Death Knight Kael (2-in-1)

After marveling at Richard's background, the two returned to the main topic.

"Xiao Wen, in this environment Yin-Energy Envelopment, my role is too insignificant. I can only watch as you command the summoned creatures in battle all by yourself." Li Shuyi with some guilt.

In a squad, if an Awakened One is completely useless during a mission, it means they are dragging the team down—because the difficulty and rewards of a mission are assessed based on the overall strength of the Awakened One squad, including Li Shuyi's contribution.

Bai Xiaowen smiled and said, "It's alright, just conserve your physical and Divine Might. I have a feeling that you'll have your moment to shine in this underground mausoleum."

After a pause, Bai Xiaowen said, "The problem now is how we get to Bright Pass. The enemy has a large number of people and superior strength, and they also have Melda as their guide. We are unfamiliar with the terrain, so we are bound to suffer losses."

"Xiao Wen, those Boss Tier are all living beings, so how do they fight in an environment of yin energy? Is this mission impossible for awakened individuals who don't have undead summoning creatures?" Li Shuyi suddenly thought of this question.

Bai Xiaowen shook his head. "There's more than one way to complete a mission than through direct combat. If other awakened individuals receive similar missions, they might be able to complete them without alerting the monsters or triggering combat by using invisibility, breath-holding, or other methods... Of course, the final mission evaluation given by the Spirit Realm Rules will be lowered. Also, even without the ability to become invisible, a head-on confrontation doesn't necessarily mean there's no chance of victory."

Bai Xiaowen continued to explain, "The problem lies with those Leader Tier powerhouses. They fought their way to the second level of the underground mausoleum, and when they intercepted us, they were all in perfect condition. This indicates that there is some way to circumvent the Yin-Energy Envelopment environment of the Grand Mausoleum... This method should be obtained from Dean Melda."

Li Shuyi nodded in agreement, then said, "According to what you've said, the normal mission route is to kill Melda and obtain a way to avoid the Yin-Energy Envelopment, but the false Richard has become a variable."

Suddenly, Delifa's voice came from the Black Soul Stone:

"Master, I have some information here that you might find useful."

"The analysis of Marcus's memory fragments was successful?" Bai Xiaowen asked with some surprise. In such a high-difficulty instance, the role of intelligence should not be underestimated.

"Only the first part was analyzed," Delifa said.

Tell me about it.

"It's about the structure of this mausoleum, including the location of the Bright Pass, which the owner wanted to know."

"Excellent!" Bai Xiaowen hugged Li Shuyi and kissed her, laughing, "We're lucky. With the topographical map of the mausoleum, we can plan our route. I was worried about how to reach Bright Pass before Melda and her group, but now that we have the map, our chances have greatly increased."

Bai Xiaowen immediately used Telepathy to have Delifa Memory Sharing of the topographical map with him. Afterwards, Delifa continued to analyze the remaining fragments of Marcus's memory.

After sharing her memories of the mausoleum's structure, Bai Xiaowen finally gained a deeper understanding of this Grand Mausoleum.

The construction of this mausoleum was very meticulous; it was itself a colossal Grand Magic Array! These seemingly complex rooms were also carefully designed, mainly to house the rune nodes of the Grand Magic Array.

The Grand Magic Array is composed of many nodes, most of which are secondary nodes, and there are also primary nodes.

The room corresponding to the main node has extremely strong sealing energy, which the yin energy permeating the mausoleum cannot cover. The rooms surrounding the main node also have weaker yin energy due to the radiation of the main node's sealing energy.

"No wonder Melda and the others were able to reach the second level unscathed. It turns out they followed the route connecting the main node rooms, killed a group of monsters, and then entered the next main node room to recover their strength before setting off again..." Bai Xiaowen said thoughtfully.

Li Shuyi said excitedly, "We have a roadmap, so we can do it this way too."

Bai Xiaowen shook his head and smiled, "No, if we want to reach the Bright Pass first, we must make full use of our strengths... Undead summoned creatures don't need rest, that's our advantage. I will try to plan a path with fewer wandering monsters based on Marcus's memory."

Bai Xiaowen's Super Brain quickly found a route after a brief search.

"Let's go, the Bright Pass is on this level. The route I found is basically the shortest route to the Bright Pass. We'll pass through a main node room along the way, but we'll also encounter one or two powerful Undead Species Boss Tier," Bai Xiaowen said.

The two continued forward, this time without taking detours, making their progress much faster. Moreover, thanks to Bai Xiaowen sharing Marcus's memories, they were able to avoid areas where monsters were densely concentrated.

There will still be a few monsters along the way, but they pose no threat to Bai Xiaowen.

"The main node room is just ahead. Can you feel the yin energy weakening here?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

"Hmm, it's not so cold anymore," Li Shuyi said.

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble.

Bai Xiaowen glanced at the Doom Bracelet; it displayed a serious face. A chill ran down his spine, and he whispered, "Be careful! Judging by this, Boss Tier might be appearing."

A series of chaotic footsteps sounded, and a group of undead creatures rushed in through a side door.

This was a group of Terror Knight, riding Skeleton Warhorse, clad in full armor, with an inextinguishable Soul Fire flickering in the eyes of both the knights and their horses.

Bai Xiaowen had encountered the Terror Knight more than once. Elite Tier individuals possessed skills such as Charge, Double Strike, and Enslavement. Combined with the speed advantage of their warhorses, they were considered very strong Elite Tier individuals.

However, these Elite Tier Terror Knight alone shouldn't be enough to trigger the Doom Bracelet to issue a "moderate threat" warning.

Bai Xiaowen's question was then answered. After the Elite Terror Knight lined up, they parted and emerged from a side room, revealing another powerful figure clad in black armor, riding Undead Warhorse.

"You living person... how dare you enter my territory while breathing life!"

The voice was peculiar; it had a chilling, bone-deep feel to it.

"As expected, it's the Boss Tier." Bai Xiaowen had already figured out the pattern: in this Grand Mausoleum, the Elite Tier and Standard Template undead creatures had no intelligence whatsoever; only the Boss Tier possessed wisdom. He casually cast his Insight skill.

[Alex Kyle (Level 8 Boss Tier)]

[Race: Undead Species / Corpse Demonfolk]

[Class: Death Knight]

[Attributes: Strength 80, Agility 45, Constitution 47, Spirit 24]

[Skill 1: Legion Charge: Kyle initiates a charge, entering a state of Super Armor, immune to any forced displacement effects and control skills of priority (7) or lower, and dealing 200% physical damage. Kyle's allies will gain Super Armor state of the corresponding priority when following Kyle's charge.]

[Skill 2: Blood Strike: Kyle swings her greatsword to attack enemies, dealing heavy physical damage and restoring 30% of her lost Life Value.]

[Skill 3: Desecration: Kyle creates a spreading wasteland with death energy; enemies standing on the wasteland will continuously suffer shadow damage.]

[Skill 4: Withering Coil: Kyle fires a ball of death energy, dealing moderate shadow damage to living beings. If the target is an undead creature, it will not deal damage but will instead heal it for an equal amount of Life Value. Cannot be cast on self.]

[Skill 5: Death God's Breath LV2: Omitted.]

"Let's face them head-on. They're cavalry; there's no point in running away," Bai Xiaowen said to Li Shuyi after sharing the information.

This Death Knight named Alex Kyle is far stronger than a regular level 8 Boss Tier in terms of attributes, and should be considered Rare Boss. While possessing a terrifying strength of 80 points, this guy's agility and constitution are also quite high, both approaching 50 points.

Combined with the damage reduction from that plate armor, plus the 400 Life Value from the LV2 Boss Tier skill, and a bunch of Terror Knight minions...

This Death Knight was just as troublesome as the Vampire Overlord Marcus encountered on the first floor.

Bai Xiaowen ordered the summoned creatures to scatter, Butcher stood at the very front without hesitation.

Fortunately, although the room was large, it was still too small to be used as a battlefield for cavalry charges. These undead cavalry could not fully utilize their terrifying advantage of long-distance charges, and the Butcher, with his large size, could still fight them head-on.

"Cavalry Assault!"

Unlike the Vampire Overlord, Death Knight Kael is the type who prefers action to words, issuing his orders immediately after a brief opening statement.

Tap tap tap...

The sound of hooves rang out, Kyle led a dozen or so Terror Knight in Legion Charge!

A red light enveloped Kyle's armor, quickly extending to every knight behind him! All the knights entered a state where they could not be forcibly moved or controlled!

Boom!

Kyle crashed head-on into the Butcher.

The Butcher's massive body was forced back several steps by the impact, its fat jiggling wildly! Its Life Value dropped by a staggering three hundred!

This was the first time Bai Xiaowen had ever seen Butcher with three pieces of gear get beaten so badly.

This is normal, Legion Charge already deals 200% additional physical damage. Moreover, when the damage takes effect, the Butcher's Rot effect has not yet affected Kyle, so the powerful damage reduction provided by the three-piece set cannot be utilized.

If the Butcher hadn't had decent armor and a +6 damage reduction from his upper armor, that collision might have taken away half his health.

The charge of the other Terror Knight also proved effective. Although they weren't as insane as Kyle's 200% damage bonus, they were still incredibly powerful. In an instant, summoned creatures such as Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier and Shadow Assassin were knocked back or even launched into the air, their Life Value rapidly decreasing.

However, Bai Xiaowen's summoned creatures formed a defensive line that blocked Kyle's cavalry charge, thus seizing the opportunity to win the battle.

With a whoosh, the Butcher unleashed a purplish-black mist that enveloped Kyle and several nearby Terror Knight! This not only inflicted poison damage but also reduced the metal cans' physical and magical resistances, especially their physical armor!

Bai Xiaowen no longer cared about hiding his trump card. He directly aimed his gun and fired a bullet with a 100% Critical Hit rate.

Despite being a tough guy, Kyle was surprisingly agile. He managed to lurch off his horse, and the bullet that was originally aimed at his forehead struck his shoulder instead.

Blood splatters! The Penetration Effect, critical damage boost, and Blood Essence Stone passive all trigger together.

Kyle's Life Value plummeted, and he let out a beast-like roar! A ripple spread rapidly beneath his feet, and the ground was quickly covered with a layer of gray mist, resembling a swamp.

Combat skill - Desecration.

The Butcher who is closest to the target is the first to be affected, constantly suffering shadow damage, plus the self-damage from the rot effect, Life Value to drop rapidly.

Moreover, the desolate area formed by this Desecration is constantly expanding.

Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes, raised his hand and summoned Vengeful Spirit, then fired a Vengeful Venomous Resentment skill at Kyle! With only 24 points of spirit, Kyle was hit without any doubt, and his Divine Might was rapidly drained.

"He's already used two combat skills, and his Divine Might must have dropped by nearly half! This Venomous Resentment drain is meant to prevent him from using the remaining skills!"

Death Knight Kael's Legion Charge and Desecration abilities are powerful, his Blood Strike ability is even more overpowered. Not only does it deal high damage, but it also heals him, and the lower his health is, the more health he recovers! This kind of enhanced physical attack usually has a very short cooldown. If Kyle were to land two Blood Strike and heal several hundred health points, Bai Xiaowen's side would suffer even greater losses.

In addition, there is the Withering Coil skill, which is similar to a spell, and is both offensive and defensive. It can also heal friendly undead, so it should not be ignored.

Kyle ignored the Vengeful Spirit; his knightly conviction was to slay any enemy who stood in his way until they fell. He raised his greatsword, unleashed a thunderous roar, and slashed at the Butcher with Blood Strike.

The Butcher's Life Value dropped again. Despite his strong damage reduction, Kyle, with 80 points of strength, wielded a terrifying greatsword, and the Butcher couldn't withstand it anymore.

Fortunately, Kyle hadn't lost much Life Value when he unleashed the Blood Strike, and the strike only restored a few dozen health points.

Using skills further depleted Kyle's Divine Might. After landing two basic attacks on the Butcher, Kyle's Divine Might was finally drained by the Vengeful Spirit (below 2 points), plunging her into Stunned Status that theoretically lasted for 8 seconds! After resilience reduction, the remaining control time was... 4.8 seconds.

Bai Xiaowen raised his gun and fired, but two Terror Knight rushed over from the side, one on the left and one on the right, to shield the Stunned Status Kyle from ranged attacks!

"Do undead people also have this kind of camaraderie...?" Bai Xiaowen sighed slightly. "Fortunately, Kyle has no Divine Might left and can't unleash the final Withering Coil. He's basically just a super minion now, and even if he wakes up, he won't be of much use."

During the nearly 5-second stun, the two Terror Knight who shielded Kyle from the bullets were reduced to low health. Kyle herself was also Life Value reduced by being surrounded and attacked by summoned creatures such as the Butcher and Skeleton Champion.

Just a second before Kyle woke up, Bai Xiaowen manipulated the Butcher to raise the Giant Serpent Scepter and unleash Crushing Strike!