Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 805 - 746: The Players’ Counterattack
Armstrong’s new transformation almost happened simultaneously with Claudia’s Storm Unleash, as if sensing danger in advance and lashing back in struggle. Before the twenty blood limits were reached, Armstrong broke free from its shackles.
[Skill Activated, Hatred Furnace]
[Skill Activated, Tough Bones]
[Skill Activated, Annihilation Cannonade (Enhanced)]
The meat mountain was cleaved by the storm, and Armstrong’s shattered flesh rained blood in the air. Its deformed body tore apart, leaving only the roots connected to the ground intact. Having the bulk of its flesh decimated by the Divine Equipment, Armstrong directly poured the remaining flesh into those perilous Magic Eye Turrets. The new beam shots were charged, and this time the target was the entire back row. It wasn’t random targeting anymore; all the gazes from Magic Eye fixed onto the priests, mages, and Druids standing behind the warriors. Armstrong could not bear these disgusting bugs, heeding the High-Level Command of the core to eliminate healers first.
White shards of bone pierced through the skin, and what was once nauseating flesh looked as if it was covered in a layer of snow. Players’ weapons only clanked against the exoskeleton, and it would take several more good hits to wound Armstrong again. This was the BOSS’s newfound skeleton, and Armstrong’s suppression on the players was much more than just cannonade.
Hatred Furnace was Armstrong burning its own flesh, spreading the Evil God’s blessing upon the land thoroughly. A forced transformation ritual widened the process of inner assimilation, like a Gluttonous Eater pouring its stomach acid and digestive juices directly onto food. Moreover, this eater had an incredibly powerful digestive system. The highest form of transformation wasn’t creating those mentally deranged zealots or reverting partly to an Evil God-influenced sub-par product through body deterioration. This transformation was flawless; so perfect that it turned living beings into parts that fit perfectly with the Evil God, tiny units assisting the main body, turning living people into cells of the Evil God.
In other places, the Dream Elf was already finished. But this was the realm of dreams, and even the nightmare Armstrong had been tainted with a gamified corruption from the holy light. The ability effects of Hatred Furnace were suppressed, and players bathing in the blood rain were just afflicted with a curse, a curse that caused proportionate blood loss over time.
"One hundred seconds." Exposed in the scalding blood rain, even the armor could not block the searing heat, Charles assessed the remaining time for him and his companions. If they didn’t bring Armstrong’s remaining health to zero within one hundred seconds, they would all die. The same was true for everyone. They might last longer if blessed with healing spells, but now the priests could hardly save themselves.
Armstrong’s anemone-like body had turned entirely white, and the branching Magic Eye Turrets resembled straight branches, eerily carrying a touch of elegance. A beam of light rained past everyone’s eyes, leaving no time to block. Dream Elves seldom admired the night sky and rarely witnessed such splendor as the meteor shower streaking across the sky before them. Among humans, there was a custom of making wishes upon shooting stars, and stargazers held meteor showers in high esteem, believing that the falling bodies carried exceptional fates capable of bringing wondrous changes to the places they fell upon.
Annihilation Cannonade brought unexpected death. Charles’s attention was drawn to the blaze of light; the destructive Light Cannon exploded behind him. In the blinding light, he could see nothing. He couldn’t see the figure in the white silk robe, couldn’t see the Garnet Staff she held, couldn’t see her olive-green soft hair, nor the pretty jade necklace hanging around her neck. He had complained about that accessory which was supposed to increase physical strength, even less satisfied with women’s attitude in the game of just pursuing appearances, yet now, he had an unreasonable expectancy for that necklace.
The curse of Hatred Furnace set Charles’s body ablaze, and the distress in his chest felt like it would explode out of the flames. Chaotic memories began to interfere with his thoughts, feeling as though he’d returned to the past where he was exalted as a general.
"Failed again."
Facing the crashing tentacles, Charles Zutan Nightingale gave up defending amidst the mental abnormalities caused by layers of curses.
Cool consolation awakened the consciousness of the Defender. Charles’s heart skipped a beat at the imminent attack, stepping back half a step with his right foot and hiding his entire body behind the Tower Shield, shifting his weight to distribute the impact to the Earth.
"Is that all?"
The Taunt Skill was successfully activated, with the additional attacks meant for others now fully redirected to Charles. He quickly realized what had happened: behind him, a translucent Redemption Soul embraced his head, the facial mask of an angelic apparition bearing some resemblance to Eisenna.
The Redemption Soul ability, which could only be activated after the death of a priest, gave Eisenna an extra sixty seconds, purifying the mental abnormalities of the curse and bringing back Charles’s sanity. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
The strongest priest among the Dream Elves now clung to the strongest tank, and for sixty seconds, Armstrong’s bombardment fused them into one.
"Thank goodness this is just a game," Charles muttered, the restlessness in his heart completely dissipated, "I understand now, I absolutely can’t bear the consequences of losing you. I love you, after this battle is over, we..."
[Guardian Spirit (Eisenna) has used the Silence Skill on player Defender (Charles).]
The Guardian Spirit’s arms tightly embraced Charles’s head, her fingers clawed around his neck. The Guardian Spirit could not speak, and the chill coming from behind made Charles shut his mouth.
The Dream elves players indeed didn’t have many chances left, their backline was almost completely wiped out, without the fire support of mages and various buff spells, the warriors could only make a dying counterattack. But they still had hope.
Elf Queen • Heirloom Diadem • Rookie Archer Tiffany survived amidst the cannonade, standing tall and proud, gazing over the battlefield like a flag.
"This is the final battle, warriors! Take down this low-health monster!"
The Queen’s command greatly boosted the players’ morale, the warriors enduring the burning pain channeled all their suffering onto Armstrong.
Tiffany sighed helplessly.
"Kylo, you fool..."
A cold voice came from behind Tiffany, and for some reason, she felt a phantom pain in her lower back.
Kylo • Master Assassin • Blade Sentinel emerged from the shadows.
"How did you survive the cannonade?" Tiffany only saw a shadow flash through the beams of light, without receiving any damage herself.
Kylo • Blade Sentinel was completely cloaked in his black robe, sneaking around.
"That’s a special skill of our Assassin Profession, [Disarm] and [Defensive Counterattack]. [Disarm] can steal the opponent’s weapon and negate the enemy’s next attack; against Boss units, it can weaken the damage of cannonades. I had arranged my squad to focus on those Armstrong Cannons, to attempt a [Disarm] on them before the cannon fire started, as much as possible."
"The weakened cannonade might still be unbearable, but it has been reduced to the threshold of damage that [Defensive Counterattack] can withstand. So, I blocked the Light Cannon."
Tiffany nodded, showing an understanding of the logic of battle within the game world.
"Thank you for your hard work, Kylo Guard Commander."
"My honor, Queen." Kylo retreated into the shadows, his expression indifferent, his twisted and mangled arms under the black robe, charred like burnt wood, appeared non-existent.
