Chapter 671: The Black-Robed Corpse General

There was no need to worry about anything; they could simply unleash their magic attacks without restraint. This was exactly the kind of battlefield mages and archers dreamed about, and with Marcus taking the front line, SoulSync and the others immediately surged forward with their pets, unleashing their most powerful and spectacular spells without having to hold anything back.

SoulfireBlade and the other two knights could only stand back and watch. For once, they almost felt as though they had nothing to do.

Heh...

And this still wasn’t Marcus at full strength. There was no need to mention anything else: just the Red Locust Cloud Mist skill he had acquired after completely absorbing the Thousand-Year Red Locust Essence was already enough to make an enormous difference.

Once activated, it restored 1,000 HP per second to every member of the party and mercenary group, with a cooldown before it could be used again. If Marcus activated it, his own survivability would rise sharply, but more importantly, everyone around him would become much harder to kill as well.

Twenty minutes later, with SoulfireBlade leading the way and Marcus taking the brunt of the monsters’ attacks, the group finally reached the center of the third level. Before them stood the entrance to a massive stone hall.

’So strong.’

The Soulfire elites stared at Marcus’s back, unable to hide their amazement. SoulfireBlade was especially stunned. "Stone, it took us at least an hour just to fight our way through the monsters on the third level during our first two attempts."

He wasn’t exaggerating. During their previous runs, simply reaching this point from the entrance to the third level had taken them more than an hour. Whenever one of their knights was surrounded by several monsters at once, death was almost inevitable, and the clerics had been forced to resurrect fallen members at least three times.

But this time, one person had completely changed the way the entire party fought. Not a single person had died, they had barely used any potions, and it had taken them only twenty minutes to reach the boss room.

SoulfireBlade could hardly contain his excitement. ’We’re definitely clearing this.’

Looking at the imposing knight standing before him, SoulfireBlade was thoroughly convinced. When SoulSync had first told him that Stonehaven was someone special, he had been skeptical. As a veteran player, he had seen plenty of supposedly exceptional players before, and most of them had failed to live up to the praise surrounding them.

Stonehaven, however, was different.

SoulfireBlade pointed toward the monster standing in the center of the hall. "Stone, that’s the Black-Robed Corpse General. Don’t let the fact that he’s wandering around alone fool you. The moment we enter combat, he’ll immediately summon thirty Level 50 minions and send them after us."

He paused, his expression turning serious. "Those thirty Level 50 minions are roughly as strong as the Level 58 Poplar Wood Guardians we fought on the second floor. We can handle them if we concentrate on them, but the Corpse General himself is another matter. He’s not just a summoner. His melee attacks are extremely powerful. If a knight gets focused by him, they won’t survive two hits."

Both of SoulfireBlade’s previous attempts had ended here. Their tanking knight had been killed by the Corpse General before they could accomplish anything, yet the boss hadn’t even lost a single point of HP. With no way to continue, the entire party had been forced to retreat.

"Stone, what do you think of this plan?"

SoulfireBlade had already worked everything out in his head. "Once we engage, you and I will take turns tanking the Corpse General. One cleric will concentrate on healing us, while the other two knights draw the minions away. If we can hold them off until the mages clear the summoned monsters, everyone can turn their attention to the boss. If we execute it properly, we should be able to take him down."

"Mm."

Marcus nodded. The plan was solid enough. He had no reason to disregard SoulfireBlade’s experience, so he cooperated with the preparations, refreshing the necessary support buffs while carefully observing the layout of the hall.

It was enormous, a perfect hundred meters on each side. In the center stood an altar beside Jasper’s coffin. The coffin lid had been thrown completely open, while the objects that had once rested upon the altar were scattered across the floor as though someone had searched through the place in a hurry.

Beside the coffin and altar, an ancient warrior wearing heavy general’s armor and a general’s helm paced slowly back and forth. Gray death energy shrouded his entire body, and his movements were stiff and mechanical as he wandered through the stagnant air.

There was no question that he was an undead monster, and judging from the aura alone, he was definitely not an ordinary one.

The armored corpse was imposing enough on its own, but something else immediately caught Marcus’s attention. The ancient general held a black warlock’s staff in one hand and a gleaming longsword in the other.

’Damn. A dual-class general.’

No wonder he could both summon minions and fight in close combat. Marcus had never encountered a monster with such a combination before, and his curiosity grew stronger.

"Stone, ready?"

Everyone had finished preparing. Marcus nodded, and the two Level 50 knights, one a Light Knight and the other a Dark Knight, led three tank pets into the hall ahead of Marcus and SoulfireBlade.

Sure enough, the instant they crossed the threshold, the Black-Robed Corpse General standing in the center of the hall stopped wandering. Its head snapped toward the two knights, and its gaze immediately locked onto them.

"Minions, heed my call!"

The Corpse General raised its black staff, and black light swirled around the tip before spreading outward. In an instant, thirty combat soldiers of various classes materialized beside the boss and immediately surged forward like a tide, charging toward the two knights.

The Black-Robed Corpse General followed behind them. According to SoulfireBlade, this boss particularly liked targeting players who had already been surrounded by his summoned minions, which was one of the main reasons their previous attempts had collapsed so quickly.

The two knights naturally had no intention of standing there and taking that assault head-on. Following the plan, they and the three tank pets immediately split apart, using Taunt to draw the summoned minions away from the boss, while at the same time, Marcus and SoulfireBlade charged directly toward the Corpse General.

The battle had begun. Marcus and SoulfireBlade rushed toward the boss while SoulSync led the mages after the two knights, preparing to clear the summoned minions first.

When the Corpse General was less than fifty meters away, Marcus cast Insight.

—

Black-Robed Corpse General: Level 60 Golden Boss

HP: 180,000

Background: Originally the corpse of Jasper, the Black-Robed General of the Dragon Dynasty five hundred years ago. During his lifetime, Jasper acquired a Ghost Race artifact known as the Soul-Severing Needle. Over the course of five centuries, the needle gradually consumed and transformed his corpse, eventually turning it into the undead monster known as the Black-Robed Corpse General.

Fortunately, Jasper’s corpse had retained the combat abilities it possessed during his lifetime, preventing the Soul-Severing Needle from completely taking over. If the Black-Robed Corpse General is killed and the Soul-Severing Needle is extracted from the corpse before noon tomorrow, Jasper’s body will return to normal.

If this condition is not fulfilled, the Corpse General will evolve into a Level 80 Golden Boss, the Black-Robed Corpse General King, before leaving Jasper’s Tomb and slaughtering the living.

Talent Skills:

Troop Command: Drawing upon the leadership of a general, the Corpse General can command and direct his summoned minions, greatly increasing the combat power of his Level 50 minions.

Soul-Severed Corpse: The Corpse General’s body has been altered by the Soul-Severing Needle, granting him greatly enhanced melee combat ability at the cost of reduced agility.

Skills: Based on the sword-warlock class, possessing warrior combat skills as well as warlock summoning, weakening, and other mid-tier or lower-level magic skills.

Special Skills:

Soul-Severing Light: Passive. Under the influence of the Soul-Severing Needle, the Corpse General’s attacks have a chance to inflict the Soul-Severed status, rendering the target unable to attack, or Chaos, causing the target to attack indiscriminately.

Witchblade Barrage: A unique skill learned after Jasper, while still a combat soldier, obtained a warlock class-change scroll during the war against the Demon Clan. The skill transforms the longsword into a dozen flying blades that attack all enemies within an area. Damage is at least twice that of a normal attack. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Weakness: Low agility. Vulnerable to magic attacks.

—

A Level 60 high-tier Golden Boss. No wonder SoulfireBlade had struggled against him.

But Marcus had already dealt with the Level 70 Golden Boss, the Blue-Eyed Sea Lion King. Compared to that monster, a Level 60 Golden Boss was hardly anything to fear. Besides, his strength had increased substantially after the expedition to Twin Wing Island.

It was just a shame that he couldn’t reveal everything he had; otherwise, Marcus would have loved to see whether his Mythic Artifact, the Blazing Explosive Arrows, combined with a few of his ultimate skills, could instantly kill a Level 60 Golden Boss.

He accelerated toward the Corpse General. However, when Marcus and SoulfireBlade were still thirty meters away, something unexpected happened.

The Corpse General, which had been advancing behind its summoned minions, suddenly stopped and began chanting.

Black magic surged from the staff in its hand, and the Corpse General immediately redirected part of its forces. Ten of the summoned minions abruptly broke away from the two knights and changed direction, charging straight toward Marcus and SoulfireBlade.

They blocked the path between the two players and the boss, and SoulfireBlade’s heart sank.

He hadn’t expected the Corpse General to have such precise control over its summoned minions. Rather than simply throwing all thirty into a straightforward assault, it was using them intelligently, avoiding a direct confrontation while exploiting the chaos to isolate its targets.

"Stone, this is bad!"

SoulfireBlade immediately realized that their original plan had fallen apart. His defenses were nowhere near strong enough to deal with both the ten minions and the Corpse General at the same time, and he didn’t dare charge forward, much less attempt to exchange aggro with Marcus while the ten minions were already surrounding them.

His mind raced as he searched for a solution, but nothing came to him.

Then Marcus spoke.

"Blade, take these ten minions."

Marcus’s voice was calm, cutting cleanly through the confusion. It was time for SoulfireBlade to step up.

Marcus deliberately slowed down and adjusted his position, allowing the ten minions to collide head-on with SoulfireBlade. The ranged attackers among them had already begun firing at SoulfireBlade from a distance, forcing him to respond.

"Blade, they’re yours. Pull them away from the boss!"

SoulfireBlade immediately understood what Marcus was doing. He gritted his teeth and stepped forward, drawing the ten minions’ attention and pulling them away from the Corpse General, while Marcus didn’t waste a second, trusting SoulfireBlade to hold his side of the battlefield as he took responsibility for the boss.

Once he confirmed that SoulfireBlade had secured the minions’ aggro, Marcus added one more layer of protection.

Red Locust Cloud Mist!

A crimson mist spread through the battlefield, enveloping his companions and restoring an additional 1,000 HP per second to him and the members of the party and mercenary group.

"Hyah!"

The Royal Pegasus spread its wings, and with a powerful beat, it carried Marcus over SoulfireBlade and the ten summoned minions, clearing the battlefield in a single leap before charging straight toward the Black-Robed Corpse General.