Chapter Ninety-Three: The People of My Hometown Miss You, Mind Flayer

Lucien was overwhelmed with grief and fury. He ran alone toward the dark forest, and as he recalled the failure of moments ago, that exquisite humiliation drove him to let out another long, wolflike howl at the moon.

He had schemed for so long, worked himself to the bone, finally found his target, and carried out the plan step by step; it was only half a step from completion. Yet in the end, all his efforts came to nothing, and he was defeated just before victory.

This filled him with boundless hatred for Lin Xiao. Even though the other had spared his life, he could not let go of his resentment. His mind churned with every manner of revenge, determined to make him taste the humiliation he had suffered today.

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

Lucien suddenly heard an odd sound in the brush around him. His hearing was keen beyond measure, and he could tell at once that something was wrong—something seemed to be drawing near.

A foul, bloody stench drifted into his nose, much like the scent of his own kind, the werewolves, yet somehow different. He had never smelled anything like it before.

A black shadow flashed by and vanished. Lucien started violently, his gaze sweeping in all directions as rage surged up inside him.

A tiger fallen into the plain is bullied by dogs. A noble leader of the wolf clan had actually been reduced to prey. This made him all the more bitter and furious. He roared at the brush, waving his remaining arm like a madman.

Then, in that instant, a black shape suddenly lunged out from the undergrowth. It was a hideous monster, no shorter than he was, powerfully built, its mouth shaped like a five-petaled chrysanthemum.

The moment it pounced, its mouth split wide, revealing a mouthful of razor teeth. It clamped onto his arm and tore with a savage twist, ripping off a large piece of flesh.

Lucien screamed again in pain, kicked the monster away, and turned to flee back the way he had come. This former wolf chief ran like a frightened hound, bolting for his life.

The monster pursued him from behind, repeatedly leaping up to bite away chunks of flesh, gulping them down with wet, hungry sounds. It uttered ghastly cries as blood spattered everywhere. The scene was nauseatingly bloody.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiao had just finished dripping blood onto Lukas when he saw Lucien return in a panic, crashing through the gate.

The former wolf leader was drenched in blood. Hardly a patch of him remained unscathed; great slabs of flesh had been torn away, exposing grim white bone in a sight too horrifying to behold.

"Save me!"

Lucien shouted, waving his lone remaining arm. At that moment, a muscular black shadow lunged from behind, slammed him to the ground, and opened its huge chrysanthemum-shaped maw to bite down on his head.

"The Great Demon King!"

Lin Xiao, Eleven, Will, Joey, and Sheriff Hope cried out in unison. The monster pinning Lucien was none other than the Great Demon King that had once attacked Will—the big dog.

Crunch, crunch, crunch...

The dreadful sound of chewing made the scalp crawl, accompanied by Lucien's muffled screams, which quickly faded away.

Holy Light Spear!

A spear of light pierced the darkness, streaking across the night sky like a javelin. It shot straight through the Great Demon King's body and, beneath it, through Lucien as well, striking two targets with one blow.

Immediately after, another spear of light came flying in and pierced both their skulls, passing clean through their brains.

The Great Demon King, still feeding, slowly collapsed to the ground. Lucien, pinned beneath it, also went limp and lay motionless.

The system chimed:

[ Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing Level 5 Great Demon King. Source Power +40 ]

[ Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing Level 10 Wolf Clan Leader. Source Power +90. You have once again altered the course of the plot. Plot Breaker mission +1. Reward: one ordinary nine-star capsule ]

[ Ding! Congratulations to the host for accumulating 90 points of Source Power and meeting the conditions for leveling up. Would you like to level up? ]

"Level up immediately!" Lin Xiao said joyfully. What was a windfall from heaven? This was a windfall from heaven.

Who could have imagined that the fleeing former wolf chief would deliver himself on a silver platter like this, and even bring a bonus Great Demon King, a free gift with purchase?

Without lifting a finger, he had gained 130 points of Source Power. That was even easier than picking it up from the ground—it had practically fallen from the sky. There was no way not to take it.

He had finally reached Level 9, only one step away from Level 10. As long as he gathered another 100 points of Source Power, he could undergo a class advancement. The only question was whether advancement was truly possible, and whether there would be some sort of advancement quest to complete.

"What happened? Why is there a Great Demon King here?" Sheriff Hope was the first to react, asking in confusion.

Everyone's eyes turned to Lin Xiao. No one had any objection to his killing the Great Demon King. As for Lucien, who had been killed by mistake, judging from what had just happened, his actions had only made Lucien die more quickly and cleanly.

Otherwise, given a werewolf's tenacious vitality, he might have struggled for a very long time before dying. Just thinking about that kind of agony was enough to chill the blood.

A group of sturdy young werewolves hurried forward and moved the Great Demon King's corpse aside, revealing the former chief beneath it. His head had been chewed beyond recognition; brains and blood were everywhere, and his face was a grotesque ruin, almost impossible to identify.

A trace of relief appeared on his features, though it was mixed with a touch of regret. Perhaps it was because his plan had never been fulfilled, and dying like this felt all too worthless.

Awwooo!

The werewolves lifted their heads and howled at the moon, bidding farewell to their departed former chief. Michael and Lucas, now restored to their senses, also came down slowly from the gate and joined in the farewell howl.

Even Eddie, who had always been at odds with Lucien, transformed into his werewolf form and walked over to join the procession.

For a time, wolf howls rose one after another, unending. Their voices were high and mournful, filled with the tragic solemnity of a hero's final curtain.

Lin Xiao shrugged, feeling the magic within him swell to an extreme degree. He could only say that Lucien had been unlucky.

He had just had his arm severed and his leg injured when he ran into such a powerful Great Demon King—three levels stronger than the one Lin Xiao had slain before. Clearly, it had evolved again.

Strangely enough, why had the Great Demon King appeared once more? Could it be that the Mind Flayer had returned?

At that thought, he was not alarmed but delighted. Good, come back then. The people of his homeland missed you terribly, Comrade Mind Flayer, and were all eagerly awaiting your return so they could send you to your death.

Your timing is perfect, too. There haven't been enough demon dog corpses around lately; a snowfall of dogs is a welcome gift, however small.

"Eleven, use your psychic search and see how many demon dogs have come over," Lin Xiao said quietly as he walked to her side.

The urgent task was to figure out how many minions the Mind Flayer had brought back this time. If there were too few, the people of his homeland would be displeased.

Eleven closed her eyes as instructed and activated her psychic roaming ability. After a moment, she opened them again, her face twisted with terror, so frightened she could scarcely speak.

"What is it, Eleven? How many demon dogs are there? Has the Mind Flayer returned?"

Eleven steadied her emotions with difficulty, stared fixedly at Lin Xiao, and stammered:

"Too many. There are too many demon dogs. At least several hundred. There are dozens of Great Demon Kings too, and they're even bigger than the ones before.

"They're attacking Hawkins Laboratory. The troops there are fighting them. Many people have died, and they won't be able to hold out much longer. Many demon dogs have already broken through and are surging toward the town."

"What?" Lin Xiao's expression changed as well. Several hundred demon dogs, dozens of Great Demon Kings—was this a joke? The people of his homeland do not welcome you. Please, do go away.

That Mind Flayer—where had it rounded up such an enormous army of demon dogs? Had it summoned every demon dog within the entire alternate Indiana, just like Lucien? That was highly possible. After suffering such a crushing loss last time, that great demon must have been nursing a grudge. Only after making full preparations would it dare return for revenge. But these preparations were a little too thorough.

"Inside, get inside now! If you can sense the Mind Flayer's location, then the Mind Flayer can sense ours too.

"The appearance of this Great Demon King here is certainly no accident. It's only its vanguard. The demon dog army will be pouring in any moment now."

Lin Xiao made the decision at once and ordered everyone to retreat indoors. Fortunately, there was a shelter underground. With the advantage of terrain, they would be able to withstand the assault of the demon dog horde.