Chapter 51: The Skeleton General, Hera

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Facing the dozen or so charging skeleton warriors, Zhang Yue and Su Jingyan didn't engage them directly. Instead, they intentionally lured the group toward a more open area behind them.

If they had to deal with the skeleton warriors along with their commander, the Skeleton General, it would definitely be a tough fight. The only way to handle them was to separate the skeleton warriors from the general and take them down one by one.

The Skeleton General didn't pursue. It seemed to think its minions were more than enough to handle two mere humans.

Once Zhang Yue had drawn the skeleton warriors out of the general's line of sight, he abruptly stopped.

Fireball! Lightning Bolt! Flame Missile!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three spells slammed into one of the skeleton warriors, dealing over 3,000 damage in total and wiping out two-thirds of its health bar. Su Jingyan followed up with another fireball, and Zhang Yue finished the first skeleton warrior with an ice spike.

Then, Zhang Yue started kiting the remaining skeleton warriors. Luckily, his agility was high enough, allowing him to keep pace with the skeleton warriors. He led them around for a bit, waiting for his abilities to come off cooldown.

With Su Jingyan's support, another skeleton warrior was soon felled by their combined attack.

This method of fighting was slow and exhausting, but it was the safest option. If they allowed all the skeleton warriors to swarm them at once, not even ten lives would be enough for Zhang Yue.

After nearly ten minutes of fighting, the two finally took down the last of the skeleton warriors.

With only half an hour left in the dungeon, they immediately rushed toward the core area of Skull Island.

The Skeleton General, Hera, looked genuinely surprised to see these two humans still alive.

It realized all its minions had been slain.

With a furious roar, the Skeleton General mounted its skeletal warhorse, wielded its spear, and charged at Zhang Yue and Su Jingyan.

[Skeleton General, Hera] (Physical-Type Boss)

Level: 27

Physical Attack: 800

Physical Defense: 450

Magic Defense: 450

HP: 19,800

Skills: Charge, Sweep, Piercing Strike

Description: The leader of the skeleton warriors and the guardian of Skull Island. It commands an entire skeleton army and reigns supreme on the island. Any intruders will be mercilessly slain by the Skeleton General.

"Wow, those stats are insane!" Su Jingyan exclaimed after seeing the Skeleton General's data that Zhang Yue had shared in the team chat.

Zhang Yue checked his own magic attack stat, which was 566, and confidently said, "No problem. We can take it."

"Just watch your positioning and don't pull aggro," he reminded her.

"Got it!"

With that, they began their attack.

Blink!

Predictive Strike!

Su Jingyan aimed her spell at a point three meters in front of the rapidly charging Skeleton General, precisely hitting her target.

A mere 112 points of damage floated above the general's head, but it was enough to freeze it in place!

Taking advantage of this opening, Zhang Yue unleashed a series of powerful spells: Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Flame Missile!

-525! Burn! -63!

-548! Stun!

-194! Crit! -530! Crit! -530!

Zhang Yue's damage was as brutal as ever.

His agility stat of 69 gave him lightning-fast reflexes, shocking even Su Jingyan, who, despite being a level 21 mage herself, couldn't match his speed.

Just as the Skeleton General broke free from the stun effect of Lightning Bolt, Zhang Yue immediately cast Ice Spike, freezing it once again and dealing an additional 1,033 points of critical damage!

He followed up with several normal attacks, each dealing 416 points of damage.

Monsters in this otherworld didn't have mana bars. This meant Zhang Yue's equipment—[Purgatory: Demon Slayer's Edge], with its [Demon Slash] effect that drained 200 mana from enemies (and deducted the same amount from HP when mana was depleted)—added 200 extra damage to each of his attacks.

Additionally, his [Wrath of the Magus] passive, which consumed 8 mana for each normal attack in exchange for 100 bonus magic damage, made Zhang Yue's basic attacks absurdly strong.

On her side, Su Jingyan carefully maintained her crowd control.

The moment the Skeleton General broke free and tried to use its Charge skill to attack Zhang Yue, Su Jingyan's predictive fireball hit it perfectly, immobilizing the boss once again.

Zhang Yue continued to wear it down with his relentless barrage of spells.

After waiting for his cooldowns, he unleashed another combo, and Su Jingyan kept the Skeleton General locked in place with precise control.

The two worked in perfect sync, leaving the Skeleton General with no opportunity to fight back. Only twice did Su Jingyan miss her crowd control, allowing the general to land a couple of blows on Zhang Yue, dealing over a thousand points of damage each time.

Fortunately, it wasn't enough to be fatal.

After several minutes, Zhang Yue whittled the Skeleton General's health down to its last sliver, then handed the final blow to Su Jingyan.

With a single fireball, she finished off the Skeleton General, draining the last of its HP bar.

Zhang Yue heard the satisfying chime of two system notifications:

"Ding! Congratulations! You participated in slaying [Skeleton General, Hera] and have cleared the Skull Island Dungeon. Based on your performance, you have received the highest-tier reward: EXP +50,000, Necromancer's Legguards (1), Silver Coins +20, Energy Points +50 million!"

"Ding! Congratulations! You participated in slaying [Skeleton General, Hera]: EXP +16,000 (80%), Energy Points +8.1 million, Graveyard Defense +30!"

A golden beam of light shone down on Zhang Yue.

"Ding! Congratulations! You have leveled up. HP +30, MP +12, and 6 free stat points! You are now level 22. The next level requires 150,000 EXP."

Zhang Yue approached the fallen body of the Skeleton General and looted its drops: two pieces of two-star Necromancer set equipment, 20 silver coins, and several grade-three crafting materials.

At the same time, a system-wide announcement rang out:

[Regional Announcement] (Holy Light Cemetery):

"Ding! Congratulations to the player [Su Yan] for being the first to clear the level 25 hidden dungeon Skull Island, earning [Level 25 Dungeon Scroll] (1)!"

Outside Skull Island's entrance, Chen Jun, who had been standing guard, was stunned when he heard the announcement. "How could it be Jingyan?"

The next moment, he saw Su Jingyan emerge alone from the dungeon entrance, her striking purple mage robe and stunning looks drawing the attention of all the players from Smoke Rain Pavilion and Assassin Mercenary Group.

Chen Jun hurried over to her and asked incredulously, "Jingyan, did you activate the hidden dungeon on Skull Island?"

"Yes. Why?" Su Jingyan replied coolly, glancing at him.

"Then why did you close the entrance?"

"I opened the dungeon. I wanted to claim the rewards for myself. Is that a problem?" Su Jingyan shot back, visibly annoyed.

Chen Jun chuckled sheepishly. "No problem at all! As long as you're happy, Jingyan!"

"But how did you clear a level 25 dungeon all by yourself?"

Su Jingyan responded, "Are you doubting my abilities?"

"No, of course not!" Chen Jun quickly replied with a laugh. "You're the only epic-tier class holder in the Su family. With your strength, soloing a level 25 dungeon is naturally no big deal!"

At this, Su Jingyan raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are you all doing here?"

"We were planning to tackle the hidden dungeon ourselves," Chen Jun said. "But since you've already claimed the first clear, I guess we're done here."

Waving to the members of Smoke Rain Pavilion and the Assassin Mercenary Group, Chen Jun called out, "Alright, pack it up. We're leaving!"

Only after Chen Jun and his group left did Zhang Yue emerge from the dungeon entrance.

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