Chapter 31: Death Curse

"How can we fight this..."

Qin Muye raised his hand to cast an Evil Curse, then enhanced his own forces with Bloodthirsty Magic and Attack Acceleration.

As the 100 Skeleton Heavy Cavalry charged, Qin Muye didn't even have time to use Basic Reconnaissance Skill before he noticed that the enemy hero unit was on the opposite side, holding a magic wand in his left hand and a magic book in his right, muttering words.

Seeing this, Qin Muye's pupils shrank, hoping for Demon Blood was futile now, as he was currently battling with 200 Frenzy Blood Spirit Monsters against the Skeleton Heavy Cavalry.

The enemy hero unit was also a skeleton, dressed in a long magic robe, mounted on a skeletal horse.

"What to do, I'm..."

Qin Muye suddenly remembered that he also had an attack skill, the Magic Divine Arrow from Fire System Magic.

"Go!"

Qin Muye decisively cast the Magic Divine Arrow, hoping to interrupt the opponent's spell casting.

The arrow, imbued with the element of Fire, burst out in a flash toward the Skeleton Hero, a strictly single-target skill.

The Magic Divine Arrow struck the opponent but did not hit its mark; instead, a ripple dispersed from the opponent's body, blocking Qin Muye's attack.

Although it didn't stop the enemy from casting spells, the wavering Soul Fire in its eye sockets indicated its surprise at Qin Muye's ability to rapidly unleash spells, given its instant-cast nature.

"A shield? I don't believe it, continue." Qin Muye gritted his teeth and continued to release Magic Divine Arrows, seizing the opportunity to use the Reconnaissance Skill to scan the opponent's attributes.

[Hero: Serica Moli LV11]

[Profession: ???]

...

Only a name and level were discovered; nothing else was revealed, clearly beyond what his Basic Reconnaissance Skill could probe, given the rank involved.

From the analysis so far, level 10 and above are considered Rank 2; otherwise, Mage Tower wouldn't have required his Lord Level to be at level 10.

The opponent finished chanting, spreading an invisible aura amongst their troops.

[Serica Moli used Weakness Curse, reducing ally troop Attack Power by 5 points, lasting for 70 minutes]

"Debuff magic... 5 points at a time, 2 points more than my Evil Curse." Qin Muye realized that this round might be tough; he had been relying on that slight advantage, but now the opponent seemed to have a greater edge, with a strength of at least 60 points.

Otherwise, it wouldn't last 70 minutes; most spells with temporal effects typically have a base duration of 10 minutes.

The opponent began chanting once more, giving Qin Muye a glimpse of their weakness—the gap in magic proficiency.

The opponent's use of Strategic Magic was correct, likely an ability hastily acquired during the event of monsters besieging the city; however, as a conventional mage, the opponent was simply not adapted to instant, cooldown-free casting like Qin Muye.

This was an opportunity.

"I don't believe your shield is limitless..."

At present, Qin Muye had 2 points of Power along with Basic Magic Power; the Magic Divine Arrow was 31.5 points of damage, requiring 5 points of Magic Value per release, leaving him with 137 points of Magic Value, enough for 850.5 points of damage.

No need to kill, just break the shield.

In an instant, fiery red Magic Divine Arrows burst out continuously like streaming arrows, able to be released a total of 27 times.

Seeing this spectacle, the undead hero Serica Moli was utterly challenged in her beliefs—or should it be his?

Therefore, he decisively interrupted the release of his magic and instead rode his skeletal horse to flee, but unfortunately, the Divine Magic Arrow was locked on.

This was something Qin Muye had only just realized. He had thought it was ballistic magic, but the effect of the Divine Magic Arrow was beyond his expectation.

When the first three Divine Magic Arrows struck, the ripples in front of the opponent expanded progressively, until with the fourth Divine Magic Arrow, the entire shield shattered.

Qin Muye remembered that, including the two previously released Divine Magic Arrows, the opponent's shield could withstand about 150 points of damage—neither too much nor too little.

Protective arrows were indeed quite useful.

Afterward, the remaining 24 Divine Magic Arrows fell, and following a piercing and abnormal scream, the opponent was directly blasted into bone fragments.

[You inflicted 31.5 points of magic damage on Serica Moli with your Divine Magic Arrow]

[You inflicted...]

[You killed the Undead Hero: Serica Moli]

He didn't know how much Life Value the opponent had, but obviously, being a hero meant it was expressed in percentage terms, but clearly, the opponent didn't have as high as 756 Life Value, as they couldn't withstand many Divine Magic Arrows before missing the following shots.

"Luckily, the opponent was just a beginner; otherwise, I might not have been able to win..." Qin Muye let out a sigh of relief. If it had been a more skilled Mage, he might not have won.

Before Qin Muye could even react, he suddenly felt a pang of palpitation.

He then saw a wave of gray-white dust sweeping towards him, and naturally, the epicenter was that deceased Undead Hero.

"Retreat, everyone retreat!!!"

Qin Muye and Demon Blood both shouted, and all the spirit monsters rapidly retreated.

Unfortunately, they were a step too late. Most of the Magic Energy Spirit Monsters managed to evacuate in time, but a few were caught in the blast, resulting in significant casualties.

The Frenzy Blood Spirit Monsters, being of Elite Level, managed to withstand this lethal damage.

[You suffered a Death Curse, reducing Life Value by 10%]

Merely being grazed at the edge cost him ten percent of his Life Value.

[Death Curse: Defensive Power -10, morale decrease, lasting 70 minutes]

This was more than just plain damage; his Defensive power had directly dropped by 10 points; this was a significant problem.

It should be noted that his troops of Skeleton Heavy Cavalry, Skeleton Heavy Armor Soldiers, and Skeleton Mages, like his subordinate spirit monsters, all carried equipment. Although the gear was all basic, the enhancements were nearly the same, but in terms of quality, theirs were much better than his standard equipment.

So in reality, the attributes of these three troop types and the Magic Energy Spirit Monsters were not much different, except they had the advantage in terms of skills.

If it weren't for this 10 point decrease in Defensive Power, following the death of the undead hero opposite, he would have been assured of victory, but unfortunately, there was no if.

However, it was precisely because of this that the second offensive attempt of the spirit monsters became even more terrifying.

Lower Defensive Power meant they would receive more damage, which in turn would result in a stronger attack response.

The Elemental Resonance of Magic Energy Spirit Monsters exchanged 1 point of Life Value for 1 point of Power, not dying from a single strike meant an explosive increase in attack power.

The Frenzy Blood Spirit Monsters were even more fearsome, doubling their attack in one strike; now, it was truly a fight for victory at the expense of their lives.

However, there were some exceptions, like spirit monsters affected by the Death Curse, whose Life Values dropped too low and were severely wounded right away.

As for healing, Qin Muye was at a loss; there was nothing he could do since he couldn't use healing magic.