Chapter 44: Soul-Suppressing Coffin, Half-Lich!
Click, click, click...
As the legion advanced steadily, the ground gradually became littered with bone fragments left in the wake of the decimated sea of skeletons.
[Killed a Level 20 Skeleton, gained an additional 50% level-gap bonus, Experience +30, "A Step Ahead" triggered, extra Experience +6.]
[Killed a Level 20 Skeleton, gained an additional 50% level-gap bonus, Experience +30, "A Step Ahead" triggered, extra Experience +6.]
……
The rate of experience acquisition remained entirely unabated. Protected by an outer perimeter of skeleton warriors, the two primary damage dealers in the center were completely unaffected.
Every two steps, the formation would halt in unison to unleash a volley of attacks before pressing forward once more.
The only thing that slightly annoyed Su Mubai was that these skeletons dropped absolutely nothing.
This was easily the stingiest mob he had ever encountered.
Low experience was one thing, but not even a single copper coin?
Soon, Su Mubai realized his earlier estimation had been off.
Glancing at his experience bar, which was rapidly approaching 80%, and then looking out at the endless sea of skeletons, he could not help but sigh.
"It would be amazing to have an AoE skill right now."
Too bad there were no ifs, and he lacked any AoE abilities.
Ever since entering the game, every single point of experience had been hacked out laboriously, one strike at a time, by his skeleton legion.
"Are we there yet?"
Unable to hold back any longer, Su Mubai turned his head and asked.
Rod’s eyes remained hollow and glazed, yet his mouth mechanically replied, "Almost, almost..."
"..."
Never mind, pretend I didn't ask!
The corners of Su Mubai’s eyes twitched slightly as he continued to direct the march of the skeleton legion.
[Congratulations to player "White Night" for reaching Level 11. All four primary attributes +1, Skill Point +1, Free Attribute Points +15.]
Even after a flash of golden light signaled Su Mubai's level-up, the destination Rod had mentioned was still nowhere in sight.
Su Mubai frowned, looking Rod up and down.
Was this guy just randomly pointing directions?
And yet, since Rod could provide 10% exploration progress, he undoubtedly counted as a crucial character.
Right at that moment, Rod’s eyes suddenly flicked with a faint light, and he abruptly raised a hand to point straight ahead.
"Right there!"
Su Mubai immediately looked in the indicated direction, spotting a massive coffin standing upright.
The coffin appeared to have been placed there for an exceedingly long time; its exterior was heavily weathered and decayed, and its lid was half-rotten, vaguely revealing a corpse trapped inside.
The strangest part was that not a single skeleton approached the vicinity of the coffin.
The endless sea of skeletons seemed to purposefully steer clear of that specific area.
Su Mubai’s eyes lit up, and he decisively commanded the legion to charge straight in.
When things are abnormal, demons are bound to be afoot; something was definitely up over there!
Whether it was a clue or a BOSS, he would gladly take either. He welcomed all comers.
Click, click, click...
As the skeleton legion entered the area surrounding the coffin, the surrounding sea of skeletons instantly receded like a receding tide, quickly vanishing into the dim twilight. Even the eerie fluorescence of their soul fires disappeared.
"Are they really that afraid of this place?"
Su Mubai raised an eyebrow, purposely commanding a skeleton warrior to take a step back and exit the perimeter of the coffin.
Click, click, click...
The next instant, skeletons emerged from the distance once more, charging wildly toward this direction.
"I'll play with you guys later."
Recognizing the pattern, Su Mubai grinned and ordered the skeleton warrior to step back inside.
Sure enough, the sea of skeletons retreated once more.
"Let me see what you actually are."
Su Mubai turned his gaze back toward the gigantic coffin ahead and directed a skeleton warrior to walk right up to it.
Before it could even get close, more than a dozen heavy chains suddenly burst out from behind the coffin.
The skeleton warrior instantly raised its greatsword, bracing for any sudden developments.
The next moment, however, those chains lashed out directly, tightly binding themselves around the coffin.
[Prompt: You have discovered a Soul-Locking Coffin. Exploration progress +2%. Destroying the Soul-Locking Coffin will grant an additional 3% progress.]
[Warning: Destroying the Soul-Locking Coffin will release a terrifying entity. Please proceed within your capabilities.]
"That's it! Destroy it! Destroy it!"
Just as the system prompt rang out, Rod grew frantic and excited, pointing insistently at the Soul-Locking Coffin while urging Su Mubai over and over to destroy it.
"Do you believe me if I say I'll turn around and walk away right now?"
Su Mubai glared at Rod, causing the latter to instantly quiet down.
Only then did he carefully inspect the upright coffin before him.
Even without Rod’s urging, he would have destroyed this thing anyway.
After all, his ultimate goal was 100% exploration progress.
[Soul-Locking Coffin]
Shield Value: 1,000,000 / 1,000,000
Physical Defense: 1,000
Magical Defense: 1,000
These numbers might have required ordinary players to spend ages whittling them down, but in front of Su Mubai, they were hardly worth mentioning.
However, due to collision volume restrictions—even though the coffin was quite large relative to Su Mubai—only eight skeleton warriors could attack it at any given time.
This was precisely where the importance of ranged firepower truly stood out.
[Heavy Strike]!
[Double Shot]!
[Fireball]!
-36,708, -35,999, -36,123...
-6,558, -13,240!, -6,613...
-21,352, -20,987, -42,638!...
The instant eight greatswords slashed against the binding chains, a rain of arrows and fiery spells landed back-to-back upon the massive coffin.
The volume of arrows clearly outnumbered the fireballs by more than double.
In a fraction of a second, the Soul-Locking Coffin's one million health points bottomed out completely.
Boom!
The entire coffin shattered violently into pieces, exposing the corpse hidden inside.
Clatter, clatter...
To Su Mubai's surprise, those heavy chains remained completely undamaged, shifting seamlessly to wrap directly around the corpse itself.
This corpse had apparently rested here for an unknown duration, having long since withered down to skin and bones.
Its entire face was severely sunken in, making the structure of the skull clearly visible beneath.
"It's coming! It's coming out!"
Rod suddenly shrieked like a madman before drifting away into the distance without ever looking back.
"Run away!"
"Run away!"
……
His voice echoed on long after he had completely disappeared.
Su Mubai lowered his hands from covering his ears, having no intention whatsoever of fleeing.
Are you kidding me? Aren't BOSSes supposed to be free delivery services for loot and experience?
Clatter, clatter...
As the chains tightened further, the corpse finally stirred.
It jerked its eyes open, revealing pupils that were utterly hollow.
Immediately following that, two wisps of pale soul fire ignited, and the corpse animated.
The chains that had previously bound it now hovered silently around its body like weapons under its command.
A wave of bitter chill washed over the area, and a layer of frost began rapidly creeping across the ground.
"Outsider, you have ruined my ascension!"
The corpse parted its lips, emitting a raspy, grating voice as its dark-blue pupils locked onto Su Mubai.
The next second, the anger on its face vanished entirely, replaced by a twisted smile.
"Oh, what a rich, dense aura of death. Once I absorb the energy within your vessel, my transformation will surely succeed."
"Who gave you that kind of confidence?"
Su Mubai rolled his eyes and gave a casual wave of his hand.
Instantly, several skeleton warriors lunged forward while the backline firepower unleashed everything at once.
[The Forgotten — Neil]
[Half-Frost Lich]
[Level 20]
[Dark Gold BOSS]
[Health Points: 3,000,000 / 3,000,000]
[Spell Power: 12,800]
[Physical Defense: 1,500]
[Magical Defense: 2,100]
[Elemental Resistance: Ice 20%]
[Skills: Frost-series Spells, Undead Summoning-series Spells, Shadow Curse-series Spells.]
(He seemingly attempted to transform himself into a Lich, but the process appears half-failed.)
As another Dark Gold BOSS, Neil the half-lich carried an oppressive aura that vastly outmatched Reggie's.
Even the skills at his disposal spanned three entire categories.
Yet, it was completely useless.
Facing Su Mubai as he was now, Neil's performance was subpar compared to even Reggie's initial showing.
Even though his stature was slightly smaller than the coffin, meaning the skeleton legion could not surround and strike him all at once,
the very first wave of attacks still sheared away nearly a million of his health points in a flash.
Barely having materialized, and before he could even finish delivering his dramatic entrance monologue, a full third of his health bar had vanished into thin air.
At that moment, Neil was utterly bewildered, realizing with sudden horror that he had been completely surrounded.
His surroundings were entirely filled with the opponent's "people"!
For a fleeting second, he couldn't even quite tell who among them was actually closer to being a true Lich.