Chapter 61: Don't Get Me Wrong, I Just Want to Kill You
The Voodoo Shaman had appeared.
More than four hours had passed since entering the abyss, and a look of relief washed over Gu Chen's face. The reward for breaking the record was now undoubtedly secured.
Next, all that remained was to slay the Voodoo Shaman to successfully clear the Nightmare-tier abyss.
The chilly wind in the dungeon seemed to subside slightly, and the piercing, mournful wails of the wraiths dissipated along with it.
Accompanied by footsteps, a figure clad in a dark fur coat walked out of the darkness. It wore ornaments carved from withered bones, and a gas mask covered its face, obscuring its true features.
In its hand was a fearsomely shaped staff, atop which was embedded a crystal stone that flickered with eerie light and shadow.
[Otherworldly Being: Voodoo Shaman · BOSS]
[Level: LV.20]
[HP: 283,100]
[Stats: Strength 330, Agility 310, Constitution 290, Spirit 360]
[Skill I: Pure Light Barrier]
[Skill II: Deadly Thunderstorm]
[Skill III: Corrosive Venom]
The Voodoo Shaman stepped forward, the dark, glossy eye-windows of its mask reflecting the piles of beast corpses covering the ground. The mask turned toward Gu Chen and the others, and a low, hoarse laugh echoed from within.
"Heh heh heh... To think you could slaughter all the experimental subjects. Do you, too, wish to attain a power that transcends death?"
The eerie laughter was laced with a chilling and evil intent.
The Voodoo Shaman was like a fanatical scientific pioneer, infatuated with mind-boggling biological experiments—such as stitching dwarf corpses together with beast-kin, or transforming orc corpses into aberrations.
In short, his objective was to mutate dead bodies into monsters. In his eyes, such monsters represented a power that transcended death.
Gu Chen, however, remained unimpressed. "Don't misunderstand. I simply want to kill you."
A Level 20 BOSS—this was the most powerful otherworldly being he had faced thus far.
If any other team of Level 15 professionals had come here, no matter how many entered, every single one of them would have died.
The mortality rate of the Bone-Burial Dungeon ranking among the top tier of Tier 2 abysses was certainly no joke.
However, compared to the Bloodline Monarch with his fivefold damage multiplier, this was an entirely different matter.
"Kill me? Hmph, human, do you know what you're saying?"
The Voodoo Shaman let out a cold snort as its body suddenly expanded. The fur coat ripped open, revealing a hulking, greenish-black physique beneath that radiated an explosive sense of power.
His body was covered in densely packed surgical scars, making him look like a corpse riddled with countless holes.
Swish!
Suddenly, a pair of massive skeletal wings stretched out from behind him, resembling a reaper's scythe. They were covered in jagged protrusions and sharp bone spikes, as if capable of tearing everything apart.
"Roar—!"
The Corpse Skeleton Golem let out a low roar, and a thick black radiance erupted from its surface, hurtling toward the Voodoo Shaman like two black meteors.
[Utterly Exhausted]
[Black Death Plague]
Regardless of whether it was an elite or a BOSS, once afflicted with these two status debuffs, it would lose at least half its health right off the bat.
The Voodoo Shaman directly raised its hand, and the crystal on its staff burst into a dazzling radiance, forming a layer of light barrier before it in an attempt to block the two skills.
[Pure Light Barrier]
This was a defensive skill that could effectively neutralize skill damage.
Unfortunately, all of the Corpse Skeleton Golem's skills were un-immunizable.
The two bolts of black light pierced through the light barrier like meteors, instantly striking the Voodoo Shaman's body.
The next second, the debuff effects took hold.
The aura around the Voodoo Shaman stuttered; all its stats were abruptly halved, the damage it took was doubled, and its health began to steadily drain under the plague status.
Sensing the abnormal changes within its body, the Voodoo Shaman flew into a rage. It let out an angry roar as several bolts of black lightning condensed around it.
[Deadly Thunderstorm]
The Bloodline Monarch immediately made his move, neither dodging nor evading, and charged straight forward.
The black lightning erupted with astonishing might, slamming into the Bloodline Monarch amidst a series of rumbling crashes.
Had it been earlier, this single skill would have been more than enough to obliterate a Level 15 otherworldly being.
Yet now, the Bloodline Monarch's health dropped by merely a quarter.
The Voodoo Shaman paused slightly, as if failing to anticipate that its damage output could be this low.
Still, it didn't pay it too much mind. After all, its current condition was subpar, and it was understandable that a casual skill failed to deal substantial damage.
Immediately afterward, an intense black radiance erupted from its entire body. It raised a hand and pointed at the Bloodline Monarch, unleashing a vast, overwhelming wave of purplish-black toxic mist that surged toward him.
[Corrosive Venom]
Much like the beast-corpse aberrations from earlier, this was poison damage.
Yet the toxic mist unleashed by the Voodoo Shaman was over ten times more potent than that of the aberrations. It was almost tangible, sweeping toward them like a venomous tempest.
The moment the Bloodline Monarch came into contact with the toxic mist, his health plummeted wildly. He instantly retreated backwards while locking his twin guns onto the Voodoo Shaman and pulling the triggers.
[Fatal Shot]
Silver bullets entwined with bloody flames instantly pierced through the toxic mist, shattered the light barrier, and struck the Voodoo Shaman dead-on.
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
At the same time, six death tentacles rapidly materialized around it.
The Voodoo Shaman's body trembled violently, driven back step after step, its health plummeting at a speed visible to the naked eye.
*How is this possible?!*
Through the eye-windows of the mask, the Voodoo Shaman's eyes widened abruptly, as if experiencing the end of the world.
A Level 15 summoned beast had casually stripped away 150,000 of its health with a single skill!
How could there be such terrifying damage?
One had to know that it was a BOSS! Not only did it have health bonuses, but its attack and defense were also augmented. How could it possibly have become so frail?
"The Corpse Skeleton Golem is simply a monster-slaying artifact!" Gu Chen was overjoyed at the sight of this damage.
Although the Bloodline Monarch's damage was multiplied by five, facing the Voodoo Shaman alone wouldn't have been enough to output such exorbitant damage.
After all, this was a Level 20 abyss BOSS, and its defense bonuses were not trivial.
The reason they were able to pull off such explosive damage was primarily because the Voodoo Shaman happened to be standing within 10 meters of the Corpse Skeleton Golem.
[Unstoppable: When the Corpse Skeleton Golem is in a stationary state, its defense increases by 1% per second, and its regeneration increases by 1% per second. Targets within 10 meters of the Corpse Skeleton Golem suffer a 50% increase in negative effects received.]
In other words, due to positioning, the Voodoo Shaman had just suffered 150% effectiveness from the debuffs.
A mere 1.5-times damage multiplier was small potatoes for an abyss BOSS.
However, let us not forget that the Bloodline Monarch was currently in the sacrificial state, multiplying his damage output by five.
With this combination, that ordinary-looking skill, upon landing on the Voodoo Shaman, directly erupted with 7.5 times the damage!
Seven-point-five times!
Fortunately, the Voodoo Shaman was an abyss BOSS with massive defensive bonuses. Had it been any other Level 20 otherworldly being, it would have died a dozen times over.
"Why? You are only Level 15! How can you possess such terrifying damage?"
The Voodoo Shaman roared in agony. Its body was severely mangled by the bullets, and even the skeletal wings on its back were snapped in half. The pendulum of victory had tilted.
The Bloodline Monarch, however, wasted no words. So what if it was an abyss BOSS? If a single skill couldn't kill it, then he would use two!
[Crimson Feast]
Surging blood-flames swept outward in a spiral, resembling an apocalyptic tempest. Carrying a destructive and terrifying force, they charged straight toward the Voodoo Shaman.
This was the Bloodline Monarch's ultimate strike, utterly inescapable.
Boom!
The blood-flames transformed into a violent storm, riddling the Voodoo Shaman with countless holes and instantly reducing its HP to a sliver.
Immediately following that, the bonus damage judgment took effect.
A blinding crimson radiance suddenly bloomed across the Voodoo Shaman's body as a massive surge of damage erupted, overflowing entirely.
The Voodoo Shaman let out a miserable shriek, struggling frantically within the storm of blood-flames.
And its health bar was completely emptied.