"Indeed, it was us." Kalis lifted his gaze, his voice calm and steady, but there was not a hint of fear in his eyes. "Why? Do you have a problem with that?"
His eyes swept across the enemy ranks, and a stream of information instantly popped up on his system panel:
[Winged Direwolf · Elite]
Level: 110
HP: 103000/103000
[Abyssal Battlelord · Epic]
Level: 150
HP: 1278500/1278500
[Abyssal Warmaster – Mior · Legend]
Level: 180
HP: 6205000/6205000
Mounts, foot soldiers, a Legendary boss—the gap in their stats was worlds apart, and the difference in power was crystal clear.
An 180-level Legendary Warmaster leading a dozen 150-level Epic Battlelords to exact vengeance. This lineup was absolutely terrifying, far more troublesome than Zerakel's solo assault earlier.
What's more, Zerakel had been a seasoned, veteran lord of the Abyss. A being of his stature killed by humans was enough to enrage countless powerful figures in the Abyssal Realm.
Mior stared down at the two whose levels were far lower than his own, rage boiling beneath his grotesque features. He let out a cold snort. "Since it was you who killed Zerakel, then you shall pay with your lives! I will take your heads back to report to General Klim!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he swung his massive hand forward.
The twelve Epic Abyssal Battlelords launched their attacks in unison!
"Kalis, look out!" Lia cried out in alarm, darting backward at top speed to hide deep in the mine corridor.
Her survivability was already weak to begin with. Facing a siege by such high-level bosses, the slightest mistake would get her caught in the crossfire and send her straight back to the city to respawn.
Twelve violent blasts of energy crashed down on Kalis in full force. The Crystal Barricade surrounding his body was already glowing brightly, taking the full brunt of the ferocious assault.
BOOM——!
A series of deafening booms shook the ground, cracking it open and sending shards of rock flying everywhere.
Kalis glanced at the shield's durability loss; each attack shaved off over 70,000 points of durability. Combined, the twelve attacks had shattered a full million points of his shield's health!
"Gasp—That's some serious firepower. I might actually die here." Kalis sucked in a sharp breath, not daring to hesitate for a second. He struck back without mercy.
"Thunder Chain!"
ZAP——!
A dazzling bolt of lightning tore through the air, streaking straight toward the Abyssal Battlelord closest to him.
The lightning was as fast as a thunderclap, completely impossible to dodge.
A sharp crackling sound rang out. The Thunder Chain hit its target dead center, exploding with a terrifying 20 million damage instantly. The Abyssal Battlelord didn't even have time to let out a scream before he dropped dead on the spot.
Unfortunately, the enemy was in flight, too far away from his allies for the Thunder Chain to trigger its bounce effect.
"Bastard!"
"How is this possible! How can he be this strong!"
Seeing their comrade killed instantly, the remaining eleven Epic Battlelords were overcome with shock and fury, their roars of rage echoing one after another.
They didn't dare hold back any longer, unleashing their most powerful ultimate moves one after another. In an instant, a rain of skills came crashing down on Kalis relentlessly.
"Mire Curse!"
"Abyssal Tyrant Slash!"
"Bloodthirst Harvester!"
One devastating skill after another slammed into him. The Crystal Barricade around Kalis flickered on and off, on the verge of shattering completely.
-28938 (Slow)
-179892
-72894
Dense clusters of damage numbers and debuffs popped up one after another, flashing across his vision so fast it made his head spin.
Kalis was about to keep casting skills to cut down the enemy when one of the Abyssal Battlelords suddenly leaped off his Winged Direwolf's back, diving down at lightning speed. His battle blade sliced through the air, coming crashing down toward Kalis with overwhelming force.
The next second, Kalis felt his entire body go numb—he'd been stunned!
And the stun duration was a full five seconds!
"Damn it..." Kalis's heart sank like a stone.
Right after that, even more skills came raining down on him, all kinds of debuffs flooding over him like a tide.
Slow, stun, root, paralyze, silence...
This was clearly an attempt to lock him down indefinitely until he was worn down and killed!
Kalis was horrified to find that he couldn't move a muscle, couldn't even cast a single skill!
"Purification!"
At this critical moment, Lia, who was hiding deep in the corridor, suddenly struck, hurling the Cleric's signature purification skill.
In an instant, soft white light enveloped Kalis. Every single debuff and control effect on his body vanished completely, and he even gained a five-second Berserk state!
"Nice work!" Kalis laughed out loud, and the crisis lifted in the blink of an eye. He struck back immediately.
"Meteor Shower!"
BOOM——!
A meteor shower with a coverage radius of sixty meters erupted overhead, crashing down on the enemy group in a furious storm.
Seven of the eleven Epic Battlelords were caught squarely in the meteor shower's area of effect.
In an instant, shrill screams of agony echoed up and down the entire street.
"Aaaaaah! What the hell is this!?"
"It hurts! Lord Warmaster, save me!"
"Damn it! I can't hold on——!"
The continuous damage of a million points per second was simply beyond what these Epic Battlelords could handle.
In just two short seconds, all seven Epic Battlelords trapped in the area were killed instantly, dissolving into a shower of gold coins and gear that rained down along with the meteors.
"Damned humans! I'll tear you to pieces!"
Watching half his elite troops wiped out in the blink of an eye, Abyssal Warmaster Mior's eyes turned bloodshot with rage. His roar shook the very heavens.
"Die!"
He let out a thunderous shout, his body hurtling down from the sky like a cannonball.
A three-meter-long blood-red battle blade materialized in his hand out of thin air. The blade's edge sliced through the air, coming crashing down toward Kalis's face with the force of a thousand pounds!
This was a lock-on skill—impossible to dodge, only possible to tank head-on!
But would Kalis just sit there and wait to die?
Counterattack—he had to counterattack!
"Lightning Bolt!"
BOOM! ZAP!
The sharp crack of the blade striking and the explosive boom of the lightning shot rang out at the same time. Both hit their targets dead center.
A massive damage number popped up above Kalis's head—-870000!
As for Abyssal Warmaster Mior? Only one layer of his protective shield was shattered. His body was completely unharmed.
"Hah!"
Failing to kill Kalis with a single strike, a flicker of shock crossed Mior's eyes, but his attacks grew even more ferocious.
A thick aura of blood erupted from his entire body, and he brought down an even more powerful blade strike.
CRACK——!
The battle blade, larger than Kalis's entire body, slammed down hard, exploding with another terrifying million-plus damage hit.
The Crystal Barricade around his body took a brutal hit, its durability dropping by a full third in an instant!
The power of this Legendary boss was truly ridiculously strong, far more terrifying than the Level 108 Wraith General!
"You're strong... but you're still going to die!"
Kalis's eyes turned sharp and cold. He'd already figured out the shield mechanics of high-level bosses. Instead of wasting time on channeled spells, he unleashed a flurry of instant-cast small skills in quick succession.
Magic Missile!
Fireball!
The magic missiles shot out with a sharp whistle, shattering Mior's second shield layer with pinpoint accuracy. The colossal fireball followed right behind, exploding violently and breaking yet another layer!
This was already the third shield layer!
"Star Wind!"
Seeing that Mior was still alive and his Berserk state was about to run out, Kalis didn't hesitate for a second. He began channeling his ultimate move once more.
At the same time, Mior and the remaining four Epic Battlelords launched a fierce coordinated attack. The Crystal Barricade's durability plummeted rapidly, dropping below 50% in the blink of an eye!
WHOOSH——!
Star Wind was unleashed in response. The howling gale coalesced into a massive cyan tornado, tearing apart everything in its path mercilessly.
The fourth shield layer on Mior's body shattered into pieces!
Right at that moment, Kalis's Magic Missile finished cooling down. He didn't hesitate, casting it instantly at point-blank range.
-3998123!
This basic auto-attack skill finally dealt actual damage to Mior, though the number was nearly half lower than expected, failing to kill him instantly.
Mior's face was filled with shock and horror. He quickly let out a thunderous shout. "Bloodguard Barrier!"
In an instant, a thick blood-red barrier enveloped his body—exactly like Kalis's Crystal Barricade, a pure defensive shield.
The raging tornado howled past. Two damage numbers popped up above Mior's head in quick succession—a white -1000000, followed by a red -1099892!
The blood-red barrier shattered into nothingness!
"No... this is impossible!" Mior's eyes were filled with disbelief and terror. He'd never imagined he would be defeated by a mere Level 62 human.
The next second, another gust of the tornado swept over him. A damage number of two million popped up suddenly.
Mior's HP was emptied instantly. His colossal body exploded with a deafening boom, dissolving into a shower of gold coins and gear that scattered across the ground.
As for the remaining four Epic Battlelords? They'd already been torn to shreds by the Star Wind.
"Ding! You have defeated the Epic Boss Abyssal Battlelord. You have gained 3755 Reputation!"
"Ding! You have defeated the Legendary Boss Abyssal Warmaster – Mior. You have gained 24500 Reputation!"
"Your party has defeated Abyssal Warmaster – Mior. You have gained 8950000 split EXP!"
"Your party has defeated the Abyssal Battlelord. You have gained 994500 EXP!"
"Your..."
System notification chimes echoed one after another, flooding both their ears.
The twelve Epic bosses and one Legendary boss had awarded Kalis and Lia a massive total of 20 million EXP points!
In the blink of an eye, Kalis's level skyrocketed, jumping all the way to Level 67!
Even Lia had leaped straight from Level 46 to Level 57. The level gap between them had narrowed significantly, and she had even rocketed into second place on the level rankings!
"Holy crap... I just leveled up... eleven times in one go?"
Staring at her suddenly skyrocketing level on her panel, Lia was completely dumbfounded, her face filled with sheer disbelief.
Kalis, however, looked quite calm about it, saying casually, "It's normal. Killing high-level bosses gives out tons of EXP these days. It's just that the higher up you go, the more EXP you need to level up. The leveling speed will slow down more and more."
By now, the street was already completely covered with gold coins and gear.
Purple and orange items littered the ground as far as the eye could see.
And among that massive pile of loot, there even lay an item glowing with scarlet light—a Mythic-rank piece of equipment!