11: Chapter 11 This dog can demolish towers

The moment those giant scarlet eyes opened, the Dark Souls Youth's hand holding the wooden sword stiffened by half an inch; a bead of blood on the sword tip slid down the wood grain, dripping onto the charred fur of a Split-Tooth Wolf.

Sect Master Di Kun stood on the ruined wall of the mountain gate, his right hand gripping his old sword, the numbing sensation from the impact still lingering in his palm. The footsteps in the mist were far heavier than those of the Split-Tooth Wolf; each step felt like it was treading on the ribs of everyone at the valley entrance, forcing their rising gasps back down their throats.

"Retreat behind the white stone line," Sect Master Di Kun said. "Don't look at its eyes, look at its claws."

The Dark Souls Youth slid back a step, his heel grinding over a wolf corpse, the width of his grin diminishing slightly: "With this size, can we farm it in the early-game newbie village?"

The Speedrun Youth lay prone on the high ground, his fingers dug into the tree bark, the red cloth taut in the morning breeze: "We can farm it, but it depends on whether it has a second phase."

The black mist was shoved aside by a savage aura.

A Demon Mastiff, nearly a zhang tall at the shoulder, stepped out. Its back rose as if split open, with black spikes growing from both sides of its spine all the way to the base of its tail, the tips of the spikes hung with dried scabs of blood. Its massive front paws landed, pressing paw prints into the mud, with broken bones still wedged between its claws. Its nostrils flared, and after smelling the blood of the Yao Beast corpses at the valley entrance, its lips curled back, revealing two rows of interlocking fangs.

Behind it, a dozen or so low-level Yao Beasts were forced to squeeze forward. Demon Rats, skinny wolves, and long-tailed apes were mixed together; many bore injuries, with fresh bite marks on the backs of their necks. With every step the Split-Back Demon Mastiff took forward, the low-level Yao Beasts closest to it moved a step closer to the valley entrance.

The Sect Protection Elder's face changed instantly. He raised his hand to press the old amulet on his chest, his voice extremely low: "Sect Master, this is a Split-Back Demon Mastiff. A beast on the edge of the mid-level Mortal Rank, it should theoretically only be active in the depths of the Black Mist Demon Ridge; why would it come to the outskirts of the mountain gate?"

Sect Master Di Kun stared at the Demon Mastiff's shoulders and back. It wasn't in a rush to charge; instead, it let the low-level Yao Beasts step into the corpse piles and trap zones first. The previous wave had been like a tide, but now that this one had appeared, the tide had teeth.

"It hasn't come here to die," Sect Master Di Kun said. "Don't count on wiping out the first layer completely. Tower Defense, hold the core mechanisms, kill the small ones first."

The Tower Defense Youth gripped the winch handle, his knuckles pierced by wood splinters, beads of blood seeping out. He didn't take his eyes off the valley entrance: "Understood. Don't waste crossbow bolts on the dog, don't waste rolling stones on its shadow, clear the guards first."

"Speedrun, watch its legs and feet."

"I'm watching."

The Speedrun Youth leaned half his body out of the tree fork, his gaze sweeping from the Demon Mastiff's front paws to its hind legs. The Split-Back Demon Mastiff's steps were steady, but only before its left hind leg touched the ground, there was a very brief hesitation, as if an old injury was pulling at its tendons.

"Sect Master, there's a problem with its left hind leg!" he shouted. "It's half a beat slow when landing, very short, we need to force it to run for it to be obvious!"

Sect Master Di Kun raised his hand, his old sword pointing to the remaining lines of fire oil on both sides of the valley entrance.

"Chuunibyou, bring up the fire, force it to change position. Don't hit the front, hit the sides."

The Chuunibyou Youth bit one end of a cloth strip, tightening his right arm again. He picked up two fire oil bags, turned, and shouted at the servants: "Second round of the Heaven-Burning Meteor Art, target, the left and right mountain walls!"

Several servants looked at each other, their arms still trembling.

The Chuunibyou Youth shoved a fire oil bag into the arms of the person in front: "Don't be afraid. Hit the mountain wall, not the dog. The mountain wall won't bite you."

The muscles on the servant's face twitched, and he was actually pushed by this statement to run forward two steps.

Fire oil bags flew out one after another, smashing onto the gravel slopes on both sides of the valley entrance. Torches fell, the remaining oil was ignited, and lines of fire crawled along the stone crevices, heat waves whipping up gray smoke. Low-level Yao Beasts were driven into a frenzy by the fire, a few Demon Rats stepped into old pits, their shrieks piercing enough to make people's eardrums ache.

The Split-Back Demon Mastiff stopped.

It lowered its head to look at the fire line, then looked toward the mountain gate. Those red eyes were not scared off by the fire; instead, it bypassed the burning gravel and locked onto a section of temporary wooden fencing on the left.

Sect Master Di Kun saw the black spikes on its shoulders and back lowering one by one.

"Left fence!"

The moment the words fell, the Split-Back Demon Mastiff moved.

It didn't pounce on anyone, nor did it step into a trap, but instead charged diagonally for three steps, swiping its front claws across the wooden fence. The thick wooden fence was struck by its claw, the middle section directly buckling, the binding vine ropes snapping, the broken ends whipping across a nearby servant's face, leaving a bloody streak. Wood chips and sparks rolled back together, and the fire oil was scattered, actually flowing toward the direction of the second layer of defensive barriers.

"Water! Cover it with dirt!" The Life-Skill Player rushed up, dragging a medicine chest, and casually kicked a bag of dry soil to the person next to him, "Don't pour water, the oil will float!"

The servant grabbed the soil bag and threw himself over, frantically smashing it onto the fire line. The flames were suppressed for a moment, then burst out from the cracks again, scorching the tip of a defensive barrier black.

Sect Master Di Kun leaped down from the ruined wall, plunged his old sword into the ground, gripped the buckled remaining fence post with both hands, his shoulders and back tensing. He braced his feet against the gravel, forcing the remaining post back by half a foot, blocking the gap that had been torn open.

The Split-Back Demon Mastiff's second claw had already arrived.

Its claw blade struck the remaining post, the counter-shock traveling along the wooden post into Sect Master Di Kun's arm. The wound on Sect Master Di Kun's left arm was ripped open, his blood-stained clothes instantly soaked through, and two sliding marks were pressed into the muddy ground beneath his feet. Behind the remaining post, a servant fell to the ground, and a fire oil canister rolled toward the fire line.

Sect Master Di Kun lifted his foot and hooked it, kicking the oil canister back.

"Dark Souls, Speedrun, only distract," he said, his teeth slightly clenched, but his voice steady. "Whoever gets greedy, you can crawl back yourself."

The Dark Souls Youth was just about to charge forward, but upon hearing this, he spun his wooden sword in his palm: "Received, no DPS, just annoying."

He rushed toward the right side of the valley entrance, hugging the obstacle-filled terrain, deliberately swaying past the edge of the Split-Back Demon Mastiff's field of vision. He tapped his wooden sword against the stones, making it loud and sharp.

"Hey, big dog, look over here. You're pretty skilled at demolishing towers, is city management a family tradition?"

The Split-Back Demon Mastiff's ears twitched, and its red eyes turned toward him.

The Dark Souls Youth's footsteps paused, and his body had already rolled out to the side and back. The Demon Mastiff didn't pounce immediately; it pressed its front paws onto a skinny wolf blocking its path, crushing the low-level Yao Beast's spine, and using the corpse as a stepping stone, it avoided the remaining ropes on the ground and closed in on the Dark Souls Youth.

"It knows how to avoid ropes." The Tower Defense Youth gritted his back teeth. "This dog really knows how to watch its path."

Sect Master Di Kun withdrew his hand from the wooden fence, blood dripping from his fingertips onto the surface of the post. He looked at the Demon Mastiff's feet; the area had been trampled into a mess by the first wave, and many traps were exposed. If he let it keep demolishing like this, the second line of defense would sooner or later be torn open from the front.

"Drive the small monsters to the left pit," Sect Master Di Kun said. "Force it to change its path."

The Life-Skill Player had just bandaged a servant's arm; hearing the command, she immediately grabbed an earthenware jar. She didn't sprinkle the Beast-Attracting Powder onto the Demon Mastiff, but instead sprinkled it downwind toward the old pit on the left. As the gray-brown powder scattered, several low-level Yao Beasts' nostrils twitched, and they turned to charge toward the place with the strongest scent.

The Tower Defense Youth seized the opportunity and waved his hand: "Left crossbow, shoot the low ones!"

Two discarded crossbow bolts pierced through the fire and smoke, pinning down a skinny wolf and a long-tailed ape. The corpses rolled to the edge of the old pit, blocking the Split-Back Demon Mastiff's path forward. If it wanted to continue closing in on the Dark Souls Youth, it had to step over that patch of loose gravel.

The Speedrun Youth's voice suddenly rose high from the high ground: "Its left hind leg is about to step onto the gravel! Don't hit the front legs, force it to speed up!"

The Dark Souls Youth turned his body sideways, revealing half a flaw, his wooden sword dragging on the ground, as if he were exhausted.

A low growl rolled from the Split-Back Demon Mastiff's throat, the black spikes on its back flared open, and its massive body lunged out. It was so fast that it exceeded everyone's predictions; its front paws crossed the corpses, and its left hind leg stepped onto the loose gravel.

The gravel ground collapsed.

But the deep pit only swallowed half of its hind leg. The Split-Back Demon Mastiff twisted its shoulders and back, its front paws hooking onto the edge of the pit, its black spikes shredding the nearby wooden posts, the mud and stone cracked by its sheer force. The edge of the pit couldn't withstand the brute strength, and two sharpened stakes snapped along with it. It charged out of the pit, its left hind leg trailing a string of blood, yet it didn't fall.

The Dark Souls Youth's roll was half a beat too slow, and his back was caught by the wind of the Demon Mastiff's claws; his whole body slammed into the stone wall, and he spat out a spray of blood.

"Don't take it!" Sect Master Di Kun swung his old sword, blocking the path between the Split-Back Demon Mastiff and the Dark Souls Youth.

The Demon Mastiff's front paws pressed down.

Sect Master Di Kun blocked horizontally with his sword, the blade emitting an unbearable bending groan. He used the force to retreat, his boot soles carving long marks into the mud, and he only stopped when his shoulder hit a defensive barrier. The tip of the barrier snapped, and a wood splinter flew past his cheek, pinning into the mountain wall behind him.

The Sect Protection Elder dragged half a shovel to fill the gap, pulling the Dark Souls Youth back from the stone wall. The Dark Souls Youth coughed up a mouthful of blood, still staring at the Demon Mastiff's leg: "The left hind leg really is injured, it was slow coming out of the pit just now."

Sect Master Di Kun looked at the cracked edge of the pit.

The first line of defense was like a gap torn open by a giant hand; the wooden fence was crooked, the fire lines were running wild, and several ropes had been snapped by the bodies of the Yao Beasts. In the rear, the Life-Skill Player was treating three wounded at the same time, the hemostatic paste running out faster than expected. The corpses of the Yao Beasts were piled there, not yet having had time to be dismantled into crossbow tendons, leather materials, and new powder.

The Split-Back Demon Mastiff stepped on the burning wooden splinters and gravel, slowly walking into the valley entrance. The firelight shone on its black spikes, their shadows cast onto the mountain wall like a row of inverted knives. It wasn't in a rush to kill; it just scanned the ruined walls, defensive barriers, crossbow positions, and the crowd with its red eyes, its claw tips gently scraping four grooves into the muddy ground.

The morale that the Taichu Sect had just built up was being squeezed tight by its every step.

Sect Master Di Kun raised his hand to wipe away the blood on his cheek, the blood pressed by his thumb onto the spine of his old sword. He looked at the Speedrun Youth on the high slope, then at the Dark Souls Youth who was propping himself up with his wooden sword.

"The conventional tactics have reached their limit," Sect Master Di Kun said. "Prepare to use the heavy stuff."

The Tower Defense Youth's hand gripping the winch stopped. The Sect Protection Elder looked at Sect Master Di Kun, his eyelids twitching twice: "Sect Master, which trump card are you going to use?"

Sect Master Di Kun did not answer.

He sheathed his old sword back to his waist, his right hand pressing onto the stone stair mechanism on the inner side of the mountain gate that led to the underground Spirit Pool. Cold water from last night had accumulated in the stone crevices; pressed open by his fingertips, it began to flow down bit by bit along the stair seams. Outside the valley entrance, the Split-Back Demon Mastiff lowered its head, its left hind leg stepping over the cracked edge of the pit, its bloody paw prints slowly approaching the white stone line.