Chapter 243 Cat Dad’s Retainer Has Grown

Chapter 243 – Cat Dad's Retainer Has Grown

Xiaomao had no idea what the Valkyrie Guild's remaining survivors were doing. Ten minutes had passed since the last fight, but none of them attempted to counterattack.

BOOM

BOOM

The tribulation lightning ceaselessly delivered heaven's punishment. A dozen lightning bolts struck the mermen and the Einherjars alike, killing them in one hit.

Fortunately, someone from the Einherjars' side fired something into the cloud and dispersed it, stopping the lightning bolts. Then, nobody continued fighting as both sides kept their distance.

Another 10 minutes passed, and the Einherjars were out of Xiaomao's sight. They retreated to the far edge of the map for an unknown reason.

Because nobody interrupted them, Xiaomao collected Joan's dropped items in glee. He also ran around, collecting and scavenging for dropped gears and consumable items.

Shepherd and John smiled from ear to ear. Because of the ten minutes of inaction, they managed to resurrect most of the fallen mermen. Only 15 were left in the casualty pool even though some of them died because of the random tribulation lightning bolts.

Meanwhile, the shrinking border walls never stopped moving, closing the distance and decreasing the size of the battlefield map. Currently, the closest border was 100 meters away to the west, which was at the back of their army.

Noticing the shrinking circle from the ground, Xiaomao, Lucky, and the dwarves frowned. At this rate, it would push them out of their strategic position and destroy their hard-earned obelisk tower.

The water dragon came out of the river and transformed into a lamia, coiling her tail around Shepherd while the seductive upper torso reverted back to Qidia. She hugged Shepherd from behind.

"My dear, you are low on mana. I'll teleport out of the world first before I'm trapped here."

"…"

After kissing Shepherd goodbye, the Water Spirit Queen turned into regular river water and dropped to the ground.

Shepherd pursed his lips. He looked at his current MP – Only 10% was left in the tank.

Xiaomao also snooped on Shepherd's status from his menu screen. Surprisingly, this guy had high stats and many spells even though Xiaomao barely gave him anything.

.

General Information

Name:  Shepherd

Rarity:  Ultra-Rare

Race:  High Human

Relationship:  Married (Magdalene, the World Tree Fairy)

Familiar:  Water Spirit Queen Qidia, Fairy Queen Titania

Sponsor:  Joshua

Class (5/10):  Seaman, Journeyman Archmage, Messenger of Joshua, Shepherd, Spirit Summoner

Class Skills:  Fishing Spot Finder, Eight Element Mastery, Eight Element Manipulation, Nature Magic Mastery, Messiah Charisma, and 69 others.

Racial Skills:  Entity's Luck, Joshua's Karma

Book Skills (5/10):  Angelic Transformation, Self-Resurrection, Noble Sacrifice, Templar Knight Blessing, Mandate of Heaven

Book Spells (15/20):  Chain Lightning, Earth Binding, Earth Armor, Hell Flame, Firewall, Tidal Wave, Weapon Summoning, Shadow Teleportation, Holy Light, Mass Heal, Star Light Blessing, Lesser Resurrection, Nature to Life, Water Spirit Queen Summon, Fairy Queen Summon

Add-On Skills: Time and Space Laws, Raphael Cultivation Method, Uriel Mana Circle Method, Michael Spearsmanship, Gabriel Marksmanship

Titles:  Joshua's Doppelgänger, Heaven's Chosen, Incarnation of God, Unwavering Faith, Noblesse Oblige, Aspiring Messiah

.

Status 

Level: 398

STR: 3,769

DEX: 4,766

AGI: 3,748

VIT: 3,362

INT: 4,303

WIS: 3,644

QI: 197,000

LUCK: 2,022

.

Combat Status

ATK: 503,855

DEF: 253,651

M.ATK: 507,922

M.DEF: 253,792

HP: 1,053,320 / 1,053,320

MP: 300,420 / 3,056,140

Qi: 197,000 / 197,000

.

Something was terribly wrong with Shepherd's status!

VERY WRONG!

Xiaomao was aware that Shepherd was a man of many secrets, and he didn't mind if the dude went off on his own adventure and got strong because of it. However, this was too much!

Despite having only a few thousand in stats, his combat status was too strong for a level-398 character!

Furthermore, how did he even get to level 398? A few days ago, his level was only 200. Even if he consumed spirit stones to increase his stats and EXP, it shouldn't have raised his level to this.

Xiaomao reread the general information section and noticed many weird add-on skills in the list. Seeing the names, he started to understand how Shepherd got so strong, especially when he saw the names of the four archangels.

"Seriously, Shepherd. Did some archangels become your mentor, munya? Did you get some legendary weapons and armor from gods that I don't know?"

In reality, Shepherd's combat stats came from gears, titles, and passive skill buffs. There was no way that a few thousand STR or INT could increase the physical attack or magical attack to over half a million.

When Xiaomao saw how Slave One changed his name to Shepherd, he didn't think much about it. But when Andrew, Peter, John, James, and Magdalene gathered around the guy, Xiaomao began to doubt if Shepherd was an incarnation of a messiah or something.

And today, the answer was clear.

He indeed was a clone of THAT prophet!

Meanwhile, Shepherd had no idea what Xiaomao was thinking. But when he heard Xiaomao's question, he repeatedly shook his head and pointed at the dark spear in his hand. Then, he pointed at the approaching circle.

"Fine. I won't ask how you got all of that, but don't backstab me, munya."

Shepherd repeatedly nodded. Then, he looked at the mermen and pointed at the other side of the river.

The mermen seemed to understand Shepherd's body language. They turned around and marched to the opposite river bank, escaping from the shrinking energy wall.

Peter and Andrew looked at their creation and sighed. They opened their inventory, trying to store the entire building in their inventory slots. Unfortunately, the finished building couldn't be stored.

Since the tower couldn't be used anymore, the two dwarves brought out their hammers and smashed them. They stored the debris and components of the tower and continued hitting the structure.

The commotion caught Xiaomao's attention. Seeing how the hardworking craftsmen dissembled and recycled the building, he ordered the boys to help.

Andrew suddenly turned around and shook their heads. He wrote on the ground.

'You can't simply destroy everything and recycle the components. This is the task that only craftsmen like us can do! Take everybody and go ahead. We'll stay here even if the circle kills us! Make sure to resurrect us before the match is over!'

Peter also gave them a thumbs up before he returned to his business, removing electronic devices and putting them in his inventory.

Xiaomao gazed at them in admiration for their spirits. He saluted at them.

"I'll bring you guys back SHORTLY, munya!"

Andrew and Peter turned around and glared at Xiaomao. They seemed to be offended by something he said and waved their hands, shooing him away.

The team nodded at them and rushed across the river.

.

.

Xiaomao flew on his flying sword to search for the Valkyrie Guild. Shepherd, surprisingly, decided to reveal his power and showed his friends that he could fly as well. The former fisherman stood on a surfboard, and a stream of the river magically carried him into the sky.

Shepherd winked at Xiaomao while the latter sized up the former and frowned.

"Show off, munya."

Shepherd pouted and wrote something in mid-air with his fingertip, which left behind a trail of water. When he was finished, the words appeared in red.

'Let me help. I'm strong now.'

Seeing how Shepherd wanted to contribute, Xiaomao didn't stop him. He wanted to see the true potential of this so-called messiah.

"Go ahead, munya. Go ham!"

Shepherd nodded and immediately spread his arms, standing in the T-pose.

"…"

Xiaomao had many questions about why Shepherd was jinxing himself. He waited for the effect of whatever Shepherd was doing. A minute later, he was not disappointed.

A golden light descended from the sky and shone upon Shepherd. Xiaomao looked up and noticed that it was not a normal beacon.

It was the golden cross beacon.

"I'll be damn, munya. You need Jesus, Shepherd. You're not supposed to mimic him."

Shepherd wryly smiled. If he could talk, he would have refuted that.

The beacon of light consumed him, and Shepherd vanished. A few seconds later, another golden cross beacon appeared on the other side of the map. Then, several light beacons descended from the sky like laser beams.

As soon as the beams landed, the ground erupted and exploded. Red fluid burst out and turned the land into a living hell.

Xiaomao tilted his head. He thought of Cookie, who used a similar spell on him before, and Xiaomao ate the entire mountain and the lava.

"Big oof. Shepherd's M.ATK is 500K, so the damage should be around a million. He's doing alright."

Seeing the action from afar didn't suit Xiaomao. He flew toward the direction of the new golden cross. Upon arrival, he witnessed one of Shepherd's book spells in the status menu.

Shepherd didn't summon a volcano like Cookie. Instead, he directly created a sea of gold fire, melting everything that the flame consumed. The fire kept spreading and turning soil and rocks into molten liquid.

As if Shepherd copied Xiaomao's LET IT GO, crimson eggs emerged from the lava. They slowly absorbed the nearby flame and lava to grow larger. A minute later, the eggs hatched.

KWEEE

Unfortunately, the creatures were scarlet furballs with cute eyes and cat mouths. It had no arms, legs, hands, or feet – Just a ball with fur, eyes, nose, and mouth.

"Popoi?"

Xiaomao thought of a creature from a certain Korean novel. He wondered if they were the same.

KWEEE!!

The newborn creatures suddenly opened their mouths like Pacman. Then, they hopped and swam through the lava toward the burnt corpses of Einherjars and the broken pieces of their equipment. These furballs ate everything they found.

One of them even chased after Shepherd to the sky, baring its fangs at him. Meanwhile, the latter didn't notice these things and continued surfing the moving stream of water, flying toward another place.

"Not bad. Overall, he passes, munya!"

Xiaomao slightly nodded in approval. So far, Shepherd proved that he could handle the army of Einherjars on his own, and his power was interesting as well. However, that guy had no tact about his responsibility.

Creating these furball creatures and leaving them behind was bad. This decreased his score a bit.

One of the furballs suddenly jumped toward Xiaomao and bore its fang. However, Xiaomao also opened his mouth wide to challenge the upstarted creature.

"NIHIL!"

KWEEE!!

CHOMP!

As Xiaomao's mouth was bigger, he crushed the furball and ate him whole.

CRUNCH

KRUK

GULP!

BURP!

"PUHA! That hits the spot, munya!"

It tasted like slightly burnt wagyu steak plus extra hair. Xiaomao vomitted out the hair leftover and looked at the remaining creatures.

DING

<You have eaten Dimensional Hair Slime, Level 398.>

<You have gained 398 Fire Spiritual Roots.>

<You have gained 398 Light Spiritual Roots.>

<Your Max HP has increased by 3,980!>

"Hmm?"

The creature gave Xiaomao good stats. Moreover, the taste was palatable.

He wanted more.

Xiaomao wondered if he could grow a farm to extract these slimes' meat. He immediately ordered Shepherd.

"Shepherd! Make more of these creatures, munya! I want to create a farm for these guys! They're delicious, munya!"

The loud noise of Xiaomao reached the others' ears. They sweated profusely, wondering what Xiaomao and Shepherd were doing. As for Shepherd, his expression was pale.

What furball creature?

Shepherd didn't remember creating furball creatures. What was his master talking about?