Chapter 60: First Battle, Defeated
The players did not have time to react.
The Yellow Turban Warlock raised his head staff.
From the seven orifices of the head spewed a massive surge of purple-black energy.
These purple-black energies rapidly condensed into terrifying canine monsters resembling giant wolves.
【Dark Yellow Turban Rune Wolf】, Level 4 Elite Unit... Description: Rune wolves summoned through sorcery by Yellow Turban Warlocks, possessing extremely strong aggression and cannot be completely defeated.
Four headless warlocks summoned eight rune wolves, each body composed of black mist and runes, bearing four crimson eyes, with various runes covering their forms, red lightning flashing within, and moving at extreme speeds.
"Trouble!"
"It's a summoner!"
"Each warlock can summon two elite monsters, that basically means each one counts as two!"
"Based on my years of gaming experience, killing summoned beasts is useless. To deal with summoners, you must kill the summoners. Quickly think of a way to take them down, or else the threat is too big!"
Lone Boat, Black-Eyed Rui Ge, and Street Slayer all attempted to break through, but were quickly driven back by a volley of arrows and pinned down by surrounding fiend soldiers, unable to threaten the warlocks for the moment.
"Awooooo——!"
Amid the piercing howls and roars.
The eight giant wolves had already charged at the players.
Using their sharp claws and fangs, they dragged several players out of the formation and slaughtered them!
"Fuck you! Die!"
Ye Li Meng, relying on his high defense, charged to the front to attract firepower, swung his +7 warrior broadsword with both hands, and condensed a white blade light, cleaving at a Yellow Turban fiend soldier blocking the way.
This was his new skill—Qi Gathering Slash!
Ye Li Meng was already a Level 6 player.
With an extremely high attack weapon, and the accumulated +8 Strength bonus from the Big Wild Ox Set, he instantly cleaved through and killed the Yellow Turban fiend soldier before him.
Though he was struck by several arrows in the process.
But Midnight Pig Slayer and Chenxi quickly healed him.
Relying on his fine armor, as long as he protected his vital parts, Ye Li Meng could singlehandedly withstand the attacks of four or five fiend soldiers, creating opportunities for other players.
At that moment, a giant wolf pounced and bit his arm.
Though the bite itself did little damage, a paralyzing numbness quickly spread over his body, rendering him immobile for a time.
10!
10!
10!
【You are paralyzed, duration 2 seconds!】
【You are paralyzed, duration 2 seconds!】
【......】
Damn it!
It was magic damage!
The magic wolves released lightning damage during their bites!
Although Ye Li Meng had the best gear and highest defense among players, his equipment specialized in physical damage immunity and was ineffective against magic, and his Iron Armor Skill could not resist lightning damage.
Two more rune wolves closed in.
One bit into his thigh, another bit his shoulder.
Ye Li Meng was completely immobilized, forced into a passive position.
Although several monks desperately tried to heal him, it only barely helped.
A Yellow Turban fiend soldier raised his spear and thrust it through the gap in Ye Li Meng’s armor, piercing his throat.
163 (Fatal Critical Hit!)
Ye Li Meng, dead!
"Retreat!"
"Retreat quickly!"
Ye Li Meng fell in battle.
The other players also suffered heavy casualties under the onslaught of the Yellow Turban fiend soldiers.
Especially the eight rune wolves—
They were extremely fast, their attacks induced paralysis, and they countered the warriors' armor and Iron Armor Skill, causing the players’ defensive lines to shatter instantly.
Too passive!
The only option was to retreat from the battle!
Dada da!
Dada da!
The sound of hooves approached!
Several knights shrouded in black aura charged in from the left and right flanks.
The players were stunned: "What's happening? New monsters again?!"
【Luoshui Fiend Cavalry】, Level 5 Elite Unit... Description: Once the elite of Luoyang's Xiyuan Imperial Guards, now corrupted into terrifying demonized cavalry by the Abyssal Nightmare.
Six cavalry appeared on the battlefield.
They looked like elite light cavalry, though their bodies had not heavily mutated.
However, after prolonged exposure to the Abyssal Nightmare, they bore many signs of demonic corruption, each wielding a bloodstained lance.
The visual impact was overwhelming!
They had never encountered such monsters before!
The players looked on in horror at the cavalry.
The six fiend cavalry simultaneously launched a fierce assault from both sides.
This not only broke up the players’ formation but also cut off their retreat.
Six ferocious cavalry, eight agile magic wolves, plus nearly twenty fiend soldiers launching a relentless assault, plunged the players into complete crisis, and the battle tilted drastically against them.
"No way to retreat!"
"We can't escape!"
"Might as well fight them head-on!"
"Kill kill kill! Kill one and break even, kill two and profit!"
The players decisively abandoned their retreat, unleashing their bloodlust, initiating a desperate counterattack.
"All of you die!"
Street Slayer, clad in the Small Wild Ox Set, wielding a Yellow Turban Army saber in his left hand and a beheading broadsword in his right, after activating a Blood Sacrifice Talisman, charged like a mad dog at two fiend soldiers.
He successfully slew one and was about to attack another—
A fiend cavalry rushed over and coldly thrust his lance, piercing Street Slayer's chest armor and killing him.
Mad Blade Old Wang attempted to block the cavalry's charge with his shield.
However, he underestimated the power gap and was instantly knocked flying, then trampled to death by iron hooves.
A flaming arrow shot forth.
45!
The fiend cavalry staggered, ignited by flames, taking continuous damage.
Chimera Wraith, Little Bell, and the other warlocks saw that magic attacks were effective and prepared to cast more Flame Arrow spells.
However, the magic wolves seized the opportunity, quickly pouncing and slaughtering the vulnerable warlocks.
Less than five minutes later.
The battle ended.
It was a brutal slaughter!
Although the Fourth Calamity Army resisted fiercely.
They only managed to kill seven fiend soldiers and three magic wolves.
The former were real achievements, the latter were summoned beasts and meaningless.
In exchange for the deaths of thirty-five elite players, the results were indeed miserably poor.
———
A few minutes later.
All players revived.
They gathered in the hall for a meeting.
Little Bell: "My god! That was terrifying! I got bitten to death by a wolf!"
Dead Fish Stab: "Who could have expected cavalry too! This is way too hard!"
"Fucking developers are heartless!"
"This quest is harder than expected."
"Yeah, we didn’t even finish the mission or see the BOSS and we got wiped out!"
"Seriously screwed! Facing such strong enemies just outside the perimeter—can we really fight our way through?!"
"......"
Although the players had prepared for death.
Their mental preparation was meant for the big BOSS.
Who would have thought they would be wiped out before even reaching the BOSS?!
"But dying once isn’t a big deal, we didn’t lose much, don’t lose heart!"
Black-Eyed Rui Ge stood up to encourage everyone.
Mad Blade Old Wang also said: "This failure was mainly because our warriors were countered by the warlocks, plus the sudden appearance of powerful cavalry caught us unprepared!"
"Exactly!"
"We didn't know there were such monsters."
"Is it strange to fail under these circumstances?"
"Altogether we still killed over twenty elite monsters, the gained essence and loot, plus task rewards, more than made up for one or two deaths!"
"The fiercer the monsters, the better the loot!"
Little Bell said: "Our core raid isn’t just for leveling and earning, even weakening the Abyssal forces is already a win for our territory!"
"Right!"
"This round doesn’t count!"
"Enough talk! Before my mom calls me for dinner, let’s go again!"
"Today, no matter what, we have to meet the newbie village BOSS!"
"No rush, now that we know the monster types and numbers, we can plan better tactics. I believe with our current strength, we can beat these freaks!"
"......"
Hang Yu had been observing the entire time.
As expected, entering the Core Contamination Zone was no easy task.
But just as he anticipated, the initial setback did not discourage the players.
In fact, because the bone seemed so hard to chew, the players instead became unusually united, enthusiastically discussing tactics and strategies.
"Such great fighting spirit!"
"Since they’re so fired up, there’s no need for me to intervene for now."
Hang Yu temporarily decided not to step in.
He also wanted to see if the players could overcome the harsh environment and defeat the powerful elite monsters to reach Ma Yuanyi.
Of course, along the way, there would inevitably be some ‘harvesting’.
But as the saying goes: take from the people, use for the people.
The richer the territory's essence reserves, the better the future rewards for players.
Whether for territory development or the Fourth Calamity Army, everything would only get better.
Thus, letting players endure a little hardship was very necessary.
For now, they had only suffered some setbacks.
It was far from affecting their gaming experience.
On the contrary, high-difficulty challenges meant richer rewards, and with the goal of defending their territory added on, the players’ desire for victory was thoroughly ignited, immersing them even more deeply, even enjoying it.
Not long after.
The second challenge was about to begin.