Chapter 34: The Pumpkin Lord
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Three hours had passed since he entered, but his efficiency could hardly be called impressive.
At this rate, it was questionable whether he could obtain more than fifty pumpkin candle flames over the course of an entire night.
After all, one hundred points were needed to exchange for a single sheet of ordinary magic rune paper...
“This is way too difficult...”
Just then, heavy footsteps sounded nearby.
Clang, clang, clang...
Qin Yuan turned his head and immediately spotted his target.
A giant pumpkin skeleton appeared ahead, visibly larger than the others by an entire size.
It stood a full three meters tall. In its left hand was a silver-gray greatsword with a pumpkin carved into the hilt, while its right hand held an enormous shield large enough to cover its entire body.
Unlike ordinary pumpkin skeletons, its bones were not a ghastly white. Instead, they were a dark golden color that gleamed with a metallic sheen.
Even at a glance, it radiated an oppressive presence.
[Prompt: You have encountered the Pumpkin Lord (Lv. 5).]
...
[Pumpkin Lord (Lv. 5): An elite creature found in the Twisted Forest. It possesses formidable strength. Defeating it yields a large amount of pumpkin candle flames, with a chance to obtain pumpkin coins and pumpkin essence.]
...
A level-five monster...
A sharp gleam ignited in Qin Yuan’s eyes.
The big one had arrived!
It was obvious that a creature like this would drop far more pumpkin candle flames.
It even had a chance of producing pumpkin essence.
That was a truly valuable item!
Before the monster could draw near, the feather hovering in midair attacked first. With two sweeping motions, it sent a pair of wind blades flying forward.
The Pumpkin Lord’s gaze sharpened.
It sensed danger from the two incoming wind blades.
They posed a threat to it...
With that thought, the Pumpkin Lord raised its shield, preparing to block.
However, Feather had been clever when attacking. The two wind blades curved in from the left and right, their angles extremely difficult to predict.
For a large unit like the Pumpkin Lord, movement was generally slow. Dodging directly through footwork was hardly realistic.
In its haste, even though its shield was enormous, it could cover only one side.
Left with no choice, the Pumpkin Lord turned slightly and took one wind blade head-on, then raised its heavy shield to meet the other.
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With a bang, the wind blade that struck the shield let out a muffled impact before quickly vanishing, leaving behind only a deep scratch.
The other wind blade swept around the shield and slashed directly into the ribs on one side of its body.
A shrill sound like an angle grinder cutting through metal rang out, sending a shower of sparks into the air.
A moment later, a small section of its thick rib was severed and clattered to the ground.
The blow thoroughly enraged it. With a furious roar, the Pumpkin Lord charged toward Qin Yuan without the slightest regard for its own safety.
Yet its large frame made it somewhat sluggish even in motion.
At the very least, it was not especially fast.
“What incredible defense...” Qin Yuan thought inwardly, but his hands never stopped moving. He began with a vine entanglement.
The next instant, a vast mass of thick vines rapidly sprouted beneath the Skeleton Lord’s feet and wrapped around it viciously, impeding its advance.
Then light flashed at the tip of his staff, and a purple missile shot forward.
[Magic Missile ★ (Common)]
He immediately began charging again, producing another fireball that blazed with heat.
[Minor Fireball ★ (Common)]
The two spells, one following the other, slammed into the Pumpkin Lord and engulfed its entire body.
It became a blazing humanoid inferno.
Feather naturally would not let such an opportunity pass. Once its cooldown ended, it sent another wind blade slicing through the flames.
The piercing rasp of metal being cut rang out amid the fire.
Qin Yuan noticed that no system notification appeared. That meant the monster was still alive.
Without any further attacks to sustain it, the flames quickly dimmed and gradually died out, revealing the figure within.
The Pumpkin Lord looked rather battered.
Black scorch marks covered its body, shield, and weapon. Its shield-bearing arm also seemed to have been struck by the wind blade, leaving a conspicuous gap.
Unfortunately, the arm was still attached. It had not been severed completely, allowing the creature to keep its equipment firmly in hand, though its movements were clearly affected.
Taking advantage of the moment while Qin Yuan’s skills were on cooldown, it strode forward.
The distance between them rapidly closed.
Watching the Skeleton Lord draw ever nearer, Qin Yuan inhaled deeply. A new spell began to condense at the tip of his staff.
[Flash ★ (Rare)]
The next moment, he vanished from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he was already more than a dozen meters away.
Thanks to the spell, he had briefly widened the gap once more. Immediately afterward, another spell gradually took shape.
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A few seconds later, the sturdy form of a bear spirit slowly materialized.
[Summon Bear Spirit ★ (Rare)]
By then, the Skeleton Lord had already come within a few meters.
The greatsword in its hand was poised to strike!
The successive spellcasting had placed a considerable burden on Qin Yuan. His legs suddenly felt weak, and a sharp ache shot through his arm.
At this critical moment, he quickly ordered the bear spirit to hold the Skeleton Lord back.
The next instant, the bear spirit, condensed entirely from mana, let out a furious roar and charged straight toward the Skeleton Lord.
The two soon became locked in a vicious struggle.
Taking advantage of the opening, Qin Yuan first retreated to create some distance, then took a bottle of Spring of Mana from his pack and began drinking deeply.
He assessed the condition within his body. The series of spells he had just cast had nearly drained his entire mana pool in a single burst.
Only twenty percent remained.
Of course, that was partly because he had already spent some mana clearing out the other monsters.
But most of the consumption had come from this battle.
Only now did he have the leisure to pay attention to the situation on the field.
The bear spirit and the Skeleton Lord were locked in combat.
With Qin Yuan’s increase in level, the bear spirit had also reached level four.
He had tested it before. Among creatures of the same level, the bear spirit ranked among the stronger ones. At the very least, it could kill an Abyssal Spider head-on.
At present, the battle remained evenly matched.
And that was despite Feather constantly looking for opportunities to attack from the side.
It was also despite the fact that Qin Yuan’s earlier barrage of spells had already inflicted considerable damage.
The injury to its arm was especially troublesome. It could no longer find the right moment to block with the same speed and ease, which had a significant impact on its combat strength.
Even so, the battle was merely a stalemate. This clearly demonstrated that the Pumpkin Lord was no ordinary creature.
It certainly lived up to the title of elite monster given by the Eye of Revelation.
After all, level was not an absolute measure. Some creatures possessed powerful racial abilities and were much stronger than others of the same level. Slimes, for instance, were at the absolute bottom among creatures of their level and were often defeated by opponents several levels higher.
Of course, Feather was not in peak condition either, which was another crucial factor. The high-intensity battles of the night had consumed a great deal of its energy. Moreover, unlike Qin Yuan, who only needed to drink a potion, creatures like Feather had to return to the whistle in order to replenish their strength quickly.
After several wind blades, both its attack rhythm and power gradually began to show signs of fatigue.
Although his condition was far from ideal, Qin Yuan, standing off to the side, continued searching for the right moment to strike.
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