Chapter 156: Act 89 – The Undead and the Sovereign (Part 4) (First Update, Seeking Support)
The ghostly knight raised its lance for the third time, its speed noticeably decreasing. Seizing the opportunity, Husher shot an arrow before it could launch its attack.
The sky-blue Wind Binding Arrow struck right in front of the evil spirit, the azure light shattering and coiling around its four hooves like a layer of blue wind. The binding effect took hold, and the ghostly knight and its malevolent steed slowed down.
-12.7%.
Brendel noted the effect of the hit from the numbers projected onto his retina and couldn’t help but glance at Husher: that shot was remarkably accurate, and the binding effect was nearly fully realized. Although the ghostly knight hadn’t reached full speed, its trajectory was beyond what a black iron-level character could capture—meaning Husher relied entirely on instinct; the Lubis mercenaries indeed lived up to their reputation.
After a successful shot, Brendel quickly grabbed the mercenary captain and retreated rapidly. The ghostly knight’s attack struck precisely where they had been standing. Even though its speed had decreased by nearly ten percent, it still far surpassed both Brendel and Husher. The only thing they could rely on was the distance between them—almost equivalent to time.
The duration of the Wind Binding Arrow and Ice Shatter Arrow was over five minutes, unless actively dispelled. Even though low-level spells faced penalties against high-ranking targets, Brendel was confident the effects would last over two minutes and twenty seconds.
They were less than fifty meters from their preset ambush point.
After the ghostly knight missed its strike, it immediately launched a thrust, the lance stabbing forward, its tip seemingly creating a gravitational collapse point. The flowing air produced a sonic boom, distorting space visually—surrounding trees inclined toward the center, creaking and snapping in the ensuing vacuum as if a storm erupted.
Brendel shouted in alarm when he saw the motion the creature made; the Thousand Soldiers Strike was the ghostly knight’s signature move for causing wipeouts. Many players had perished at the hands of this skill in the early game due to the lack of understanding of its mechanics, but it didn’t frighten him this time.
He dragged Husher into the shadowed boulders of the forest, demonstrating Energy Drain in a swift motion—an azure card flashed and faded, causing the ghostly knight’s hollow body to shake violently, dealing itself over three hundred points of damage.
Brendel couldn’t help but laugh internally; he had predicted correctly: Energy Drain was effective against this attack. The Thousand Soldiers Strike was, in fact, a magic effect of soul attribute; while it was powerful, players later found that avoiding it was relatively simple—with a barrier wizard casting Stasis Barrier or an elementalist using Binding Spell, they could render this skill ineffective.
And since Energy Drain was a counter-spell, he thought it might be effective against this move, and it turned out to be the case.
The ghostly knight lost nearly a third of its health from that strike, and according to its setup, it should enter a stunned state for about two seconds before engaging in full combat. However, these high-tier undead possessed considerable intelligence; having suffered a setback, it surely wouldn’t use the Thousand Soldiers Strike again, relieving Brendel from worry about it continuously unleashing powerful moves.
Two seconds was no issue for a black iron-level character to cover fifty meters. By the time the ghostly knight regained its composure, both Brendel and Husher were already panting at the designated ambush point.
All their previous actions had been executed under extreme pressure, and even with Brendel and the experienced mercenary captain’s stamina, it was slightly taxing. But Husher was even more aware that the ghostly knight was far from reaching its full potential; perspiration on his brow, he glanced at Brendel, pondering how this traveling mage might reverse the disparity in strength.
Not just him, but every person present at that moment had the same thought.
In fact, the two elven elementalist sisters felt their hands and feet growing cold watching the ghostly knight’s first strike; this level of battle surpassed anything they had imagined—though the Lubis mercenaries were fierce in reputation, it was akin to discussing wars among mortals. Above silver level, combat methods strayed far from common understanding.
In “Amber Sword,” there is a famous incident—a player-triggered conflict that occurred in the late first era in Cruz’s White Ludi City. Eleven golden-level players participated in this battle, resulting in the majority of the city being destroyed, which had a population of fifty thousand.
Though those players ultimately fell into exile, the destructive capability of high-level power was vividly illustrated in that event. Of course, various nations strengthened their management of adventurers after that, but that’s another story.
Next, the Thousand Soldiers Strike from the ghostly knight rendered even Antinna, the well-read noble lady, speechless; that power seemed capable of distorting nature. Though it was only an illusion, it still invoked a sense of despair in people.
The younger sister of the elementalist trembled uncontrollably, while her sister clutched her tightly, and the two gritted their teeth to hold on. This tenacity was characteristic of the Lubis mercenaries; typical mercenaries would have fled long ago.
The mercenary code dictated keeping promises, but humans were still humans.
Everyone held their breath.
But a miracle seemed to occur at that very moment.
After the ghostly knight dashed to a certain point, it suddenly stopped, as if an invisible line restrained it. The undead looked up, its glowing eyes peering through the mask at the people before it, raising its hand to strike out with the lance, unleashing two invisible wind pressures.
The wind pressures slashed forward, carving deep ruts into the ground, causing the black pines to topple in all directions. Unfortunately, before the pressures could reach Brendel and Husher, they dissipated into nothingness.
What was that?
The mercenaries watched the ghostly knight stop just behind that invisible line, futilely waving its lance in an attempt to k*ll their lord and captain, proving to be in vain—because it couldn’t reach them. At that moment, those people almost believed it was like divine intervention, surely Lady Martha was watching over their lord from above.
Even Antinna’s eyes gleamed with unusual brilliance, but on closer inspection, that light shifted into suspicion.
Romain clasped her hands together, let out a breath, and smiled. She thought to herself that her Brendel was indeed the best: Aunt, look, little Romain has an excellent lover now!
The mercenaries cheered, and even Husher looked at him in disbelief. But Brendel felt no relief; he had calculated it precisely; the ghostly knight’s activity range was indeed at this position. It wasn’t difficult to deduce, as one could guess it’s activity radius based on the monster lord’s patrol radius.
The ghostly knight’s patrol radius was pitifully small to begin with, especially since it was a scripted monster, making its activity range even less concerning. There was a formula for it, but Brendel had never memorized it; experience was enough.
He signaled backward: everyone should enter the ghostly knight’s attack range.
Everyone was taken aback.
This was great; we could hit it while it couldn’t hit us! Almost everyone thought this way, and some couldn’t help but draw their crossbows, as though fearing their lord had momentarily lost his mind and forgotten they had ranged attack capabilities.
“Lord!” Husher couldn’t help but say.
“Follow my orders,” Brendel interrupted. Things weren’t so simple; if the ghostly knight couldn’t reach them, it would quickly turn around. Although it was a quest-type monster, it wasn’t stupid.
Under his insistence, the mercenaries, though reluctant, still entered the ghostly knight’s attack range. Fortunately, under the slowing effect of the Ice Shatter Arrow, the terrifying undead’s movements became identifiable, and these experienced mercenaries were able to avoid even a blade of wind pressure.
Brendel knew that as long as it didn’t activate the Thousand Soldiers Strike, even if these Lubis mercenaries remained within its attack range, it couldn’t do anything about them—it could only futilely wave its lance to indicate its existence.
The mercenaries quickly caught on to this. The battle scene turned comical; the ghostly knight seemed to be playing whack-a-mole, while the mercenaries scuttled around like rats, occasionally retaliating with their ranged weapons—the only difference was, the ghostly knight could never hit, while the mercenaries were unbothered by their appearance.
As long as they survived, that was enough.
Husher watched in disbelief; if the ghostly knight’s terrifying power had exceeded his understanding before, the bizarre nature of their battle this moment surpassed it again. He thought himself experienced from years in war, yet had never seen a fight like this.
Seeing Husher’s expression, Brendel felt a slight sense of pride. He knew that in past wars, the actual decision-makers of the battlefield were often merely a handful; knowledge was held by a minority, and warfare thinking trended toward a set pattern.
But he was different; he hailed from a world with a much higher civilization—at least half of his soul did. In that highly civilized society, widespread education granted everyone the right to think, and boundless creativity allowed players to develop countless tactics in this virtual world.
In his time, the gaming industry had a famous saying: the freer the rules, the more troublesome the players.
Players were always seeking definitive solutions to problems, unconstrained by convention, leveraging every available resource and advantage to strike down the enemy, achieving the goal of unrestricted warfare.
Brendel was confident in this, representing the wisdom of all humanity. He stood at another height, looking down at this world, one struggling through darkness and filled with suffering.
He handed the remaining Ice Shatter Arrows to Husher, saying little; he trusted that this seasoned mercenary would know when to debuff the ghostly knight. The Ice Shatter Arrow was one of the most commonly used magical arrows, and the Lubis mercenaries had no reason not to be familiar with its use.
The mercenary captain hesitated, “My lord?”
(PS: Today has four updates, seeking support.) (To be continued, to find out what happens next, please log on, for more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
