Mobent's Bane in Hand

The fighting in the north had become more than just intense.

Two Rare Elite Undead monsters were charging forward with a large horde of skeletons, and the Night Watch had suffered heavy casualties.

"Hold the line! Everyone, stay calm! Dawn is almost here. If we can just hold out through this next wave, we'll be saved!"

Althea Eberlock was screaming herself hoarse, her heart bleeding. Nearly half of the Night Watch had already fallen, while the number of skeleton soldiers across from them kept growing. Every nearby graveyard had become their barracks, with skeletons crawling out of their tombs one by one to join the attackers.

Mixed in among them were some nonhuman skeletons, such as wolf skeletons, vulture skeletons, and even ogre skeletons. They crawled out of the wastelands, ruins, and ditches of Duskwood, then became Undead soldiers in the blink of an eye.

But even so, the Night Watch soldiers still hadn't given up. They kept fighting. They wouldn't surrender, because they were waiting for someone—the person who had given them confidence and courage, and hope that they could survive.

Sun Busong jolted awake. He immediately raised the axe in his hands before his chest and took up a Defensive Stance. He had never actually practiced any Defense Talent skills, but they were engraved in his mind, and he had used them instinctively.

When he saw Humar right beside him and the others in the defensive position, he finally came to his senses. He frowned, then turned to the Elite Priest with the highest level among them and asked, "How long was I asleep? How's the fighting? Has Usop come back?"

"Sir." The level 38 Elite Priest had wanted to apologize to him. The fighting in the north had reached the point where the man couldn't afford to sleep any longer, and the priest had woken him with a skill. But after reconsidering, he realized this wasn't the time to worry about apologies. If the man didn't go over soon, the northern defenses would fall.

"You were asleep for fifteen minutes. It's still eighty minutes until dawn. Your Paladin hasn't returned yet. Things are bad in the north. The Night Watch commander has sent two groups to fetch you, but they couldn't wake you."

"What?!"

Sun Busong leaped out of bed. Anger on his face, he scolded the priest, "Why didn't you wake me? What were you all doing? If anything happens over there, I'll hold you responsible!"

Then he quickly left the defensive position and rushed north.

A Warrior in his twenties quietly asked the priest, "Sir, why didn't you explain? It's not a good thing to let that man misunderstand you."

The priest shook his head and smiled faintly, his eyes fixed on the direction Sun Busong had gone. "What's there to explain? Once the town is safe, everything else is trivial. Besides, do you really think that man would make trouble for me over something so small?"

"Humar, when you see those two Undead Elites, just attack either one of them. Keep it occupied. Once I've killed the other one, I'll come help you!"

Sun Busong gave Humar instructions as he ran, not caring whether it understood him.

"Roar!"

"Look! The Imperial Guard is here! The man with the big lion is here! Woo!"

Someone with sharp eyes had spotted Sun Busong, and the atmosphere in the defensive position changed instantly!

"Hahaha! I knew the lord would come back! We're saved!"

"Why does the lord always wait until we're on the brink of collapse before coming back?"

"You scum over there! Our reinforcements are here. Just wait until you're hacked to pieces!"

"Help me up! I want to fight alongside the lord! I can still fight!"

"You're fucking blind, and you still want to fight?"

Sun Busong knew he had already wasted too much time, and the Night Watch soldiers had paid for every minute with their lives. He knew he had been wrong to scold the priest. They had only wanted to let him rest a little longer; they had meant well.

He felt that he was still too weak. He had to become stronger!

To reach the battlefield as quickly as possible, Sun Busong drank a potion that increased his Movement Speed.

The northern defensive point lay just ahead. The distant flames of battle seemed to scorch the pitch-black night. The Night Watch was desperately holding back the enemies, resisting the ranks of stark-white skeletons that stood out so clearly in the dark.

"Make way for the lord!"

"Come on, lord! Take down those piles of bones!"

"Lord! Avenge my brother! They killed him! Waaaah!"

When the defenders saw Sun Busong sprinting toward them from afar, they quickly cleared a path for him.

Skeleton Commander Fistom, level 32 Rare Elite.

Ghoul Duke Marasom, level 31 Rare Elite.

Sun Busong spotted the two Undead monsters at a glance. They were clearly much taller than the other skeletons. Commander Althea and three other Elite Warriors with Defense Talents were currently holding them back, keeping them from advancing.

Both of these Scourge monsters were physical attackers. Thankfully, they were physical attackers; otherwise, the Night Watch would have suffered even heavier casualties during the ten-odd minutes Sun Busong had slept.

"Althea, you and the others deal with the skeleton soldiers. I'll take these two. Have all the badly wounded retreat. Don't let them die for nothing!" Sun Busong opened with a Taunt on the level 32 Skeleton Commander Fistom, the most effective skill the Warrior Class had for drawing aggro.

Taunt

30-yard range

Instant cast; 60-second cooldown

Requires Defensive Stance

Taunts the target, making it attack you. Has no effect on a target that is already attacking you.

The Skeleton Commander immediately switched its target to Sun Busong. Since Sun Busong's Class Advancement Trial had been Nightmare-level, he had mastered all three Warrior Class specializations. He no longer needed to deliberately switch between Battle Stance and Defensive Stance; he could use Defense Talent skills directly with a pair of axes.

However, some defensive skills required a shield to be equipped, so he couldn't use those yet.

Seeing the man in front of her take over the Undead Silver Elite's aggro flawlessly, Althea finally felt some of the tension leave her body.

She disengaged from combat and asked Sun Busong with some concern, "What about the other one? Can you hold them both by yourself?"

"Give that one to Humar!"

He tilted his head toward Humar, then fixed his gaze on the Ghoul Silver Elite Duke Marasom and gave Humar a meaningful look.

"Humar! Get it!"

"Roar!"

Humar let out a lion's roar and pounced at the level 31 mini-boss.

Once Humar took over the boss, the other Warriors were free to start attacking the ordinary skeleton soldiers around them.

"Give me fifteen minutes!" Sun Busong was confident. After its advancement, Humar had greater Defense, more health, and higher Attack Power than either of these two bosses. The Night Watch also had Priests and other healers, so it was practically impossible for them to kill Humar.

"Your job now is to help everyone else kill the skeletons, then send some people to scout the west. I think that damned Undead Warlock, Mobent Fell, is about to make his move."

Sun Busong dodged a slash from Skeleton Commander Fistom, then continued, "I'll kill these two as quickly as I can. But if Mobent Fell attacks from the west, I'll have to go support them. You'll be in charge here then!"

"Don't worry. I know what to do." Sun Busong was like an anchor for her. As long as he was there, no obstacle was impossible to overcome.

Armor Break Attack

Melee range

Instant cast; 60-second cooldown

Requires a melee weapon

Breaks the target's armor. Each Armor Break Attack reduces its Armor Value by 4% and generates a large amount of threat. Greater Attack Power generates greater threat. Stacks up to 5 times and lasts until manually canceled.

Skeleton Commander Fistom wore a suit of armor with tremendous defensive power, greatly reducing Sun Busong's damage. Against a defensive boss like this, he had to stack Armor Break Attack.

Five minutes later, the boss had five stacks of Armor Break, reducing its Defense by 20%. Sun Busong had dealt more than eight thousand damage during those five minutes, and the boss had only about two-thirds of its health left.

"Humar, come over! Let's take this one down first!"

"Roar!"

Humar, who was of Green quality, really could understand him. A black streak of lightning suddenly pounced on Skeleton Commander Fistom from behind and began tearing into it, while Sun Busong increased his damage from the front.

The level 31 Ghoul Silver Elite Duke Marasom was targeting Humar. When it saw its target turn away to attack someone else, it flew into a rage. Humar was in trouble: it had been facing the Ghoul head-on, but now, as it helped its master kill the other boss, the Ghoul attacked it from behind.

Sun Busong noticed, but he didn't draw the Ghoul's aggro. The reason was simple: he didn't want to get hurt. He didn't want to feel pain.

He recovered quickly whenever he was injured, but no matter how strong his recovery was, it couldn't compare to Humar's absurd healing ability. These two battles had revealed a bug to him: no matter how badly Humar was injured, as long as it didn't die, it would fully recover its health, injuries, and condition within five minutes of combat ending. It was practically a perpetual-motion battle machine!

So all he had to do was keep Humar alive. He still needed to save his strength for the fight against the Undead Warlock Mobent Fell.

"You two healers, keep Humar's health up. Don't let it die. Don't worry about my health!"

Sun Busong called out to the two healers nearby, telling them to look after Humar. Then he would have to speed up the kill.

Skills like Slam, Heroic Strike, and Rend were all used on the Skeleton Commander. To conserve his strength, Sun Busong used the versions of those skills that cost the least stamina. Humar was now the main damage dealer.

Two more minutes passed, and the Skeleton Commander's health dropped below 20%.

Execute! Then Death Wish!

Death Wish

Instant cast; 6-minute cooldown

Activates a frenzied state, increasing your physical damage by 20%, but also increasing the damage you take from all attacks by 5%. Lasts 30 seconds.

He killed the Skeleton Commander in ten seconds, then used Intercept to charge at the Ghoul attacking Humar from behind. By the time the skill's duration ended, the Ghoul's health had dropped to 40%.

Just as Sun Busong was preparing to spend a great deal of stamina to kill the Ghoul, Usop's voice rang out.

"Captain! We found the book! Hahaha, that bastard is finished!"

Usop rode toward them from afar on his War Horse, laughing. All the skeleton soldiers in the horse's path were smashed into bone fragments. Paladins and Priests had a natural advantage against Undead monsters.

Usop jumped off his War Horse and unleashed two Ultimate Skills on the Ghoul boss: Exorcism! Divine Fury! They were Paladin skills used to fight Undead and demons.

Sun Busong had specially crafted all of Usop's equipment. Usop was a Holy Knight, but he didn't have the ability to take on a Nightmare-level trial like Sun Busong. He only had one Paladin Talent, but his skills were extremely effective against Undead monsters. After two strikes, the boss's health had fallen to 20%! It was ready to be Executed!

After killing the two Silver Elite Undead monsters, Sun Busong asked Usop about Mobent's Bane while riding west toward the defensive point.

Mobent's Bane was actually a book containing a special incantation. Only a Holy Light user could use it. Once cast, it would dispel Mobent Fell's defensive barrier for 30 seconds.

During those thirty seconds, anyone could damage Mobent Fell. Afterward, his defensive barrier would reappear, and the incantation couldn't be used again for five minutes!

"Do you know how much health Mobent Fell has?" Sun Busong could already see the fires at the western defensive point.

"I'm not sure, but it should be at least 200,000!" Usop could only give a rough estimate, but even that was enough to make their blood run cold.

Undead Warlocks were Casters, and their magic attacks would deal direct damage to Sun Busong. He was a Plate Armor wearer with strong defenses, but those only helped against physical attackers.

But now he had to face an Undead Warlock, and he didn't have a single piece of magic-resistant gear!

"I wonder if that bastard's attacks hurt."

Usop asked cautiously, "Captain, the Night Watch has several Elite Warriors over level 40 with Defense Talents. They should be able to tank him for a while, right? Then we can focus on attacking."

"Hm?"

Sun Busong glanced back at Usop. He knew exactly what Usop was trying to say.

"No! Their health is under two thousand. If Mobent Fell's magic attacks are strong, they won't even withstand two hits. If the healers don't react in time, they'll die! Don't bring this up again."

Hearing his captain speak with a frown, Usop moved his lips but said nothing more. He knew his captain's temperament. Since they couldn't count on anyone else, they would have to rely on themselves!