Charging the stronghold went exceptionally well despite there being thousands of undead defending it.
The cannon fire had caused massive disorganization, and using that opportunity, the players claimed the walls. Where they deployed their cannons and used them on any dense pocket of the undead who tried to reclaim said walls.
Their job was rather simple. Hold.
While they did, Eldrian charged deeper into the fort. Slaying the undead as he did, he headed straight for the boss of this dungeon.
[Oni (Death Knight) — Draugr & Revenant hybrid]
[Tier 8 - Level 75]
[HP: 98k]
[Mana: 84k]
[Stamina: 72k]
'Wow, that is more than I remember.' Eldrian commented, sending a nearby skeleton flying toward the Death Knight in provocation.
[Attack (Menos): 112 (3.9k)]
[A blade imbued with the fire of undeath. Each attack that so much as grazes the opponent will eat at not just their body, but also their soul.]
[Attack (Myalo - soul corruption): 4118]
[The soul-eating fire of Menos]
[Attack (Magic): 6k (on average)]
[Strength: 3k | Agility: 2.7k]
[Armor: 110 | Magic Armor: 89]
Upon seeing its stats, a smile found its way onto Eldrian's face. He just couldn't help it. He hadn't expected its attributes to be 3 times his own.
'Maybe Willo won't be entirely overkill, especially with that armor value.' Eldrian thought.
The Death Knight's weapon would also do far more damage than Willo. One good hit or two decent hits would spell Eldrian's end. And it had more HP than he remembered. If Eldrian didn't use Willo, he wouldn't even be able to pierce that armor value.
As excited as he was about this, Eldrian didn't forget to check the Death Knight's abilities.
[Special ability: Home — While within the stronghold the Death Knight's HP is increased by 5 times, and its mana and stamina by 2,5 times.]
'Oh, so that is why they are higher than I remember.' Nodding in understanding, Eldrian started channeling his auras and activating all his skills and item abilities. He would need every increase in stats he could get.
After all, if he stayed as slow as he was, the Death Knight would be able to run circles around him. Killing him in mere moments.
His auras brought his agility to 1.5k and would last as long as his concentration did. On top of that, he used all his item boosts and skills. Bringing his agility to a total of 2641.
Sadly, the item abilities boost (which amounted to around 600 points) would only last a few minutes. The skills he had chosen would last longer, but only to about ten minutes.
But, with his agility at 2.6k, those minutes would feel like they lasted 26 times as long as they were. The dilation wasn't as precise, but Eldrian felt confident he would lose or win the fight before any of his boosts' time ran out.
Eldrian's strength also jumped to 1618. But that was still rather far from the Death Knight's. Luckily, he was proficient in dodging.
[Special Ability: Seed of Corruption — Spreads the corruption in an area around the Death Knight's home.]
'This also changed. Right, so that is how they made the lore.'
As for the other abilities, the Death Knight sure had a lot. Which was to be expected from a Tier 8 monster. The total easily surpassed twenty, and it attacked Eldrian with Charge before he could read through all of them.
Dodging the Charge strike, Eldrian watched as it destroyed the ground and sent debris flying. Which Eldrian stopped from doing damage to him with a wind barrier.
The flames surrounding the Death Knight's blade licked at the air like it was searching for something living to consume.
'Yeah, those flames are a problem. Now, the question is, will Channeling cancel them out?' Eldrian asked himself. In all his practice, he had yet to face an opponent like this.
After all, Ziraili forbade him from using magic. Which limited the opponents he could manage against.
While those monsters were all quite powerful, none of them had a soul-eating type aura. The death aura of basilisks was the closest to it.
'Right, I have magic for once.' Realizing this, Eldrian's smile grew to a wide stupid grin. He had used the wind barrier on instinct. It only sank in that it was magic as the next attack came.
This attack came where it had landed, and Eldrian jumped over it. Causing the Death Knight to laugh. A deep bone rattling laugh as it moved the directory of its swing upward. Wanting to slice Eldrian in two.
Yet, Eldrian did not come back down. Instead, he faulted over the undead and smacked it on the head with Willo.
'Wow, it's sturdy.' Eldrian commented as he landed, jumping back with the assistance of some air currents to dodge the Death Knight's wild flailing.
Where Willo had connected with its head, there was a slight dent in its helmet. But other than that, it didn't even look like Eldrian had done any damage. Its HP had only dropped from 97.8k to 97.2k.
'Okay, I might have been a little overly confident.' Noticing that he hadn't even done a thousand damage, Eldrian grew slightly nervous.
'It's just its armor. I should be able to destroy it with a few more hits.'
What felt like a minute later (so probably 20 seconds later), Eldrian had to retreat and reassess the situation. Jumping into the air, he flew higher and allowed his friends to send a few attacks at the Death Knight to distract it and keep it grounded.
Even the cannonballs did hardly any damage. While direct hits didn't happen and most cannon balls were cut in half, their explosions chipped a few hundred HP from the Death Knight.
[You can stop, it isn't worth the cost.] Eldrian sent the message to Elizabeth while sighing.
The Death Knight's armor was too sturdy. There were a bunch of dents, but that hardly mattered.
Even when Eldrian had changed Willo to its two-handed form (for more damage) the results had only been slightly bigger dents. Granted, the damage difference was only 21 points, which didn't change much against his opponent.
'The real problem is its resistances.' Eldrian had learned this after focusing more on mana sense. It hadn't been visible at first, but when Eldrian really, really, tried to see all the Death Knight had, they had appeared.
At 80%, they reduced any damage that got through its armor to a mere 20%. Eldrian had no idea how to get past this. And as things were, he would run out of time before the Death Knight ran out of HP. Especially since it had started to learn his pattern or attack.
'I guess I have no choice. Hopefully, with Amnur having aided in your forging, you won't melt.' Eldrian thought, looking at the weapon in his hand as he started channeling Wrath through it.
From its pitch-black appearance, red flames licked at the air. Appearing through the metal itself as it coursed through the weapon. Like some ephemeral flame had always been housed within the black metal.
Eldrian was astonished at how easily he could channel Wrath through Willo. It was like Willo was designed for this. In fact, it probably was.
Curious, Eldrian gave his weapon a new glance. And nearly lost control of his flight spell when he saw the new information.
'Information on an aura? That exists?!'
[Damage (Two-handed Mace): 241 (2.4k) blunt (3/7 c/d)]
[Damage (mace: Holy): 110 (1k)]
[Damage (Wrath): 1800]
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