Chapter Forty-One: Plans, Counterattack

“Minister Guo, the six players are using the Divine Requiem headset for their in-game experience. According to the current uploaded data, Liang Ye is orchestrating the entire battle, directing every move of the team, including the fight against the Primeval Armored Crocodile,” reported an employee from the Department of Technological Intelligence as he analyzed and relayed the information.

“He’s truly remarkable. This player’s innate talent in gaming is exceptionally high—his predictions and calculations are precise, and he managed to deduce that the crocodile’s deadliest attack comes from its tail just by observation and reasoning. That’s impressive,” Guo Yuan mused, a glimmer of admiration in his eyes. Having once been a professional gamer himself, his standards were far above the average person’s, but even he couldn’t help but marvel at the gift Nightfeather displayed.

“How has the weakness mechanic been adjusted now?” President Feng asked, his attention fixed on the screen even as he spoke.

“The effects now cause both movement and attacks to slow significantly, with a sharp drop in all attributes. Even health is affected; with reduced defenses, any player hit even lightly by the Primeval Armored Crocodile in the next five minutes will take massive damage. As things stand, their healer wouldn’t have time to save them,” came the reply.

President Feng nodded slightly at the answer.

Divine Requiem: Primeval Realm

“Its attack power is truly formidable—we must proceed with extreme caution,” Nightfeather murmured, his brows furrowed, grave determination in his eyes.

Yet a small measure of relief crept into his heart: Huang Hong had not been eliminated. However, now in a weakened state, Huang Hong would be unable to take part in combat for the next five minutes.

“Sorry, everyone—I’m holding you back,” Huang Hong said with a wry smile, sitting behind Luo Feng to recuperate and restore his health.

“It’s fine. Take a break; we’ll handle it,” Nightfeather replied, giving Huang Hong a thumbs-up and a reassuring smile. “Hang in there!”

Relying on Nightfeather’s meticulous calculations, Qu Zheng delivered a critical blow at just the right moment. His twin daggers struck the Primeval Armored Crocodile square in the eyes. The beast let out a terrible roar, and, blinded for a moment, it entered a stunned state.

“Now! While it can’t attack, finish it off!” Nightfeather commanded in a low, forceful voice, his eyes shining with a cold, piercing light.

His slender fingers swept across the strings of his ancient zither, conjuring two dreadful chains of violet light that bound the crocodile’s tail. Nightfeather then exchanged a glance with Qu Zheng. Nodding, Qu Zheng sprang forward with ghostly speed.

A blur, then—Qu Zheng’s daggers flashed like silver moons through the air, plunging down with lethal precision toward the creature’s head. The blades radiated a deadly aura, rendering them sharper than ever, slicing through the very air itself. Yet when they struck the armored hide, there was neither explosion nor clang—just an overwhelming force that pierced directly through, bypassing any resistance.

A sickening crack. The crocodile’s impenetrable scales were cleaved apart by the force of the blow, fragments scattering to the ground as blood spattered. Qu Zheng’s attack carried a concentrated piercing energy, bypassing a portion of the creature’s defense to inflict true damage.

The Primeval Armored Crocodile let out a guttural scream and staggered backward.

After a brief moment, the beast’s vision cleared; its renewed roar was even more thunderous than before, seething with rage at the six before it, as if determined to tear them to shreds.

“So even a direct attack on its eyes didn’t do much. Its eyes aren’t its weak spot,” Qu Zheng said with a bitter smile, his expression grim as he watched the beast recover.

“The weak point is in its scales. We can create opportunities for you to penetrate its defenses—when that happens, its armor is useless. But those windows last only a few seconds each, and then we’ll need to wait two minutes before we can try again. If it goes berserk, we’ll have to retreat,” Luo Wei explained, clearly having grasped the creature’s current battle state.

Nightfeather, however, frowned thoughtfully. “That may not be the case.”

“Oh? Did you notice something else, Third Brother? If you know something, don’t keep it to yourself—none of us want to die here!” Qu Zheng joked.

“Just hold out for five minutes until Huang Hong recovers. With him back, I have a plan,” Nightfeather replied with a confident smile. The others, seeing his composure, felt instantly reassured, as if they’d taken a powerful tonic.

“In that case, let’s stall for time! Give Third Brother all the time he needs until Huang Hong is back on his feet.”

“Alright!”

Their spirits soared. Though Tan Cong was a shaman by class, he could still cast potent magic. He swung his staff, conjuring a radiant glow—shamans alone in Divine Requiem could wield such prismatic colors.

A searing fireball formed atop Tan Cong’s staff. With a thrust, he hurled it at the crocodile. The fireball streaked through the air and exploded on impact, molten flame pouring over the beast’s body like lava.

Meanwhile, Luo Wei controlled his bronze golem, its fists wreathed in icy blue light. Frost clung to the golem’s arms as it hammered blow after blow into the crocodile’s side.

The song of ice and fire rang out as the crocodile’s armored scales cracked and fell away, revealing blood-red flesh beneath.

“Third Brother, it works!” Luo Wei and Tan Cong both gave Nightfeather a thumbs-up.

Nightfeather touched his nose and smiled. “Pure luck.”

A minute earlier, Nightfeather had secretly messaged Luo Wei and Tan Cong with his plan. He suspected that if they spoke openly, the Primeval Armored Crocodile could actually understand them—its intelligence was astonishing for a level 40 monster! Perhaps even the staff behind the scenes were involved in this seemingly ordinary yet subtly manipulated battle.

This hidden dungeon was anything but ordinary.

Under Nightfeather’s silent direction, the crocodile’s retaliation became far less difficult to handle.

Before long, Huang Hong’s weakened state faded. Spear in hand, his face lit up with renewed fighting spirit.

He lunged forward, his spear swirling with icy blue light—a dragon in flight, its tip glinting with crystalline frost.

Meanwhile, Luo Feng joked, “Third Brother, isn’t it time to show us your hand? Didn’t you say your plan would work once Huang Hong was back?”

Nightfeather shot him a look. “Just make sure you keep everyone healed!”

With that, he darted forward, his steps light and ethereal, gliding past Huang Hong to the very front. Ancient zither in his right hand, violet energy coiling around his left, he moved with unpredictable agility. Each lash of the crocodile’s tail missed him by a hair—he dodged every attack with flawless precision.

“Support Huang Hong—just attack, don’t worry. Dodge if you need to.”

Huang Hong nodded, then surged forward. His spear struck three times in quick succession at the exposed flesh, each blow drawing a fresh spray of blood—proof his attacks were landing true.

Since Qu Zheng’s own defenses were low, he couldn’t approach the beast himself, so Huang Hong now took over as the primary damage dealer.

The crocodile’s health steadily fell, soon dipping below sixty percent. Enraged, it roared, jaws snapping at Huang Hong.

“Huang Hong, pull back!” Nightfeather called. Huang Hong retreated just as the crocodile’s jaws slammed shut on empty air.

Again, the combined ice and fire of Tan Cong and Luo Wei landed perfectly, while Nightfeather slipped silently around to the beast’s rear.

Nightfeather’s left palm shot out, violet energy swirling in his hand, an ancient character glowing at its center.

Boom!