It was actually attacking itself?
Jiang Lin cursed inwardly.
The feeling of a knife at his back grew more intense. Jiang Lin didn't dare be careless and tossed Little Black aside.
"Run!"
Jiang Lin focused all his attention on the Blood Demon beside him.
"Meow! What is going on with this creature? Is this your summon?"
Little Black's fur stood on end.
It could feel the dangerous aura radiating from the Blood Demon and instinctively wanted to flee. Now that it was putting all its effort into catching up to Jiang Lin, it had reached level 5, but its combat power was pitifully low due to its unstable foundation.
"It's too complicated to explain. It's my summon, but it's set its sights on me because there are no other targets!"
As he spoke, Jiang Lin had already made full combat preparations.
A shield surfaced almost instantly, and a golden holy light longsword appeared in his hand.
Because he had the 【Crimson Slaughterer】 title active, wisps of blood aura naturally emanated from his body. Now, these wisps spread down his arms, coiling around the holy light longsword, staining the sacred blade with a trace of madness and ferocity.
He could have ended the summoning early, but he wanted to test this Blood Demon's strength first.
【Two...】
【One...】
In the next moment, the creature known as the crimson claw-wing blurred into several afterimages in Jiang Lin's eyes.
The effect of 【Chronowalker's Evil Eye】 activated!
Bang!
Sharp talons collided with the blood-aura-infused holy sword in Jiang Lin's hands. The massive impact sent a shockwave through the woods, causing the surrounding trees to sway and tremble.
Jiang Lin's pupils constricted.
The opponent's strength was actually superior to his own!
The blood-aura sword vibrated, and Jiang Lin retreated several steps. The crimson claw-wing hissed and lunged at Jiang Lin, as if it wanted to tear every living thing in sight to shreds.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Six or seven arcs of blood-light sword qi flew from Jiang Lin's blade, sealing off the crimson claw-wing's paths of retreat.
However, the crimson claw-wing showed no fear. It slapped the sword qi with its claws, shattering several of Jiang Lin's attacks.
Seeing this, Jiang Lin's eyes widened in shock. He almost ended the summoning right then to send this plague away.
But Jiang Lin's blood-light sword qi wasn't just simple sword qi; it was followed by a shadow-like strengthening technique.
【Strengthening Technique · Left and Right Brain Combat】!
With Jiang Lin's ultimate strengthening technique—bolstered by two levels of limit-breaking and one level of superlative proficiency—one of the crimson claw-wing's symmetrical fleshy wings suddenly grew extraordinarily large. As it flapped its wings, it immediately lost its balance and started spinning in place!
A golden opportunity!
In the next instant, Jiang Lin's blood-light sword qi rained down like it cost nothing on the temporarily incapacitated crimson claw-wing.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sword qi slammed into the crimson claw-wing's body, successfully breaking its defense and causing bursts of blood-light to erupt from its wounds.
To Jiang Lin's surprise, however, the wounds he carved only lasted for a moment before the creature's body rapidly healed.
"Roar!!"
Injured, the crimson claw-wing let out a roar. Its intelligence seemed low; once provoked, it only flapped its wings more furiously in an attempt to lunge at Jiang Lin, which only caused it to spin even faster in place...
Its combat power was high, but it had no brains. Against this kind of tactic, it had no way to respond.
Just as Jiang Lin was thinking this, the crimson claw-wing seemed to finally discover the problem with its wings. To Jiang Lin's shock, it directly tore off the fleshy wing that had been expanded by the strengthening technique!
After ripping off the wing, it opened its fanged maw and devoured its own flesh!
In the next moment, the wound that had been spraying blood instantly sprouted a brand-new wing.
Jiang Lin's eyes bulged.
He didn't even know what to say anymore.
This creature was far too bizarre.
Incredible physical strength, extreme aggression, and a terrifying self-healing ability—it could even regrow a limb immediately after tearing it off.
Having regrown its wing, it lunged at Jiang Lin once more.
Jiang Lin raised his blood-light sword again and engaged the beast.
He wanted to see if it had any other abilities.
In a pure test of brawn, the current Jiang Lin was actually somewhat outmatched.
Furthermore, it seemed to have an intense craving for flesh, constantly trying to find a way to tear a piece of meat off Jiang Lin.
Jiang Lin had a rough measure of its strength and was about to end the summoning when Little Black shouted to him from the side:
"Kid, run this way! I found the aura of another evil god over here!"
At those words, Jiang Lin's spirits lifted. He cast a few more rounds of 【Strengthening Technique · Left and Right Brain Combat】 on the crimson claw-wing, making it spin in circles again, then scooped up Little Black and sprinted away.
"Kid, what the hell is that thing?" Little Black asked, still shaken.
"That's the Blood Demon I told you about before," Jiang Lin replied as he ran.
"You're a paladin and you summoned a thing like that?"
One look at that Blood Demon was enough to tell it was nothing good. Other paladins summoned holy unicorns, holy dragons of light, or nature spirits. Why was their own paladin so sinister?
"Don't worry about it, kid."
Jiang Lin threw back the same words Little Black often used to brush him off.
He glanced back and saw that, having learned its lesson, the crimson claw-wing reacted quickly, tearing off its wing and stuffing it into its mouth again.
At the same time, it seemed to realize that this degenerate Jiang Lin was using this method specifically against it. This time, after regrowing its wing, it gave up on flying entirely. Instead, it dropped to all fours and began crawling obscenely across the ground at a frantic pace.
This sight was even more horrifying.
When it was flying in the air, you could see its whole body and at least know what you were dealing with. But now, it was a hideous monster rapidly weaving through the dark forest; anyone seeing it would think they were in a horror movie.
However, its body structure was clearly not suited for crawling.
Consequently, its speed was significantly slower than before.
Seeing this, Jiang Lin even deliberately slowed down, making the creature feel it could catch up so it wouldn't try to fly again.
"Little Black, how much longer?" Jiang Lin asked.
Little Black shook its head.
"Not sure. Does your summon have a time limit?"
Jiang Lin didn't have time to nod while running. "It can only exist for five minutes."
Little Black said regretfully, "That's a shame then. We probably won't make it."
Soon, three minutes passed. Following Little Black's guidance, Jiang Lin ran deeper into the remote parts of the forest.
"Hmm? I think I found it!"
Ahead was a dirt slope with a drop-off that looked perfectly normal at a glance. But as Jiang Lin crossed it and focused his gaze, he spotted something off.
Amidst a pile of rocks on the slope, there seemed to be a cave entrance covered by stones, and a faint, flickering firelight emanated from within.
At the same time, Jiang Lin noticed someone standing guard outside.
"Who are you?!"
Seeing he had been spotted, the man questioned him immediately.
However, the only response he received was a pair of crimson eyes flowing with blood aura.
Jiang Lin asked the cat in his arms, "Is this guy one of the cultists?"
Little Black nodded instantly. "Yes."
Soon, the crimson claw-wing caught up from behind. It was about to pounce on the stationary Jiang Lin when, for some reason, its hatred shifted to the other human nearby.
After learning the man was a cultist, Jiang Lin had locked the crimson claw-wing's target onto him.
The crimson claw-wing, which had been chasing Jiang Lin for so long, finally had a confirmed target. Moreover, this target wasn't the degenerate who kept strengthening its wings. It focused all the resentment and killing intent it had built up on that cultist.
"What the hell is that thing?!" the cultist cried out, clearly panicking.
What was this?! He had never seen or even heard of such a creature before! Was it a demon from hell? Was it because of the crimes he had committed that the gods were sending punishment?
In an instant, a thousand thoughts raced through his mind, but he quickly snapped out of it, refusing to wait for death.
"Enemy attack!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, alerting his companions inside the cave.
When he looked again, the figure with the crimson eyes had vanished. Only this terrifying creature with a blood-filled maw remained before him.
He hurriedly raised the shield he kept by his side, placing it between himself and the crimson claw-wing. The shield had no special effects; it was just a common piece of equipment. With his financial situation, he couldn't afford any gear with a rank.
Thus...
Crack!
The shield offered almost no resistance. It was torn to shreds by the crimson claw-wing, which then pounced directly onto the cultist.
"Aaaaah!"
Sharp claws lashed out again, but this time, they tore through the cultist's chest. His class was warrior, and his strength was just over rank-1, but his number of skills and proficiency levels were pitiful. His only defensive skill was a generic 【Stone Skin】 that could be released instantly. Against the sudden assault of the crimson claw-wing, he had no room to resist.
His shrill screams rang out exceptionally loud in the silent night forest, even startling a flock of birds resting in the treetops. The crimson claw-wing's movements didn't falter for a second as it bit into the man's neck.
The man struggled violently, trying to fight back, but it was already futile. He could only die in despair.
Finally tasting the blood of another creature, the crimson claw-wing grew very excited and began to tear and bite ravenously.
Not far away, Jiang Lin had found a secluded thicket to hide in, turning his 【Breath Concealment】 to maximum power. A limit-broken 【Breath Concealment】 made it very difficult to sense Jiang Lin's presence unless there was a three or four-rank difference in level. Especially now that his presence was lowered, even if someone looked at him by accident, they would subconsciously ignore him.
Then, Jiang Lin watched in shock as the crimson claw-wing's body visibly expanded after devouring the flesh of another creature. At the same time, the blood aura on its body grew even thicker; its strength seemed to have increased slightly.
It could grow stronger through combat?!
Soon, other cultists emerged from the cave and saw the crimson claw-wing feasting on their companion. Seeing such a hideous monster, the new cultists didn't hesitate. They didn't have the slightest intention of avenging their comrade; they turned and ducked back into the cave, sealing the entrance with a massive boulder as if trying to mask the aura of those inside.
However, it was already too late. Jiang Lin had shifted the crimson claw-wing's hatred toward them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The crimson claw-wing smashed against the boulder like a crazed, hungry beast hunting its prey. Watching the boulder shake and the cracks quickly forming, Jiang Lin judged that the crimson claw-wing's strength had definitely risen significantly.
Soon, the boulder shattered, and the crimson claw-wing rushed inside.
As its summoner, Jiang Lin was able to share the crimson claw-wing's vision.
Inside the cave stood seven cultists from an unknown sect, staring at the crimson claw-wing with weapons drawn. Beside them was a drawn array formation. In the center of the array lay four bodies, already devoid of life. Clearly, these were people they had kidnapped or lured from somewhere to use for a sacrifice.
In the next moment, several skills flew toward the crimson claw-wing, but it dodged them nimbly.
Among these seven people, two were rank-2 cultists, while the rest were basically rank-1. It was a relatively small cultist outpost. Such cultists were usually those who couldn't make it after finishing junior or middle magic academy, so their skills and other abilities were much worse than those of students from top schools of the same rank.
Currently, Jiang Lin's basic attributes were around the average for level 14. Due to the various skills he mastered, his true combat power should hover around the average for levels 15 to 17. The crimson claw-wing's combat power was similar to Jiang Lin's, so its power was roughly at that level as well.
However, after eating the first cultist, the crimson claw-wing was even more fierce and brutal. It flapped its fleshy wings and lunged at the people in the cave.
Another corrosive magic formula flew toward the crimson claw-wing. It tried to dodge again, but this formula had a tracking effect and hit it directly.
"Roar!"
The crimson claw-wing let out a cry of pain as festering marks appeared on its skin. A prepared melee combatant, covered in a shield, rushed forward and landed a heavy slash on it.
However, the melee combatant's attack failed to break its defense. Instead, the creature took advantage of the opening, swinging a claw at his raised shield.
Crack!
The shield shattered instantly, and the melee combatant was pinned to the ground in terror. A large chunk of his flesh was torn away by the crimson claw-wing and stuffed into its mouth.
"Aaaaah!"
The man began to scream in terror, but perhaps finding him too noisy, the crimson claw-wing bit his neck, and he quickly fell silent.
Afterward, the crimson claw-wing simply ignored the other six and began to eat greedily. At the same time, its festering body began to recover rapidly.
Watching this horrifying scene, the other six felt their scalps tingle. Realizing they might be the next ones pinned down, they all grabbed their gear and smashed it into the monster that had come from nowhere. For a moment, the cave was filled with the light of various skills.
The crimson claw-wing was even interrupted and its body pierced several times, but it still managed to recover as before thanks to its incredible healing ability.
Seeing that their attacks were useless, the six grew frightened. They had only come today for a routine sacrifice, hoping to earn a bit of favor from their evil god, but they hadn't expected to provoke such a creature. Some of them already began thinking of escaping.
However, the crimson claw-wing would not give them such a chance.
After successfully weathering a round of attacks, it quickly pounced on the next cultist.
And this time, it was even stronger!
"Aaaaah!"
Shrill screams pierced the night sky, and the bone-chilling sound of shattering skeletons echoed between the cave walls. Thick darkness enveloped the area; tonight had become a night of lost souls for these few men...
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