Chapter 1412: Thunder Arrives

Dong dong dong…

The dull gongs of war drums resounded from all four directions of Crossroads Valley. At the same time, giant lizard beasts appeared on the mountain ranges. Their bodies were over ten meters long, and they were almost as huge as a giant dragon’s. They had grayish brown scale armors that resembled crocodile scales. A blood-red war drum was set up atop its back, and a brawny beastman could be seen beating it with his hammer. The resounding boom pierced the clouds and thumped seemingly against our own hearts. The actual sixth wave mobs hadn’t shown up yet, and already a dozen or so lizard beasts carrying war drums had appeared on the battlefield. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the upcoming wave was going to be a deadly one.

Soon, the clopping of hooves joined the war drums, and less than three minutes later, a sea of dark knights appeared from the mountain ranges. They were riding rotten undead warhorses and clad in battle armors that looked like they were forged from black dragon scales. They also wielded lightning blades. Obviously, the dark knights all shared the same standardized equipment.

……

"Gulp…" Gui Guzi swallowed while staring at the mobs. "Are they the sixth-wave mobs? Appearance-wise, they actually look less intimidating than the Spear-throwing Flyers. Maybe this will be easier than we thought…"

Li Chengfeng wasn’t as optimistic. "Best not underestimate these knights. I have a feeling that they’re extremely powerful…"

I nodded in agreement. "Yes, these troops are incredibly powerful. The real challenge has just begun!"

I looked back at the walls and ordered, "Little Xin, can you muster another 10k Dragonlight Cavalrymen to join us on the ground? We’re going to form at least a 20-layer defense line and stop these things from approaching the fortress."

Lian Xin nodded. "Mn, got it…"

After the fortress gate creaked open, the Dragonlight Cavalry quickly formed battle lines outside the walls. Because the other guilds such as Purgatory Mad Dragon, Flower Room, Gods of Destruction, Pop Culture and more had lost a large majority of their armies, our defense line had extended from the original 200 meters to over 500 meters as well. This wave would truly test the might of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls.

The players on the walls hurried to assume their positions. We had lost far too many Holy Mages and Dragonlight Archers during the double wave, and the players who died earlier were still a long way away from reaching us. They most likely wouldn’t make it in time before the sixth wave ended, so we only had ourselves to rely on.

……

Zap… zap…

Suddenly, an undead general riding a bloody warhorse and covered in lightning energy appeared on a mountaintop. He wielded a lightning sword as well, but it was a lot more powerful than the dark knights’. Lips curled into a disdainful smirk, he said, "Karinshan, Sophie, Grand Duke Roland, Duke Linlin and Duke Slater… Hahaha, long time no see, leaders of the Silver Moon Alliance. Have you come to surrender your heads to the great power of the dark?"

"Oh, fuck!"

I shuddered from head to toe.

Gui Guzi asked, "What’s wrong, Boss Broken Halberd? Who is that boss?"

I clenched my fists as I declared, "Bring your A-game, people. This wave is going to be several times harder than all the waves we’ve fought up until this point because… that boss is none other than one of the Nine Purgatory Sovereigns, Thunder the Blade of Death himself!"

"What? Thunder the Blade of Death?!" Li Chengfeng exclaimed in shock. "What the hell! This isn’t even the final wave yet, and we’re fighting against a Purgatory Sovereign already?!"

I nodded. "Mn. At this point, I’m almost certain that the last wave’s boss is Coldblade himself. Two Purgatory Sovereigns against one Crossroads Valley Fortress? We are so damn ‘lucky’ today. Spread the news and let the other servers know that this wave’s boss is Thunder the Blade of Death himself."

"Got it!"

……

Buzz!

On the mountaintop, Thunder abruptly raised his Blade of Thunder and shouted with a most vicious grin on his face. "It is time to flatten the fortress in front of you, filthy bugs! Tear those hypocritical royal knights to pieces, drink their blood and feast on their flesh! We will enjoy their women and bring fear and darkness back to these lands! We will let all the living beings under the World Tree know that the power of death is unstoppable, and that the Purgatory legions will rule it all as their one and only ruler! All must be trampled beneath their feet be it god or devil!"

On the hills, the restless undead knights finally took off after receiving a direct order from Thunder himself. Dust clouds covered the sky itself as they rode down the hills from every direction. At first glance, at least a million black cavalrymen were coming our way, not to mention that they were all super-tier undead cavalry!

"I’m flying ahead to get their stat screen!"

I slapped my little dragon’s butt with my sword and spurred it to action. As it took to the sky and approached the closest riders at high speed, I activated Dark Pupils and shared its stats screen in the guild channel. Everyone gasped when they saw exactly what they were dealing with. This had to be the undead legion’s final trump card, right?

Thunder Devil Soldier (Deity)

Level: 310

Attack: 62,000~75,000

Defense: 85,000

HP: 7,500,000

Skills: Bloody Slash, Undead’s Roar, War Stampede

Introduction: Devilized undead creatures. These cavalrymen used to be humanity’s greatest army until an undead plague consumed them all during their final expedition. After these proud royal knights were transformed into undead slaves, Thunder the Blade of Death became their commander and injected them with the power of dark thunder, transforming them into powerful devil soldiers with greater strength and sturdiness. They only serve the Purgatory legion, and they are numb to all pain and emotions. They are humanity’s sworn enemies.

……

"Oh heavens, this is too much…" Xu Yang broke into a helpless grin as he said this. "Level 310 deity-rank mobs? Deity is probably the next rank after Fiend, right?"

I nodded. "Most likely. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a deity-rank mob, and both its Attack and Defense far exceed that of a fiend-rank mob. Anyway, Bloody Slash and War Stampede are both AoE skills, so watch out! Also, we’re keeping to the same tactics. Eve, Chengfeng and Little Gui, the four of us are going to stand about 10 to 20 yards ahead of our battle line and attract as many mobs to ourselves as possible. Mages and archers, please give us everything you got. The more you kill, the more brothers and sisters on the ground you’ll save!"

Lian Xin, Beiming Xue, Moonlight Stone and everyone nodded in unison. "We’ll do our best!"

"Finally, refresh my buffs, will you, Beauty Guanyue? I’m going ahead!" I shot Guanyue a beaming smile and was rewarded with her buffs. After the preparations were ready, I assumed my position.

Whoosh!

This time, I activated Fusion Armor because I didn’t need the aerial advantage, and because it gave me infinite mount tenacity. I wouldn’t need to worry about being dismounted in the middle of a battle. I didn’t forget to keep a close eye on Thunder the Blade of Death, of course. The guy might be ranked last among the Nine Purgatory Sovereigns, but that didn’t necessarily mean that he was the weakest of all of them. Even if he was, what did it matter when he could still kill us players like nothing?

The Thunder Devil Soldiers grew closer and closer. I gripped the Chill of the Nine Provinces so tight that my wrist was shaking a little.

"Here they come!"

The moment the Thunder Devil Soldiers entered a suitable range, I immediately cast a Cold of the Nine Provinces and turned the first couple rows into ice sculptures. What should’ve been an organized charge fell into shambles as the mobs crashed into one another!

"Now! Far Shot!" Beiming Xue ordered from the rampart and caused countless Skypiercers, Spiraling Arrow Blades, God Devil Breaks and more to explode among the mob. However, there was a problem. The Thunder Devil Soldiers had a Defense of 85k. Even if they weren’t bosses, they were tanky enough that our normal archers were only doing around 3000 damage or so. It was clear that even we were starting to falter before the sheer power that was Level 310 deity-rank mobs.

It wasn’t all bad news though. As usual, God Devil Breaks, Galaxy Storms and magic attacks in general were doing well against metal-armor units. Long live the mages!

……

"Dammit!"

A bunch of devil soldiers swore as they trampled over their companions’ bodies. At least dozens of mobs were heading straight toward me, the culprit behind their failed charge.

As I assumed a stance, the Chill of the Nine Provinces rang in excitement. My weapon was just as excited as I was to reap the deity-rank mobs’ experience as our own!

"Kill!"

I executed Burning Blade Slash + Myriad Swords Obliteration + Summon the Storm combo at a group of devil soldiers. Surprisingly, they actually survived the attack. Without pause, I summoned the Phantom Wolf King and made it fire Purgatory Storm at the group of low-health mobs. This time, over 30 of them dropped dead, and at least 50% of their experience flew into my body. My experience bar filled up visibly, and my March of Chaos contribution points skyrocketed. Truly, riches and honor were found in danger. The stronger the mob, the better the reward!

However, there was no way I could mow down the mobs faster than they could surround me, not to mention that they were fast-moving cavalrymen. At least ten Bloody Slashes hit me and dealt an incredible amount of damage—

49,287!

51,256!

44,288!

102,984!

……

That wasn’t all. The mobs followed up with a War Stampede, and I lost nearly 2 million HP in total. I could count the number of non-bosses whoever dealt this much damage to me on one hand, especially after I had gotten the Cyan Dragon Shield and Guardian Dragon Armor. It was a rare and "invigorating" experience to say the least.

Thankfully, our strongest priest, Murong Mingyue, was focusing all of her heals on me. Besides that, dozens of priests were doing their best to keep me alive as well. Finally, I had 20% lifesteal from Chill of the Nine Provinces, so I was just barely able to cling onto life. I fired Thousand Ice Slash and dealt around 500k damage to every mob. Add splash effect to the mix, and that was 1 million HP restored back to my health bar.

However, my success was my own.

In the time it took me to clear my area, the entire eastern defense line had already all but crumbled.