Chapter 940 - Hell's Gatekeepers
Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: FluffyGoblyn
Despite the fact that Three Tigers was a top-tier Assassin from a Super Guild, he could not think of an appropriate response to the seamless combination attack.
Only when the Black Coffin began to close did Three Tigers activate a Control Removal Skill.
Unfortunately, the half-second delay before he made a decision was more than enough time for Fire Dance to catch up to him, executing Absolute Strike.
Suddenly, Fire Dance transformed into a shadowy streak that pierced through the male Assassin’s body.
With little effort, Fire Dance, Violet Cloud, and White Night had taken out a Super Guild’s top-tier Assassin. The surviving Pantheon members were stunned.
Three Tigers was in no way weaker than Peerless. The Assassin could move about unhindered even against hundreds of elite players and dozens of experts. In a large-scale war, he could even take the enemy commander’s life while surrounded by thousands of enemies.
Yet, now, the combination attack of three people had killed him almost instantly.
“Their cooperation is seamless. Without Skills that provide invulnerability, there is simply no escaping that attack.” War Wolf sighed as he watched this scene play out. “The difference between the two team’s experts is massive. Pantheon doesn’t have a chance.”
As a matter of fact, War Wolf knew that, even without Violet Cloud and White Night, Fire Dance alone could render Three Tigers helpless.
Although Fire Dance was an Assassin, her Attributes were outrageous. Moreover, only MTs could block the female Assassin’s mystifying attacks with their shields. Other classes had no hope of blocking or dodging her attacks. Their only option was to maintain a distance from the Assassin. Letting her get close was the equivalent of welcoming death into their homes.
Youlan nodded her agreement with War Wolf’s evaluation.
While it might seem as if Peerless had an advantage after activating his Berserk Skill, Zero Wing’s people had many of their own, terrifying Skills. After all, they had just come from the Titan Library. Youlan also understood just how powerful the Skills were in the library’s outer and inner areas. Even five Berserked Peerless clones wouldn’t be enough to change this battle’s outcome, let alone one.
As Youlan was lost in her thoughts, Shi Feng joined the battle.
The instant Shi Feng stepped forward, he vanished. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before Peerless, arcs of blue electricity coursing around his body. He then slashed his blade down on the Berserker.
Tier 2 Taboo Skill, Instant Strike!
“Die!” The instant Shi Feng appeared before him, Peerless sensed the Swordsman’s presence. A grin appeared on his face as he executed Whirlwind Slash.
After watching Three Tigers die almost instantly, he had worried that Zero Wing’s experts would pin him down and defeat him before he had the chance to confront Shi Feng. He had never imagined that the detestable Swordsman would come to him and without activating a Berserk Skill!
However, before Peerless’s greatsword could accelerate, a blue streak of light bloomed from Shi Feng’s hand.
In the next moment, a critical damage of -27,684 appeared above Peerless’s head, the Berserker’s HP plummeting to zero. Peerless did not even have a chance to realize what had happened before his vision faded to gray.
How is this possible?! As Peerless slowly fell to the ground, confusion filled his eyes as he stared at his body. A sword wound had appeared across his chest without his notice. The speed at which Shi Feng had drawn his sword had surpassed his perception.
When Peerless’s body hit the ground, a piece of Level 40 Dark-Gold Equipment dropped beside him.
Shi Feng’s attack had dumbfounded the remaining Pantheon members.
His sword strike had been way too fast.
Aside from a gradually fading blue glow, they saw nothing. That strike may have even killed someone with an Invulnerability Skill before they could deploy it.
After Peerless died, Shi Feng went after the remaining members, too lazy to pick up the equipment the Berserker had dropped.
By the time Pantheon’s members realized what was going on, Shi Feng had darted past them all, and they were already falling to the ground, one after another. Without suspense, Shi Feng had killed everyone.
Instant Strike was as strong as a Tier 3 Skill. Even if they activated Berserk Skills that doubled their Attributes, current players were nothing against this Skill.
“Pick up the loot and prepare to face the monsters!” Shi Feng commanded upon noticing the three Bosses breaking free from their distant imprisonment.
Although one could clear the entrance trial without defeating the three Stage Bosses, Shi Feng had decided that defeating them was necessary.
Like the second stage’s Boss, they might earn an unexpected reward for the First Kill of these three Bosses.
As for why he had killed Pantheon’s members without a second thought, he had worried that these people would run for the city half-way through the Boss battle. Should that have happened, all of the regret in the world wouldn’t have given him his Titan City Reputation back.
Moreover, had they cooperated with Pantheon, they would have had to share the Bosses’ loot equally. Since his team was more than capable of defeating the Bosses by themselves, why should they share the bounty?
…
After the three Bosses had annihilated the Pantheon members that had trapped them, they shifted their gaze towards Shi Feng’s team. Roaring angrily, the three Bosses, followed by over a hundred four-armed demonic monsters, charged forward.
“Cola, tank the Ape King! Wumian and Turtledove, separate the other two Apes! The farther, the better! The rest of the MTs will pin the demonic monsters down! Don’t let them get away! Everyone else, kill the demonic monsters first!” Shi Feng shouted. These Bosses’ powerful auras didn’t affect him in the slightest.
The team immediately did as Shi Feng had ordered. Youlan cast Angel’s Blessing, increasing everyone’s Attributes slightly and decreasing the damage they received. Shi Feng also summoned the Demonic Flame Tiger and had it cast Battle Roar and Darkness Blessing, increasing everyone’s Attributes by an additional 10% and reducing the damage they took by another 20%. The team also received a 100-point boost to their Magic Resistance. These buffs immediately rose the team’s strength to a whole new level.
When Cola was within range, he executed Justice Bash and attracted the Three-headed Demonic Ape King’s attention. Ye Wumian and Turtledove lured the Two-headed Demonic Apes away from each other as well.
However, the Demonic Apes had absurdly high Strength. This was especially true for the Ape King. Although the Grand Lord was not an Archaic Species, it still dealt over -10,000 damage to Cola despite the Guardian Knight’s multiple damage reduction buffs. As for Ye Wumian and Turtledove, they each took over -6,000 damage when the Great Lords hit them.
Generally, players who had reached the third stage avoided fighting the three Demonic Apes. After all, like the second stage’s King of Corrosion, killing them wasn’t necessary to clear the entrance trial. Teams were simply not willing to take this risk.
Moreover, in the past, the three Demonic Apes had been known as Hell’s Gatekeepers. Most teams that had reached this far would avoid them as much as possible.
This was due to the three Demonic Apes’ special ability.
In reality, the three Demonic Apes were actually of one body. Although they were neither Ferocious Beasts nor Archaic Species, they were still a nightmare for players.
When one Demonic Ape died, its strength would transfer to the remaining Demonic Apes. When only one Demonic Ape remained, the gates of hell would truly open. No team could survive the Boss’s devastating power. Even if Shi Feng activated Twofold Berserk, he could do nothing about his impending death.
Hence, the only way to defeat the three Stage Bosses was to kill them simultaneously.
If the last Demonic Ape even had 1% HP remaining, it would massacre the entire team.
However, a team needed powerful MTs, and healers in particular, if they wanted to kill all three Demonic Apes at the same time. From time to time, the three Demonic Apes used an AOE Skill. Every player on the team would lose HP when they did. These moments would put the team’s healers to the test.
If too many members died, it would wound their overall damage output. All three Demonic Apes possessed extremely high HP, so their battle recoveries were not to be trifled with. If the team could not maintain their damage above a certain threshold, a team-wipe was inevitable.
If not for Violet Cloud’s new AOE Healing Spell, Shi Feng would not have dared to fight the three Demonic Apes.
As the battle raged, time passed quickly. By the time everyone finished dealing with the four-armed demonic monsters, Cola was close to succumbing to the Ape King’s might. Although the Guardian Knight could easily deal with the Ape King’s ordinary attacks, his roughly 30,000 HP would drop to just over 10,000 when the Grand Lord used its War Stomp. The Skill also forced him into a Fainted state. If not for a powerful healer like Violet Cloud, the Ape King’s next hit would have likely killed him.
As Cola wavered, the rest of the team worried. If he died, it would not be long before the rest of them followed him to the grave.
As expected, this will be a tough fight without Berserk Skills. Shi Feng felt somewhat powerless. Previously, to deal with the King of Corrosion, their team had nearly exhausted their Berserk Skills. Now, the Skills were still on Cooldown. “Fire, it’s up to you now.”
“Leave it to me,” Fire Dance said as she playfully licked her lips. She had long since grown impatient and was incredibly eager to test the new Tier 3 Sure-kill Skill she had learned in the Titan Library.