Chapter 2635 - A Stroll through the Backyard?
Upon seeing Zero Wing’s members dash straight toward the nearest group of trial monsters, Violet Sword’s and Azure’s members gaped in shock.
They were going up against several thousand monsters here. Moreover, even the weakest of these monsters was a Level 120 Great Lord, yet Shi Feng didn’t even bother to discuss positioning and individual assignments before having Zero Wing’s members charge straight into battle. This was the first time Violet Sword’s and Azure’s members had seen such leadership. To make matters worse, every one of Zero Wing’s members actually obeyed Shi Feng’s command.
“This is just too reckless!” Wildfighter could not help feeling anxious when he saw Shi Feng proceeding with utter disregard for their opinions. “There are several thousand monsters! Even if they have fully unlocked Mana Bodies and can take some hits, if they can’t dodge attacks, they’ll still end up dead!”
He admitted that Zero Wing’s members were very high-leveled. In addition, every one of them also had a fully unlocked Mana Body. Zero Wing’s members definitely had a greater advantage when going up against the trial monsters than Violet Sword’s peak experts did.
However, the system was clearly trying to test players’ combat standards in this tunnel. Levels and fully unlocked Mana Bodies were only secondary.
Currently, they were already tight for time because the trial duration was only five days instead of the expected seven days. If they died here and lost a day’s worth of progress, they definitely wouldn’t be able to complete the trial.
“We have no choice but to go along with them,” Crimson Star sighed when she saw Zero Wing’s members getting close to the nearest group of trial monsters. “I’ll activate my magic array in a moment. Everyone else, focus fire on the Trial Elites. So long as we reduce the number of penetrating attacks we have to deal with, we can stop the remaining trial monsters much more easily.”
Sinful Flame and the other members of Azure nodded in agreement with Crimson Star’s plan before charging toward the nearest Trial Elite. They intended to get rid of a few Trial Elites as soon as the battle between both sides started, so that they could lessen the pressure on Zero Wing’s members and minimize casualties.
The instant Zero Wing’s members entered the trial monsters’ perception range, the Trial Warriors and Trial Elites promptly sprang into action like veterans of the battlefield.
In no time at all, 400 Trial Warriors spread out into a square formation around the main army. They then stabbed the iron shields they carried into the ground, creating an iron wall that protected the several thousand other trial monsters within their formation. As for the trial monsters inside the square formation, they unslung their bows, split up into several divisions, and fired arrows at Zero Wing’s members in intervals.
This scene stunned Violet Sword’s and Azure’s members momentarily.
They had seen monsters attacking as an orderly group before, but this was definitely their first time seeing monsters attacking in such a well-trained fashion. In fact, the coordination of these trial monsters rivaled that of NPCs.
Volleys of arrows rained down on Zero Wing’s members, each volley consisting of more than a thousand arrows. Moreover, the intervals between the volleys were incredibly short. The arrows in each volley were also well-spaced, leaving no room for Zero Wing’s members to exploit.
“It’s over… Even peak experts will have difficulty dodging and blocking all those arrows. With the combat standards of Zero Wing’s members, several volleys would be enough to annihilate them…” Wildfighter’s complexion darkened significantly when he saw the spate of arrows bombarding Zero Wing’s members.
Against such a coordinated and accurate assault, let alone Zero Wing’s members, even a group of peak experts wouldn’t survive for very long.
Although the attack pattern was very monotonous, the arrows flew incredibly fast. In addition, they came in torrents. There was a limit to the number of actions and reactions a person could make within a certain period. Over this limit, even Domain Realm experts would be rendered powerless and could only watch as they got killed.
Although these arrows didn’t carry a lot of power, they still weren’t attacks players like themselves could afford to receive casually.
At this moment, every one of Zero Wing’s members would have to go up against at least ten arrows simultaneously, with some unlucky ones having to go up against as many as 20. After factoring in the speed of the arrows, these numbers had already exceeded the limits of even Tier 3 peak experts. Only Domain Realm experts would be able to accurately determine the trajectories of these arrows and react to them in time.
Just when the first volley of arrows was about to land on Zero Wing’s members, a voice appeared in the team chat.
“Vice Commander Crimson, activate your defensive magic array!” Shi Feng ordered unhurriedly as he looked at the descending arrows.
“Got it!”
Upon hearing Shi Feng’s command, Crimson Star snapped out of her daze and waved her staff, completing the activation of the magic array she had prepared beforehand.
A silver barrier bloomed from the center of Zero Wing’s formation, instantly expanding to cover a 200-yard radius and enveloping all of Zero Wing’s members within it.
Tier 3 Curse, Aerial Defense!
Aerial Defense was a Curse that had a certain probability of invalidating the flying tools within its range; it was similarly effective against arrows. In the next moment, more than 20% of the first arrow volley clattered to the ground. Now, only about 900 arrows continued flying toward Zero Wing’s members.
Even so, Violet Sword’s and Azure’s members still wore grim expressions on their faces.
Although the number of arrows had been reduced to around 900, the number of attacks each of Zero Wing’s members had to face still exceeded the limit of peak experts, let alone Refinement Realm experts.
As Violet Sword’s and Azure’s members were shaking their heads and sighing, Zero Wing’s members started maneuvering around the arrows, dodging them effortlessly as if they had long since known the trajectories of these arrows. From afar, it seemed as if Zero Wing’s members were dancing in a rain of arrows.
When the first volley of arrows ended, not a single Zero Wing member had suffered a direct hit. While some Zero Wing members had lost roughly a quarter of their HP, that was merely a result of them defending against the Trial Elites’ Penetrating Arrows. The HP they lost was also instantly replenished by the healers on the team.
“How is that possible?!” Floating Light’s eyes bulged when he saw this scene.
Against that volley of arrows, even he wouldn’t have such an easy time blocking and defending. However, Zero Wing’s members had dealt with the volley of arrows as if they were just strolling through their backyard.
At this moment, let alone Floating Light, even Solitary Frost and Yan Xiaoqian, who had trained with Zero Wing’s members for the past few days, were astonished by this scene.
Despite the majority of Zero Wing’s members being only at the Refinement Realm, they had easily dealt with an attack that even peak experts would find troublesome. This was simply unbelievable.
“They can actually block and dodge that kind of attack so easily? Just what kind of training do they normally undergo?” Yan Xiaoqian’s heart roiled with confusion as she looked at Zero Wing’s Refinement Realm experts.
What Yan Xiaoqian and the others did not know was that Zero Wing’s core members had long since familiarized themselves with attacks like the trial monsters’ arrow attacks. After all, they faced much worse when they were training at the Extraordinary Tower’s first floor. In fact, in the opinions of Zero Wing’s members, blocking and dodging the trial monsters’ arrow attacks would still be a cakewalk even without Crimson Star’s support.
After enduring several volleys of arrows, Shi Feng noticed that all of the agitated trial monsters had shifted their attention to Zero Wing’s members. He then ordered through the team chat, “We’ve stabilized the aggro! Everyone, start attacking!”
Upon hearing Shi Feng’s command, Violet Sword’s and Azure’s members snapped out of their daze and started launching attacks at the trial monsters, together with Zero Wing’s members.
Because Zero Wing’s members were holding aggro, everyone else could attack freely without having to worry about getting attacked themselves. As a result, the trial monsters fell rapidly, one after another.
Meanwhile, everyone discovered that these trial monsters granted a surprisingly large amount of EXP—basically three times higher than normal. At this discovery, Violet Sword’s and Azure’s members grew ecstatic.
The only disappointing thing about these trial monsters was that they did not drop any loot.
After the team grinded the trial monsters for more than half a day, something strange occurred. One of the Trial Elites killed suddenly burst into flames and transformed into a dilapidated, crystal stele that hovered quietly in the air. The stele radiated frightening Mana fluctuations that sent many of the Tier 3 experts present stumbling back.
An Ancient Legacy Stele?!
When Shi Feng saw this worn stele, his eyes widened in shock, and he could not help wondering whether he was hallucinating.