Chapter 66: You Come Down
“Are you sure the Dark King is down there?”
Su Xiao stood before a bottomless vertical shaft, black mist swirling within.
“Positive. The Dark King only slumbers in the source of black mist. Where’s my payment?”
The Wild Boar kept a wide distance, seemingly terrified of the shaft.
By now, Su Xiao had been deep in the Black Forest for ten hours. With the Wild Boar guiding him, he encountered no danger along the way, though he did come across the Undead.
The so-called Undead were nothing more than dried-out human or beast corpses.
Su Xiao tried to kill one of the Undead but ultimately failed. Neither decapitation nor crushing had any effect. While shattering their bodies rendered them combat-ineffective, that didn’t mean Su Xiao could truly kill them.
Perhaps only fire could completely destroy the Undead. Otherwise, even if only a single finger remained, that finger could still move.
The Undead were weak in strength. If there were a few thousand, Su Xiao could fight his way out. But if the number exceeded ten thousand, he would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
After a moment’s hesitation, Su Xiao took out five Samsara Marks. The Wild Boar rushed forward excitedly.
“Wait.”
Su Xiao didn’t hand over the Samsara Marks directly.
“Until I see the Dark King, you won’t get these Marks.”
The Wild Boar’s excitement faded, and it nodded.
“Find a big rock and throw it down. When you hear a scream, give me the Marks. Then I have to run fast—the Dark King can control my movements.”
The Wild Boar didn’t seem to be lying. Su Xiao found a large rock nearby.
He hesitated. Would this really wake the Dark King? In movies, didn’t they usually break some seal first? Throwing a rock like this seemed too reckless.
“Hey, buddy, what are you thinking? Throw it.”
The Wild Boar looked at Su Xiao with confusion.
“Nothing.”
Su Xiao tossed the large rock into the shaft. The black mist inside churned.
*Thud.*
A dull sound echoed from within. After a dozen seconds, an enraged roar came up.
“Who threw that rock up there?!”
The corner of Su Xiao’s mouth twitched. The Dark King had actually been woken by his rock.
“Give me the Marks.”
The Wild Boar’s body trembled. Red light flickered in its pitch-black eyes.
Su Xiao took out five Samsara Marks. The Wild Boar snatched them in its mouth, turned, and fled, as if staying any longer would let the Dark King control it.
Black mist surged from the shaft. Bubu Wang poked his head in to look down.
“Who threw the rock?!”
A roar came from below.
“Woof, woof woof~ (I did.)”
Bubu Wang understood the situation. Jumping into the shaft would be idiotic. Luring the Dark King up was the best move.
Unexpectedly, the Dark King seemed to understand Bubu Wang’s bark.
“A dog? And a high-level creature? How could such a being exist in the Black Forest? Unbelievable.”
The Dark King paused, then his voice turned icy.
“Come down and die!”
An invisible wave spread out. Su Xiao’s mind went hazy for a moment before returning to normal a few seconds later.
Bubu Wang stepped forward slowly, as if about to jump into the shaft. Seeing this, Su Xiao rushed over and kicked Bubu Wang’s rear.
“Ow~!”
With a yelp, Bubu Wang snapped out of it. He had nearly been controlled by the Dark King into jumping.
“Woof woof woof (You come up).”
A few seconds after Bubu Wang barked, a voice came from below.
“You come down.”
The Dark King could indeed understand Bubu Wang’s meaning, which surprised Su Xiao. Without seeing the eyes, even he couldn’t fully grasp Bubu Wang’s barks.
“Woof woof… (If you’ve got guts, come up).”
“If you’ve got guts, come down.”
The Dark King was nothing like the imagined “Big Demon King.” He lacked any villainous flair.
“Move aside.”
Su Xiao lifted another large rock and approached the shaft. Under Bubu Wang’s gleeful gaze, he hurled the rock down.
*Boom!*
A crash echoed from below. Debris shot out of the shaft, flying dozens of meters high before falling.
“A weakling who only throws rocks.”
A taunt came from within the shaft, but a smile spread across Su Xiao’s face.
Based on the Wild Boar’s earlier description, the Dark King wasn’t the boss of the Black Forest, but he was still a leader-level creature. Yet he stayed hidden in the shaft, unwilling to come out. That meant only one thing: the Dark King had just awakened and was very weak.
“Woof.”
Bubu Wang looked at Su Xiao, clearly suggesting, “Master, I propose we pee into the shaft.”
Su Xiao admired Bubu Wang’s creativity. He patted Bubu Wang’s head. “Not a bad idea.”
Bubu Wang glanced down the shaft, confirmed the Dark King wouldn’t come up anytime soon, and began to relieve himself into it.
A dozen seconds later, a miserable howl came from below.
“I’ll skin you alive!!”
*Crack, crack, crack.*
Climbing sounds echoed from the shaft. Black mist poured out.
Bubu Wang shrank his neck, quickly ran to a large tree in the distance, agilely climbed it, and activated his divine skill, “You Can’t See Me.”
*Bang.*
A pitch-black hand slapped the edge of the shaft. Su Xiao drew the Dragon-Slaying Flash from his waist. From here on, things were simple: either he killed the Dark King, or the Dark King killed him.
A muscular, pitch-black giant climbed out of the shaft. He was about three meters tall, bald, with black mist wafting around his body. Thick iron rings studded with rivets were fastened around his knees and shoulders.
The Dark King glanced at Su Xiao, then scanned the surroundings.
“Where’s that dog? Tell me, and I’ll spare your life.”
“……”
Su Xiao took out the Havana Eye and began to inspect the Dark King’s data.
[Comparing intelligence attributes… Comparison complete. Your intelligence is 1.387 times the enemy’s. Obtaining 100% of enemy data.]
Data as follows:
Name: Dark King Minos (Leader-level creature!)
Category: Mutated Demon (Awakened 29%)
Health: 70%
Mana: 310
Strength: 50
Agility: 50
Stamina: 50
Intelligence: 31
Charm: 4
Skill 1: Lord’s Authority (Passive), Health +2000, Strength +16, Agility +13, Stamina +15.
Skill 2: Demon Soul (Active), Fully demonize, greatly enhance attributes, all attribute resistance +40%. (Dark King not fully awakened; skill unavailable.)
Skill 3: Roar (Active), Dark King emits a sonic wave that shakes the enemy’s brain, dealing 300 damage and 2 seconds of stun.
Skill 4: Undead Leader (Passive), Can summon and command all Undead. Number of Undead depends on… (Dark King not fully awakened; skill unavailable.)
Skill 5: Ascend (Active), In critical moments, Dark King leaps high into the air, then slams down with full force, dealing damage equal to Strength × 4 + Body Weight × 0.2 + Height × 0.6.
Skill 6: Dark Meteor (Ultimate), Dark King summons a 3×3 meter meteor from the sky, dealing 500 + Strength × 2 + Intelligence × 5 damage, with a Demon Flame burn effect lasting 10 seconds, dealing 30 damage per second.
…
[Tip: The Dark King awakens 2% per hour. Once awakening exceeds 70%, his abilities will fully awaken.]
After reading the Dark King’s data, Su Xiao’s heart sank. If the Dark King fully awakened, he wouldn’t be as terrifying as Bahamut, but he would still be formidable—at least capable of killing Su Xiao in one shot.