Chapter 313: Can We Still Reach the Other Shore?

Yun Mu took a step back and tilted her head as she looked at Lucy, whose face was completely obscured after putting on the Calamity Robe.

"I don't really like this feeling." Lucy looked down at her own appearance: "It makes me feel like I'm some kind of rat hiding its head and tail."

"Why don't you take the hood off and see?" Yun Mu suggested.

"Hmm."

Upon hearing this, Lucy took off the hood, revealing her soft, golden long hair.

"That looks much better." Yun Mu squinted her eyes and said with a smile.

"Really?" Lucy used her fingers to gently tuck her hair, her words carrying a hint of doubt.

"Of course it's real!" Yun Mu nodded affirmatively.

"Alright, then this piece of equipment is yours, Lucy!" Yun Mu clapped her hands with a "pop" and decided decisively.

She already had the Earth Dragon Scale Armor and the Concealment Cloak; it wasn't that she couldn't wear a Calamity Robe over them, but it would look very strange and bulky, which would affect her movement.

As for the Scarlet Knight and the Gatekeeper, do they even deserve it? (Funny)

Ahem, the recruited Leader Bosses can be resurrected even if they die, so by comparison, Lucy's safety is more important.

Yeah, that's right, that's it.

"How is the biological tissue collection going?" After handling the equipment distribution, Yun Mu looked at the Plague Doctor to the side and asked.

"It's going quite smoothly." Hearing her words, the Plague Doctor replied: "The level of infection on that dead human was unexpectedly the highest, and the biological tissue collected from him is also of great research value."

"Human... oh, a Calamity Cultist, right." Yun Mu realized: "Does that guy have the Plague on him too?"

"Indeed, these lunatics who worship the Evil God will do anything." The Plague Doctor shook his head with some emotion: "Although I don't really want to admit it, this guy's corpse has indeed provided me with quite a few directions."

"After all, we are all humans..."

"Do Calamity Cultists rely on the power of the Evil God to control the Plague?" Yun Mu stood beside him and asked with some curiosity.

"Unclear, probably some kind of mysterious Ritual or something; after all, I'm not a cultist." The Plague Doctor didn't seem to want to talk about this topic, so he said: "Let's continue moving forward; we still need more samples."

"Fine then."

Seeing that he didn't want to talk, Yun Mu didn't continue to press the issue.

The enemies in this area had been cleared out, so it was time to head to the next area.

【Elite Challenge lv32 (Expert)】

Is this already the Elite Challenge area?

It feels like we haven't passed through many areas yet.

Although a bit surprised, Yun Mu didn't feel panicked.

A mere Elite Challenge—she'll handle it in minutes! 【You have encountered enemies — 【Calamity Bishop lv35】 (Expert), 【Calamity Cultist lv32】 (Expert), 【Calamity Cultist lv32】 (Expert), 【Calamity Priestess lv32】 (Expert)】 Just as they stepped into the Elite Challenge area, the monsters here discovered Yun Mu and the others.

The battle triggered instantly.

【Calamity Bishop lv35 (Expert) Race: Human

Max HP: 166, Attack: 60, Spell Strength: 40, Defense: 42, Resilience: 9, Dodge: 35, Speed: 28, Precision Correction: 55, Crit Rate: 20%. Traits: Elite, Bishop Robe (Magic damage taken -30%), Flesh Proliferation, Fanaticism, Deprivation (When suffering a fatal attack, can forcibly drain a partner's HP to recover). Skills: Deep Sacrifice Finger, Evil Lash, Summon Tentacles, Flesh Mutual Aid, Weakening Curse.】 The Calamity Bishop looked similar to the Calamity Cultists, but the magic robe on his body appeared more ornate.

The effect was also better, as could be seen from the description of his traits.

Being able to reduce magic damage taken by thirty percent is just absurd.

If it weren't for the fact that Yun Mu's Spell Strength was much higher than her Attack, she would have considered using melee skills to attack.

And besides the Calamity Bishop, there was a new monster named 【Calamity Priestess】; her appearance looked similar to an ordinary human female, she wore a Mask that could cover the upper half of her face, and she held a dark gray staff with a skull embedded at the top.

The following is her attribute panel—

【Calamity Priestess lv32 (Expert) Race: Human

Max HP: 100, Attack: 25, Spell Strength: 50, Defense: 33, Resilience: 8, Dodge: 35, Speed: 24, Precision Correction: 50, Crit: 16%. Traits: Flesh Proliferation, Fanaticism. Skills: Pain Call, Flesh Rain, Soul Scream.】 This guy is basically a carbon copy of the Calamity Cultist; the attributes and traits are almost the same, and her defense and speed are even slightly higher than the Calamity Cultist's.

Besides that, there are the skills... just looking at the names, one can't guess the skill effects at all; one can only experience them personally in battle.

【Battle Start!】

【Current Turn: 1】

【Player Yun Mu acts first!】

The Calamity Bishop has thirty percent magic damage reduction, and the effect of the trait 【Deprivation】 also allows him to lock his HP when he has teammates.

So, should I kill his teammates first? No, there is no need for that.

Yun Mu pondered for a moment and decided to attack the Calamity Bishop anyway.

Her Spell Strength is very high; attacking small mobs would only lead to damage overflow, so the way to maximize output is still for her to attack the Calamity Bishop.

As for those small mobs, leave them to Lucy and the others.

【Mental Shock!】

【-186!】

"Mere mortal!"

The Calamity Bishop's HP bar was instantly emptied; he roared, grabbed the neck of the Calamity Cultist in the second position, and then exerted force violently, directly crushing the Calamity Cultist's neck!

【+105】

What a way to strike my own teammate.

The corner of Yun Mu's eye twitched slightly; according to speed, it was now the Calamity Bishop's turn to act.

【Deep Sacrifice Finger!】

The Calamity Bishop's body underwent alienation in an instant; he extended a blood-red tentacle covered in muscle from the Shadow of his hood and stabbed directly at Lucy in the third position.

【-65!】

【Bleeding Immunity!】

Holy crap, what kind of damage is this? Lucy's panel defense is 12 points; counting the attributes provided by the three pieces of equipment—Tough Mushroom Hat, Obsidian Great Shield, and Cross Amulet—it is 35 points of defense.

Besides that, the Obsidian Great Shield also has a melee damage -10 effect.

Plus the 15% damage reduction from the Civilization Path. That means—uh, the damage value of Deep Sacrifice Finger is 121 points? It even has a Bleeding negative status.

However, because the Cross Amulet increases negative effect resistance by 40%, it was immunized.

Fortunately, choosing the Civilization Path this time increased the maximum HP of all characters in the team by 50 points.

Counting the attributes of the Cross Amulet, Lucy's current HP is 【Lucy: 60/125】.

It's less than half left now; what a ruthless attack. It seems I must find a way to prevent the Profane Bishop from acting a second time.

【Scarlet Knight begins to act!】

【Cavalry Lance Thrust!】

【-72!】

【Calamity Priestess: 28/100】

The Scarlet Knight charges forward, and the giant cavalry lance in his hand stabs into the body of the Calamity Priestess.

However, the 28% critical hit chance did not crit, which made Yun Mu's face darken, and she felt somewhat suspicious of the Lucky Gold Coin's effect.

Crit, damn it, crit!

Yun Mu shouted in her heart.

【Gatekeeper begins to act!】

It is the Gatekeeper's turn to act; there is nothing much to say for this guy, just use Charged Counterattack directly.

As for Soaring Dragon Sword? Although the damage multiplier looks much higher than Charged Counterattack from the skill panel, that thing is just a pure attack skill and lacks Super Armor and Taunt effects.

Plus, the equipped Courage Medal only provides additional attribute bonuses when acting outside of one's own turn.

So it is better to use Charged Counterattack.

The other skills are about the same; in the turn-based combat of the game Dungeon, they basically cannot play much of a role.

Friends who have played turn-based games should know.

A character's truly useful skills are actually just those few; many skills are actually not used in combat.

However, if it were in the real world, one could release various skills at will. For the Gatekeeper... it should be Flame Enchantment first, then Charged Counterattack followed by Soaring Dragon Sword, then Cruel Pursuit, and finally Ruthless Barrage? Yun Mu imagined the Gatekeeper's true combat posture in her heart.

The sight of that Door Panel Great Sword burning with raging flames must be very cool.

【Charged Counterattack!】

【Super Armor!】

【Taunt!】

This time, Yun Mu's luck was quite good; all enemies, including the Calamity Bishop, were actually affected by the Taunt effect.

【Lucy begins to act!】

It is finally Lucy's turn to act. Yun Mu thought for a moment and decided to let her transform into the Blood Clan state and use 【Blood Magic: Blood Healing】 on herself.

I hope she can recover more HP; please don't let it be a 0 recovery with a Bleeding status attached.

【Stress +15】

"I think you are a bit long-winded."

Lucy frowned and raised her hand to release the skill.

"Blood Like a Spring!"

【+12】

【Bleeding Immunized!】

【Lucy: 72/125】

Uh, the recovery amount is a bit low, and the Bleeding effect was triggered, but it was just immunized.

I hope the Plague Doctor can join the team soon; Yun Mu is truly fed up with the random healing amount of 【Blood Healing】.

【Calamity Priestess begins to act!】

It is the enemy's turn to act again. The Calamity Priestess raises her arm and uses the skull on her staff to cast a spell at the Gatekeeper.

【Flesh Rain!】

【-16】

【-0】

【Bleeding!】 【Severe Coughing!】

【Typhus】 【Corrosion!】

A burst of corrosive, blood-red rain envelops the Gatekeeper and Yun Mu.

The Gatekeeper is afflicted with the Bleeding effect and a disease called 【Severe Coughing】.

And Yun Mu has two negative statuses: 【Typhus】 and 【Corrosion】.

【Bleeding: -5 HP per turn, lasts for three turns.】

【Severe Coughing: Damage -25%.】

【Typhus: Corrosion resistance -50%, and takes double Corrosion damage.】

【Corrosion: -5 HP per turn, lasts for three turns.】

Ah? Yun Mu feels a fever in her brain, her joints seem to be aching faintly, and some red spots appear on her skin.

No way, you get sick this fast? "Cough, cough, cough!"

The Gatekeeper on the side starts to cough violently, looking as if he can barely hold onto his great sword.

【Charged Counterattack!】

【-65!】

The Gatekeeper swings his great sword, coughing while charging in front of the Calamity Priestess, and the Door Panel Great Sword in his hand smashes down heavily.

The Calamity Priestess, who was already low on HP, dies on the spot, but before she died, her Bleeding disease status was already enough to give Yun Mu and the Gatekeeper a hard time.

【The Calamity Cultist begins to act!】

【Summon Tentacles!】

Because the last Calamity Cultist was Taunted by the Gatekeeper, he could only use an attack skill.

He summoned a mass of writhing tentacles that appeared beneath the Gatekeeper, binding him tightly.

However, the next second, the Gatekeeper's body, bound by the tentacles, dissipated into an afterimage.

【Dodge!】

【Charged Counterattack!】

【-66!】

Due to the Disease effect of 【Severe Coughing】, the damage dealt by the Gatekeeper was reduced by 25%, which made his damage appear not so impressive.

"Cough, cough, cough."

After returning from the Charged Counterattack, the Gatekeeper coughed forcefully twice, as if to indicate that he had done his best.

Yun Mu:... What else could he say?

She was still being Tormented by 【Typhus】 right now, and felt as if she had no strength in her whole body.

【Current Turn Number: 2】

【Player Yun Mu acts first!】

【Corrosion!】

【-10!】

As the battle entered the second round, Yun Mu hadn't even done anything yet, and she had already had 10 points of health deducted.

The Corrosion effect applied to her by the Calamity Priestess before she died only dealt 5 damage per turn, but because of the Disease effect of 【Typhus】, the Corrosion damage Yun Mu received was doubled.

This made her feel somewhat relieved; fortunately, she had finished her off quickly, otherwise, letting her apply a few more rounds of Disease and negative status effects would have been quite disgusting.

Ugh... in the physical sense.

Without rushing to launch an attack, Yun Mu immediately used the item Holy Water to remove the Corrosion status from her body.

"Phew, much better."

Although Holy Water could not remove the Disease status, it at least made her condition improve somewhat.

As for the Gatekeeper, let's use a Bandage on him.

Let's remove the Bleeding status effect first.

Very good, now she could continue the attack.

Yun Mu shook her head and pulled herself together.

She looked at the remaining health bars of the Calamity Bishop and the Calamity Cultist, and decided to use a large-area attack skill to take them both out at once.

As for what this attack skill was... she didn't know either.

Taking the Paintbrush from her bosom, Yun Mu's fingers traced rapidly through the air.

Large-area attack, large-area attack... Yun Mu suddenly felt a large portion of her Qi Strength drained away; the next moment, the ground in front of her suddenly cracked open, and a massive amount of magma gushed out from within, directly swallowing the Calamity Bishop and the Calamity Cultist.

【-165!】

【-175!】

The enemies' figures dissipated into the magma, and by the time Yun Mu came back to her senses, the battle was already over.

【Battle Ended!】

【You have won a battle! You obtained the item 【Gold Coin】 *4860!】 【Pickpocketing +8%】

【You obtained the item 【Spellbook (Blue)】!】 【Spellbook (Blue)】

【Active Skill: Disease Curse】

【Randomly apply one Disease Curse to the target; the probability of the curse hitting is 60%.】

【A pitch-black spellbook, inscribed with those filthy, disgusting, and Fear-inducing black magics.】

(End of chapter)