Chapter 478
Chapter 478: Monster! Your Death is at Hand!
The thunderous shells continued to crash into the completely collapsed Plague Town. To maximize the damage, Artillery Major Dunn commanded his artillery to fire almost all of his Combustion Gold high-explosive shells into the area in an extremely short time.
But even in such an intense and dangerous battle situation, the Goldflower artillery strictly followed the firing procedures, especially the “fire control personnel” using special Computation Beads for impact point calculations, allowing their seemingly backward artillery to achieve precision bombardment beyond their apparent capabilities.
Such powerful fire support showed promising results.
Although some firepower was devoted to dealing with the legendary serpent, the remaining shells were enough to crack open the spirit energy barriers of the already teetering Plague Tower.
With the tower gates finally fully breached, there was nothing left to stop the players’ advance, especially after the Shadow Trail Sect monks charged into the tower’s third floor and escorted MoeHaha to disable the trap route switch on the western front. Now players across the entire position could quickly move in and out of Plague Town.
Their “numerical” advantage could finally be brought into play as they poured in howling, engaging in final combat with the elite Gnoll sorcerers trying to escape.
However, for the “professional players” responsible for clearing the team instance, the situation on the periphery wasn’t worth too much attention.
They had to take advantage of this opportunity created by the near-total elimination of the student faction to completely take down the BOSS in this Plague Tower.
Thus, Lame Claw, who was standing guard in command in place of Flesh Render, found himself in deep trouble.
In fact, when the swamp serpent was lured into Plague Town, but the released remains of the King Gnawbone failed to immediately rush into the tower, Lame Claw’s erratic mind realized something was wrong.
He wanted to run too!
But before he could gather his wits about him, players below were already howling as they stormed into the fourth floor of the Plague Tower, completely blocking Lame Claw’s escape route.
This unfortunate soul was a genius corpse constructor, with achievements in necromantic reshaping that even made Flesh Render exclaim they were unbeatable. But specializing in one field meant he was very poor at other auxiliary spells, especially techniques like spirit energy teleportation that required a lot of energy to learn.
It wasn’t that Lame Claw couldn’t learn it, he just couldn’t be bothered.
Now, this laziness completely cut off his last hope of escape, unless he was willing to risk jumping directly from the fifth-floor window of the Plague Tower.
Not to mention the fatal height, he was already dead, so injuries from falling weren’t a concern.
The main reason was that the three-way battle outside between the giant serpent, the King Gnawbone, and the mysterious interceptor had turned that area into a “forbidden zone,” where any of the three parties could lose their miserable existence with the slightest carelessness.
Therefore, in Lame Claw’s view, the risk he would face jumping down was no better than making a last stand here.
After all, there were some dismantled corpses in Flesh Render’s laboratory that he could use for quick construction.
Lame Claw firmly believed that the King Gnawbone he had personally revived was invincible. Though it had various problems, it could still dominate the battlefield until the vampire heart energy fused with voodoo power was exhausted.
So he only needed to hold out until the King Gnawbone defeated that mysterious interceptor, then he could control his most proud creation to charge into the tower and crush all these audacious Transians!
“Bang”
The deep sound of battering soon rang out from outside as the elites who had gathered from three battle lines killed their way through the fourth-floor in one go and were now trying to break down the door.
Amid the clamor, brothers skilled with explosives piled numerous bombs at the entrance to this top floor laboratory, preparing to blow open the path to the final BOSS room. Then another round of artillery struck the already tilted and fractured structure of the Plague Tower, causing the upper levels to violently shake and even begin shedding bricks as it started to collapse.
“This place is going to collapse! Should we get out first?”
Little Ashina in the crowd let out a shriek. Beside her, Joy Stick stared intently at the lit fuse of the explosives ahead, and raising his sword and shield he shouted:
“Don’t panic! This is just the scene destruction phase. Many classic BOSS fights include similar ‘soft enrage’ mechanics. It looks like for this final battle we need to kill the BOSS before the Plague Tower collapses, otherwise everyone will suffer a team wipe.
Therefore once the battle starts, don’t hold anything back!
Use whatever you’ve got!
Try to burst DPS and push it into execute phase.”
“Ah, too bad we don’t have Heroism or Bloodlust”
Old Fording, carrying a knight’s warhammer, said regretfully:
“Without those it feels like something’s missing.”
“Actually there is.”
The assassin Little Hands, who had participated in the Decisive Battle at Anderma Hills instance clear, looked up and down at Old Fording’s flashy plate armor, thinking these RP players really know how to enjoy themselves, actually engraving holy scripture on their plate armor.
You have to admit, doing it this way gives the armor a particularly stylish look.
Very cool!
Very impressive!
Feeling slightly envious, Little Hands applied poison to his daggers and short swords while explaining to Old Fording:
“The BOSS Kenport in the previous 002 instance used a technique similar to Bloodlust. We specifically asked the knowledgeable Lady Tris about it.
She told us that Bloodlust has always been one of the ultimate abilities of Gnoll hunting priests, so we can deduce that when the ‘Hunting Priest’ advancement path is released in the future, players will definitely be able to learn Bloodlust.”
“But compared to Bloodlust, the ‘Ranged Attacks Invalid’ totem under the Hunting Priest system is what us melee fighters really want.”
With Meow King still under the 3-day resurrection limit, Black Stockings was still acting as berserker with Vam’s Executioner on his back. He said to Old Fording with a beaming smile:
“I deliberately kept a profession slot open just waiting for the Hunting Priest profession to become available. When that time comes, won’t it be awesome to carry a ‘Force Melee’ totem? Won’t have to worry about those cowards who only dare to snipe from far away anymore.”
“Wow, according to what you’re saying, doesn’t that mean the currently flourishing ranged professions have a bleak future ahead?”
Blood-Stained Holy Lance Marcus, leaning on his armor-piercing halberd next to Old Fording, exclaimed:
“When everyone has a ‘Ranged Invalid’ totem then, won’t they become useless?”
“They might be at a disadvantage in arena-only PVP but conversely we’ll still be strong in PVE. Hunting Priest is also a hidden inheritance, there’s no reason for every random monster we meet to be able to throw out a totem.”
Brother Tune played with several Combustion Gold bullets in his hand very unhappily as he complained:
“Besides, can you carry that crappy totem 24 hours a day? It also has an effective range, once you leave the totem’s range, we can kite you however we want. Let’s not talk about this anymore, that’s all for the future.
The explosion is about to happen!
Everyone get ready to charge!”
The crowd waited as Tiger Leopard Rider Lin, with his engineering background, completed this door breach. Some folks had already covered their ears, but others were still expressing certain regrets at this moment.
Like Sister Pomegranate.
She folded her arms and said to the serious-faced Joy Stick:
“We were hoping our guild could clear this instance on our own, but in the end we still had to team up with everyone.”
“Right now our strength isn’t enough, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Stick pulled his combat mask down, revealing only a pair of sharp eyes as he said in a low voice:
“Let’s talk about solo clearing after we break through to Silver rank. We’ll compete for the Hall of Fame qualification then too.
But this time there’s no choice.
The student faction guys have already reserved that spot.”
“Yeah, no chance now.”
Sister Pomegranate waved her hand, extending the wolf fang blade on her wrist. She pulled up her hood protecting her face and neck, saying softly:
“Next up is the Black Plague expansion, followed by the entire continent map opening up. We’ll definitely split up to explore, probably won’t have so many chances to run instances together anymore.
Speaking of which, at this point, Stick, do we old-timers still need to go against our conscience and call these incredibly real scenes ‘instances’? It’s like we’ve been pretending to be foolish all along, treating Transia as a game.”
Stick didn’t answer immediately.
Not until Lin lit the explosives’ fuse, as it sizzled preparing to blow open the door to the highest level laboratory of the Plague Tower, did he say in a low voice:
“Pomegranate, the brothers and sisters who came after us might not have the experiences that led to our doubts and suspicions about all this, so as pioneers we have the right to decide whether or not to tell them the ‘truth’ that everyone actually already suspects.
I don’t know what you think.
But I’ll tell you, in my eyes this IS an ‘instance’!
This IS just a strange game!
Don’t transfer your own troubles onto others, they deserve to enjoy simple happiness. We do too.”
After speaking, Stick took the lead charging into the laboratory that had been blown open in a shower of sparks, engaging in battle with several undead constructs hastily assembled by Lame Claw.
Others followed with battle cries, while Niuniu and his three brothers even began a suicide charge shouting slogans of “Avenge our classmates!”
“Don’t overthink it! Treating it as a game lets you enjoy the pure pleasure of battle.”
Brother Mao, carrying a greatsword, passed through the burning wreckage and turned back to say softly to Sister Pomegranate:
“Unless you AFK now and never come back, you have no choice but to accept the reality that it has already become part of our lives. Denying what’s before your eyes is denying yourself.
If a person can’t reconcile with themselves, the latter half of their life will definitely be very miserable.”
“You’ve come to comfort me too?”
Sister Pomegranate rolled her eyes and said:
“You better take care of your big family first. Your little uncle charged over to fight for loot from the BOSS, he’s gone crazy, it’s practically suicide!”
“Mu! Catch!”
At the front, Master Yang, who was frantically fighting with Lame Claw and desperately grabbed something from Lame Claw’s waist, couldn’t care about the encirclement of three undead composite creatures nearby. He shouted and threw the object in his hand towards the entrance.
Brother Mao turned back and jumped to catch the Ghost Magic Tome that was thrown over, then smoothly put it into his Spirit Bag.
This was the key item for whether Ah Feng could move freely.
Brother Mao then wanted to go rescue his little uncle, but just as he started moving he saw Teacher Li charge into the undead with fierce Winter Wolf boxing.
With Winter Wolf blades wrapped around both fists sending frost spraying in all directions, he released his old friend from the surrounded predicament. The two middle-aged martial artists fought excitedly back-to-back, one using sword and one using fists, attracting almost all the undead created by Lame Claw.
The two monk “big daddies” showing their might created a perfect opportunity for others to tackle the BOSS. With another round of bombardment from the Goldflower artillery rumbling, the top level of the Plague Tower had already been blasted open with a huge hole.
The constantly falling bricks announced that this scene would completely collapse after at most two more artillery strikes.
“Quick! DPS up! Stop f**king around! Take out your trump cards! Hit it!”
Seeing the scene destruction happening so fast, Stick also got anxious. Seeing Led More Than Three to Five Pecks alone could hold up against the BOSS’s corrosion attacks with his Unbreakable, he simply gave up being off-tank.
Throwing away his sword and shield, he pulled out a Winged Cavalry war spear from his Spirit Bag, aimed at the BOSS and charged in with a standard dragon spear thrust to join the melee attackers in backstabbing.
Although Lame Claw wasn’t good at close combat, his advantage was that he was already dead.
Even being cut by Vam’s Executioner wouldn’t hurt him, he could still continuously cast Netherworld spells and endlessly summon undead creatures to attack enemies.
He thought that opening a Netherworld gate to summon undead creatures would be enough to repel the Transians, since they had never been known across the continent for their spirit energy prowess.
However, reality proved that Lame Claw’s understanding of Transia’s warriors was still stuck in the “previous version”.
Now even with three Netherworld gates opened, he still couldn’t repel Transia’s warriors. Instead, after they withstood the attacks of those dangerous undead, they surrounded him with an even fiercer posture.
The sorcerer’s body that Flesh Render had chosen for him was already riddled with holes. If this continued he was finished!
Even as an undead, at this moment under the siege of crazy players he recalled the feeling of fear.
“Bang”
Brother Mao jumped off Niuniu’s shield and came down with a spectacular mountain-splitting strike, the heavy ranger greatsword smashing into Lame Claw’s head like a warhammer.
This heavy hit made him see stars.
But before Lame Claw could steady himself, the more agile Pomegranate jumped out from behind Brother Mao.
The fully charged Winter Wolf steel fist carried unstoppable thousand-pound force as it struck his chin, the freezing power of the Winter Wolf fist instantly freezing half of Lame Claw’s body.
And Lady Aqua, the “eternal healer”, rarely filled in as DPS today. Her perfectly timed “Nature’s Purification” was cast in the instant Lame Claw broke free from the freeze, striking the Gnoll’s forehead in the form of a flame strike.
This azure purification fire pierced through flesh to directly strike Lame Claw’s corrupt dark soul. The attack carrying a slight divine nature achieved an effect that swords and blades could never match.
The pain echoing at the mental and spiritual level made Lame Claw wish for death.
He let out whimpering cries, staggering as he waved his hands to block attacks from all directions, but had completely lost his composure.
This sight made all the players participating in the clear extremely excited.
Phase transition!
The BOSS is frightened! Execute phase!
“Die for daddy!!!”
Black Stockings charged in dragging Vam’s Executioner, opening with a fatal strike that buried the legendary battle axe in Lame Claw’s neck. Just as he was about to put force into completing the execution, he was caught off guard by artillery fire ringing out around them again.
The final wave of fire support was so precise.
It completely destroyed the upper levels of the Plague Tower causing the entire roof to collapse, and the entire tower was even severed at two-thirds height, sending players plummeting towards the ground with cries of surprise amid earthquake-like commotion.
“Combat time limit exceeded! The BOSS room has completely collapsed.”
Little Ashina held Lady Aqua in one hand and Fatal Orchid in the other as she struggled to fly out of the collapsing ruins. Looking down from the gunpowder-filled heights, she said regretfully:
“Does this count as a failed clear?”
“According to general battle design, this wave would indeed count as a team wipe.”
Fatal Orchid, held in Little Ashina’s left hand, said in an odd tone:
“But I don’t think the dev team will give us a restored scene for another challenge attempt here, so it probably doesn’t count as failure?”
“Look! They’re not dead!”
Lady Aqua on the other side shouted:
“Black Stockings is holding something! It’s that strange Gnoll’s head! They killed it, we won! Hooray!”
“Hey hey hey, be careful, don’t let go, okay? You’ll die if you fall from this height! Lady Aqua, being such a beautiful goddess, you wouldn’t want to have an embarrassing death from falling like that unfortunate Lumina and have your black history constantly shared on the forum, right?”
Little Ashina wobbled as she carried her two teammates down, flapping her wings while wondering aloud:
“Why are you so excited? You participated in the last team instance too.”
“How can that be the same?”
Lady Aqua pouted and said:
“Before I was always healing, this time I finally got to be main DPS! Of course the commemorative meaning is different. Ha, fact proves my talent isn’t limited to just healing you guys.
I think I can switch from Holy Priest to Discipline now.”
“Is everyone still alive? Make a sound!”
Joy Stick, covered in dust on the ground ruins, shouted towards the surrounding ruins while patting dirt off himself. Soon others rose from various parts of the ruins, but some unfortunate ones had died from being crushed by heavy objects during the 30-plus meter fall.
The survival to death ratio was roughly 1:1.
Though brutal, this was already much better compared to the previous two instance clears.
“Come here, come here, time to divide the loot!”
Don’t Need Hands to Show Off stood on Lame Claw’s headless body, holding up Lame Claw’s corrupted soul bone staff and several ghost accessories as he shouted:
“All good items with special effects, quick come!
We still have a BOSS waiting at the Construction Tower, and this swamp serpent is almost dead too. I think we can take advantage to kill this world BOSS that was lured over.”
“F**k! Little Hands there’s something behind you! Run! Quick dodge!”
“Huh?”
Little Hands saw Old Tune screaming frantically at him from the front, but his reaction was a beat too slow to shadow step immediately. Instead, as if possessed, he turned his head to take a look, then saw a strange Gnoll monster emerge from the mist behind him, roaring as it swung its broken claws down at him.
The speed was so fast Little Hands had no time to escape, he could only throw a Scout spell on this suddenly appearing BOSS. The feedback information made Don’t Need Hands to Show Off greatly shocked:
“Holy shit! Golden rank?! And it’s the King Gnawbone? The dev team has completely gone crazy!”