“So many!” Everyone was stunned by the sheer number of monsters pouring out from the four doors. Each door seemed to release at least 20 monsters, all of which were at a high level and wouldn’t be easy to defeat.
Ran Qi noticed Night Owl’s furrowed brows as he contemplated a strategy. The mechanics of this stage were absurdly difficult—wave after wave of monsters with no apparent end. No wonder this stage was called The Abyss of No Return.
Ran Qi realized he needed to share the information he knew before the monsters got too close. If they waited until the fight started, it might be too late.
Without hesitation, Ran Qi strode to Night Owl and quickly whispered, “I think there’ll be more than one wave of these monsters. But the first wave will definitely be the weakest. I suggest Coka and Four Seasons hold off the monsters from three doors, while the rest focus on clearing one door.”
Night Owl pondered this for just two seconds before trusting Ran Qi’s judgment. He then asked, “Jiangnan, do you still have your shield?”
Windstorm Jiangnan blinked in surprise but nodded. “I do. Why?”
Night Owl instructed, “Four Seasons will tank the monsters from the door in front of us. Jiangnan, you and Coke handle the monsters from the other three doors. Slowly kill them, but make sure to leave at least three monsters alive at each door. Understood?”
“Understood!” The team, having been through countless dungeons, quickly grasped the reasoning behind this plan.
Ran Qi’s eyes lit up with admiration for Night Owl. His solution was even better than Ran Qi’s initial idea—Ran Qi had almost forgotten that their team included a warrior. Even though Windstorm Jiangnan was a berserker with full damage stats, his base defense was still much higher than anyone else’s. Pairing him with Coke to kite and tank the monsters meant they could stall effectively while the main group cleared their assigned door.
“Let’s start!”
Though all goblins, the monsters from the four doors came in various forms—some carried bows, others wore cloaks, wielded daggers, or brandished bombs.
Night Owl quickly identified that the goblins with bombs posed the greatest threat, so the team prioritized clearing the monsters from that door first.
Four Seasons moved forward to aggro the goblins, while the others unleashed their attacks. The first wave of monsters was quickly defeated.
Ran Qi and Feng Tian positioned themselves at the center of the arena, making it easier to heal both sides of the fight. While Coke and Jiangnan’s side only needed occasional attention, most of the healing focused on Four Seasons.
As soon as the first wave fell, the black doors opened again, releasing a second wave—this time, taller orc warriors armed with spiked maces and shields. Their defense and attack power were significantly higher than the goblins.
Even so, the team worked together and managed to defeat the second wave efficiently.
The third wave consisted of iron-armored warhounds, tougher and harder to deal with.
The fourth wave brought skeletal soldiers. The fifth wave introduced swift and agile dark elves…
“How long is this going to go on?” someone muttered, not physically tired but mentally exhausted. The endless waves of monsters and ceaseless combat were fraying their nerves.
Night Owl reassured them, “We should be close. Hang in there.”
As if in response to his words, the sixth wave appeared—this time, two elite monsters: massive rhinos.
These monstrous rhinos were like rampaging bulls, charging diagonally across the field. Anyone caught in their path was sent flying, taking massive damage. Their charges shook the ground so violently that everyone struggled to stay upright, making it nearly impossible to aim their attacks.
Night Owl shouted, “Stop attacking! Everyone, get out of their way!”
It was the right call. The rhinos’ initial rampage only lasted six charges. After that, they would stop to attack normally, presenting the perfect opportunity for the team to counter.
However, the rhinos’ charging paths were unpredictable. One of them suddenly barreled toward Coke and Jiangnan’s side.
“Lele! Jiangnan! Watch out!” Ran Qi yelled in warning.
The two were kiting over a dozen monsters, which slowed their movements. Despite hearing the warning and trying to dodge it, the swarm of monsters surrounding them made it impossible to evade. Both were hit by the rhino’s charge and sent flying over ten meters.
Windstorm Jiangnan, with his strong physical resilience, adjusted mid-air and landed gracefully using a swallow-style flip. Coke, however, wasn’t so lucky—he slammed into a mountain wall, the intense pain blurring his vision before everything turned black and white.
He had died…
“Lele!” Ran Qi’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Even though it was just a game, watching a friend die in front of him was still a huge shock.
[Current Chat] Coke: So this is what dying feels like? Man, it hurts… No wonder dying three times forces you to log off for seven days!
[Current Chat] Coke: Boss, what do I do now? Should I revive or just lie here like this?
[Current Chat] Coke: Why can I only type after dying? So annoying! Can’t I at least have my ghost float around?
Ran Qi: “…”
The grief that had surged in his heart popped like a bubble and evaporated.
“Night Owl, what do we do? I can’t hold out much longer!” Windstorm Jiangnan gulped down a health potion as his HP bar plummeted.
Night Owl frowned deeply. Coke’s death had been unexpected. Without him, Jiangnan couldn’t handle so many monsters alone. But killing those monsters wasn’t an option either…
Just then, Ran Qi spoke up. “I’ll go help him. Feng Tian, take over and watch everyone’s health!”
Without waiting for a response, Ran Qi dashed toward Jiangnan and Coke’s location.
Soul Chaser asked blankly, “What’s Brother Ran thinking?”
“No idea.”
Once Ran Qi reached Jiangnan and Coke, he healed Jiangnan to full health, applied Recovery, and then began chanting a resurrection spell.
Soft white light enveloped Coke’s body as a six-pointed star formation appeared beneath him, bursting with brilliance. The next moment, Coke was back on his feet.
“Whoa! Ranran, you can use Resurrection? That’s awesome!” Coke exclaimed as he sprang up, looking ready to give Ran Qi a bear hug.
“Save your nonsense! Get back to kiting the monsters!” Ran Qi glared at him, quickly buffed and healed him, then sprinted back to Night Owl’s side.
Blossoming gave Night Owl a meaningful look. “I didn’t expect you to have such a trump card hidden up your sleeve. Truly impressive.”
Night Owl responded calmly, “Better to be prepared.”
No one could tell that he was just as clueless about the matter as everyone else.
The rhinos finally stopped their berserk charges. Four Seasons held the aggro of the two monsters while the rest of the team focused on outputting damage. After a grueling fight, the two elite monsters were finally taken down.
This time, the black doors remained tightly shut, with no new monsters spawning.
Night Owl gave a slight nod. “It seems each door spawns six waves of monsters. Once you survive them, you can clear the stage.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Just six waves—they could handle that!
“Coke, Jiangnan, kill the goblin archers, then reposition!”
“Got it.” The two quickly eliminated the three goblin archers they had been kiting, which triggered orc warriors to spawn from the door.
“Who has mana potions? I need one!” Thousand Mechanisms called out.
The sheer number of monsters had drained everyone’s mana considerably. They couldn’t keep up with the depletion despite continuous potion consumption. Thousand Mechanisms had brought a full set of 20 mana potions into the dungeon, but they were all used up.
“I have some!” Ran Qi immediately traded him five.
Raphael noticed this and asked, “Any more? I need some too!”
“Yes, I brought plenty!” Ran Qi’s oversized backpack was no joke—he had packed over ten sets of mana and HP potions, along with an array of buff foods. Despite distributing some before entering the dungeon, he still had a decent stockpile left. “I also have food that grants buffs. Does anyone want some?”
“Me!”
Night Owl frowned slightly. “One at a time! Don’t disrupt the attack rhythm!”
Everyone took turns restocking with small potions from Ran Qi, alleviating their mana crisis.
After enduring dozens more waves of monsters, they finally cleared all the monsters from the four doors. Over 40 minutes had passed by this point.
The four doors began to tremble violently before shattering simultaneously. A massive shadow emerged before them: two gigantic snake monsters. Each was about four to five meters long, covered in black and yellow scales. Their heads were as large as cars, with cold yellow-green vertical pupils glaring at the group. The hissing sound they emitted made everyone momentarily forget to breathe.
Smoke gasped, rubbing the goosebumps on her arms. “That’s terrifying…”
No matter how terrifying, the fight had to proceed.
Night Owl instructed, “Coke and Four Seasons, each of you tank one snake. Everyone else, be cautious! Watch your dodges!”
Since they knew nothing about the snakes’ skills, caution was the only approach.
Ran Qi stared at the snake monsters, swallowing nervously. The difference between watching them through a screen and seeing them up close was stark. He wasn’t fond of cold-blooded creatures like these, and being stared at by one of the snake’s eyes made him freeze up.
“Bai Ran?” Night Owl noticed his unusual state.
“I’m fine.” Ran Qi clenched his fists, forcing himself to calm down as he ran with the team.
These two snake monsters were particularly challenging. One breathed fire while the other spewed ice, creating a chaotic battlefield of fire and frost. The group constantly found themselves dodging their combined attacks in disarray.
On top of their elemental abilities, the snakes also had devastating physical attacks. Their tails could sweep across the battlefield, sending the entire team sprawling with a wide-range attack.
Despite this, the team always got back up immediately and continued fighting.
Not knowing whether the snakes needed to be killed simultaneously, they hesitated to focus fire on just one. This made the battle all the more difficult.
Gradually, they established a rhythm. Night Owl used Glacier to slow one of the snakes, allowing everyone to concentrate their attacks on the other. Once its HP dropped by about 5-6%, they switched targets.
This approach was tedious but ensured safety, as the priests could keep everyone healed without issue.
With Feng Tian now possessing an area-heal skill, the two healers alternated to safeguard the team’s health.
Clearing the fourth stage took a grueling hour and a half. The high-intensity, uninterrupted combat left everyone collapsing to the ground in exhaustion once the battle ended, eager for a moment of rest.
[System Announcement] Silent but deadly! Congratulations to players [Night Owl], [Soul Chaser], [Plume Ink], [Sword at Fleeting Time], [Coke], [Bai Ran], [Windstorm Jiangnan], [Feng Tian], [No Happiness], [Four Seasons], [Raphael], [Smoke], [Shura], [Blossoming], [Thousand Mechanisms] for achieving the first kill of the Snake Monster, the fourth boss in the Abyss-level Cat Demon Nest dungeon! Rewarded with the title [Snake Slayer] and a [Physical Exchange Coupon*1].
Unfortunately, the fight yielded no equipment drops, only two Grade A materials—[Cat Demon Bone] and [Cat Demon Hide]. While not flashy, these were essential for crafting the Grade A Cat Demon set, making them valuable.
Night Owl stored the materials in the team inventory for distribution after the dungeon run.
[World] A Lone Boat: What a relief! Finally cleared it!
[World] Jia Tu: They tanked all those waves of monsters. Night Owl’s team is incredible!
[World] Pathfinder: One of the warriors even died mid-fight. I was worried they wouldn’t make it…
[World] Unbreakable Mountains and Rivers: That cloaked priest was amazing! If not for the Resurrection skill, they’d have been doomed when the other warrior fell. That would’ve been a monster-flooded nightmare…
[World] Big Orange: Yeah! That priest even had area healing! So many skills—so OP! And when everyone was out of mana, it was that priest who provided potions. A literal walking blood bank and ammo depot! This isn’t just a priest; this is Father Nuwa incarnate!
[World] Cain: That’s Boss Bai Ran. Any friend of the boss is just as OP. They’re all monsters in their own right!
