Chapter 15: A Boss with 1,000,000 HP?

Beneath the enormous dark-gold skull of the Ancient Dragon—

a massive figure more than three meters tall sat silently on a slab of scorched black rock.

John focused his attention.

A deep-red system window instantly appeared before him.

[Territory Commander-Class Lord Monster: Rask, Commander of the Old Imperial Punitive Legion — Berserk Living Corpse]

[Quality: Lord-Class Boss — Dark Gold]

[Level: Lv.15]

[HP: 1,000,000 / 1,000,000]

[Attack: 2,600]

[Defense: 650]

[Skills: Bloodrage Sweep, Brutal Stomp, Imperial War Banner Aura, Ancient Dragon’s Grudge]

[Status: Deep Slumber. Will awaken upon receiving a powerful attack or when an enemy enters within ten meters of the Core Altar.]

One million HP.

An Attack stat of 2,600.

And 650 Defense.

It was the kind of absurd status panel that would drive any newly awakened Lord into despair.

Even John’s current Lv.10, 4-Star Dark Knights only had 200 Defense.

One ordinary heavy strike from Rask would still empty their HP bars instantly.

John thought for a moment and touched the Hero Recruitment Scroll inside his inventory.

The altar that opened the Ancient Dragon Hero’s Tomb was located directly behind the mountain of bones where Rask sat.

There was no way around him.

If John wanted the Ancient Dragon—

he had to go through this place.

"One million..."

John muttered.

His finger brushed across the bottom of his Lord Inventory.

An idea immediately came to him.

He tightened his grip on the reins and issued an order.

"Split into five squads."

"Thirty riders each."

The cold command was transmitted directly into the core marks of all one hundred and fifty Dark Knights.

"Maintain maximum speed."

"Enter from the edge of the basin and circle around."

"Pull every wandering living corpse in the outer area."

"Do not stop."

"Drive every monster group into the central depression!"

"NEIGH—!"

The undead warhorses clad in black-iron barding let out deep, hollow cries.

The pale soul flames in their eye sockets flared violently.

One hundred and fifty 4-Star heavy cavalry descended the steep slope like a massive black blade being drawn from its sheath.

Then—

they accelerated.

Heavy iron hooves slammed into the dry dark-red ground, spraying gravel into the air.

RUMBLE—!

The thunder of charging cavalry shattered the battlefield’s century-long silence.

"ROAR!"

The corpse halberdiers wandering near the outer edge abruptly turned their rotting heads.

Yellowed bone eyes locked onto the heavy cavalry cutting in from the flank.

A hoarse, broken military horn sounded among the dead.

"For... the Empire..."

Fragmented whispers drifted through the wind.

Hundreds—

then thousands—

of armored living corpses turned toward the descending Dark Knights.

A second later—

they were enraged.

Every living corpse began dragging chipped swords, broken polearms, and heavy crossbows as they surged toward the cavalry in madness.

The first Dark Knight squad raced along the western side of the basin.

Just before colliding with the corpse formation, they sharply pulled their mounts aside.

Their four-meter spiral cavalry lances swept sideways with the momentum of the charge.

BANG!

-453!

-412!

-432!

Several corpse halberdiers at the front were violently swept off their feet by the thick lance shafts.

Their breastplates caved inward.

The dull cracking of bones echoed one after another.

But the Dark Knights didn’t stop to finish them off.

Their warhorses tore across the earth.

Using the mobility of their Lv.10 mounts, they skimmed past the edges of the living corpse formation and raced toward the center of the basin in clouds of dust.

Behind them, corpse crossbowmen raised their heavy weapons.

A dense rain of rusted bolts tore through the air.

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

The bolts smashed against heavy black armor and cavalry shields, scattering showers of sparks.

-283!

-142!

-364!

Fortunately, these living corpses were durable rather than overwhelmingly powerful.

Their damage output was manageable.

The other four Dark Knight squads used the exact same tactic in different parts of the basin.

Undead creatures never tired.

They knew no fear.

They only obeyed.

Five squads of thirty riders each became five enormous black plows, carving through the circular basin, which measured less than ten kilometers across.

The thousands of Old Imperial corpses scattered throughout Ancient Dragon Battlefield were completely stirred into action.

Using nothing but speed and positioning, the Dark Knights gradually forced them toward the long, narrow stretch of ground in front of the Ancient Dragon’s remains.

Five minutes later—

more than two thousand Imperial living corpses had been compressed into a low-lying area only a few hundred meters across.

"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR—!"

Rotting howls shook the air.

Beneath the dragon bones—

the massive seated figure moved.

The crimson runes across Rask’s breastplate suddenly lit up.

Slowly—

he raised his head.

[WARNING!]

[Lord Monster "Rask, Commander of the Old Imperial Punitive Legion" has awakened!]

"That’s enough."

At the edge of the cliff, John had been watching the center of the basin the entire time.

Now, the monster horde below had been packed tightly together.

His fingers closed around the edge of the deep-purple scroll.

Then—

he pulled hard.

The tough parchment tore cleanly in half.

[S-Rank Spell Scroll — Wrath of Heaven activated!]

[Target Area: Center of Ancient Dragon Battlefield Basin]

[Strike Radius: 5 kilometers]

[Damage Type: 10,000 True Damage — Ignores Defense, Immunity, and Evasion]

BOOM!

Above Ancient Dragon Battlefield—

the gray sky instantly turned a violent, blinding purple.

The clouds began rotating at an impossible speed and pressed downward.

Purple lightning as thick as bowls twisted wildly through the storm.

Static electricity lifted loose stones from the entire basin into the air.

"Go."

John gently pressed his palm downward.

KRA-KOOOOM!

It was as if the sky itself had collapsed.

More than a hundred bolts of lightning, each as thick as a tree trunk, descended straight into the mass of living corpses at the center of the basin.

Blinding light swallowed everything within several kilometers.

The earth trembled.

Soil and stone melted under the heat, turning into glass-like liquid.

The thunderous detonation of the lightning strike nearly emptied the basin of air.

The pressure alone was suffocating.

-10,000! — True Damage

-10,000! — True Damage

-10,000! — True Damage

-10,000! — True Damage

...

Dense crimson damage numbers rose through the light like a torrential downpour.

The gathered 3-Star Imperial Halberdiers—

Elite Crossbowmen—

Rangers—

all vanished instantly beneath ten thousand points of defense-ignoring divine lightning damage.

More than two thousand high-tier elite living corpses—

wiped out in an instant.

Only a handful beyond the five-kilometer strike radius survived.

The violent thunder continued echoing through the valley for seven or eight full seconds before finally fading.

The air was saturated with the stench of scorched flesh.

The central basin—

which had been packed shoulder to shoulder with living corpses moments ago—

was now completely empty.

In their place remained only an enormous blackened crater hundreds of meters across.

Purple arcs of residual lightning still danced across the bottom.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

The system interface in front of John began scrolling so fast it looked broken.

[You have slain Old Imperial Guard Halberdier Lv.8 — 3-Star ×1.]

[EXP +870]

[Gold +45]

[You have slain Old Imperial Elite Crossbowman Lv.8 — 3-Star ×1.]

[EXP +840]

[Gold +38]

[You have slain Old Imperial Guard Halberdier Lv.8 — 3-Star ×1...]

...

[Total rewards obtained from Wrath of Heaven battlefield clear:]

[Gold +49,850]

[Iron Ore +4,200]