Chapter 278: The Second Magma Lance
After nearly an hour of fighting, the fourth wave of Centipedes finally fell to our formation. Phantom Tier monsters dropped not only Gold Tier equipment but also generous amounts of Devil Tokens. Whether they were turned in for experience or sold for gold, the rare Devil Tokens were always good. For the most part, the Devil Tokens and equipment dropped were quickly split within the small groups; there was no need to hand them over to the guild. This way, each person would be more motivated to continue fighting.
The Centipede Card was able to ignore 10% of the target’s defense. Though it was inferior to the Dark Raider Card, many players that lacked high-tier cards were more than happy to make use of it. Musketeers and Archers in particular; ignoring 10% of a target’s defense would raise their damage output to a whole new level!
……
“Keng!”
With the Emperor Qin’s Sword propped on the ground, I laughed while looking at the the rest of the centipedes in the distance, “Heavens bless us, please let the fourth wave’s BOSS come to where we are, or else it would be too embarrassing!”
Lifting her spear, Matcha soared in the sky and smiled, “Boss, you can basically give up. I just got the news that the fourth wave’s Boss is a Dark Beetle, a Lv 69 Emperor Tier BOSS. It refreshed nearby the South Gate. Jian Feng Han and a bunch of [Vanguard] members are guarding there, so we don’t have much of a chance…… ”
“The South Gate?” I mused. “I think Han Bei Song’s [Blood Contract] is also defending there. I don’t know if there will be a conflict between them and [Vanguard], but if there is a conflict, [Blood Contract] will suffer……”
Li Mu held his sword and said, “Emperor Tier BOSSes are not that easy to kill. Even if [Vanguard] has many members, it will still take them 10-15 minutes to defeat the BOSS. Should we bring players to the South Gate?”
I pondered and then shook my head, “No, guard our own position; it’s just the fourth wave. Let’s be patient; the best stuff will be at the end. Starting from the seventh wave, if there’s an opportunity, we will try and take the four remaining BOSSes!”
“Ah, alright!”
……
As predicted, after a short 15 minutes, the system bell tolled——
“Ding!”
System Announcement: Congratulations! Player Simple successfully killed the fourth BOSS of the [City of the Ancients] (Ba Huang City), and has earned +4 Charm and 30% experience, as well as the S-rank skill book: [Magma Lance]!
……
“Damn. [Magma Lance]!” I said as I clenched my fist.
“Guild Master, what’s wrong? What’s so special about [Magma Lance]? Is it unique, or what……” Asked Dancing Forest.
I gritted my teeth and replied, “Dong Cheng Yue——Cang Yue also learned this [Magma Lance] S-rank skill. It has a fierce attack power. Simple will definitely take the time to master it and become even harder to deal with. She will become a top tier heavy firepower Mage in group battles, and she won’t be causing just a little damage to us. If Jian Feng Han properly utilizes this firepower and gives Simple extra protection, [Vanguard]’s group battle power will be extremely terrifying.”
Dancing Forest pressed her red lips together and laughed, “Here if we face the group that Simple is in, we will target her area with [Scatter Shot], and then Guild Master can just dash in and kill. No matter how strong they are, their health is limited. After the shield is broken, death is a Mage’s final destination. This fact will never change.”
I nodded, “Yup, I hope so! Prepare yourselves to greet the fifth wave. I hope the fifth wave’s BOSS will spawn at our location, or at the very least, be near us!”
Li Mu smiled and asked, “Guild Master, I feel that… Although this [City of Ancients] final reward, [God of Commerce Badge], is very precious, every BOSS will drop a S-rank AOE skill; these skills are just as important. In such dire times, we must also fight for the BOSSes. Such skills can make or break a player. Our [Zhan Long] may never be able to compete numbers wise with guilds like [Vanguard] or [Prague], so we can only search for new ways to transcend. Aren’t the [City of the Ancients] BOSSes’ skill books the answer?”
I took a deep breath and smiled. “Li Mu, I know what you mean…… Alright. Li Mu, you choose a squad of Knights and Monks with high defense and health. Yue Qing Qian, Yue Wei Liang, Matcha, Dancing Forest, and I will help and together we will form a BOSS assault party. Once a BOSS appears, we will immediately go and seize it while there is still a chance. True, enemies are all around us, but taking S-rank skill books from their hands is what we should do. When it’s time to be tough, [Zhan Long] will never be gentle.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about! As long as you approve, Valiant Bravery camp will attack at any time!”
“Okay! ”
……
“Long, long, long……..”
The iron gates slowly opened, and the fifth wave bounced out. This time the monsters were relatively unique. It was actually a group of Jiangshi with sigils marked on their faces and clothed in Qing Dynasty era robes and officials’ boots. “Pa, pa, pa,” they skipped out. Their arms were rotten, and the skin on their fingers was peeling until the bones underneath were visible. Plus, their dark black fingernails were extremely sharp, and had blood dripping from the tips.
(TL note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiangshi)
(Jiangshi are known to jump around to travel)
“Oh boy…..” Old K grinned. “This is just like those Jiangshi movies. Only…we aren’t sure how to attack them yet….”
Wolf laughed lightly, “Everyone, hold your breath so that the Jiangshi won’t know where you are……”
Matcha actually froze and stood still holding her breath until a breath bar appeared over her head, indicating imminent suffocation.
“Pa…..”
I patted Matcha on the shoulder, unable to withhold my laughter. “Stop holding your breath. Prepare to strike. These Jiangshi are Lv 70 Phantom Tier monsters that have extremely high attack. All main players defend more positions, and don’t let your teammates die in the fight. Healers, do your best to heal all players located at the front position!”
“Shua!”
A glowing light enveloped my body. It was Darling Ducky’s Lv 7 BUFF skill. It raised 14% of my defense, which meant it added 285 more defense. The whole team was now much different; after the BUFFs, the difference was as clear as night and day.
Li Mu said with a frown, “I can’t read the stats of the Lv 70 Phantom Tier monsters. Guild Master, you are already Lv 66. Please share the stats of the Jiangshi, or else everyone will suffer losses.”
“Okay!”
With a wave of my hand, the stats of the leading Jiangshi appeared in the guild channel.
【Ancient Jiangshi】 (Phantom Tier)
Level: 70
Attack: 1850-2340
Defense: 1180
Health: 24000
Skills: 【Sinister Stab】【Taxing Bite】【Severe Poison】
Description: 【Ancient Jiangshi】 A group of dead people from the ancient times. Their corpses were stored in the Huai Mu Grooves and their souls lingered after absorbing negative Qi, becoming insensible Jiangshi with highly poisonous claws. They are driven by bloodlust and feared by numerous human armies. Please deal with them cautiously.
……
“2340 damage…… ” Li Mu spoke in a quavery voice. “Everyone, be careful. Fighting with these Jiangshi will be extremely painful.”
“Okay,” Old K nodded.
I held up the Emperor Qin’s Sword and glanced at the effects of this godly weapon. [Kill for Blood] was at 87%, which meant the weapon damage was raised 87%. Great! Thanks to the brief duel just a while ago, my attack power was definitely the first in Ba Huang City now. When comparing the efficiency of slaying monsters, no one would even be close to mine.
“Roar…… ”
The swarm of Jiangshi with a rancid odor jumped toward us.
“Wu…”
Matcha frowned and lowered her eyes.
I quickly shouted, “Those who can’t bear the smell, turn off your sense of smell and attack immediately!”
I personally kept my sense of smell on; it allowed me to immerse myself in the game completely, as an expert would do. This smell wasn’t even that bad; during my time as a mercenary, my battles in the jungles and woods would be filled with the smell of dead bodies 24/7 to help disguise ambushes. So, this smell was almost normal to me.
Seeing a large horde of Jiangshi approaching rapidly, I raised my Emperor Qin’s Sword and tumultuously swung out [Seven Star Fragment Slash]. Numerous extremely terrifying damage numbers flew up ——
4237!
4661!
4983!
10004!
……
“Wow, ten thousand damage…… Xiao Yao’s attack power is truly f*cking astronomical. His damage is actually up to ten thousand. I don’t even dare to think…… how much attack does he have to achieve damage of this level?”
Wolf calmly replied, “I estimate at least over ten thousand attack? ”
“Crap, My attack strength is only about 6000”
“Keep working on it…… ”
As a row of swords and shields lay at the foremost of the battlefield, the assaults of the Jiangshi were arriving. As soon as they approached the shields, the Jiangshi immediately moved their arms to stab and attack. With a “Papapa”, one of them instantly left a bloody hole on the chest of a heavy armor player. Even a single blow had 2000+ damage–it was far too strong!
“Motherf*cker……” Old K waved his battle axe, rotating it around where he stood, causing [Whirlwind Slash] to sweep through the monsters with damage not inferior to anyone else’s, already killing some Jiangshi with his skill. He was truly brave, worthy of being the number 1 Berserker of [Zhan Long]. With Li Mu, Wang Jian, Yue Qing Qian and Wolf being the “Smart commanders”, and Old K, Dong Cheng Lei and Bai Qi being the “Brave commanders”, we had the perfect match that could place us against [Vanguard] without flaws!
“Roar….”
A bloody Jiangshi howled before rampaging towards Old K. With its gaping mouth, it bit down on his neck and held on. Old K’s face turned green as poison kicked in; this was the effect of [Severe Poison]–
500！
500！
500！
……
A chain of damage came flying out as Wolf was alarmed, “Healers, heal Old K! Don’t let him die because of poison…”
Old K retreated while gnashing at his teeth, “Careful, whenever the Jiangshis’ health go below 10%, they will start to use [Severe Poison] to try and kill you. Try to kill them in an instant once their health is just above 10%, and don’t let them bite you. Otherwise, you’ll lose 5000 health in 10 seconds; that’s too much pressure on the Healers…..”
Despite the warnings, the front line still had [Zhan Long] players continuously falling victim to the poisonous attacks. Finally, at the fifth wave, we had begun to suffer from a severe loss of players. The front line had already lost dozens of people in the matter of 10 minutes. Very soon, we would have a shortage of heavy armor players, which would become a major issue.
Of course, compared to [Zhan Long], the rest of the players on the northern wall were even more scattered than before. Now, there were only groups of 10 or less fighting together. The Jiangshi had completely overwhelmed the players, ruining their tempos.
……
Seeing that the whole area was covered with Jiangshi, Dancing Forest swallowed hard, “Damn…such a terrifying fifth wave. I can’t even imagine how the next five waves can be fought….”