The Freed Slaves Are Obsessed-Chapter 79: Victory over demons (1)

Lin had made up her mind to defeat the Ungwi.

Despite the terror surrounding the Ungwi and the complications of her relationship with the Hoyo clan, she had overcome these obstacles with relative ease. Above all else, she prioritized her Master's commands, which was a testament to her growing affection for Karamir.

Every time his slaves prioritized his wishes, Karamir felt a sense of accomplishment and pride.

With the decision made to hunt the Ungwi, the only question that remained was whether Lin could actually defeat it. She would have to face it alone, with no one to assist her.

Fortunately, Lin’s master was a "possessor" who had played TaoSoul extensively—enough to blur the lines between reality and the game. Even though Ungwi wasn’t just some random mob but a boss monster, Karamir knew the strategy to take it down by heart.

“Let me start by explaining the basics. First, beware of the mist—the Ungwi’s breath.”

Crouching down, Karamir used a stick to draw a rough bear shape on the ground.

“When Ungwi gets angry, it starts huffing and puffing, releasing its breath. The mist that covers Baekun Valley has long since lost its potency, but freshly expelled breath? Avoid inhaling that.”

“And if I do?” Lin asked.

“Your ability to control your spiritual power will weaken.”

In the game, when Ungwi unleashed its breath attack, it would drain the slaves’ MP, slowing down their skill usage as they needed to recharge their MP.

Missing a skill timing in a turn-based game was fatal. Players typically equipped MP recovery items, used no-cost slaves, or simply relied on characters with powerful basic attacks.

Luckily, while in the game the breath attack was unavoidable, in reality, Lin could evade it.

“The second thing to watch out for is its roar. At some point during the fight, it’ll let out a deafening roar. It’ll make you dizzy if you hear it.”

A wide-area stun. Timing was key to blocking it by covering her ears.

Karamir then detailed the Ungwi’s attack patterns and strategies as thoroughly as possible, though he had to make a few adjustments to fit the present circumstances.

TaoSoul battles were typically fought with a team of five, with one main slave mandatory for story battles and four others chosen freely.

However, even those four characters would be stat-adjusted, meaning that unless the story slave was leveled up, clearing the mission was practically impossible.

Players often brought along support characters and relied on the main story slave for a solo carry strategy. Now, Lin had to handle it alone.

Thankfully, with the soul contract, slaves were stronger here than they were in the game. Karamir judged that Lin was fully capable of handling the Ungwi by herself.

Mulling over the strategy Karamir had shared, Lin stood at the entrance to the fox den, which also served as its exit.

Ominous mist rolled in from outside the valley. The unsettling wails of yokai drifted through the air.

The scene was familiar. To ensure the Hoyo clan could safely gather herbs and hunt, Lin had taken on the role of yokai bait.

Every day, she had stood in that very spot countless times.

Every time, she had been afraid. She had never once wanted to step outside. But if she didn’t do this, the Hoyo clan would abandon her. She had no choice.

‘It’s different now.’

Lin looked back. Then and now, the foxes squinted at her, urging her to hurry out.

Before, she’d been forced to leave, as if being chased out. But this time, they were hardly in her line of sight.

“I’ll be waiting, so do well and come back safely.”

Unlike before, when all she had seen was the usual foxes, now there was someone new among them, smiling and waiting for her return.

A feeling she hadn’t experienced before, one that bloomed from deep within her, wrapped her in warmth. Lin, unable to contain the sudden impulse, threw herself into Karamir’s arms.

She buried her face in his chest, inhaling deeply, marking him with her scent as she rubbed against him with her tails.

Then, lifting her head slightly, she gave him a sly, playful smile.

“Don’t touch any other foxes while I’m gone. Stay put, and I’ll come back to cover you with my scent again before it fades.”

“Oh.”

Karamir let out a foolish-sounding gasp at her bold remark.

Satisfied with his reaction, Lin flashed a wide grin before bounding out of the fox den, her steps light for the first time.

Lin moved through the dense, unyielding mist.

The mist wrapped around the forest as if it were alive, muffling the sound of wet leaves underfoot. Branches reached out like the hands of the dead, only to shrivel away when touched by foxfire.

A hidden danger lay in every shadow within the yokai-infested wilderness, but unlike the frantic flight of her past, Lin now strode confidently.

With her five fox tails unleashed, she was a force far beyond the petty low-grade yokai skulking in the forest.

They cowered in the mist, wailing like distant wolves, yet Lin paid them no mind. She didn’t have the time to waste on such insignificant creatures.

Boom.

The mountain rumbled. Ungwi’s mere footsteps reverberated through the entire range.

Thanks to this, finding Ungwi was no challenge.

“......”

Lin halted. She craned her neck back, looking up, up, up.

Towering above her, obscuring the sky, was a bear—so massive that calling it a mere bear felt almost absurd.

He wanted her to bring that down. In the past, she would never have dared, but now she was entirely focused on finishing the task and returning to her Master.

To embrace him. To drown herself in his scent.

The sooner she finished, the better; she didn’t want those filthy females wagging their tails at him. Her Master always seemed to exude a fragrance that attracted such attention.

Ungwi had yet to notice her presence, and though she could attack right away, Lin held back.

She remembered Karamir’s repeated instructions.

‘Take your time with the first strike. Aim for Ungwi’s weak spot and hit it with everything you’ve got. Ungwi will always attack second.’

It was a strategy she still didn’t fully understand.

The weak spot Karamir had mentioned was a scar on Ungwi’s chest. Approaching that close would certainly alert Ungwi to her presence.

To launch a strong attack, she’d need time, and there was no reason Ungwi, not exactly known for his chivalry, would stand by patiently.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to keep my distance and bombard him with ranged attacks?’

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

‘No.’

She couldn’t afford to doubt her Master’s words. She simply needed to follow his commands, like a puppet.

Thud!

She kicked off lightly, scaling the trees until she reached the highest branches, positioning herself at eye level with Ungwi, who was lumbering past.

She watched Ungwi’s movements closely, summoning her fox beads and igniting her foxfire. One by one, the foxfires bloomed, glowing like stars awakening from slumber.

One, two, three, four... a total of seven foxfires.

Not only had the number she could handle increased, but each foxfire was now several times larger.

But it didn’t stop there. The seven foxfires began to converge, merging into one massive orb.

The resulting blue flame grew so large that it seemed as if two moons now hung in the sky.

Ungwi, however, remained oblivious, ignoring the blazing orb right before him.

Ungwi’s steadfast turn-based attack pattern.

In turn-based games, each side would get a chance to attack.

To balance the advantage of attacking first, game developers often gave second-movers additional resources, like extra cost or draw abilities.

However, in some horribly unbalanced games, the advantage of the first turn was so overwhelming that second-movers often lost without making a single move.

Since Ungwi’s patterns included the unfair element of draining the player’s MP, he would always give up the first move.

In other words:

‘Buff and debuff, then hit with the strongest attack right from the start, and you can take out half of his health in one go!’

A bit nervous but mostly impatient, Karamir peeked out from the fox den, looking up at the sky.

Though still obscured by mist, he could see the faint blue light shimmering.

“Go! First strike, best strike!”

Lin, as if hearing his inaudible cheer, commanded the foxfire, recalling Karamir’s insistence on chanting the skill name.

“Blue Celestial Flame (창천청화).”

The massive foxfire slowly descended and then exploded right on Ungwi’s chest.

BOOOOM!

The tremendous sound of the explosion rang out as the foxfire erupted. The resulting shockwave scattered the mist, briefly clearing the sky.

Groooooaaaarrr.

Ungwi bellowed, his voice shaking the air as he staggered back. His massive shadow covered the ground, flattening everything in its wake.

Ssshhh─.

A thick fog poured from Ungwi’s mouth as he collapsed, once again enveloping the valley in a haze. Along with it came the roar, a sound so loud that it caused beasts and yokai to fall in its wake.

But Lin, forewarned, was different. A pink barrier from her fox bead shielded her from the sound. The vibrations reached her, but they had no effect.

‘Just as expected...!’

Karamir’s information was accurate. Everything was proceeding so smoothly that it was almost too easy.

Lin felt a thrill at Karamir’s clairvoyant precision. If she simply followed his directions, subjugating Ungwi was easier than eating potatoes without water.

Lin summoned the foxfire once more.

The guardian deity of Baekun Valley? So what.

If you’re a guardian deity, then I’m the goddess of foxes.