Chapter 128: War Anti-Magic Scroll

"Squad one, take the left; squad two, take the right; squad three, bring up the rear and provide support as needed."

Inside the gloomy Fortress of Curses, a group of fifteen figures, shrouded in a thin mist, moved swiftly toward the center of the citadel. Along the way, they occasionally brushed past undead soldiers missing limbs, yet these creatures remained oblivious to their presence.

"The necromancer is currently sacrificing the undead, so there are no active threats elsewhere in the fortress. As long as we stay within the shroud of the Mist of War, we won't be detected."

Within the ranks, Lei Ming explained the tactics: "However, the Mist of War is not omnipotent. It can fool small fry, but not the boss. Once we approach the Necromancer's Spire, it will lose its effectiveness. At that point, I will activate the War-Grade Anti-Magic Scroll to seal the necromancer's spellcasting abilities."

"Take note: the standard duration of a War-Grade Anti-Magic Scroll is sixty seconds, but its efficacy is significantly reduced against bosses. Normally, it lasts forty to fifty seconds against magic-wielders below level 50, but because this necromancer is bolstered by the Necromancer's Spire, the suppression time will be drastically shortened. I estimate between twenty and thirty seconds."

"Therefore, we have limited time. We must burst the boss down within twenty seconds. If we wait for the boss to break free, a near-death frenzy could very well result in casualties. I don't want anyone to die, so I hope everyone uses every resource at their disposal. Do not hold back on hero skills."

"Keep in mind that killing this boss guarantees one or two purple-tier items. The fortress treasury is certain to yield another, and combined with the other loot, the haul will be at least double what we just obtained. Since our party is small—only fifteen of us—that means this wave will net us at least triple our previous gains, possibly more."

"Don't worry, twenty seconds is definitely enough to finish him," Yao Ning chimed in via the channel with a laugh. "Even if that necromancer has high HP, he can't possibly have more than the Death Knight, and we took that one down in just over ten seconds. By the way, wasn't Chu Cheng the one with the most explosive damage against the Death Knight? He dealt over a third of the total damage by himself."

Turning to the subject, Yao Ning asked, "Hey, Chu Cheng, can you pull off that kind of burst again?"

Chu Cheng nodded. "I can, as long as you provide the control and a clear window for me to output damage."

"Good, then it's all on you this time," Lei Ming said over the channel. "I propose a little incentive: whoever deals over 50,000 damage before the anti-magic effect ends gets a 5-gold bonus. If it's over 100,000, they get a 10-gold bonus. How about it?"

The group immediately laughed in agreement. "Sounds fair to me." "I'm in."

Chu Cheng grinned; he couldn't wait to claim that prize. When it came to damage output, he feared no one.

The group pressed on, soon reaching the depths of the Fortress of Curses. Inside the citadel stood a high black stone wall enclosing a massive, pitch-black platform. Atop it lay a giant magic circle, packed densely with undead.

The formation was already active; green necromantic energy surged and wove through the ranks of the undead. Every few seconds, one would collapse or fall, turning into a stream of energy that fed into the circle. In the center stood the Necromancer's Spire, with the Undead Death Knell hanging from the center of the first-floor entrance.

The remaining undead of the fortress had been summoned back and mostly sacrificed, leaving only these few hundred. The team stopped outside the circle. While the Mist of War could conceal their forms and aura, it could not reach the high platform; the necromantic energy of the circle would dissipate the mist and reveal them.

Lei Ming spoke through the channel: "The necromancer is presiding over the grand formation on the second floor of the spire. Once I activate the War-Grade Anti-Magic Scroll and we leap onto the platform, squad one will intercept the undead within the formation, while squads two and three head straight for the second floor."

"Time is tight. Anyone with dash or movement skills, go directly. The boss is a mage; his melee capabilities are negligible. Don't wait for the tanks; attack immediately."

"Understood."

As everyone acknowledged the order and locked eyes with Lei Ming, he pulled out a scroll thicker and longer than a standard magic scroll. He shouted in a low voice, "Move!"

The group sprang into action, leaping onto the platform. An invisible wave of mana swept over them, and the Mist of War shrouding them vanished instantly.

"Living beings..." The undead roared and lunged forward.

The five members of the first squad immediately rushed to meet them, going all out to draw the undead's attention. Chu Cheng, part of the second squad, began channeling his power. A second later, he transformed into a bolt of lightning, soaring into the air like a cannonball toward a window on the second floor of the spire.

It was a spire, not a wizard's tower, so it had windows.

Like a falling star, he smashed through the window and crashed inside. Before him sat a skeletal mage draped in magnificent robes in the center of the giant magic circle on the second floor, blue flames flickering in its eye sockets.

Beneath its feet, the green light of the grand formation converged toward the center, forming a green orb the size of a head that hovered before the skeletal mage. Its bony claws were pressed against the orb, drawing it into a massive soul gem embedded in its chest.

Chu Cheng's sudden entry startled the skeletal mage, which looked over in surprise.

"Living beings..."

It instinctively raised a finger, and magical fluctuations flared—but at that exact moment, an invisible ripple swept across the room, and the magical energy vanished instantly. The grand formation flickered as the invisible wave passed, the magical light dimming rapidly, and the hovering green orb fell to the ground.

Necromancer Anushir (Terror): Level 49, 140,000 HP.

"Now is the time!"

Chu Cheng launched a Berserk Charge, slamming into the stunned necromancer and sending it flying. His form instantly faded as he slipped into the Ethereal Plane, reappearing behind the boss and pinning it to the ground with a heavy strike.

He quickly applied a spatial mark, activated Wild Power for +100 attack, and triggered his weapon skill, Frost Pierce. A frost spike sank into the necromancer's body, instantly coating it in a layer of frost.

He swung his dual blades in a frenzy.

Meanwhile, another figure appeared in the room. Seeing Chu Cheng pummeling the boss, he let out a laugh, blinked behind the necromancer, and plunged a bone dagger into its back. A bleeding dagger icon appeared over the boss, and Chu Cheng immediately noticed his damage output increase by 20%.

"Time Lock!"

After only five strikes, his hero passive triggered, unleashing a five-hit combo in a single second that dealt over 10,000 damage. Within a mere three seconds, his Bloodthirsty Soul reached 20 stacks, and his attack speed soared to an incredible seven strikes per second.

With a base attack of 693, minus 480 for physical defense, his seven-hit-per-second output resulted in 3,360 physical DPS. Each hit also added 100 pure damage from the spatial mark (700 pure DPS) and 30 frost damage from his weapon (210 frost DPS), plus the 693 frost DPS from Frost Pierce.

Without even triggering special effects, his base DPS reached 4,960.

By the third second, a third teammate appeared on the second floor to join the assault. By the fourth second, Chu Cheng's attack speed hit its limit, triggering Time Lock a second time and erupting in another terrifying burst of over 15,000 damage in an instant.

One by one, the others appeared on the second floor, unleashing all their hero skills as they hammered away at the boss.

By the seventh second, Chu Cheng triggered Time Lock for the third time.

By the tenth second, the necromancer, with its 140,000 HP, had been beaten down to the brink of death.