"?"

Seeing the encirclement gone, people looked around in confusion with eyes that said, "Why did everyone run away?"

"What are you looking at? Not running now is what's not right!"

The Soul-sucking Ghost's Dark Hand missed the opportunity, but seized this perfect moment as people dispersed, breaking out of the circle and slashing at the nearest Dark Moon Sword's neck.

The person clearly couldn't react in time and could only raise a hand hurriedly to defend. Given the situation, even if the attack was successfully blocked, they'd be knocked flying. Meanwhile, quick-responding teammates were already rushing over with weapons for rescue.

"Hiss!"

The Soul-sucking Ghost's throat emitted a strange tone, suddenly abandoning the attack and slapping toward the rescuing Dark Moon Sword!

A feint, and a highly pure one at that!

Dark Hand activated instantly, capturing the Dark Moon Sword, which immediately lost the ability to resist, eyes rolling back, foaming at the mouth, and convulsing all over.

"Let him go!"

Tusi picked up a door panel from the ground and launched a Barbaric Charge. The desperate impact staggered the Soul-sucking Ghost, and the unfortunate fellow was thrown aside.

Dark Moon Swords surrounded the Soul-sucking Ghost again, resuming intense combat. This time, they did not prioritize minimizing damage at the expense of wasting time, as that might lead to greater harm. The longer the battle lasted, the greater the potential variables.

And the Dark Moon Sword thrown aside lay limp on the ground, groaning in pain.

Fortunately, he was saved after only a few seconds of being absorbed by the Dark Hand, his Life Force hadn't yet reached the killing threshold.

Unluckily, those few minutes of ordeal were enough to make him extremely uncomfortable, feeling dazed as if the world before him was becoming illusory, his body plummeting weightlessly, in short, uncomfortable in every conceivable way.

Meanwhile, the Soul-sucking Ghost, having successfully absorbed a delicious soul, recovered a bit of Life Force, becoming even harder to fight.

At that moment, amid the chaos, Tusi noticed an adventurer among them running toward the injured.

Though it's their first collaboration, they've already learned to take care of the wounded?

Such thoughts crossed his mind, making him appreciate these adventurers even more. They're only a bit simple-minded, but otherwise impeccable.

Look, the other two adventurers in the struggle against the Soul-sucking Ghost were quite enthusiastic, often willingly confronting the Soul-sucking Ghost head-on when others were reluctant, and they knew they lacked coordination with the Dark Moon Swords, thus voluntarily reduced their attacks, relying on their robust bodies to act as meat shields!

Such dedication!

If one doesn't recruit such excellent talents, who else would they recruit?

"Wow..."

A burly adventurer squatted in front of the wounded with his back to the fighters. At this moment, the injured had fallen into a brief coma, his eyes turning white, becoming a mouth-opening, eye-closing guy.

From Tusi's perspective, it should look like the adventurer was lovingly helping the injured.

In reality, although the adventurer poured Healing Potion on the wounded, his actions hardly counted as helpful.

He bent down, approached the injured's face, and stared closely, eyeballs screaming "curiosity," as if exploring something unknown.

Watching intently, his mouth curled upward, and his lips spontaneously widened, revealing a mouthful of shark teeth.

"So this is the reaction after being sucked by the Soul-sucking Ghost..."

He took out a small Image Stone and a Magic Stone used for storing Magic Power, bumping them together to activate the Image Stone, completely recording the state of the injured.

Ordinary people using an Image Stone only needed to inject magic power, yet he took out a Magic Stone, seeming a bit redundant.

The other two adventurers who accompanied him looked quite competent in battle—if disregarding their drooling expressions while watching the Soul-sucking Ghost.

One adventurer threw something into his mouth, chewing a few times with crunching sounds, then stared at the Soul-sucking Ghost unblinking, like a working video camera.

Did I see it wrong? Tusi noticed the previous action and blinked subconsciously, slightly incredulous: did that guy just throw an Image Stone into his mouth?

No, no, I must have seen it wrong. Who in their right mind eats Image Stones raw?

The actions of the beaten Soul-sucking Ghost grew increasingly feeble; in the forest area, this would be a signal that it could be captured, arousing a sadistic urge among people, making their attacks increasingly fierce.

The Soul-sucking Ghost's throat issued broken bellows like a torn-out windbox, desperately performing a wide-ranged Tornado Slash, seemingly forcing back the encircling Dark Moon Swords for a moment.

However, the consequence of this was revealing a vulnerable back; Tusi picked up a hammer from the downed injured, smashing it savagely onto the Soul-sucking Ghost's perforated back armor.

"Bang!"

The blow became the final straw that broke the camel's back, instantly blasting the Soul-sucking Ghost's armor like fireworks, exposing a wrinkled, Wandering Soul-like back. It was hard to imagine such a desiccated form could wield strength enough for the struggle.

The Monster staggered under the Armor Break, a massive flaw never shown before, prompting the people behind to rush forward and unleash various Combat Skills.

Prayer Strike, Tornado Slash, Iaido, Vacuum Slash... various Combat Skills exploded with tremendous destructive power in the hands of the Dark Moon Swords, knocking the Soul-sucking Ghost down in an instant!

The adventurers watching the scene clenched their fists, displaying excited expressions, the exhaled air heating up.

The adventurers brutally humiliated the Soul-sucking Ghost!

Seeing such a scene truly made the ticket price worth it!

Just as the Dark Moon Swords were about to deliver the final blow to the powerlessly resistant Soul-sucking Ghost, an adventurer charged forward, fist smashing down first, the Fine Steel Gloves-covered fist snapped the slender body like a broken disposable chopstick.

The lifeless Soul-sucking Ghost turned to dust, leaving behind yet another Cracked Blood Red Eye Orb of little use behind, but everyone noticed they received quite a substantial number of souls.

"Is this the prize for an Elite Monster? Feels a bit too little..."

The Dark Moon Swords couldn't help but complain; the souls granted were indeed abundant, but not as plentiful as anticipated.

"But this way, we can explore more securely after clearing the Elites."

Tusi downed a bottle of Healing Potion, wiped his mouth, and said, "None of you are tired, right? Recover while moving."

The remaining monsters would likely be frail Ghosts, posing no threat. Their exploration journey seemed destined for great success.

Thinking of this brightened everyone's mood.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

At that moment, several houses in a narrow street before them were suddenly kicked open from within.

Kicked open? Ghosts shouldn't be capable of such actions.

Then they saw three Soul-sucking Ghosts' heads peeking from the houses.

"..."

The previously chatting and laughing crowd fell into silence.

"Run!"

With a command, the Dark Moon Swords and adventurers, now very coordinated, turned and fled, not daring to slow their pace.

Later, gasping almost breathless, they lay scattered across the Fire Transmission Ceremony, the Soul-sucking Ghost pursuing them up to the lift before stopping.

"No way, we can't explore any further now, must call more reinforcements."

They had completely guessed wrong; those Soul-sucking Ghosts were not Elites but rather stronger than average normal monsters just like before!

The Sain Dungeon had gone mad enough to pile up monsters of such strength? You weren't like this before!

Piling up monsters should at least reduce their strength a bit, right?

Tusi gasped heavily and waved his hand, others also agreed with nods, except the adventurers showed a regretful expression.

Seeing this, how could Tusi not understand the trio's thoughts? He immediately threw the Painting World to them.

"You guys go in and have fun, keep the stuff with you first. Come to us after you return, and there'll be extra rewards for you."

The adventurers cheered.