Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

Removing the black sunglasses, Yang Yu watched House Polpo slowly drift away along the river, waving goodbye to him.

Aiming at the face, Yang Yu’s unexpected attack had just caused a stun.

The S-Class adventure group members won’t die so easily, and even if they did, there would be some trouble. So, Yang Yu did not order a pursuit, allowing House Polpo his fantastical drift.

If lucky, House Polpo would be rescued by someone. If unlucky, his head would probably hit the gradually freezing river, then wake up with a cold, shivering under a blanket.

Who knows if House Polpo, upon waking, would fight upstream to seek revenge on him, launching another unreasonable surprise attack.

To avoid being entangled, the best way is to swiftly take down the Mud Monster and get out of there.

Not yet out of the river, Yang Yu instructed his partners to continue forward, searching for the Mud Monster.

”Make haste. Who knows when that guy will return.

Use this moment of peace to follow the method I taught you before to find and attack the Mud Monster.

If that guy comes back again, I’ll find a way to deal with it.”

”Okay.”

Responding softly, Lotcar quickened his pace with Bai Jin and the others.

While walking in the river, Yang Yu only rejoined Lotcar and the others when they were near the source.

The process of searching for the Mud Monster wasn’t too strenuous.

Even though they were called Mud Monsters, the mud they left behind was different from ordinary mud.

Based on this subtle difference in smell, Lotcar easily found the Mud Monsters hidden in the crevices of rocks and hot springs, including those King Mud Monsters guaranteed to produce Magic Crystals.

They roared and twisted their bodies, either spraying mud, swinging their Meteor Hammer-like bodies, or pressing down entirely, sounding hungry as they launched attacks towards Yang Yu and his team.

Yang Yu’s gaze swiftly swept over the panel.

The levels of these Mud Monsters exceeded ninety, with average attributes surpassing 1200 in all but speed, making them indeed very powerful monsters.

Notably, all these Mud Monsters had about half their blood volume.

Their HP recovered slowly at a visible rate of roughly 2% per minute.

In the hot spring area, many yellow mud pools were scattered around, and when the Mud Monsters collected some of the fragmented mud pools, they regained some life.

It showed that these Mud Monsters had been trying to resist House Polpo here continuously.

They attacked repeatedly but always failed, beaten into pieces of mud pools, eventually having to shrink and recover.

Now, seeing that Yang Yu was not the same man from before, the Mud Monsters revealed their forms again, dashing towards Yang Yu and his team, intending to replenish some drained energy.

This result didn’t surprise Yang Yu. The state of House Polpo, who fought him, wasn’t perfect. Apart from Qiuye Doreen, he must have also had an intense battle with the Mud Monsters here.

Thinking of House Polpo yelling, ”You despicable scoundrel, we agreed on a one-on-one”, ”Last time, I was only knocked away because I was in bad condition” coming back again, gave Yang Yu a slight headache.

But now wasn’t the time to think of these things.

Even if most Mud Monsters were only at half health, they absolutely shouldn’t be underestimated.

Raising the magic wand, Bai Jin released [Frost Nova].

Pure white descended along the hot spring edge, freezing several Mud Monsters, surrounded by steam. Only half a minute passed before the ice Bai Jin cast began to show signs of melting.

The Mud Monsters traversed through the pebbles using body parts not frozen, touched the hot spring to heat themselves, and soon broke free from the ice.

Yang Yu and Lotcar took this opportunity to launch a joint attack, tearing a Mud Monster into numerous fragments, turning it into mud pools.

Bai Jin detected the direction of the Mud Monsters’ magical flow, estimated the general location of the Mud Monsters’ Magic Core, and Iyas attempted a luck-based strike to shatter it.

Yang Yu had encountered similar enemies.

The existence of Mud Monsters resembled the mudmen from the [Hall of Power], and the method used to take them down was very similar to the black energy creatures from the All Things Library.

What needed attention now was that there were too many Mud Monsters. Besides preventing them from merging into one, care had to be taken not to let them escape just like that.

Mud Monsters hiding under pebbles could still be dealt with by digging three feet into the ground, but those that hid in the hot springs were like cooked ducks flying away.

Yang Yu was but a mere mortal, unable to plunge headlong into the hot spring.

Not that he was afraid of getting burned, more that he was afraid of not holding his breath.

Including He Meng, who was hiding, Yang Yu’s group totaled four people. They had experienced many battles of varying sizes, and their techniques were very proficient.

Initially, Mud Monsters were a troublesome existence for them as well, but by continuously adjusting his battle strategy, Yang Yu repeatedly found the Mud Monsters’ weaknesses, and the battles became increasingly adept.

Players, when tackling a new boss, find it extremely difficult at first, but after clearing it a dozen times, they can use all sorts of tricks to easily take it down.

Yang Yu and Bai Jin were in such a state now.

The same enemies that might have pressured them at first were now just giving them experience.

As Yang Yu predicted, defeating the Mud Monsters provided substantial experience.

Although those Mud Monsters were only level ninety-something, casually defeating a few was enough for Yang Yu to level up.

If it was like that for Yang Yu, there was no need to mention others with lower levels and extraordinary talent. They could level up several times with such experience.

Upon defeating the Mud Monsters, pieces of Magic Crystals were thrown into Lotcar’s mane like they were free, being slowly eaten by He Meng.

Yang Yu constantly monitored He Meng’s skill list with his panel.

As soon as the skill [Mimicry] appeared on He Meng’s panel, he immediately stopped the feeding.

Magic Crystals are a very scarce material, used to craft Magic Weapons, make Magic Tools, and concoct Magic Potions. Saving where possible is a must.

The yellow mud pools were spread near the hot spring. Some wriggled into the gaps in the pebbles, while others remained as pools, completely losing vitality.

Yang Yu’s group fought skillfully, and the Mud Monsters finally sensed that this four-person team was even more terrifying than the man from earlier. Preserving oneself for the future drove the remaining Mud Monsters to flee.

Yang Yu quickened his pace in hunting, continually tossing crystal pieces.

After feeding He Meng eleven Magic Crystals from the Mud Monsters, the skill [Mimicry] finally appeared on He Meng’s skill list.

Yang Yu also timely stopped, letting the remaining Mud Monsters flee.