21 Chapter21-Antiquity: Crimson Emblem
"Attack!" Jason bellowed commandingly.
In the next second, all his soldiers sprang into action!
The Frost Liches unleashed their full firepower, bombarding everything around with Ice Crystal Burst.
The bone dragons exhaled their chilling breath, Death Acolytes launched energy bolts, and the Banshees rushed to the frontline, initiating their wailing cries to immobilize the monsters and the boss, buying time.
Meanwhile, the Dragonsepulcher Sentinels seized the chaos to unsheathe their swords, reaping the surrounding monsters.
After a round of fierce assault, even with a second of fear-inducing effect remaining, Jason didn't hesitate to wave his hand and recall all his soldiers back into the spatial realm.
On the other side, Carolina had already transformed into her dragon form.
With a swift leap, Jason mounted the dragon, and with the effect of [Dragon Tongue: Wind Riding] still active, the speed boost maintained, the pure white dragon instantly turned into a streaking meteor.
By the time [Black Scorpion-General] gathered his wits, he could only stand frozen in place, aimless for a few seconds due to the loss of his target.
Soon after, the boss waved his hand, leading the army of wild monsters back to their lair.
But before they had gone far, the white dragon returned.
With a wave of his hand, Jason summoned his units again, except for the Dragonsepulcher Sentinels whose melee prowess was not optimal for the situation; all other units were instantly back in play.
The Frost Liches unleashed their devastating attacks once more, the bone dragons exhaled their chilling breath, the acolytes gathered up energy orbs, and the Banshees wailed in the skies, bringing fear...
The efficiency was so high that even the previously applied buffs hadn't faded, resulting in nearly a thousand wild monsters being instantly slain this round.
Despite their fear resistance, just as [Black Scorpion-General] began to react, turning back with an angry howl, Jason was already making his escape.
The silhouette of the white dragon vanished from the sight of the numerous wild monsters and the boss...
This cycle repeated, spanning five or six rounds.
After one attack, the boss delightedly found that those cowardly opponents finally stopped fleeing.
[Black Scorpion-General], thrilled, spurred his mount to launch an offensive, completely unaware that the "soldiers" around him had dwindled to but a few.
At this moment, Jason's expression was solemn.
"A tough battle is coming," he remarked.
Fighting the boss meant they couldn't use the hit-and-run tactics employed earlier; once disengaged, the opponent's HP would rapidly replenish.
Facing the formidable level 90 entity, his own soldiers were inevitably going to suffer losses.
Against [Black Scorpion-General], Jason still had the Dragonsepulcher Sentinels in their half-dragon form acting as tanks to hold aggro, while the bone dragons cast their breath to afflict the boss with weakness.
The final blow was powered by the Frost Liches, continuously casting Ice Crystal Burst to whittle down the HP.
But this boss, encircled by Jason's melee units, really seemed immobilized, appearing to only passively endure the onslaught.
Yet, he still had his skills—
Crimson Charge!
[Black Scorpion-General] erupted in flames, charging towards Jason's soldiers.
Regrettably, the flames unleashed by this move were precisely dissipated and shredded by the ice crystal vortexes pervading the battlefield.
[Black Scorpion-General] utterly failed to make an impact.
At most, he managed to knock away a few Dragonsepulcher Sentinels and repel some Subspecies Bone Dragons.
Helplessly, the BOSS had to exert his power once more—
His second skill, [Chaotic Dance]!
This move was [Black Scorpion-General]'s strongest offensive, his long blade wildly dancing in his hands.
Each strike was terrifyingly potent, every move filled with lethal intent.
Even Jason's expression changed; he had seen the Losfall guild's pioneering video in his past life, and once [Chaotic Dance] was unleashed, it meant massive swathes of players along with their armies were instantly wiped out.
It's worth mentioning that at this moment, Jason couldn't use Realm of Heimdall to instantaneously recall his soldiers; this Authority requires that there be no hostile targets nearby when recalling soldiers.
Previously, he could retrieve them because his units wiped out the wild monsters in one burst, and the boss was far away, hence the recall was possible.
Now, they had to withstand the onslaught.
However—
[Black Scorpion-General] wore a vicious smile, but the gruesome scene he anticipated did not occur. After the Dragonsepulcher Sentinels' half-dragon transformation, they received a 30% attribute bonus, followed by another 30% boost for following Carolina, plus Jason's Authority enhancement and the tail-end of the previously applied prayer buffs.
The Dragonsepulcher Sentinels' attributes had multiplied several times over! Their tankiness was terrifying!
Jason's soldiers were actually advancing and attacking relentlessly amidst the slashing blades!
And what made [Black Scorpion-General] even more desperate was his third skill, [Bloodthirsty Desire], which allowed him to absorb the blood essence of his slain enemies, recovering a substantial amount of HP and stacking his attack power.
However, despite a few Dragonsepulcher Sentinels and Subspecies Bone Dragons being killed, their undead bodies… possessed absolutely no exploitable blood essence.
The boss was at his wit's end, his HP plummeting rapidly.
Nearly an hour later, suddenly, the pitch-black steed beneath [Black Scorpion-General] reared up with a pained howl, tossing its master to the ground before collapsing itself, with the boss's HP dropping to zero.
Balls of light burst out all around them.
Without hesitation, Jason scooped up all the loot, then led his soldiers into the now-empty Monster Lair, locating the lair's core—a giant crimson gemstone.
He rallied his troops, and a barrage of attacks soon shattered it.
Immediately, a notification sounded in his ear.
[Congratulations on successfully breaking the Monster Lair!]
Subsequently, several treasure chests appeared.
Next came the moment Jason was most excited for... tallying the spoils of battle.
First was the chest that appeared after breaking the lair's core, shimmering like a jewel with radiant light. Jason swiftly opened it.
[You have opened the chest and obtained [Antiquity: Crimson Emblem]!]
"An Antiquity item already?" Jason's eyes brightened with delight, as obtaining an Antiquity was also one of the high-difficulty achievements in the [Ascended High Tier] event.
Because Antiquities are items that appeared en masse in the later stages of Divine Age, their function is straightforward... simply possessing them, keeping them in one's inventory, they enhance certain specific units.
For Divine Age, where commanding troops in battle is one of the core gameplay elements, Antiquities undoubtedly become one of the most crucial sources of player strength in the later game stages.
Also, given that Antiquities can be infinitely stacked, Jason had witnessed too many bloody wars over them during his past life of more than twenty years, highlighting the rarity and value of such items.
"Could it be that [Old Losfall] didn't produce any Antiquities in my past life because it wasn't a solo challenge?" Jason pondered.
As a one-time dungeon, the Monster Lair would naturally dilute the rewards with too many challengers, but soloing it significantly increases the chances of dropping valuable loot.
Filled with excitement, Jason opened the item details.
[Antiquity: Crimson Emblem]
[Tier: Platinum]
[Enhancement Stage: 0]
[Effect: All your melee units gain +1000 HP, +100 Attack, and +10% Lifesteal]
[Skill: [Fervor] Soldiers double their enhancement bonus after each kill, lasting 60s, with the duration refreshing after each subsequent kill.]
Jason was stunned, marveling at his extraordinary luck.
Generally, the broader the coverage of units an Antiquity of the same tier affects, the higher its value.
This Crimson Emblem activates for any melee unit... meaning at least half of Jason's forces could benefit from this enhancement.
The base stats provided by the Crimson Emblem might seem modest in the later stages, but the lifesteal attribute is timeless.
Allowing soldiers to recover their own HP by damaging opponents can significantly reduce casualties early on for Jason and becomes even more crucial in late-game when high-tier unit confrontations prolong battles.
This Antiquity is immediately usable, potent in effect, and retains its value!
Jason could hardly contain his smile.
Furthermore, the Crimson Emblem currently shows an enhancement level of 0.
Typically, Antiquities can be enhanced up to 11 stages, with the first 10 stages doubling the effects upon full enhancement and the final stage adding an additional skill to the Antiquity.
This means the item could become even more formidable in the future!
At this moment, Jason felt nothing but gratitude, more convinced than ever that his strategy of solo development was the right choice.
His initial plan to acquire Antiquities involved participating in a special event dungeon, but now it seemed that just progressing through the game and clearing the map could potentially yield three Antiquities to meet the [Ascended High Tier] requirement.
This would give him more leeway to aim for the ninth divine ascension.
Afterwards, Jason opened the remaining chests, combining them with the loot dropped by the boss, and continued to inventory his gains.
