Chapter 672: Yellow Damage, Relentless Control

Author’s Note: Just a quick heads-up. I’ve standardized a few class terms for consistency with the earlier Chapters. Wizard is now Warlock, Sword-Mage is now Sword-Warlock.

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There he was, airborne and fierce, his charging momentum utterly majestic. Unfortunately, that fierce appearance didn’t actually mean he could attack yet. The Black-Robed Corpse General was hurling warlock debuffs and status effects at him as though it had an endless supply.

But the Corpse General was only Level 60, just four levels higher than Marcus. That wasn’t enough of a level advantage to pose any real threat. With Marcus’s exceptionally high Luck and formidable resistances, the barrage of debuffs barely registered.

’Please.’

His resistance to status effects wasn’t there for decoration. Unless the Corpse General were Level 80, those debuffs were little more than an annoyance.

Feeling increasingly smug, Marcus became even more flamboyant as he charged toward the boss, guiding the Royal Pegasus forward with effortless precision. He was already within ten meters, almost close enough to use his skills.

Unfortunately, the Corpse General attacked first. After bombarding him with debuffs, the moment Marcus entered its ten-meter range, the undead general finally unleashed its special skill.

"Witchblade Barrage!"

The Corpse General swung its longsword, and in an instant, the blade split into a dozen gleaming flying swords, filling the air like something straight out of a legend before raining down upon Marcus and covering the entire ten-meter area around him.

There was no chance of dodging, not that Marcus had any intention of doing so. ’Let’s see what you’ve got.’

Still charging forward, Marcus was struck by the dozen phantom blades in rapid succession. Bang! Bang! Bang!

The barrage looked spectacular, if nothing else. Red damage numbers rose above Marcus’s head one after another, but he barely reacted. ’Poor Corpse General.’

Even with Witchblade Barrage dealing at least double the damage of a normal attack, it had only taken away around 4,600 HP. Its ordinary attacks were barely capable of dealing more than 2,000.

Marcus glanced at his health and checked his recovery rate. With Red Locust Cloud Mist active, he was already recovering 2,250 HP every second, and that was before he used any potions. ’Pathetic.’

He had been saving the Blood-Root Pills he had obtained from Dragon’s Roar Town, but at this point, there was hardly any reason to use them. One Super Health Potion was enough to increase his recovery by another 500 HP per second. There was even less to worry about now.

The Corpse General was less than eight meters away, and Marcus’s eyes sharpened as he activated the Temple Knight’s signature mounted skill.

Temple Cavalry Charge!

The Royal Pegasus surged forward. Its momentum and Marcus’s strength seemed to merge into a single force, and in the blink of an eye, the distance between them vanished. Marcus raised his massive Divine Artifact, the Adamant Shield, and activated the skill he had learned at Level 50.

"Holy Shield Charge!"

Brilliant light erupted from the Adamant Shield. Boom! The shield slammed violently into the Corpse General. -8000!

That wasn’t even Marcus’s full power, but with Temple Cavalry Charge amplifying the attack, Holy Shield Charge, which was normally little more than a basic attack, dealt more than 4,000 damage on its own. Combined with the critical hit, the Corpse General instantly lost 8,000 HP. But the damage wasn’t what Marcus was after. What he wanted was the control effect.

As the impact sent the Corpse General staggering backward, Marcus looked at it with almost affectionate anticipation. Sure enough, Knockback triggered.

Even wearing heavy general’s armor, even possessing the dead weight of an undead body, the Corpse General couldn’t withstand Marcus’s 1,000-plus Strength. It stumbled backward again and again, thud after thud, before being sent flying more than ten meters away. Over ten meters, and that wasn’t the end of it.

The moment the Corpse General finally managed to catch its footing, its body suddenly staggered. Bang! It crashed face-first onto the stone floor.

Knockdown. Then a ring of Stun icons appeared above its head; the impact had triggered Stun as well.

The Corpse General could only lie there motionless, completely unable to move while the status effect counted down. It couldn’t fight back. It couldn’t even stand up. ’Heh...’

A familiar thought surfaced in Marcus’s mind. ’I’m not here for the boss. I’m here for the debuffs.’

Of course, the real culprit was the absurd control potential of the Level 50 Holy Shield Charge. Marcus was thoroughly pleased with himself. He calmly nudged the Royal Pegasus forward a few elegant steps before stopping at exactly eight meters from the stunned Corpse General.

That’s right, he was waiting, waiting for the Stun to wear off so he could immediately repeat the Temple Cavalry Charge and Holy Shield Charge combination.

While he waited, Marcus glanced toward the rest of the battlefield. SoulfireBlade and the two other knights were running in circles, constantly using Taunt to keep the ten summoned minions occupied. The two clerics were watching the fight closely, taking every opportunity to heal SoulfireBlade and the knights whenever their health dropped.

SoulSync and Lydia, meanwhile, had become the main damage dealers. They led their pets around the battlefield, continuously bombarding the summoned minions with attacks and spells.

And Marcus? ’I’m the most relaxed person here.’ That thought was almost embarrassing.

Everyone else was fighting desperately, while he was sitting on a Royal Pegasus eight meters from the boss, waiting for a debuff timer to expire. The others couldn’t help noticing. Even in the middle of combat, several of them caught sight of what he was doing and were left staring in disbelief. Lydia was no exception. Her red lips looked as alluring as ever, but Marcus soon noticed something else.

While continuing to attack the summoned minions, the cunning fox’s alluring eyes kept drifting toward him more and more frequently, and mixed in with that seductive gaze was an unmistakable hint of smug satisfaction.

Cunning. Very cunning.

Marcus’s heart sank. He could tell she was plotting something against him, and judging from that expression, she seemed particularly pleased with whatever she had in mind.

He was right. At that very moment, Lydia was gloating inwardly.

’So it was you, Stonehaven. You made my life miserable, and now I’ve finally found you. Hmph. If you don’t give me a proper explanation, don’t expect me to let this go.’

Poor Marcus. He could tell Lydia was scheming against him, but he had absolutely no idea what she was thinking. Even if he had known, he still couldn’t figure out when they had ever met, much less when he had supposedly done something to offend her.

’Unbelievable.’

The Corpse General’s level wasn’t far enough above Marcus’s to reduce the duration of the Stun by much. The effect lasted a full five seconds.

Eventually, the Corpse General’s body twitched. The Stun was ending. It struggled upright, clearly preparing to retaliate.

But the moment the Stun icon disappeared, Marcus was already moving. "Hyah!" He urged the Royal Pegasus forward.

Temple Cavalry Charge!

The Pegasus accelerated violently, its momentum combining with Marcus’s strength as he closed the distance with the freshly recovered Corpse General.

"Holy Shield Charge!"

Just as before, the Adamant Shield blazed with brilliant light before smashing into the boss. Boom! A yellow critical damage number appeared. -8000!

Another 8,000 HP vanished from the Corpse General’s health bar, and once again, Knockback triggered. The impact sent the Corpse General flying more than ten meters backward.

This time, however, it managed to plant its feet and steady itself without triggering Knockdown or Stun, and it immediately tried to retaliate.

"Witchblade Barrage!" The Corpse General raised its longsword, only to realize that the skill was still on its thirty-second cooldown. It had no choice but to stop.

The Corpse General finally seemed to realize the seriousness of its situation. Aside from its warlock debuffs and a handful of relatively weak ranged spells, this melee-oriented boss simply didn’t have many options for attacking an enemy who refused to stay within its reach.

And the instincts it had retained from its former life were screaming that something was very wrong. Sure enough, a blur flashed across the battlefield.

That massive, powerful figure was charging toward it once again, black armor gleaming beneath the dim light, the Royal Pegasus carrying him forward like some demon galloping straight out of hell, the enormous shield raised before him. The Corpse General’s low agility made dodging practically impossible.

Boom! Another critical hit. -8000!

This time, luck was finally on the boss’s side. No Knockback.

But before the Corpse General could retaliate, its head suddenly swam. Crash! Stun triggered.

The poor Corpse General froze where it stood, completely helpless once again.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Marcus ignored the stunned boss for the moment, instead leisurely glancing across the battlefield and enjoying the sight of everyone else continuing to fight. Once he was satisfied, he nudged the Royal Pegasus around and positioned himself exactly eight meters from the Corpse General once more.

Then he waited. This time, the Stun lasted only three seconds. Plenty of time.

The instant the Stun icon disappeared, Marcus spurred the Pegasus forward. Temple Cavalry Charge!

The Royal Pegasus surged ahead, carrying Marcus straight toward the Corpse General as the skill amplified his momentum.

The Adamant Shield rose. Boom!

A yellow critical damage number appeared once again, and another control effect triggered. Then it happened again. And again.

The Level 60 Golden Boss, the Black-Robed Corpse General, was simply too slow. Against the overwhelming control effects of Holy Shield Charge, its low agility had become a fatal weakness.

Knockback. Knockdown. Stun.

The effects rotated almost endlessly. The Corpse General could only take hit after hit, barely able to move before another charge came crashing into it.

Yellow critical damage numbers continued appearing one after another. It couldn’t fight back. It couldn’t even move freely.

And because Marcus kept the boss completely occupied, the Corpse General never had a chance to threaten SoulfireBlade, SoulSync, Lydia, or anyone else.

Only then did Marcus fully realize just how much his strength had increased after the Twin Wing Island expedition. It wasn’t a small improvement.

His power had grown by a considerable margin. ’Damn, this feels good.’

Watching the steady stream of yellow critical damage numbers, the Corpse General’s increasingly miserable situation, and the almost leisurely way he was controlling the entire fight, Marcus couldn’t help but sigh with satisfaction.

Yellow damage. Brutal control.