As the moonlight shone on it, Lin Huang could clearly see the monsterâs features.
It was a humanoid monster that was more than three meters tall. There were blood stains all over its body. It had four limbs like a human and could stand straight on both of his legs.
However, unlike humans, it had no skin. It also had no scales or feathers like the rest of the animals. It looked like a human specimen with its skin ripped off. There were countless disgusting pustules on its body.
It had a peculiar head. There were no human organs and the only organ it had was a ferocious mouth that occupied almost half of its face. Steely fangs crowded in its mouth. If one were to describe it, it was like an egg with a wide mouth and pustules all over it.
Lin Huang had seen many ugly monsters in the monster guide. However, this was the ugliest one he had ever seen.
"It has no winky for real. Itâs too ugly to be loved," Lin Huang thought to himself. Soon, his facial expression became serious.
The moment it got out of the pale manâs body, its combat strength had increased three ranks higher to yellow gold-rank.
Regardless of how it looked, it was undoubtedly strong.
After sizing it up, Lin Huangâs face suddenly turned solemn. His change in mood was not because of its combat strength but because of the disgusting yet devilish aura it exuded from its body. Lin Huang hated it as soon as he sensed the aura just like how an ordinary person would detest seeing a cockroach. However, his hatred was hundreds of times stronger.
"An abyssal monster..." Lin Huang knew where the monster came from the moment he sensed its aura.
It was not his first time fighting an abyssal monster. He had the same feeling each time, but it was rather obvious this time.
The dragon flames on the ground had stopped burning.
The skinless monster staggered before it managed to balance itself.
At that moment, a beam of dazzling red light struck from the sky and the position of the skinless monster was the center point. The area with a circumference that spanned hundreds of meters was enveloped by the red light. At the same time, a red warning page popped up on Lin Huangâs Emperorâs Heart Ring and a short buzzing sound like an alarm was heard.
"Warning! Itâs suspected that an imperial-level monster has invaded foothold No. 3A5!
"Preliminary inspection shows that itâs an abyssal monster of yellow gold-rank!
"Target has been identified. Please head over to this location and kill it!"
It was a message sent by the defense system of the Grade-A foothold. The defense system would inspect all the safe zones every minute. If it happened to sense any unusual aura from monsters, they would immediately mark down its coordinates and send a warning message to those who had authority over it.
The skinless monster was on imperial-level. Therefore, only imperial-level would receive this message.
Coincidently, Lin Huangâs Emperorâs Heart Ring was granted this authority as well.
He had heard about such a defense system at the Grade-A foothold earlier in Division 7. However, it was his first time encountering the activation of the defense system.
All the imperial-level in Wanbao City received the warning message at almost the same time.
"Is this a loophole in the defense system of the Grade-A foothold? Or is there any new monster type that managed to get rid of the detection of the defense system? If itâs the latter, Iâll have new research material."
"Is there a monster invasion? Iâm bored. I can now get into the fight and get some materials! Eh, itâs on yellow gold-rank. It seems like I canât fight it..."
"Itâs at the west of the city and itâs too far away from me. If I were to go from the east, itâs about 1,800 kilometers away. Why doesnât it come to the east of the city? There are so many beautiful ladies here..."
"I can make soup with the yellow gold-rank monster. I hope itâs not a humanoid monster or an extremely ugly monster. Now, thatâll spoil my appetite."
...
Many imperial-level then headed towards the west of the city.
There were very few people there and it was an abandoned plot of land. In fact, nobody was willing to save the coordinates of any location near this place since they could not be transported and had to fly over there.
"Warning! Youâre reaching your target. Youâre 237 meters away from the monster. Please get ready!"
The message suddenly popped up on Lin Huangâs Emperorâs Heart Ring. He then turned off the notification, lowering his head to look at the skinless monster which aura had reached its peak.
The skinless monster gradually raised his head, taking aim at Lin Huang in mid-air with its head that had no eyes. It slowly opened its ferocious mouth wide and said in the voice that sounded exactly the same as the pale manâs, "Itâs so difficult for me to get into the human foothold. Iâve been particularly careful over the past few months as I was afraid that my identity will be discovered. I even managed to get into the Grade-A foothold a few days ago. I never expected that Iâd bump into you..."
Lin Huang was speechless. Before the skinless monster revealed itself, he really had no idea that it was a monster. He thought that it was the top management from the underworld.
"If you had listened to me just now and let me go, perhaps you could still survive for a short period of time. However, since my identity has been exposed, I donât need to hide my true abilities any longer. Itâs time to deal with you..."
"Eh, are you sure that youâre going to waste your time on me?" Lin Huang pointed at the beam of red light that emerged from the sky. "The defense system of the foothold has been activated. All the imperial-level in Wanbao City are rushing over here. If you were to stay here for another minute, perhaps youâll be besieged by a few of them."
"Iâm not worried about them. I donât even need a minute to kill you." After uttering those words, the skinless monster then disappeared from its original position.
The next moment, Lin Huang could detect that the skinless monster that was within his territory appeared right in front of him. He was unable to pull out his sword in time as the monsterâs sharp claws were about to strike the left of his chest.
Lin Huang had no choice but to create a Dark Mirror, blocking the attack right in front of him.
At almost the same time when the Dark Mirror was created, the ghost-like claws then hit the surface of the Dark Mirror.
Just as they collided with each other, a crack was instantly formed on the surface of the Dark Mirror that used to be unbreakable. It was like a tempered glass being struck by a heavy object. There were white cracks that were visible to the naked eye all over it. However, the cracks lasted for less than a second and eventually, the Dark Mirror collapsed, turning into broken shards.
Lin Huangâs eyes dilated as it was his first time witnessing the Dark Mirror being destroyed in one hit.
After the Dark Mirror was broken, the remaining force struck Lin Huang. In the next second, his body flew away from Charcoalâs back like a meteorite. He then landed on the ground and a deep pit was formed.
"Are you still alive?" The skinless monster could clearly sense that Lin Huangâs aura was still there.
It took a glance at Charcoal, but did not fight it. Instead, it appeared right on top of the pit where Lin Huang landed in a flash.
It extended its claws and was about to make another attack. However, it could sense that there was a heat wave coming from behind.
As it turned its body around, it had no idea when Charcoal appeared behind it. Charcoal opened its mouth wide and dragon flames began to gush out of its mouth.
"If youâre on imperial-level, I might be afraid of your dragon flames. However, youâre just tickling me now." The skinless monster struck a blow with its claws and it managed to get rid of the dragon flames.
A trace of fear flashed through Charcoalâs eyes as its opponent had managed to get rid of its dragon flames. It knew very well that its opponentâs ability was far beyond its own.
Catching a glimpse of the deep pit below it, Charcoal shifted its gaze, staring deadly at the skinless monster. Nevertheless, it did not retreat.
"Dragonkins used to be arrogant and it was impossible to tame one. Youâre an exception. Youâre so faithful to the human." The skinless monster laughed. Of course, it knew that Charcoal was trying to protect its master.
"Why are you commenting about me? Didnât you follow someoneâs instructions too?" Charcoal stared at the skinless monster, confronting it. It secretly hoped that it could buy Lin Huang some time so that he could recover from his injuries.
"My master is on True God-level rank-9. Itâs known as the God Master in the virtual world. You canât compare despicable creatures like humans to my master..." After finishing its words, the skinless monster realized that something was wrong. "Are you buying time for that human?!"
The skinless monster was mad as it extended its claws and again, it pounced towards the deep pit below it.
Right at that moment, Charcoal appeared right in front of him and bit its head.
Before Charcoal could sink its teeth into its disgusting head, an immense force reached Charcoalâs torso and it flew away, landing in a deep pit that was hundreds of meters away.
"Iâm not going to kill you because youâre a dragonkin and the concentration of your blood is close to pure blood. If I were to catch you alive for the God Master, I can probably train a few of the dragonkins with pure blood. I can level up to a True God by then." The skinless monster looked at Charcoal coldly. "However, if you were to continue bugging me, I have no choice but to kill you. Iâll bring your dead body back. The sorcerer can make you into a dead puppet."