Feng Yin's vision cleared, revealing a familiar sight. On the leather-covered square table sat a pair of crossed Arm Armor. This time, their shape had changed from before; amid the layered structure, the fingertips were as sharp as claws.
He thought, "Just as I suspected, I've entered again after a five-day interval!"
A voice came from behind him. "If you are ready, we should go after that Mad Beastman!"
There was nothing to prepare. The steps he used to take after clearing a stage in the game—allocating stats and changing equipment—had already been settled in reality. Feng Yin stood up, turned around, and walked over to the White Crow.
The White Crow gave him a rather human-like look. "Not bad, the Armor has taken on a new appearance. Let us set off, then—"
———————
Proceed to the next location? [Yes/No]
———————
[Yes]
Following his practiced selection, endless white mist surged forth.
[Heading to destination: Blood Hill]
The mist dissipated.
Feng Yin appeared at the foot of a barren hill. Before him lay a truly terrifying scene. The ground was littered with bloodstained remains and shattered weapons, stretching all the way up the hill. There was a mound formed from a massive pile of human corpses. At the very top of that mound sat a giant figure he had seen before, resting comfortably while gnawing on a severed human thigh.
It was exceptionally tall, easily exceeding two and a half meters. Its physique was somewhat humanoid, but it was covered in dark red fur. Its face looked like a hybrid between a human and a goat, with intricate antlers growing from its forehead.
It was the Mad Beastman.
The White Crow flew over and landed on Feng Yin's shoulder. "The imprisoned Mad Beastman originated from the Empire's secret experiments. Its strength increased exponentially under the polluting influence of the Life Wedge, and it fled to this barren mountain following some sort of summons.
"Even the Elite dispatched by the Empire were entirely slaughtered by it. Can the Armor, inhabited by a lost soul, defeat this filthy mad beast?"
This was the final stage of the Nameless Prison storyline.
Feng Yin remained silent, lost in thought. He knew that choosing to take Stealing Step at the start meant going through three consecutive, interconnected stages starting from the Nameless Prison. It was essentially a short storyline about hunting down an escaped experimental creature—a tale without a proper beginning or end. The game developer clearly never intended to elaborate on it. After all, it was just a small game; there was no need for unnecessary details. Grinding was all that mattered.
By now, the White Crow had finished speaking. It took off from Feng Yin's shoulder to lead the way. "Climb the hill, kill the Mad Beastman, and pull out the Life Wedge."
Several messages formed from mist appeared before Feng Yin's eyes.
[Destination reached. Mission begins.]
[Objective: Eliminate the Filthy Mad Beastman and pull out the Life Wedge.]
The messages blurred into mist and faded away.
Feng Yin recalled his memories of this part. This was clearly a Leader stage with no lesser mobs to interfere. All he had to do was go up the hill and kill this big monster.
This Mad Beastman was incomparable to the Demon Wolf from the previous stage, which was an Elite at best. The Mad Beastman before him was a genuine Leader boss; its terrifying strength could be inferred from the mountain of dead soldiers.
In the game, the Mad Beastman was characterized by its massive size, immense strength, wide attack range, and explosive Speed. However, it also possessed the classic weaknesses of a beginner boss: long attack intervals and sluggish reactions. Put simply, it was designed so novice players wouldn't suffer too much.
But now that the game had undergone Materialization for him, Feng Yin certainly wasn't going to blindly trust the game's original settings.
He thought, "Fortunately, with me controlling it directly, the Armor's combat capabilities are also far more flexible than in the game... I just need to handle this carefully."
Pushing aside his thoughts, Feng Yin wasted no more time and quickly followed the White Crow's guidance.
Indeed, even if the Mad Beastman could fully utilize its formidable physical advantages due to Materialization, his Armor was inherently powerful as well. This was especially true with him personally embodying the Armor, granting it a level of agility far superior to being controlled by a keyboard and mouse in a game. Not to mention, he now possessed the god-tier starting advantage of the Wolf Slaughter Form, making his combat prowess significantly stronger than a normal start. With all these advantages stacked together, if he still lost, it would purely be his own lack of skill.
The trek to the top of the hill was uneventful.
Feng Yin stopped when he was nearly twenty meters away from the Mad Beastman. He watched as the giant monster suddenly lifted its head from its feast. As if catching a scent, it tossed aside the severed limb in its hand and abruptly stood up on the pile of corpses. It looked around before quickly locking onto Feng Yin's approaching direction, letting out a furious roar.
"ROAR—"
As if in response to the massive soundwave, violent winds began to blow. Mournful howling echoed above the Hell-like hill, sounding like the wails of departed souls.
Feng Yin quickly raised his hand and gripped his sword, detaching it from its magnetic hold on his back. His feet then moved in a rapid blur, darting five meters away in the blink of an eye.
In the next split second—
PUNCH!
The colossal beast descended from the sky, stomping heavily onto the spot where Feng Yin had just been standing and kicking up a massive spray of dirt and gravel. The Mad Beastman had actually crossed a distance of twenty meters in a single leap!
However, Feng Yin, who had skillfully dodged this "opening kill," had already doubled back with his sword drawn. He stepped forward and executed a downward cleave, aiming straight for the Mad Beastman's head.
CLACK!
The Mad Beastman slightly lowered its head. Its sturdy antlers blocked Feng Yin's Canfeng Sword, producing a dull thud of hard objects colliding. In the very next moment, the Mad Beastman violently threw its head upward, parrying the Canfeng Sword and knocking Feng Yin away.
He thought, "Just as I suspected!"
Following the momentum, Feng Yin raised his sword and retreated, fully understanding the situation.
After the Materialization, many of the "attack intervals" that the in-game monsters supposedly had were consequently gone. Otherwise, according to the original mechanics, while the Mad Beastman's "opening leap" dealt extreme damage, dodging it would leave the boss in a long recovery animation, allowing the player to attack freely.
Furthermore...
Feng Yin glanced at the Mad Beastman's massive antlers thoughtfully. In the game, there was no concept of striking specific body parts; the Armor hitting any part of a target would deal the exact same damage. That was clearly no longer the case. The opponent's antlers could obviously withstand the slashes of his Canfeng Sword.
As his mind raced, Feng Yin swiftly gripped the sword with both hands and lowered it, the tip pointing backward as he assumed the Hidden Blade Stance of the Jiao Swordsmanship.
Meanwhile, the Mad Beastman's landing pause had already ended. It lunged directly at him. Before it even got close, its thick right arm—which hung past its knees—swung upward and then came crashing down.
SWISH!
Amidst the intense wind pressure, the sharp and powerful beast claw slapped right in front of Feng Yin's face.
He thought, "Bring it on!"
Using his armored body, Feng Yin executed the Sword Techniques with utmost precision. Twisting his hips and waist, he swung the heavy Canfeng Sword at high speed! Thanks to his Hidden Blade Stance, the Heavy Sword gained ample acceleration distance. In an instant, it carved out a massive semicircle, the blade's Light resembling a half-moon.
CLANG!
A muffled sound rang out. The giant claw clashed against the blade, and both were knocked back by the impact.
***