Chapter 71: The Siege of Blackwind City
At the level of The Empire, things were vastly different from those in The Astral Kingdom. This was because, behind almost every Empire, a Holy Land stood as its patron.
A Holy Land was a powerful and mysterious entity, populated by individuals possessing terrifying strength. The Infinite Aether Palace was the true power lurking behind the Aetheria Empire.
The Veiled Overseer’s eyes widened in surprise when Liam mentioned The Infinite Aether Palace.
"Frost Monarch, you truly are a man of great fortune to already know of The Infinite Aether Palace."
"What is your relationship with them?" Liam asked. "How were you able to get your hands on a legendary item like this?"
The Veiled Overseer shook his head. "There is no need for you to know that. You only need to know that this Leaf of Knowledge is the real deal."
Liam nodded. "Fine. In that case, update the Quest Scroll. Add the assassination of King Abraham, and include this as the reward."
"No problem."
Liam felt as though he was on the verge of striking it rich. Numerous rewards were practically waving at him now, with the ultimate prize being the head of King Abraham. If he could complete that final objective, the benefits he would reap would be immeasurable.
"This is the Mantle of Deception. When do we move?"
"Now."
Liam had no intention of wasting time; the sooner they started, the better.
At the same time, Liam sent a message to Skydragon of Potaka: "Get ready. I’m bringing a force to attack Blackwind City."
"Understood."
After notifying Skydragon, Liam sent another message to Barney.
"Get your people ready. The Realm War between The Astral Kingdom and The Demon's Den is about to begin."
Liam had previously told Barney and Monty that this Realm War would be a massive opportunity for Monty to grow.
Once the messages were sent, Liam led the army of The Demon's Den toward Blackwind City. The Demon's Den forces had already been clashing with Blackwind City for some time, but they had been unable to breach the defenses. Now, with Liam leading the charge, the true offensive began.
A massive swarm of The City Guard poured out of Blackwind City, engaging The Demon's Den army in a bloody melee.
"Now."
Liam struck without hesitation. Quintuple Volley—one hundred arrows per second!
With Liam’s current damage output, these City Guards were trivial to cut down. Chain Lightning procced frequently, electrocuting groups of soldiers instantly. When a Skyfire Meteor finally crashed down, it shattered the morale of the remaining guards.
"What kind of attack is that? How can it be this terrifying?!"
"Who exactly is that The Shrouded Guardian? He’s even more horrifying than the Frost Monarch who attacked us before!"
"Castellan, help us! We can’t hold them back!"
Liam was concealed beneath the Mantle of Deception, and no one could discern his true identity. However, judging by the attack patterns and the sheer damage, Castellan Balthazar had already guessed who it was.
"Damn it, Frost Monarch is a menace! Why is he helping those bastards from The Demon's Den? Does he intend to subvert The Astral Kingdom entirely?"
When Liam had attacked cities before, the various powers of The Astral Kingdom each had their own hidden agendas. But now, with The Demon's Den involved, the situation was fundamentally different. The Demon's Den actually had the potential to wipe The Astral Kingdom off the map.
"Balthazar, do not fret. I have arrived."
At that moment, a general clad in golden plate armor marched forward. Balthazar’s eyes lit up at the sight.
"General Flynn!"
"Blackwind City will rely on your strength, General!"
General Flynn gave a cruel smirk and nodded. "I am a Gold Grade general at the limit of the Second Advancement. Dealing with the trash outside will not be an issue."
The level cap for The Astral Kingdom was the Second Advancement. Most NPCs were at the First Advancement, while a select few had reached the Second. The requirement for the Second Advancement was Level 50, but after completing the class advancement, one could continue to level up. As long as they didn't complete the Third Advancement, they could remain in The Astral Kingdom.
Of course, certain special existences could bypass this restriction, staying in The Astral Kingdom even with Third or Fourth Advancement bodies. General Flynn was one such "limit" powerhouse—he had met the requirements for the Third Advancement but simply hadn't taken the leap yet.
It was similar to Liam’s current situation at the First Advancement limit. Liam was Level 50 and could advance to the Second Advancement, but he hadn't done so yet. However, for a Second Advancement NPC, that "limit" was Level 100.
Flynn was a Level 100 General, which was exactly where his confidence came from.
"General Flynn, that Archer in the black robes is remarkably powerful. Do not underestimate him," Balthazar warned.
Flynn let out a cold laugh, brandishing a wooden sword in his hand. "This is the starter equipment provided by Chief Wang."
"Starter equipment?" Balthazar was stunned. He couldn't understand why Flynn would be so proud of a piece of newbie gear.
"You don't understand, do you? While the stats on starter gear are abysmal, it has one crucial trait."
"It can't be dropped?"
"Wrong. It is indestructible. It’s the baseline gear given to Adventurers to ensure they are never without a weapon. We never had the right to use equipment like this before."
Balthazar wasn't stupid; as soon as he heard "indestructible," he realized the strategy. "So you can use that wooden sword to parry his arrows indefinitely without worrying about your weapon breaking."
Weapons could indeed deflect arrows—Liam had seen Shadow-Slayer do it early on. But most weapons had Durability; parrying high-velocity arrows would eventually shatter them. The indestructible nature of the starter wooden sword was a hard counter to an Archer.
However, the stats were so low that most people discarded them the moment they left the Novice Village.
"In that case, that wooden sword is practically a Divine Artifact! In your hands, General, it will surely be invincible."
Flynn laughed heartily. "Enough talk. Let me go meet this Archer and see exactly what he’s made of."
Meanwhile, Liam was busy slaughtering the City Guard. None of them could even get close before being gunned down. With his support, the Warriors of The Demon's Den quickly pushed to the city gates.
Just as Liam was thinking that the Realm War would officially erupt once Blackwind City fell, a general in golden armor wielding a wooden sword charged out.
"General Flynn."
Liam noted the name but didn't pay it much mind at first. However, his Immaculate Eye was incredibly sharp, and he immediately spotted the wooden sword.
"A starter sword?"
In an instant, Liam deduced exactly what Flynn intended to do.
Sure enough, Flynn took the lead, using the wooden sword to bat away Liam's arrows with ease.
"Using the indestructible trait of starter gear to counter my arrows... clever. Against a normal Archer, it might actually work. But today, you're facing me."
Liam was intimately familiar with this tactic; he had encountered it in his past life during The Cataclysm. The wooden sword was indeed indestructible, but its stats were pathetic. Moreover, the sword was short. As long as he accounted for the impact points, relying on a wooden sword to block his shots was far from easy.
This time, Liam didn't use Quintuple Volley. Instead, he unleashed Spiral-Draw Archery.
The arrows arced through the air in chaotic curves. To the naked eye, it was nearly impossible to predict where Liam’s shots would land.
Whiz! Whiz! Whiz!
Liam’s arrows flew in rapid succession. Even while using Spiral-Draw, he maintained a rate of twenty arrows per second, suppressing General Flynn within moments.
As a Level 100 Gold-Grade Boss, Flynn was a battle-hardened veteran with incredible reflexes. Even with the Spiral-Draw arrows coming from unpredictable angles, he managed to maintain his defense.
"Attack Speed is only around ten."
Liam’s eyes narrowed slightly. After the first volley, he had already gauged Flynn’s speed. An Attack Speed of ten was decent for a Level 100 Gold-Grade Boss, but compared to Liam, the gap was massive.
"In that case, let’s see how you handle Pressure-Point Archery!"
A smirk played on Liam's lips. Pressure-Point Archery was the pinnacle of bowmanship. Combining it with Spiral-Draw was a feat of near-impossible difficulty.
Liam’s innate talent for archery was extraordinary, and after five years in the game followed by five years of life-and-death combat, his mastery of the art was immense. Even so, his Pressure-Point Archery was only at the "Great Success" stage.
According to the standards of The Fletcher Family, mastery was divided into five tiers: Entry, Proficient, Great Success, Peak, and Transcendent.
Liam’s Rapid-Fire Volley was at the Transcendent stage because it was the most fundamental. His Quintuple Volley was also Transcendent, though in high-intensity combat where he combined the two, his "Chain Quintuple Volley" only reached the Peak stage. His Spiral-Draw Archery and Aerial Archery were both at the Peak stage.
His Pressure-Point Archery was only at Great Success. And when he combined Spiral-Draw with Pressure-Point, he could only perform at the Proficient level.
However, that was more than enough.
As the name implied, Pressure-Point Archery involved using arrows to strike specific acupoints on the body. Human acupoints were tiny; hitting them from a distance in a frantic battle was grueling work. Doing so while the arrows were curving mid-air via Spiral-Draw added a layer of complexity that was almost immeasurable.
At the Proficient level, Liam could successfully land five out of ten shots on the intended pressure points, while nine out of ten would still hit the target generally.
Flynn’s Attack Speed was ten. If Liam just fired blindly, Flynn could block two or three arrows with a single swing. But Pressure-Point Archery allowed Liam to precisely target limbs and vitals from multiple angles simultaneously, making it impossible to parry them all.
The moment Liam switched styles, Flynn was struck. He stumbled back, looking increasingly disheveled as the arrows bypassed his guard.
-425,120.
-425,121.
Massive damage numbers erupted over Flynn’s head one after another.
"Damn you!"
Flynn roared in frustration. Liam’s arrows were raining down on his feet, his hands, his head, and his gut. He couldn't fathom how Liam was aiming—the sheer impossibility of the shots was infuriating. And the damage... it was absurd.
In the distance, Sky-Piercer watched the display, his gaze turning solemn.
"Pressure-Point Archery... and he’s combining it with Spiral-Draw? Who exactly is this Frost Monarch?"
Based on the damage numbers and the archery skills, Sky-Piercer had already deduced that the man under the black robes was Liam. But seeing him pull off Pressure-Point Archery was still beyond belief.
Liam didn't care about the spectators; he was focused on his frenzied output. Because he wasn't wearing the Bangle of Fortune, and because Flynn was fifty levels higher than him, Skyfire Meteor and Death Cycle weren't proccing as often. The level suppression, combined with the Grade suppression from a Gold Grade Boss, significantly lowered the effective proc rates.
But Liam wasn't in a hurry. He wanted to stack as much HP as possible anyway, so not proccing the instant-kill effects immediately wasn't a bad thing. Furthermore, he didn't want to end the fight too quickly.
If he crushed Blackwind City too easily, the start of the Realm War might be delayed. He needed to make Blackwind City feel a sense of crisis, but also a glimmer of hope. That was the recipe to force the King to act. Monty’s stats were quite good now; once the Realm War started, he would be able to go on a rampage and farm massive amounts of AP.
With those thoughts in mind, Liam continued to whittle Flynn down.
"Who are you?!" Flynn roared, his voice cracking with rage. "Do you have the guts to face me in a real fight instead of hiding?!"
Liam ignored the taunts, his arrows continuing to pierce the air.
Up on the ramparts, Balthazar watched as Flynn was suppressed and his health bar plummeted. Panic finally set in. He turned his gaze toward the Astral Capital.
As things stood, Blackwind City stood no chance of holding out.
"Your Majesty, what are you waiting for? Start the Realm War!" Balthazar muttered to himself, praying for King Abraham to pull the trigger.
Suddenly, General Flynn noticed the barrage had stopped. Looking toward the black-robed archer, he saw the man disappear in a Void Blink, narrowly dodging an incoming strike.
Liam had been focused on Flynn, but his survival instincts—honed through five years of hell—suddenly screamed a warning. Without a second thought, he blinked away.
A second later, an Assassin's Cloud-Piercing Strike tore through the space where he had just been standing. In that split second, Liam caught the Assassin's name:
Torzel (Gold Grade): Level 100
HP: ???
Attack: ???
Skills: ???
A Gold Grade Assassin! And he was Level 100!
Liam didn't recognize the name Torzel. In his past life, he had left The Astral Kingdom shortly after his Second Advancement; he’d had no reason to cross paths with these "Limit" powerhouses.