Chapter 68: Failure

In a mere few minutes, the Skeleton King led two Skeletal Spirits and hundreds of Tier 3 Specters into the battlefield as they slaughtered over two hundred players without much effort. Death Valley had been purged! There were also hundreds of panic-stricken players who remained approximately two hundred meters from the Spectral Army and Skeleton King. They did not even dare take a step closer to the enemy! The imposing manner as well as the aura of a Tier 3 Overlord had been presented on the battlefield in the most incisive and vivid way!

Even the hundreds of Tier 3 Spectral monsters that were deemed not really powerful on ordinary days became terrifying demons. They would carry on to haunt Tier 4 players even in their dreams. Those Spectral creatures lined up neatly in their formations as they remained underneath the Skeleton King’s cloak of death, which drifted along with the moving air. The entire army of Specters seemed extraordinarily imposing!

While the tense atmosphere continued to spread in the air and the situation on the battlefield seemingly fell into a stalemate, a party that was obviously not going to launch an assault on the Boss suddenly made their move. They slowly and quietly approached the Skeleton King as well as the Spectral Army in its neat formation. Their movements changed the situation on the battlefield, where hundreds of players had been too afraid to try anything.

“Rawgh!”

The Skeleton King let out a deep roar. Its demonic eyes gleamed with an intense, blood-red light while it locked its targeting system on the moving party. However, it remained silent after that, only glaring at that party without taking further action at all.

Hundreds of player were staring at the party from afar as they were not able to understand their true agenda.

“Who are those stupid clowns? What can three Berserkers and a Swordsman do in this situation?”

“Hmph! Are they trying to lure the Skeleton King away? Idiots! It’s not necessary to only send their Melee-Type players, isn’t it? Can’t they just send a Bowmaster with maximum Agility?”

Many of them laughed coldly at the side as they tried to guess the true intention of the few players who were on the move. They were ready to watch an “interesting show”, which was bound to happen—the movement speed of the Skeletal Warhorse beneath the Skeleton King was extremely fast. Even a Tier 5 Bowmaster with maximum Agility would quickly be caught by the Skeleton King while it was riding its Skeletal Warhorse.

However, they were obviously unaware of the Bowmaster’s true intention for sending all those Melee-Type players on a seemingly suicidal task to lure the Skeleton King. His main purpose was to merely delay time, long enough for his remaining party members to get into the cavern.

Unfortunately, he noticed that the Skeleton King did not move at all as the warriors he sent forward got nearer and nearer to it. The Bowmaster could not help but secretly curse.

“What the f*ck! Why won’t that goddamn thing move now?! It was so ferocious in pursuing anyone within its attack range a moment ago!”

The Bowmaster who cursed was the one who posted the quest as part of his efforts to recruit Bandits to collect Black Dragonfly Herbs and Earth Essence. He came up with his plan based on the Skeleton’s Kings ferocious behavior, whereby it consistently killed any target within its aggro range. The Bowmaster thought that his purpose could be achieved the moment he sent some players into the Skeleton King’s aggro range and kept the Skeleton King on their tail. However, he never expected that… the Skeleton King would actually behave so quietly…

That was bizarre!

Was it possible for it to sense that those players were merely there to catch its attention?

He furrowed his eyebrows intensely. The Bowmaster’s eyes were narrowed into a straight horizontal line as he looked anxiously at the other side. The eight Bandits were on standby approximately 150 m from the tunnel of Death Valley. They were awaiting orders from the Bowmaster. They were ready to make their move and sneak into the tunnel the moment the Skeleton King made its move—relying mainly on the Stealth skill, which belonged to Tier 4 Bandits, they did not have to worry about having their presence detected by ordinary Tier 3 Specters in the area.

However, the current situation had taken an unexpected turn. Witnessing the warriors, whom he tasked to lure the Skeleton King, approach their target and get into the danger zone, the Bowmaster’s heart felt like stopping…

After taking a quick glance at the horizon in the distance, the Bowmaster finally made a pivotal decision.

The Berserker who led the others in front instantly let out a raging roar as he activated his Berserk skill. He began to approach the Skeleton King with huge steps and he appeared threatening while he charged at it—he pressed forward with an indomitable will to court death.

Sixty meters…

The Skeleton King had yet to make a single move. Even the Skeletal Spirits and the Spectral Army behind it did not seem to be moving at all. It appeared as though they were treating the charging Berserkers like they were invisible.

…Fifty meters!

Red light flashed across the Skeleton King’s eye sockets and it finally moved!

The players had gotten very near to it by now. If the Skeleton King had still refused to move, it would have been a degradation of the Overlord’s imposing manner…

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With a simple, deep roar, the Skeletal Spirits right next to the Skeleton King suddenly charged forward like arrows fired from a bowstring. They made their move without showing any warning signs, hurtling towards their targets at a high speed. They appeared like two blood-red clouds, swooping towards their provokers (the warriors) who were currently fifty meters away from the Skeleton King.

Soon after, the distance of fifty meters between the two sides was shortened to less than thirty meters!

Not only was the Bowmaster, who witnessed the incident from afar stunned for a brief moment, but even the Berserker at the frontlines was also frozen shocked for an instant. He never expected the Skeleton King to actually send its minions first…

“What the f*ck?!”

The Bowmaster cursed once more in a loud voice. The Bowmaster had deliberately arranged the plan to send a few Berserkers on a suicidal mission. Hence, the equipment each of them had was basically garbage. Under such circumstances, engaging any Tier 4 monster in the game would have been troublesome enough, let alone battling two Tier 3 Elite Minibosses!

Moreover, even though the Berserker only froze for a brief moment, it was enough for him to be pulled into the Skeletal Spirits’ range of attack.

*Woo!*

The Skeletal Spirits were magic-type Bosses. They were good at using Psystrikes that were based on the Dark Element. The moment the strange wailing began, the Berserker felt as if his chest was being pummeled by a hammer, which weighed hundreds of pounds. “Urgh,” he gasped as he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. Still remaining in the same spot, his body faltered for a brief moment. He had obviously been inflicted by the negative effects of the Skeletal Spirit’s Psystrike.

Without any suspense, the first victim had presented himself!

Upon taking out the Berserker who had been leading the rest of the warriors to provoke the monsters, the Skeletal Spirits ignored the other players, who were equipped with garbage-tier equipment. They just turned around and flew back to the Skeleton King’s side…

Players who were witnessing the incident from afar were laughing their lungs out when they saw how easily a Tier 4 Berserker was taken out by the Skeletal Spirits. They were making fun of the Berserker’s misery.

On the contrary, the Bowmaster and his other party members were extremely mad. By the looks on their faces, it seemed as though their veins were about to pop.

The remaining four Berserkers let out a raging roar one after another and simultaneously switched to full sets of Dark Violet Equipment. After that, they maintained their momentum as they charged at the Skeleton King in an attempt to bring it a decent challenge. They were hoping to really lure the Skeleton King towards them this time!

The Skeleton King behaved cautiously as it commanded two Skeletal Spirits to engage the warriors…

“Lure them over here!”

The party members who remained standing by a small forest quickly waved their hands and shouted as loud as they could.

After witnessing everything that was happening at the moment, Qin Ruo could not help but snort in contempt. Having four Tier 4 warriors going up against two Tier 3 Elite Minibosses, the players should have had an advantage over the monsters. As long as they could stand their ground and create a scenario where the Skeleton King could see that the Skeletal Spirits were in danger, the Skeleton King would definitely charge forward to interrupt the battle. That would create the best opportunity for them to lure the Skeleton King away.

It was truly unfortunate…

If they attempted to turn the other way and start running now, they would be in deep trouble. After all, the speed of the four warriors would definitely lose out to the pursuits of the Skeletal Spirits.

The four warriors followed the instructions that came from the players in the distance. Two of them were swiftly stunned by the Skeletal Spirits because of it. Before they could even reach their intended destination, two out of four of them had been taken out of the equation.

The Skeletal Spirits turned around and returned to their initial spot after they finished their job…

Qin Ruo, who remained standing more than a hundred meters away from the battlefield dropped his jaw after he saw what happened. He was also shocked at the same time. That was an Overlord worthy of its title… Its ability to command… was truly marvelous! The Skeletal Spirits had yet to lose even a single point of HP after taking out three Tier 4 players.

Just as Qin Ruo was trying to guess how the Bowmaster would solve the problem in front of him, a commotion seemed to emerge from afar in the opposite direction. After that, a large party with almost a hundred players came into the area as they dispersed the crowd there. Those players then formed themselves into a neat and tidy formation while they marched towards the Skeleton King and its army of Specters!

A clan party had finally arrived…

It looked like the good old days of the Skeleton King were finally coming to an end!