The spirits descended above the blazing Swamp’s Black Tower like missiles.
Annan was the first to face off against the enemy.
His eyes were as bright as stars. It was the manifestation of the [Brilliant Sword] skill during the charging phase.
In this state, Annan possessed damage immunity BUFF of ? incoming damage. Undisputedly, he was a reliable defender.
Annan kickstarted the battle with [Frost Sword]!
It was the swordsmanship ability enhanced by the “Will” attribute. It finally showed its true might after Annan reached the Silver Rank.
Pure white frost marks spread across Annan’s blade.
Without hesitation, he sent a frost-colored, translucent arc-shaped sword energy toward the sky.
After the sword’s energy was sent about 30 meters away from Annan, its power began to decrease, and its form began to dissipate and expand.
However, the spirits having their maximum prowess reaching Silver Ranking, could not resist the attack despite having the frost element diluted.
Among those spirit bodies that swooped down from the sky, 30 spirit bodies were condensed into ice because of Annan’s sword energy.
They changed from their translucent illusory state into ice sculptures, condensing at a rate visible to the naked eye. Then, the frozen spirits shattered on their own.
An empty area about twenty meters long and three meters wide was particularly conspicuous amid the spirit bodies’ army.
But these spirits were not afraid at all.
They continue their offense on the players at the expense of their companions.
At this distance, Annan could deliver two or three slash attacks at most.
Each time Annan harnessed [Frost Sword], he temporarily increased all frost damage by 10% and reduced his frost damage resistance by 10%. Considering that many of Annan’s skills were harmful to himself and his attacks would spread, he could only send out five slashes at most.
After entering the melee, Annan could not unleash AOE attacks because of the players behind him.
Luckily, the players did not hold Annan back.
The players were more organized than Annan imagined.
“Let’s unleash the ritual!” Delicious Wind Goose followed Annan along with Lin Yiyi. He raised his sword and guarded the flanks. At the same time, he turned back and shouted orders to the other players.
“Got it!” Wandering Child responded immediately.
This was the strategy they had discussed offline previously. Previously, they had no enemies to test it out. Strictly speaking, this was the first battle in which the ritual was used.
Delicious Wind Goose posted the ritual he had mastered on the forum in photos and drawings, allowing players to copy the ritual without mastering the skill.
On the other side, the Child could manipulate the terrain at will.
If it was only a small-scale battle, these terrain factors could only play the role of interference, hindrance, and follow-up attacks. However, in a group battle, the walls summoned with magic might hinder the teammates. Of course, the Child was aware of it.
But what if he used these earthen walls to form an altar?
Layers of earthen walls rise from the ground, outlining a perfect circle.
Four players proficient in the Agility attribute quickly go to the five corners of the altar to form a pentagram with Delicious Wind Goose. As the players ignited the rosin, myrrh, frankincense, dried rose, and thyme in turn, five flames fell on the earth wall at the same time. The Child and those who participated in the ritual tapped the ground with the weapons in their hands and shouted at the same time: “This is the place where all things are buried—”
The five groups of flames soared wildly.
A dim stream of light approached the flames. Immediately after, the gray-white streamers of light surrounded the circle.
A hemispherical phantom gray barrier rose.
When the spirits passed through the barrier, they couldn’t help but roar in pain. Their movements also seemed to have become a little slower.
And more importantly, the players’ weapons were dyed with a light grayish-white color.
It was a color reminiscent of bone and lime.
“Your Royal Highness Annan, we will take a defensive stance!”
Delicious Wind Goose immediately said to Annan, “We’re using the Requiem ritual to suppress the speed of these spirits!”
“Great.” Annan nodded solemnly, “Then, I will focus on attracting the enemy’s attention.”
He recognized that it was the Requiem ritual originated from Bone Burying Grandma.
In the magic circle, burn multiple different spices. After tapping the ground once in the middle and reciting the name of “bone burying”, it would bless everyone in the magic circle with Requiem ability for an hour.
—That was the ability to attack spiritual bodies with ordinary weapons.
Bone Burying Grandma’s “Requiem” and Mr. Ray’s “Purification” were the two most effective abilities for spiritual bodies.
Annan never thought that the Child’s ability to transform terrain could be applied this way.
“That’s a great help, Child!” Jiu Er shouted and slashed her belly with an axe.
After her Health Points dropped by half, her curse turned red and hot, fully activated.
After the second batch of players entered the fray, the three players who adopted the [Berserker] profession immediately used self-harming methods to activate their curses and rushed to the frontline of the battlefield.
Their attacks were working well.
The weapons used by Berserkers were mostly polearms. Only such weapons could fully exert their strength in use.
It also enabled their offense to be efficient.
Weapons under the effect of [Requiem] were quite unhandy to unharness. It felt like having a cushion full of air or cotton on the hardy weapon.
It was probably like a massive bridge-shaped balloon at the mall entrance.
If the Berserkers were to strike a little harder, it would smash the spirits away.
Instead, the Hunters and Lurkers fight more efficiently.
The most troublesome thing about these spirits was that physical contact had to be avoided.
Upon physical contact, the skin at the point of contact would be razed by negative energy, leaving a purple bruise. At the same time, the spirit would also absorb a considerable part of the Health Points from it.
But other than that, the fighting style of these spirits was simplistic.
Even the spirits with long-range attack methods fly to the faces of the players foolishly and then start to chant the spells — the spirits could not use divine art and other abilities. Only the spirits that were wizards in their lifetimes could use spells after death. The magic was limited to the Order Mana too.
The body used to carry the Chaos Mana was gone. It was just like how demonization manifested in the physical body, not the soul.
The mage spirits chanted spells in a head-on confrontation instead of kiting the players at their maximum spell-casting distance.
The players were familiar with this state.
It was apparent that the Spiritual Monk could not micro-manage all of them.
—Obviously, it was an F2A operation [1].
Delicious Wind Goose couldn’t help but complain, “This reminds me of someone…”
As he spoke, he raised his round shield to block an attack firmly and then slashed over with his sword backhandedly, slashing the spirit body approaching Annan’s back.
Lin Yiyi, on the other side, quickly spun the long staff in her hand. She could perform four consecutive attacks and slam four spirits away in a second. For foes she could smash away, it made it easy for her to wield the weapon. Aside from the magic caster at melee range, she did not face any pressure.
The duo guarded Annan with one on the left and the other on the right. Then, the group slowly advanced counterclockwise in the barrier, using Annan as the main damage output, who could instantly destroy all the spirits they encountered.
A few Silver Sire Priests took off their heavy armor, held a money pouch in their left hand and many silver coins in their right hand, and quickly roamed the battlefield. They promptly recovered the combat power for the wounded players and prevented the spirits from breaking through their line.
Among the players, “Dove” had the highest shooting accuracy. She stood with the Child in the center of the magic circle, blasting the spirit bodies capable of casting spells and interrupting their magic with precise shooting. The real Dove used the Chocolate’s body to hide in the shadows and lurk among the players dexterously, helping those with their backs vulnerable and killing the spirits who want to sneak attack them.
Although it was the players’ first time cooperating, they showed extraordinary teamwork.
Annan even felt that the free resurrection privilege he granted was wasted.
The battle lasted ten minutes until the formation stabilized.
There were no casualties.
[1] F2A. It’s a game acronym that stands for clicking all enemies (by pressing F2) and selecting attack (by pressing A). Usually referred to as an F2A bot in winning war strategy games.