Chapter 134: Sylvaran, the Plague Knight

With nearly half of the eighty-person team focusing their ranged firepower, the sudden burst of damage was staggering. The Butcher boss had an absurd health pool of 330,000—nearly double that of the Death Knight they had previously slain—yet under this frenzied onslaught, its health vanished like water through a broken levee.

Within a mere ten seconds, just as the Death Knight was preparing to intervene and the necromantic towers inside the fortress began to glow with magical energy, the meat-tank Butcher was already obliterated. The Death Knight summoned its Nightmare steed and charged, knocking aside one of the tanks, but another immediately stepped in to fill the gap.

At Wu Yuanfeng’s command, the team shifted their fire to the Death Knight. Although their major burst abilities had already been exhausted and their damage output was lower than it had been against the Butcher, even at half-strength, it was enough to force a kill within seconds.

A few moments later, a wave of green light swept across the area; a Corpse Explosion nova detonated, staining the vicinity of the gatehouse a sickly green. The team’s momentum faltered. Everyone halted, busy consuming potions or casting purification spells.

"Prepare to soak the second round of war magic."

"Blade Storm!"

As the Death God’s Eye scanned the area, Chu Cheng saw several people stumbling backward. The team channel was in chaos, with people shouting that they couldn't hold on and needed to retreat, while Wu Yuanfeng frantically redirected personnel to plug gaps in the defensive line and counter the Death Knight charging into their formation.

Ten seconds later, the third round of the Death God’s Eye struck. Chu Cheng decisively activated "Fortify" to block it. In that same instant, the Death Knight at the gatehouse seized the opportunity, pulling back on the reins. The Nightmare steed reared up and stomped down heavily. The violent shockwave, layered with the Death God’s Eye, caused several more people to collapse.

"What’s going on? Why didn't the boss trigger damage reduction for that skill?"

"Forget that! A tank is down—someone get over to the second squad and fill the gap, or the undead swarm will break through!"

Wu Yuanfeng gritted his teeth and shouted in the channel, "Who from the fourth squad can come help tank? Ten gold coins bonus for holding this wave!"

Zhang Chaosheng immediately shouted, "I’m on it!" He turned to Chu Cheng and added, "Brother Chu Cheng, this shouldn't be too hard for you, right?"

Chu Cheng shrugged, "Fine!"

With the request made, how could he refuse? Zhang Chaosheng jumped down to plug the gap and stabilize the line, while Wu Yuanfeng directed the ranged units to focus fire, finally finishing off the Death Knight.

The distant necromantic towers did not continue to cast war magic. Such spells, capable of covering a diameter of hundreds of meters, consumed an astronomical amount of mana; even a Transcendent-level Archmage could not cast them many times. Including the ones from earlier, they had already seen twelve castings, which was already an insane number.

With both bosses dead, the undead fell into disarray. However, they did not collapse as they had in the Cursed Dungeon; they continued to attack, though it was clear they lacked any tactical coordination.

The team could finally catch their breath and begin a slow push into the fortress. This time, the undead reacted in a standard fashion; rather than being sacrificed, they poured out of the fortress in a steady stream to block the offensive. As the team pushed deeper, they had to deal with undead from various directions within the stronghold. But as before, without a powerful boss to lead them, even the elite undead could not break through their defensive line.

They swept through the front, fighting their way into the heart of the fortress. They halted before the inner citadel, splitting into two groups to clear the remaining areas. During this time, the necromantic towers occasionally fired war magic for support, but the observers promptly warned them to prepare damage mitigation. As long as it wasn't more than three consecutive waves, they could handle it.

Nearly two hours later, having cleared most of the fortress, the team regrouped outside the inner citadel gate. Wu Yuanfeng assigned tasks in the channel. His plan was identical to the one they had previously discussed, and he, too, possessed a Forbidden Magic Scroll.

The team was redistributed: those without acceleration or gap-closing skills were assigned to a squad with Chu Cheng’s third squad to deal with the remaining undead outside the necromantic towers, while the second squad, equipped with gap-closers, would rapidly enter the second floor of the tower to execute the Necromantic Archmage, who would be silenced by the Forbidden Magic Scroll.

The task allocation was meticulous. Once everyone was ready, three consecutive Fireballs blasted the inner gate open. The massive doors collapsed with a boom, kicking up a cloud of dust. The three tanks from the first squad charged in, followed by the rest.

Chu Cheng prepared to follow, but the moment he lifted his leg, he heard the dozen people who had rushed in shout in alarm.

"What the hell! Retreat! Why is the Plague Scourge Knight here?"

As Chu Cheng stepped inside, he was pushed back by those retreating. "Run! The Plague Scourge Knight is inside!"

He was swept back by the retreating crowd. His confusion lasted only a second before his peripheral vision caught a figure standing at the far end of the massive inner plaza, wreathed in burning green flames. Rings of green light pulsed outward from beneath its feet.

Plague Knight Scourge-Slayer (Lord): One of the Four Horsemen of the Scourge, Level 50, 1.76 million HP.

"Holy shit!"

Chu Cheng turned and ran without hesitation, immediately sending a message to Fang Xi in the backline: "The Plague Scourge Knight is inside. Run!"

The team was in total disarray. Everyone knew the Scourge Knight was inside, and they ran as if their lives depended on it—because they did.

"Hum!"

A piercing hum rang in his ears. A circle of green light swept across the ground like a ripple. Chu Cheng felt a chill at his feet, and a series of transparent notifications scrolled past his eyes.

"Notification: You are affected by Plague Knight Scourge-Slayer’s Plague Aura. All attributes reduced by 20%. You take 194 points of negative energy damage per second based on the Plague Knight's Intelligence. Your talent absorbs 100 damage, your Magic Resistance negates 24 damage, your skill 'Body of the Blood God' negates 22 damage. You take 48 points of negative energy damage per second."

"Notification: You are affected by Plague Knight Scourge-Slayer’s Plague Aura. You are infected with Plague Disease. Your Hero Template (Immortal) takes effect. You are immune to disease."

"Notification: You are affected by Plague Knight Scourge-Slayer’s Plague Aura. You must succeed on a Fortitude saving throw every second. If you fail, you will be transformed into a Plague Ghoul!"

"Notification: Performing Fortitude saving throw..."

"Notification: Fortitude saving throw successful."

"Dammit!"

After reading the notifications, Chu Cheng ran even faster.

"Damn it! The dungeons in middle school only simulated a fraction of these bosses' true power!"

He remembered clearly that during the joint exams, the Level 56 Human Commander Elro had only 150,000 HP, the Level 54 Orc Warchief had 160,000 HP, and the Level 52 Centaur Chieftain had 153,000 HP. The materials his mentor had given him noted that bosses in school dungeons were suppressed to varying degrees, warning them not to be careless in high school dungeons.

He had thought a 50% suppression was extreme, but the reality was far more exaggerated than he could have imagined. A Level 50 Scourge Knight had 1.76 million HP—that was a 90% suppression!