Chapter 505 "A Failed Attempt" - Hundred-Bones Dragon King Erskol

【Floating City - Outer City】

One of the twelve areas, "The Humus Howling Abyss".

A world shrouded in darkness.

The dense curse was almost tangible, transforming into a visible blackish-gray haze that covered the entire area.

A girl in a pristine white short skirt appeared, seemingly out of place in this area.

Aegean!

The area's leader and guardian.

With a "click".

The flowers, like congealed dark brown blood, and the vines, resembling black iron roots, were crushed under the feet of the girl in the white short skirt.

In an instant.

The dark environment seemed to come alive, with countless dark brown lights appearing on the ground, like thousands of fireflies twinkling.

The entire area was lit up, and at a glance, the ground was covered with dense, dark brown flowers and black iron-colored vines.

Look at this eerie and creepy scene!

Aegean remained expressionless, already used to it, and casually stepped on the black iron-colored vines on the ground.

The vines growing on the ground are called "vampire vines"!

It was one of the tributes offered by a subjugated demi-human race when the supreme god-kings ruled the world.

What is the name of this race?

Aegean had long forgotten that this bloodsucking vine, though terrifying in appearance, was actually a valuable medicinal herb, only its growing environment was special.

It can only grow in rotten swamps, but it can grow even faster in places with strong negative energy and curses.

at present!

The only valuable thing about the Vampire Vine is that it can be harvested periodically and handed over to the steward of the core area.

Used to deposit into the "Coin Box" to exchange for game coins.

“...the despicable invaders.”

Aegean, recalling the message from Xingyu, the guardian of the "Auction House," whispered expressionlessly:

"Sister Silver Olive was actually defeated... Those invaders must have used despicable means!"

There were fifty level 80 mercenary monsters, while the invaders only had three people, whose strength seemed to be around level 80 as well. No matter how you looked at it, it was impossible for them to fail.

Only by using despicable means can this be achieved.

I looked up and gazed into the depths.

Beneath the faint light emanating from the dark brown flower buds, in the darkness permeated by the dense power of the curse, a massive figure, as large as a small mountain, faintly emerged.

Aegean's eyes trembled briefly.

She doesn't like it here.

Even as the person in charge of the "Humus Howling Nest", she usually stays outside.

The plant "Vampire Vine" should ideally be placed in the "Abundant Nursery," where it provides a certain bonus to all plant-type monsters and herbs.

The reason they grow so densely here!

It was because of the cursed aura constantly emanating from that enormous creature that the area she was in charge of was corrupted.

That's right!

It's "pollution"!

This building site wasn't originally called "Humus Howling Nest"; Aegean preferred the site's original name.

It seems...it seems, it's called...circus...circus something...

never mind.

Aegean suppressed the memories in her mind.

After all, it has been more than 500 years, back when the supreme god-kings were still around.

The Cthulhu God-King, the Evil Spirit King, and the Stone Demon God-King liked to place their research here, so they changed the original name to the current "Humus Howling Abyss Nest".

She thought of the evil spirit king who would occasionally pop up and startle her.

A feeling of happiness welled up in Aegean's heart.

"Insignificant invaders... Embrace the deepest fears in despair."

Aegean spoke softly, walked to the massive figure, and raised her palm towards the motionless, mountain-like form:

"Get up, you reptile!"

A magic ring on her finger flashed red.

Boom!

The whole world seemed to shake, and the dense curse energy that permeated the air swirled around like a vortex.

The next moment.

A massive arm shot out and slapped down on the Aegean in front of it.

Faced with this attack.

Aegean didn't make any defensive or evasive moves because it was pointless; once the opponent woke up, they would indiscriminately attack everyone in their field of vision.

“The gods’… failure!” Aegean said with disgust.

A loud "bang" was heard.

Aegean's figure was crushed by the enormous arm!

However, this kind of death was not worth her attention.

The guardians of each region are all of low rank, only in the single digits, so even if they die, the amount of game coins they lose is extremely limited.

--at the same time.

In the outer city maze.

With the earth rumbling and shaking,

Tang Zheng and Jue Si Jue Ming steadied themselves and looked around. They saw that all the maze walls around them had begun to move.

High above, the hazy fog that had enveloped our view was dissipating rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"The maze is moving... Is this a new attack method?"

Zetsuki's nerves were on edge as he constantly scanned his surroundings, assuming a defensive stance ready to respond to any sudden attack.

"What the hell are they up to now? This place is getting more and more infuriating!"

Tang Zheng knew.

The "annoyance" of being utterly desperate does not actually stem from feelings of boredom.

This invasion,

The terror of the [Floating City] is fully revealed. Relying on intelligence advantages and petty tricks to get to where they are now has reached their limit!

Zetsuki was very clear about this.

It is precisely because of this that emotions called "fear" and "anxiety" are gradually taking control of Zesshi Zesshi's mind.

"It's not a new attack method."

Tang Zheng looked at the rapidly dissipating fog in the air, then withdrew his gaze and calmly said, "The maze is being unraveled."

"It seems we no longer need to attack the remaining building areas one by one."

Zesshi Zesshi was stunned: "Release?"

Of the 12 building areas in the "outer city", they only managed to conquer 5, leaving 7 unconquered, and the maze was solved.

There's only one possibility for this to happen!

The maze traps were automatically deactivated by the [Floating City] itself.

There was no ease whatsoever!

"Have you already noticed?"

Zesshi Zesshi's expression stiffened, becoming even more solemn and serious.

This indicates that the enemy has already obtained all their intelligence and there is no need to probe any further!

"As a 'victim' of the invasion."

"We can't let such a precious resource as a level 10 magic scroll be wasted like this."

Tang Zheng was perfectly aware of this.

The massive consumption of magic scrolls will inevitably expose that they are not "sacrifices," the false identity initially created for the other side.

Jue Shi Jue Ming pursed her lips and looked at Tang Zheng, who was wearing a magic mask beside her. Judging from his voice, she could tell that his composure had not changed.

This put her mind at ease.

"Tsk~"

"It seems the invasion game is over."

Zetsuki clicked his tongue lightly, a smile returning to his face, and swung his black scythe.

"But is that really enough?"

She didn't know Tang Zheng's real plan, but she knew the importance of this invasion. Thinking of the "power armor" that had been put away, she had a vague guess.

"Prepare for evacuation!"

Tang Zheng gazed at the outer city wall, which was rapidly being restored to its original state, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

"Invading the [Floating City]? Even if we increased our manpower by 100 times, we still wouldn't be able to launch a direct attack, let alone with our current numbers."

“A direct assault… has never been our objective.”

Thump—thump—

The ground shook violently once again.

The thick fog above completely dissipated, and gentle sunlight shone down, illuminating the gray world once again with the azure sky.

Rows of rectangular buildings have reappeared on both sides of the street, their rooftops reflecting the sunlight and radiating a rainbow of colors.

The sturdy stone pillars in the Savari style, emitting a dark yellow magical light, appeared evenly throughout the building, extending into its depths!

Tang Zheng and Jue Si Jue Ming stood on the straight road paved with gray rocks, as if everything had returned to the beginning.

Looking from afar!

At the very front, several Nordic-style palaces are faintly visible, which is the direction of the "inner city".

There was absolutely no desire to explore!

"withdraw!"

Tang Zheng spoke without hesitation and turned to return towards the "Aurora City Gate" behind him.

With a twist of his waist, Jue Shi Jue Ming followed closely behind.

Starlight Watchtower.

"Guardian, they're trying to escape."

When "Butler" Imralis saw the scene on the magical screen, his face showed no surprise, but rather a cruel smile.

"hehe."

"So it was just as I thought. It wasn't a probe for an invasion at all, but a real invasion."

A stern, cold laugh followed the "message".

"Yes."

The "butler," Imralis, nodded slightly in response.

"It is still impossible to determine why they would do this, but the previous speculation that the other party was just a 'scout' can be ruled out."

He suspected that this was merely a collaboration between the Slane Theocracy, a remnant force of the Six Great Gods, and the True Dragon King's forces, and that there was no third party involved.

It can even be completely ruled out that the concerns are from "player" forces, just like the Supreme God-Kings!

"Deploying the 'failed attempt'."

"To further determine whether they still have any trump cards up their sleeves."

"yes!"

…………

On the road paved with pale white rocks.

Two figures moved!

Since the invasion is still ongoing, the "Aurora Gate" remains open after being breached.

"Higher-level teleportation"

Tang Zheng grabbed Jue Si Jue Ming's shoulder and instantly covered a distance of about thirty meters.

See this teleportation distance.

Tang Zheng frowned and decided to stop using magic; it was faster to move.

Teleportation is prohibited within guild strongholds, so forget about long-distance teleportation. However, short-distance teleportation is still possible during combat.

certainly.

Low-level spells like "Dimensional Movement" and "Teleportation" will inevitably fail to activate; only high-level teleportation methods like "High-Level Teleportation" can be used.

Just then.

The entrance to "Aurora City Gate".

Buzz!

A massive black magic circle appeared out of thin air.

Terrifying black energy surged from the magic circle, and in an instant, a massive figure emerged from the black mist.

Uh—uh—ho!

Ee-ya-ah!

Squeak—chatter—cluck!

In an instant.

It was as if hundreds or thousands of painful and shrill screams rolled in from the black mist, forming sharp shockwaves that could be seen with the naked eye.

boom!

The violent air currents formed a hurricane-like force 7 or 8 that swept across the area.

"Skull Wall!"

Tang Zheng's expression changed, and he stopped and began to chant rapidly.

A wall of numerous skeletons rose from the ground, blocking Tang Zheng and Jue Si Jue Ming's path, resulting in a brief collision.

The skull wall was blasted to pieces on the spot, with a large number of shattered bone fragments flying everywhere and then dissipating in mid-air, but it also withstood the shock wave generated by the sound!

Tang Zheng felt a sense of relief and was just about to look ahead.

"puff--"

Jue Shi Jue Ming's face turned deathly pale, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Then, his eyes glazed over, and he stood there blankly.

Ee-ya-ah!

The sharp screech continued, but Tang Zheng remained unaffected.

"An undying spirit!"

Raise your hand and aim it at Death's Despair, activating a spell that grants mental resistance.

"This...this..."

Jue Shi Jue Ming's previously dull pupils regained their clarity, a look of pain appeared on his face, and he subconsciously covered his ears with one hand.

"A sustained psychological shock?"

"Can it even easily break through half of the negative resistance provided by the Valkyrie herself?"

Tang Zheng heard the piercing screams coming from the air and guessed what was happening.

Bang!

A pure hurricane was stirred up.

Huge gray dragon wings emerged from the thick black fog, dispelling the black energy gushing from the magic circle.

What followed was...

A massive figure, as large as a small mountain, blocked the exit of "Aurora City Gate," obstructing Tang Zheng and Jue Si Jue's path forward.

"dragon?"

Zetsuki used his cross-shaped scythe to brace himself against the ground, while covering his ears with his other hand, his face pale as he repeatedly looked up.

"...What the hell is that?!"

Compared to the size of a human, the terrifying monster before them was simply enormous.

Its height alone is around fifty meters, and not counting its tail, its length exceeds one hundred meters, far surpassing the size of some ordinary dragon kings!

The other person's body shape was very strange.

The basic outline of the dragon can still be seen, but every inch of its body surface looks like the disgusting pustules on the back of a toad.

Its skin was studded with various colored scales, bristles, troll hides, animal skins, and other chaotic creatures, with only scattered, huge gray scales visible.

The most terrifying thing!

The skin surface, neck, and back were covered with countless subhuman heads, densely packed with pustules.

The sharp, agonizing screams and hisses came from these demi-human heads.

The sound contains a variety of psychological impacts, which can continuously cause negative psychological effects such as confusion, fear, and bewitching!

The dragon swayed its body, its massive, gray-white head sensing the presence of other creatures; its long neck bent.

A pair of lifeless, vertical golden pupils stared at Tang Zheng and the other person.

— A "failure"

Hundred-Bones Dragon King Erskol (Lv 92)

"...Gray scales...a curse..."

Tang Zheng keenly observed the gray dragon scales on the Hundred Bones Dragon King's body and the dense curse power it constantly emitted, and suddenly muttered to himself:

"So it was you."

The Black Knight, one of the 13 heroes, is the place of his death, and also the place where he leveled up his [Cursed Knight] class.

The huge gray scale found there is exactly the same as the scale on this true dragon king!

(End of this chapter)