Nie Yan’s team originally didn’t hold any high hopes, simply because the reputation of a Level 180 Demonified Lord was too frightening. Mentally prepared for death, they were caught off guard by this shimmer of hope. Drakuru was already greatly weakened by his shackles. But after being debuffed by Kalenna, his stats were further reduced by another 35% and his mental attacks were sealed.

After taking two hits in a row, Explosive Counter procced as a whirlwind of power erupted from Lil’ Gold, knocking Drakuru back.

−5,149

“How much health does Drakuru have?”

“I don’t know. There’s no way to see it!”

Everyone glanced at each other in dismay. Since Drakuru’s exact health was hidden, that meant it was over 100,000,000. As for whether it was just 100,000,000 health or several hundred million health, they had no idea.

They were frightened by Drakuru’s enormous health pool. Just how long would it take them to kill him?

Nevertheless, even with this knowledge, they were still determined to see this battle through to the bitter end.

Paladin Lafus raised his sword and restored Lil’ Gold’s health.

Drakuru didn’t use any skills, only lashing out with his whip, which would occasionally strike Bladelight.

“Mages, attack. Don’t use fire magic!” Nie Yan ordered. Demons were incredibly resistant or even immune against fire damage.

Ice and lightning rained down on Drakuru. BANG! BANG! BANG! A string of damage values ranging between 2,000–3,000 floated up above his head.

Nie Yan and the other Shadow Dancers didn’t dare to get close to Drakuru. That was because a single of his attacks could kill them, and since they were fighting on this five-meter wide bridge, there was simply no space. They could only stay off to the side and rely on the Mages to deal damage.

Since Drakuru’s attack speed wasn’t that high, the tanks at the front weren’t under much pressure. The team worked together like a well-oiled machine.

About one hour later, Drakuru’s health finally fell by one percent.

Nie Yan’s heart trembled. No wonder Drakuru was hardly trying. Their attacks barely tickled him!

“My god! How much health does he have!?”

“It must be at least 300,000,000.”

“What an overpowered bastard!”

Everyone felt their moods sink. Though Drakuru’s defense wasn’t unreasonably high, his vitality was. He could stand there and do nothing, and it would still take them 100 hours just to kill him.

“Boss, what do we do? We’ll run out of mana long before that bastard runs out of health.”

“Let’s keep fighting and weaken him as much as we can!” This was a Level 180 Demonified Lord! Drakuru was simply too powerful, basically an existence on the same level as a demigod. Nie Yan had no idea how they were supposed to defeat him.

The Mages continued firing out their spells like there was no tomorrow.

Drakuru tried to attack the Mages in the back with his whip, but Lil’ Gold blocked him. With no way to get past this massive dragon, he charged at Lil’ Gold, only for the chains binding him to the obelisk to tighten. CLANK! His fist froze in mid-air, unable to move forward even half-an-inch.

The solid chains completely suppressed and prevented Drakuru from moving freely. If he were free to move, this Level 180 Demonified Lord would undoubtedly wipe out everyone here in an instant.

Seven hours later, Drakuru’s health had fallen by six percent. The firepower of the team members was starting to wane.

“Boss, I’m running low on mana!”

“Boss, what do we do? Even if we drink a Specialist Mana Potion, after two or three more rounds, we’ll still be nowhere near to killing Drakuru.”

Eyes of despair fell on Nie Yan. These team members had never felt so powerless in front of a boss before. No matter what they did, they had no way of killing Drakuru. All their efforts would be in vain if it continued on like this.

“Boss, do we drink the potions?”

“Yeah. If they’re going to go to waste like this, we might as well give up right now.”

“Drink the potions. Right now isn’t the time to concede defeat. Keep chipping away at his health. Worst comes to worst, I, Sun, and the others will go up,” Nie Yan said. The space up ahead was too cramped. If they went up, they would easily be pushed off the bridge. But surely, an opportunity for them to take action would present itself.

After hearing Nie Yan’s words, the Magisters thought for a moment before drinking their Specialist Mana Potions. Since Nie Yan had given the word, they could only obey.

Unless there was absolutely no hope left, Nie Yan wouldn’t give up so easily.

This was the final fight in the World of Darkness anyway. Nie Yan’s gaze fell on Battle Angel Kalenna floating by his shoulder. She fluttered her wings and feigned complete ignorance to his pleas.

Nie Yan only kept persevering because he had a faint hope in his heart that at the very last moment Battle Angel Kalenna would intervene on his behalf.

Among all the Mages here, Xie Yao and Tang Yao had the most mana. As long as they could still cast magic, they could guarantee that Drakuru’s health wouldn’t go back up. Their damage was enough to mitigate his health recovery speed.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh! A shower of magic arced through the air.

This battle against Drakuru continued on. No one knew when it would finally end, only that if it went on for too long, they’d go deaf from Drakuru’s enraged roars.

At this time, Guo Huai sent Nie Yan a message. The Mona Stronghold in Moonlight City had been attacked by the Blood Reaver Corps. Their casualties reached 3,000, and they nearly lost the stronghold. Thankfully, they activated the stronghold’s barrier in time, and a large number of elite reinforcements came rushing over. However, the enemy likely still hadn’t left. The Mona Stronghold’s defenses had already been bolstered and Black Heaven, Beginner Student, and the others were already rushing over.

「Why did the Blood Reaver Corps attack the Mona Stronghold?」Nie Yan asked in bewilderment.

「I don’t know, probably the same reason as before. They’re slaughtering players from the Righteous Faction to gain Glory,」Guo Huai said. The Blood Reaver Corps had previously exchanged blows with Angel Corps and several other guilds, killing more players than he could count. It wasn’t strange to think they stuck to the same modus operandi in the Viridian Empire as in the Satreen Empire. Asskickers United was a logical target.

「They’ll probably launch another attack. You guys be careful,」Nie Yan warned. The Blood Reaver Corps was merely a small force. If it were 60 Magisters, Archbishops, or other similar caster Master classes, he might be a bit nervous. However, since it was only 60 Silver Wings, there was nothing really to be afraid of. At the very least, they didn’t have Forbidden Magic and as such lacked an easy method of dealing fatal damage to a stronghold.

「They’re dreaming if they think they can take down the Mona Stronghold so easily,」Guo Huai confidently declared. After all, with the defenses bolstered and six Masters and countless elites ready to fight, he had a good reason to be confident.

Nie Yan instructed Guo Huai about a few things to take note of.「Go online and download videos of all the Blood Reaver Corps’ battles. Have some people go through them and clip anything unique, then share it with our elites. The reason we’re suffering against them isn’t because they’re ridiculously strong, but rather because their battle tactics are bizarre. When they first appeared, no one knew how to guard against them and the losses were to be expected. However, they’ve been on the surface for some time now. We should be able to find enough information on them to make the necessary preparations.」

...

In the plains outside the Mona Stronghold, 60 players were hunting mobs.

“Boss, why didn’t we take down the Mona Stronghold in one shot?” Autumn Gust asked.

“There’s no need for that yet.” Blood Devil shook his head. His thinking was something Autumn Gust couldn’t comprehend. He checked his private messages, then turned to face the team. “I just received a report. After our probing attack, Nirvana Flame didn’t appear. Only six of their Masters came to the Mona Stronghold. According to their information, Nirvana Flame hasn’t made an appearance since his visit to the Clemenci stronghold. It’s already been close to three months. He’s probably stuck inside a quest instance.”

“Most of Asskickers United’s Masters aren’t here. This is a good opportunity. We can easily complete our mission.” Dark Shadow laughed.

“It’s a shame we won’t get to battle Nirvana Flame.” Blood Devil sighed. “Everyone, get ready. In 20 minutes, we’ll be launching our second attack.”

At this moment, the Mona Stronghold was gearing up for battle. More than 2,000 Asskickers United elites were gathered here, while the ordinary players had already withdrawn. It was a frightening line-up of six Masters, 600 first-rate players, and 1,400 second-rate players.

Black Heaven, Beginner Student, and 30 other players were attending a meeting in a conference hall. Guo Huai put them in charge of the stronghold’s defenses.

“If those bastards dare to come back, we’ll teach them a painful lesson!” Tyrannical said. So far, 3,000 Asskickers United players had died at their hands. This debt had to be settled.

“The six of us probably aren’t their match,” Black Heaven said. Even in a situation like this, he could keep a cool head.

“Guo Huai told us our only aim is to hold the stronghold, which should be easy enough with its defenses. Without Forbidden Magic, those guys won’t be able to take it down,” Paladin of the Elegy said. He was fairly knowledgeable of the overall situation.

“I say, let them come! Who says we aren’t their match in an all out battle!?”