Chapter Sixteen: Secrets

The explosive fruit with an attack rating of "normal" could inflict a full fifteen points of damage on the juvenile Shadow Devourers, whose defense was zero. Even though the Shadow Devourers summoned by the Curse Fox had their health boosted to around ten points, they still turned to ash in the blast. The three enhanced juvenile Shadow Devourers, with twenty points of health and a "very weak" defense rating, lost more than half their life in the explosion. Yet, with about seven points of health remaining, they still retained some fighting ability.

"Explosive fruit?"

The Curse Fox was caught between rage and relief; a single explosive fruit wasn't enough to annihilate its swarm completely. To guard against any unexpected developments, the old fox glared at Ember and his companion, quickly waved its cane, and spread a curse-laden black mist to envelop the two players. Both their movement and attack speed dropped by twenty percent, requiring an agility rating of five to resist. This was the effect of the Curse: Slowness, and when cast by the Curse Fox, the resistance threshold was even higher than that of the Active Slime’s Gluttony.

"My servants, kill these two wretches at once!"

With the Curse Fox’s furious command, the three enhanced juvenile Shadow Devourers charged fearlessly at Ember and Not-a-Sword-Saint, both crippled by the slowing effect. The insects’ combat prowess was formidable; the two players could neither dodge nor parry, and trading blows would cost them dearly.

The first volley from the Pea Shooter had only struck the regular Shadow Devourers, overlapping with the explosive damage and thus wasting some output. The next barrage was still charging, but the three enhanced Shadow Devourers had begun their assault.

Their attacks, rated as "weak," dealt three to four points of damage with each strike. Fortunately, the insects chose to spread their attacks; had they focused on one player, the pain would have been unbearable.

Not-a-Sword-Saint struggled to fight back, puzzled as to why Ember was holding onto his second explosive fruit. The strength of these three enhanced Shadow Devourers was not inferior to the twenty regular ones.

But he failed to notice that Ember, calm and unhurried, had already switched his equipment despite the slowing effect.

If the explosive fruit had diminished the Curse Fox’s numerical advantage, the new weapon Ember produced next would erase it entirely.

[Prompt: Player “Ember” has leveled up, gaining one core attribute point and one important attribute point. You may enhance the corresponding attributes on your character screen.]
[Prompt: You have used one important attribute point to raise your Agility rating to two.]
[Prompt: You have met the equipment requirements for the weapon “Direwolf Gauntlets” and have successfully equipped it.]

Having reached level four early, Ember had completed two side quests and participated in numerous battles. Now, amid the thunderous explosion of the fruit, he finally broke through the contribution limit and reached level five. Losing the double bonus from the contribution pool slowed his progress, but he still far outpaced the other players, reaching level five ahead of Not-a-Sword-Saint, who was also about to advance.

With another important attribute point in hand, Ember unhesitatingly invested it in Agility, successfully equipping the Direwolf Gauntlets.

The gauntlets took the form of wolf claws; the lingering effects of an unknown virus gave them a dusty, unremarkable appearance. Yet when Ember punched the enhanced Shadow Devourer squarely in the head, the explosion was astonishing.

[Prompt: You dealt four points of damage to “Enhanced Shadow Devourer.” The Direwolf Gauntlets’ special effect “Savage Strike” is triggered.]
[Prompt: Judging... Success! The target’s Strength rating is two, not higher than yours. Special effect triggered successfully, dealing double damage.]
[Prompt: You dealt eight points of damage to “Enhanced Shadow Devourer.”]
[Prompt: You killed “Enhanced Shadow Devourer,” gaining a significant amount of contribution points.]

The explosive fruit had brought all three enhanced Shadow Devourers within Ember’s kill threshold. Despite the slowness effect making his movements sluggish, the Direwolf Gauntlets allowed him to savor the thrill of instant kills.

Kill!
Kill!
Kill!
Three attacks, three kills—the enhanced Shadow Devourers fell beneath the wolf claws.

Not-a-Sword-Saint stared in shock, while the Curse Fox at the cabin door was equally dumbfounded.

"Those are... the dumb wolf’s claws?"

The Curse Fox instantly recognized the Direwolf Gauntlets, lips quivering in disbelief. The dumb wolf might have been slow-witted, but its strength was formidable. These frail humans would barely be a morsel for it. The fox’s eyes narrowed, anger rising as it grasped the truth: "It must be that old bastard! It always hated the dumb wolf, so it sent you to kill it!"

Ember produced a basic healing spray, tossing it to the more heavily injured Not-a-Sword-Saint, then stepped forward to draw the Curse Fox’s ire. "You guessed right, though even without us, the direwolf was doomed."

"What do you mean?"

Ember’s words seemed to trigger something; the Curse Fox lowered its cane, and the Pea Shooter didn’t enter attack range, freezing the situation and giving Not-a-Sword-Saint time to heal fully.

"Look at these wolf claws—don’t you see the problem?" Ember, prompted by his equipment, suddenly realized something. He deliberately showed the weapon to the Curse Fox. "Before we acted, the direwolf was already infected by a mysterious virus. Its fate was sealed; we merely hastened the inevitable."

The Curse Fox, already suspicious at the sight of the gauntlets, turned pale at the mention of the "mysterious virus." It stepped back, accidentally bumping into the cabin door, its dazed expression revealing disbelief. "A virus... impossible! That dumb wolf couldn’t have caught a virus! It never got near the source—how could it be infected? Unless..."

At that moment, the Curse Fox froze, finally realizing the problem.

At the same time, Ember caught a spark of inspiration.

The enhanced juvenile direwolves in the Shadow Forest were unlikely to encounter any external mysterious virus—unless the virus itself came to them. The spatial disturbance near the manor, the scrap of paper bearing the "Wasteland Calendar," the rotten corpse with only a pelvis remaining, the wide footprints leading in and out of Wolf Valley, and the hunger in those wolf eyes—all these clues pointed to a chilling fact.

The Gardener had dropped a carrier of the mysterious wasteland virus into Wolf Valley.

That was Ember’s deduction.

But the Curse Fox refused to believe it.

"The Gardener would never let the mysterious virus spread in the Shadow Forest!"

"Maybe he didn’t know," Ember shrugged, offering his reasoning. "If the virus carrier was already dead, the symptoms might not show immediately. To avoid the body being discovered, the Gardener simply tossed it into Wolf Valley. I wonder, why did the Gardener conceal this? Do you know the real reason?"

"Of course I know, but why should I tell you? Dead men don’t need to know the truth!"

With the turn of events, the Curse Fox’s murderous intent toward the two players grew deeper. It shook its cane, summoning a rolling black mist to engulf Ember and Not-a-Sword-Saint once more, lowering their attack and movement speed.

Though they were slowed again, Ember and Not-a-Sword-Saint were confident of victory. Without the enhanced Shadow Devourers, the Curse Fox was now frail. Even if its Curse: Black Flame could deal five points of direct damage and inflict a burning status for several seconds, it was no match for the Direwolf Gauntlets’ double damage and the Pea Shooter reinforced with a plant companion enhancer.

Not-a-Sword-Saint strategically absorbed some damage, allowing Ember to attack with full force. In just twenty seconds, the Curse Fox’s health dropped to zero, and it collapsed with a mournful cry.

Its body turned to black mist and dispersed. The wooden cane ignited spontaneously, revealing a sinister blue flame. From within the flame, a figure emerged—it was the soul of the Curse Fox, newly deceased.

Ember and Not-a-Sword-Saint exchanged glances, their spirits rising. They sensed that the Curse Fox’s soul was about to reveal some crucial secret.