Chapter 252 - Epistian Tower

Han Wu chose the upgrade, and all ten of his Dark Cursed Bug Towers merged into a single True Dark Cursed Bug Tower.

Feng Xiaoxiao immediately noticed the change. “Wait, you can fuse your towers together to upgrade them? That’s cheating! You don’t even need Upgrade Stones!”

The True Dark Cursed Bug Tower unleashed a far stronger barrage, firing 100 Shadow Needles per second. A vast wave of goblins fell beneath the relentless assault.

Though the Heroic tower boasted only 73 Attack—modest compared to other towers—the goblins had just 3 Defense and 50 HP. A single Shadow Needle was enough to kill one instantly. On top of that, Death’s Gaze gave the tower a 20% chance to execute targets of lower rank. Nonetheless, the effect never triggered since the goblins died with one hit.

“Retreat from the tower and attack the other towers!” Feng Xiaoxiao commanded, redirecting her goblins’ march.

Fortunately, the towers remained stationary in the wargame. Her units would avoid harm as long as they moved beyond the towers’ attack range.

Feng Xiaoxiao clung to the sliver of hope she had left. “I will break your other towers before destroying your Heroic tower!”

The goblins and Giant Demons managed to escape, though not without cost. Tens of thousands of goblins were lost in the retreat. Still, they pushed deep into Han Wu’s territory, exploiting the void left behind by the merged Dark Cursed Bug Tower.

There were no other towers left to stop their advance. Feng Xiaoxiao’s territory expanded rapidly until it reached 5,300 square kilometers. Her goblins pressed forward, and her domain continued to grow.

Seeing the tide turn in her favor, Feng Xiaoxiao let out a quiet breath of relief. “He’s still too green. A first-year student wouldn’t understand the danger of putting all his eggs in one basket. Did he really think a single powerful tower could stop me? I’ll just move around its range, and there’s nothing he can do about it.”

Han Wu realized his blunder and scrambled to adjust his strategy. However, his Locust and Skeleton Towers’ range was far too limited. Combining them into a stronger tower had seemed like a smart move, yet it left too many openings. His opponent could simply bypass the tower’s range with no consequences.

Still, he couldn’t build many lower-ranking towers to cover his territory. Their weak attacks would fail to damage his enemies, and he would waste resources whenever the enemy destroyed those towers.

“What can I do? I can’t just let her take so much of my territory,” he muttered.

If she occupied a large portion of his territory, her Energy gain per second would far surpass his. If this continued, she could accumulate enough Energy to build powerful towers and crush him. Thus, he had to act fast.

He abandoned the Locust and Skeleton Towers due to their limited range and searched for another solution. Scanning the list of towers he could build, he soon found a way out: the Epistian Tower.

[Epistian Tower (Unique)

Armor: 2,000

Attack: 20–1,000

Defense: 100

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Attack Method: Fireball

Range: Within the limits of the territory.

Attack Rate: 1–60 seconds

Skills: Charge (Passive) – Accumulates Fire-attribute power to amplify damage. The longer it charges, the stronger the attack.

Sacred Object Slot: 7

Energy Required: 30,000]

That was a massive amount of Energy for him to afford right now. If he waited for Energy to accumulate naturally, it would take 15,000 seconds, or four hours. Losing more territory would only extend that time.

Even if he had the patience to wait, his opponent didn’t. Feng Xiaoxiao would be busy coming up with ways to take down his remaining towers. He couldn’t afford to delay any longer. He had to build the Epistian Tower now.

To get the Energy he needed, he turned to the trade channel. With his remaining Energy, he would buy up large quantities of low-grade Sacred Objects and merge them.

A Common Sacred Object, the Wolf Tooth, sold for 80 Energy each. Han Wu bought many, then merged ten into a single +9 Wolf Tooth, which he sold for 2,000 Energy.

The +9 Wolf Tooth had only one effect: it boosted a tower’s Attack by 10. It was simple, but highly desirable. Han Wu listed one for sale, and it sold instantly.

He earned 1,200 Energy in profit with every transaction. After repeating the process about twenty times, he finally had enough to construct the Epistian Tower. Now, he had to choose its location carefully. Since the tower’s stats were modest, protecting it was critical.

Han Wu scratched his chin before settling on the perfect spot beside his Death Aura Bug Tower. The area around that tower was a forbidden zone, killing every living being due to its unique attack that bypassed Defense.

Han Wu felt relieved knowing his Epistian Tower would be well guarded there. He had, after all, spent a large portion of his Energy to build the tower. Once completed, the Epistian Tower began charging its attack. Han Wu watched the fireball above it slowly grow larger. It took the tower a full minute to charge the fireball to maximum before launching it at the goblins.

The massive fireball streaked through the sky like a meteor and landed in the center of the goblin army. The explosion released intense heat and flames, killing many goblins instantly. It even took down five Giant Demons in a single blast.

Feng Xiaoxiao clenched her teeth as she surveyed the new tower. “An attack range that targets all enemies within his territory? That’s absurd! He must be cheating somehow!”

She knew her goblins would continue to perish as long as the Epistian Tower stood. Determined, she ordered them to charge toward the tower and destroy it at all costs. Stopping it from attacking was her priority now.

They marched for hours across Han Wu’s vast territory until they reached a point ten kilometers from the Death Aura Bug Tower. Along the way, the Epistian Tower launched five more fireballs, each blast cutting down many goblins. Feng Xiaoxiao hardened her resolve to bring the wretched tower down.

“Fodder, take the front. Giant Demons, cover their rear. Destroy the Epistian Tower and the Death Aura Bug Tower together!” she commanded.

Her goblins advanced, but the moment they crossed into the Death Aura Bug Tower’s attack range, their HP plummeted. Powered by five +9 Wolf Tooth, the tower’s Attack had reached 63—enough to instantly kill Common goblins.

Any enemy stepping into its range instantly felt their HP plummet as the Death Aura’s corrosive force ate away at them. Many of Feng Xiaoxiao’s goblins fell before she even noticed they had crossed the threshold. By the time she tried to issue another command, it was already too late.

The Giant Demons wanted to make their owner proud, so they charged boldly into the Death Aura Bug Tower’s range. They believed they could withstand the damage long enough to destroy both towers together. Sadly, the Death Aura ignored Defense completely. After only a few steps, the Giant Demons collapsed lifeless to the ground.

Feng Xiaoxiao gazed at her dying army and realized she had lost.