W
hat astonishing destructive power!
Annihilation Slash had its limits. It was comparable to a small-scale AoE skill in range and attacked only in a straight line. However, its might was far superior to that of any ordinary AoE skill. A 1,000% damage multiplier combined with Nie Yan's already high attack power was extremely frightening.
Even the Elite skeletons were obliterated by this Rank 5 Annihilation Slash.
The horde of 400 skeletons was reduced by half. The remaining ones moved in to surround Nie Yan. But his little test run was over with. He escaped into stealth and allowed Lil' Gold to deal with them.
As someone who played the Thief class, Nie Yan clearly wasn't specialized in dealing with large groups of monsters. If he had to deal with these skeletons one by one, it would take him an eternity to get through all of them.
In the blink of an eye, Lil' Gold wiped out a large number of skeletons, littering the ground with piles of bone fragments.
Lil' Gold's might was quite impressive. Combined with the support he received from Battle Angel Kalenna, he was practically invincible, sweeping through everything in his path. These skeletons gave a fairly generous amount of experience, five times that of ordinary Level 100 monsters. The only downside was that they didn't drop any loot.
Even so, the experience alone made it more than worth it.
Lil' Gold was already Level 98, 93%. Before long, he would reach Level 100. Nie Yan wondered what kind of change would occur at that time. He was full of expectation.
...
Brocchi Stronghold. Donned in black robes, Qin Han was monitoring the progress of his skeleton army. He was utterly unaware of what was going on on the outskirts of the stronghold, since all he had to go off was the number of skeletons currently under his control.
The skeleton army had already grown to 60,000 strong and was still rapidly expanding. They attacked the nearby villages and intercepted passing players. Qin Han glanced down at his character bar. Displayed in the bottom right corner was the skeleton count.
Qin Han's plan was progressing rapidly. The number of skeletons under his control kept rising, going from 30,000 to 50,000 and then to over 60,000 right now.
Qin Han could roughly guess the situation outside. As the skeleton army grew, so too would their range of activity. For every 500 ordinary skeletons, an Elite one would pop up; for every 20 Elites, a Lord would appear; and finally for every five Lords, a Variant Lord would awake. They all gathered in groups, never going off on their own. If they encountered a player or perhaps a village, they would call over any allies in the vicinity and simply overwhelm the target with sheer numbers. As a result, the number of skeletons would multiply exponentially.
Seeing the number of skeletons rapidly rising, Qin Han's ambitions grew larger and larger. He knew there was no more turning back. He could only brave forward on the path ahead of him. He would bury all his enemies in a sea of bones! A certain figure popped into his mind. "Nirvana Flame, you better wash your neck because I'm coming for your head!"
About half an hour later, Qin Han looked at the skeleton count and discovered it hadn't risen by much at all. Last he checked it was at 63,527. Currently, it sat at 63,539. It had only gone up by a little over 10. This didn't make any sense. What was going on? Logically speaking, with so many skeletons roaming around outside, that number should be much higher.
Qin Han knitted his brows. He stared at the skeleton count. Suddenly, the number plummeted down to 63,219. He shot up from his seat. Well played! This was likely an Advanced Magic. Nothing else contained the power to slay so many skeletons all at once.
"Did a powerful expedition team come here to investigate?"
Qin Han's eyes flashed with a cold light. Even if a strong expedition team came, nothing could stop the rise of his skeleton army!
Qin Han walked to a crystal ball in the center of the hall. Everything the skeletons saw would be projected inside it. He had it focus on the area where all the skeletons were wiped out and saw an enormous Golden Dragon wreaking havoc across the battlefield.
Qin Han's heart sank. "Nirvana Flame! You actually came all the way over here!"
Projected inside the crystal ball, Lil' Gold was trampling over the skeletons. He let out a dragon cry and called down a meteor from the sky. With a loud explosion, the surroundings were engulfed in a sea of flames. Several hundred skeletons let out mournful cries and collapsed on the ground.
Qin Han could hear their souls screaming out in pain. He pounded his fist into the table. "Nie Yan, you're always getting in my way at every turn!"
Qin Han ordered all his skeletons to converge on Nie Yan's location.
Given the strength of these skeletons, taking down Nie Yan wasn't possible. Necromancer Vorderman was in the middle of erecting the death tower. He could only go stop Nie Yan himself. After reviving Vorderman, he had grown vastly stronger. He was far superior to any ordinary player.
"Let's just see how strong a Shadow Dancer really is..." Qin Han coldly chuckled. He turned around and walked out of the hall.
...
As time passed, Nie Yan noticed more and more skeletons congregating around him. Lil' Gold was starting to get overwhelmed. Under the attack of the skeleton Elites, his health fell bit by bit. If it weren't for the support of Battle Angel Kalenna, he would've long since died.
Even Lil' Gold was having a hard time holding out. If an ordinary player encountered these skeletons, one could easily imagine their fate.
Nie Yan opened up the Divine Recruitment window and summoned Paladin Lafus.
After noticing the sea of undead trying to drown him, Lafus immediately buffed himself with a Divine Blessing, then charged into the fray alongside Lil' Gold. He had a passive aura that reduced the stats of nearby creatures of darkness by 20%.
As soon as Lafus appeared, the surrounding skeletons became enraged like a bull seeing the colour red. Their jaws clattered and shook as they charged toward him. The battlefield immediately became hectic.
Nie Yan knew summoning Lafus would evoke such a reaction. The undead particularly loathed anything holy. So, Priests and Paladins would easily attract their aggro.
However, Lafus wasn't a soft persimmon. He cast out multiple Purifies, killing droves of skeletons. Occasionally, he would refresh his buffs and heal both himself and Lil' Gold.
Holy Radiant Shine!
A massive pillar of light descended from the sky, engulfing all the skeletons in the vicinity. They started melting under the light before disappearing into thin air. They were purified.
The skeletons in the vicinity were cleared away again.
With the aid of Lafus, the skeletons were being mopped up at an even faster rate.
After only a few hours, Nie Yan had killed 3,000 skeletons. In the skeleton army's initial stages of growth, this was a heavy loss, enough to completely halt their growth.
Nie Yan felt a change occurring in the Holy Imprint on his hand. Looking down at it, he discovered it was emitting a faint glow. He couldn't help but wonder what sort of use it had.
Perhaps he could obtain a complete Holy Spirit Heart if he continued killing these skeletons. At that time, all the seals on Zennarde's Sword could be removed.
Just how powerful would this Divine weapon be in its unsealed state? Nie Yan couldn't help but wonder.
While Nie Yan was lost in thought, a skeleton in the crowd caught his eye. It was two heads taller than the others, and its bones were glistening dark gold, almost as if it were cast from metal. It wielded a greatshield in one hand and a large war-axe in the other.
A Lord-class skeleton!
Nie Yan activated Transcendent Insight.
Skeleton King Leoric (Lord): Level 130
Health: 24,000,000/24,000,000
Leoric knocked aside all the ordinary skeletons and charged toward Lil' Gold.
BANG! Leoric rammed into Lil' Gold's chest with its shield, forcing him several steps back.
−23,489
What frightening damage!
Nie Yan knitted his brows. With Lil' Gold and Lafus' strength, they would have a tough time taking down Leoric. He unsheathed Zennarde's Sword and prepared to go up himself.
Just as Nie Yan was about to pounce in, he felt a powerful darkness energy lock onto him from more than 100 meters away. He immediately sensed danger.
Nie Yan looked over and spotted a cloaked figure standing in the distance. His eyes narrowed. The powerful aura of darkness coming off of the other side caused him to feel a cold nip at the back of his neck.
The master of these skeletons was here!
They wore a black robe with a collar embroidered with gold silk and a vivid-looking skull design stitched to their sleeve. In their one hand was a bone staff pieced together out of hundreds of bones, and in the other was a grimoire of the undead.
Black Flame Burst!
Qin Han waved his staff. A shower of black fireballs came pouring down on Nie Yan.
A long range bombardment!
Gale Step!
Nie Yan instantly crossed several dozen meters and escaped the hail of fireballs.
An attack range of 100 meters was almost unheard of among ordinary Mages. Combined with how quickly the small-scale AoE spell was cast, ordinary melee-class players wouldn't stand a chance.
"A 100-meter range? You think you're some hot stuff, huh?" Nie Yan chuckled, recalling the Reinforced Dullahan Cavalry Crossbow in his possession.
Nie Yan quickly pulled back. Taking out his Cavalry Crossbow, he took aim at Qin Han and pulled the trigger.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh! Five bolts shot out into the air.
The five bolts crossed a distance of 110 meters and headed straight for Qin Han's heart.
"What kind of range is that!?" Qin Han felt his scalp go numb. He waved his staff and blinked a dozen meters away.
Put put put! The bolts missed and struck a tree far behind Qin Han.
Qin Han's face paled in fright. These bolts had a range of 120 meters! He thought he was already someone special with his attack range of 100 meters. Never in his wildest dreams did he think Nie Yan's crossbow would have even an even greater range.