Chapter 42: Caught in a Predicament

Night Feather noticed that the emblem on the left breast of the Slaughter Armored Knight was not flickering, but instead emitting a constant, dazzling radiance. His brows furrowed slightly, and a foreboding sense of dread began to rise within him.

Rumble—

A thunderous boom followed. The air around Night Feather exploded instantly, as if invisible bombs had been concealed all around his position. The flames generated by the blast engulfed him completely, leaving no room for escape. However, Night Feather’s reflexes were lightning-fast; a surge of violet light erupted from his body, instantly pushing back the flames that were about to consume him.

Observing the scene and recalling what had just transpired, the corners of Night Feather’s mouth curled into a faint arc.

"I see what's going on now."

Although he had evaded the Slaughter Armored Knight’s attack, the explosion had still clipped him, instantly draining twenty percent of his health.

From this, Night Feather deduced something. Hovering above his head, in addition to his own buffing skills, were skills belonging to the Slaughter Armored Knight. These hidden skills would deal cumulative, multiplied damage each time they landed. Night Feather suspected that this skill stacked damage with every hit, and the damage would naturally increase with the frequency of the attacks.

"This might be a bit troublesome."

Night Feather watched the ripples swirling around the Slaughter Armored Knight. He could sense the hidden damage-dealing skills contained within those ripples, clearly placed there with intent.

Night Feather launched a "Moonlight Snow" strike directly at the Slaughter Armored Knight, instantly reducing its health by ten percent. However, he immediately sensed the same bomb-like skill manifesting around him again. Though hidden, he had detected it.

In the next heartbeat, an explosion erupted to his left. A deafening, continuous "rumbling" sound echoed as flames instantly engulfed an eight-meter radius centered on his position, swallowing him whole.

"Cup of Wine Traps the Hero," also locked in combat with the Slaughter Armored Knight, saw what happened to Night Feather. His expression turned to one of pure shock as he shouted, "Old Third!"

"Cup of Wine Traps the Hero's" face then twisted into a look of icy, murderous intent, his eyes filled with a dense, suffocating hostility. The Slaughter Armored Knight turned to face him, slowly drawing its left hand across its own throat in a gesture of slaughter.

"Cup of Wine Traps the Hero" was suddenly shrouded in black flames. Though the explosive fire burst outward, it failed to touch him, the damage entirely blocked by his black flames. Incarnated like a Witch King, he curled his lips into a sinister smile and said, "You think you can suppress me with fire? Isn't that a bit too simple?"

The Slaughter Armored Knight seemed to understand his words. It raised its left hand, and terrifying flames quietly emerged, forming a vast, fearsome domain of fire. Even though the ground beneath the knight’s feet was covered by "Cup of Wine Traps the Hero's" shadow domain, the knight appeared completely unfazed by the attacks launched from the shadows.

The Slaughter Armored Knight snapped its fingers, and flames materialized around "Cup of Wine Traps the Hero," instantly consuming even his black fire. The terrifying domain of flames engulfed both Night Feather and "Cup of Wine Traps the Hero."

...

Elsewhere, Old Hu was clashing with the Doom Armored Knight. Holding his greatsword, Old Hu retreated slightly, setting his blade in a defensive stance before charging toward the Doom Armored Knight. A terrifying gale condensed into a sharp needle point in front of him as he unleashed a lethal skill.

"Needle-Point Feather."

A massive, formidable sword aura shot toward the Doom Armored Knight. The knight adopted a defensive posture, and the emblem on its chest began to flicker with a brilliant light, forming a perfectly translucent barrier. The massive sword aura slammed into the barrier, causing a crisp, cracking sound. The impact forced the Doom Armored Knight to retreat, its feet carving deep furrows into the ground.

Yet, despite being forced back by Old Hu’s fierce attack, the Doom Armored Knight’s health did not drop. In contrast, waves of blood-red light surfaced around Old Hu. He let out a muffled grunt and retreated more than ten meters before stabilizing himself, but his health had been shaved down by fifteen percent.

This state only ended once the "Needle-Point Feather" sword aura completely dissipated.

"It has a built-in passive damage-reflection skill," Old Hu said, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked at the scene with a hint of shock in his eyes and added in a deep voice, "This is going to be quite troublesome."

Standing in the distance, Luo Feng, who was constantly buffing Old Hu, also looked at the Doom Armored Knight with a stunned expression. He had never expected the knight to possess a passive reflection skill. Monsters with such abilities were notoriously difficult to fight; unless one had an overwhelming advantage in level and power, the difficulty was undoubtedly increased.

While buffing Old Hu, Luo Feng also used his skills to debuff the Doom Armored Knight. While somewhat effective, the situation remained terrifying. Even Luo Feng’s own attacks on the knight triggered the reflection, and the damage was not trivial. Had Luo Feng not been a healer with high dual-attribute defenses—exceeding level 60—he would have lost even more health.

"It’s so hard to deal with. I thought that with you as our healer, the opponents wouldn't be this difficult. But it seems to have exceeded our imagination. This Doom Armored Knight is completely beyond our range of control. Still, since you have skills to reduce its attributes, we might be able to handle it if we keep chipping away," Old Hu said with a helpless sigh.

"It's not just 'not easy.' This is a leader-tier boss, which makes it exceptionally tough. However, it does have a weakness: the Doom Armored Knight lacks the agility and speed of the other three armored knights. That’s why our hit rate is so high; we land every skill accurately on this boss," Luo Feng said, maintaining a calm smile despite the circumstances.

Old Hu looked at Luo Feng’s composed expression and chuckled. There was not a shred of fear in his eyes, only a fierce, torrential fighting spirit.

The next moment, Old Hu shot forward again, and with Luo Feng’s buffs, he clashed with the Doom Armored Knight once more.

Meanwhile, the War Armored Knight was locked in a fierce exchange with Huang Hong. The emblem on the War Armored Knight’s chest glowed brilliantly, providing a buff to its attributes. It thrust its long spear toward Huang Hong’s chest, but Huang Hong raised his shield in defense.

Bang—

A crisp sound rang out. The perfect defense, combined with a recoil effect, sent the War Armored Knight staggering backward. A negative debuff was applied to the knight, but it recovered quickly, and its figure began to fade from Huang Hong’s sight.

"It’s gone invisible!"

Tan Cong immediately noticed the War Armored Knight’s movement. With his support skills active and his totems emitting a field of influence, he could accurately sense the fluctuations in the knight’s aura. Although he couldn't pinpoint its exact location, he knew the knight had turned invisible.

Less than five seconds later, the War Armored Knight materialized about three meters behind Huang Hong, charging violently at his back in a perfect strike position.

"Behind you!"

Tan Cong’s voice was a timely warning. Huang Hong reacted instantly, spinning around with his shield raised to block the attack. However, because the knight’s speed was too great, the defense was not perfect. Huang Hong was slammed away by the impact, landing heavily in the distance. Covered in wounds and looking disheveled, he wiped the blood from his mouth, spat, and said coldly, "I didn't expect this War Armored Knight to have an invisibility skill. It seems its agility gets a short-term boost the moment it reappears."

Because he held a shield, Huang Hong’s agility was reduced by five percent. While he moved and turned as fast as he could, he still felt sluggish. When the War Armored Knight’s agility surpassed his, the fight became incredibly messy and difficult. With the knight’s added invisibility and the agility boost upon reappearing, neither he nor Tan Cong could accurately track the boss.

At that moment, "Cup of Wine Traps the Hero," who had been clashing with the Slaughter Armored Knight, struggled out of the sea of flames. Looking disheveled, he said, "The two knights you're facing seem simple compared to mine. Old Third is still trapped in the flames, and if I didn't have my own fire for protection, I wouldn't have been able to escape either."

Seeing "Cup of Wine Traps the Hero" break free, the Slaughter Armored Knight stepped forward, turning into a streak of fire as it shot toward him. It didn't use its weapon, instead opting for close-quarters combat with its flame-enveloped fists, hunting its prey like a shark in the ocean.

As "Cup of Wine Traps the Hero" dodged and weaved, trying to kite the knight, the Slaughter Armored Knight’s flames engulfed him once more, the raging fire burning away the protective layer of black flame surrounding him.

"I can't believe this guy's domain is so large, and it can even fight hand-to-hand with its fists. Is this even fair? This dungeon is so difficult, damn it!"

"Cup of Wine Traps the Hero" complained as he endured the flames, using his black fire to counter-attack, though with little effect. Suddenly, his expression changed as if a lightbulb had gone off in his head. He nodded, turned into a bolt of black flame, and dashed toward the edge of the fiery domain.

The Slaughter Armored Knight’s reaction was lightning-fast. Within mere heartbeats, it noticed the movement, stepped forward, and appeared behind "Cup of Wine Traps the Hero" as if teleporting. It clenched its right fist, a mass of raging flames swirling around it, and delivered a precise, devastating blow.

Boom—

The punch landed squarely on "Cup of Wine Traps the Hero." Despite the protection of his black flame armor, his health dropped by nearly thirty percent. Fortunately, he was not on the brink of death or critically injured, though clear cracks had appeared in his black flame armor.