This is a precursor to Yuying Marien unleashing her Banshee's Wail!
Zhou Ning reacted the fastest. In his previous life, in the game 'Apocalypse', Marien had this move. As one of the most troublesome early-game bosses, every time she used this move, a bunch of idiots would fall for it. The only solution was to quickly find cover.
So, Zhou Ning decisively turned around and sprinted as fast as he could towards the right side of the altar, moving erratically. The buzzing of a fireball came from behind him, and a huge fireball grazed past him, igniting the wooden floor.
In an instant, flames shot up high.
After missing her attack, Niam apparently didn't realize the danger of the Banshee's Wail and continued to chant the spell with a grim expression.
Zhou Ning completely ignored Niam's attack, running wildly. He finally, narrowly, hid behind the altar where Marien was, and lay down on the ground.
At the same time, a piercing sound wave spread out—
[You were hit by Banshee's Wail! You took 57 damage!]
[You were hit by Banshee's Wail! You are stunned, movement speed reduced by 50% for 10 seconds!]
Even with precautions, Zhou Ning was still hit. Warm liquid instantly flowed from his nose, his head felt dizzy, and he subconsciously wiped it, finding it was all bright red blood.
That was close!
Looking at his health, which had plummeted by a large chunk to only 25 points, and his almost depleted stamina bar, Zhou Ning still felt lingering fear. If he hadn't been battle-hardened and reacted quickly in his previous life in the game, he would probably have been dead by now.
Even so, his health was already at rock bottom. Fortunately, according to the settings of 'Apocalypse', after exiting combat, health would regenerate at an extremely slow rate. Otherwise, there would be no point in continuing the fight.
Others weren't so lucky. Marien's Banshee's Wail seemed to stir up a small Hurricane in the room. All the scattered flesh was blown away. Little Fatty Alan and the others in the room simultaneously fell backward, their mouths and noses stained with blood.
The few black-robed cultists who had just charged were the worst off. Being in the center, they didn't have time to prepare and were instantly knocked back by the Banshee's Wail, falling heavily to the ground and passing out.
After a while, the enraged Marien stopped howling. Her eight legs moved swiftly from side to side, searching for enemies. Her primary target was naturally Zhou Ning, who had heavily wounded her, but unable to find him for a moment, she immediately locked onto Niam, who had just thrown a fireball at her.
Niam:...!
"Stop, stop quickly, I'm not an enemy!"
Niam, who had just recovered from being hit head-on by the Banshee's Wail, quickly shouted. But nascent low-level demons are mostly dominated by madness and easily lose their minds. Feeling his body lighten, he was grabbed by Marien's sharp front claws and tossed into her mouth full of sharp teeth.
A moment later, an exceptionally tragic scream and a teeth-gritting chewing sound emanated.
Zhou Ning watched, horrified, feeling his heart pound erratically.
It is said that in his previous life, the tough guy named 'Emperor Sadwind' with the ID 'I Have a Special Idea' eventually put his idea into practice and had a relationship with Marien, but his end was quite tragic. Seeing the scene before him, if conditions allowed, Zhou Ning would even want to sing him a song: 'Keep the Roots'.
Seeing Marien's health rapidly recovering after devouring Niam, Zhou Ning no longer hesitated. He ejected the spent casing, spun the cylinder, and calmly fired another shot at Marien.
"Bang!"
The bullet accurately struck Marien's forehead, piercing directly through it, leaving a deep hole.
Green blood splattered out, landing on the ground and making a sizzling, corrosive sound.
However, Marien was completely unaffected. Her health bar only dropped a tiny bit. She immediately changed targets, striding with her eight long legs, and furiously pounced on Zhou Ning, who was hiding behind the altar.
Zhou Ning didn't rush to dodge. He tightened his grip on the trigger, rotating the cylinder with his left hand, and unleashed a barrage of bullets at Marien. Zhou Ning's ivory-handled Colt M1873 revolver had a custom-made cylinder, but it only held 10 bullets. After firing four shots, the cylinder was finally empty!
The result was that Marien's health finally dropped below half. Her massive body also rushed in front of Zhou Ning, and her huge form suddenly flew up, pouncing on Zhou Ning.
"Go... die... you ant!"
Zhou Ning remained unpanicked. His gaze sharply fixed on Marien. The M1873 revolver with the empty cylinder in his hand suddenly disappeared, replaced by another weapon he had obtained in his last simulation: the Swedish Sjögren semi-automatic shotgun.
Just as its description stated, 12-gauge, a hornet's nest maker, a true weapon of destruction.
Zhou Ning raised the Swedish Sjögren semi-automatic shotgun, squinted, aimed at Marien's head, and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!!!"
Blood splattered. With a deafening gunshot, Zhou Ning was pushed back a step by the massive recoil of the Sjögren semi-automatic shotgun, while Marien let out a scream that threatened to burst eardrums, falling heavily to the ground.
-697!
This shotgun truly lived up to its title as a weapon of destruction. With just one shot, Marien's health dropped from half to a quarter, her health bar precariously low.
Marien landed on the ground in a disheveled state, took a deep breath, and was about to unleash another Banshee's Wail when a thick, long gun barrel was shoved into her mouth.
"Bang!" "Bang!"
Two consecutive shots, and flesh flew.
Zhou Ning's eyes were cold and sharp. He completely ignored the corrosive pain in his arm and fired two shots directly into Marien's gaping maw.
In an instant, Marien's health bar was emptied, and the madness in her eyes rapidly receded.
"No, my children, my beloved... I don't want to die..."
Zhou Ning had no time for her nonsense. He pulled the trigger and fired a third shot.
Marien's massive body crashed to the ground. A moment later, her flesh disintegrated, turning into small spiders crawling all over the floor.
"Finally done..."
Zhou Ning then let out a long sigh of relief, putting the shotgun back into his inventory, and realized his entire back was drenched in cold sweat.
[You have killed the Low-Level Demon Yuying Marien, gaining 3500 experience points. You have attracted the attention of Evil God Nyastora.]
Zhou Ning shook his head helplessly. 3500 experience points felt good, but the side effect of killing a demon was quite obvious: there was a certain chance of attracting the attention of their boss. His luck was truly unparalleled.
It should be known that 'Apocalypse' was a game with extremely high freedom. Players could not only join the righteous faction but also join the evil faction through a series of quests, and even pledge allegiance to an Evil God. And he had clearly made his choice in advance.
Scanning the surroundings, Marien had undoubtedly assisted him. A potent Banshee's Wail had directly cleared the room. Several Curse God Cult cultists were either still stunned or had lost their combat ability.
What a woman. He suddenly understood Emperor Sadwind's fetish a little.
Zhou Ning picked up a greatsword from the ground, weighed it, and began to finish off the lying Curse God Cult cultists.
[You dealt 80 sharp weapon damage to the enemy!] X5
[You killed a Curse God Cult cultist! You gained 1200 experience!] X5
[Your reputation with the Curse God Cult has decreased by 5000 points! Current reputation is Hostile!]
After finishing them off, Zhou Ning successfully gained 6000 experience, and his reputation with the Curse God Cult also dropped to Hostile.
But it didn't matter. As a partner of justice, shouldn't he be fighting against such evil forces?