Demonified Boars.

They were one of the few Elite Monsters that traveled in groups. Their Foundation was weaker than the Winter Wolf at around 60 to 80 Units, but they had two unique traits that made them special. Demonified Boars possessed a demonic aura, an effect that affected a small area around them. The demonic aura afflicted everyone in range with terror and drained both their energy and lifeforce.

One way or another, Zayn decided to target some Demonified Boars. Elite Monsters had a higher drop-rate than ordinary monsters. The Demonified Boars had a stronger Foundation than Zayn as well. They were perfect targets to make some gains.

Finding Demonified Boars was not further difficult. Scent of Treasure guided him through the Arylin Forest. He arrived at a small clearing that was overflowing with a particular scent, a disgusting smell that wretched his nose and infested the air, causing the flowers and grass in the proximity to wilt; the scent of something Demonified.

However, instead of finding a small group of Demonified Boars as intended, Zayn ended up sighting three Demonified Boars surrounding a much larger Demonified Boar.

‘Is that a Superior Monster? Or just an Elite Monster that gained a name?’ Zayn wondered as he watched the larger Demonified Boar.

It had thick, black hide just like the other Demonified Boars, and its eyes were crimson. The biggest difference were their height and the range of their demonic aura. The larger Demonified boar was almost two meters tall whereas the Elite Monsters were between 100 centimeters to 120 centimeters tall. The larger Demonified Boar’s demonic aura, on the other hand, was three times larger. That posed the biggest threat.

Zayn came up with a plan and activated Root Strike and Rapid Plant Growth. He moved the roots around him to penetrate deeper into the clearing without getting exposed. There was no need to rush into the battle if he could spend his time wisely to prepare for a quick kill.

His preparations lasted 30 minutes and Zayn had to consume another Energy Potion to replenish his drained energy storage. At last, he was ready to fight the Demonified Boars.

He emerged from the thicket as loud as possible. The Demonified Boars turned around in unison and eyed him for a moment before they squeaked in wrath. Their squeaks were incredibly loud, but Zayn was more focused on the larger Demonified Boar that stayed back. That was a bit surprising. Boars were usually quite smart, but the biggest downside of demonification was the loss of reasoning, insanity, and uncontrollable anger at the sight of the living. Even pureblooded demons couldn’t escape madness.

But that was exactly what the larger one did.

‘Is it really a Superior Monster?’ He wondered while making a subtle change in his plan.

Since his only enemies were the three ordinary Demonified Boars, Zayn made a simple move. He combined Root Strike and Rapid Plant Growth once the Demonified Boars reached top speed. They were as fast as the Silverhorn Wolves and closed in quickly, their massive bodies shaking the ground.

Three sets of intertwined roots shot out of the ground less than a meter in front of the Demonified Boars. They didn’t shoot toward the boars to affect them. Instead, Zayn controlled the intertwined roots precisely to trip the Demonified Boars. The Demonified Boars couldn’t evade the roots at full charge and tried to jump across them at full speed, however, Zayn moved the root network up a little bit with a mental command.

The Demonified Boars stumbled together, and their heads crashed into the ground, digging up tiny earthworms and highly nutritious soil.

Zayn’s expression turned serious and he used Blink while grasping the Shanyt Axe tightly. A surge of energy flooded the Shanyt Axe, triggering the Sharpness Enchantment right before he teleported next to one of the Demonified Boars.

The moment Zayn appeared next to the Demonified Boar the demonic aura shrouded him. Terror clutched his heart out of nowhere and his life and energy were sucked out of him. The drainage was slow, but it forced Zayn to move faster if he didn’t want to be sucked dry. He pushed the terror in his heart forcefully aside with raw willpower and made his move.

Zayn cleaved down the Shanyt Axe without mercy. The razor-sharp axe blade dug deep into the Demonified Boar’s neck.

A fountain of blood erupted from the wound as Zayn twisted the Shanyt Axe in the Elite Monster’s neck before he pulled it out. The attack was not enough to kill the Demonified Boar with one strike, but Zayn didn’t bother attacking a second time. He used Blink to appear next to the second Demonified Boar and repeated the same attack at the same spot. Zayn disappeared again and reappeared behind the last ordinary Demonified Boar. It was just about to lift its heavy body from the ground when Zayn cleaved down with great momentum and tremendous physical strength.

His attacks didn’t kill the Demonified Boars immediately. It merely inflicted severe injuries.

However, that was enough to create a path for Root Strike to reach the Demonified Boars’ spines without getting repelled or slowed down from the boars’ thick and highly durable hide and flesh.

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Three roots shot out of the ground and pierced into the fresh wounds incredibly fast. Zayn didn’t expect Root Strike to be that fast either. Combining Root Strike with Rapid Plant Growth was truly a miraculous combination. It amplified Root Strike’s lethality by adding speed.

The combination was deadly.

The three Demonified Boars squealed loudly trying to voice out the unbearable pain they felt right now.

Zayn eyed the Demonified Boars intently but didn’t slow down. If anything, he made sure that Root Strike would crush the Demonified Boars’ spine. It took only seconds before a loud crunching noise rang out in-between the desperate, pained squeals of the Demonified Boars. One of them stopped moving. Zayn used that opportunity to use Root Strike twice to crush the Elite Monster’s skull.

In the meantime, the spines of the remaining two Demonified Boars were pierced as well. Zayn repeated the same tactic and crushed their skulls with Root Strike.

Despite being Elite Monsters, the Demonified Boars were still quite easy to slay. That was if one’s willpower was strong enough to endure the terror planted in the heart and the pain of having your energy and lifeforce drained. As long as one could do that, hunting a Demonified Boar was no different from hunting an ordinary monster.

[Proficiency of Root Strike reached 100%. Level Up!]

Demonified Boar(Elite) has been slain +2 Soul Essences, +1 Common Card Shard

Demonified Boar(Elite) has been slain +1 Soul Essence, +1 Uncommon Card Shard

Demonified Boar(Elite) has been slain +3 Soul Essences

As the notifications reached Zayn, he could barely divert his focus to eye the larger Demonified Boar before it charged at him.

It was faster than the smaller Demonified Boars, but that was within Zayn’s expectations. He steadied his feet and used Aegis Natura. The Lifeforce accumulated within the Card was used up instantaneously to manifest a large Aegis in front of the large monster. The large Demonified Boar crashed heavily into the big Aegis. The Aegis glyph flickered violently but it withstood the monsters’ raw strength, even if it was just for a quarter of a second.

The large Aegis shattered into smithereens and the Demonified Boar continued its charge. The large Aegis slowed the boar but it was not enough to force it to halt. Zayn licked his lower lip, the corner of his lips curling upward. He never intended to stop the large Demonified Boar. All he had to do was slow it down just enough for the combo of Rapid Plant Growth and Root Strike to work out.

The majority of roots Zayn had moved meticulously to prepare for this encounter shot out of the ground. They coiled around the Demonified Boar’s legs, neck, and body to further slow down the massive monstrosity. The plan worked out, even if it was just a bit, but most roots were torn apart as the Demonfied Boar continued charging toward Zayn.

It was not long before the Demonified Boar reached him. The demonic aura affected him, inflicting terror in his heart while simultaneously draining his energy and lifeforce. Compared to the ordinary boars, the large Demonified Boar’s demonic aura was three times more potent. Zayn endured the pain and he pushed the terror aside while continuing to use the Root Strike, Rapid Plant Growth combo, over and over again.

The Demonified Boar slowed down even further until it was about to reach Zayn. At last, Zayn made his move. He used Blink to appear above the boar’s and struck down heavily with the Shanyt Axe. There was no gap between his movements. Zayn was already in full motion as he blinked, leaving no time for the Demonified Boar to react. All it could do was close its eyes as the Shanyt Axe’s blade cut down.

The Shanyt Axe pierced through its eyelid right before the razor-sharp blade dug into the monster’s eyeball. The Demonified Boar squealed in unbearable pain but Zayn was not yet done. A steel dagger appeared in his other hand. He kept it on himself after plundering the goods of the Player Hunters.

Zayn channeled a tremendous amount of energy into the dagger, ignoring the crackling noises that reached his ears just a moment later. He compressed the energy within the dagger and thrust it into the Demonified Boar’s other eye as the monster threw its head around. Zayn barely hit the targeted area, penetrating the eyelid and eyeball in one go. The steel dagger shattered right after the blade stuck deep into the monster’s eye, unleashing the energy that had been compressed into it.

The Demonified Boar’s eye burst apart, massive chunks of its eyeball splattering through the surroundings.

Ordinary weapons had an extremely bad energy conductivity, the steel dagger included. Channeling too much energy into them would destroy the weapon and endanger the user. They might even explode and inflict severe damage to the wielder and those around. That was exactly what happened right now.

The Demonified Boar’s eye was permanently lost and Zayn’s hand was burned, several burn marks decorating his left hand. But Zayn was glad. He was fortunate to escape major injuries by using Blink to teleport away from the explosion in time.

But the injury was worth it. It would heal in time since he didn’t lose a limb, either way. Meanwhile, the large Demonified Boar ended up blind on both eyes, squeaking around in pain.

Zayn’s ears hurt from the high-pitched squeals of the massive monstrosity. That was enough reason to move to the next step of his plan. The remaining roots that had been prepared for these moments were unleashed. Several Root Strikes at Level 37 were required to control a massive root that coiled tightly around the large Demonified Boar’s torso, keeping it in place as more and more small roots lunged into the monster’s wide-open maw, piercing through the softer flesh inside before penetrating deeper.

But that was not all. Several roots pierced through the boar’s eyes, ears, nose, and butthole, avoiding its thick hide to inflict severe injuries in the boar’s orifices. The roots spread through the boar’s body, while tens of uses with Aegis Natura were combined with Root Strike to slow the monster, preventing it from escaping.

Several Aegis had been placed around the monster, each barrier blocking a path of escape. The Demonified Boar would have to charge at the barriers to break them, but it didn’t have enough space to gain momentum. Everywhere were roots and barriers restraining its movements.