Chapter 477
Chapter 477: Murphy’s Golden Challenge – Attempt Edition
The King Gnawbone was someone that anyone who had studied even a little history would recognize without mistake.
Although the 4th Black Plague had ended a century ago, the severe damage it brought to the continent had yet to recover. Whether in the Goldflower Kingdom or Nordtov’s territories, there were many vast abandoned “no-man’s lands” – places where the 4th Black Plague had once ravaged.
These were memorials to the old days and history, as well as silent accusations against the catastrophe.
During the 4th Black Plague, Gnoll sorcerers had used vicious plagues that left many battlefields on the continent barren to this day, and everyone had no doubt that in this Black Plague, the Gnolls would do the same thing again.
Even the most evil deed becomes easier to commit the second time.
The first time could be called an accident, but the second time was definitely a choice!
In any case, as the originator of the catastrophe that once plagued the entire continent, the image of the King Gnawbone had to be remembered by future generations.
Both Miriam and Colonel Frayzer had said that their history textbooks at Shaldor Port during their studies had detailed descriptions of the King Gnawbone’s appearance.
It was an enormously large Gnoll!
It was taller than the strongest barbarian soldiers, with naturally terrifying claws and teeth that could crush almost any steel. The King Gnawbone possessed the most luxurious fur and most beautiful tail among all Gnolls.
Just from the textbook illustrations alone, this special Gnoll had almost shed the image of a barbarian race, any foreign race could sense the majesty and aesthetic power that the King Gnawbone possessed from those illustrations.
Those widely circulated illustrations were naturally also available in the Crimson Hall library, and after learning of the coming Black Plague, Murphy had read those books more than once.
He was also very familiar with the image of the King Gnawbone.
But honestly, this “King Gnawbone” that appeared before his eyes now couldn’t be said to be identical to the legendary image, it would be more accurate to say they had absolutely no similarities.
The “King of Gnolls” below Murphy did indeed possess a massive skeleton, making it almost as tall as a Troll when standing straight. This was two heads taller than the Gnoll barbarian soldiers from the Dark Mountains, already qualifying as a “giant specimen” among the Gnoll race.
If Hog were thrown in front of it, the poor Blood Claw Chieftain would probably only reach up to the King Gnawbone’s hip level.
This was like the difference between a dwarf and an original cast iron pot.
But besides this, the King Gnawbone no longer possessed any trace of its former “kingly dignity”. Its withered corpse had been infused with who knows what, and although it made its form full and violent again, its skin showed uncontrollable evil and filthy corrosion and decay.
Some wounds even revealed strange green and red intermingling phosphorescence flickering from within the shell.
The sharp bone claws of the dead that had been reanimated and reawakened were stimulated to expand again by the strange power, making the King Gnawbone’s claws as terrifying as short swords and curved blades. More lethally, those claws were wrapped in green light.
It was as if they had been enchanted with a “Poison +3” effect.
Besides this, the King Gnawbone’s greatest feature at this time was the strange shadow that constantly wrapped around it as it moved. Murphy was very familiar with this.
This was the “shadow cloak” that vampires needed to raise to avoid being burned when active in sunlight, but the shadow around this King Gnawbone had become a substantive “domain barrier” that could not only avoid direct sunlight but also provide enhancement and blessing to this strange corpse in the shadows.
From the crimson light flickering in the eye sockets of the King Gnawbone’s mummy-like face, it wasn’t hard to judge its current “source of power”.
Murphy finally knew where Lame Claw had used all the vampire hearts it purchased from Hog. This bastard corpse constructor had actually successfully transplanted vampire power into the corpse, making the revived King Gnawbone possess strong vampire characteristics.
It was revived using the heart of a Wolfsbane vampire, which meant this monster before him possessed wolf-bat enhancements, giving an already thorny creature even stronger threats.
Just looking at its current battle with the howling death beast and swamp giant snake showed that this mad genius Lame Claw had found a way to restore the dead one’s power from when it was alive.
It definitely wouldn’t reach the golden rank peak of this century-dead remains, but it had absolutely touched the edge of that power level.
This could be seen from the detection spell Murphy threw at the King Gnawbone:
Name: 【King Gnawbone】 Filir Gnawbone
Rank: Level 40 – Golden Body – Stitched Construct
Class: ???
Status: Soulless Body – Toxic Corrosion – Netherworld Enhancement – Midnight Blessing – Revival Weakness
Evaluation: Extremely Dangerous
Character Description:
【It howls, but that anger comes not only from disturbed rest, but also from the helplessness of desecration. Ah vampire, send it on its way.】
“Easy for you to say! How can I, a mere Black Iron vampire, send a Golden rank undead to rest? Even if this is just a temporarily awakened spirit.”
Murphy complained bitterly.
But he still drew his sword cane preparing to intervene in the increasingly intense death battle below.
The swamp giant snake that should have devastatingly destroyed the Plague Tower under the giant egg’s lure was now tied down, and the frenzied attacks from the out-of-control Golden undead made it sense a threat to its life, forcing it to temporarily put aside its instinct to protect its offspring.
In theory, an injured legendary creature fighting against a Golden warrior was an unfair battle, but unfortunately the King Gnawbone’s weakness also meant it couldn’t end this slaughter quickly.
The battle between two dangerous skeleton-level BOSSES of vastly different sizes had somehow turned into a strange war of attrition, and he keenly sensed that he might not be without a fighting chance.
However, all of this was still too early for current players.
Neither the King Gnawbone nor Ningkinanka were powers they could match up against. Just earlier, Brother Giant Shark tried to jump in to take advantage, but was dismembered by one swipe of the King Gnawbone’s claws as soon as he got close.
The bald vampire monk even used the life-saving technique of enhancing oneself with monk’s qi taught by Lord Turner, but still didn’t even get a chance to transform into a bat to escape.
Such swift and clean instant kills made others lose heart as well. They felt this ridiculous damage must be “plot-required kills”, so they took advantage of the giant snake and King Gnawbone’s battle to once again charge en masse at the already tottering Plague Tower.
In this chaotic apocalyptic mess, the Gnoll sorcerers of the Plague Clan had completely lost their previous will to fight to the death. They had begun to flee, but the players wouldn’t allow them to leave alive.
Battles were playing out everywhere in the collapsing Plague Town. At this point there was no distinction between high-end players and newbie casuals anymore, charging at any monster they saw was definitely fine in this chaos.
The copper walls and iron ramparts of Plague Town had turned to nothing in this moment. Lame Claw, in order to escape, could no longer care about anything else.
The crazy corpse constructor released all the oddly-shaped constructs from his tower, like a “exhibition of death creatures”, making the already chaotic town even more of a mess.
“Femis, give us a binding!”
Murphy observed the battlefield below as he called for the young lady to enter the fray and clean up.
The Plague Tower that had been impacted several times by the swamp giant snake had temporarily misaligned its control of spirit energy, no longer requiring the young lady to maintain spirit energy countermeasures and freeing up her hands.
Understanding Murphy’s meaning, she raised a binding wall composed of crimson spirit energy toward the construct tower, temporarily sealing off those howling dangerous constructs to give players enough time to break through the Plague Tower.
“Murphy, don’t go down there! That Golden rank undead is dangerous!”
The young lady couldn’t help but warn:
“I know you can defeat Silver rank enemies, but this opponent is not on the same level as others. Let the giant snake wear it down! Those vampire hearts cannot sustain a Golden rank undead in combat of this intensity for too long.”
“I know that of course.”
Murphy responded:
“It’s precisely because it cannot maintain combat of this intensity for too long that I want to experience what it’s like fighting against a Golden rank enemy in advance. Moreover, our giant snake seems to be having trouble holding on.
This poor thing is already too weak, if I don’t think of something, it might really die here.”
“That’s a legendary creature, Murphy!”
The young lady said helplessly:
“The life and death of beings at this level are not for you to decide. Don’t act recklessly, I’m begging you.”
“That used to be true, but now I find it might actually have something to do with me.”
Murphy sighed.
He wasn’t just making this up either – look, the swamp giant snake lived in the forbidden zone and had stayed there for over 1,000 years, and there was clearly a “optional exploration zone” seemingly left by 【DATA DELETED】 specifically for Alpha.
If there wasn’t some connection between these two, Murphy would perform a 360-degree inverted flip with 10 and a half rotations as a high difficulty move for the young lady to see.
Unfortunately, this was ultimately a secret that couldn’t be revealed to others.
“Tris is already on her way, I need to ensure this desecrated undead doesn’t interfere with the currently smoothly progressing battle.”
Murphy let out a long breath. Seeing the King Gnawbone below already climbing onto Ningkinanka’s severely wounded back preparing to tear open that fatal wound, he hesitated no longer, folding his wings and diving down toward the roaring giant snake in the most classic “death drop” glide.
“Bang”
The King Gnawbone’s sharp claws tore open the poisonous flesh, just about to frantically devour that hungered object when it was struck by a shadow.
Under the forceful Wolf’s Kiss slash, the King of Gnolls’ body lost its footing and was thrown to the ground by the struggling giant snake. Murphy followed up immediately with another night bat charge, but was easily blocked by the Golden undead with incredible agility and even received a lethal counterattack.
But it didn’t hit.
Murphy dodged this claw with a perfect bat swarm evasion, then materialized ten steps away in the dance of small bats. Necessary Evil swung and whistled through the air but was knocked away by one swipe of the King Gnawbone’s claws.
They stood facing each other on opposite sides of where Ningkinanka’s blood dripped and corroded the ground.
Standing opposite each other in the giant beast’s shadow, before they could launch another attack, the giant snake roared and launched an earthquake spell that tore open cracks in the center of Plague Town.
Amid flying bricks and stones Murphy flew into the air searching for his enemy, but was caught off guard by wolf claws pouncing from behind. The Golden undead broke through his defense with one strike, its claws piercing Murphy’s shoulder and bringing him crashing toward the ground like a meteor.
In just three moves, Murphy was bleeding.
Obviously, even a weakened Golden undead was not an enemy he could handle right now, let alone with a swamp giant snake constantly causing trouble with chaotic attacks.
The two fell to the ground just in time to be spotted by Ningkinanka. The giant snake, eyes filled with fury, opened its huge mouth about to spew lethal toxins, ready to bury both the damned undead and equally hateful vampire!
At this moment, amid the rumbling of cannon fire, 20 combustion gold shells swept across the chaotic Plague Town in an almost sweeping manner. Eight hit the tottering Plague Tower, while the remaining 12 all struck the giant snake’s massive body that was almost impossible to miss.
Such attacks were meaningless against the giant snake’s gem scales.
But whether it was the Goldflower artillerymen’s good luck or the giant snake’s particularly bad luck today, two shells somehow managed to hit its back wound, explosions tearing open flesh and sending it flying, making Ningkinanka cry out in agony that echoed through the clouds, forcing the poison rain it was preparing back down its throat.
“Well shot!”
On the hill outside town, Colonel Frayzer holding binoculars fiercely pumped his fist and shouted:
“Dunn! You shot damn well! I’ll recommend you for merit! But now wipe that stupid smile off your face and have your artillery continue firing! Ron, go help too! Today we shall raise the glory of Goldflower in this swamp!
We shall make the king and our families proud of us!
Neither legendary creatures nor some damned King Gnawbone can defeat our courage!”
Major Ron yanked off his hat and threw it on the ground, pushing aside a cannon’s gunner to personally take charge. While grabbing a computation bead to aim at the giant snake, he shouted:
“Damn! This is where a warrior should be! Marshal Loren and my old man would definitely love this place!
F**k!
I find I’ve actually come to like Transia, I don’t have chances to participate in things like this anywhere else. Keep firing!
Until we run out of shells!
Those Transia barbarians’ battle line is precarious, they need our fire support, we can’t let them look down on us!
Keep firing!”
“Boom”
Another round of cannon fire crossed the sky, almost without adjusting firing angles making this volley bloom into more flames on the giant snake’s body.
Even a legendary creature, no matter how powerful, was somewhat overwhelmed after continuous weakening and serious injuries during this period.
But this was good news.
Without interference from the angry giant snake, Lord Murphy on the ground could finally devote himself wholeheartedly to battle with this dangerous Golden undead.
Murphy treated this as a “trial” for himself.
He really wanted to see how much improvement all his sword training during this time could bring him. Defeating the Golden undead was already impossible, but at least he shouldn’t be instantly killed by it, right?
Murphy was very clear that he didn’t actually need to defeat the King Gnawbone, he just needed to buy time to achieve victory.
This was a Golden Body!
And now the power enabling it to move came from just 20 vampire hearts fused together. Wasn’t this equivalent to stuffing 20 AA batteries into a tank’s engine and trying to drive it to participate in the Battle of Kursk?
Even with a focusing ring you can’t sustain that kind of abuse!
By just the 187th second of battle, Murphy, who had been broken through several times, clearly felt the King Gnawbone’s strength, speed and reaction had noticeably declined. Attacks that were previously impossible to lock onto could now be barely blocked, and the vampire could even squeeze in a counterattack during the latter’s stiff “skill recovery”.
Meanwhile, who knows what happened inside that tottering Plague Tower, but Lame Claw’s screams rang out from within as it frantically called for the King Gnawbone to protect it.
The undead sorcerer’s forced summon could not be disobeyed by the undead construct. The Golden undead that had the upper hand immediately turned to charge into the Plague Tower, but the eruption of crimson flowing light plus the rising and falling desolate howls of the astral wolf pack indicated Murphy had no intention of letting it leave.
The Blood Pact Knights’ disciplinary sword technique known for defense and counterattack came into another clash with the Golden undead. The vampire lord who stood with a master’s bearing held his ground, touched the wound on his shoulder, looked at the terrible gashes torn in his armor, then complained:
“This old Edward’s craftsmanship isn’t up to par either! Not only can your handmade protective armor not block the King Gnawbone’s breaking claws, but how come it can’t even resist the toxic corrosion of a mere legendary creature?
Is this what you call the continent’s top leather worker?
This level of false advertising is too much! Must apply for after-sales service and severely complain about that old guy.
However if your current power source is vampire hearts, doesn’t that mean if something can make vampires feel pain, you would be countered by it too?”
Murphy raised his head, looking at the Golden undead before him that was moving those blade-like claws and preparing to pounce again like a wild beast, he said softly:
“Femis, help me out, the old tactic!”
“Huh?”
The young lady was stunned for a moment, then understood.
She flew up high with a sense of nostalgia, pointing her Night Howl Staff toward the sky.
A charged spirit energy blast thundered toward the heavens, dispersing the perpetual gloomy smog above Plague Town, letting the current noon sunlight pour down like a waterfall onto the ground of Plague Town.
This created very religious-looking pillars of light on this gloomy battlefield full of war and chaos where bloody battles were playing out.
It descended like the arm of god from the high sky to the ground, the interplay of light and shadow was so wondrous that even the Goldflower artillerymen in the distance who were aiming cannon fire at the legendary giant snake and Plague Tower were momentarily dazed.
Those Avalon Church members pouring into the Plague Town battlefield couldn’t help but chant divine names.
They saw it as guidance from the divine, thus dispelling more fear in their hearts and becoming more spirited.
In the center of the sunlit area, Murphy skillfully covered his face with a mask to avoid his handsome features being burned as he endured the scorching sunlight.
Looking at the Golden undead before him that curled up its body when hit by direct sunlight, its rotting fur generating streams of ash, he said:
“Looks like Lame Claw’s modification skills aren’t that great either. Not only did it fail to let you gain the essence of the midnight blessing, but it actually gave you several extra weaknesses. Tch, so this is all there is to the so-called mysteries of death.
The rest you seek and thirst for is in my hands. I will mercifully grant it to you, as the true end to all legends about you.
Whether you were once noble or lowly, whether you were once great or vile, since you’re already dead, stop interfering in the world of the living!”