Their ship had just rounded a sharp bend and entered the narrowest stretch of the sea route. To the left, a raging tornado screamed past barely a meter from the hull. To the right, a massive whirlpool churned only four meters away. Even under normal circumstances, navigating through a passage this tight demanded absolute precision. Trying to evade an attack here was simply impossible.
All they could do was watch as the Twin-Winged Thunder Wyrm came hurtling toward them like a living missile.
There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.
"Marcus!"
The girls instinctively gathered around him, prepared to face whatever came together.
Marcus, however, remained standing at the stern, completely unshaken. A faint, confident smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
He was clad in the pitch-black Corpse Demon set, its intimidating armor making him look like a knight returned from the underworld. The Mythic Wraith Cloak flowed behind him in the sea wind. In his right hand rested the Corpse Demon Dark Soul Sword, while his left gripped the Divine-tier Adamant Shield. Mounted atop Blackie, the jet-black Nightmare Dragon Steed whose entire body burned with dark crimson flames, he stared directly at the charging Thunder Wyrm without the slightest hint of hesitation.
Every enhancement he possessed was already active. Layers of shimmering buffs wrapped around him in overlapping colors, giving him an almost supernatural presence.
As the Thunder Wyrm closed the distance, Marcus felt his heartbeat quicken. ’This is it,’ he told himself. ’Come on.’
He glanced back at the girls one last time. "Stay on the ship. Don’t move. Don’t follow me. Whatever happens, trust me." The calm certainty in his voice steadied them, even if only a little.
The next instant, he moved. Together with Pebble, he urged Blackie forward. The Nightmare Dragon Steed kicked off the deck and soared into the air, charging straight toward the Mythic Beast.
"Marcus, don’t!"
"Brother, what are you doing?!"
Panicked cries rang out behind him.
To everyone watching, it looked as though Marcus intended to sacrifice himself to lure the Thunder Wyrm away from the ship. Even Amber and Chloe had already begun summoning their flying mounts, ready to rush after him. If Marcus hadn’t ordered them not to interfere, they would have chased him without a second thought.
Jade grabbed Amber’s arm tightly, her face pale. "Amber... what’s he doing?"
Amber bit her lip, equally confused. "I... I don’t know."
All they could do was watch as Marcus flew directly toward the charging monster. "The Ascendant’s Domain!" A radiant golden circle burst outward from Marcus, expanding through the sky before engulfing the Thunder Wyrm. The familiar suppressive force descended once more.
-140,000! Another tenth of the beast’s health disappeared.
Against a Mythic Beast with 1.4 million HP, the damage was far from decisive.
But that had never been Marcus’s true objective. His goals were simple: first, force the Thunder Wyrm to focus entirely on him and draw it away from the ship. Second, activate The Ascendant’s Domain to greatly increase his Critical Hit rate and improve the odds of triggering his various effects.
The Thunder Wyrm’s enormous eyes instantly locked onto him. Perfect. He had its attention.
Yet at that exact moment, Marcus abruptly veered away instead of continuing his attack. He didn’t use Desperate Strike, nor did he unleash Corpse Demon Shatters Heaven. Instead, he ordered Pebble to activate the Knight’s most basic skill.
"Taunt!" Pebble was an exact duplicate of Marcus in every respect. Same equipment. Same attributes. Same combat strength.
The moment Taunt took effect, the Thunder Wyrm’s attention shifted away from Marcus and locked firmly onto Pebble instead.
Now, Marcus immediately put the next phase of his plan into motion.
Following his command, Pebble raised the Corpse Demon Dark Soul Sword. "Corpse Demon Shatters Heaven!" Three enormous thousand-year Corpse Demons erupted into existence before him, each swinging a massive black blade and releasing terrifying arcs of dark sword energy that crashed into the Thunder Wyrm one after another.
Critical Hit! All three attacks landed as critical strikes, and the combined damage was amplified to twelve times normal power, creating a breathtaking display of black energy that engulfed the beast.
Unfortunately, the actual damage barely exceeded 1,300.
Pebble didn’t waste a single moment admiring the result. He immediately hurled the Corpse Demon Dark Soul Sword. "Desperate Strike!" The black sword streaked through the air and slammed into the Thunder Wyrm once again.
No Critical Hit. Just over 500 damage.
Pathetic, compared to the monster’s health, but none of that mattered.
Pebble had already fulfilled his purpose: after taking two consecutive attacks, the Thunder Wyrm’s hatred was completely focused on him, giving Marcus the opening he had been waiting for.
While the beast chased Pebble, Marcus silently circled around behind it, his pulse thundering with anticipation. Everything was going exactly according to plan.
The Thunder Wyrm let out an enraged roar. Once again, that insignificant armored human had dared attack it.
The attacks barely hurt, but that wasn’t the point. To a proud high-tier Mythic Beast, being provoked by prey that couldn’t even seriously injure it was an insult it couldn’t tolerate.
It abandoned its original intention of destroying the ship, its full attention shifting to Pebble.
"Tail Lightning Spears!" Its massive tail whipped through the air, and countless crackling spears of lightning erupted from it, shooting straight toward Pebble.
It was the very same attack that had killed him before.
CRACKLE! The barrage slammed into Pebble without mercy. This time, however, he held the Divine-tier Adamant Shield, and Adamant Aegis activated.
For five full seconds, wave after wave of lightning hammered against the shield with deafening explosions. Pebble refused to yield, standing his ground and weathering the relentless assault until the final spear faded. Still alive.
Without hesitation, he summoned the Corpse Demon Dark Soul Sword back into his hand, prepared to continue fighting.
The Thunder Wyrm’s intelligence was anything but low. Realizing the lightning barrage hadn’t finished its target, it immediately changed tactics.
Its enormous jaws opened, and a devastating torrent of compressed seawater exploded outward. BOOM! The blast slammed into Pebble like a battering ram, hurling him backward through the air.
He survived, but only because the Ring of Resurrection had granted him three seconds of post-revival invincibility.
The Thunder Wyrm snarled, already preparing to finish him once and for all. But before it could launch another attack...
Marcus was already there, behind it, slightly to its left, less than eight meters away.
"Charge!" Blackie exploded forward. At the same instant, Marcus activated the level 50 Temple Knight skill, Temple Cavalry.
An immense surge of power flooded through him as Blackie’s speed and his own strength fused into a single unstoppable burst. Their acceleration became so explosive that it almost looked like teleportation.
Marcus raised his weapon, not the Corpse Demon Dark Soul Sword, but the Divine-tier Adamant Shield.
From the ship, the girls saw nothing more than a black streak flashing across the sky before Marcus suddenly appeared behind the Thunder Wyrm.
Danger! The Thunder Wyrm’s instincts screamed a warning, but it was too late. Its tail was still extended, locked in the middle of unleashing Lightning Spears, and recovering its balance and turning around in time was impossible.
Its broad back lay completely exposed. Marcus had only one chance, and everything depended on this single attack. He let out a thunderous roar. "Holy Shield Charge!"
In that instant, he poured absolutely everything into the strike: Blackie’s incredible momentum, his own full physical strength, the explosive acceleration granted by Temple Cavalry, and finally, the level 50 Temple Knight skill.
Brilliant holy light erupted from the Adamant Shield as Marcus drove it forward with every ounce of force he possessed.
—
Holy Shield Charge (Active, Level 1, 0/8000)
Strike enemies with your shield. Deals damage equal to a normal attack.
50% chance to knock enemies back.
50% chance to knock enemies prone.
30% chance to stun the target.
—
CRAAAAASH!! The Divine-tier Adamant Shield, blazing with dazzling holy radiance, slammed squarely into the Twin-Winged Thunder Wyrm’s exposed back with earth-shaking force.