Chapter 374: Wonderful Idea

In the Buried City, underneath Eternity Peak.

Upon catching sight of a Spectral Shaman, Qin Ruo immediately raised his dual defenses, and with a great swoop of his Angelic Wings, he soared past the Undead horde until he was right above his target.

The Spectral Shaman, wreathed by a pervasive aura of death, glared up at him. Raising its magic staff, it chittered and wailed hideously, enraged that it was being looked down upon by a human adventurer who was merely Level 42. There wasn’t a Tier 5 Miniboss who could endure such audacity from a low-level player.

However, as an Undead Summoner-type Boss, the Spectral Shaman was not given to doing battle itself, but was more specialized toward summoning and raising the dead. In direct combat, it was at a severe disadvantage, which was why it surrounded itself with a horde of Skeleton Warriors and Archers, Hellhounds, and Arcane Zombies.

What Qin Ruo did alarmed the Spectral Shaman greatly, and the Arcane Zombies and Hellhounds howled up at him. Meanwhile, the Skeleton Warriors withdrew to the edge of the formation, crimson flames dancing within their hollow eye sockets as they looked out at something large in the distance.

The Amethyst Orc approached, radiating an aura no less powerful than that of the Spectral Shaman itself. None of them wanted to mess with it.

And then, the gathered Undead sensed the faint ripples of magic overhead…

***

The moment he had the Spectral Shaman beneath him, Qin Ruo had immediately begun channeling his Water magic. Aquaramparts, one after another, appeared around him with terrifying speed.

Every second mattered! Time was of the essence.

The whole way here, he’d already lost nearly half an hour of the quest time, and Qin Ruo had not even slain a single Spectral Shaman yet. At this rate, he could kiss that Legendary item goodbye, as well as the right to leave behind his own Soul Imprint upon the Eternal Barrier.

With 150 minutes left, and twenty Spectral Shamans to kill, that left less than eight minutes for each one. This included running around and clearing away the Undead in his path.

Time was very tight! Qin Ruo did not have so much as half a second to waste.

Conjuring fifteen Aquaramparts in the blink of an eye, Qin Ruo hurtled down toward the ground, bringing them all along with him.

“Freeze!” With a shout, the Twelve Frostramparts Formation was in place.

As Qin Ruo descended to a height of thirty meters above the Spectral Shaman, there was an overpowering blast of frigid cold air! Instantly, all the Undead monsters below were frozen in place, their attacks halted.

As Qin Ruo hovered in the air, the fifteen Frostramparts crashed down amidst the Undead horde, and without hesitation he spat, “Burst!”

At his command, the fifteen Frostramparts, along with the Twelve Frostramparts Formation which was already in place, detonated right where the Undead were the thickest, exploding mightily into countless fine, razor-sharp blades of ice. A great billowing cloud of snow engulfed the area for thirty meters all around.

Skeleton Warriors, Arcane Zombies, and a small number of Hellhounds with over six thousand HP each, were all wiped out in that blast.

The Spectral Shaman had also suffered the combined effects of the fifteen-fold Frostburst.

Its Barrier was destroyed!

Each Frostburst dealt nearly 230 Magic Attack. After fifteen of them, the Barrier around the Spectral Shaman was blown into smithereens, and the total damage exceeded four thousand.

(Translator’s Note: Whether the extra damage comes from equipment, potions, or attributes / vulnerabilities, it isn’t stated.)

With his first attack, he’d gotten rid of most of the troublesome small fry, and had also broken the Spectral Shaman’s Barrier, while dealing a heavy blow to it.

Meanwhile, Qin Ruo himself had barely taken one shot of Psystrike from the Boss monster in return, which had been blocked by his Frostbarrier—the Barrier had only lost forty-or-so of its Guard, and a hundred-over HP.

After taking down quite a number of the surrounding Undead, Poochie dove into the snowstorm. There was a muffled bang, and something was sent flying out of the freezing fog—a body wreathed in shadow.

Just then, the Amethyst Orc suddenly came charging in, its Amethyst Slash severing the Skeleton Warriors at the hip, cutting them down like stalks of wheat. It carved a path of carnage across the battlefield, until the Spectral Shaman tumbled to the ground at its feet, still badly Chilled.

What followed next was a scene of tragedy!

It was a Tier 5 Miniboss Amethyst Orc vs. a Tier 5 Miniboss Spectral Shaman.

Helplessly Stunned, the gloom-shrouded Spectral Shaman was treated like a punching bag, and the Amethyst Orc descended on it with its Successive Strikes, knocking it senseless.

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Even if it could shake off the negative condition, with the Amethyst Orc’s continuous barrage at close range, there was absolutely no hope of fighting back. The Spectral Shaman had been knocked away from the initial battle, and Qin Ruo was drawing the rest of the Undead to himself. They would not allow the Spectral Shaman to get close enough to the remains of the Undead to cast an AoE Resurrection.

With the Amethyst Orc wailing away on it up close, and the lightning-quick Poochie supporting from the flanks, the Spectral Shaman could only watch helplessly as Qin Ruo decimated the rest of its Undead bodyguards, before flying over in its direction.

Taking position immediately, Poochie shot forth in a streak of brown, one becoming four. From four separate directions at once, it attacked the panicked Spectral Shaman.

Clone Shadow Strike!

Target hit: Dealt 156 damage to Spectral Shaman!

Target Stunned, duration 2 seconds!

Target hit: Dealt 34 damage to Spectral Shaman!

Target Stunned, duration extended by 2 seconds!

Target hit: Dealt 24 damage to Spectral Shaman!

Target Stunned, duration extended by 2 seconds!

The Spectral Shaman became the first lucky victim to taste Poochie’s new Tier 4 Clone Shadow Strike skill. The very first time, and it had already reached the maximum Stun duration.

Six seconds!

Forced to stand back for a moment, the Amethyst Orc came rushing back in with a roar. Its Successive Strikes had become even fiercer, each punch mightier than the last as it rained blows upon the Spectral Shaman’s broken body.

Qin Ruo floated silently upon his Angelic Wings. As the Amethyst Orc continued to deal an average of over seven- to eight-hundred damage per second, he quietly prepared a Compressed Frost Bullet.

At the end of six seconds, just as the Spectral Shaman was about to break free of its Stunned condition, it was struck with a cold that bit deep into its marrow. Paralyzed, Chilled, and Lacerated!

Three debilitating conditions, simultaneously laid upon the Spectral Shaman!

The rest of the battle was a foregone conclusion. The Amethyst Orc, Poochie, and Qin Ruo each had their unbeatable trump cards, and could deal obscene amounts of damage to the Spectral Shaman. Faced with the three of them working in concert, all resistance was futile.

***

Spectral Shaman slain. Received 18,762 Experience Points.

Nineteen more Spectral Shamans required to complete quest. Time remaining: two hours, twenty-eight minutes.

After taking a moment to collect the spoils of battle, Qin Ruo took to the air once more, circling around the foot of Eternity Peak in fervent search of new prey.

***

“You’ve killed one already?”

As he flew, Qin Ruo was also on the line with Slayer’s Heart, asking for updates on how things were going. Slayer’s Heart remarked on Qin Ruo’s progress with a tone of exasperation. “That was quick.”

“Ah, things are tough without big bro Slayer here with us. I couldn’t do things your way, pushing in from the outside—if I’d done that, I’d probably still be clearing off the small fry even now.”

“Alright, you needn’t try so hard to be humble around your own people. Take down the remaining Spectral Shamans as quickly as you can, so the Sealed Mana Core won’t go to waste. At least, we’ll be able to get a Legendary item, as well as open up future opportunities to farm XP in the Buried City.”

“Oh, that’s right… Hasn’t the Netherspirit’s Claw been out to get you, lately? Ruo Ruo, I think you should just stay in the Buried City and push for Level 49. After that, advance to Tier 5, meld with your Divinity—and then we’ll see if the Netherspirit’s Claw still has anyone who dares to challenge you.”

What Burning Rose said struck a chord with Qin Ruo.

Before this, he’d only been thinking about what other quests Dallas might have for him, and had forgotten about training up. Now that Burning Rose had reminded him, he suddenly realized that this was indeed an ideal place to gain some levels.

Once he’d successfully made a Soul Imprint in the warp portal of the Eternal Barrier, he could come down to the Buried City to train up without having to worry about competition for monsters, or anyone trying to mess around with him… even the travel time would be shorter!

Most importantly, there were plenty of monsters and Experience Points to be found here. He estimated that it would only take him half a day to reach Level 45.

Yes, if he could train up to Level 49 in peace down here, everything would be wonderful! A full set of Legendary-tier equipment, advancement to Tier 5, melding with his own Divinity… It could all happen sooner than he had thought.