Chapter 138: Intercepting the Calamity Knight

As the two chatted, Lei Ming suddenly clapped his hands and called out loudly, “Brothers, you should be rested by now. It’s time to get down to business.”

“Hey, Chu Cheng and Fang Xi, come over here too.”

Laughter and cheerful voices filled the air. Everyone gathered together, and Lei Ming spoke with authority, “We’ve been lucky. The Plague Knight has already arrived at the Plague Fortress, but it won’t stay long. Soon enough, it will leave to patrol other areas. Our plan is to wait outside the fortress and ambush it as soon as it departs.”

“No need to worry about danger. I have a special item that can suppress the Plague Knight’s attributes by 50% for a full five minutes. That will be enough time for us to take it down.”

“The real challenge isn’t the Plague Knight itself, but the Death Knights that accompany it. Among them are two level-40-plus Death Knights with terrifying templates. They pose a significant threat.”

“This encounter is crucial. Everyone needs to bring out their strongest cards.”

“I’m confident some of you have heroic skills that can handle this. I’ll set aside some gold to reward those who play key roles in this battle. Who’s willing to take on this bounty?”

The group exchanged glances, and Feng Lingxing was the first to raise his hand. “I have a heroic skill called Astral Maze. It can trap one Death Knight inside for about thirty to forty seconds.”

Lei Ming nodded immediately. “That works. How about 10 gold?”

“No problem.”

“Anyone else? This money is easy to earn. Although heroes’ mana recovers slowly—only a bit each day—you usually don’t waste it. You should have enough mana.”

Chu Cheng glanced at Fang Xi and whispered, “You have Astral Maze too, right? How long can you trap them?”

She replied softly, “With my talent bonuses, about a minute.”

“Money’s there for the taking. Want to sign up?”

She nodded. “You sign me up.”

“All right.”

Chu Cheng raised his hand. “Fang Xi’s heroic class is Astral Warlock. She can use Astral Maze, and her talents strengthen the spell, allowing her to trap for about a minute.”

“Oh!”

Lei Ming’s eyes lit up. “If it can trap for a minute, how about 15 gold?”

Chu Cheng looked at her; she nodded.

“Deal!”

“Great. That takes care of the two Death Knight leaders. The remaining elite Death Knights aren’t as threatening. No need to use this trick on them; just pull them together and AOE them down.”

At that moment, Chu Cheng asked, “Captain, is our tactic to first restrain the two Death Knight leaders, then AOE the elite Death Knights, and finally face the two leaders and the Plague Knight simultaneously?”

“Of course not. We don’t have the strength to handle the Plague Knight and two terrifying Death Knight leaders at the same time.”

Lei Ming smiled and waved his hand, sharing the plan. “First, I’ll use the item to suppress the Plague Knight’s attributes to reduce its threat. Then, we’ll use Astral Maze to trap it. I’ll personally trap one Death Knight leader, Zhang Chaoshen will trap the other, and Chu Cheng will handle the remaining elite knights. Everyone focuses fire to quickly wipe out the elite Death Knights.”

“Full firepower. I’ve got the Reaper’s Eye scrolls ready—taking down the elite Death Knights in a few seconds won’t be a problem.”

“Then we surround and kill the Death Knight leaders. If the Plague Knight escapes from Astral Maze during this, we’ll banish it again.”

“Even if the two Astral Mazes only banish for about a minute combined, it’s enough time to concentrate our fire and instantly kill the two Death Knight leaders.”

“Finally, the weakened Plague Knight will be left for us to slowly finish off.”

“That sounds solid.”

“Let’s discuss some finer details.”

About a dozen gathered, exchanging suggestions and refining the plan. The discussion was lively and intense.

Suddenly, Lei Ming stood up. “You all keep talking. Wu Yuanfeng’s group is here. I’ll be right back.”

Chu Cheng turned his head and saw a ragtag group approaching from the opposite side. Counting quickly, there were fewer than forty people—almost half the original sixty-four had dropped out.

At the back of the group, he spotted Xu Mingli and Wang Bo. Xu Mingli’s face was cold and hostile as he glared at Chu Cheng and Fang Xi with clenched teeth. “Bitch!”

Wang Bo sneered beside him, “I thought you were pure, but you just threw yourself at any man who came along.”

Chu Cheng couldn’t hear their words at this distance, but their expressions made the tone clear.

He showed no anger, merely cast them a faint glance before looking away.

With so many people around, there was no chance to act now—and no guarantee they could hold them back. They would wait until level thirty before dealing with them.

Lei Ming didn’t stay long before returning, but his face was grim.

“Damn!”

He punched a withered tree, shattering the decayed trunk with immense force.

“They demanded 100 gold to let the Plague Knight go.”

“???”

The group was shocked.

“Taking advantage of the situation?”

“Just making up for losses.”

Gu Wenhe, another member of Lei Ming’s squad, said coldly, “They failed to take the Plague Fortress and lost a few men. To cover their losses, someone proposed not letting the Plague Knight leave for free. They want 100 gold to stay out of the way.”

Everyone was speechless.

Lei Ming spoke gravely, “I’ve paid the hundred gold. When the Plague Knight comes out, don’t attack immediately. Follow it at a distance away from the fortress. We don’t want them to suddenly change their minds when we’re almost done.”

“Understood.”

Decision made, Lei Ming sent three teammates to watch near the city gate. The rest waited in place.

Wu Yuanfeng’s group didn’t leave either. They remained near the gate, probably unwilling to give up.

If luck was on their side, they might gather another hundred warriors from passing teams in the coming days and continue the assault once the Plague Knight left.

They didn’t have to wait long. The next afternoon, abnormal activity inside the Plague Fortress was detected. Everyone quickly concealed themselves. Soon, they saw the Plague Knight leading a group of Death Knights leaving the fortress, heading west.

“Prepare to follow.”

Sixteen of them trailed far behind the Plague Knight. They soon brushed past Wu Yuanfeng’s team, who were hiding outside the city.

Wang Bo whispered, “Captain, should we secretly follow them?”

Xu Mingli shook his head. “We’re too few. Following won’t do much.”

“Let them go this time. We’ll replenish our numbers and find a chance to strike next time.”

“Agreed.”

“This is the spot.”

Lei Ming gazed into the deathly mist, where the Plague Knight’s group flickered faintly in the distance. Over the team channel, he said, “We’re five to six kilometers from the fortress. Wu Yuanfeng didn’t send anyone to follow. This is our chance to strike.”

“Give the order!”