Volume 2 Chapter 14: Entering the Imperial Mausoleum (5)
After two minutes of mourning for Ba Dao's sacrifice, most of the teammates had returned to normal, but there were still a few, especially the two girls, who still looked very sad. Shuijing was a little older than them after all, and was whispering to comfort them, but Wanxing cried, "It's all my fault... That trap was a double mechanism, I was too careless and didn't notice that when I cut the tripwire that triggered the flying arrow, it triggered the falling rocks instead..."
I said sternly, "Enough! Now is not the time to be sad. This time, we have already anticipated that it will be very dangerous to break into the imperial mausoleum. Everyone is mentally prepared to die. Bad and Badao have done a great job. They are willing to sacrifice their own experience for the completion of the mission and for the benefit of the collective. We have to work harder and complete the mission to the greatest extent possible, so that their sacrifice will not be in vain... Wanxing, who will blame you? That kind of double trap requires at least level five mechanical skills to dismantle! You have helped us a lot. Without you, the mission would never be completed, and we would not even be able to get to this point! Cheer up, the next step depends on you! We can't stay here any longer. Do we have to wait for the monsters to refresh suddenly and kill a few more teammates? All right, assemble the battle formation and keep moving forward. The goal is the exit of the maze. After passing the second floor, it is the underground palace of the imperial mausoleum!"
My words cheered everyone up a little, and they quickly formed their formation. Wanxing silently wiped the tears from her face and automatically walked to the front of the team. She is really a very strong girl.
After more than three hours of hard work, it was almost noon. Counting from the start of the operation last night, it had been more than 16 hours. Everyone was exhausted. Wanxing suddenly said nervously: "Watch out... there's a monster... um, it's so strong, it must be the Boss!"
The presence of a boss means that there is a possibility of finding an exit. All of a sudden, the already exhausted team members became excited!
But I was shocked. The boss of the first floor, Iron-Armored General, was already so difficult to defeat, and the boss of the second floor must be even more powerful. If I act bravely but not wisely, I am afraid that even if I can defeat the boss, most of my people will be lost!
I hurriedly said, "Everyone stop! Don't be impulsive. I think this boss will be very strong. So, Wenxin, Wanxing and I will go over first. Wanxing, pay attention to whether there are any traps. After we see the boss, Wenxin and I will test its strength. Wanxing, you turn back immediately and set traps along the way. Wenxin and I will lure the boss over here!"
Humph, when I encountered the Iron-clad General on the first floor, I was too excited and didn't think carefully. I just started fighting as soon as I met him. Although I used some tactics, it was just a hard fight in general. I didn't let Wanxing's trap take effect. But I had already lost two brothers on the second floor. If I wasn't more careful, wouldn't I be an idiot?
We walked over carefully, and a general appeared in front of us, wearing a silver robe and silver armor, a silver helmet, and holding a pair of eight-petaled silver hammers!
Oh my goodness! What kind of monster is this? Why does it look like Pei Yuanqing, the third hero in the Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties, resurrected? Wow, could there be another Li Yuanba behind him?
Boss has seen us, the battle program is activated, and he shouted: "Hey! Who are you? You dare to disturb the Holy Emperor's mausoleum. You are guilty of an unforgivable crime. Take this blow from my Silver Armor General!"
Look at the huge hammers in its hands. Ugh... take your hammer? I don't know how many bones will be broken, but in order to test its fighting ability, I have no choice but to bite the bullet and take a hit first.
Wenxin and I rushed forward side by side, axes and swords coming out together, there were two loud "clang" noises, but there was no effect. My armor-piercing sword could only cut off more than 600 blood of the opponent, and Wenxin couldn't break the defense at all!
On the contrary, the Silver-Armored General just pushed with his two hammers, and Wenxin and I were hit in the chest respectively. A fierce and unparalleled force came, and we couldn't help but retreat three steps, with a sharp pain in our chest, and our HP was instantly reduced by more than 1,100!
And this seems to be just the Boss's normal attack, and he hasn't activated any skills yet!
Damn it, I can’t defeat it. I’d better run away. If it can hit me with a critical hit, there’s more than 50% chance that it will kill me instantly!
I pulled up Wenxin and turned to run. The general naturally chased after me. Although he was not very agile, Wenxin was too slow and unlike me, he did not have the "acceleration" skill. He was almost caught up by the general after only a few steps. Fortunately, Wanxing was quick and had set a trap. Wenxin and I went around the trap from both sides. The general was not prepared and stepped into the trap. He was immediately hit and entangled by the white light. He could not move and roared in anxiety.
Hehehehe... I was afraid of you just now, so I wanted to run for my life. Now... If I don't take this opportunity to chop you a few more times with my sword and repay you for the blow with interest, I will really be "filled with hatred in my heart"!
During this week, Wanxing spent a lot of time practicing his trap skills, and his skill level was raised to level 3. This time when we came to the Imperial Mausoleum, we invested a lot of money. Thieves need materials to set traps, and I spent 500 gold coins to buy enough top-level materials for Wanxing!
Therefore, the traps set by Wanxing are now much more powerful than when fighting the boss in the dark cave. They can trap monsters for 10 to 30 seconds and have a certain degree of lethality. After a general is ambushed, he will lose more than 30 points of health per second.
I chop, I chop, I chop chop chop... What? Wenxin is coming to join in the fun? Come on, his attack power can't break the general's defense, and each axe only deducts 1 point of blood. Isn't it hard? I told Wenxin to go back and protect Wanxing.
After six or seven strikes, the general escaped from the trap, and I started to run away again. It's despicable, but I can't do anything about it. Do you think I want to receive this imperial tomb mission?
I ran less than ten steps and saw Wanxing set another trap in front of me. Although her level 3 trap skill only made a faint light on the ground in my eyes, as a team member, I could get the location of the trap from the system, so I would definitely not be hurt by mistake.
I stepped over the trap, and the general chased me. I turned back, ready to kick him when he was down.
But the general actually stopped in front of the trap... He hesitated for a while, and then carefully went around the trap!
Damn, the general is different, much smarter than the zombie bosses!
However, since it fell into the first trap, it means the probability of it discovering the trap is not 100%. It can only keep running away and hope that the next trap will work!
We led the Boss back to the team's location. During the journey, Wanxing laid five traps, three of which worked. I also took the opportunity to chop the general with my sword, but I estimate that its total HP dropped by less than 1/20, right?
But there was no other way but to use this almost rogue tactic to kill it slowly. After all, no one in the team dared to fight this Boss in close combat!
Taking advantage of the opportunity when the general was trapped again, I didn't go up to chop him, but quickly arranged the tactics and said: "Stone's fire spell should also be effective against the silver-armored general, and Crystal's lightning should also have some effect. Only I can break its defense with physical attacks. The three of us will be responsible for the attack; Wanxing will continue to lay traps, and the rest of us will all turn around to clear the way for us, kill the silver-armored guards that spawned from behind, and clear enough space for us to lure the boss into the trap. In short, you must keep a distance from the general, anyone hit by it may be killed instantly, remember!"
Everyone followed the plan, fighting and retreating. Wanxing relied on the abundant materials to set traps one after another. Fortunately, the refresh rate in the imperial mausoleum was not high. Ji Mo and his team slowly killed their way back. There were only three or five silver-armored guards they encountered. Although Wen Xin was the only meat shield left, it was not difficult to kill him.
Generally speaking, the trap has a two-thirds success rate, and a round of attacks from the three of us can also deduct several thousand HP from the general... If nothing unexpected happens, it will not be a problem to deal with this guy. However, the further we retreat, the more guards will appear, and the pressure on Lonely and the others will gradually increase. Therefore, both sides are actually racing against time to see whether the general's life will be extinguished first, or we will be overwhelmed by the monsters first.
Surprisingly, Wanxing used his occasional stealing skills and actually succeeded in stealing a helmet from the general!
But if we can't defeat the general, this gain will be meaningless, so everyone gritted their teeth and increased the frequency of attacks.
Just when the system prompted: General Silver Armor was seriously injured and his attack power decreased by 50%, Lonely and the others had also reached their limit!
Wenxin alone could not stop the groups of guards. Jimo and Hanjiang were both on the front line, but their defense was still broken through by four guards. As a result, Fatty, Xiaoniao and the others were left with only Awei to guard them. The situation was very bad!
Ah Wei entangled himself with one guard and released an illusion to attract the attention of another one. However, with the attack power of the silver-armored guards, even though there were only two close to the inner circle, it was enough to pose a life-threatening danger to the mage archer!
I made a prompt decision and shouted, "Stone Crystal, go support them. I will fight the general alone!"
I couldn't wait to lure the General into Evening Star's trap. Anyway, its attack power was now -50%, so it was impossible for it to kill me instantly. I pounced on it and fought hard!
Shi Zhongyu stopped using the fire spell and used golden armor to protect his body instead. He rushed back to temporarily act as a meat shield. Lan Shuijing simply raised his hand and shot out chain lightning, which would be great if he could attract a guard over. Even Wanxing picked up a dagger and prepared to join the battle!
At this moment, everyone contributed their greatest strength for victory!
The bird was agile and had excellent archery skills. Once he drew his magic bow, every arrow hit its target. He was also very nimble. Although his attack power was insufficient, he fought and dodged at the same time. He entangled one guard to death, but the other guard chopped at his favorite fish!
Although Fish Lover himself has no combat power, he plays a very important role in the team. His enhanced healing skills to support melee professions and blessing to increase attack power (unfortunately he has not yet learned the protection to increase defense power) are indispensable to us!
The fat guy stood up. He was the magician with the least HP and defense, and he hadn't learned the magic shield yet. He used his weak body (really? Look at his fat body, he's much stronger than me) to block the knife for his beloved!
Blood splattered, people fell, and the guards continued to kill the priest, but Shi Zhongyu arrived in time. With the golden armor protecting his body, he had no problem holding off one guard!
The fat man stood up again. He was really lucky. According to what he said later, he only had 3 HP points left at that time!
Wanxing also arrived. She assisted Xiaoniao and killed the guard, completely stabilizing the situation.
However, the outcome is not decided yet. It will definitely take me a long time to kill the seriously injured general. Momo, Hanjiang and Wenxin are holding off six guards. Their HP is dropping rapidly and even the Small Huandan pills cannot replenish it. They can only rely on their own blood to hold on for a while. Fatty, Xiaoniao and the others must resolve the battle as soon as possible and then help the soldiers who are fighting hard!
Fortunately, Crystal's chain lightning long-range attack caused great damage to the two guards, and the ice arrow shot by the fat man froze one of them. The alert Wanxing immediately pulled himself away, rushed to Awei and said, "Leave these two to me!"
Ah Wei understood, his substitute talisman was very useful, it would be a waste to be trapped here, Wanxing was highly sensitive and his HP was not too low, so he could still deal with the two guards for a while. Ah Wei immediately got out of the battle and rushed to the front line to support the lonely three.
This substitution tactic worked amazingly. Although the phantom left by Awei was quickly destroyed and two guards attacked Wanxing, Wanxing was able to dodge the attacks in the narrow gaps with her agility and was not hit very often. With her current HP of more than 700, it was impossible for her to be killed instantly by the guards. Therefore, it seemed dangerous but it was actually safe. Awei helped Jimo and the others a lot. After the substitute on his side was destroyed, he could immediately create another one over there. One person could attract two guards, and immediately put Jimo and the others out of danger!
Why didn't Wanxing go up and help Moji and the others? That's because if the six guards gathered together, it was possible that three or four of them would attack the same target at the same time, and then Wanxing would have a great chance of being killed instantly! Even if she had to deal with two guards alone now, she had to be very careful not to let them hit her at the same time, otherwise she would die. And if the other party succeeded in using a critical hit, she would also be dead, so she definitely couldn't hold on for too long.
However, there were only two opponents left on Fatty's side, forming a four-versus-two situation, and the battle was quickly resolved. In this way, the overall outcome was decided!
The monsters were eliminated one by one, and they didn't need to continue to kill them. They all turned back to help me deal with the general. In fact, this guy, who was already seriously injured, had almost no blood left after being chopped by me. At this moment, the siege of everyone only accelerated the process of his death.
With my sword breaking through the armor, the silver-armored general fell down! At this moment, everyone seemed to be exhausted, sitting on the ground, gasping for breath.
This battle was won with great difficulty, yet no one died. There was certainly an element of luck in it, but the most crucial factor was the concerted efforts and tacit cooperation of everyone. Even after our gang grew stronger, we would always use it as a classic battle example when training new members.
After a short rest, everyone regained some energy and slowly stood up. I said excitedly, "Let's go and see if there is an exit to the maze ahead!"
It took a lot of time to kill the general, and the guards in front of us refreshed again... However, we have just experienced such a fierce battle, so how could we take a few minions seriously? We have already skillfully coordinated the attacks and killed our way to the end of the maze with great momentum!
Thank God, the green pattern in the teleportation array at the bottom of the passage looked so cute that everyone couldn't help but cheer!
However, when everyone was about to enter the teleportation array and head into the underground palace of the imperial mausoleum in one go, I calmly stopped their actions.
"Everyone, the final destination is right in front of us, but we have been fighting for too long." I said, "Maybe everyone is very excited, and so am I, but our bodies can't take it anymore. The strategy mentioned that the number of monsters in the underground palace is far greater than that in the maze. After we go down, we will face a more difficult battle, and perhaps we will lose our lives if we are not focused for a moment. We have come this far, spent so much effort, and paid such a high price. We must not allow ourselves to fail because of a momentary carelessness. We must enter the underground palace in the best condition. We must now log off, eat, and have a good rest to recover our spirits and fatigue."
I thought about it and said, "The boss will refresh every six hours. We still have more than five hours. It is now 13:14. We should gather online at 18:00 and enter the dungeon together!"
No one opposed my proposal and everyone agreed. Indeed, after 18 hours of fighting, and this was not just ordinary leveling up by killing monsters, everyone's brain and body in reality have been stressed to the limit. This is all because of the will and the excitement of successfully breaking through the maze. Even if we don't log off and force our way into the dungeon, I'm afraid someone will be kicked out of the game by the system protection in a short while.
Because it was expected that the operation of breaking into the imperial tomb would last a long time, naturally everyone brought a tent, and there were extra backups. Only Wenxin's tent had been used up during the two days he was lost, so he shared one of it with him. After everyone set up camp, said goodbye to each other, and agreed on the time to go online again, they all went offline.
