A miss on the first strike, and the contracted beast hidden in the darkness launched another attack, identical to the previous one.
The dark energy body charged towards Ironhead.
With their prior experience, Lu Fei and Ironhead were already prepared.
A [Blade] cleaved the dark energy body in two!
Lu Fei did not command Ironhead to counter-attack. Instead, he remained unusually calm, waiting for an opportunity. Once he identified the attack route of the contracted beast in the darkness, he could begin to strategize.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Waves of energy bombarded Ironhead's blade.
Suddenly, Lu Fei and Ironhead's lips curled upwards simultaneously.
"Found it!"
"Ironhead! Use [Mighty Thunder] on that spot!"
"Wei!"
Ironhead roared, its tone filled with unrestrained ferocity! It had endured enough of being passively beaten!
The time for retaliation had arrived!
Accompanied by rolling thunder and lightning, the broken sword swept down with the force of a mountain collapsing towards the shadowy figure!
[Mighty Thunder]'s skill had an extremely wide area of effect. Without prior preparation, escaping this attack range was impossible!
The shadow tried to flee, only to find itself thoroughly surrounded by rolling thunder and lightning!
However, in this situation, it had no other choice but to charge forward head-on!
*Crackle!!!*
A sound of burning fur echoed.
This was immediately followed by a cry of pain.
"Wuwuwu~~~~"
Lu Fei's vision now showed a black contracted beast, just as he had seen before: a small head with a tuft of hair, short and slender, with webbed feet on its four limbs.
However, its previous nimble toes were gone, its right foot injured by Ironhead.
Lu Fei observed the contracted beast, now like a bird in a cage. It bared its teeth at Lu Fei, but its body tightly protected a tombstone behind it.
Suddenly, Lu Fei noticed something strange about its left foot. Only bare white bone remained, as if it had been maimed long ago.
At this moment, Lu Fei's attention was drawn to its eyes.
Blood-red!
The same blood-red as the berserk contracted beasts!
Lu Fei was shocked.
He muttered to himself.
"What kind of contracted beast is this? Is it also a berserk contracted beast?"
While in doubt, a voice sounded in his mind.
"Eh? Isn't this a [Night Shadow Ghost]?"
"[Night Shadow Ghost]?" Lu Fei repeated, "Black Egg, you know it?"
Black Egg said proudly, "How could I not? This guy's ancestor was a subordinate of mine." He paused, then chuckled, "He was quite a general."
"Don't misunderstand, this divine envoy has countless subordinates, and I wouldn't care about such a small fry. I'm talking about its ancestor."
Lu Fei rolled his eyes at him.
He frowned, "Why do I feel like this contracted beast is a bit strange, especially its eyes? They're just like the berserk contracted beasts I've seen before?"
After a moment of silence, Black Egg guessed, "There's a possibility."
"What possibility?"
"It might have had its mind controlled by another contracted beast."
"Mind control?"
Lu Fei was startled.
This method was exactly the same as that of berserk contracted beasts. Wasn't that large snake he encountered earlier turning other contracted beasts into berserk ones through infection?
Black Egg stated his conjecture:
"But I'm not sure. After all, contracted beasts that control others' souls have always been considered public enemies. A large number of them were wiped out by other contracted beasts long ago. I don't know if they are extinct now."
"But why doesn't it run? Look at its foot, it's just bone. Wouldn't it be better to leave here? Why come looking for death?"
Black Egg's confusion was precisely Lu Fei's confusion.
"Then we'll have to let Brother Rooster find the answer."
"Brother Rooster, come out quickly, I need you to communicate."
After a while, Brother Rooster emerged reluctantly.
Crossing his arms and shivering, he forced himself to stand upright, seeing his disciple was present.
Knowing the reason he was called, Brother Rooster walked directly towards the black contracted beast, which had been subdued by his disciple, maintaining a certain distance even though it was right in front of him.
"Brother, can we chat?"
The [Night Shadow Ghost] let out a ferocious roar.
Brother Rooster's expression changed.
"Hey, how can you curse people!"
Brother Rooster coaxed again with kind words.
The [Night Shadow Ghost] continued to roar.
After persisting for a while, they finally managed to extract some information.
Brother Rooster returned with a somber expression and translated, "This guy's speech is unclear, I only heard things like 'guard' and 'not leaving'."
Lu Fei frowned, a little puzzled.
"Alas, it seems I'll have to step in."
Lu Fei's brow unfurrowed.
"You have a way?"
Black Egg snorted proudly.
"We need to get it out of control first before we can ask anything. Otherwise, in this mental state, it would be a miracle if we got any answers."
Lu Fei nodded, finding some sense in that.
"What do I need to do?"
"Simple. I'll transmit some of my power to you. Just place your hand on its head."
Lu Fei hesitated, but complied.
His palm naturally rested on the [Night Shadow Ghost]'s head. At first, the [Night Shadow Ghost] resisted, but then it gradually calmed down, eventually falling into a deep sleep.
Lu Fei and the others waited for a long time. No one entered this space, and no one passed by. It was as if he was the only one in this entire area.
This surprised Lu Fei the most. This third level was not a particularly difficult place. Why had no one passed through it for so long?
This made Lu Fei begin to suspect if the adventurers entering the Necropolis Tower went to different places upon entry.
Only with this hypothesis could he understand why no one had come here.
As Lu Fei speculated, the [Night Shadow Ghost] regained its clarity.
It opened its eyes and looked around in a daze.
Its eyes had turned pitch black, with no whites, appearing somewhat bizarre and terrifying.
Brother Rooster stepped forward again.
"Brother, we saved you. How will you repay us?"
"I..."