Chapter 43: The Insect-Tooth Dagger

Lu Li made a decisive move, scooped up the treasure chest, and bolted!

This action stunned the surrounding spectators all over again.

Throughout the previous ninety-nine gladiatorial matches, Lu Li had never retreated once.

Therefore, the audience always associated him with ruthless impressions such as "decisive in slaughter," "every strike fatal," and "just get the job done."

Now that Lu Li was running for his life, it truly dealt a significant shock to the nerves of the spectators.

Many audience members who supported Lu Li shook their heads and sighed one after another:

"Alas, it seems Lu Li also knows how formidable the Cerberus is. He's actually running away in fear..."

"I originally thought he would die fighting with a lot of spine. I really didn't expect him to be such a coward!"

"Anyone facing the Hellhound would be afraid, let alone Lu Li, a greenhorn who has just emerged."

"Oh my, I can't bear to watch anymore..."

More mischievous spectators even began to jeer at Lu Li.

"Chase it down quickly! Oh come on, how could he manage to slip away like this!"

"Why is the Cerberus so stupid? Doesn't it know to attack that Palu person first? Those three heads growing on its necks must be tumors instead of brains..."

"Hahaha, never would I have expected the final gladiatorial match to turn into a dog chasing a rat! Simply laughable."

"In my opinion, why keep running? Just lie down on the ground and die a clean death..."

Naturally, Lu Li paid no attention to the commotion outside the arena. At this moment, he had already opened the treasure chest and taken out the item inside.

[Item Name: Insect Tooth Stiletto]
[Quality: Inferior (Upgradeable).]
[Function Description: Absorbs target attributes and permanently replicates them. (The absorption process is not judged as an attack)]
[Remarks: No matter what, please make sure to feed her...]

The dagger was entirely emerald green with a bizarre shape, resembling a dormant praying mantis lying in wait.

Not long after Lu Li grasped it, the dagger rapidly twisted, and fine insect teeth grew around the hilt.

Before Lu Li could even prepare himself, his right hand was fiercely bitten by the dagger!

For a moment, unimaginable and piercing pain struck his nerves, almost causing Lu Li to faint from the agony.

Lu Li drew a sharp breath, forcing himself to remain conscious.

Even though the current situation was terrible, he smiled happily.

Not for any other reason, but because Lu Li had seen this dagger in his previous life!

It was one of the very few growth-type items capable of self-evolution!

Lu Li still clearly remembered that the wielder of the Insect Tooth Stiletto in his previous life was a female player named Li Luo.

Because of this dagger, she assassinated countless powerhouses and securely sat on the throne of the number one assassin.

Never did he expect that in this life, Lu Li would actually pull it out from the first-kill treasure chest!

"That's enough for now. I'll let you suck your fill after the fight is over!"

As if it could hear Lu Li's inner thoughts, the insect teeth biting into his palm slowly loosened and transformed back into a short dagger.

And in the item quality column, it successfully upgraded from [Inferior] to [Common].

Lu Li finally stopped fleeing, turned to face the Hellhound, and assumed a combat stance.

Seeing this, the sighing among the spectators outside the arena mostly subsided, turning instead into waves of mockery:

"Oh well look at that, Lu Li stopped running!"

"So he's actually going to fight. Can anyone with good eyesight see what kind of weapon he's holding?"

"A dagger?! Hahaha, does Lu Li plan to kill a Hellhound with a single dagger?"

"This little dagger is barely enough to serve as a toothpick for the Hellhound..."

Alissa, who had been lingering on the outer edges, saw Lu Li preparing to fight with a dagger, and the tiny spark of hope that had just ignited in her heart instantly went 'poof' and extinguished.

He might as well have kept running.

How was this any different from serving himself as food to the Hellhound?

"No matter what, Lu Li allowed me to live this long. Now that he is in a tight spot, I should help him."

"If I must die anyway, let the Hellhound eat me first!"

"Once it's full, maybe Lu Li can survive..."

Having made up her mind, Alissa timidly opened her mouth, preparing to shout and attract the Hellhound's attention.

However, before she could utter a sound, that man had already rushed forward first.

Without the blessing of innate abilities, Lu Li's movement speed was not particularly fast.

Yet, relying on the practical combat experience accumulated from his previous life and his deep understanding of the Hellhound,

Lu Li did not fall into a disadvantage during the first few rounds of combat.

He was merely restricted by the pitiful attack range of the Insect Tooth, which forced him to get extremely close to the Hellhound.

After several exchanges of blows, the flames burning on the monster's body had scorched Lu Li's clothes into tatters.

Finding that his torn clothes were hindering his movements, Lu Li simply ripped them off entirely.

Little did he know, this minor action caused the heart of a certain existence in a private box to flutter in chaos.

"A work of art! This is definitely a work of art! I so want to pin Lu Li beneath me right now and ravage him..."

Madame Octopus pressed her entire giant face flat against the glass.

Crystal-clear saliva trickled down the corner of her mouth, dripping onto the floor of the private box.

"But Madame, Lu Li doesn't know what's good for him..."

Little Erfu lay on the ground, his face full of jealousy.

"What do you know?! This is called having personality! I really love him more and more the longer I look..."

Madame Octopus scolded, her eyes never moving away from Lu Li for even a single second.

"Alright... but the Empyrean has already released the Hellhound, there is no way Lu Li can survive..."

"How about I contact the puppet master of the Ethereal Star Domain? After the match ends, we can turn Lu Li's corpse into a puppet doll, how about that?"

Madame Octopus was stunned, and a look of deep regret quickly surfaced on her flesh-and-fold-laden face:

"That's the only option left, I suppose... I really, really hope he can win the match..."

Inside the arena.

Because the Insect Tooth had absorbed Lu Li's blood at the very beginning, the blade carried all the traits of the [Blade Arm].

This included a series of effects such as [Cursed Toxin], [Rending], and [Debilitating Weakness].

However, due to the Hellhound's unique constitution and the excessively short attack range of the Insect Tooth Stiletto,

his several attacks had only inflicted minor superficial wounds and failed to cause severe trauma.

Instead, in order to evade attacks, Lu Li's physical stamina dropped drastically.

Just a slight slowdown in his dodging movement gave the Hellhound an opening.

The middle dog head instantly clamped down on Lu Li's weapon, making it difficult for him to pull it out.

Meanwhile, the left and right dog heads slowly opened their bloody maws wide toward Lu Li's head!

Just about to bite down!

Suddenly, a small stone flew through the air and struck with pinpoint accuracy right in the eye of one of the dog heads.

"Stupid dog! Come at me instead!"

Alissa shouted loudly, her small, thin body trembling uncontrollably.

She had thought the Hellhound would release Lu Li and turn to attack the Palu girl instead.

To her surprise, the beast merely twisted its body and aimed its backside squarely at Alissa.

The young girl watched in terror as the Hellhound's tail turned out to be a python as thick as a human thigh!

Within just a moment of dazed hesitation, the large snake had already coiled tightly around Alissa's entire body!

As its forked tongue flicked in and out, the foul, fishy stench made her feel suffocated.

She was completely unable to break free!

Alissa closed her eyes in despair.

Yet after waiting for a long time, the anticipated death never arrived.

Instead, a roaring rumble echoed as a massive object crashed to the ground.