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The Cucumber Skull Crusher had just lifted a cucumber on the vine, aiming at a perfect target, but before it could smash down, its own head was chopped off first.
Right after, Ma Lu used his armor to block a Cabbage Guard behind him, creating a one-on-one dueling space for the Hellhound and the Infinite Split Cabbage. Discover more content at empire
The purple-haired girl didn't let him down, executing a nimble spin to dodge a sneaky cabbage leaf attack, then plunged her red short blade into the body of the giant cabbage once again.
The latter's HP dropped by 7 points, but compared to its hefty 500-point health bar, the damage seemed rather insignificant. Moreover, as it unfurled its leaves layer by layer, it "spat" out another Cabbage Guard from its "mouth".
The newcomer rolled upon landing, then stood up and waddled its rotund body closer to the Hellhound.
However, it didn't get far before being blocked by an iron figure.
Ma Lu arrived just in time, intercepting this newly born Cabbage Guard, and he didn't forget to drag along another Cabbage Guard to prevent it from sneaking off to gang up on the purple-haired girl.
The battle strategy Ma Lu devised was very clear, which was to create the best offensive environment for the main striker, the Hellhound, in order to deal with the endlessly multiplying Infinite Split Cabbage as quickly as possible.
As for these lesser foes, he and Yun Que would handle them. Yun Que's attack power was only 5 points, not enough to inflict damage on the Infinite Split Cabbage, but it was just 1 point higher than the Cabbage Guards, so she could still chip off some health.
This arrangement maximized output, and when a third Cabbage Guard appeared in the room, Ma Lu promptly ordered Yun Que to activate her active skill [Rapid-Fire Cannon].
[Rapid-fire Cannon] would increase Yun Que's shooting speed by 100% but reduce her aiming precision by 40%. In a one-on-one situation, it's debatable whether this effect is an enhancement or a weakening.
But against multiple enemies like now, it turned out to be quite useful.
During the 45-second duration, Yun Que dealt a total of 37 points of damage. It might not seem much, but it was a performance above her level, considering every point of that damage was hard-earned by her shots.
Meanwhile, on the other side, in two minutes, the purple-haired girl had reduced her opponent's HP by 121 points, but her own health had dropped from 74 to 43.
And that included 2 points recovered by the Recovery Banner. By this calculation, her rate of HP loss was clearly faster than that of the Infinite Split Cabbage.
If the battle continued this way, she would definitely fall first.
Afterward, she ignored the fourth Cabbage Guard, which was almost at full health, and turned back to focus her full attack power on the Infinite Split Cabbage.
By the time the 50-second skill duration ended, the Hellhound had reduced the giant cabbage's HP to just under 180 points.
The purple-haired girl was on a killing spree, eager to activate her skill again to take out the opponent in front of her in one fell swoop, but Ma Lu stopped her.
[Hell's Roar] was indeed very useful, but each use would increase the Sin Value by 12 points.
When Ma Lu encountered the Hellhound, she already had 23 points of Sin Value, and her maximum Sin Value was 49 points, technically allowing her to release her skill twice more.
However, this calculation wasn't accurate, because as soon as witches activated their weapons, even if they didn't use their skills, their Sin Values would steadily increase by 3 points per hour.
Several battles earlier had already added an additional 2 points to the purple-haired girl's Sin Value, so if she released the skill one more time, the Hellhound's Sin Value would reach its limit and enter the Lost State.
This was why Ma Lu stopped the Hellhound.
However, the most dangerous moment had already passed. According to Ma Lu's calculations, as long as the Hellhound continued its fierce attack, it could finish off the most troublesome Infinite Split Cabbage before the room's Cabbage Guards replenished back to four.
And that's exactly what happened.
Three minutes later, as the giant cabbage in the center of the room fell with a crash, Yun Que's eyes were filled with disbelief.
They had succeeded!
Despite being one member short from the outset, she and the Hellhound had nearly cleared out the animated plants in the abandoned warehouse, even defeating opponents that would have been impossible to beat before!
No, that wasn't right—it was a three-person effort!
Yun Que's gaze then shifted back to Ma Lu, her eyes now brimming with stars. The new Sir Knight might not have inflicted any damage, but he was clearly the soul of the entire team.
It was his presence that possessed the power to turn decay into wonder, making what was originally impossible possible.
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