Chapter Forty-Five: The Corpse Demon Commander

The monsters in the left corridor had all been slain, and the treasure chest opened. There was no reason for the group to linger any longer, so they retraced their steps to the initial fork in the path. Once again, Ye Chen put his monster-radar abilities to good use and led everyone into the right corridor.

The monsters in the right passage were already fewer in number, and with Lingyue, the knight, having mastered the Piercing skill, their efficiency improved even further. In the end, the last two pieces of the Dark Demon set dropped successfully from the monsters. But that wasn’t all—the Wraith Assassins in the right corridor were surprisingly generous, dropping several pieces of Superior-grade equipment and even a Rare-grade hand crossbow that delighted the hunter girl beyond measure.

“A newly explored map really pays off,” Second Sister Drunken Longing sighed with some emotion. “We grinded for days in those crowded, common maps and never saw even a single Rare item from the mobs. Here, in just one run, we’ve gotten so much—it’s better than running regular difficulty dungeons!” The drop rate here was simply overwhelming, incomparable to the ordinary maps outside. Rare set armor pieces alone would already be a windfall, but even a Rare weapon had appeared. The drop rate for Rare weapons was notoriously low—sometimes even bosses refused to yield them. Otherwise, Sword Dominates the City wouldn’t still be wielding a Superior-grade weapon at level 27.

The other women all nodded in agreement, their gazes unconsciously settling on Ye Chen—including even Eldest Sister Sword Dominates the City. Today, Ye Chen had brought them so many surprises that some of the girls were beginning to feel they barely recognized him. Was this really the support worker from their studio they’d always known? Lingyue looked at Ye Chen as well. Unlike the others’ confusion, she was certain and firm in her belief. She trusted, as Ye Chen had promised, that no matter how he changed, he would always stand by their side.

As they rounded the final corner, two stone doors loomed ahead. There was no need to guess—the Corpse Demon Overlord would surely be waiting behind them.

Drunken Longing stepped forward to push the doors open, but Ye Chen grabbed her back. “Wait, let Lingyue do it.”

“What’s wrong?” Drunken Longing was a little confused. The boss would be deep inside, not lurking right at the entrance. What did it matter who opened the door?

“Better safe than sorry.” Ye Chen had already seen on his minimap that two Exploding Bugs were lurking just behind the doors. These creatures specialized in self-destruction, and were extremely deadly. With Drunken Longing’s slight build, she could easily be killed instantly.

“Everyone, move back! If we cluster together and a bunch of monsters charge out, it’ll be dangerous.” In truth, Ye Chen was worried that the squishier party members might be caught in the blast radius of the Exploding Bugs.

Though the others thought Ye Chen was being overly cautious, their trust in him led them to scatter back. Ye Chen himself retreated as well, calling out to the Holy Light Priestess to ready an instant healing spell.

The atmosphere grew tense under Ye Chen’s direction. Affected by the mood, Lingyue carefully downed a health potion before approaching the stone doors. She pressed her hands against them and pushed.

With a grinding sound, the stone doors slowly parted. Before anyone could see clearly inside, two shrill screeches rang out. Two red, fleshy, blob-like monsters lunged straight for Lingyue, who had opened the doors.

“Exploding Bugs!” Sword Dominates the City exclaimed softly. She was experienced enough to recognize the monsters at a glance, without needing to check their stats. Relief washed over her—thank goodness they’d listened to Ye Chen and spread out. These Exploding Bugs were area attackers; a single misstep could have cost several lives. Fortunately, Lingyue, as a high-HP knight, should be able to withstand two of them.

Bang! Bang!

Lingyue had no time to dodge as both monsters crashed into her. With two thunderous explosions, massive damage numbers floated over the knight’s head: -536, -621.

Her health bar plummeted dramatically, causing the other women to gasp in alarm. The priestess shrieked and hurriedly cast her prepared instant heal, while Ye Chen pitched in with his own healing. The two priests worked in tandem, casting several spells before restoring Lingyue’s health to full.

“Ye Chen, we really owe you this time,” Drunken Longing said, still shaken. Thinking back, if not for Ye Chen’s careful warning, she would have been dead by now. But how did Ye Chen know there was danger behind the door? Was it simply caution? Drunken Longing found herself increasingly unable to figure him out. But try as she might, she could never guess the real reason.

Ye Chen waved off her thanks, his attention already fully captured by the distant, awakening Corpse Demon Overlord.

[Corpse Demon Overlord] (Silver Boss)
HP: 150,000
Level: 28
Skills: Life Drain, Venomous Plague

Examining the boss’s stats, Ye Chen’s heart skipped a beat. This was one tough monster—a veritable mountain of health. Coupled with a Life Drain skill, the fight would surely be arduous. Venomous Plague was even more troublesome: a stacking poison magic that, without an antidote, was almost impossible to counter. Even the toughest warriors could be slowly poisoned to death.

“Priestess, did you learn the Detoxify spell?” Ye Chen asked anxiously. If the team’s only Holy Light Priestess hadn’t learned Detoxify, they might as well give up on this boss.

“I have, and it’s already level three—detoxing won’t be a problem,” Sword Dominates the City replied. The group often teamed up, so they knew each other well. Ye Chen, the support worker, had always been too low-level to join their parties, so he hadn’t known these details.

The priestess nodded as well, signaling she was ready.

“Good, if we can counter Venomous Plague, we’ll definitely take this boss down.” Ye Chen allowed himself a hint of excitement. Apart from its deadly poison, the Corpse Demon Overlord was just a massive health sponge. It might be a tough fight, but they could handle it.

“I’m going in!” Lingyue called out, her body tensing as she activated her Charge skill, closing the distance to the boss in an instant and thrusting her spear with a Piercing strike.

-186—a blood-red damage number appeared over the Corpse Demon Overlord’s head. The group breathed a collective sigh of relief; its defense was nothing exceptional, at least far below that of a Demon Berserker.

“Cursed humans! How dare you trespass in the tomb of the dead—prepare to die!” The Corpse Demon Overlord howled in fury as it was attacked, raising its massive arm to slam into Lingyue.

-297—Lingyue shuddered from the impact, but her health didn’t drop dangerously. This was the power of Rare set gear—previously, such an attack would have cost her four or five hundred HP, and she’d be dead in three or four hits, even with a priest’s support.

“Attack!” Seeing that Lingyue had secured aggro, Sword Dominates the City gave the order. The group’s prepared attacks rained down on the Corpse Demon Overlord like a storm.

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