Lu Yao glanced at the number above the Blood Knight's head. The smile vanished from his face, and his fists clenched.
What the hell was this?!
Lv. 60!?
Was it reasonable for a level 60 boss to appear in the Novice Village? Where were the Simulator's damn operators and damn designers? Help! Hurry up and help!
How the hell was he supposed to fight that?!
Lu Yao immediately started typing, urging Isabelle to disengage.
However, the battle was not as one-sided as Lu Yao had imagined. Isabelle was indeed struggling greatly against the Blood Knight, and her health kept dropping, but she still held her ground stubbornly.
Damage numbers continued to appear above her head.
-28
-29
-27
For Isabelle's health pool, that kind of damage was extremely dangerous.
Yet Lu Yao felt that something was off.
He quickly clicked on the Blood Knight several times and obtained the boss's detailed stats.
After taking a screenshot, he immediately told Isabelle to retreat.
Fortunately, the Blood Knight was not very fast, and the castle seemed to impose some kind of restriction on him, preventing him from leaving. Although Isabelle was injured, she still managed to retreat safely.
Only then did Lu Yao look at the screenshot.
[Hero Lv. 60] Blood Knight Nevid [weakness] [Confusion] [Sealed] Health Points: 3850/3850 Mana Points: 14/937 Damage: 62 (-62) Defense: 34 (-34) Speed: 8 (-8) [Thick Hide] Innately possesses high Health Points. [Indestructible] Has special resistance to ranged damage. [Mobile Casting] Casts spells while moving in battle, at the cost of slow speed. [Corruption Creation] Uses corpses and salt to create Corruptors. The strength of Corruptors is related to the corpses used. [Enchantment Level 25] Attacks carry Mana damage. [Flesh is Weak LV2] [Nivd's Exclusive Ability] The Whistleblower grants Nivd the ability to form a Legion. Nivd can raise the ranks of Corruptors and other units through training and Inspiration, evolving them into more elite Rotten Guard.
From the stats panel in the screenshot, Lu Yao roughly understood the Blood Knight's role.
He was essentially a knight specialized in training troops, creating and organizing a Corruptor Legion here for the Whistleblower. That was where Nivd's greatest value lay.
The Blood Knight was a commander-type Hero. He could provide the Whistleblower with an endless stream of soldiers. [Corruption Creation] and [Flesh is Weak] were practically divine skills for recruiting and training troops.
As long as he was supplied with corpses and salt, the Blood Knight could mass-produce Corruptor armies that feared neither death nor pain.
The true secret of the Salt Pool Tribe was this boss.
The Blood Knight needed salt and corpses, and every transaction revolved around those two things.
The existence of the salt pools meant there was no shortage of salt. That made gathering as many corpses as possible the priority, especially the corpses of powerful species.
That was why the Salt Pool Tribe had always coveted the Sea Monster of the East River Tribe. They had not only set their sights on the Barbarian Tribe and the Cave Dwellers, but had even once wanted to occupy Ghost City Sanilo at the southern edge of the land.
It was all to find and collect the corpses of powerful living beings.
Lu Yao conducted a further theoretical analysis.
The Blood Knight excelled at positional warfare. He was not afraid of ranged damage, his attacks came with Mana damage, he could create Corruptors while fighting, and he did not fear a meat grinder of a battle. He could also continually train troops and raise their ranks.
The other side of his strengths was his weakness.
In other words, the Blood Knight was not the kind of vanguard who could break through alone or fight ten thousand men by himself, nor could he instantly reverse the tide of battle single-handedly. He needed time to assemble a Legion and arrange his formations, securing victory step by step.
He was the exact opposite of Isabelle.
Although Isabelle possessed the [Sword of the Forest], she usually did not bring along those created creatures. She was better at solving problems alone.
That was what Lu Yao had concluded from the data. But theory always had to be tested in practice, so he asked Isabelle, who had participated in the battle.
"My lord, Nivd's power comes from Forrest."
Isabelle said in the Dialogue Box, "He was created by the Flutist from Forrest's corpse. I can sense that aura, which is why he is in a state of confusion. As a result, he cannot fully unleash his combat power."
"The rules of this world have sealed him, greatly weakening his power, because he should not exist here."
"Creating Corruptors also continuously consumes his Mana Points."
"Previously, following your orders, my lord, I wiped out a great number of Corruptors. He continuously created replacements, consuming a large amount of Mana Points. That is why the Blood Knight is especially weak now, and his combat ability has declined even further."
Lu Yao's eyes lit up.
A countermeasure came to mind.
If they followed that process, they could keep killing Corruptors and drain his Mana Points, leaving him unable to use those abilities. The Blood Knight remained in a state of weakness and Confusion, meaning he could only exert fifty percent of his combat strength.
Numerically speaking, Isabelle's damage could break through the Blood Knight's defense.
"My lord, I'm afraid that won't work."
Isabelle remained calmly cautious about battle.
She said, "Even under those conditions, it would still be difficult for me to withstand multiple attacks from the Blood Knight."
Lu Yao thought that was indeed a problem.
She only had 140 Health Points left.
Before the Blood Knight, Isabelle's stats were still far too fragile. Behind the gap in levels lay an enormous disparity in every aspect of their attributes.
Lu Yao scratched his head.
The Blood Knight's fatal flaw was right before him, yet he had no way to exploit it.
It was like a giant with a fatal point at the back of his head. Even if an unarmed child jumped with all his might, he could not reach the giant's neck, much less strike it.
Suddenly, Lu Yao remembered something.
[Statue of the Flayer Level 3]
A treasure created by the Flayer. It could activate the Beast Transformation Ritual, stripping living Sacrificial Offerings of their sanity, cognition, and memories through its gaze, turning them into powerful flayed beasts in exchange for the Power of Faith bestowed by the Flayer.
Could this be used?
"..."
Isabelle considered it for a while. "My lord, I can activate the statue and give it a try."
After a short rest, Isabelle charged into the castle again.
This time, she held out for around ten seconds before retreating once more.
That was because Isabelle's Health Points had fallen further, leaving her with only 63. There was no longer any room for trial and error.
However, this attempt was extremely significant.
A new negative status appeared above the Blood Knight's head: [Flayer's Curse].
A line of text appeared.
[The Statue of the Flayer has stripped the Sacrificial Offering. The Flayer grants you 100 Faith.]
Only then did Lu Yao understand. The true mechanism of the [Statue of the Flayer] was the curse of the other God behind it, the Flayer.
Sure enough, no God was easy to deal with.
However, using the Flayer's treasure against the Whistleblower's subordinate was fitting enough.
Although [Flayer's Curse] did not seem to have any effect on the Blood Knight in the short term, Lu Yao decided to step up the pressure and further contaminate the Blood Knight's mind.
Anyway, I'm not in a hurry.
Over the next week, Lu Yao went head-to-head with the Blood Knight.
Other than occasionally checking on the Garlic Tribe and Ghost City Sanilo, he focused almost all of his attention on the Salt Pool Tribe's castle.
After one patient attempt after another, Isabelle finally completed the task.
With the continuous effect of [Flayer's Curse], sustained staring at the statue meant that even the level 60 Blood Knight could not resist the Beast Transformation Ritual.
He became increasingly strange.
When fighting Isabelle, the Blood Knight would shout incomprehensible things.
"Meat, the meat on your body!"
"Woman, terrifying woman, beautiful woman, suspicious woman!"
"Hunger follows me like a shadow."
"I want to sleep, I need to sleep!"
"Desire is burning, scorching me!"
"Forest God, Whistleblower, corpses, bones, Outlander..."
The deranged Blood Knight began to distinguish neither friend nor foe. He regarded every living thing around him as an enemy.
Whether it was Isabelle or other Corruptors, anyone who came even slightly close to the Blood Knight would be attacked. Having gone completely mad, he no longer used any of his abilities and could only rely on the most primitive melee attacks.
Seeing this, Lu Yao breathed a slight sigh of relief.
All that time wasn't wasted. This boss had finally gone almost completely insane... He could no longer issue various commands to the Corruptors.
That meant the Salt Pool Tribe, with the Blood Knight at its core, was no longer a threat.
Before you continue