Chapter 115: Siege at Alabaster Fortress III
Adrian's heart beat became fast as he was almost sniped from his position. The most worrying fact was that how did they know to target him. Adrian first thought of it as a fluke or coincidence but he also kept his guard up. The black metal spear suddenly disappeared in a puff of black smoke and somehow ended up back at the death knight's hands.
"Has no one tried to inspect the lich yet?" Adrian asked his three friends.
"They did but apparently it all showed question marks. Some assassin player managed to get close but was immediately executed by the death knight. They did managed to cast Inspect but came back with disappointing information. The max level required for this raid is level 90 to qualify for the epic treasure chest. If we judge by that standard, it is probably level 120 since you could not inspect creatures 30 level higher than you." Peridot said as she had her little brother watch streamers in their raid especially scout type streamers.
"You actually can identify them but you must have a higher tier inspection skill or you fit a different criteria which I will tell you guys later after the siege defense. If I could somehow get closer, I might be able to see the stats on the higher tier undead." Adrian told them in a soft voice.
"You can!?" Peridot suddenly shouted which got the attention of the players on the wall but only for a few seconds as they returned their attention on the siege.
"Oh wait! I actually have a way." Adrian muttered as he immediately used his skill Summon Psyche Armament: Bow.
The bow materialized and his gloves disappeared from his hands. The players who witnessed this thought it was not out of the ordinary as there was a job class advancement of the summoner class that could wield other weapons. Adrian immediately used the first skill of the bow armament 'Shooting Star'.
His arrow flew like an actual meteor and headed towards the lich as it was still summoning undead. The players below the fortress were beginning to get immense pressure due to the immense wave of undead. They had less breathing space to take breaks and their stamina bar was draining continuously. Although, their experience bar was rising visibly.
The Shooting Star that Adrian fired off continued its path to the lich and decimated the undead in its path due to the piercing effect. The skill was about to hit the lich but a black spherical shield was immediate conjured by the lich and blocked the skill. The ranger type players who saw this frowned as they thought they could do the same if the skill managed to hit the lich.
The only way that the players thought to win was to decimate the undead in the field and make their way towards the death knight and lich. The melee players on top of the wall decided to join the fight below and left their ranger teammate at the wall for a good vantage point. Also, give them a rundown of the situation as ranger class players have far better eyesight.
"I think we also need to head down as my spells only have limited range." Levin Cloud said while Peridot and Kabrakan nodded their heads.
"Wait! I have an idea and I think I can decimate the lesser undead if it works. Wish me luck and stay here for the moment." Adrian said as he pretended to go down the wall.
"At least tell us the plan!" Levin Cloud shouted.
"Welp! There he goes testing crazy ideas that could get him killed again." Peridot said as this was not the first time Adrian did crazy things in a game.
"He usually gets a crazy idea that is either really bad or is really broken but he would die and not get the reward. He would then sulk for a few days before trying another one." Kabrakan said with a helpless expression.
"If he dies, he will revive anyways." Levin Cloud whispered to them and the two were shocked by what they learned.
"Do you mean he has the same skill as yours?" Peridot whispered back and Levin Cloud only nodded.
Kabrakan and Peridot eyes shined with greed while looking at the way Adrian went down from the fortress wall.
"Why do I feel chilly all of a sudden?" Adrian mumbled.
Adrian used Soul Form Transformation on himself and blinked to the field. He casted Quantum Cascade again and set the epicenter a bit farther away. Some undead tried attacking Adrian but those undead just passed right through him as they were not ghost type undead.
"It was a good thing that I sent Kanlaon to take care of the ten wraiths that were summoned. Now, I got this idea thanks to what happened in the Distorted Labyrinth." Adrian thought as he blinked to the epicenter of the cascade event.
"Vortex" Adrian muttered as a black and white speck was created from his palm. Adrian snapped his fingers and a black hole suddenly manifested ten meters in the air. The black hole sucked all the undead in the vicinity but there were some undead that were far from the black hole.
"Okay! Now Rewind." Adrian chanted as he cast the skill on himself and had a grin on his face that made him look like a smiling clown due to how wide his grin is.
"I can't believe it works! Hehehehe! It's a good thing that the Vortex Skill only goes on cooldown after the black hole manifests. Even my mana was reverted." Adrian said as he blinked once again ten meters in front of his location.
"Vortex" Adrian once again chanted and a black and white speck of light once again appeared in his palm. The black and white speck once again rose up in the air. Adrian snapped his fingers once again and another black hole appeared.
Due to Adrian being about forty meters near the lich and death knight, he saw the skeleton mages and skeleton riders resisting the pulling force of the black hole. The lich looked at Adrian with anger since the light in its eyes sockets were flickering while its vision was focused on the latter.
Adrian's three friends on the fortress wall could hear their notifications continuously piling up as they receive experience. When they saw the two vortices on the battlefield, Kabrakan and Peridot had a shocked face while Levin Cloud had a helpless expression on his face.
"That must be his plan." Levin Cloud muttered while he shook his head as even he did not expect that.
Adrian had a bright smile on his face as he managed to perfectly execute his on the spot plan. He turned his attention to the lich and death knight that were still resisting the pulling force. The lich suddenly pointed its bony index finger at Adrian and spoke in a spine chilling tone.
"Finger of Undeath" the lich said as a black ray of lightning was fired from its bony index finger and was shot towards Adrian.
Adrian tried to avoid but the black lightning seemed to have a homing mechanism. Adrian even unfurled his wings and took flight but the black lightning was following him like a snake seeking vengeance. It did not take long for the black lightning to strike him. The players only saw the lich casting the spell but did not strike anything which is why they thought a player must have used a skill to block it.
[You have been dealt with 3,348 magic damage. The damage has been doubled due to you being in Soul Form. You have received 6,696 magic damage.]
[You have died.]
[Your party member Equinox has died.]
"Told you that he would die again." Kabrakan stated as if it was already set in stone.
"At least his plan worked." Peridot said with a dry laugh.
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Meanwhile at Atlas Headquarters...
The staff that was dedicated on watching Adrian every so often is watching Adrian's spectacle on the siege defense with popcorn on his hands.
"Oh! He is so creative to even think of using it like that. Did that skill have a secret interaction like that?" the staff stated as he was not able to see what Adrian did in the Distorted Labyrinth.
"SO YOU ARE ENJOYING THIS?!" a voice from behind suddenly asked.
"Yeah! Could you see? I really like players who gets creative with their skills." The staff said but he suddenly had a realization who that voice belongs to.
"Continue what you were saying. I am here all day to listen to you anyway." The voice stated as it had a hint of anger in it.
"Director! Did you do something with your hair? You look great. Popcorn?" the staff said as he turned his chair slowly at the Director Development.
"I am very thankful that you have volunteered for our weekend community service. Everyone let us all applaud John on his bottomless generosity in keeping the community clean." The director announced.
The director smiled then whispered on John's ear and said, "Be sure to send that clip to the planning team for assessment as I deem it a bit too broken."
The director then left for his board meeting while John slumped on his chair.