Chapter Forty-Seven: The Death of Cheng Mingyue

They would certainly have no trouble; this centaur chieftain was a terror, no less formidable than the final boss of a small dungeon, and the total value of the spoils would be extremely high. At the very least, there would be one piece of rare equipment, and if luck favored them, two was entirely possible.

It should be noted that this was a joint examination, and the school had invested additional essence into this instance, making the probability of two rare items appearing quite high.

“Let me know when you’re ready.”

Closing the communication channel, Chu Cheng calmed his mind and rested with his eyes closed.

Two minutes later, a message from Zhang Chunlei came through the channel:

“We’re ready.”

Chu Cheng opened his eyes and, looking down from above, saw that someone had already crept close to the altar under the cover of several tents.

“I’m starting the countdown. I’ll act in ten seconds; you all come out in five and prepare to take your positions.”

“Understood!”

Taking a deep breath, Chu Cheng pulled a blood potion from his chest, bit off the stopper, and slid down the slightly sloped side of the giant rock, landing atop the altar. He rolled to absorb the impact and leapt to the ground.

He didn’t use Thunderous Leap to jump down—he was saving that skill for emergencies. If Zhang Chunlei’s group didn’t hold up their end, he’d need it to escape.

The centaur chieftain, who had been circling the altar, saw him descend and let out a furious roar, rearing up his massive body and charging straight ahead.

Chu Cheng immediately activated Swift Step, his body twisting rapidly as he spun his blade in a storm-like flurry.

“Bang!”

The centaur chieftain’s massive frame crashed into him, the giant glaive stabbing fiercely into the whirling blades. Sparks flew in all directions, a series of metallic clangs ringing out, and a staggering -298 damage floated up.

+16
-30

The centaur chieftain reared up and slammed down with incredible force, a shockwave blasting outward, sending a thick layer of soil shattering and flying.

-298
+17
-30

Next, the long-handled blade rose, its edge glowing blood-red.

At that moment, Zhang Chunlei’s group who had been poised for action burst forth, ranged attackers quickly taking their positions while the two tanks charged in without hesitation.

The blood-red blade hacked down into the storm of swords once more.

-298
+18
-30
+700

Finally, a green healing number—a prepared Chu Cheng bit down on the advanced healing potion he’d readied, forcibly pulling his health back from the brink, instantly revitalized.

Such was the power of a body governed by the laws of digitization: no matter how grievous the wound, it didn’t impair his combat ability.

Enraged, the centaur chieftain followed up the skill combo with a standard slash, but it was no longer enough to kill him.

The two tanks rushed forward to take over; Chu Cheng retreated, quickly pulling out a silk bandage to restore his health.

One of the tanks activated a damage reduction skill, used taunt to seize the boss’s attention, and Wang Weilong and Zhang Chunlei immediately ordered the backline to ready their ultimates.

There was no need to wait for the tanks to build aggro—this wasn’t a game. High-intelligence bosses only responded to taunt skills; otherwise, they targeted the greatest threat, especially favoring mages and support as their priority kills.

Zhang Chunlei marked the boss, nocked a magic arrow, and began charging. Zhang Hong started chanting a spell.

Wang Weilong’s team, though numerous, had no standouts—no gifted individuals, no mages, just two remarkably sturdy tanks.

The two tanks took turns taunting, forcefully holding the centaur chieftain for five seconds. Zhang Chunlei and Zhang Hong completed their charge-ups: an ice arrow froze the chieftain, followed by an ice spear explosion, just like when they focused down the murloc chieftain, dealing massive burst damage.

Yet, the centaur chieftain’s resistances and magic defense were higher than the murloc’s; damage that could instantly kill the murloc for nearly 1,500 now only reached a bit over 1,000.

Still, with the addition of various ranged attacks, the total output reached 1,700–1,800.

After a round of taunting, Chu Cheng’s health was fully restored, and he rejoined the fray—not against the chieftain, but against the twenty-odd regular centaurs held by the other melee fighters. A dozen had already been slain; he rushed in to take over, and after several rounds, fully stacked his Blood God effect, granting an additional 50 life regeneration.

This time, he didn’t control the rebound target. Once the Blood God effect was at maximum, the remaining centaurs were all taken out by the rebounds.

“Everyone stand back—let me take over!”

Chu Cheng strode back to the main battlefield. As soon as he appeared, the taunt expired and the centaur chieftain immediately abandoned its current target, charging straight for him.

“Clang!”

-212

He parried successfully, but was forcibly broken, receiving half the damage.

Furious, the chieftain swung down again—a blow he failed to parry, and a terrifying -424 damage floated up.

“Hiss…”

The others attacking from behind the chieftain felt their scalps tingle and their eyelids twitch at the sight of such damage.

But at this moment, the chieftain only had eyes for Chu Cheng; even as the others surrounded and struck, he ignored them, launching a frenzied assault. The long-handled blade spun like a windmill, crashing down again.

“Diversion!”

Chu Cheng decisively activated the skill attached to his Cloak of Diversion; his figure blurred, and the massive blade sliced through his afterimage into the ground.

The chieftain followed with a backhand slash, but again, he struck only air.

Seizing the opportunity, Chu Cheng rolled backward. Another tank immediately charged forward, using taunt to take the chieftain’s attention.

He hadn’t used Diversion earlier because it only dodged targeted attacks and spells—charge attacks, trampling, and twin-blade sweeps were all area-of-effect and couldn’t be dodged this way.

He quickly applied a bandage, and with his 65 life regeneration, was back to full health in seconds.

Without pausing, Chu Cheng charged in again, instantly drawing the chieftain’s aggro. After connecting with two slashes, he retreated, letting another tank step in.

Back and forth, they endured the chieftain’s frenzied counterattacks.

Meanwhile, the chieftain’s health dropped rapidly under the party’s onslaught. Although most attacks only dealt twenty or thirty damage, the sheer numbers were overwhelming, quickly bringing the chieftain’s health to the danger zone.

When his health fell below 20%, the centaur chieftain threw his head back and roared, a blood-red aura enveloping him—Savage Frenzy had been activated.

But the team was ready, timing their ultimates for this enraged phase.

Once the boss entered rage, his movement and attack speed increased by 50%, attack power by 100%, but he would take an extra 100% damage.

The chieftain’s rage threshold was 20% health—3,125 points. With the bonus damage taken, this was effectively just 1,575.

The moment he entered the rage zone, several warriors charged; a five-second charged ice arrow and a five-second charged ice spear exploded simultaneously. Five ranged shooters, all fully charged, unleashed their ultimates. Over a dozen finishing blows landed at once, instantly bringing the berserk chieftain to the brink of death.

“Not good, he’s not dead yet!”

“Finish him!”

“Careful!”

Before their words faded, the dying centaur chieftain lunged with incredible speed, slashing at the nearest Cheng Mingyue.

-625

The blood-red blade swept by, and Cheng Mingyue’s bright face stiffened in terror as the shadow of execution flickered over her body.

With a heavy thud, the massive centaur collapsed, and her tall figure, too, fell to the ground—split in two.