Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Chapter 1656 – Dauntless Zero Wing
The adventurer team alliance wasn’t the only force confused by Zero Wing’s sudden advance. The several superpowers’ upper echelons and the first-rate Guilds alliance also flashed Zero Wing incredulous looks.
“What’s Zero Wing trying to do?”
Zero Wing’s behavior confused everyone.
The dark canyon’s terrain was complex. Although there appeared to be many paths that would lead to the top of the canyon, only a few were actually viable. Moreover, timing was very important when traversing the various paths. A single mistake could easily be put an entire team in a dangerous situation. It wouldn’t be surprising if the team were even eliminated.
Although players would lose only 20% of their EXP and be sent back to the starting point when they died in the Primordial Divine Ruin, multiple deaths would significantly weaken a team and increase the raid’s difficulty.
For newcomers to the Primordial Divine Rin, such as Zero Wing and the adventurer team alliance, the safest way through the dark canyon was to follow the various superpowers, who were already familiar with the first floor’s trial.
Of course, tagging along didn’t necessarily mean safety. Even if two teams took the same path, their timing wouldn’t be the same. In this case, it would depend on the commander’s abilities. Although, for the two superpowers that raided the ruin for the first time, this wouldn’t be a problem. The forces’ leadership had a perfect grasp of their team’s positioning and could minimize their losses as they followed the other superpowers. The adventurer team alliance’s chain of command, however, was chaotic due to its multiple leaders. As a result, the adventurer team alliance suffered many casualties as it attempted to follow after a superpower. But the alliance still fared better than if it pioneered a path of its own.
Yet, Zero Wing did not even understand such a basic principle and had made a beeline for the top of the canyon. Moreover, Zero Wing’s members moved with large strides, paying no attention to the monsters in their way, unlike the other teams who carefully and steadily advanced.
Suddenly, Cola, Turtledove, Ye Wumian, and Violet Cloud rushed ahead of Zero Wing’s team, charging onto the gravel path that contained a plethora of wandering ghosts. Meanwhile, the 15 MTs of the Magic Light Team’s 15 MTs guarded the rear of the team, while the Conqueror Parties split up and covered the sides.
…
[Ghost Knight] (Undead, Chieftain)
Level 50
HP 6,000,000/6,000,000
[Ghost Berserker] (Undead, Lord)
Level 52
HP 17,000,000/17,000,000
[Ghost General] (Undead, Grand Lord)
Level 55
HP 85,000,000/85,000,000
…
As Cola and the others moved through the canyon, the wandering Ghost Knights and Ghost Berserkers quickly discovered their presence. Like hungry wolves that had just discovered meat, the ghosts surged towards the MT trio.
“Are they trying to get themselves killed?”
“Are they really trying to grind the ghosts as if they were Common monsters?”
Everyone was stupefied as they watched Cola, Turtledove, and Ye Wumian attract more and more Ghost Knights and Ghost Berserkers.
The Primordial Divine Ruin had an endless supply of monsters, and even if players killed these monsters, the awarded EXP and loot was insignificant compared to monsters outside of the ruin. Grinding these monsters simply wasn’t worth the effort. Though, to the various powers present, it did not really matter even if a large number of Ghost Knights and Ghost Berserkers ganged up on them as they were more than capable of defeating these monsters.
Instead, the canyon’s true danger came from the numerous skeletons stationed at its top. The bolts they fired from their heavy crossbows were as powerful as Tier 2 attacks. Even Level 50, Tier 1 MTs would be forced to retreat by several steps and lose around 4,000 HP if they blocked one of these bolts with their shields. If struck directly, they would be dead after two or three hits.
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Hence, it was important when selecting a path through the canyon to choose one with favorable terrain that could be used to block the crossbow attacks and lower the chances of encounter Ghost Generals.
In the blink of an eye, over 500 Ghost Knights and dozens of Ghost Berserkers chased after Cola and the others. Moreover, the skeletons on both sides of the canyon had aimed and fired their crossbows at the MT trio.
However, Cola and the others paid no attention to the countless incoming attacks and continued to advance mindlessly, attracting more monsters as they went. The commotion had even lured some of the wandering Ghost Generals.
“Good! Everyone, charge! Follow Cola’s group!” Shi Feng revealed a smile when he saw the swarm of monsters charge at Cola and the others.
At this stage of the game, nobody was more familiar with Primordial Divine Ruins than him.
He knew that Primordial Divine Ruins were survival tests. Although it was the first time he had visited the Primordial Divine Ruin in the Orc Empire, every ruin had nearly the same tests. It had been common knowledge in his previous life that the Primordial Divine Ruin’s first-floor trial would become more dangerous as teams spent more time here.
Take the various superpowers, for example. Although they had familiarized themselves with the paths to the top of the canyon and hence, could limit the number of crossbow attacks that reached their teams, it was impossible to avoid casualties completely. In fact, the various superpowers’ teams were continuously lost members as they advanced right now. Moreover, as they approached closer to the top of the canyon, their casualty rates became more severe. To make matters worse, players that died and allowed the system to resurrect them would reappear at the starting point. Once they did, they’d have no way of catching up to their main force. As for having the team stop midway to resurrect the fallen, that would only end up causing the team to suffer even more casualties.
Because of this, team members that died halfway through the canyon were as good as eliminated unless a team-wipe occurred.
The best way to challenge the first-floor trial was to send a player in as bait and draw the enemy fire while the rest of the team followed behind. Doing so would greatly reduce the number of attacks the team received and was much safer than following one of the more-protected routes.
The only problem with this method was that the players acting as bait needed to be strong enough. The main force also had to maintain enough distance from the bait. If the main force got too close, they would pull the agitated monsters’ aggro. If the main force fell too far behind, the bait would’ve moved past the skeletons’ attack range.
Fortunately, this wasn’t the first time Shi Feng had employed this strategy. His grasp of his team’s positioning was incredibly accurate.
With Violet Cloud in the center, Cola’s group pushed forward. As they faced numerous attacks, their HPs steadily decreased.
Fortunately, the Chieftain ranked Ghost Knights and Lord ranked Ghost Berserkers were not much of a threat. The true threat came from the Ghost Generals and the heavy crossbow attacks from both sides of the canyon, in particular. Currently, a swarm of Ghost Knights chased after Cola’s group of four, and although the situation looked dire, it worked in the group’s favor as the Ghost Generals had a hard time reaching the players. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the crossbow attacks.
When Cola, Turtledove, and Ye Wumian used their shields to block the incoming crossbow bolts, they’d stiffen slightly and lose around 1,500 HP. When the other powers noticed the damage Cola and his team received, they couldn’t help their jealousy.
Unlike Cola and the others, their MTs received over -4,000 damage even when they blocked the crossbow bolts successfully. This meant that the MT trio from Zero Wing could endure three times the attacks that their MTs could. However, they still ridiculed Zero Wing for its foolish leadership. If Cola and his companions had the support of a large number of healers, they’d be practically unkillable.
Yet, Zero Wing actually let these three, powerful MTs charge ahead on their own! It was a reckless waste of resources!
With how the team utilized Cola and the others, it wouldn’t matter if they could endure two or three more hits than other MTs.
Sure enough, Cola, Turtledove, and Ye Wumian’s HPs began to decrease rapidly. In a short moment, they had lost more than one-third of their HPs. The various superpowers’ upper echelons lamented the loss. The MT trio only had a single healer to support them, and it simply wasn’t enough to keep the three players alive.
But after another moment, the superpowers noticed something strange. Despite Cola, Turtledove, and Ye Wumian’s HPs having already fallen below the 25% mark, Violet Cloud hadn’t prepared to cast any Spells.
“What’s going on? Isn’t that girl a Cleric? Or does she have some kind of grudge against those MTs?” Everyone watched Violet Cloud in confusion.
However, while the spectating crowd wondered about the young woman’s hesitation, Cola took a look at his own HP bar.
“Let’s begin!” Cola said. Rather than panicking, his voice contained a hint of excitement.
Turtledove and the others then nodded in response.
Following which, Cola shouted before releasing a blinding, golden glow. Suddenly, a golden pillar of light descended from the sky and enveloped Cola’s group, illuminating the dark canyon.
Suddenly, four golden barriers enveloped each member of the group.
The move Cola just used was none other than the Tier 2 Skill, Divine Shield, which Shi Feng had obtained from the Boneless Land. When activated, the Skill granted the Divine Shield buff, which lasted 30 seconds, to a maximum of ten players. The buff decreased incoming damage from Tier 3 or below attacks by 50% and attacks above Tier 3 by 20%. The buff also increased Attack Speed and Movement Speed by 20% and healing effects received by 100%. Divine Shield was a very powerful Skill, though it had a downside: a one-hour Cooldown.
Violet Cloud also used the Tier 2 Spell, Holy Prayer. The Spell affected all allies within a 50-yard radius and granted them an HoT buff that healed them based on Violet Cloud’s Mana. Moreover, players affected by Holy Prayer would receive a 20% damage reduction buff. The Spell had a one-minute duration and a 20-minute Cooldown.
Under the effects of these two Skills, Cola’s group members each recovered over 8,000 HP every second. The damage they received was reduced to a pitiful amount as well. This turn of events allowed Cola’s group to advance with ease while the rest of Zero Wing’s team followed behind.
In less than a minute, Zero Wing’s members had reached the top of the canyon…