Chapter 20: The Terrifying Reggie, the Only Hope!
The three types of skeletons formed a legion, colliding with the army of skeletons summoned by Su Mubai.
Their only advantage was their health pool; even with the blessing of the Aura of the Dead, their attributes could not match Su Mubai’s skeleton legion.
What gave Su Mubai the most headaches, however, was Reggie himself!
The boss’s stats were terrifying, and for the first time, Su Mubai felt unsure of his chances. As soon as they clashed, Reggie shattered a skeleton warrior with less than half its health with a single swing of his sword.
Su Mubai’s expression turned grave. Waving his Ink Magic Wand, he summoned two more skeleton warriors to plug the gap. Now, it was a race: would he be able to summon them fast enough, or would Reggie kill them faster?
"This guy’s attack power is too high!"
Su Mubai frowned as he checked his mana. Although he had just leveled up and refilled his mana, at this rate, he wouldn't be able to kill Reggie even if he exhausted his entire pool.
Just as Su Mubai was deep in thought, a system announcement suddenly rang out, causing his face to turn deathly pale.
[Alert: The hidden plot "Reggie’s Nightmare" has officially begun. Novice Village protection has been disabled. Upon death, you will lose 10% of your lifespan, with a minimum loss of ten years.]
!!!
A hidden plot could disable Novice Village protection?!
Su Mubai’s heart sank, and his expression became extremely grim. He only had one year of life left—he couldn't even afford a single deduction. Furthermore, the dungeon exit had been sealed. This meant that unless he killed Reggie, Su Mubai’s journey through the myriad worlds would end right here.
"Crush them!"
Reggie roared, raising his sword high before stomping his right leg down heavily.
[Dead Man’s Stomp]!
BOOM!
The earth shook, and the health of all skeleton warriors within a 30-meter radius instantly dropped by 50%.
"It’s that percentage-based health reduction skill."
Su Mubai breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, this skill hadn't been enhanced. In the next moment, the bone sword in Reggie’s hand crackled with thunder, and he brought it down in a slash.
[Thunderous Strike]!
BOOM!
-9527, -10086, -10001...
This single blow instantly annihilated six skeleton warriors.
"Damn it."
Su Mubai’s brows locked together as he commanded his skeleton legion to counterattack. The skeleton warriors unleashed their own heavy strikes in unison, clashing with Reggie. Behind them, the skeleton archers drew their bows, but their targets were not Reggie; they were the 15 skeletons he had summoned.
He had to eliminate these obstructions first before he could focus on fighting the boss.
***
Meanwhile, Su Mubai kept retreating, staying clear of the range of Reggie’s "Leap of the Dead." As soon as the two-second cooldown passed, he waved his wand to replenish his skeleton warriors. He needed to focus on controlling the front-line skeletons to buy himself more time.
After reaching level 7, his Spirit attribute had increased to 152 points. Combined with the stats from his Leader’s Emblem, his maximum mana had reached 9560 points. Casting [Summon Skeleton Soldier] cost 200 mana. Even with the 152 mana recovered every five seconds during combat, he could only cast it about 70 times.
"70 times, that’s 140 skeleton warriors."
Calculating the answer in his head, Su Mubai couldn't help but frown. "Not enough, far from enough!"
After becoming the Skeleton King, Reggie’s defense was simply too high! Neither the skeleton warriors nor the archers could inflict significant damage on him. As Su Mubai commanded his front-line skeletons to dodge and parry Reggie’s attacks, he thought rapidly. Yet, no matter how he calculated it, his win rate was near zero.
Unless...
Unless the skill [Summon Skeleton Soldier] could be ranked up again!
His only hope now was that the "Cataclysm" trait added by this skill would be powerful enough. Recalling the effects of his class’s Cataclysm trait, Su Mubai opened his inventory.
[Intermediate Soul Stone] × 18.
Each one added 120 days of lifespan; 18 of them totaled nearly six years. Before upgrading the [Summon Skeleton Soldier] skill, Su Mubai decided to try something else.
[Cataclysm]!
[Target: Intermediate Soul Stone]
"Third Tier!"
[Alert: Confirm whether to consume 100 years of lifespan to overwrite the previous advancement effect and upgrade the "Primary Soul Stone" to a higher grade.]
[Confirm] (Consumes 100 years of lifespan)
[Cancel]
"Cancel."
Su Mubai didn't have a hundred years of life. Even ten years was a luxury he couldn't afford. From this terrifying cost, it was clear that once a Soul Stone exceeded the "Advanced" grade, the boost would be massive.
"I’ll check how much lifespan the Cataclysm skill requires first. I hope it doesn't exceed six years!"
Sighing, Su Mubai activated [Cataclysm] once more.
[Target: Summon Skeleton Soldier]
[Alert: Please select the promotion rank: First Tier / Second Tier / Third Tier.]
***
"Third Tier!"
[Alert: Confirm whether to consume 5 years of lifespan to overwrite the previous sublimation effect and upgrade the skill "Summon Small Skeleton" to a higher grade.]
[Confirm]
[Cancel]
"Cancel."
"Whew, thank goodness that's enough."
Su Mubai let out a long breath. He hadn't absorbed the Soul Stones yet, so he had to cancel first. Since three advancements would trigger a Cataclysm trait, he had been worried about not having enough lifespan. Now it seemed that even for low-level skills, the lifespan required for a Cataclysm trait wasn't astronomical.
Without hesitation, he absorbed 15 [Intermediate Soul Stones]. The stones glowed, transforming into a vibrant green light that flowed into Su Mubai’s body. On his attribute panel, the lifespan section changed immediately.
[Lifespan: Less than 6 years]
He then selected [Summon Skeleton Soldier] and activated the [Cataclysm] talent.
[Alert: Once this skill is promoted to C-grade, it will branch into three types: "Summon Skeleton Warrior," "Summon Skeleton Archer," and "Summon Skeleton Mage." Please select your desired path.]
"There are branches?"
Su Mubai was slightly stunned. At D-grade, he could choose to summon two types, but it seemed at C-grade, he could only specialize in one.
However, he made his choice quickly. Facing the terrifying offensive power of Reggie, choosing the Archer or Mage would easily lead to disaster; the Warrior was the only stable choice.
"Summon Skeleton Warrior!"
In the next moment, Su Mubai felt as if something was being drained from his body.
[Alert: You have lost five years of lifespan.]
[Lifespan: Less than 1 year]
The skill icon changed as well. The two previously small skeletons gradually merged, condensing into a single skeleton that was noticeably broader and stronger. The bone sword in its hand had transformed from a one-handed blade into a massive two-handed greatsword.
[Your F-grade skill "Summon Small Skeleton" has successfully mutated into the C-grade skill "Summon Skeleton Warrior."]
[Summon Skeleton Warrior]: (C) Level 8, Active Skill. Summon a Skeleton Warrior to fight for you. Casting time: 3 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Mana cost: 300. (Skeleton Warrior stats are boosted by the player’s Spirit attribute.)
The skill inherited the previous level, and the mana cost increased by 50%. But what Su Mubai cared about most was the added Cataclysm trait. As his gaze fell upon the trait, a look of ecstatic joy appeared on his face.