rpbooks Chapter 24 : Group Battle
Chapter 24 : Group Battle
Group BattleHundreds and thousands of giant rats pouring out of their nests made for a truly spectacular sight.
However, if one were to mention an even grander event, Dawn's Light and Yuewu had certainly witnessed it before.
For instance, in the recent limited-time event [Monster Siege], Cecilia led their small group to plow upstream into the monster army, forcefully tearing open an unexpected path through sheer will.
In that event, the monsters numbered in the tens of thousands, with countless elite boss monsters present. Whether in terms of scale or difficulty, it was a challenge many times greater than what they faced now.
That being the case, logically speaking, the two who'd already experienced such large-scale scenarios shouldn't lose their composure over the scene before them.
But it must be noted that, during the Monster Siege, the one who had held the vanguard role—bearing the brunt for the team—was none other than Cecilia.
It was precisely because she absorbed nearly 90% of the pressure that the four-person squad succeeded in penetrating the monster army. Ultimately, Yuewu and Dawn's Light had just protected Gu Yanxi in the center.
But now, the once indomitable Cecilia had fled who knows where because of her fear of rats. While Dawn's Light and Yuewu had great equipment and not low levels, suddenly making these two—who'd grown used to an easy ride—become the pillars of the team would naturally bring predictable results.
Accompanied by a piercing chorus of "squeak-squeak" sounds, before the trio could react, the swarm of rats surged forth ceaselessly, flooding every alley around them and sealing their escape routes completely.
"Uncle, what do we do now—run or fight?"
Clutching her short staff tighter and tighter, Yuewu's face grew grave. She slowly swept her gaze around before quietly asking Dawn's Light behind her.
Though there were many Wall-eating Rats nearby, none were high level. Not considering the random boy for now, given the edge in equipment and level, Yuewu and Dawn's Light could likely break through as long as there were no errors in their coordination.
"Run? Run where? Would you give up on this world-class boss?"
Dawn's Light shot her a faint glance, then slowly raised his black-and-red, broad-bladed giant sword, casting two defensive buffs on himself. He was clearly ready to fight to the end.
His decision might seem reckless, but in fact, there was nothing wrong with it.
To get to the back hills of the village where this boss resided, these Wall-eating Rats blocking the way had to be cleared out anyway. With Cecilia out of the question this time, the responsibility fell squarely on their shoulders.
At this thought, a trace of bitterness appeared on Dawn's Light's face.
Cecilia, was this also part of your plan?
"That's right. Then let's go all in!"
Men die for wealth, birds die for food—a truth as old as time.
At the mention of a world-class boss, Yuewu became ruthless, lifting her staff and starting to chant her highest-level area skill.
[Ice Spike]: Launches a fan-shaped row of ice spikes in front, dealing 130% magic magic damage to all enemies within the area, and reducing their speed by 50% for 6 seconds.
Mana Cost: 50 points
Cooldown: 75 seconds
In the blink of an eye—just two seconds—a flash of blue lit up her short staff, and a row of clear, sharp ice spikes shot out from Yuewu's front. With a series of sharp "crack" sounds, they struck a cluster of Wall-eating Rats directly ahead.
The sound of freezing echoed through the noisy alleys. In an instant, a dozen or so Wall-eating Rats were frozen solid by ice and snow, their HP dropping to perilous levels.
Dawn's Light immediately followed up with a charge into the frozen rat crowd, then casually released a Whirlwind Slash that easily took out a large swath. He promptly cast [Taunt] and [Petrify Skin], instantly pulling the remaining dozens of monsters close to him—preempting them from disrupting Yuewu's next cast.
The boy, seeing this, hurried to the other side, following Dawn's Light's example by drawing the rat crowd away, buying Yuewu more damage space.
The battle broke out in full. Yuewu cast several more area skills with decent damage, including the mage's level 13 big skill—[Lesser Blizzard].
Sheets of pure white shards of ice and flurries of heavy snow fell obliquely from the sky at a 45-degree angle. Though the coverage wasn't huge, it began to resemble an overwhelming blizzard, quickly descending within an 18-meter radius and inflicting massive damage and slow effects on the rats packed into the alleys.
-46!
-58!
-76!
-81!
In no time, countless blue magic damage numbers floated up, nearly blotting out everyone's field of view.
However, the more skills Yuewu unleashed, the faster her mana was consumed. Early in the game, without mana potions, relying solely on a player's own mana regeneration was nowhere near enough to support such frequent spellcasting.
As the blizzard ended and the Wall-eating Rats converged again, Yuewu tried to cast Ice Arrow only to find her mana bar had unknowingly been completely emptied.
For a mage, mana is even more important than HP. A mage who can't cast spells is basically useless on the battlefield.
Staring at the seemingly endless tide of Wall-eating Rats, Yuewu ground her teeth resentfully but could only lower her staff, waiting for her mana to recover while calling out to Dawn's Light: "Hey, uncle, I'm out of mana."
Hearing Yuewu's words, Dawn's Light paused, then chopped away the surrounding Wall-eating Rats with two swings, quickly strode over to Yuewu, fished out two blue potions from his backpack, and shoved them into her hands.
"Quick, use these. Don't interrupt your spellcasting or we're both done for."
Looking at the blue glass bottles in her hands, Yuewu's expression finally relaxed, and she asked with a hint of surprise, "Mana potion? Where did you get these?"
"Cecilia gave them to me earlier; I've never used them until now. Guess you got lucky."
With that, Dawn's Light, seeing the boy's HP running low and feeling a little uneasy, ran over and gave him two red health potions.
After consuming the mana potions, Yuewu's mana bar rapidly refilled—especially when two were used together. Though not completely full, it was more than enough to cast another two or three spells.
On the other side, the boy also drank the health potions given by Dawn's Light, his body glowing with soft red light, showing his HP was quickly recovering.
Among the three present, his level was the lowest, and his equipment laughably poor. He'd been thrust in way over his head. When the Wall-eating Rats had just chased him, it was only thanks to his speed that he wasn't gnawed to death—though he had come close.