Chapter 5: Rivals

  "'Little White Rabbit Lollipop' is in charge of protecting 'Dark Sword' with her magic shield. We'll try to save as much time as possible on the way, avoiding monsters whenever we can. We must get ahead of the European Dream Team!" said Broken Military Knife, leading the way into the cave, followed closely by the others, while "Little White Rabbit Lollipop" brought up the rear, giving Zhou Jian a fierce glare and whispering in a low voice, "Warning you, don't hold me back!"

  She finished speaking and slowly cast a magic shield on Zhou Jian. Zhou Jian wouldn't bother with a little girl, so he quickly followed the main force.

  There are too many monsters on this road, although the team tries to save time as much as possible, but often they can't avoid having a big battle with the monsters. The scene of the battle is naturally extremely dangerous, but Zhou Jian feels like he's just touring and exploring, he doesn't need to do anything, standing in the center of the team, topped with the magical shield powered by Xiao Bai Tu's candy, and watching his experience rise row by row.

  "This is a 35-level copy, a group of over-30 level experts brought him, a 20-level little thief, to upgrade, can't the speed be fast? Such an opportunity is usually hard to find even with a lantern."

  The broken military knife killed monsters on one side and looked at his watch on the other, his expression becoming increasingly serious. He knew the strength of that European dream team: the son of a British rich man, the grandson of a Russian financial oligarch, the young master of the Italian mafia, and that 36-level "Terrible Ivan" was a high-ranking expert in Russia's largest mercenary organization, with a cultivation method that allowed him to not need sleep.

  The strength of this team is absolutely not what they can compare with. Judging from the time, they should have already entered the second floor of the Devil's Nest.

  As expected, the broken military knife soon received a message: "Dear Military Knife, where are you? We have already entered the second layer of the Devil's Nest and will be able to fight against the Demon King's servant in three minutes."

  The message was from Ivan the Terrible, a broken military sword and this guy knew each other, to be exact, they were sworn enemies.

  "Captain, we're surrounded by monsters!"

  The broken military knife frowned and said in a low voice: "Break through the siege, no matter what the cost!"

  Team members started using some expensive combat potions, 5 mages added Battle God's Power and Bloodthirst to team members, warriors resisted in the front line, mages, thieves and archers went crazy with output.

  Lian Zhōu Jiàn even symbolically threw a few bottles of explosive poison at the monster.

  Look at the experience value, at this rate it won't take much effort to level up. Zhou Jian has already reached level 20 and has been doing tasks for two months, although the experience is thin, but accumulating a little bit will also reach more than 90% of the experience, now it's almost at level 21.

  The team fought for a full five minutes before finally clearing out the group of monsters, and Zhou Jian also finally leveled up to 21. Although his experience was full, he didn't immediately level up. In "Shen Mo", leveling up would instantly restore all status, which was also a way to save one's life.

  "Full speed ahead, entering the second layer, the European Dream Team is probably already in battle with the boss, we must hurry!"

  "Yes, captain."

  The second floor of the Devil's Nest has fewer monsters, but their levels have increased accordingly. Cleaning up is not much easier than the first floor. The team fought hard all the way and finally rushed into the Devil's Temple in five minutes.

  As soon as they entered the Devil's Palace, everyone felt that their field of vision suddenly brightened up. The place was surrounded by flowing lava, and waves of heat came pouring in. Even the rocks they stood on had been scorched to a dark red color due to the prolonged burning of magma, and stepping on them was unbearably hot.

  "Boom! Boom!"

  A heavy heartbeat came from afar, like a heavy hammer hitting people's eardrums, making one feel that their own heartbeats were being suppressed.

  Zhou Jian was secretly shocked. If just one of the demon king's hearts was this powerful, what would happen if he encountered the demon king himself?

  "Dark Sword, Seal!" The broken military sword threw Pandora's seal over, Zhou Jian steadily caught it, "In a bit we'll hold off the Demon King's minions, the rest is up to you."

  "Don't worry." Zhou Jian was a bit rusty with his equipment, but he had played many online games before and had seen many large-scale battles, so he wasn't too nervous.

  At this moment, the great hall suddenly shook violently, rocks cracked, and magma churned.

  "Roar!"

  Like a thunderclap on a clear day, the deafening roar made one's heart and gall cold.

  "The demon king's servant has found us, prepare for battle!"

  "Roar!" Another furious roar, the great hall shook even more violently. In the red mist, a massive black shadow slowly emerged. Without asking, it was the demon king's servant. It stood over five meters tall, its eyes burning with flames, its face ferocious and twisted, its fangs exposed. Its four legs were on the ground, and in front of it was a pair of giant black claws like scorpions. A row of sharp bony spines ran along its back, extending all the way to its thick tail.

  Everyone was on high alert, a few women's faces turned pale, facing such an enemy, their combat effectiveness probably could only be exerted to 50%.

  Zhou Jian also took a deep breath, previously he had often brushed high-level copies in online games, but he had never experienced such a realistic shocking scene, at that moment, he even doubted whether the scene in front of him was completely real or just a simulated game by his smart brain.

  "Go die!" The demon king's servant spat out human words, and at the same time, it pulled out a bloody bone spur from its back, shook its hand, and the bone spur turned into a ferocious bone spear.

  It actually drew out its own bones as a weapon, and Zhou Jian felt his scalp numb.

  "Charge!" With a loud command, a bald-headed warrior, 1.9 meters tall, charged forward with his tower shield in the vanguard of the troops.

  The demon king's servant let out a loud roar and swung down the bone spear in his hand with all his might, "Clang!"

  His bald head went soft, and he directly trampled the rocks behind him into pieces. At this moment, he gritted his steel teeth, and the blue veins on his bald head bulged out, twisting like an earthworm.

  "Shaman!"

  Five mages in the team immediately moved, adding protective light and healing spells to Baldy.

  Zhou Jian stopped here and no longer stayed. He unfolded his stealth and charged directly into the crimson thick fog of the Demon Temple.

  The deeper you go, the lower the visibility, and even if you don't fight, Zhou Jian's health is slowly draining away due to excessive heat.

  He didn't know where the altar was and could only move forward along with the sound of heartbeat.

  After walking for an unknown distance, Zhou Jian encountered the first monster in the Devil's Palace. Its height was not much shorter than that of the final boss, and it was also quadrupedal, with a pair of short wings growing on its back, holding a chopping knife over three meters long in its hand.

  Just by looking at its appearance, you can roughly estimate its combat power. I'm afraid that even if fifteen people were to attack it together, it would take a while to knock it down.

  After seeing the first monster, more and more monsters appeared, each one bigger and uglier than the last. Zhou Jian knew he was getting close to the altar.

  His heartbeat grew more and more intense, and Zhou Jian could even feel his chest cavity resonating with it. His internal organs churned like a stormy sea, and his heart seemed to be about to leap out of his mouth. The feeling was unbearably oppressive.

  The monsters were getting denser and denser, until finally, Zhou Jian had to squeeze through the gap between two monsters sideways. As he passed by their sides, Zhou Jian could clearly see the sharp bone spurs and fangs on their bodies, which were covered with a chilling aura and bloodstains that made one's heart skip a beat.

  Zhou Jian didn't even dare to breathe, if he accidentally revealed himself in such a place, he would definitely be squeezed into a puddle of flesh, and even the world's number one terrifying Ivan might not last 5 seconds.

  Altar, where is the altar...