Chapter 53: The Powerful Death Knight

The light inside the church was suffocatingly dim.

A few streaks of pale moonlight pierced through the shattered stained-glass windows, illuminating the dancing motes of dust in the air.

The swirling particles looked like the restless breath of ancient spirits, trapped within the hallowed, decaying walls.

The air was thick with a mingled scent of rot and a deep chill, laced with an indescribable majesty that belonged only to the long-dead.

Bang!

The thunderous boom of the heavy wooden doors slamming shut echoed through the cavernous hall.

The sound momentarily cut off the unholy shrieks from outside, but in doing so, it also awakened a far more terrifying presence deep within the church’s heart.

“Sister, are you feeling any better?” Selene asked, her voice tight with anxiety.

She held Celeste tightly, quickly stuffing a hard, compressed biscuit into her hand.

“Hurry, eat something to recover your strength!” The gesture jostled Celeste’s memory, reminding her that she had far better options available in the system shop.

With a single thought, a golden, crispy potato pancake materialized in her palm, its savory aroma a stark contrast to the musty air.

[Mondstadt Hash Brown (System Special Edition)] [Effect: Consuming this restores a total of 30% Stamina and Mental Power continuously over 30 seconds.

Taste is excellent, certified by the Anemo Archon (a certain someone)!] Celeste was in no mood to savor the delicacy.

She shoved the entire hash brown into her mouth, swallowing it in a few desperate bites.

A warm current instantly exploded from her stomach, surging through her limbs like a flash flood of vitality.

The deep exhaustion and bone-deep weakness that had plagued her began to recede with astonishing speed.

Control returned to her body; her head stopped spinning, her vision cleared, and the trembling in her legs finally ceased.

Although the cooldown timer preventing her from using another character card was still agonizingly long, she could at least fight on her own now.

“I’m alive again…” she breathed, letting out a long, shuddering sigh of relief.

Just as she began to feel human again, the familiar chime of the system rang in her mind.

[Ding!

Detected that the Host used the [Venti Trial Card] for the first time to unleash the ultimate move ‘Wind God’s Ode'(albeit at the smallest yield), showing a glimpse of the Anemo Archon’s style.

Affinity with the wind element has increased.

Base Agility permanently +20!]’Oh?

A blessing in disguise?’ A flicker of joy sparked in Celeste’s heart, but the very next notification caused it to detonate into pure rage.

[Ding!

Detected that the Host’s behavioral pattern this time (turning the tide, leading the charge) is severely inconsistent with the core characteristics of the character card “Venti”: “slacking off” and “goofing around”.

No additional reward evaluation will be given for this performance.] [We hope the Host will continue to work hard, deeply comprehend the essence of “slacking off,” and strive to demonstrate the true style of “freedom” (lying flat) next time!] Celeste: “???” She was so furious she almost threw up the hash brown she had just eaten.

‘Slacking off, my foot!’she roared silently, her teeth grinding together.’If I hadn’t led the charge, I would’ve already become the undead’s afternoon tea!

And I almost forgot that the infuriating [Overtones] skill was given to me by you, you damn busker!

No wonder it’s so unreliable!

And what was with that ridiculous PV animation?!'[Ding!

Friendly reminder: All character cards with ultimate move PVs will display the corresponding PV above the user’s head when the ultimate is released, spreading beauty and love to the world!]’I don’t believe a word of your corporate PR bullshit!’ “Sister?

Why does your face look even worse than before?” Selene noticed her sister’s expression twist into a mask of fury and asked with renewed worry.

“Did the food not work well?” “It’s…

nothing…” Celeste squeezed the words through her teeth.

“Just got pissed off by someone who doesn’t do their damn job.” While she was seething at the system, a collective gasp rippled through the rest of the group.

Every gaze was riveted to the scene at the very back of the church.

There, at the far end of the hall, sat a massive coffin forged from pure black metal, resting at the foot of a damaged, monolithic statue.

A towering figure clad in night-black heavy armor knelt before it on one knee, its back to them, seemingly in the middle of some ancient, silent ritual.

A Death Knight.

The commotion of them bursting through the doors had, after all, disturbed it.

The tall figure rose slowly, its joints emitting a grating, teeth-grinding shriek of metal on metal.

Then, it turned.

From the dark slits of its T-shaped helm, two points of pale, ethereal soul-fire suddenly flared to life.

In an instant, they locked onto every living soul huddled at the church entrance.

Hum—!

A cold, murderous intent, a hundred times more concentrated than the horde outside, swept over them like a bursting dam.

It was a tangible force, a wave of invisible blades that scraped across everyone’s skin, raising goosebumps and chilling them to the bone.

The temperature inside the church plummeted, and a visible layer of frost began to creep across the stone walls.

“Gulp.” In the dead silence, someone swallowed, the sound unnaturally loud.

To make matters even more suffocating, the shadows beside the Death Knight writhed and coalesced.

A tall, skeletal Undead Warhorse appeared from the gloom, stepping out with a silent, eerie grace.

Ghostly blue flames burned in its hollow eye sockets.

With every step of its hooves, it left an icy, crystalline mark on the hard stone tiles, its posture still retaining a hint of the elegance it possessed in life as a noble’s mount.

[Death Knight · Lord · Lv.???] [Undead Warhorse · Elite · Lv.30] “A level 30 elite…

and a boss whose level we can’t even see…” Zhao Shihao’s voice was dry, cracking with disbelief.

“How the hell are we supposed to fight this?” “How do we fight?

We fight with our lives!” Wang Lei roared, having already raised his heavy shield.

“Front line, hold the line!

Back row, look for an opening!” Before he could even finish his sentence, the Death Knight moved.

There was no charge, no roar.

It simply took a single step forward, and its figure blurred, reappearing in front of the party as if it had teleported.

The greatsword in its hand, wreathed in ghostly blue runes, shrieked through the air as it swept across in a devastating arc, aimed directly at the waists of Wang Lei and Selene in the front!

“Immovable as a Mountain!” “Holy Light’s Protection!” An earth-yellow glow and a brilliant surge of Holy Light erupted simultaneously, reinforcing the two shields just as the blow landed.

CLANG—!!!

A deafening, metallic boom echoed through the church, powerful enough to make their ears ring.

Wang Lei and Selene let out muffled groans, the stone tiles beneath their feet cracking and splintering under the immense force.

But they gritted their teeth, muscles straining, and held firm against the impossibly heavy blow.

“We blocked it!” Selene shouted, a note of surprised triumph in her voice.

Though her arms were numb from the shock, they had actually caught the attack.

“Don’t get distracted!” Wang Lei yelled back, his face grim.

“This thing’s strength is monstrous!

We won’t be able to hold on for long!” Taking advantage of the brief moment the two tanks had bought them, Zhao Shihao and Jiang Xue immediately began to chant.

“Taste this!” Zhao Shihao waved his staff, and a compressed, explosive fireball whistled through the air.

The Death Knight didn’t even turn around.

It simply raised its left gauntlet.

A shimmering green energy shield materialized out of thin air, and the fireball struck it without causing so much as a ripple, vanishing like a stone dropped into a bottomless ocean.

Jiang Xue’s Frost Ray followed a split second later, only to meet the same fate, dissipating into nothingness against the impenetrable barrier.

The Order Mage’s slowing curse was likewise swallowed without a trace.

“Damn it!

It’s an Anti-Magic Shield!” Zhao Shihao cursed, his face paling.

“Magic is useless against it!” “Switch targets!

Go for the horse!” Wang Lei roared, struggling to parry another of the Death Knight’s crushing blows.

Just as the three mages shifted their aim, the Undead Warhorse moved.

Its four hooves ignited with ghostly blue flames, and it slid sideways like a phantom, precisely dodging Zhao Shihao’s next fireball.

Jiang Xue’s Ice Lance only managed to graze its ribs, leaving a faint trail of frost in the air where it had been a moment before.

The Order Mage’s area-of-effect slow spell was the only thing that landed, barely catching the creature and causing its movements to slow ever so slightly.

“This horse…

it can dodge?” Zhao Shihao was dumbfounded.

Even more shockingly, while dodging, the Undead Warhorse suddenly accelerated, its flaming hooves thundering against the stone as it charged straight for Jiang Xue in the back row.

“Watch out!” Mo Chen shouted, his door-sized greatsword swinging to intercept just in time.

Clang!

The massive blade collided with the horse’s armored hooves.

Mo Chen was knocked back half a step, his arms jarring from the impact.

The Undead Warhorse, however, used the force of the collision to leap backward, landing lightly beside its master once more.

Two assassins tried to seize the chance to sneak attack from the shadows, but the horse, as if it had eyes in the back of its head, turned with an eerie elegance and kicked out with its hind legs, forcing the two to hastily retreat.

“Hell, this horse is smarter than most people!” the female assassin gritted out, her daggers held at the ready.

The ensuing battle quickly fell into a desperate stalemate.

The Death Knight’s offense was a relentless tide, each swing of its greatsword forcing Selene and Wang Lei to give ground, their arms screaming with numbness.

The Undead Warhorse, meanwhile, displayed astonishing mobility, weaving flexibly across the battlefield.

Sometimes it would feint, drawing fire; other times, it would launch a surprise attack on the vulnerable back row.

Their perfect, silent coordination was slowly grinding the party down.

Zhao Shihao and Jiang Xue’s spells missed repeatedly.

The two assassins’ sneak attacks were always anticipated and foiled.

Mo Chen’s greatsword and the Berserker’s axe couldn’t even touch a single hair on the spectral steed.

“This is no good!

The horse is too agile!” Zhao Shihao shouted, panting from the effort of casting and dodging.

“We can’t hit it at all!” Selene and Wang Lei’s situation was growing more dire by the second.

Every time the Death Knight’s greatsword fell, it carried the force of a collapsing mountain.

Their health bars were steadily dropping, and the rate at which they were burning through their Holy Light Power far exceeded their ability to recover.

“Think of something, fast!” Wang Lei roared through clenched teeth, his shield groaning under another blow.

“We can’t hold on much longer!” Celeste gripped the pink, star-tipped staff in her hand, her expression utterly grave as she watched the hopeless battle unfold.

This time…

the trouble was really, really big.

[Elysian’s Note: Having a good time with the story?

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