Chapter 122: The Spectacular Magical Performance

After repeatedly provoking and draining the necromancer tower’s abundant mana within the cursed fortress, the undead mages inside finally couldn’t bear it any longer and tolled the death knell. With the heavy clang of the bell, invisible waves of arcane energy rippled outward from the fortress’s innermost layers.

“Rumble!”

The massive black stone gates of the cursed fortress swung open, and a formidable undead force surged forth.

Numbering roughly a thousand, the vanguard consisted of elite undead knights above level twenty, interspersed with even more powerful black knights.

Behind them swarmed numerous elite undead, flanked by some spellcasting corpse wizards, while countless ghosts and vampires drifted through the air.

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Cheng Chu deftly twirled his weapon once, then clenched it tightly, issuing a solemn command to the squad behind him:

“Stick to the previous strategy. I’ll hold the frontline against the main force. Yao Ning and Wang Jing, join me to repel the first wave of undead, then fall back behind me to provide support and intercept any stragglers. Feng Lingxing and Zhou Yufeng, focus your single-target spells to eliminate the stragglers Yao Ning and Wang Jing miss before coming to reinforce me.”

“Understood!”

“Got it.”

Cheng Chu nodded and glanced left and right at the other squads preparing to engage the undead. They exchanged nods in silent agreement before stepping forward to meet the charging legion.

“Bang!”

A dozen or so formed a line, colliding head-on with the undead force like jagged rocks breaking a raging tide.

Cheng Chu decisively unleashed Blade Storm, reducing incoming damage while sweeping numerous undead into a whirlwind, ruthlessly slashing through them.

His ferocity immediately drew the attention of the necromancers in the rear, who swiftly directed the surrounding vampires and ghosts to encircle him. Seizing the opportunity, Yao Ning and Wang Jing fought a tactical retreat. With Cheng Chu drawing the enemy’s focus up front, few undead pursued them, allowing them to hold their ground.

Though not tanks, their levels and experience—having qualified for the Starfall Tower—ensured their capabilities were formidable. Their equipment and stats were comparable to Cheng Chu’s, making it no problem to hold the line momentarily.

The undead’s first wave was the fiercest. Not only Cheng Chu but the other squads unleashed all their skills, forcibly halting the thousand-strong undead army.

“Time Lock!”

Suddenly, a passive hero skill triggered. A skeletal knight swinging his blade froze mid-motion, as if encased in amber, suspended by the power of time.

“Hero Skill Three: Time Lock (Awakened). Passive. Attacks imbued with temporal energy have a chance to lock the target in time for 1 second.”

“Note: While under Time Lock, all received attacks are critical hits that ignore defense and magic resistance.”

Cheng Chu paused for just a moment, then swung his twin blades rapidly, stabbing four times within a single second.

In an instant, four identical bursts of damage soared. The temporal power dissipated, and the frozen skeletal knight shattered midair like a broken toy, scattering fragmented bones across the ground.

Cheng Chu’s base attack was 593, bolstered by maxed Centaur blood granting +30 strength. The hero template’s critical multiplier was threefold, so three strikes dealt nearly 7,500 damage—enough to instantly dispatch elite monsters below level thirty-five.

This was the power of hero skills, the might of an immortal-class hero skill.

Even if a skill couldn’t directly damage a target, its mechanism combined with personal ability unleashed terrifying lethality.

The only drawback was the passive trigger rate, which was quite low—estimated under ten percent.

Against normal monsters, it was almost unnecessary; even without triggering, they could be easily slain.

But facing a tanky boss one-on-one was different. Triggering twice could unleash devastating output.

Hence, Cheng Chu’s combat style favored attack speed—faster strikes meant more chances to activate the effect.

Level twenty elite monsters had roughly 150 attack power. Spatial refraction absorbed 100 damage, equipment absorbed 20, and after defense, only about a dozen damage remained.

For a tank boasting 5,000 health and 180 life regeneration at max stacks, this was negligible. No need to dodge—just endure head-on.

At this moment, his talent damage reflection was maxed, dealing up to 1,000 true damage per round, affecting ten targets simultaneously.

With damage maxed, he easily drew the undead’s focus. Behind him, Wang Jing and Yao Ning, supported by Zhou Yufeng and Feng Lingxing, swiftly eliminated stragglers and airborne ghosts and vampires, pulling back to begin chanting powerful spells.

Within the Chaos Realm, the potency of mana spells correlated directly with casting time—the greater the power, the more challenging and longer the incantation.

Feng Lingxing prepared his signature Meteor Strike, chanting for a full thirty seconds.

Inside the cursed fortress, the necromancer tower remained silent; however, undead mages in the ranks launched interference and counterspells, while numerous flying ghosts and vampires attacked.

Yet their efforts failed. Feng Lingxing completed his casting successfully. The sky gradually brightened and reddened as a blazing meteor hurtled toward the battlefield.

“Boom!”

Though the impact was hundreds of meters away, the scorching shockwave blew so fiercely that Cheng Chu could barely keep his eyes open.

As one bombardment ended, another mage unleashed a colossal lightning strike into the undead, dancing like a wild dragon before exploding and fracturing into multiple smaller chains that leapt wildly.

In an instant, at least forty or fifty elite undead were charred to ashes. The remaining affected were severely wounded, then picked off by ranged attacks from behind.

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