A new skill

Old Luke could feel the pressure building up on his tribesmen. Although the totem spirits could push the Three-Horned Rhinoceros away and the three Shamans could deal with Joyah, it did not change the fact that the regular barbarians were completely outnumbered.

"We cannot wait any longer. Humanoid Metal Slime, we will have to rely on you."

As it heard the plea of his Shaman, the Humanoid Metal Slime stopped attacking. Its two hands were connected to the ground as countless metal spears attacked the Three-Horned Rhino.

Suddenly, under everyone's watchful eyes, the Humanoid Metal Slime started changing shape and took off the ground. It slowly rose into the sky as wings appeared behind its back. Features appeared on its face and emerged from its head, falling to its waist. The transformation only took ten seconds. When it was complete, two Harriets were floating in the sky. The only difference between the two was their colors; the Humanoid Metal Slime could only copy a shape, it would always maintain its shiny silver color.

"This... What is this?" exclaimed Ester as she looked at the metallic version of Harriet.

Old Luke smiled, "This is my totem spirit's ability. Just like the Three-Horned Rhinoceros has [Devour] that allows it to absorb the energy of other totem spirits, the Humanoid Metal Slime's ability is [Perfect Copy]."

"Regardless of who it targets, it will be able to perfect copy that person or monster. Be it in terms of skills, stats or level, my totem spirit can literally become its target for a short period of time. This is why the weakness of the Black Iron Tribe has always been numbers; no matter how strong our opponents are, we will be able to match them, but if there are too many of them, we won't be able to avoid defeat."

"Impressive but why didn't it copy the Three-Horned Rhinoceros?" asked Old Dale.

"Because the actual power of the Three-Horned Rhinoceros is lower than what we are looking at right now. For now, it is much stronger due to the effect of [Devour]. My totem spirit copies the original stats of the user; it ignores the ongoing effects on the target. If it did select the Three-Horned Rhinoceros, it would naturally be able to use [Devour] but another totem spirit would need to sacrifice itself to match it. The winged woman was its best bet."

As the Shamans were discussing among themselves, the wind started to rise around them. With two Harpy Queens manipulating the wind, it felt like the weather had changed drastically.

"Let's focus our attention on the opposing Shamans," said Old Luke but suddenly, he felt an intense heat coming from the side.

He saw the players activate their scroll as a huge fire comet blasted its way toward Joyah.

"Let's all attack! This is our chance!" exclaimed Old Luke and instantly, the three Shamans all activated their formation. A powerful beam of energy fired toward Joyah.

However, to everyone's surprise, the attack of the Shamans and the Fire Comet were both stopped by the Shamans of the Vicious Rhino Tribe. They unexpectedly blocked such a powerful attack.

Old Luke frowned. He knew they missed the best opportunity they would get. But to his surprise, it was not the end, he heard the beasts roar from the forest. Led by the Forest Tiger King, a large pack of beasts rushed toward the fighting barbarians.

At the same time, a black smoke emerged from the ground, isolating Vellen and Joyah from the rest of the world

...

"You want to attack the Shamans? It is almost impossible for us to reach them and they are much stronger than our Defacers," said Dreidus as he heard Five's suggestion.

"We need to be the one taking them down if we want to get our hands on those relics. I am very interested in them and want to see if I'll unlock their totem spirits in the dungeon shop by doing so," answered Five.

He briefly looked at the monsters at his side. "I know the Defacers are weaker than the Shamans but we outnumber them. Ignore the tribes that decided to stop the fight and focus on those three still fighting. Summon a few Defacers and increase their number to fifteen. Remember that even though they are powerful, they are Shamans. Their defenses are weak and if we aim for the right time, we might be able to kill them."

"As for how to reach them without being noticed, what about moving underground?" asked Five as he showed his interface to Dreidus.

Before leaving the dungeon, Five purchased a pseudo-Dungeon Core that would allow him to purchase monsters accordingly. Normal Dungeon Cores could not be brought out of their dungeons but it was different for the pseudo-Dungeon Core.

On the interface, Dreidus saw the information of an Armadillo being displayed. It was a Platinum Armadillo, the Boss monster of the Spiked Armadillos.

"You want to use a monster who can easily create tunnels underground? It might work but there are the Pocket Gopher and the Black-footed Ferret on their side. These two totem spirits will definitely detect any movement in the ground," said Dreidus.

"It is fine. These two tribes are not fighting anymore. They are just watching from the sideline. I know there are Undead Monsters that are better suited but we are also trying to move away from the Dark-Type monsters."

"Alright then. You seem to have already thought it through."

Five pressed the confirm button on his interface, unlocking the Platinum Armadillo.

[System prompt: Congratulations Player Five. You have unlocked the Boss Monster: Level 35 Platinum Armadillo, this monster can now be purchased at the dungeon shop.]

[System prompt: Congratulations Player Five. Due to unlocking the Platinum Armadillo, you have unlocked the Monster: Level 30 Spiked Armadillo, this monster can now be purchased at the dungeon shop.]

400 thousand DP disappeared from Five's balance as he received the system prompts. Without hesitation, he spent another 150 thousand to summon the Boss Monster.

A summoning circle appeared as a small trembling armadillo appeared. It fearfully looked at its surroundings and as soon as its eyes landed on Five, a system prompt appeared:

[System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, the unnamed Platinum Armadillo has agreed to serve you.]

Five froze. Wasn't this a little too easy? Every time he summoned monsters, they showed some resistance but the armadillo directly agreed to serve him before he could even speak.

"This... Alright. We don't have time to make proper introductions. For now, can you dig a hole from here to where these old men are? Do it discretely but it should be large enough for me and the Undead Monsters to go through," said Five.

The Platinum Armadillo fearfully followed Five's finger and nodded. It hurriedly jumped on its feet and started digging using its skill: [Dig].

When Five saw the Armadillo's scared expression, he started doubting his choice. 'Did I just summon a coward?'

The Platinum Armadillo might lack confidence in himself but he was unrivaled when it came to digging. In a matter of seconds, he disappeared into the ground, leaving behind a large hole for Five and the others to enter.

"Alright. Let's go. Beast Kings! When you see us attacking the Shamans, I want you to go and assist the Musclewood Tribe's barbarians. The Zombeasts and skeletons will assist you. The Nosferatu will stay here with Alice. They will help in covering the retreat of the beasts afterward."

Having given his instructions, Five jumped into the hole, followed by Dreidus and his Undead Monsters. He could hear the faint scratching sounds of the Platinum Armadillo.

"Lumen. Light up the tunnel, please. I cannot see anything," said Five.

The Firefly Queen buzzed before leaving Five's shoulder and showing him the way. The Platinum Armadillo worked fast and soon stopped to look at Five.

"We are under the feet of the Shamans? Good job. Can you now weaken the surface a little bit so that it will be easier for us to attack? Be careful that the ground does not break apart before it's time."

Five opened the Pseudo-Dungeon Core again. His DP balance was currently at 900 thousand. His dungeon was generating a lot of DP at the moment; there were more than five hundred barbarians in his dungeon. The women, elders, and children were not as high level as the male barbarians but they did not kill any monsters or collect any resources. They were simply sitting in the mountainous Biome, anxiously waiting for the return of the fighters.

Five knew his move was risky. He was asking level 30 monsters to take down a level 45 Shaman accompanied by two level 39 Shamans. Dreidus was currently at level 35; although he was weaker than the Shamans, in his battle form, he would easily be able to take down one with his knowledge of powerful spells. But it was not enough.

"Platinum Armadillo. I will summon a few Spiked Armadillo. When the time comes, I want you to help Dreidus. You can use your battle form. I will also cast a skill to help you all," said Five.

The Platinum Armadillo paused. It stopped scratching the ground and looked at Five. Reluctance could be seen in his eyes but he nevertheless accepted the task. Several Spiked Armadillo appeared and helped their leader in its task.

"A skill? What skill are you planning to use, master?" asked Dreidus.

"This one," answered Five as he showed him the interface.

[Dark pull (level 0)]

Effect 1: Isolate a target area from the outside world and bring anyone in the target area into a dark world.

Effect 2: [Blindness]- All entities within the target area will be blinded for the duration of the skill.

Effect 3: Casting time of all skills +0.5s (Including instantaneous skills)

Effect 4: [Confusion]- All entities will be confused for the first 0.5s of the skill and be unable to perform any actions.

Duration: 3 seconds

Mana Cost: 150 MP

Cooldown: 1 hour

"I know it will be better to summon a monster than to unlock a skill for me. But this skill can normally only be learned when you are above level 40. All monsters above level 40 cost a few million to unlock. The main point of this skill is to not only take the Shamans by surprise but also stop them from defending themselves. It should be easy for the Defacers to stop the Shamans from casting skills now that their cast time would be increased."

Dreidus wanted to answer but suddenly, the flames in his eye sockets trembled. He blurted out "Then please learn it quickly. The Zombeasts outside just contacted me using [Dead Mind]. A golden opportunity is about to present itself. We need to act fast!"

Five nodded. He quickly spent 500 thousand DP and learned the skill.

"We should attack, now!" exclaimed Dreidus.

"Go!" shouted Five as he activated Dark Pull, emptying his Mana bar. The Platinum Armadillo growled as it activated its battle form but the Armadillos did not attack yet.

It was Dreidus and the Defacers who made the first move.