MMPS Ch. 51

Chapter 51: Banner of the War God

The fatal blood threads coiled around the skeletal multi-handed limbs of the Parasite of the Dead Lake, madly sucking away its life force. The multi-handed monster silently sank into the water, leaving no trace on the surface. It was even impossible to tell whether the scattered severed hands floating on the water belonged to the disintegrated multi-handed monster or were summoned by it.

The multi-handed monster was like a king defending its territory, using almost insane methods to devour any enemy that dared to invade its borders.

The Parasite of the Dead Lake’s primary attack method was a ground slam, raising its skeletal multi-handed limb to forcefully strike its target. At first, it would strike with one hand at a time, but as its health decreased, its eight spider-like long hands would alternate in smashing down, leaving little room for players to catch their breath.

Having faced the Parasite of the Dead Lake countless times before, Yu An had long figured out how to dodge its attacks in the first phase: stick close to one of its hands and move with it, ensuring the other hands couldn’t hit him.

In the game, precise micro-control was required to maneuver the character on the ground. However, facing this behemoth in reality made dodging somewhat easier. Thanks to the effects of the dual Illusion Chamber, Yu An’s movements were no longer restricted by the character’s preset actions, and Ji Nian’s suggestion had greatly expanded his operational space.

Another skeletal multi-handed limb slammed heavily onto the water’s surface, shattering the small fishing boat in the raging waves. Seizing the opportunity, Yu An leaped and clung to one of the thick skeletal hands, his legs wrapped around the tree-trunk-sized bone. He used his armor-piercing awl to stab into the bone’s surface, anchoring himself in place.

The Parasite of the Dead Lake crawled forward and backward, but no matter how it struggled, it couldn’t shake off Yu An, who clung to it like a stubborn parasite. With the multi-handed monster as its primary threat, the Parasite paid little attention to Yu An.

Despite being intentionally buffed by the developers with an enormous health pool, the Parasite of the Dead Lake lost a fifth of its health after just one exchange with the multi-handed monster. If the multi-handed monster maintained this level of attack intensity, it would only take five hits to completely obliterate the Parasite.

The multi-handed monster’s combat prowess far exceeded Yu An’s expectations. Its ferocity in battle was a stark contrast to its docile behavior when it was waiting by the boat for a scrub or happily shaking a heart-shaped gummy. Yu An had severely underestimated the monster’s abilities, having never encountered a mutated Aberrant before. He hadn’t expected it to be this overwhelmingly powerful.

The monster could even manipulate time, reversing a creature’s actions as if turning back the clock.

Yu An regretted ever claiming he wanted to be its master. For a human to help a mutated creature successfully metamorphose and become its controller, the only way was to kill it during its cocoon phase. Facing a frenzied mutated creature inside the cocoon, Yu An would be torn to shreds by its hundreds of hands in a second.

While pondering how to defeat the Parasite of the Dead Lake, Yu An also began to drift off, thinking about how to take down the multi-handed monster.

There must be a way to counter it. If he could predict its predictions, feint an attack to lure it, and then strike its vital spot the moment its body returned to its original position, he might have a chance.

Following this line of thought, the probability of success seemed high. Yu An felt a bit more confident. After all, it was just a mutated creature. If he dedicated himself to studying it for a year or so, how could he possibly lose to it?

The Parasite of the Dead Lake’s aggro remained firmly on the multi-handed monster, giving Yu An ample time to deal damage.

Yu An still wore the pure black hood, which granted him agile jumping abilities. He let go of the skeletal hand, using the giant skeleton’s ribs as a springboard to leap onto its arched back. The frontmost section of its spine glowed with a faint red light.

Yu An wrapped his legs around the ribs, gripping the armor-piercing awl with both hands, and with a powerful thrust, drove the cross-shaped blade into the glowing red spot.

The spine shattered, cracks spreading across the bone’s surface. The pair of skeletal hands connected to that section of the spine fell off, sinking into the water like a shipwreck, gradually disappearing beneath the lake’s surface.

Having lost its two frontmost hands, the Parasite of the Dead Lake was left with only six skeletal hands flailing in agony. Its health dropped rapidly by a third. The skeletal torso suddenly froze on the water’s surface, letting out a deafening roar that caused the lake to churn and bubbles to surge.

Yu An was thrown off the boss’s back by the violent shaking. He nimbly leaped between the Parasite’s ribs, once again clinging to one of its long skeletal hands and using the armor-piercing awl to anchor himself, preventing himself from being thrown into the water.

As the bubbles rose, the water’s surface suddenly erupted, and the multi-handed monster was forced out from the depths. It was blasted into the air by the bubbles, reaching a height of over ten meters before crashing back down onto the water. The massive ball of hands was shattered, its many hands scattering like worms wriggling across the surface before quickly regrouping into a ball, rolling on the waves.

This was the Parasite of the Dead Lake’s move, “Nowhere to Hide.” The developers had added this skill to prevent players from hiding underwater to drink recovery potions and heal. It forced anything hidden beneath the surface to be ejected.

The use of “Nowhere to Hide” signaled that the Parasite of the Dead Lake had entered its second phase, changing its initial mindless ground-slamming attack pattern.

Yu An looked down into the water. The source of the rising bubbles was beneath the silt, which was being churned up by the bubbles, revealing the crisscrossing wooden coffins at the bottom of the lake. The coffin lids shifted slightly, and the bloated, rotting corpses inside gripped the edges of the coffins, awakened by the Parasite of the Dead Lake’s call. Each corpse bore an expression of agonized resentment.

“The second phase is summoning the water ghosts.”

The multi-handed monster’s severed hands, scattered across the lake, were being devoured by the drowned ghosts. It could no longer use its blood threads to drain the enemy’s life force. Moreover, with the constant onslaught of drowned ghosts, it couldn’t even get close to the Parasite of the Dead Lake, which was now guarded at the center.

Yu An, clinging to the Parasite’s hand, observed the entire battlefield from his aerial vantage point. Since the Lost Town scenario was designed for team play, the Parasite of the Dead Lake’s second phase required team members to divide tasks. Those skilled in close combat would handle the swarming drowned ghosts, while those with ranged weapons like bows or throwing knives would focus on dealing damage from a distance. Even with a team of experts, this phase was a struggle to survive.

Seeing the multi-handed monster being restrained, Yu An felt a mix of concern for his own survival and a strange sense of relief.

The multi-handed monster’s time-reversal ability seemed to only work on a single target. Faced with hundreds of drowned ghosts, it was clearly struggling.

“Looks like dealing with it won’t be too hard. If I take the time to find a summoning-type core that can summon two or more entities to help kill it, victory will be within reach.”

This phase would likely have to be handled by Yu An alone. He would need to withstand the boss’s violent shaking and climb back to its spine to shatter the Parasite of the Dead Lake’s weak point.

However, things didn’t go entirely according to Yu An’s plan.

The multi-handed monster slowly sank beneath the water’s surface. As it descended, its hands began to glow with a lava-like pattern, starting from the fingertips. Unlike the shy, blushing color from before, this was a manifestation of its anger, spreading across its skin.

To the multi-handed monster, the intruder had not been deterred by its intimidation. Instead, they had escalated their efforts, deliberately humiliating it in front of its potential mate.

The monster’s surface temperature rose, causing the surrounding icy lake to boil and even vaporize. A white mist slowly enveloped the lake’s surface. At the center, a golden ring emerged once again from the water.

Surprisingly, this time the pattern within the ring was not the sundial’s gnomon and ornate face. Instead, it had transformed into a radial gambling wheel, divided into six equal segments by straight lines. Five of the segments were lit, while one remained dark. The pointer at the center spun rapidly.

Yu An’s eyes widened. “A roulette?”

After several spins, the pointer stopped on a lit segment. The multi-handed monster’s sharp, triumphant laughter echoed across the water. A whirlpool suddenly formed, and in an instant, a high-pressure water spike shot up from directly beneath the Parasite of the Dead Lake’s body.

The water spike was impossible to dodge, its speed and force as deadly as a revolver pressed to one’s temple. The spike pierced through the Parasite’s ribs, striking its second spinal weak point. The spine exploded into fragments, and another pair of skeletal hands fell off, sinking tragically into the lake’s muddy depths.

The boss’s health plummeted, leaving only a third remaining.

With a five-in-six chance of hitting the enemy and a one-in-six chance of hitting itself, the multi-handed monster’s second ability, “Roulette,” was likely its ultimate move. The Parasite of the Dead Lake could withstand this attack only because it was a deliberately buffed endgame boss, not a flesh-and-blood human.

At first glance, “Roulette” and “Time Reversal” seemed unrelated. Yu An couldn’t find a connection based on their effects, but then it hit him—the shape.

Both the sundial and the roulette wheel were perfect circles.

If time reversal wasn’t the core of its ability, but the circle was, then anything circular could potentially be part of its power… The multi-handed monster’s terrifying capabilities completely subverted Yu An’s understanding of mutated creatures.

Yu An cursed under his breath, his concern for his own situation doubling. For a moment, he even forgot his own position and shouted at the Parasite of the Dead Lake, “Hey! You’re about to get wiped out!”

Only after speaking did he remember which side he was supposed to be on.

The Parasite of the Dead Lake’s ability to summon drowned ghosts was a wide-area attack. Even the most coordinated team of experts would be torn apart in this phase. Yet, such a powerful second phase had been rendered useless before it even began!

Yu An took several deep breaths to regain his composure, trying to calm himself. This ability wasn’t entirely foolproof. With enough luck, if the multi-handed monster landed on the one-in-six chance to kill itself, wouldn’t that make things much easier?

The Parasite of the Dead Lake’s health finally dropped to the last third, triggering its frenzied third phase. Yu An had fought it nearly a hundred times, and each time he had died in this phase.

With only four skeletal hands left, the Parasite of the Dead Lake let out a long, mournful cry and retreated into the wooden coffin on its back. The coffin lid closed, and the dusk sky was shrouded in darkness as it activated its skill, “Eclipse.”

In the third phase, the surroundings would periodically darken for one second at a time. During that second, the Parasite of the Dead Lake would burst out of the coffin and launch a surprise attack while the players were blinded. The correct strategy was to listen for its movements, predict where it would land, and seize the opportunity to attack when visibility returned.

In theory, this was straightforward, but executing it required exceptional skill, quick reflexes, and countless hours of practice.

As the screen darkened, Yu An knew it was over.

The Parasite of the Dead Lake was done for.

The multi-handed monster feared sunlight, which meant the Parasite of the Dead Lake had been fighting a severely weakened version of it.

In the darkness, the multi-handed monster moved without hindrance. Its skin, burned by sunlight, slowly healed, and the entire hand-ball began to regain its vitality.

A golden ring slowly formed around the multi-handed monster, with a central light point rapidly moving. As the light point traced its path, a complex, symmetrical pattern emerged. A sun totem composed of countless intertwined ghostly hands, glowing with an eerie cold light in the darkness.

Yu An had seen this totem before, in the town of Riyu. It was depicted on the war banners hanging in the square and on the drumheads made of human skin that the shamans danced upon. The ancient brushstrokes told the same story.

In ancient legends, when armies went to war, they would beat war drums. When they achieved a great victory, the soldiers would raise the drumheads high in triumph. This was the banner of the war god.

The Parasite of the Dead Lake had retreated into its coffin, leaving Yu An with no foothold. As he fell from the air, the final stroke of the sun totem was completed. The totem rose from the water’s surface and slid beneath Yu An’s feet.

Thanks to the pure black hood’s jumping ability, Yu An landed steadily on the center of the sun totem without falling into the water. His laced mid-boots stepped on the pattern, producing the sound of a silver-armored knight walking.

“No way… It even has a buffing ability for allies…” He tried running across the water’s surface, and the sun totem moved with him. A flowing energy was drawn into his body from beneath his feet, filling him with boosted morale. A fanatical, unshakable belief in victory surged from within.

Yu An leaped forward, charging in the direction of the Parasite of the Dead Lake’s approach.

The cycle of darkness returned every second, the flickering light straining his eyes and making him restless.

Boom!

The Armor-Piercing Awl struck the center of the Parasite’s final spinal segment, but the sound was as sharp and clear as a knight’s sword. With unstoppable momentum, the blade shattered the last thick section of the spine. The Parasite of the Dead Lake let out a final, mournful roar, its piercing cry sending ripples across the lake.

The final third of its health was depleted.

The drowned ghosts suspended in the water below shattered into shadows, silently sinking into the lake’s muddy depths. The skeletal structure’s joints burst apart, and the massive, elongated ribs and hands crumbled like ruins, eventually sinking into the Dead Lake.

Yu An retreated unscathed, landing gracefully on the overturned boat. He watched as the Parasite of the Dead Lake was swallowed by the lake, leaving only the wooden coffin it had treasured, now floating on the water’s surface.

Faint points of light flickered inside the coffin. Defeating such a difficult boss should give substantial rewards.

The sky returned to its dusk hue, and the multi-handed monster swam back to the surface, docilely approaching Yu An. It nuzzled his cheek, showing off its strength and flaunting its achievements, waving its hands in an exaggerated courtship dance to attract his attention.

Yu An sat down on the overturned boat, one hand propping up his chin, the other gently patting the large ball of hands that was eagerly seeking praise.

As for the Parasite of the Dead Lake, Yu An assessed it normally. It was tough, but if he focused and dedicated a month to mastering it, he could probably beat it through muscle memory.

But as for the multi-handed monster, especially during its frenzied cocoon phase, Yu An’s assessment was that he would never be able to defeat it in this lifetime.

For it to be worshipped as a war god and a sun deity in the water for so many years, it was, frankly, well-deserved.

“Maybe it’s better for you to stay here…” Otherwise, don’t come looking for me. Yu An thought to himself, not voicing the words aloud.

The large ball of hands, disappointed, deflated and lay sadly on the boat’s bottom.