"Clang!"
Accompanied by a jarring clang of metal, the rusty longsword in the hand of a Skeleton Soldier fiercely struck the Tower Shield raised by Overlord Tiger, sending sparks flying.
[-48!]
A bright red damage number floated above Overlord Tiger's head, causing his burly body to sway slightly.
"Damn it! Why is this ghost's attack power so high!" Overlord Tiger cursed angrily, countering with a [Cleave]. His giant, door-sized axe whistled through the air and struck the Skeleton Soldier's ribs from a tricky angle.
[-82!]
The damage was decent, but against a Level 15 Undead monster with 2000 total Life, it was still a drop in the bucket.
On the other side, the situation for the Mage and the Rogue was equally grim.
These Undead creatures seemed to possess extremely high AI, prioritizing high-threat cloth-armored units.
Two of the three Skeleton Soldiers were relentlessly harassing the team's Fire Mage, "Ba Tian 'Fire Mage'", forcing him to maneuver awkwardly and making it impossible for him to safely cast spells.
"Knife! Go control one! Pull one away for me!" Overlord Tiger roared hoarsely in the team channel while struggling to fend off the Skeleton Soldier in front of him.
"I can't, Brother Hu! These Skeleton Soldiers are immune to control! My [Gouge] and [Kidney Shot] are both resisted!" The Rogue, "Blade," sounded panicked.
At the back of the team, the face of the Priest, "Little Hands Icy Cold," also became extremely solemn.
Her staff swung non-stop, and continuous rays of holy Healer Light landed on Overlord Tiger and the Mage, but the entire team's Life bars were still slowly and steadily dropping.
This was trouble!
Just three patrolling trash mobs at the dungeon entrance were making this well-equipped elite team struggle so much!
The difficulty of this [Valley of the Dead] far exceeded their imagination!
"Lin Mo! What the hell are you doing? Watching a show? Hurry up and come deal damage!"
Just as the team descended into Chaos, Overlord Tiger's irritable roar finally targeted the "dead weight" who had done almost nothing since the fight began.
In his view, Lin Mo was simply following the team unhurriedly, occasionally throwing a punch at different Skeleton Soldiers. The damage numbers that floated up were a pathetic "-2" or "-3," looking exactly like he was giving the monsters a massage.
To Overlord Tiger, this behavior was blatant slacking!
"What a piece of trash!" The Mage in the team couldn't help but curse.
The Priest, "Little Hands Icy Cold," was so angry her pretty face was flushed, and she kept muttering softly, "I knew we shouldn't have brought him, he's just dead weight, completely useless..."
However, Lin Mo paid no attention to any of the accusations and curses.
There was no trace of panic or guilt on his face; instead, he was as calm as a bottomless ancient well.
His deep eyes, like the most precise instrument, calmly observed every detail on the battlefield—the monsters' aggro, his teammates' positioning, the skill rotations... He was waiting.
Waiting for an opportunity.
An opportunity that would make everyone shut up!
Finally, when all three Skeleton Soldiers had been silently afflicted with 10 stacks of the [Endless Poison Source] poison effect, he knew the time had come.
"[Venom Spray]!"
Lin Mo moved.
His figure was like a phantom, instantly entering the fray, and a stream of dark green venom accurately struck the Skeleton Soldier that was chasing the Mage.
[-19]
An unremarkable damage number floated up, but immediately following it, a series of gray, death-whisper-like poison damage numbers began to erupt frantically from the heads of all three Skeleton Soldiers!
[-12] (Corrosion effect triggered, target dual resistance -10)
[-12] (Corrosion effect triggered, target dual resistance -10)
[-12] (Corrosion effect triggered, target dual resistance -10)
"Huh?"
Ba Tian 'Fire Mage', who was currently fleeing awkwardly, paused slightly. He felt the pressure on him seemed to have been greatly reduced in that instant.
Before he could figure it out, Lin Mo's second wave of attacks had already arrived.
"[Poison Blade]!"
A dark gleam flashed across his fist. His figure appeared next to another Skeleton Soldier as if teleporting, and his punch landed precisely in its empty eye socket!
[-38!]
A critical hit damage, terrifying in scale, suddenly burst forth!
Following this, Lin Mo's attacks were like a continuous storm.
His movements were erratic and unpredictable, like a ghost dancing on the tip of a Knife.
Every punch he threw, every skill he used, was precisely calculated for damage and aggro, perfectly controlling the Life bars of the three Skeleton Soldiers so they remained on a parallel level!
The damage he was dealing also plunged the entire Ba Tian Squad into stupefaction!
[-15]
[-15]
[-15]
[-42! (Poison Blade Critical Hit)]
[-21! (Venom Spray)]
[-18]
[-18]
[-18]
A dense string of damage numbers cascaded like a waterfall from the heads of the three Skeleton Soldiers, relentlessly filling the screen!
Among them were physical damage hits that resembled a light scratch, burst damage from skills, but overwhelmingly, there was the relentless, continuous poison damage that clung to them like maggots to bone!
Under the enhancement of the [Corrosion] effect, the Skeleton Soldiers' already diminished defenses were completely wiped out. Overlord Tiger's and the Mage's attacks now cut deep, and their damage suddenly increased significantly!
"I... I'll be damned..."
Overlord Tiger, who had just cleaved for a record-breaking high damage of [-125], was completely dumbfounded.
He stared in disbelief at the "unclassed" player who was moving among the three Skeleton Soldiers like a flitting Butterfly, his eyes wider than copper bells.
This... this is a support? Is this the kind of damage a support should be dealing?!
His total damage already far exceeded that of the main damage dealers in the team!
"His Deadly Poison... seems... seems pretty fierce..." The Rogue, "Blade," stammered, his voice filled with shock.
The Priest, "Little Hands Icy Cold," had long since stopped her mumbling. She stood with her mouth slightly open, staring blankly at the figure she had previously scorned as "dead weight," her mind completely blank.
It was the first time she realized that "massaging" could actually produce such terrifying artistry!
"Roar!"
Just as everyone was stunned, the Life bars of the three Skeleton Soldiers were completely emptied almost simultaneously!
The soul fire in their eye sockets suddenly went out, and their tall bodies scattered with a "clatter," dissolving into a pile of lifeless bones on the ground.
[Ding! Your squad has killed 'Undead Skeleton Soldier' x3, gaining 450 experience points.]
The battle ended.
The entire process was smooth and fluid, not even lasting a minute!
A strange silence fell over the canyon.
Overlord Tiger and the other three stood rooted to the spot like four statues, staring intently at the man who was calmly collecting the spoils of war, their eyes full of astonishment, as if looking at a monster.
"Gulp..."
Overlord Tiger swallowed hard, walked forward, and patted Lin Mo heavily on the shoulder, forcing out a smile uglier than a cry: "Uh... Brother Lin Mo, just now... your big brother here was blind! Your... your Deadly Poison is truly goddamn powerful!"
"Yeah, yeah!" The Mage and the Rogue also hurried over, their faces fawning. "Brother Mo! You are the real backbone here! Please don't take anything we said earlier to heart!"
The Priest, "Little Hands Icy Cold," was blushing furiously with shame. She walked up to Lin Mo, lowered her head, and apologized in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz: "I... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said those things about you before..."
Looking at the teammates whose attitudes had done a complete 180-degree turn, Lin Mo's expression remained calm and undisturbed.
He didn't savor the satisfaction of "slapping their faces," but simply nodded calmly.
"Let's keep going."
He knew this was just the beginning.
To truly earn the respect of these major guild elites, he still needed to deliver more convincing performances.
For example... securing the First Kill of this dungeon!
For the rest of the journey, the atmosphere within the team underwent a tremendous change.
Lin Mo, without a doubt, became the absolute core of the entire team.
Overlord Tiger even voluntarily relinquished command, and everyone willingly followed Lin Mo's concise instructions.
"Fire Mage, place a Fire Wall to the left, block the path."
"Rogue, three o'clock direction, Sap that lone patrol."
"Overlord Tiger, prepare to Charge. I'll count three, two, one."
Under his precise command, the team's advancement speed more than doubled!
The Undead monsters that had previously given them headaches were as fragile as thin paper before Lin Mo's continuous poison damage, which was practically a bug, and his [Corrosion] armor reduction.
Often, just as Overlord Tiger gathered the monsters, they would already die from the Deadly Poison amidst their wails.
Everyone in the team had completely become Lin Mo's "utility players."
All they needed to do was follow Lin Mo's instructions: apply crowd control, group the monsters, and then... lie back and share the experience.
"Brother Mo, your positioning is too impressive! It looks like you're using a script!"
"Brother Mo, how exactly do you deal that much damage? Teach us, please?"
"Brother Mo, do you need a follower? The kind that can act cute and shout '666'!"
The Priest, "Little Hands Icy Cold," had transformed into his number one fangirl, calling him "Brother Mo" affectionately, and the Healer light almost never left Lin Mo's head.
Lin Mo neither confirmed nor denied this change, only nodding occasionally.
Half an hour later, after clearing all the Undead creatures in the canyon without incident, they finally arrived before a huge altar built entirely of bones.
In the center of the altar, a Lich wearing ragged black robes, holding a white bone staff, and with two sickly green flames burning in its eye sockets, was quietly suspended in mid-air.
A dense aura of death surrounded it, sending chills down their spines.
[Necromancer · Mars (Boss)]
[Level: 16]
[Life: 15000 / 15000]
[Skills: Shadow Bolt, Summon Skeleton, Curse of the Dead, Bone Shield]
"BOSS! It's the BOSS!" Overlord Tiger's breathing quickened.
"Brother Mo, how should we fight it?" Everyone turned their gaze toward Lin Mo.
Lin Mo's gaze also became unprecedentedly serious.
He could clearly sense that the Necromancer before him was many times stronger than the King Venomous Toad they had faced previously!
"Overlord Tiger, you are the main tank. Be mindful of activating damage reduction skills.
Ba Tian 'Fire Mage', Knife, go all out on damage.
Little Hand, keep an eye on the tank's Life, and be ready to dispel at any time."
Lin Mo calmly allocated the tasks. Finally, he took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "The BOSS's [Curse of the Dead] might have special effects. Everyone, pay attention to dodging the black circles on the ground! Listen to my command, pull the boss!"
"Roar!"
Overlord Tiger roared angrily and charged forward like a cannonball. The battle was about to begin!