Chapter 1732 1024: Spirit Temple Holy Beast_2

Well then, when the boss monster of a side quest is just a few dozen steps away, no adventurer could possibly resist going over to check it out, right? Even just sneaking a couple of glances to see what the Spirit Temple Holy Beast actually looks like is fine.

Let's try challenging it first.

Tami touched the white fog gate, and the next second he passed through the white mist, walking into a far more spacious Urasil Spirit Temple.

The moment he appeared here, what greeted him was a roar similar to that of a male lion.

He didn't even have time to look up before a ball of scorching thunder-light was already flying straight at his face. Fortunately, the very moment he first touched the fog gate, his instincts had already made him activate the double King's Soul buff in advance. The boosted physical stats let him react in time, roll to the side, and successfully dodge.

"Boom—"

The thunder-light exploded on the fog gate, even spreading outward in a ring of electricity. Good thing it hit the fog gate—if it had hit Tami, he'd probably have been blown into a bloody mist.

"Nice, this crazy vibe is exactly how I imagine beast type enemies."

This time he finally had a few seconds to observe his opponent. At his first glimpse of the Spirit Temple Holy Beast, he muttered to himself, "Isn't that a chimera?"

The Spirit Temple Holy Beast before him was covered in white fur, with the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion, two pairs of wings, and a lower body like a cow or a horse, plus two curved goat horns on its head.

Too classic—this is exactly what a chimera looks like. The white fur even gave this guy a sort of divine vibe that normal monster chimeras don't have.

"It does kind of look like a holy beast, but..."

"Owoooar!" The Spirit Temple Holy Beast beat its wings and rushed over, roaring.

"At its core it's still just a beast!"

Tami let out an equally hot-blooded shout, raised his shield, and with a precise angle successfully blocked the claw swing from the Spirit Temple Holy Beast. He thrust his sword, and clearly heard that pleasant sound of a blade tearing through muscle; scalding hot blood splashed onto his hand, burning painfully.

That thrust landed solidly. He instantly twisted the sword hilt, turning the wound from a slit into a bloody hole, then immediately pulled the blade out and retreated.

The Spirit Temple Holy Beast let out a deafening howl of pain. Seeing it like this made Tami grin. "Looks pretty big, but you go down this easy?"

The Holy Beast's defense was absolutely the weakest of any boss monster he'd seen these past few days. Its flesh was pierced this easily, which was honestly delightful.

Thinking back on the boss monsters he'd met, they either had a magic shield, or armor-like scales with super high defense, or were straight-up immune to slashing and nothing but bare bones. And now, out of nowhere, comes an opponent that actually lets a sword blade break its guard properly; it was really kind of moving.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Tami's vision flipped; his footing slipped, and he fell straight onto his back.

In a fight against a boss monster, falling flat on your back like that basically counts as a fatal mistake. By rights, Tami, already a seasoned adventurer, shouldn't be making this kind of error.

But right now his head was swimming, the world before his eyes turning blurry. Even when he looked at the charging Spirit Temple Holy Beast, it seemed split into several overlapping images.

Damn it, I've been poisoned? When!

What else could it be but just now, when he stabbed the Spirit Temple Holy Beast? That long scorpion tail covered in spikes had silently pierced his leg armor; the whole process didn't make a sound, and he hadn't even felt any pain.

You really can't let your guard down for a second.

Tami forced himself to his feet and swallowed a handful of Purple Poison Moss Balls, and the poison symptoms honestly did ease. At the same time, the Holy Beast's counterattack arrived.

Boosted by those two pairs of wings, the Holy Beast crashed toward him like a cannonball. Tami didn't try to tank it head-on; instead, as he sidestepped he slammed a shield bash toward its ear area. The bash wasn't terribly effective, but it clearly pissed the enemy off.

It didn't retreat. Its whole body spun half a turn, and the scorpion tail swept across from the side. The instant Tami saw that tail full of highly poisonous spikes, he raised his shield to block. The tail slammed into the shield with a crisp "clang," the impact driving him staggering back again and again. The debuff from the poison made him almost topple over.

If he really went down, he'd be done for.

Because the Spirit Temple Holy Beast didn't give him a chance to breathe. As the tail was blocked, it immediately adjusted angle and brought its foreclaws down from above his head, the tips gleaming coldly in the light falling from above.

Tami skidded backward in a clumsy slide to dodge. The claws smashed into the spot where he'd just been standing; the stone slabs cracked into a crater, powdered fragments drifting in the air.

He hadn't even finished his roll when the Holy Beast's second claw sweep came in from the side, lightning crackling around its talons, extending the attack range across almost half the arena. Tami didn't have time to stand; he stayed crouched and raised his shield to block. The claws crashed into the shield, and the shrill scraping of talons on metal made his teeth ache. That huge force sent him bouncing away like a rubber ball; he only barely stopped when he slammed into a stone pillar, and by then the Spirit Temple Holy Beast had already closed in on him again.

Damn it, is there a single beast type enemy in the Sain Dungeon that isn't completely insane?

As soon as it saw Tami set up a counterattack stance, the Spirit Temple Holy Beast suddenly flipped, driving its scorpion tail up from below to knock his raised shield askew—but neither side attacked in that moment.

Because the Holy Beast had leapt up onto the remaining stone pillars, standing on the high platforms.

With his rich combat experience, Tami knew at a glance what this thing wanted to do.

Just as expected, it started charging up atop the platform, its mouth glowing with a familiar yellow light. In less than the span of a heartbeat it spat three thunder orbs in succession; the orbs had different speeds and different angles, sealing off his front and his left and right. Whichever way he rolled, at least one thunder orb would land along his roll path.

Fast and Slow Blade plus prediction movement?

Tami didn't roll. He activated Iron Wall Shield Defense again and raised his shield to block. The frontal thunder orb hit the shield and exploded, arcs spilling out around the shield's edges, crackling in the air. Hound Step triggered, and he flashed forward, slipping through the gap in the blast, then kicked off hard with both legs and leapt high.

The Spirit Temple Holy Beast had already launched itself from the platform. It locked onto Tami's position with perfect accuracy, gaping its bloody maw to bite down, the tips of its teeth wrapped in lightning.

"Eat shit!"

A jar suddenly appeared in Tami's hand. No, not a dung jar—Skyrim Strategy Group doesn't have the habit of carrying that junk. This one was a Black Flame Pot.

As the Black Flame Pot was shoved into the enemy's mouth, his fingertips brushed its teeth. He instantly triggered Hidden Mist Fierce Bird with his hyper-sensitive touch, and in a flash appeared above the Spirit Temple Holy Beast.

"Thump—"

A muffled blast erupted in the Holy Beast's mouth; the thunder-light tangled with the black flames, overloading, and inflicting multiplied critical damage to its oral cavity.

Luckily, those two huge pairs of wings beat hard, keeping it from crashing face-first into the ground, though its hooves still staggered.

Because inside that Black Flame Pot, it wasn't just black flame—Tami had stuffed in a whole bunch of magic scrolls whose effects he didn't even really know.

"We in the Skyrim Strategy Group are all about having too many items!"

As he dropped, Tami spun his body, turning himself into a high-speed yo-yo; every rotation ramped up his attack power, and his current target was—the Spirit Temple Holy Beast's tail!

"Crunch—"

That tail full of poison spikes was chopped clean in two with a single strike.

Tail severed!

In that instant, the tail shrank in size as it glowed, then fell to the ground and transformed into a long whip.

So this thing has tail sever rewards too?