Chapter 127: The Final Trial

"We’re rich, we’re rich! Everyone, keep it up! Once we take out these last two hundred Bear Rider Knights, our job is done." Up on the Assault Tower, Long-Face shouted excitedly, staring at the shimmering battlefield. The tower operators on the Flame Tower and the Earth Tower were also eager to join in, already adjusting their light beams to launch an attack on the two hundred Bear Rider Knights gathered before the city gate.

"Flame Tower and Earth Tower, hold your fire. Ice Tower and Web Tower, prepare." Just then, Ye Chen ordered the two excited operators to cease their attack.

"Team Leader Night, we can just gang up on the Mountain-Shaking Lord once we finish off these last two hundred Bear Riders, so why stop? Besides, that Web Tower is useless anyway." The elemental mage on the Flame Tower looked a bit confused, and the rest of the team looked toward Ye Chen as well; they were all anxious to claim their loot.

"Useless?" Ye Chen let out a cold laugh. "Do you think the Demon Trial Ground would design a completely useless arrow tower? Let me tell you, if it weren't for this tower, we would definitely suffer a total party wipe!"

A total party wipe—hearing such a dire consequence, the team channel erupted in an uproar. Although Ye Chen had evolved into a super expert in their eyes, the monsters were right there in front of them. Unless the Mountain-Shaking Lord suddenly unleashed a secret power, the remaining monsters shouldn't be enough to wipe the team.

"Team Leader Night, could it be that the Mountain-Shaking Lord has a ranged attack? But it’s been tortured by us for half an hour; if it had a ranged skill, it would have used it by now." The bearded berserker pointed at the Mountain-Shaking Lord, whose HP had dropped to just over 900,000. The poor Dark Gold boss had been treated as a primary target by the two main attack towers, with every volley of fire hitting it. After sixty volleys, its health bar had been reduced by a third.

"The Mountain-Shaking Lord? No, not that one. Don't forget, I said at the beginning that there are a total of one thousand elite-level or higher monsters in this Demon Trial Ground. Count them carefully—how many have appeared so far?" Ye Chen said, staring into the distant sky.

"Uh, that's about it, right?" The bearded berserker clearly wasn't great at math, but the swordsman beside him moved his lips slightly and said, "A total of 930 elite monsters have appeared so far. Could it be..."

"There are still 70 coming to raid the Heart of the Demon," Ye Chen said calmly. On the horizon, a tiny cluster of black dots was faintly visible.

Everyone noticed Ye Chen’s gaze and instinctively followed it. The sight that met their eyes caused them to gasp in terror, their hair standing on end.

Those black dots, which were only the size of a fist a moment ago, grew to the size of human heads in the blink of an eye, and then to the size of carriage wheels in the next. Their speed was astonishing.

"W-what is that?" Long-Face, whose vision was the sharpest, had a tremor in his voice.

"Dragon Lord Commanders." Ye Chen took a deep breath. This was the final trial of the Demon Trial Ground.

"Commanders? 70 Commander-level dragons?" Long-Face’s voice went out of tune. This was no less than facing 70 ordinary bosses. The most terrifying part was that these were 70 flying monsters, which meant they had the capability to fly over the city walls and attack the Heart of the Demon directly. A few volleys from these Sub-Dragon Commanders would be enough to shred the Heart of the Demon.

"Stay calm. The Web Tower is prepared specifically for this. As long as there are no operational errors, we won't wipe." Although Ye Chen’s words calmed most of the team, the operators of the Web Tower and Ice Tower felt immense pressure. Especially the one at the Web Tower; he hadn't fired a single shot since the trial began, and he never expected his first action to decide the fate of the entire team. He was sweating with nervousness.

The 70 Dragon Lord Commanders grew larger in their field of vision until they could be seen clearly. Each one was as large as a small car, with hideous and terrifying appearances.

"N-Night, Team Leader, they're too scattered! The Dragon Lord Commanders are too spread out, the Web Tower can't cover them all!" The operator of the Web Tower took a quick measurement and nearly burst into tears.

Long-Face and the others’ expressions changed drastically. They didn't need many to get through; if even ten or twenty slipped past, the Heart of the Demon would surely be destroyed. Everyone looked at Ye Chen, but he showed no reaction, merely watching the rapidly approaching swarm of Dragon Lord Commanders with a cold expression.

Four hundred yards, three hundred, two hundred—Ye Chen still gave no order. Even the monk Dingyuan began to grow anxious, his bull-like eyes fixed on Ye Chen. The operators of the Ice and Web towers were staring so hard at the incoming dragons that their eyes were bulging. Xianyun had already placed his hand on the tower's magic activation key; he could barely stand the tension. If Ye Chen didn't give the order soon, he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't press the button himself.

Just then, Ye Chen’s exceptionally calm voice finally rang out in the channel: "Web Tower, X-coordinate 136, Y-coordinate 207, height 160. Ice Tower, X-coordinate 136, Y-coordinate 207, height 0. Flame Tower and Earth Tower, prepare with the same coordinates as the Ice Tower."

The four operators immediately acted, inputting the coordinates Ye Chen specified, and nervously placed their hands on the magic activation keys, waiting for the command.

One hundred and seventy yards away, the Dragon Lord Commanders were still in a scattered formation. Dingyuan and Long-Face both had grave expressions. With their experience, they could naturally analyze how many dragons the tower magic would cover based on the coordinates. The result filled them with dread: at most, it would only cover about forty of them. The remaining thirty...

Long-Face opened his mouth to say something, but felt powerless, even shaking his head in defeat. It was impossible; the dragons were too scattered. Even if the two towers targeted different spots, the result wouldn't be much different.

"Should we fall back?" Dingyuan whispered to Ye Chen.

Ye Chen shook his head slightly. "No need."

"But..." Dingyuan was about to press further when a cry of surprise rang out. Before he could even look up, Ye Chen said calmly, "They’re changing formation."

Dingyuan looked up and saw that the rushing Dragon Lord Commanders had suddenly shifted from a scattered formation into an arrow-head shape, tightly packed together. And the tip of that arrow was aligned perfectly with the coordinates Ye Chen had specified!

Noticing this, Dingyuan and Long-Face exchanged glances, seeing the sheer disbelief in each other's eyes.

"Web Tower, fire!"

As soon as Ye Chen finished speaking, the already tense Web Tower operator pressed the activation key.

A pale gray beam of light shot instantly from the top of the Web Tower, exploding in mid-air with a boom and turning into a massive web that accurately draped over the 70 Dragon Lord Commanders.

With a whoosh, all 70 were caught. Affected by the stickiness of the web, they lost their ability to fly and plummeted toward the ground, dragging the massive net with them.

"Monk, just what kind of monster did you drag into our team?" Seeing this, Long-Face couldn't stay calm and whispered to Dingyuan.

Dingyuan gave a bitter smile and replied, "I had no idea he was this much of a freak. By the way, Ye Chen is planning to form a guild later and invited us two along with Huzi. I plan to join. What do you think?"

Long-Face paused for a moment. "And what about this team?"

"Let it dissolve. Heh, I used to think these brothers were united and loyal, but today I’ve seen their true colors. I don't want to lead a team like this, nor do I have the heart to." Dingyuan's voice carried a faint sense of loss. He had built this team himself; although it had only been a little over half a month, he had poured a lot of effort into it. He had even dreamed of leading this top team from Lieshan City to dominate the Divine Realm, but now his dream was shattered. These guys who would turn on each other for a bit of profit could never accompany him to greatness.

Long-Face was silent for a moment before saying, "Let it dissolve. I can't be bothered with these guys anymore either. But our 'Iron Triangle' can't break up. Since you plan to join Ye Chen’s team, Huzi and I will go too. Hey, speaking of which, Ye Chen is a massive golden thigh to cling to. With such a backer, maybe you can even—"

"Don't mention those things. I've forgotten them, and don't tell Ye Chen either. If we can reach that height following him in the future, then it won't be too late to talk about it. If we can't, then those things will rot in my stomach forever. I don't want to bring that kind of trouble upon the team," Dingyuan said in a low voice.

Long-Face sighed. "As you wish."

While they spoke, the Flame Tower and Earth Tower had already begun their attack. Although the Dragon Lord Commanders had 150,000 HP, a volley from the two attack towers still chunked a portion of their health. Before they could fly again, the Ice Tower would freeze them. With their wing-flapping frequency slowed to a crawl, they couldn't take flight and were forced to squeeze behind the Bear Rider Knights. Once the frost wore off, the Web Tower would fire another web. The two support towers rotated perfectly, giving these giants no chance to lift off. With the four towers working in tandem, the Dragon Lord Commanders' health plummeted. Even the Bear Rider Knights beside them were collateral damage. After ten volleys, while the Dragon Lord Commanders hadn't all fallen yet, nearly half of the Bear Rider Knights were dead. By the time the magic of the Flame and Earth towers was exhausted, the 70 Dragon Lord Commanders were wiped out, and the two hundred Bear Rider Knights were almost entirely destroyed. Below the city gate, only about a hundred or so ordinary bears with low health remained, along with the Mountain-Shaking Lord, who still had nearly half its HP left.

"One, two, three, four, five... My god, seven pieces! Those Dragon Lord Commanders dropped 7 pieces of silver gear! Seven pieces of silver gear!" Long-Face, up on the Assault Tower, couldn't even bother to attack the Mountain-Shaking Lord, counting the silver light flashing below and letting out bursts of screams.

"86 pieces! The other elite monsters dropped 86 pieces of bronze gear! We’re rich, we’re super rich!" Xianyun pointed at the blue lights below, drooling.

"Eh? Why is there one missing?" Long-Face rubbed his eyes, stretched out his finger, and counted the silver gear again, screaming, "What the hell? It was just seven, how did it become six!"

The other team members on the towers looked toward the silver gear. Xianyun gasped, "Five! Damn it, it became five!"

The team members below, whose view was blocked by the Mountain-Shaking Lord, grew restless. The impatient ones shouted, "Damn it, Brother Long-Face, you aren't messing with us, are you? Our little hearts can't take this."

"If I'm messing with you, I'm a grandson!" Long-Face had barely finished speaking when Xianyun yelled in panic, "Five bronze pieces are missing too! Five bronze pieces are gone! Who saw what happened?"

"Groundhogs! It’s groundhogs! I saw groundhogs burrowing up from below and snatching the gear!" The elemental mage on the Flame Tower had been recording and quickly sent the video to the team share.

Everyone watched, their jaws dropping as if they had seen a ghost.