Chapter 167: Chapter 166: Void Forbidden Zone, Hunting the Undead Legion!
[T/N: New year BONUS chapter 🥳🥳]
[Hidden Map: Void Forbidden Zone]
A hundred-man team was slowly advancing toward the depths of the forbidden zone.
"According to the guides published by veteran professionals who have explored the Void Forbidden Zone, the two overlords here each have their unique strengths."
In the crowd, Ouyang Ling'er once again assumed the role of a tour guide:
"One of them, the Undead Overlord Hordor, belongs to the summoner class. Its strongest ability lies in the undead legion it can summon."
"As for the Abyss Overlord Beru, it falls under the support class. Its abyssal energy envelops the entire Void Forbidden Zone and significantly strengthens the undead legion of the Undead Overlord."
"Thus, the strategies of our predecessors always prioritized targeting the Abyss Overlord. If Beru remains alive, the undead legion is nearly impossible to contend with."
Hearing Ouyang Ling'er's analysis, Zhang Yue interjected, "That's wrong."
"What's wrong?"
"The direction is wrong."
Zhang Yue explained, "The Abyss Overlord's enhancements are only effective for the undead legion. If the undead legion is annihilated, the abyssal energy becomes useless."
"Therefore, the priority is to target the undead legion first."
Historically, those challengers who attempted to prioritize the Abyss Overlord often fell under the interception of the undead legion.
Although the "capture the leader first" strategy might seem more efficient, in reality, targeting the Abyss Overlord first is far more challenging than targeting the undead legion.
This is because the former requires dealing with both the Abyss Overlord and the undead legion simultaneously.
Whereas the latter involves only confronting the undead legion.
From the very beginning, their strategy had been flawed.
At this moment, humanoid monsters with blue flames burning on their bodies were scattered throughout the Void Forbidden Zone.
They were the strongest warriors of the Undead Overlord Hordor's undead legion—Level 45 Undead Warriors.
Several nearby undead warriors immediately noticed the intruders stepping into the forbidden zone.
They let out beast-like roars, wielded ghostfire battle blades, and advanced toward Zhang Yue and his team.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
Beams of purple light descended from the sky, converging into the bodies of the undead warriors.
In the next moment, the blue flames around the undead warriors' bodies suddenly evolved into purple ghostfire.
Instantly, the undead warriors were elevated from regular monsters to elite lord-level monsters.
"They've been enhanced by the Abyss Overlord's abyssal energy—everyone, be careful."
Ling Xiaoyao pushed up his glasses and analyzed rationally:
"In the Void Forbidden Zone, all undead warriors enhanced by abyssal energy evolve from ordinary monsters to lord-level monsters. Are we really going to take an unconventional approach and start by targeting the undead legion?"
"Look at the results of those who followed the conventional path over the past hundred years." Glimmering Assassin Tian Xin'er brandished two daggers, glanced at Zhang Yue, and said, "I support Zhang Yue—let's take the unconventional route."
Ahead, three lord-level undead warriors were already charging at them.
3,500 attack power, 1,800 defense power, and 200,000 HP.
These stats were undeniably overwhelming in the current era.
At this moment, Flame Knight Wu Haotian, holding a spear and shield, led eight other knights from the Tian family to launch a charge, blocking the three undead warriors.
Although the rear-line priests had significantly weakened the attack power of the undead warriors, the ghostfire battle blades they wielded still inflicted three to four thousand damage per strike on Wu Haotian and his knights.
The rear-line priests worked tirelessly to heal and stabilize the frontline knights' health.
Archers and mages launched ranged attacks.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Arrows and spells rained down on the undead warriors, dealing around 4,000–5,000 damage with each strike.
For regular Level 40 professionals, inflicting even minimal damage on a Level 45 lord-level monster would have been a miracle.
This demonstrated the strength of the elite professionals gathered here. Backed by millions of investments from Tian Ying, the Tian family elder, these individuals were here solely to assist Zhang Yue in completing this mission.
The hundred-person team focused their firepower, using overwhelming force to swiftly kill one undead warrior.
At this moment, Zhang Yue raised his Eye of Death, locking onto the remaining two undead warriors and began casting spells.
Heavenly Fire Blaze!
Frozen Sky!
Thunderstorm Fury!
Divine Fire Calamity!
One powerful S-rank skill after another struck the undead warriors, dealing approximately 15,000 damage with each hit.
Simultaneously, the Dark Skeleton King charged forward.
The colossal body of the Twelve-Winged World-Destroying Black Dragon soared through the air, spewing scorching flames from its massive maw. Each attack inflicted nearly 20,000 damage, relentlessly depleting the undead warriors' health.
Before Zhang Yue, even the strongest fighters crafted by the Tian family's vast resources paled in comparison.
Combining the rear-line teammates' focused attacks, the remaining two undead warriors were swiftly slain.
After being killed, the undead warriors reverted from lord-level monsters to regular monsters.
Thus, the rewards Zhang Yue's team gained were calculated based on Level 45 regular monsters.
Continuing deeper into the Void Forbidden Zone, every undead warrior encountered had been enhanced into a Level 45 lord-level monster by the abyssal energy.
In other words, there were no regular monsters in the Void Forbidden Zone. Challengers had to face thousands of lord-level monsters, plus two boss-level overlords.
"I finally understand why, over the past hundred years, no one in the world has completed this mission."
At first, facing two or three undead warriors was relatively manageable.
But later, the number of attacking undead warriors gradually increased to seven or eight, then more than a dozen.
Facing simultaneous assaults from over ten Level 45 lord-level monsters, even this team—comprised of the strongest newly advanced professionals from Zhening and Tianjing—began to struggle.
After killing over a hundred undead warriors, more than ten team members had fallen.
Still, this was already a relatively good outcome.
Records showed that over 70% of teams attempting the Void Forbidden Zone were wiped out within ten minutes.
Only 1% of challengers even managed to catch a glimpse of the Abyss Overlord.
Defying conventional tactics, Zhang Yue's team pushed forward, clearing obstacles to reach the undead legion's base.
At this point, their casualty rate was close to 30%.
With only seventy members remaining, the team now faced over a hundred undead warriors gathered in the base—an intimidating sight.
"Crap! A hundred lord-level monsters—how are we supposed to fight this?" Liu Yao swallowed hard, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. "Why don't we go for the Abyss Overlord first? Without its enhancement, these hundred lord-level monsters would revert to regular monsters, making it easier to deal with."
"That means you'd face a hundred lord-level monsters and a boss at the same time," Lin Tian retorted. "The Abyss Overlord's influence can summon all undead warriors in the Void Forbidden Zone. This is a lesson learned through the sacrifices of past professionals."
"Prioritizing the undead legion is the right strategy."
What followed was an intense battle.
Facing over a hundred lord-level undead warriors, the seventy remaining professionals launched an all-out attack!
At the same time, Zhang Yue revealed his trump card, which he had been saving all along.
Activating the Reaper Set Skill: Summon Death Spirit God Kira!
Using the Level 40, six-star boss Kita to draw aggro and absorb damage, the rest of the team went all out in their assault.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
Over a hundred undead warriors simultaneously ignited with purple ghostfire, all evolving into lord-level monsters.
The scene was enough to intimidate even the bravest of armies.
However, Zhang Yue's side wasn't lacking in momentum either.
Elite, rare, epic, legendary, and mythic professionals were all present.
Every individual's strength rivaled that of a lord-level monster.
In this evenly matched standoff, an epic battle ensued.
After a ten-minute bloodbath, the undead legion was finally annihilated.
However, Zhang Yue's team had been reduced to just thirty survivors.
With the undead legion destroyed—
RUMBLE!
Accompanied by a ground-shaking tremor, a massive spatial rift materialized in midair.
From within the rift, waves of eerie energy emanated, as if something ominous was about to emerge!
Staring at the rift, Zhang Yue sighed softly, "The final boss is finally coming."
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