A God-tier Counter-damage Priest, I am the Master!

15: Demon-level BOSS - Merlin!As Bai Tian continued to venture deeper, he found that in the deepest parts of the Demon Cave Mine, the dwarf monsters became fewer and fewer, and there were no mining slaves working, making it feel somewhat empty.

*Creeak*.

In the pitch-black environment, Bai Tian seemed to step on something. He looked down.

A pale human skull was being stepped on beneath his feet.

Fortunately, Bai Tian was naturally brave. Even in such a dark environment, he wasn’t frightened by stepping on a skull.

But Bai Tian was soon stunned. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he looked around and found that the surroundings were filled with piles of white bones.

In a scene where reality and illusion were hard to distinguish, seeing the ground covered in bones in the darkness would likely leave a faint-hearted person paralyzed with fear.

But Bai Tian became unusually spirited.

Could the remains of the village chief’s younger brother be hidden among these bones on the ground?

Thinking of this, Bai Tian slowed down. He searched slowly along the way, hoping the system would provide a hint.

Just as Bai Tian was searching, hoping for some clues, a sudden pain flared in his back.

A damage value popped up over his health bar: -348!

A dark-skinned Dwarf Assassin had suddenly appeared and launched a sneak attack on Bai Tian’s back with a blade.

But the opponent was also taken out by the unreasonable 40-fold Rebound, dropping over twenty copper coins.

Bai Tian, who was about to continue moving forward after picking up the copper coins, suddenly noticed something strange. On the corpse of the Dwarf Assassin, a green prompt appeared for the white dagger held in its hand, indicating it could be picked up.

Bai Tian’s first reaction was that a weapon had dropped.

But after picking it up, he realized it wasn’t usable equipment; it was actually a quest item.

—[Human Bone Dagger]!

(This is a weapon forged from the bones of a human martial artist, as sharp as iron or steel.)

(This is a quest item and cannot be traded or sold. Collecting more Human Bone Daggers might lead to an unexpected surprise.)

After seeing the prompt, the corners of Bai Tian’s mouth curled slightly. ”Could this dagger be forged from the remains of the village chief’s younger brother?”

It looked like the quest was progressing!

Bai Tian put away the Human Bone Dagger and continued forward.

Next, for every 50 meters or so he advanced, a Dwarf Assassin wielding a Human Bone Dagger would surely launch a sneak attack.

Every time a Dwarf Assassin was killed by the Rebound, he would obtain an identical Human Bone Dagger.

Gradually, Bai Tian began to notice the patterns of these invisible Dwarf Assassins.

Although Bai Tian couldn’t see the invisible Dwarf Assassins, once he calmed his mind, there were actually extremely subtle movements when an invisible assassin approached.

”Left.”

Suddenly sensing something, Bai Tian took the initiative to swing his wooden staff, sweeping an attack toward his left-rear.

Damage: -401!

A cry of pain rang out in the air, and an invisible Dwarf Assassin was actually knocked out of stealth by Bai Tian’s staff.

The attacked Dwarf Assassin angrily launched an attack at Bai Tian.

But in reality, if it didn’t attack Bai Tian, it would actually be more difficult for Bai Tian to kill it.

The result of the Dwarf Assassin’s action was being instantly killed by the 40-fold Rebound.

Bai Tian felt very excited about finding the location of an invisible assassin on his own.

This also proved that in [Nine Heavens], even without stealth-breaking skills, as long as a player’s observation was keen enough, they could detect invisible assassins in advance.

Next, to train himself, Bai Tian became even more focused.

At first, his detection of the invisible Dwarf Assassins wasn’t precise, and there were errors.

But gradually, Bai Tian reached an 85% accuracy rate, allowing him to be the first to sense the approaching Dwarf Assassins.

This was a significant improvement.

Of course, there was still a difference between monsters and players.

Dwarf Assassins had little intelligence and acted only on instinct, but assassins among players were different and much harder to detect.

Especially expert-level assassins.

To be able to detect high-level player assassins, Bai Tian still needed to continue improving.

When Bai Tian had collected 48 Human Bone Daggers.

—”(Ding-dong!)”

”(You have collected 1/3 of the village chief’s brother’s remains! Hint: Defeating the Great Demon of the Demon Cave Mine—[Merlin]—will allow you to collect all the remains.)”

Hearing the prompt, the corners of Bai Tian’s mouth turned up slightly, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

The hidden D-rank quest was now clear; the dawn of victory seemed to be beckoning from ahead.

Ten minutes later, Bai Tian reached the end of the Demon Cave Mine.

In the hollow ahead, a pool of boiling underground magma was surrounded by a large number of dwarves using the high temperature to refine weapons.

Countless oppressed mining slaves were also hauling cart after cart of mined ore under the lashes of Dwarf Taskmasters.

Above the hollow, a platform had been carved out at the highest point. A mutated dwarf clad in green armor with only one eye was drinking heavily and eating large chunks of meat.

Beside the bonfire next to him, several Dwarf Strongmen were coating two cleaned, desperate mining slaves in honey, preparing to roast and eat them.

”Smear more honey on them. Roast them to medium-well; that’s how I like them best.”

The One-eyed Mutated Dwarf drained his skull goblet and loudly ordered his subordinates.

—”(Ding-dong!)”

”(Please quickly rescue A Niu’s companions [A Mao] and [A Dai], otherwise your quest reward will be reduced by 2/3.)”

Hearing this prompt, Bai Tian immediately understood that the two mining slaves about to be hoisted over the fire were the ones he needed to save.

He took a deep breath, steadied his emotions, and began to observe the One-eyed Mutated Dwarf.

Bai Tian knew this guy must be the biggest BOSS here. He had to deal with him carefully, so he quickly checked its basic information first.

—[Merlin]!

(Demon-level BOSS)

Level: 15

HP: 400,000

Attack: 1,499

Physical Defense: 511

Magic Defense: 489

Skills: (Junior Damage Reduction), (Whirlwind Toss), (Earthquake)

Holy crap!

Are the attributes of a Level 15 Demon BOSS really this explosive?

Bai Tian was shocked. These attributes were simply beyond imagination, several leagues stronger than that Level 13 Master BOSS from before.

”Boys, a ’friend’ has come to visit us. Go and give him a warm welcome.”

The One-eyed Mutated Dwarf had sensed Bai Tian’s appearance from afar. It grinned with a strange laugh, alerting all the dwarf monsters.

Without time for Bai Tian to think too much, all the surrounding dwarf monsters had already rushed at him from all directions like beasts emerging from a den.

Seeing A Dai and A Mao about to be sent to the roasting rack, Bai Tian had no choice but to force his way through.

Bai Tian currently had 4,418 Mana. He immediately converted 3,500 Mana into Health.

His total Health became 4,100.

All the dwarf monsters here were melee types, which was good news for Bai Tian.

Six of the fastest Dwarf Taskmasters slashed at him with their blades. Bai Tian didn’t even think about dodging; instead, he swung his wooden staff, thrusting it straight into the chest of one Dwarf Taskmaster.

Damage: -388!

Bai Tian’s Magic Attack wasn’t low anymore. If not for his garbage weapon—he was still using the Novice Wooden Staff—a single normal attack could deal over 450 damage to a Level 10 Elite monster.

As Bai Tian swung his strike, six slashes fell on him like rain.

Damage: -189, -188, -187... but the 40-fold Rebound effect immediately killed all six Dwarf Taskmasters who had landed the first wave of attacks on Bai Tian.

Bai Tian burned 120 Mana to use an amplified Healing Spell and bring his health back to full.

To be honest, while his own damage was decent, it was somewhat redundant in front of the 40-fold Rebound Talent.

Thus, Bai Tian didn’t even bother to counterattack anymore. He pushed forward, tanking the barrage of attacks from the dwarf monsters.

With a massive health pool of 4,100 and his explosive amplified Healing Spell, he forcefully carved out a path of blood.

No, it should be said he Rebounded a path of blood.

In just a short while, all the approaching melee dwarf monsters had turned into experience points for Bai Tian, also increasing his maximum Mana by another 41 points.

”A bunch of trash, a disgrace to the Dwarf race.”

Seeing how pathetic his subordinates were, BOSS Merlin flew into a rage. He grabbed a spiked club over two meters long and weighing hundreds of catties from behind him and leaped out like a tiger descending a mountain.

Seeing their leader take action, the several Dwarf Strongmen who were supposed to roast A Dai and A Mao also bared their fangs and followed him into battle.

With the BOSS having such high attack and health, Bai Tian didn’t dare to be careless. He quickly consumed a Mid-grade Mana Potion and a Low-grade Mana Potion to rapidly replenish his consumed mana.

”Hmph, I eat over a hundred human adventurers like you every year.”

”You won’t be an exception.”

The BOSS roared as he approached. The giant spiked club in his hand whistled through the air, creating a sonic boom as it smashed down toward Bai Tian’s head.

Its momentum was so fierce that Bai Tian worried the spiked club might smash his head to pieces.

Even knowing it was a game, Bai Tian couldn’t help but cross his arms in a block.

—”Boom!”

A surge of immense pain came from his arms. The BOSS’s strength was so ferocious that Bai Tian was sent flying backward.

Critical Damage: -2,872!

40-fold Rebound: -80,416!

This Demon-level BOSS, just like the previous Master-level BOSS, possessed a passive 30% damage reduction effect.

As Bai Tian crashed to the ground, the BOSS also let out a cry of pain, blood spraying from the corners of his mouth.

”Damn it!”

”Despicable human adventurer, what sinister magic did you use to wound me?”

After losing over 80,000 health in one go, the BOSS was both shocked and enraged. His body erupted with waves of earthy-yellow battle qi.

Not good, this guy is going to use an ultimate skill so soon.

After taking a hit from the spiked club, Bai Tian’s health was down to 1,228. He definitely wouldn’t be able to withstand the BOSS’s next skill attack.

Bai Tian quickly burned several times the usual mana to cast an explosively amplified Healing Spell on himself.

Health Recovery: +3,600!

Instantly full health.

As a Cold Abyss Great Shaman, the initial cost of the Healing Spell was 30 Mana, which could restore 200 Health.

But the effect would double when used on himself.

When cast using 60 Mana, the Healing Spell’s effect doubled; when using 120 Mana, it doubled again, and so on.

The moment Bai Tian recovered to full health, the BOSS erupted with a terrifying aura, making the air feel heavy.

—”Boom!”

The BOSS activated the skill [Earthquake]. A fierce pulse of leyline shockwaves spread out like a volcanic eruption.

Everything within a 10-meter radius, including Bai Tian, was sent flying by this powerful leyline shockwave.

—”(Ding-dong!)”

”(You have been hit by Merlin’s skill—[Earthquake], and are knocked back for 3 seconds.)”

At the same time, a terrifying amount of damage popped up from Bai Tian’s health bar.

Damage: -4,308!

40-fold Rebound: -120,624!

—”Aow!”

After being Rebounded for 120,000 health, the BOSS cried out in pain, blood spraying from his mouth and nose as he stumbled backward.

If not for the 30% damage reduction effect, this hit would have Rebounded at least 170,000 of the BOSS’s health.