Chapter 240: Extremely Precious [Anti] Materials

Sterl had originally hoped to obtain some [Anti-Element] materials, but he ended up with nothing at all.

It seemed these resources were extremely rare and not easy to acquire.

Previously, he had managed to get one [Anti-Element·Flame] from killing a third-class demon, which was already considered lucky.

Feeling helpless, Sterl decided that if he couldn't farm enough, he would focus on upgrading the [Anti-Element·Flame] he already had, hoping that quality could make up for quantity.

The following long night...

Turned into a nightmare for countless demons.

However, the players tasked with tracking down these demons were also incredibly frustrated.

The main reason was...

Their leader was too insane!

He attacked everywhere and killed any demon he encountered.

Every time the leader appeared, if the battlefield was already mostly cleared by the players, he would just use one shot of Celestial Stars to take all the remaining kills.

If the battlefield was still intact, he would unleash a bizarre Flame, similarly snatching all the kills.

Then the leader would gather all the loot and disappear immediately, and the only way to see him again was if you encountered a few more demons...

Only the unlucky few who encountered unbeatable demons were grateful to their leader.

They even thought the leader was actively saving people, but soon reality proved them wrong.

Because the players who survived these encounters would have their kills stolen by the leader when they faced other demons...

Fortunately, Sterl wasn't completely heartless. After stealing the kills, he would leave behind all the loot except for the Anti-Element resources. Of course, this was mainly because the other equipment and skills weren't up to his standards, and even if he took them, he would just sell them in bulk for resources.

...

Boom!!

With a resounding crash, the Celestial Stars, enhanced by the Ancient Memory, fell once more, instantly vaporizing and killing two small, oddly-shaped demons that were lunging towards a severely injured legendary player.

Their bodies disintegrated into fragments!

About ten seconds later, the light of the Celestial Stars slowly faded, and the battle was over.

The legendary player looked at Sterl with a complicated expression. He had had his kills stolen several times before, and this time he was saved by the leader.

At this moment, Sterl looked into the distance, where the sun was gradually rising.

The long night was over.

However, this long night was not the Principality of Florence's long night, but the long night of the demons from the Blood Cult.

Although they could reform through the power of blood after death, it clearly required some time.

The reason why Sterl was able to instantly elevate to legendary status after killing a third-class demon was simply because the Principality of Florence had neglected these monsters for far too long.

The demons had already accumulated their power to its peak, preparing to merge upon death.

Now, they needed some time to recover.

Of course, Sterl didn't aim to completely annihilate the demons. The reason he frantically appeared near other players to steal kills was to control the speed at which the players were clearing out the demons.

When legendary demons appeared, Sterl would intentionally wait until they had battled the players for a while before stepping in to kill them.

This was to ensure that the demons could maintain a stalemate with the players in the coming days.

As Sterl walked over to the player he had just saved, he picked up the loot dropped by the legendary demon and shook his head wearily.

Killing monsters wasn't tiring; after all, it was Bionic Tear doing the work. But controlling the efficiency and progress of the kills was a bit troublesome. It required precise remote control by Sterl himself, which consumed a significant amount of his mental energy.

Soon, Bionic Tear had a simple conversation with the players.

"Tonight, we've nearly cleared out the demons. We can ensure that no new citizens will go missing."

Additionally, there were—

Four pieces of top-tier gear.

[Crown of the Dispassionate (Diamond)]

[Grade: Third Class]

...

[Death Caller (Diamond)]

[Grade: Legendary]

...

[Demonic Armor (Diamond)]

[Grade: Legendary]

...

[Possession by Evil Spirits (Diamond)]

[Grade: Third Class]

[Type: Special Slot·Spirit Attachment]

[Description: Perhaps you'll enjoy having a monster perched on your shoulder.]

[Effect: After killing any monster, you can choose to imprint it as a tattoo on your body. In battle, you can summon this monster's spirit, which can either possess you or act independently. In the possession state, you gain attribute boosts and extra skills based on the monster's abilities. In the independent state, the spirit fights in its original form but with significantly reduced defense.

The spirit will consume you when your health is low, you are in poor condition, or you are controlled.]

[Note: This item's effect conflicts with skills/equipment like guardian spirits or protective angels.]

All four pieces of equipment had powerful effects but came with significant drawbacks. Sterl wasn't particularly impressed with three of them, as they didn't offer much of a boost for him. However, he found the special effect of Possession by Evil Spirits quite intriguing.

"This drawback is pretty severe. A minor mistake in battle could lead to a backfire, but it might be worth checking out after adding some points," Sterl mused. However, he was still some ways away from reaching third class.

For now, he decided to stash it away.

Besides equipment and skills, the most anticipated loot for Sterl was—various [Anti] series materials.

As expected, the drop rate was quite low, and only three types of materials were obtained.

Anti-Element·Flame, which he now had three of, including previous drops.

Anti-Element·Shadow, two in total.

Anti-Element·Blood, four in total.

Sterl deduced that there was no quality distinction among these Anti-Elements; their drop rate was extremely low, and only powerful demons produced them.

Moreover, Anti-Elements were related to the demons' attributes. The demons in the Principality of Florence appeared to originate from the Hell layer ruled by the Archduke of Blood.

Besides the nearly universal shadow and flame traits among demons, the most abundant Anti-Element was Blood.

"I can still use shadow for Shadow Stealth."

"But blood element, that's useless," Sterl couldn't help but grumble.

After organizing his loot, Sterl found he couldn't immediately incorporate the Anti-Elements into his skills. Firstly, he didn't have enough of them, and secondly, he needed to experiment with adding points to see how much these materials could evolve.

But right now, he simply didn't have enough points to spare!

He still had to perfect the Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array and figure out a way to thwart the Blood Cult's plans...

As dawn broke, countless residents of the Principality of Florence stepped out of their homes, only to be shocked by the demon corpses littering the streets.

These hellish monsters didn't seem to have their bodies disappear upon death.

Consequently, a commotion began to spread throughout the city.