Chapter 238: Crimson Chaos Staff Usage Slot? I Threw That into the Auction House.
Aileen excelled at one-shot kill archery, capable of piercing through opponents with a single arrow, treating most targets equally.
Mina, on the other hand, was more adept at rapid-fire, able to unleash a barrage of five or six powerful arrows in a short amount of time, with additional attack effects against monsters.
However, the combined ordinary shooting abilities of both, derived from their base agility and bow strength, were astonishingly similar.
This led to the two archers engaging in a furious exchange of arrows from a long distance, yet neither could hit the other; all their arrows precisely collided mid-air and broke.
Ultimately, Aileen, with her infinitely replenishable Elven Quiver, gained the upper hand, being the first to deplete her opponent's arrows.
But it was also because the sheer number of arrow clashes was incredible that both developed a curiosity about the other. After confirming Mina was an NPC and not a player, Aileen harbored thoughts of forming a team.
As a demon slayer whose primary objective was to eliminate demons, Mina had actively entered this 'battle royale' zone, which was shrouded in hellish miasma and constantly expanding. Her goal was to find and eliminate a terrifying demon that had recently caused a significant number of innocent killings—
the Corrupted Outcast.
"Did you kill it?" Cheng Tian asked, having just finished sucking the bones of his chicken wings.
"Of course, who do you think I am?" Aileen replied matter-of-factly, washing down the Dr. Pepper in her mouth. Then, she threw an arm around Mina, who was helping feed her adorable Sawtooth Winged Dragon nearby, and presented her to Cheng Tian like a treasure.
Cheng Tian could only express that the girls' uninhibited intimate gestures were very pleasing to the eye, giving them a thumbs-up.
"But seriously, that Corrupted Outcast truly is the purest evil I've ever seen. There's no other motive mixed in; it's pure malice born from hunger. Knowing your personality, I bet if you saw it, you'd definitely try everything to take it down."
After boasting about her achievements, a hint of solemnity appeared on Aileen's face as she gave her assessment of the Corrupted Outcast.
The Corrupted Outcast was a former human who, after being infected by hellish miasma, had mutated with a 'hungry ghost' attribute. It ate everything edible, even its own arms, revealing its mutated ulna and radius resembling crab claws, while its body completely transformed into the shape of a demon.
It relished human flesh, especially that of young women. Even its own pregnant daughter, who had bravely sought him out, ended up in its stomach.
The Corrupted Outcast chased a novice miko named Rimururu into the players' battle royale zone, becoming a wandering BOSS. It possessed the characteristic of continuously growing by 'eating'; humans and players alike were all on its menu.
When Aileen and Mina found the Corrupted Outcast, this true Obstructive villain let out a burp and spat out a skull, which was the only part of its daughter's body that hadn't been digested.
If her main goal was to complete the battle royale quest, Aileen would have naturally stayed as far away from the Corrupted Outcast as possible. But when she saw the description of the Corrupted Outcast's actions in the triggered side quest, and then saw that spat-out skull, Aileen was enraged.
Her rationality told her that this was merely an NPC setting within the dungeon; the Corrupted Outcast would still exist as an evil demonic monster in the *Samurai Shodown Zero* dungeons entered by other players. Yet, she couldn't tolerate it.
Even at the risk of being discovered by other players, she had to take down this Corrupted Outcast.
Sometimes, people are driven by emotion to do things that might not be profitable or even result in a net loss, but what Aileen sought was a clear conscience.
As expected, Aileen was not the only one with such an idea of Subjugation . There were also the native NPCs Nakoruru and Rimururu, some players with a similar sense of justice, and even some red-named players who, though not good themselves, felt that keeping the Corrupted Outcast alive was too dangerous. They all, by unspoken agreement, began a collective Subjugation of the Corrupted Outcast.
Based on her role as a ranged archer, Aileen was someone other players would be wary of, fearing that her stray arrows might land directly on their necks during the temporary cooperative Subjugation process.
The Subjugation process was somewhat lengthy and difficult because, although everyone shared the goal of taking down the Corrupted Outcast, the fear of stray arrows and betrayal made it hard for them to work together effectively. This gave the Corrupted Outcast multiple opportunities to feed, heal, and evolve.
The Corrupted Outcast only ate and never excreted; apart from indigestible items, everything it consumed became part of its body, including equipment and abilities. Coupled with its ability to heal by eating and its exceptionally high HP, the Corrupted Outcast was harder to kill than imagined.
"So how did you guys manage to kill it?" Cheng Tian grew even more curious.
He was naturally very familiar with the Corrupted Outcast. Hearing their description, he felt that such a monster with infinite growth potential and rapid healing by eating would be incredibly difficult to kill, even giving Cheng Tian a feeling that it was harder to kill than the Silver Prince.
"I used an item to set up a trap, and it ate itself to death," Aileen said, throwing an item panel in front of Cheng Tian.
"[Side Effects of Medicine: Yu-Gi-Oh! Card, Trap Card, Consumable. Usage Condition: Can only be used outside of combat.
After use, a 25x25 meter square area can be set with a continuously active fixed trap. Within this area, all HP recovery effects will be 100% reversed into equivalent HP deduction effects; the user can only activate the trap card at any time during combat. The trap area lasts for 5 minutes.]"
She had obtained this disposable item from a lottery in the entertainment district before she met Cheng Tian. Since she didn't face inventory crises like Cheng Tian did all the time, she had always kept this item in her inventory, untouched.
"In the *Samurai Shodown Zero* dungeon, the bodies of deceased players and NPCs don't disappear. With the help of the wind, I discovered a battlefield left behind after a chaotic fight between a group of players and NPCs. The chests were all gone, but the bodies were still there..."
Aileen spread her hands, everything self-evident.
The Corrupted Outcast had the 'hungry ghost' attribute; besides seeking tender and delicious young women, it was unafraid of any edible corpses, and it especially loved humans. Its path chasing and eating Rimururu involved stopping and starting, all to satisfy its constantly hungry appetite.
What Aileen did then was to move the corpses into the trap area beforehand and wait for the Corrupted Outcast to arrive.
There was no need to lure it; the Corrupted Outcast came simply by smelling the corpses. With only appetite and no brains, it unhesitatingly initiated an all-you-can-eat buffet.
However, the HP recovery buff that should have appeared with eating directly turned into an HP reduction buff. As its HP decreased, the Corrupted Outcast wanted to eat even more corpses, and eating more corpses further increased its HP loss rate.
The more it ate, the hungrier it became; the hungrier it became, the more it ate. Eventually, the Corrupted Outcast literally ate itself to death.
As long as the right method was found, even a high-difficulty BOSS could become a freebie BOSS.
With just one trap, Aileen achieved over 90% of the kill damage, and her main quest completion rating also increased significantly. Due to high compatibility, she also triggered a bronze side quest that allowed her to take Mina with her, which is why she eagerly ran to Cheng Tian to show off.
However, on her way, she glanced at the Stardust communication group and realized the group was bustling. Group messages were directly 999+, and many lurkers had actively jumped out to speak.
Upon asking, she found out that an 'enhancement slot' for a "Crimson Chaos Staff" had appeared in the auction house. Its enhancement effect even surpassed ordinary main quests, and the permanent HP bonus of up to 150HP was particularly fatal to players focused on agility, spirit, and charm.
Players of Bronze rank and above stomped their feet in frustration, while players below Bronze rank eagerly prepared for action.
"Oh, that? I threw that slot into the auction house," Cheng Tian said, and with a flash in his hand, the Crimson Chaos Staff appeared.
A small piece of Hawaiian pizza dropped directly from Aileen's agape mouth... and was instantly snatched and eaten by the Sawtooth Winged Dragon crouching below!