Chapter 31: Shattered Armor and Deadly Attrition
The Dragon-Binding Shackles were a series of heavy chains, their links bristling with razor-sharp barbs designed to Constrict. The guards unfurled the cold iron, moving with practiced precision to encircle Liam. Once those barbed chains Constricted him, escape would become an impossibility.
Whiz! Whiz! Whiz!
Liam continued to kite, his fingers blurred as he fired arrow after arrow. He couldn't afford to be trapped within their formation; if he were caught, the outcome of today’s battle would be far from certain. Under his relentless barrage, four of the Bronze guards had already dropped into a critical health state. They immediately rotated their positions, utilizing a "carousel" tactic to share the aggro and stay alive.
Liam didn’t care. The longer they held on, the more HP he could stack.
However, the Silver Grade Commander remained a massive threat. The Commander lunged forward again, but as he neared Liam, his form suddenly split into three. Three identical figures charged from different angles, their spears leveled.
"Mirror Image!"
Liam’s brow furrowed. He immediately tried to pull away to the side, but the Silver Grade Commander possessed a gap-closer. As the distance closed, the Commander’s spear locked onto its target. All three images thrust their weapons simultaneously, burying the spearheads into Liam’s chest.
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Three massive damage numbers exploded over his head. A sharp crack followed—the armor on his chest shattered into useless fragments.
The second piece of the Gale-Runner Set was gone.
Liam’s expression darkened. The Silver Grade Commander’s damage output was truly terrifying. As his next arrow left the string, Liam planted a foot firmly on the incoming spear shaft, using the momentum to execute a backflip and put distance between them. While still in mid-air, he unleashed another Quintuple Shot.
His arrows weren't landing on the Silver Grade Commander, so he simply stopped trying to hit him. All five shafts whistled through the air, aimed directly at the Bronze guards.
Seeing himself being ignored, the Silver Grade Commander grew even more enraged. He thrust his spear forward, and the three images charged Liam once more.
Liam whipped out two potions and downed them instantly, boosting his Movement Speed and Life-Steal. He had resistance potions as well, but against a Level 50 Silver Grade Commander, they were practically useless. Thanks to the Life-Steal potion’s buff, Liam’s health bar began to climb rapidly.
The Silver Grade Commander didn't seem rushed. Liam’s damage was high, but as members of the Imperial Guard, they weren't lacking in powerful tools of their own.
"Silver Moon Sweep!"
The Commander’s three images surged forward, executing a wide-range sweeping strike. The sheer force of the impact sent Liam flying through the air. The blow carved out another hundred thousand HP and shattered yet another piece of his equipment.
Level 10 Bronze Grade gear simply couldn't withstand the raw power of a Silver Grade Commander. With less than ten pieces of the Gale-Runner Set remaining, the set bonus vanished. Furthermore, every piece of the set provided a boost to Attack Velocity. With three pieces destroyed, Liam lost a base 1.2 in Attack Velocity.
This loss was devastating. Between the lost passive set bonus and the individual gear stats, Liam’s Attack Velocity plummeted by a total of 4.2.
"Just as I thought," the Silver Grade Commander said, a mocking sneer curling his lips. "I’d like to see how you plan to fight now."
Liam’s face was grim. He hadn't intended to use The Tome of Mortality yet, but at this rate, he was facing a genuine risk of falling. He flashed backward to create space and simultaneously scrawled the Silver Grade Commander’s name into the Tome.
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A steady stream of damage numbers began to tick above the Commander’s head, visibly startling him.
"How are you doing this?!"
The Commander was both shocked and furious. His HP pool was massive, but losing over ten thousand health every single second to an unavoidable source made his skin crawl.
Liam offered no explanation, focusing entirely on his output. The Silver Grade Commander let out a guttural roar and leapt into the air. "Silver Moon: Prairie Fire!"
The moment the words left his lips, the Commander was engulfed in a roaring shroud of flames. He transformed into a streak of fire, hurtling straight for Liam.
"Invincible Aegis!"
This was clearly the Commander’s ultimate. Liam wasn't sure if he could survive the hit raw, so he took the safest path. He had 0.5 seconds of invincibility. If he timed it perfectly with the moment of impact, he could negate the entire ultimate.
Boom!
Liam stood unscathed. The Commander had expected Liam to be either dead or clinging to a sliver of life. Seeing him completely unharmed left the man stunned.
"How... How is this possible?!"
Liam remained silent. Talking during a fight was a fool’s errand. Unless absolutely necessary, he preferred to let his actions speak.
An arrow pierced the air. Thwip!
One of the Bronze guards collapsed. Liam’s eyes lit up. It wasn't that his damage had depleted the guard’s health; he had triggered Death Cycle. The 0.5% chance for an instant kill had actually procced.
Ding! You have slain a Bronze Imperial Guard. You have achieved the World First for a Bronze Imperial Guard. A Server-Wide Broadcast is about to be issued. Would you like to hide your name?
"Hide it."
[Server-Wide Broadcast]: Congratulations to player "Anonymous Mode" for achieving the World First kill of a Bronze Imperial Guard! This feat has been recorded. We hope all players continue to strive for greatness.
[Server-Wide Broadcast]: Congratulations to player "Anonymous Mode" for achieving the World First kill of a Bronze Imperial Guard!...
The broadcast echoed across the world, but Liam didn't pause. He immediately adjusted his aim. The Silver Grade Commander, seeing one of his men killed instantly, was shaken.
"Forget the capture! Everyone, focus-fire! Lock-on his head!!"
Liam’s expression shifted instantly. Level 50 Bronze guards definitely possessed lock-on skills. He didn't dare hesitate, immediately swapping his gear to The Hydra Set. This was the tank set he had farmed from the Hydra-Cypress—a set built entirely for survivability, boosting his HP and resistances.
There was a chance it would be shattered entirely, but Liam had no choice. Once the gear was swapped, he began kiting backward. Maintaining Quintuple Shot was a heavy drain on his mental energy, but he couldn't stop.
"Spear Vanguard Charge!"
At the Commander’s order, the movement speed of all the Bronze guards surged. If Liam still had the Gale-Runner Set active, he could have maintained the gap. With The Hydra Set, outrunning them was a pipe dream.
Liam downed three potions in quick succession, bracing himself for a desperate struggle.
"Charge!"
Nineteen Bronze guards slammed into Liam simultaneously.
"Golden Warding Charm!"
In that split second, Liam activated the charm he had obtained back in the Novice Village. Furthermore, to be safe, he unequipped the Bloodstained Necklace and The Ninefold Longbow, stowing them in his inventory and leaving only the full Hydra Set equipped. If he was going to be burst down, losing the Hydra Set was acceptable—but losing his legendary bow or necklace would be a loss he’d regret forever.
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A flurry of numbers appeared. Between the Golden Warding Charm, the potions, and the Hydra Set’s defenses, the damage was mitigated significantly. The combined assault of the nineteen guards only managed to take out a little over a hundred thousand of Liam's HP.
But before Liam could counterattack, the guards began a chain of "Launch" skills. They didn't dump them all at once; they timed them perfectly, one after another, creating a flawless control chain to keep him airborne.
Despite possessing the Purifying Jade Amulet, the perfectly timed chain-launches from nineteen Bronze guards kept Liam suspended helplessly in the air.
"Silver Moon: Dragon-Piercing Heart!"
The Silver Grade Commander dropped into a low stance, channeling his strength. A blinding radiance gathered at the tip of his spear.
Whoosh!
The Commander became a blur of light, appearing before Liam in the blink of an eye. Suspended in mid-air, Liam exerted every ounce of his strength to twist his body, narrowly forcing the strike away from his vitals.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three explosive shocks rang out as three pieces of the Hydra Set were pulverized by the single strike. Level 10 Bronze gear simply couldn't handle the ultimate skill of a Level 50 Silver Grade Boss.
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A massive damage value floated above Liam’s head. Combined with the initial burst from the guards, Liam was now at less than half health.
"Nine-Fold Blazing Thrust!"
The Commander’s spear became a blur of stabs, raining down on Liam. He intended to use the duration of the airborne CC to finish Liam off in one go. Liam saw the intent clear as day and refused to let it happen. As the eleventh Bronze guard moved in to refresh the Launch effect, Liam slammed his Hydra Shield downward. Using the recoil of the impact and his core strength, he forced a backflip in mid-air to break the cycle.
He instantly swapped his main weapon back to The Ninefold Longbow and fired a Quintuple Shot. The moment his feet hit the ground, he surged backward, but the Nine-Fold Blazing Thrust was already upon him. He swapped his weapon again, using a shield to block the front.
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Crunch!
Before the Nine-Fold Blazing Thrust could even finish its duration, the shield in Liam's hand shattered into splinters. His HP plummeted below 10%.
Verdant Rebirth triggered.
Liam’s health instantly surged back by 40%, bringing him back to the halfway mark. Simultaneously, he pulled out The Ninefold Longbow again, his fingers a blur as Quintuple Shot screamed through the air. In less than a second, his HP bar was topped off to full.
The Silver Grade Commander was visibly livid. Liam’s damage-to-lifesteal ratio was monstrous. What he didn't know was that Liam was internally breathing a sigh of relief. Without Verdant Rebirth, he never would have survived the final hits of that thrust. And if his reaction speed hadn't been fast enough to switch to lifesteal immediately, he would have been finished.
"Back off! Don't give him any more targets for lifesteal!"
The Commander had figured out the mechanic. His subordinates were becoming more of a liability than an asset, serving as nothing more than "blood bags" for Liam to replenish his health. The nineteen guards immediately retreated, clearing the field and leaving Liam to face the Silver Grade Boss in a one-on-one duel.
Liam’s eyes narrowed. Without the guards to lifesteal from, and with Verdant Rebirth and Invincible Aegis on cooldown, facing the Commander head-on was a losing proposition.
"Your men can run, but these Blood-Backed Black Turtles can't."
Liam pulled away to the side. He knew the Commander could swat his arrows out of the air, making direct attacks inefficient. It was better to kite, using the turtles to sustain himself while the DOT from The Tome of Mortality slowly ate away at the Commander’s life.
The Commander’s eyes turned icy as he realized Liam's plan. "I'll see just how much health those turtles can give you!"
With a cold glint in his eyes, the Commander charged again. Liam fought as he retreated. Every one of the Commander’s basic attacks shaved off tens of thousands of HP, and his skills hit for over a hundred thousand. But every time Liam fired a Quintuple Shot into the surrounding Blood-Backed Black Turtles, his health snapped back to full.
He cleared the common turtles, then moved to the Elites, then the Black Iron Grade Blood-Eyed Black Turtles. He was lifestealing while simultaneously stacking his maximum HP. As long as he dragged the fight out, the Commander would continue to bleed. The ten-thousand-plus damage per second from the Tome was more than the Boss’s passive regeneration could handle.
"You shameless coward! Face me like a man!!"
Liam finished off the last Blood-Eyed Black Turtle and let a small smile play on his lips. "Fine. You want a direct fight? I'll give you one."
Liam unleashed Spiral-Draw Archery. Beyond its massive impact force, the skill had a crucial property: the arrows could curve, hitting the target from unpredictable angles. Even a Silver Grade Boss couldn't guarantee he’d block every shot from an arched trajectory.
But that alone wasn't enough to solve the crisis. Immediately after the Spiral-Draw Archery left the string, Liam followed up with a Quintuple Shot. All five arrows were concentrated on a single target: the Commander’s limbs and head. The combination of the curving shot and the concentrated barrage forced the Level 50 Boss onto the defensive.
"Blazing Spear Arts!"
The Commander lunged again, his spear slamming into Liam.
"Berserk!"
Liam’s eyes narrowed. It was time to end this.
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The massive damage numbers made Liam’s skin crawl. In a Berserk state, just two hits had nearly deleted a hundred and seventy thousand HP. Liam fired another Spiral-Draw Archery, the heavy impact force knocking the Commander back just enough for Liam to put more distance between them. To win, he just had to hold on.
"Unstoppable!"
The Commander roared, activating his Unstoppable buff to negate the knockback from the Spiral-Draw Archery. Liam immediately downed eight different colored potions, forcing his stats to their absolute peak. He replaced the shattered Hydra gear with Level 20 items he’d looted from the Venom-Green Spider King—any stat boost was better than nothing.
He continued his stutter-stepping and kiting. The Commander’s attacks rained down relentlessly. Liam countered with Quintuple Shot, though his Attack Velocity had dropped to 5.63 due to the broken Gale-Runner pieces. Even so, between the lifesteal from The Ninefold Longbow, the Bloodstained Necklace, and his potions, he was still out-healing over two hundred thousand damage per second.
He was barely holding his ground against the rampaging Commander. However, Liam wasn't panicking. The Silver Grade Commander had lost his cool, and his tactical thinking had degraded. In his obsession with killing Liam, he had overlooked a fatal problem: his own health bar was vanishing at a terrifying rate.
By focusing entirely on offense and abandoning defense, he was taking the full brunt of Liam’s output. Between his arrows and the Tome, Liam was dealing over a hundred and thirty thousand damage per second. Throughout the duration of the kite, the Commander had already lost over a million HP.
As a Level 50 Silver Grade Boss, he had over eight million HP, but even that wouldn't last against Liam's staggering DPS. If he couldn't kill Liam before his Berserk state ended, his destruction was guaranteed.
"Silver Moon: Cloud-Piercing Flame Strike!"
The Commander leapt high into the air, his entire body wreathed in roaring flames. He was going for broke. If Liam survived this, the Berserk state would end, and the battle would be over. But an ultimate used in a Berserk state, combined with a 30-level gap, was more than enough to one-shot Liam’s 400,000 HP.
Unless... Liam could weaken the strike, or... trigger Death Cycle for an instant kill.