Chapter 419: Anchoring

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【-268!】 (Critical Hit!)

【-151!】

【-272!】 (Critical Hit!) 【-142!】

This is the damage figure caused by Brenna; even with a critical hit, it only took off a little more than half of the enemy's health.

As for the damage without a critical hit, it was only a little more than a quarter.

If not for the Demon Body trait, it would be fine; counting Yun Mu's damage, the battle would certainly end in at most two rounds.

But as things stand now, it is not very clear.

【Player Yun Mu begins her turn!】

It is Yun Mu's turn to act; without hesitation, she decisively raises Frost Cold Blade Tooth, preparing to land a heavy blow on the opponent.

【Frost Blade Ice Tooth!】

A 65% damage correction, and because it is a melee attack, it can also enjoy the effect of the equipment's passive skill, 【Frost Cold Blade Tooth】.

It ignores 40% of the enemy's armor and deals an additional 25% damage.

Added to the Civilization Path, she gains an additional 35% damage increase when facing races she has fought before.

"Die!"

Yun Mu swings with force, the azure ice blade sweeping across and instantly piercing through the four Demon Soldiers in front of her.

【-816!】 (Critical Hit!) 【-527!】

【-529!】

【-521!】

Slightly exaggerated damage numbers jump out from above the enemies' heads; although she guessed this strike's damage wouldn't be low, Yun Mu truly did not expect it to be this high.

There was no need for Brenna to attack first at all; even the non-critical damage could have one-shot the enemies from full health.

Yun Mu ponders, deciding to equip the Red Oil Candle item on herself the next time she enters a Dungeon.

Otherwise, Brenna's damage would all be wasted.

Thinking about it carefully, how perfect would it be if this battle were her first turn? Frost Blade Ice Tooth would directly trigger the enemies' Demonization, and then Brenna and Lucy would act in succession to eliminate the enemies who had recovered to half their health.

Instead of the current situation, where Brenna's damage is meaningless and her own output is mostly overkill.

In the end, the enemies relied on the trait to restore their health to half, leaving only Lucy and the Plague Mad Crocodile for their turns.

It is unknown if Lucy can wipe out the enemies' remaining half-health.

Yun Mu ponders in her heart.

One can know the result of such things just by calculating, but as everyone's stats increase, and she is not a genius in the field of mathematics.

It is somewhat difficult for her to do mental arithmetic without a scratchpad.

Even as a Fourth Order Master Transcendental, by definition, they still belong to the category of mortals; unless the profession itself has a certain bonus to calculation, otherwise—huh, speaking of which.

Yun Mu suddenly thinks of something and looks toward Brenna.

As a Mechanic, Brenna must be quite sensitive to numbers; perhaps she can ask for her opinion.

However, before she could speak, the battle proceeded to the next stage.

【Burning Legion Standard-Bearer begins its turn!】

As the most Elite troops in the Abyss, the stats of every Demon Soldier in the Burning Legion are exceptionally powerful.

The most obvious proof of this power is that at the same level, the stats they possess are much higher than those monsters outside.

This also means their movement speed will be very fast.

The Burning Legion Standard-Bearer's speed is a full 45 points; after Yun Mu's turn, he is the fastest guy on the field!

【Blow Horn!】

"Woo—"

The Burning Legion Standard-Bearer places the horn against his chest, and a heavy, yet slightly brisk horn sound reaches everyone's ears.

It caused no damage, but above the heads of the Demon Soldiers, one buff effect after another popped up.

【Speed +15%, Dodge +50, Precision Correction +35, Critical Hit +15%!】

How can blowing a horn add so many stats? Yun Mu cries out in her heart that it is unfair, completely forgetting that she had just cleared the enemy's entire health bar with one move.

【Burning Legion Mage begins its turn!】

"%￥#*&%......"

It is the Burning Legion Mage's turn; Yun Mu only sees the figure, who hides their entire body under a dark red robe, raise their arms and begin to chant a spell in a language that is neither Abyssal nor any language Yun Mu knows.

The title of Civilization Spreader takes effect, allowing her to roughly understand that the meaning is roughly "fire" and "converge."

【Sulfur Fireball!】

Blazing blue flames ignite out of thin air, then converge above the Burning Legion Mage's head into an azure fireball, smashing toward Yun Mu and the others.

【-159!】 (Critical Hit!) 【Poisoning!】 【Burning!】

【-115!】 (Critical Hit!) 【Immune!】 【Immune!】

【-100!】 (Critical Hit!) 【Immune!】 【Immune!】

Not cool, man.

How can all of the opponent's attacks be critical hits! Yun Mu looks at the Plague Mad Crocodile, which is instantly at low health, Brenna, whose mecha health has decreased by a third, and herself, who has about two-thirds of her health left, and complains in her heart.

She and Brenna are fine, but the Plague Mad Crocodile is not only at low health but also afflicted with two negative status effects simultaneously.

In Yun Mu's view, it is likely not long for this world.

But looking at it from another angle, the fact that the level 35 Plague Mad Crocodile can still take a hit from the opponent and not die can be considered quite impressive.

However, it is clearly not the time to be optimistic, because the enemies' actions have not yet ended.

【The Burning Legion Sword and Shield Soldier begins its action!】

【Berserk!】

Intense Spirituality and Qi Strength nearly materialized; the Burning Legion Sword and Shield Soldier roared fiercely, then leaped forward with its weapon in hand to stand before the Plague Mad Crocodile.

"Roar!!"

The opponent let out a roar, and the sound wave materialized, impacting the Plague Mad Crocodile.

【-6!】

【Damage +15% for the next turn; upon critical hit, restore 10% of own health.】

This was the effect of the Berserk skill; honestly, Yun Mu felt it was a bit lackluster.

After all, the damage was not high, and looking at the text description, the effect seemed to last for only one turn.

The only thing worth looking at was the 10% health recovery after a critical hit.

It was hard to tell if the monster AI of the Dungeon had glitched or what, but to think it would use such a pathetic skill to attack the Plague Mad Crocodile.

If it had used any other skill, the Plague Mad Crocodile would have died long ago.

And just as Yun Mu was thinking this, 【The Burning Legion Shield and Axe Soldier begins its action!】

【Heavy Strike!】

The demon soldier, holding a shield in its left hand and an axe in its right, let out a low grunt, raised the battle axe in its hand, and slashed fiercely toward the head of the Plague Mad Crocodile.

Then, 【Immune!】

The dark-colored axe blade slid off the Smooth Scales of the Plague Mad Crocodile, failing to cause it any damage at all.

Yun Mu, standing in the second position, was amused; she hadn't expected the Plague Mad Crocodile, which should have been dead for sure, to escape disaster by relying on the effect of the trait 【Smooth Scales】.

With this, the enemies' action turn concluded entirely, and next, it would be time for their performance.

【Lucy begins her action!】

Having reached thirty-five speed after leveling up, Lucy began her action before the Plague Mad Crocodile and Liliya.

She raised her right hand and gave a light wave.

A row of straight Alchemy Long Spears thrust out from the ground, piercing the opposing demon soldiers into hedgehogs.

【-360!】 (Critical!) 【-360!】 (Critical!) 【-363!】 (Critical!) 【Dodge!】

The three demons standing at the very front of the formation immediately turned to ash and dissipated, but it was a pity that the Burning Legion Standard Bearer, at the critical moment, nimbly Pounced to the side, dodging the spears that had thrust out from the ground.

It seemed the dodge increase from 【Blow Horn】 was not entirely useless.

Moreover, as Yun Mu looked at the remains left behind by the three dead demons, a chill flashed in her eyes.

She couldn't let this guy act again; a monster that was so hard to kill being resurrected by a single skill or something.

Just thinking about it felt disgusting, and what's more, the resurrected monster even came with a small resurrection effect.

That was even more unacceptable!

【Plague Mad Crocodile begins its action!】

【Poisoning!】 【Burning!】

【-20】 【-20】

Before Yun Mu could command the Plague Mad Crocodile to do anything, two damage prompts popped up above its head.

Yun Mu clicked on its remaining health.

【57/262】

Not bad, it wouldn't die.

Fortunately, there was the eighty points of extra health from the Civilization Path.

It was just that this effect of acting twice... it felt quite useful at normal times, but when the enemy applied damage-over-time debuffs, it was quite annoying.

But it didn't matter; once this Dungeon ended, she would obtain new recruitable monsters.

If she hadn't guessed wrong, the Leader of this Dungeon was likely related to the demons in the Abyss? Could it be a general of the Burning Legion?

Yun Mu would wait and see.

Speaking of which, there was actually something quite interesting.

That was the potentially existing general of the Burning Legion.

In reality, they would definitely be a Legendary, or perhaps even an Epic-level powerhouse.

However, because the level limit in this Dungeon was Master-level, no matter how strong they were, they wouldn't break through to the Champion tier of difficulty.

Thinking about it this way, she was the one taking advantage of the Dungeon.

And if she were to summon this potentially existing, Master-level Burning Legion general into the real world.

If that general were still alive, what kind of expression would they have upon seeing her?

It was truly interesting just to think about.

But these were just thoughts she had spun out from her own imagination; she hadn't even seen the face of the Dungeon Leader yet, so thinking about these things was somewhat unrealistic.

Shaking her head, Yun Mu controlled the Plague Mad Crocodile to use a skill.

【Wait!】

【Health +15】

【Resilience +5】

【Critical +15% (one turn)】

The range of the Tail Whip skill could not reach the Burning Legion Standard Bearer located in the fourth position, even after the three teammates in front of him had died.

Those remains would occupy their original positions, leaving the short-ranged Plague Mad Crocodile with only the 【Pounce】 and 【Howl】 skills capable of reaching the opponent.

The Howl skill was excluded first; under normal circumstances, it was of no use at all.

So, the only usable skill left was Pounce.

【Poisoning!】 【Burning!】

【-20】 【-20】

Affected by the damage from negative effects once again, the Plague Mad Crocodile broke out of its stealth state and lunged with a fierce bite at the Burning Legion standard-bearer at position four! 【-95!】 (Critical Hit!) Well, just as Yun Mu had expected, the Burning Legion standard-bearer's health bar, which only had half remaining, dropped by just a tiny sliver.

Even with a critical hit, the Plague Mad Crocodile's damage was still not enough to be a threat to the Burning Legion standard-bearer.

【Liliya begins her action!】

It was Liliya's turn to act; there was nothing much to say, so Yun Mu had her use 【Forest Shelter】 to recover the whole team.

Next turn, once it was her turn to act, the battle would be over.

Before that, she would let Liliya recover their status a little.

【Current turn count: 2】

【Player Yun Mu acts first!】

"This is the end."

Seeing the battle prompt on the Game Panel, Yun Mu picked up the Frost Cold Blade Tooth, preparing to use her single-target skill with the highest Precision Correction to attack that Burning Legion standard-bearer.

This guy already had 160 Dodge, and counting the 50 added by Blow Horn, that made 210 points of Dodge!

If she let this guy dodge her attack and then use Corpse Resurrection to revive the enemies, Yun Mu feared she wouldn't even be able to find a place to cry.

However, she actually had another, safer method.

That was to use an AOE skill to clear all the corpses on the field, so that this guy would be unable to use Corpse Resurrection.

It seemed that wasn't impossible, but Yun Mu thought about it again and realized this might let the Burning Legion standard-bearer live a little longer, so she decided against it.

Besides, she also wanted to test the effect of this skill she hadn't used in a long time. 【Mental Shock!】

A very familiar feeling; accompanied by the consumption of Spirituality and mental power, the body of the Burning Legion standard-bearer in the distance suddenly froze violently.

【-544!】 (Critical Hit!) 【Battle ended!】

(End of chapter)