Above them, the ceiling was thick with invisible bat ghost souls.
Wynn spoke first. "No idea what kind of monsters are lurking in these caves."
Gail thought back to everything his allies had told him. He immediately spread his arms wide. "Oh no, I'm completely wide open right now. All I've got on is basic defense gear. My defenses are practically non-existent."
Wynn was baffled. Exposing yourself when you don't even know what's out there. What was this guy thinking?
Gail wore a self-satisfied look. "Come on, my back is wide open. Now's your chance."
But he had miscalculated. Wynn raised his weapon, eyes sharp and alert. The next second, a blur shot past Gail at full speed. A bat materialized right in front of them. It was killed in a single strike.
The blur had been Wynn.
Gail stood there dumbfounded. This idiot had just passed up a perfect opportunity. But then he looked at the swarms of bats surrounding them, and it clicked.
Wynn summoned a flower once more. As the bats converged, the flower burst into a storm of petals that tore through the swarm like blades.
"You spotted the hidden bat ghost souls surrounding us from the start, didn't you? You exposed your weakness on purpose to draw them out. Then let me, the strongest demon here, deliver the killing blow. Don't think a trick like that puts you anywhere near my level."
Gail gave him a genuine thumbs up. "I have never met anyone whose brain works quite like yours."
Wynn took it as a compliment and accepted it without hesitation. Then he threw himself back into the slaughter.
Gail stood to the side watching him work, with no intention of joining in. His original plan was to expose himself and let Wynn betray him. But Wynn had gone and written his own story, convincing himself the two of them were working together as a team.
The result was that Gail was completely safe. Wynn wasn't killing him, and neither were the monsters. It couldn't possibly get more frustrating.
He decided he needed to pull the monsters' aggro himself. He still had four hundred and eighty unallocated stat points sitting there. But where should he put them?
By the time they reached the deepest part of the map, Gail still hadn't thrown a single punch. Wynn was starting to have his doubts. Could it be that Gail had no real ability at all? That he was completely useless?
Just then, the dungeon sounded an alert. They had triggered a story event.
Guardian of the Demonic Envoys. Difficulty: A tier. Time limit: twenty minutes. Survive the demonic envoys' assault to clear the stage.
The demonic envoys were A tier plus.
Wynn's eyes locked on. He launched the first attack. The petals ignited into roaring flames across the demonic envoy's body. The next second, disbelief spread across Wynn's face. The envoy absorbed the flames entirely and unleashed them right back, as a meteor crashing down on Wynn. A thunderous explosion followed, but Wynn appeared completely unharmed on the surface. Then, without warning, two thorn-covered vines shot out from the flames and wrapped around him, binding him completely.
The demonic envoy let out a terrifying laugh.
Wynn was beyond frustrated. Gail had just watched him get put in a bad spot without lifting a finger. He really was useless. Wynn had given him too much credit.
Gail wore a mischievous grin. He had to hand it to himself. Dumping all four hundred and eighty points into strength was a stroke of genius. Not a single point in defense. As long as he dealt enough damage, he could yank the monster's aggro right over to himself.
Wynn, convinced of his own superiority, looked ready to break free. The next second, the vines shattered apart. A barrage of sharp spikes struck the demonic envoy, ringing out with a clatter of metallic sounds.
Wynn had already predicted this. He snapped his fingers, and a chain of explosions rang out, but he failed to break through the demonic envoy's defenses. The envoy had a skill that reduced all incoming damage by ninety percent.
Wynn refused to accept it. "So when they said the demonic envoy had no weakness, they meant its defense."
The next second, an energy ring locked around him. Several demonic envoys closed in.
Gail sensed his opening and launched a surprise attack. As his fist grew larger and larger, one demonic envoy was wiped out in a single hit. The remaining envoys turned their attention to him. They dropped Wynn entirely.
Gail felt genuinely robbed. The demonic envoy went down in one punch. Just one. Were four hundred and eighty points in strength really that ridiculous?
Wynn was stunned as well. One hit to destroy a demonic envoy. So that was it. The envoy's weak point was its back. Was that why he never made a move? He saw it all coming from the beginning — hiding his strength, waiting for the last demonic envoy to attack me so it would turn its back on him and expose the weak spot.
"Gail, you really are something else."
Gail had, right on cue, become the demonic envoys' number one target. Staring down the demonic envoys that had locked onto him, Gail let a smile cross his lips. After all, A tier plus demonic envoys hit hard. With his current defense, one punch from them would finish him off.
He threw out a taunting gesture. "Come on then."
His dream was right within reach. He welcomed the moment with a smile, but in the next instant, every demonic envoy was sliced into pieces. Wynn had stepped in.
Gail stared in disbelief. What was wrong with this guy? Did Gail dump him in a past life or something? Why else would he keep torturing him like this?
"So that was your strategy all along. Their weak point is in the back. I taunted them into attacking you. You taunted them into attacking me."
Because the damage dealt was so high, the taunt effect shifted again, making Wynn the top priority target for every monster.
Gail went completely numb. How could anyone spin a story like that in their head? There was no saving him. The man was absolutely delusional. All that effort to pull aggro completely undone.
In frustration, he shouted, "Get back over here."
The words had barely left his mouth when he punched straight through another demonic envoy's upper body. Everything went dead silent.
Perfect. Taunt transferred again.
Then Gail stuck out his tongue. "Come on, come kill me."
He stood perfectly still, a look of pure anticipation on his face. The next second, one of the demonic envoys charging at Gail was kicked hard by Wynn, leaving it with almost no HP. Wynn mimicked his pose and took off running.
"Come on, kill me if you dare."
Gail completely lost it. "Hey, get back here."
Left with no choice, Gail charged in and finished it off. The already near-dead envoy dropped immediately. Only one remained.
All Gail wanted was for it to land one hit on him. The demonic envoy raised both arms and began charging up. Gail watched with eager anticipation.
But the next second, everything changed. The demonic envoy was torn limb from limb. Every last demonic envoy had been wiped out.
Wynn declared that this battle strategy was absolutely flawless. Their teamwork had been completely seamless.
Gail lost it again. "Teamwork? I still have no idea how the two of us somehow stumbled into wiping them all out."
Wynn said he now recognized Gail as a man worthy of standing against him as a rival someday.
Just then, the ground cracked open, followed by a deep, booming laugh.
"Decades have passed since anyone dared set foot in this abyss."