breaking at all?" The Three-Tailed Demon Fox's true form was stunned.

However, it didn't care; since it couldn't kill the opponent, it would just trap them here forever.

Just at this moment, Carlos arrived in time leading the ten thousand Ice Horn Ants. He used his sturdy body to knock away a large number of Three-Tailed Demon Fox Clones and reached Lu Chen's side.

"Big Boss, don't panic, I've come to save you!" Carlos hoisted Lu Chen up and ran away frantically, taking Lu Chen out of the coverage area of the Three-Tailed Demon Fox's Abyss of the Heart skill.

Lu Chen was finally able to recover from the illusion, still feeling lingering fear.

The Three-Tailed Demon Fox's mind skill was too terrifying.

No wonder Carlos was so afraid!

"Carlos? Is it you? You're not afraid anymore?" Lu Chen felt grateful and his impression of Carlos changed drastically; if he hadn't come to save him, the consequences would have been unpredictable.

Carlos laughed heartily: "After all, I am a rules-certified brave NPC!"

Woo!

Just at this moment, a large number of Three-Tailed Demon Fox Clones chased after them. Carlos let out a strange cry, his eyes filled with fear again, and his body couldn't stop trembling: "Big Boss, help!"

This time, Lu Chen did not laugh at Carlos, but patted his shoulder and smiled lightly: "Don't worry, I will absolutely not let a single Three-Tailed Demon Fox Clone cast the Abyss of the Heart skill on you!"