Chapter 124: The Practical Combat Power of Time Roaming

Chu Cheng’s current Blade Storm deals nearly 1,400 damage per second, or 800 to 900 after accounting for enemy defense. In seven seconds of spinning, the undead within a five-meter radius are mostly leveled, and he finishes off the rest with a backhanded strike of divine critical damage.

A swarm of ghosts descends from the sky, engulfing him. Three seconds later, he tears through a ghost with his dual blades and emerges, spinning around to lunge at the remaining spirits.

The gate passage is only about ten meters wide, and the five of them are enough to hold it firmly. Two members reach the inside of the gate and heave upward on the massive wooden beam securing it. This contraption is thicker than a person; normally, it requires several people to crank a gear mechanism to lift it. However, the two men possess strength far beyond the average human—each one counting for ten sturdy men—and they successfully turn the gears, causing the iron chains to slowly rise and lift the horizontal bar.

"Fifteen seconds more."
"No problem."
"Boom!"

A cluster of death clouds explodes at the gate. Everyone staggers as varying amounts of damage numbers pop up above their heads, while the undead seem invigorated, green healing figures rising from their bodies. Over a dozen liches have arrived, detonating clouds of death to continuously heal the undead surrounding the party. From time to time, various curses and diseases are inflicted upon them. The group immediately pulls out and consumes purification potions, purging the afflictions.

Chu Cheng is no exception; he uses a potion to clear a curse from his body. His hero template grants him immunity to diseases, but not curses. While his high toughness can resist some, certain will-based curses cannot be mitigated.

Seeing the stalemate, the commanding Death Knight loses patience. With a roar, two hulking monstrosities—nearly three stories tall—push aside the skeletons and zombies and stomp forward. Even before they are close, a sickening stench washes over the group.

Abomination (Elite): Level 45, 80,000 HP.

From a distance, one swings its hook. The blade flies over the heads of the dense crowd of undead. Chu Cheng spins around abruptly, focusing entirely on the projectile, and thrusts his sword forward.

"Clang!"

The tip of his blade hits the rusted hook with surgical precision, sending a shower of sparks flying. At the same time, the second Abomination’s hook grazes Chu Cheng. Then, a loud impact echoes, followed by a grunt and a cry: "Oh no, Li Bin has been hooked!"

The Abomination yanks the iron chain, and a figure is hoisted into the air, soaring over the heads of the undead toward the monster.

"Save him!"

Chu Cheng decisively targets the Abomination holding Li Bin and activates Raging Charge. The armored skeletons and zombies blocking his path are tossed aside by an invisible force as he cuts through the dense crowd. He barrels forward, pushing aside everything—skeletons, zombies, and even incorporeal ghosts.

The Abomination pulls Li Bin to its front. Several stitched arms press him deep into the monster's own blubbery flesh, rendering his struggles futile. Simultaneously, a mist of putrid blood erupts from the monster, and its deformed mouth opens to reveal jagged teeth, snapping down.

A shrill scream erupts from within the blood mist, but then Chu Cheng slams into the cloud, interrupting the bite.

"Bang!"

A figure is sent flying out of the mist and crashes into the undead ranks. As several rusted iron swords strike down, Li Bin curls his body and springs up, stomping his foot to unleash a burst of violent lightning that knocks the undead back. He quickly pulls out a potion and drinks it; a green "+2,000" figure appears. He reaches for another purification potion, but before he can drink it, a bone spear strikes him like lightning, dealing a massive 3,200 damage. The impact sends him flying four or five meters through the air, knocking several skeletons aside and causing the potion bottle to fly from his hand.

"Rumble!"

A massive sound echoes from behind as the gate is pushed open.

"The gate is open!"
"We’re coming now!"
"Everyone retreat, support the gate!"
"Save me!"
"Who is that? Is anyone near him to help?"

In that split second, the situation descends into chaos. Shi Chen sees Li Bin get struck, but as the only tank at the gate, he cannot afford to step away. The others are not tanks and dare not charge into the heart of the undead mob. They are confident in their ability to charge in and out if prepared, but they cannot rescue someone while trapped.

"Where is Chu Cheng?"
"He..."

At that instant, everyone turns, sensing something. They see a colossal, transparent humanoid silhouette falling from above Li Bin. There is no earth-shattering noise, nor any sound at all; the moment the ten-meter-wide silhouette descends, everything within its radius is stilled, as if time itself had frozen in that area.

Then—

-9,760
-9,760
-9,760

Dozens of terrifying, near-10,000 damage numbers erupt simultaneously, rising in a dense cluster.

*Time Walk (Awakened): Enter the river of time, appear at any location within a 1,000-meter radius, deal an attack that triggers all attack effects to all enemies within a 5-meter radius of the arrival point, and negate all damage and negative effects from the last 3 seconds. Skill cooldown: 15 seconds. Cost: 15 Time Essence.*

The instant, terrifying burst of damage grinds the fifty or sixty elite undead crowded within that ten-meter diameter into dust. As Chu Cheng appears out of thin air, Li Bin lies on the ground, dumbfounded.

"What kind of ability is that?"

Chu Cheng deflects an incoming bone arrow with his Frost Sting and says, "We'll talk about that when this is over. You pull back first."

Li Bin snaps to his senses, quickly drinks a purification potion to clear his curse, and uses a movement speed buff to leap to safety. He is lucky; had he not drunk that potion to recover over 2,000 health, that spear from the Death Knight would have killed him instantly. With his cover, Li Bin successfully retreats behind Shi Chen. At this moment, Lei Ming and the others arrive to relieve Shi Chen. Chu Cheng parries a bone spear thrown by the Death Knight, Rum, and forces his way back through the surging tide of undead.

Only a dozen people are at the gate now; the others are atop the walls. Someone uses a spell to alter the terrain, raising a four-to-five-meter stone wall to seal off one flank of the undead, while placing three walls of fire on the other. The undead rushing into that side are scorched badly, leaving the rest to be picked off easily by the waiting party.

Once the situation stabilizes, the mages begin casting, raining destruction down on the area below the gate. Since they are not using high-tier ultimate spells, the undead wizard towers within the fortress do not react. However, the undead inside the fortress are swarming toward them; they must clear the entire fortress. This step is unavoidable—no matter the strategy, every last one must be destroyed. But the advantage of their current tactic is that they do not need to face the massive army in an open field. By holding the gate, the undead cannot leverage their superior numbers and are forced to engage in small, manageable waves—which is the group's greatest advantage.

After resting for a moment, Chu Cheng returns to the fray. With five tank-class fighters guarding the narrow gate, they hold the line completely.