Chapter 77 - 59: Field Exercise
Chapter 77: Chapter 59: Field Exercise
In comparison, the other two units produced by the Vein of Life couldn’t compare to the Death Devourer at all.
[Name]: Withered Messenger
[Rank]: Legendary (Gold)
[Level]: 1
[Attack]: 65
[Magic Power]: 487.5
[Speed]: 292.5
[Defense]: 32.5
[Health]: 487.5
[Combat Power]: 1000
[Skills]: Wind of Decay, Fear, Erosion of Life
[Talent]: Withering Touch
[Wind of Decay]: A wind of decay surrounds the Withered Messenger (within a 10-meter radius), reducing enemy units’ defense by 30% and inflicting massive damage per second.
[Fear]: The Withered Messenger has a terrifying appearance. Creatures that see it are subject to a Fear check, and those who fail will run around uncontrollably.
When actively cast, it will inflict fear upon a target. A sufficiently strong soul can reduce the duration of the effect. (Can be activated once every 3 minutes.)
[Erosion of Life]: The Withered Messenger can drain an enemy’s life from up to 10 meters away.
[Withering Touch]: All of the Withered Messenger’s attacks apply the Withering Touch effect, dealing damage equal to 1% of the hostile unit’s current health and inflicting a "Wither" debuff that reduces the target’s defense by 1% (stackable).
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[Name]: Shadow Reaper
[Rank]: Excellent (Blue)
[Level]: 1
[Attack]: 45
[Magic Power]: 15
[Speed]: 90
[Defense]: 15
[Health]: 135
[Combat Power]: 120
[Skills]: Shadowmeld, Strike from Stealth, Shadow Strike
[Talent]: Shadow Vision Realm
[Shadowmeld]: The Shadow Reaper can move stealthily within shadows. It can also leap between shadows no more than 5 meters apart. After exiting stealth, there is a 1-minute cooldown before it can meld into the shadows again.
[Strike from Stealth]: The Shadow Reaper’s first attack upon leaving stealth is a guaranteed critical hit and ignores enemy defense.
[Shadow Strike]: Attacking an enemy that is within shadows or in a shadow state will not break stealth and will deal pure damage equal to double its attack power.
[Shadow Vision Realm]: Ignores all types of shadow-based stealth.
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The Withered Messenger was a scarecrow. Waves of fear emanated from it wherever it went, and the grass withered in its wake.
’It should be quite effective against living beings, but the area of effect for its skills is a bit small.’
The Shadow Reaper was a short, elemental-like lifeform clad in a long robe. Peering into its hood revealed nothing but darkness, save for two flickering points of spectral light.
’The Shadow Reaper doesn’t seem particularly useful, but I could recruit a few to serve as scouts outside the territory.’
After reviewing the stats of the three new units, Lin Yu immediately assigned the Shadow Reapers to the territory’s patrol team.
Then, he took the Death Devourer and the Withered Messengers to the southern part of his territory.
That was where the Undead Calamity had been based. Ever since the final battle that had annihilated the undead’s core, Lin Yu hadn’t sent any large forces back there.
Only the Hero Squad would occasionally bring newly recruited soldiers here to level up, clearing out some Undead Creatures in the process.
Given the Death Devourer’s special effectiveness against the undead, the first thing Lin Yu thought of was using it on these undead skeletons.
Lin Yu’s entire party consisted of one Death Devourer, fifty Withered Messengers, a Hero Squad, and Meiying.
After descending from the Heaven-Reaching Vine Pod and passing through the botanical garden that served as a defensive line on the border, the group followed a faint path and soon arrived at the riverside camp.
It had since been turned into an outpost in the southern part of Lin Yu’s territory. It was surrounded by vines and concealed by an Illusion Technique, allowing only those from Lin Yu’s domain to pass freely.
After passing through the outpost and crossing the small river, the group arrived at the Desolate Land that was once covered in Wyite Bone Altars.
The Spiritual Power seeping out from Lin Yu’s territory nourished the earth.
Now, vegetation had started to grow back. It was even beginning to thrive, forming a vast wilderness.
After a forced march, the group arrived at the former Land of White Bones.
This area was also starting to recover. However, due to the deep, lingering influence of the Land of White Bones, the plants here grew small, poisonous thorns, making it inhospitable to ordinary creatures.
Passing through the former Land of White Bones, now the Thorn Wilderness, the group finally reached their destination.
After wiping out the buildings in the Land of White Bones and receiving the tournament reward, Lin Yu had stopped sending troops further south.
Of course, the main reason was that dismantling these Wyite Bone Altars and other Undead Buildings no longer yielded unit fragments.
Killing the guards still granted experience, but the amount had been significantly reduced.
Thus, the area had become a training ground for the new recruits of Lin Yu’s territory.
The Wyite Bone Altars closer to Lin Yu’s territory were frequently cleared out by new recruits, so they had few guards left. Feeling he couldn’t properly gauge the prowess of his new units there, Lin Yu led his party further south in search of a better test site.
After wandering for a while, Lin Yu found a suitable location.
This spot had three Wyite Bone Altars clustered together. Because of its remote location, far from the center, it had accumulated a large number of guards.
The moment Lin Yu’s party crossed the perimeter, a great CLATTER erupted as more than 3,000 White Bone Skeletons rose to their feet.
"Heh! Look at all these little skeletons."
"Amuti, do you think your squad can handle them?"
Amuti Goodwin was the first Withered Messenger to be recruited, so Lin Yu had made him their leader.
"A piece of cake, my Lord!"
The voice emanated from within Amuti’s straw body.
"Alright then, go on and show me what you’ve got. I’m looking forward to the performance!"
Under Amuti’s command, the fifty Withered Messengers formed a single line just outside the White Bone Skeletons’ perimeter.
Then, they advanced on the skeletons, activating their "Wind of Decay" skill in unison.
A wind carrying the stench of decay began to blow. The wind was silent, its passing marked only by the trail of corrosion it left behind.
Seeing that a mere fifty scarecrows dared to charge their massive ranks, the White Bone Skeletons were outraged.
’Who do they think they’re looking down on?’
And so, raising their Bone Blades high, they charged toward the scarecrows on their bony legs.
But as they ran, they realized something was wrong.
Their once-sturdy thigh bones grew weak as they ran, and pits started to appear on the Bone Blades in their hands.
They ran and ran, but before they could even reach the scarecrows, their leg bones snapped.
The skeletons collapsed, staring blankly at their broken legs. When they tried to pick up the severed limbs, they discovered their hand bones had fractured as well.
As the scarecrows slowly advanced, the skeletons’ bones shattered one by one. By the time the Withered Messengers passed by, all that remained was a pile of bone dust returning to the earth.
A few White Bone Skeletons with exceptionally sturdy bones managed to reach the Withered Messengers, only to be afflicted with Fear. They began to run about in a panic before the Wind of Decay swiftly brought them down.
Finally, the Withered Messengers demonstrated their Erosion of Life skill. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very effective against the White Bone Skeletons. While it could eventually kill them, their deaths were still ultimately caused by their bones shattering. The process was far more time-consuming and much slower than using Wind of Decay.
Once the Withered Messengers had finished their demonstration, Lin Yu found a Wyite Bone Altar inhabited by Energy Gathering Skeletons and had the Death Devourer put on its own display.
The demonstration was highly effective, but also quite boring.
The Death Devourer merely stood outside the perimeter and activated its Death Devour ability. The Energy Gathering Skeletons simply collapsed, their movements ceasing as the Death Energy animating them was devoured completely.