The stone Su Chen threw was not ideal. The material was decent, but its surface was a bit rough. This might have made for a firm grip, but it wasn’t good for long-range accuracy.
That being the case, he decided to let the Demon Dog get closer before throwing.
He had waited patiently for a moment, only making his move when the prey was about five meters away.
The result, naturally, was perfect.
After landing the crippling blow, Su Chen immediately moved in to finish it off.
He took a few steps forward, planted his foot heavily on the Demon Dog’s struggling body, and amidst a squeal like a stuck pig, brought the long-handled axe he held in both hands whistling down through the air, viciously cleaving into the Demon Dog’s skull.
The axe blade split the bloody hole in its forehead wide open, burying itself deep into the cranial cavity. Blood and brain matter splattered instantly.
A single strike was all it took to end the Demon Dog’s life.
But with such tremendous force, the blade became lodged between the hard bones of the skull, making it difficult to pull free.
Just then, Su Chen turned slightly, his gaze shifting to another direction.
Here, the tree canopy was even denser, allowing only a dozen or so mottled sunbeams to filter through. Amidst the shifting shadows of the forest, a dark figure appeared in the distance. From its silhouette alone, one could tell this Demon Dog was powerfully built, its body a mass of sinewy muscle. Its reddish skin gave it a fierce and imposing air.
Its scarlet pupils and blood-stained mouth were especially conspicuous in the dim light, a sight that would strike fear into anyone’s heart.
"So there’s one more of you. The whole gang’s here."
Su Chen’s tone was flat, his expression completely composed.
From a distance of at least fifty meters, he unhurriedly picked up the Swiss army knife. He plucked a leaf and wiped away all the bloodstains, revealing the blade’s original, cold glint.
The solid wood handle felt warm to the touch and had a non-slip finish.
Interestingly, as he performed this simple act of crouching and standing up, the approaching Demon Dog slowed its advance. Its eager, ferocious demeanor even subsided slightly.
’A little interesting.’
Su Chen recalled an old village saying: dogs fear a man bending over, wolves fear a man crouching.
The essence of it was that the human acts of bending over or crouching down were likely to trigger an instinctual fear in canids, making them think their opponent was about to pick up a rock or a spear.
It was a deep-seated memory, an imprint left by ancient humans during their hunts.
To put it bluntly, it was embedded in their base genetic code.
The question was, why would a Demon Dog from this Otherworld have any impression of the "terrifying upright ape"? It hadn’t flinched when its companion died, so why this sudden wariness?
As this strange thought crossed Su Chen’s mind, he put the short blade back into his sports backpack and smoothly drew out the Alloy Baseball Bat.
The distance between them continued to shrink. The dense canopy overhead left the ground vegetation sparse. When they were finally within attack range, the Demon Dog opened its mouth, and flames erupted forth.
Su Chen knew its attack patterns like the back of his hand and instinctively raised his left arm.
’Huh?!’
"Something’s wrong."
Seeing a fiery torrent like a Fire Dragon surging toward him, he didn’t rashly try to parry it with Water Mirror Refraction. Instead, he suddenly dashed several steps to the left, taking cover behind an ancient tree.
WHOOSH!
A fan-shaped wave of fire swept past. The scorching heatwave rolled from left to right, and the bark of the ancient tree crackled softly under the intense heat, but there was no further impact.
’So it uses Fire Element Essences to breathe fire.’
As Su Chen mused to himself, his mind grew even calmer. The moment the flames dissipated, he shot out like an arrow, charging forward without the slightest fear.
If you showed your back to a vicious dog, you’d naturally be chased down.
Conversely, when faced with the tall, upright ape charging at it like a gathering wind, the Demon Dog’s hind legs instinctively took a step back. It was only one step, however. Its savage nature took over, and the fading glow in its mouth coalesced once more. A surging ball of fire transformed into a Flame Bullet and shot out.
’That’s more like it!’
This was the familiar pattern.
Su Chen held up one hand. A Water Mirror Screen shimmering with liquid light instantly appeared before him. When the fire struck it, the watery surface rippled violently, and the attack was blasted back along its original path at an even greater speed.
The Demon Dog’s pupils contracted. It let out a low growl and scrambled to dodge, but the distance was simply too short. With a shrill cry of pain, the reflected Flame Bullet struck its right foreleg.
"ARGH!!"
It immediately lost its balance and staggered backward, trying to flee.
Su Chen rushed forward. Empowered by his forward momentum, he swung the Alloy Baseball Bat clutched in his hand, bringing it down with immense force onto the Demon Dog’s spine.
THUD!
With a dull boom, the Demon Dog’s spine snapped on the spot. Its body collapsed, crashing heavily into the grass.
Blood gushed from its mouth and nose. Its limbs twitched a few times, but it could no longer stand up.
The murderous intent in Su Chen’s eyes did not fade. Without pausing, he rained blow after blow onto the Demon Dog’s head. Three seconds later, it stopped breathing, its body completely still.
"Huuu..."
Su Chen regulated his breathing. In the midst of slaughter, he felt a profound sense of almost religious calm and pleasure. This seemingly contradictory emotion was something he had experienced deeply during extreme speed skating.
It was most likely the result of a massive dopamine release.
But the pleasure also came from the two Fire Element Essences that were gradually emerging from the bloody, pulped mess that was the Demon Dog’s head.
’It really is two.’
Su Chen figured this was probably what made this particular Demon Dog unusual. After all, it had one more Skill than the others: a fire breath attack.
’This means I’ll have met the upgrade requirements to raise Flame Burst to LV2 as soon as I get one more Fire Element Essence.’
He immediately bent down to pick them up. The moment he gripped the first Fire Element Essence, the Flame Burst Rune deep in his consciousness surged with energy. An invisible bridge connected it to his palm, and the essence was instantly absorbed.
Repeating the process, Su Chen absorbed the second Fire Element Essence as well.
The information displayed by the Flame Burst Rune updated in real time.
Synthesis Formula: Fire + Fire + Fire (Requirement met: 2/3 Elemental Essence).
’Just one more to go.’
Su Chen warily scanned his surroundings. After confirming there were no other monsters nearby, he immediately turned and headed back.
Halfway there, he suddenly stopped. He saw that the long-handled axe, still embedded in the first Demon Dog’s head, had undergone a strange transformation. The surface of the axe blade was faintly glowing crimson. From a distance, it looked just like a piece of iron heated until red-hot.
When he got closer, he could see fiery patterns crisscrossing the blade.
This scene immediately made Su Chen wonder, ’Don’t tell me the axe blade absorbed a Fire Element Essence?’
He thought to himself, ’Organic lifeforms like humans, dogs, and eagles can probably draw Power from Elemental Essences. But can an axe, an object, an inanimate thing, also draw Elemental Power from them?’
This was rather unexpected.
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