Chapter 435 - Land of the Fallen Star
After entering the crystal cavern, Shi Feng had not been the only one to receive a system notification. His party members also received one.
“Activating Free Combat System?” Shi Feng was stunned.
The Free Combat System was an unfamiliar term to the current players of God’s Domain. Shi Feng, however, could not be more familiar with it.
This was a mechanic that would only exist after the second evolution of God’s Domain.
In order to make combat in God’s Domain more realistic, friendly fire was now active.
Originally, if two players were in a party together, their attacks would not damage each other. However, after activating the Free Combat System, if one were not careful and struck a party member, said party member would receive damage from the attack.
Players could also damage themselves with their own skills. For example, if a player used an AOE skill and they were within the skill’s effective range, they would receive damage. In the past, after the Free Combat System had activated, many players had ended up in the graveyard because of either themselves or each other.
As a result, when attacking, players needed sufficient control of their attacks. Otherwise, no one would be willing to join their party regardless of the benefits.
“Guild Leader, what just happened?” Aqua Rose could not contain her curiosity when she saw Shi Feng’s surprise.
“We have activated the Free Combat System. From now on, our attacks will not differentiate from friend and foe, so we need to be careful in the battle. Don’t mistakenly injure yourselves or your teammates,” Shi Feng explained.
However, before the others could respond, a deep purple barrier sealed off the cavern’s entrance.
When Blackie accidentally touched the barrier, he suddenly lost 1,000 HP.
Frightened, Blackie hurriedly backed away from the barrier.
“We’ve fallen into a trap. Be careful of your surroundings and don’t take action casually.”
Shi Feng considered the purple barrier at the cavern’s entrance before observing his surroundings.
Suddenly, a large group of Wolfman Warriors appeared in the Land of the Fallen Star, which had originally been void of any monsters. The Wolfman Warriors each carried a shield and a weapon, and they stared at Shi Feng’s group with fangs bared and smelly drool leaking from their mouths. They treated Shi Feng and the others like a meal.
[Wolfman Warrior] (Elite Rank)
Level 27
HP 42,000/42,000
Although the Wolfman Warriors were much weaker than the Flame Furbolgs, there were many of them. They moved in groups of a dozen or so, making them far more difficult to deal than the groups of three to five Furbolgs.
“Guild Leader, what should we do now?” Blackie said, his heart wavering as he watched the hundreds of Wolfman Warriors slowly walk towards them.
“Fight as we look for an exit.” Shi Feng could not think of any better ideas. With the entrance sealed off and the sudden appearance of so many Wolfman Warriors, the only plan he had was to fight as they ran. “I’ll open a path. Fire Dance and Flying Shadow, cover me. Aqua, focus on controlling those Wolfman Warriors.”
Based on Shi Feng’s experience, all traps in God’s Domain gave players a chance of survival. As long as they found the trick to unlock the trap, they could escape with their lives.
Meanwhile, the trap before them was clearly directed towards those who were unfamiliar with the Free Combat System. If everyone randomly used their skills, they would kill themselves before laying a scratch on the monsters before them.
Hence, it was safer if only he took action.
Following which, Shi Feng led the party and charged towards the area with the least number of Wolfman Warriors. Even so, there were still over a dozen Elites ahead of him.
Seeing Shi Feng’s group barreling towards them, these Wolfman Warriors opened their mouths and howled. They raised their weapons and charged at Shi Feng. At this moment, the other Wolfman Warriors had similarly started to surround Shi Feng and the others.
“Don’t fight. Just lure them to a single location and then kill them.”
With that order, Shi Feng took the fight to these Wolfman Warriors, leading his own band of elites. He then unsheathed the Abyssal Blade and the Purgatory’s Shadow, brandishing his swords and sending over a dozen swords of light to strike the Wolfman Warriors’ vital points.
Shi Feng’s Attack Speed was extremely fast. Although the Wolfman Warriors tried to defend themselves, Shi Feng’s swords of light reached the monsters first. A single sword strike sent a Wolfman Warrior that was over two meters tall flying backward, a damage of over -1,000 points appearing above its head.
Shi Feng had no desire to continue fighting. After having sent the dozen or so Wolfman Warriors flying, he led the party and moved past the Wolfman Warriors.
If possible, Shi Feng wanted to finish off these Wolfmen. If he did, however, they would end up surrounded by more of these Elite monsters. If that happened, they wouldn’t escape despite their efforts.
In such a way, Shi Feng, Fire Dance, and Flying Shadow opened a path for the party, the six continuously advancing.
Regarding the Wolfman Warriors chasing them relentlessly, Aqua Rose continuously cast Ice Walls and Ice Spheres behind her, using the spells to reduce the monsters’ speed.
Although the Wolfman Warriors could not catch up, the number of monsters chasing after Shi Feng’s party had increased past a thousand. If Shi Feng and the others made a single mistake, they would most likely lose their lives.
“We can use the terrain ahead. Fire Dance, Flying Shadow, and I will block the Wolfman Warriors behind us. Blackie, use Stars of Light. It doesn’t matter even how far you cast it; just remember not to include us in the spell’s effective area.”
Shi Feng had constantly observed the surrounding terrain as he ran, and he caught sight of an elevated area. The path there was also very narrow; two or three people would be sufficient to block it completely. Hence, he hastened towards that elevated ground.
“Leave it to me! Watch me get rid of these wolf pups!” Blackie nodded.
When the party entered the narrow path, Shi Feng and the two Assassins spun around, facing the oncoming Wolfman Warriors.
Twenty yards... Fifteen yards... Ten yards...
Watching the Wolfman Warriors come closer and closer...
“Release!” Shi Feng shouted.
Having prepared, Blackie waved his staff, and in the next moment, a Star of Light descended from the sky. One after another, the Stars of Light bombarded the thousand-plus of Wolfman Warriors. Those near the epicenter of the crash received over -7,000 damage, while the others in the spell’s vicinity received over -3,000 damage.
The Wolfman Warriors had 42,000 HP. They could only endure a few waves of Stars of Light before dying.
However, the Wolfman Warriors outside of Blackie’s spell were intelligent. They had not foolishly charged into the range of the Stars of Light. Instead, they stood in place, waiting for the spell to end.
Although the effect of Stars of Light was frightening, the spell only took the lives of slightly over 200 Wolfman Warriors. To an army of over a thousand, that was nothing.
However, after Stars of Light ended, the experience bars of Shi Feng’s party skyrocketed. If they could repeat this process, they could easily reach Level 30 in a few hours.
Before anyone could catch a breather, dozens of Wolfman Warriors charged into the small path, howling as they brandished their weapons.
Due to the Free Combat System, Blackie had not had a perfect grasp of his skill’s coverage area. As a result, the Wolfman Warriors that had been at the very forefront of the charge had not been caught in the effective area of Stars of Light.
Fortunately, the small path only allowed for five or six Wolfman Warriors. Without hesitation, Shi Feng sent a Tier 1 Thundering Flash at the incoming Elite monsters.
Compared to the Tier 0 Thundering Flash, the Tier 1 skill was far more agile. Whether it was in terms of speed, power, distance, or number of attacks, all had massively improved. Most importantly, Shi Feng could now use it to attack horizontally, increasing its attack area.
A blue arc of lightning tore through the path in the blink of an eye, splitting the path in two. Following which, another arc of blue lightning streaked towards its target. After five consecutive arcs of lightning, astonishing damages appeared above the dozens of Wolfman Warriors.
-1,624, -2,240, -3,136, -4,394, -6,152...
Thundering Flash’s effect stacked, and each consecutive hit would have its damage increased by 40%. If a target were struck by all five lightning strikes, the total damage would be terrifying.
However, the might of Thundering Flash could not deter these crazed Wolfman Warriors. They still threw themselves forward with little regard for their lives.
Aqua Rose waved her staff, and suddenly, three Ice Walls appearing on the small path, reducing the Wolfman Warrior’s speed. Blackie also cast Hell Flame, dark green flames emerging from the ground. Immediately after, Shi Feng used the Tier 1 Earth Splitter.
Before these Wolfman Warriors could reach Shi Feng, they all died.
With the perfect combination of the six and the advantageous terrain, they had only spent a short amount of time finishing off the thousand-plus Wolfman Warriors.
After decimating the last wave of Warriors, a golden glow illuminated Shi Feng’s body.
He was finally Level 25!