Chapter 125: Moments of Joy

“Release!” Ye Chen timed it perfectly and shouted sharply at Xian Yun atop the Tower of Holy Light.

Hearing Ye Chen’s command, Xian Yun instinctively clicked the magic activation icon on the arrow tower. A pale blue beam struck precisely at the designated coordinates, unleashing a chilling cold that swiftly swept over two hundred Berserk Bear Knights and their leader, the Bear Knight Lord. The knights’ charge slowed drastically, as if moving in slow motion, while the ordinary berserk bears behind took advantage of this moment to surge forward. Unfrozen and twice as fast as the knights, these bears quickly overtook the Bear Knight formation and charged chaotically toward the city gate.

“I get it now! Night Team, this tactic is brilliant!” Long Face was the first to catch on, his face lighting up with wild delight as he shouted from the Assault Tower.

“Long Face, what do you mean?” The bearded berserker asked in the team channel, still puzzled.

“Idiot, we’re using those ordinary berserk bears to block the city gate, so naturally, the Bear Knights can’t attack us. Haha, this move is genius!” Xian Yun laughed loudly, convinced he understood Ye Chen’s strategy.

The bearded berserker blinked, confused. “But if they can’t hit us, neither can we hit them. What do we do then?”

“Uh, yeah.” Xian Yun was stumped and turned to Long Face. “Long Face, you figured it out first. You must know what to do.”

“Obviously, we take out those monsters with our arrow towers!” Long Face nodded firmly, rolling his fists, eager to fight.

“But... there are only a few of us. How long would that take? Long Face, you’re fine—you can kill two or three per minute—but the rest of us might not kill a single one per minute. We won’t finish before the next wave arrives,” Xian Yun questioned.

Long Face’s expression stiffened awkwardly. “That’s really a problem. You should ask Night Team. Don’t ask me.”

Their conversation took place in the team channel, overheard by everyone. Hearing this, all the members looked toward Ye Chen, eager to learn his plan.

Ye Chen smiled faintly and said, “Long Face’s plan is feasible, but if we do that, we won’t get offline for at least two days.”

Long Face brightened at first, but the latter half of the sentence was a dark cloud. Two days without rest would be torturous.

Everyone else laughed uproariously, then pricked up their ears, waiting to hear Ye Chen’s brilliant move.

“In fact, the last six waves in the Demon Trial Grounds are both the easiest and the hardest. If you try to brute force them, you’d need a team of over fifty elite level-50 members. Otherwise, hundreds of elite monsters are no match for a dozen people. But if we cleverly use these ordinary monsters and the arrow towers, those last six waves become almost ridiculously simple.” Ye Chen paused briefly, scanning the team. Except for Ding Yuan the Monk, Long Face, and Tiger, who seemed to catch on, most wore blank expressions. Ye Chen smiled slightly and continued, “It’s very simple. We just let these ordinary berserk bears block the gate. Neither the elite monsters behind them nor the super boss can attack us because none of the bosses in the Demon Trial Grounds have ranged attacks. We don’t even need to rush the kills—just hold the line against the bears and wait. The six waves of monsters will come in time. After that, the six arrow towers will take care of the rest.”

At this point, anyone still not understanding was a fool. The thought of easily defeating nearly 800 elite monsters had everyone buzzing. Even Ding Yuan the Monk laughed heartily, thrilled beyond measure.

Over a hundred ordinary berserk bears charged forward, clustering twenty or so around each of the four heavily armored defenders. Originally one heavy armored spot was vacant, but with the Soul Rider Lord present, it was no issue. Though he couldn’t receive Holy Light healing, his 266,000 HP and high defense meant he could endure for a long time. These ordinary bears’ attacks were like mere tickles to him. The other three Soul Riders had died back in wave twenty-three; elite monsters really couldn’t do much on such a large battlefield.

The bears’ bulk, once an advantage, now favored the defenders. Despite twenty bears surrounding each person, only five or six could actually attack simultaneously. The swordsmen and berserkers held their ground easily; Ding Yuan the Monk had it even simpler. All three had removed offensive gear and simply used group taunts and low-damage area skills to firmly hold aggro.

Moments later, the unfrozen Bear Knights finally charged under the Bear Knight Lord’s lead. But by then, the gate was completely blocked, and the furious knights could only roar in frustration while the bulky Bear Knight Lord paced anxiously outside. Given his massive size, squeezing through was a pipe dream.

Swish, swish, swish—the sound of three whistling projectiles filled the air. Ye Chen unleashed a rapid-fire volley of fireballs through the gate, striking the giant Bear Knight Lord. Normally, if the target were smaller or obscured by so many monsters, the attack might miss. But no one could deny his massive size.

-1326, -1228, -1319

Three blood-red damage numbers floated up. Ye Chen furrowed his brow slightly. The others were stunned—Ye Chen’s attacks were notoriously powerful, often dealing over 2,000 damage casually. Now he only managed just over a thousand on the Bear Knight Lord, which meant the creature’s defense was absurdly high.

Ding Yuan the Monk grimaced again and shouted, “Shoot, shoot! Ranged attackers, focus fire! This guy has way too much health. The arrow towers won’t finish him off. I don’t want to be a punching bag for him later.”

Long Face and the others snapped to attention and unleashed their strongest attacks on the giant Bear Knight Lord.

-705, -326, -389…

A rain of arrows and spells rained down. Except for Long Face’s fairly solid damage, the rest were mediocre hits.

The Bear Knight Lord grew even more enraged and roared at the crowd by the gate. A golden wave of energy swept out—it was the Demoralizing Roar.

“Ding! The Bear Knight Lord uses Demoralizing Roar! Affected players’ physical attack power is reduced by 80%, lasting five minutes.”

“Damn, that roar is brutal!” The bearded berserker shouted, though his face showed no trace of worry.

“Haha, perfect! I was worried our strength attribute might accidentally kill those bears too soon, but now there’s nothing to fear. Watch my sweeping strike!” The swordsman laughed heartily and unleashed his most spectacular group attack, but the damage was embarrassingly low—single digits.

While the melee fighters enjoyed themselves, Long Face atop the Assault Tower suffered. He was hit by the debuff and his attack power plummeted. He had been disdainful of the mages, basking in self-satisfaction, but now the situation reversed. The mages gleefully taunted and spat insults at Long Face.

Despite the Demon Trial Grounds’ toughest stage, it had become the team’s most joyful moment. All surviving members felt immense gratitude toward Ye Chen. Without him, how could they still be standing here, casually chatting amid hundreds of elite monsters? They felt invincible.

Time ticked by. The Bear Knight Lord’s HP was slowly dwindling, and wave twenty-six arrived amid the team’s relaxed banter. This elite wave consisted of fifty Longhorn Dragons—level 40 draconic creatures. To everyone’s surprise, they were delighted. Draconic elites were rare and dropped amazing loot.

Waves twenty-seven, twenty-eight, and twenty-nine soon followed. The field before the gate became a sea of monsters, with 400 elites and 1,100 high-level ordinary monsters. All were level 40 or above, formidable foes but, to the team, a treasure trove of experience.

Half an hour later, the Bear Knight Lord was ground down by relentless ranged attacks. Unfortunately, the loot fell too far away to reach. But the team wasn’t worried; bosses rarely respawned quickly in the illusion, so no risk of missing out.

Yet Ye Chen’s eyes flickered with hidden intent. Some dark plan was about to unfold.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

Shortly after the Bear Knight Lord fell, the final wave began to move. In the mist, a mountain-like figure stirred with each step, causing the ground to tremble faintly. All eyes instinctively turned toward the Shaking Mountain Lord hidden in the fog, eager for a first glimpse of this dark gold boss.

Thud!

A gigantic foot emerged from the mist. Everyone gasped. That wasn’t a foot—it was larger than a tank!

Thud, thud!

Two more massive footsteps sounded. The mysterious Shaking Mountain Lord fully stepped into view. Several team members couldn’t help exclaiming. This beast was easily several stories tall, wielding an enormous and menacing iron hammer that looked capable of crushing a person into pulp with one blow.

A monster—truly a colossal monster!

Ding Yuan the Monk twitched involuntarily and muttered, “Damn, I’m going to get pulverized again. The monk is really the hardest class.”

Long Face’s face filled with worry as he stood atop the Assault Tower, looking at Ye Chen. “Brother Ye Chen, this big guy won’t smash the city walls, right? We can’t take that.”

Others’ expressions darkened too. Seeing the giant iron hammer, no one believed the fragile fortifications could withstand such an assault.

“Don’t worry. It won’t smash the walls. If it did, no team could hold the line, and the Demon Trial Grounds would be meaningless,” Ye Chen said calmly.

“That’s good. Haha, looks like we’re in for a big fight. A dark gold boss—maybe we’ll be the first in the entire Fifth District to take it down. Let the experience fly, and the loot rain down! Brothers, let’s go!” (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support it with recommendations and monthly votes on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

P.S. Fighting through the night to stockpile chapters—aiming for a big burst next week. Please subscribe and recommend!