The Three High Priests (2-in-1)

Bai Xiaowen's heart skipped a beat. As an awakened individual with a special talent for Divine Might and the Mental Scan, he hadn't even detected the hidden enemy. How had Ahan discovered it?

Could this be the legendary danger perception of a battle-hardened expert? Ahan is amazing!

A slightly ethereal voice rang out in the hall:

"As expected of the vice-captain of the Sword of Blazing Fire, the Brave Ahan. Deceiving you is no easy feat."

"Ludwig?" Bai Xiaowen recognized the voice. He quickly conjured up an image in his mind of a polite, aristocratic... Snakefolk.

Ludwig did not appear, and his location was difficult to pinpoint from his elusive voice.

"Is it the three of you?" Bai Xiaowen asked with a smile. "The three henchmen of the Blasphemer Faction... Where's your leader, Gerold? Why isn't he here?"

"Aren't the three of us enough?" Leona's every smile and gesture seemed to draw attention. "Ludwig has been eyeing you for a while, but he waited until Mylo and I joined forces before taking action to capture you alive. To be honest, you two greenhorns wouldn't stand a chance against either of us if you were tied up. The reason all three Apostles are here is mainly to show respect to the Vice-Commander of the Sword of Blazing Fire."

Mylo said coldly, "You go deal with Ahan. I'll keep these two little guys entertained."

Ahan's expression turned serious as he said in a low voice, "Be careful, this is going to be a tough battle. Mylo is a professional warrior, very different from Alchemist like Norton. Can you handle him?"

"I have a better suggestion for this battle," Bai Xiaowen said with a smile. "Ahan, if I'm not mistaken, that guy named Ludwig is an assassin with Stealth abilities. Please keep an eye on him; as long as he doesn't show himself, you don't need to engage in combat."

"Uh..." Ahan had originally planned to take on both enemies by himself, but he was a little surprised to hear Bai Xiaowen's suggestion.

On the other side, Mylo and Leona were already laughing hysterically.

"You two, do you really think you're that strong?" Leona sneered. "I admit, the young man did quite well in the Round Table Hall, but that was only because we weren't on guard. Besides, the Corpse Monster you summoned is dead; you shouldn't be able to summon another one anytime soon, right?"

Mylo: "They're courting death."

Ignoring the enemy's taunts, Bai Xiaowen asked Ahan, "Are you willing to believe me?"

Seeing Bai Xiaowen's expression, Ahan suddenly made up his mind and nodded. "I'm willing to trust my comrade's judgment. I swear I will concentrate all my attention on that guy hiding in the shadows, and he will definitely not be able to ambush you before I fall."

"Alright, let's go." Bai Xiaowen patted Li Shuyi's shoulder, raised his hand and released another group of summoned creatures, leaving only two Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier unsummoned as backups.

A group of summoned creatures clashed violently with Mylo.

With 70 points of strength, Mylo held an overwhelming advantage among the summoned creatures. No summoned creature could remain in position when faced with Mylo's charge. Mylo's goal was simple: to break through the encirclement of summoned creatures and capture Bai Xiaowen!

However, the combined efforts of the Skeleton Champion, Rageclaw, and Kitz, along with the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier's backup, successfully held off Mylo, making every step he took difficult.

"What an amazing summoner! This is the first time I've ever seen such exquisite teamwork," Leona exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise before she chuckled. "However, even the most skilled summoner cannot escape the fate of succumbing to my dance."

The bell rang, and Leona gracefully swayed her snake-like body, beginning her dance.

Bai Xiaowen had long Insight that Leona's Bewitching Snake Dance skill would significantly reduce the hit rate of those affected, and since Bai Xiaowen was affected, it would inevitably affect the summoned creatures, triggering a chain reaction.

Therefore, Bai Xiaowen made two movements.

First, unleash Intimidation skill.

Second, the Vengeful Spirit targets Mylo, unleashing its Venomous Resentment skill to drain his mana!

The area-of-effect control of the Intimidation skill simultaneously plunged Mylo and Leona into Fear Status. Furthermore, the Vengeful Spirit's mana drain made Mylo, whose Divine Might was already low, feel an immense threat.

As soon as the Fear Status ended, Mylo immediately unleashed Surging Water Strike, a thick column of underground water gushing forth! However, Bai Xiaowen had already moved most of his summoned creatures a few steps back, out of the range of Surging Water Strike, leaving only one Rageclaw behind.

The Rageclaw was sent flying into the air, and upon landing, it suffered a stun effect; this is the power of the Surging Water Strike skill.

However, Mylo ignored the Rageclaw and charged at the Vengeful Spirit. He gripped the spear with both hands and thrust it forcefully at the Vengeful Spirit.

Swish!

The sound of something cutting through the air was incredibly sharp, but it missed its target.

Leona shrieked, "Idiot! Forget about that ghost, attack the summoner!" She suddenly made a heart shape with her hands and blew a kiss to Bai Xiaowen.

Spirit Realm Rules Message:

"Enchanting Priest Amotava Leona's combat skill: Blazing Red Lips activated! The Willpower Check..."

"Unknown factors interfered, charm detection failed!"

"Leona, the Enchanting Priest Amotava, will be stunned for 5 seconds! This effect is unaffected by any tenacity abilities."

A faint red light flashed in Bai Xiaowen's left eye, reflecting off Leona.

Leona clutched her head and screamed in agony, a sound that could shatter glass if the maze had any.

Bai Xiaowen's left eye felt hot. He pressed his throbbing eye and shouted in the Team Channel, "Shu Yi! Switch targets!"

A slender, tall figure gracefully arrived, and with a powerful yet beautiful Charge, she knocked Leona back. At the same time, Li Shuyi, shrouded in blood and flames, had already activated her strongest form, unleashing a rapid series of thrusts with her twin swords.

It should be noted that Li Shuyi had been using summoned creatures as cover to stack 10 layers of double passives on Mylo. The moment Bai Xiaowen shouted to switch targets, she used the Golden Longsword's Blood Drain skill on Mylo.

Li Shuyi's Life Value was almost full at this moment. She used Blood Drain mainly for the additional effect of this weapon skill: Strength Drain!

Mylo had 10 points of strength drained, while Li Shuyi's strength increased by 10 points. At this moment, the theoretical damage of her sword thrust had reached a maximum of 63 points! This does not even include the fire damage added by the Demonfire Dance!

Under the 5-second stun, Leona was unable to dodge the attack and could only rely on her physical constitution to withstand it. Her constitution was indeed not weak, with a natural 40 points of armor, which reduced the maximum damage of Li Shuyi's single attack to just over 30 points. However, she couldn't withstand Li Shuyi's extremely fast attack speed. The blood brought up by the high-speed thrusting of her twin swords turned into a condensed blood mist under the vaporizing flames and demonic power of the Demonfire Dance!

It's worth noting that Li Shuyi recently acquired the Gold Equipment [Matriarch's Bracer], which increases melee attack speed by an additional 20%! For Li Shuyi, who already has a fast attack speed, this equipment is like adding wings to a tiger, further enhancing her damage output during the duration of the Demonfire Dance.

At this moment, Mylo, feeling his Divine Might rapidly draining away, drew a spear from Bai Xiaowen and hurled it with all his might!

A deep, whistling sound rang out. The throw was incredibly fast; from the moment Mylo made his charging and throwing motion, Bai Xiaowen had no room to dodge!

However, Bai Xiaowen was prepared for this move. He raised his hand and summoned a Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier and shieldman, who faithfully raised his iron shield and stood in front of Bai Xiaowen.

Clang!

With a muffled thud, the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier's body flew backward, his Life Value reaching zero in mid-air, and he exploded into countless bone fragments! However, Bai Xiaowen had achieved his goal; he did not suffer the terrible damage and knockback from the War-Spear Throw.

While using Targeted Airdrop to block the opponent's throwing skills, Bai Xiaowen also multitasked, controlling summoned creatures to continuously inflict wounds on Mylo, reducing his Life Value.

Just as the 5-second stun on Enchantress Leona was about to end, the stun effect caused by the Surging Water Strike on Wrath Rageclaw ended first. Bai Xiaowen immediately focused on controlling Rageclaw, ignoring Mylo, and after howling to the sky, turned around and pounced on Leona, knocking Leona to the ground with the last 0.5 seconds of the stun time remaining!

Howl and Suppression are the two most important skills of Rageclaw.

All friendly units, including Ahan, were covered in a layer of bloody light, increasing their attack power and attack speed by 20%!

Bai Xiaowen activated Rapid Fire, locking onto the Enchantress Leona. Bullets rained down relentlessly, occasionally triggering the Blood Essence Stone's Killing Thirst skill, which unleashed a furious phantom attack from Absolon. Each appearance of Absolun took away 10% of Leona's Life Value, without any reduction.

Mylo roared and charged at Bai Xiaowen, but the next second, he fell into a dazed state—his Divine Might had been drained by the Vengeful Spirit to below 2 points.

With Mylo's original 22 points of Divine Might, he wouldn't have been completely drained by the Vengeful Spirit. However, Mylo's consecutive use of the Surging Water Strike and War-Spear Throw skills consumed nearly half of his Divine Might! The remaining Divine Might was naturally insufficient to withstand the relentless draining power of the Venomous Resentment Spirit skill, and he was also stunned for 3 seconds.

Of course, with Mylo's Abyssal Infusion LV2 skill saving throw, the stun time would be reduced to 1.8 seconds, but that was enough. The Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier, Kitz and Skeleton Champion, and other creatures regrouped, ensuring that Mylo could not Ambush Bai Xiaowen after he woke up.

It's not that these summoned creatures can stop Mylo, whose strength is as high as 60 (10 of his strength was absorbed by Li Shuyi for 30 seconds). They only have a delaying effect, which can slightly reduce Mylo's pursuit speed.

Bai Xiaowen also had the 40% movement speed bonus from the S-Tier item "Marching Stratagems," making him faster than Mylo even while fighting and retreating. Without Divine Might to use his dash skill, Mylo couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes.

Meanwhile, under the combined fire of Li Shuyi, Rageclaw, Bone Warlock, Shadow Assassin, and Bai Xiaowen, the Enchantress Leona's Life Value was rapidly declining.

As soon as the Suppression time of the Rageclaw ended, Bai Xiaowen immediately followed up with the Talisman Switching - the control of the Heart-Confounding Talisman. A beam of yellow Spell Talisman light shot out, stunning Leona once again.

Bai Xiaowen targeted Leona in this way because he had Insight Leona's skill: if Leona performed the Bewitching Snake Dance, everyone's attack hit rate would drop by half, greatly reducing their output!

This is unacceptable for a team that primarily relies on melee combat.

Therefore, Bai Xiaowen preferred to put aside the more powerful Mylo first, in order to eliminate the threat posed by Leona. Of course, as for Mylo, Bai Xiaowen had already manipulated the Vengeful Spirit spirit to drain his Divine Might, minimizing his explosive damage output.

Anyone who has played LOL/DOTA knows that a melee DPS character who can't use skills is basically useless in team fights.

Moreover, with Ahan keeping Ludwig in the shadows in check, Bai Xiaowen can focus all her efforts on the two bosses in front of her without worrying about being stabbed in the back. Ahan's addition shows that the Speculation affix that reduces the difficulty of the main quest by 50% has indeed played its role.

As the Enchantress Leona's Life Value plummeted to rock bottom, and the Faith Warrior Mylo was still unable to get close to Bai Xiaowen, Ludwig, who was hiding in the shadows, finally couldn't hold back any longer.

A shadow appeared behind Li Shuyi, followed by a flash of cold light that pierced towards Li Shuyi's back.

Ludwig was cunning. Seeing that Ahan was always standing next to Bai Xiaowen, he chose Li Shuyi as his first target for a sneak attack.

Spirit Realm Rules Message:

"Shadow Priest Amotava Ludwig's combat skill: Backstab activated, damage from attacks from behind is doubled."

"Shadow Priest Amotava Ludwig's passive skill: Ambush Trigger - The first attack after emerging from shadow form is guaranteed to Critical Hit."

Ahan gripped his heavy sword tightly, his back bent low, his body taut like a drawn bow. The instant the shadow appeared, he sensed danger with his keen combat instincts, leaping out like a spring and delivering a powerful, mid-air leaping slash, his heavy sword aimed at Ludwig's head.

If Ludwig continues to attack Li Shuyi, he will inevitably be struck by Ahan's long-prepared sword. With the damage bonus from Ahan's "Brute Force" skill for two-handed weapons, and the Overwhelming Crush effect brought by high strength, Ludwig will be either killed or crippled, losing his ability to fight.

Of course, Li Shuyi didn't choose to take the risk. She directly activated the "Shadowless Slash" skill, instantly Incarnation several phantoms that swept across the battlefield, becoming an "unselectable" target. Even if Ludwig chose to trade blows, he wouldn't be able to hit her.

Clang!

After a Pure Note metallic clang, Ludwig's figure solidified from the shadows. He still didn't choose to attack Li Shuyi, but hastily raised his weapon to Parry Ahan's heavy blow. The difference in strength almost paralyzed half of his body, causing him to stagger backward and suffer considerable recoil damage.