Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 264 Stuck (Part 2)

Ye Ci’s heart sank.

Dullahans were formidable opponents with high resistance to magic and a high physical evasion. The most effective way to deal with an opponent like this was with a Priest’s high level Holy Prayer, that could potentially one-shot a Dark-type opponent. Ye Ci did not have a Priest companion. She was a Huntress that dealt Physical and Magical damage while Alaunar was a Shaman with only Magical damage. Taking on the Dullahan would prove to be a challenge for the duo.

Ye Ci almost gagged when she cast Detection on the Dullahan. It’s a lvl95 mini BOSS! The Dullahan even had a name: Vantor. Named monsters in Fate were formidable opponents, and Vantor itself was a min BOSS, which meant that Ye Ci would have a hard time taking the NPC down.

Vantor began moving down the stairs before Ye Ci could formulate a strategy that would allow her to defeat the NPC. He was followed closely by a large group of Dullahan. Twenty of these monsters marched in a single row, in a formation with twenty rows. Their equipment was not as impressive as Vantor, but they were very well equipped.

The Dullahans formed ranks in the sea of sand in front of the shrine.

Ye Ci hid behind a pillar and dismissed Ol’ Four. The pillar was huge, but it was not enough to hide the beat’s stout body.

Vantor and his Dullahans then began their drill on the sand. The group would split into smaller formations, regrouping and splitting into different formations again and again.

This went on for quite some time before Vantor raised his swords and gathered his troops. He began delivering a speech that Ye Ci was still unable to understand. What was being said mattered not to Ye Ci. To her, the Dullahans were enemies that she must eliminate to gain access to the shrine.

But how can it be done? This was a question that had been repeating in Ye Ci’s mind again and again.

Ye Ci entered Stealth after instructing Alaunar to hide himself behind the pillar. It took Ye Ci 10 minutes to scout out the area surrounding the shrine, but Vantor was still not done with his speech. Wait, even monsters are into meetings like this? Just what is taking him so long?

Of course, Ye Ci’s main concern was to look for a spot that she could use to her advantage in the coming fight. She needed a safe place that she could safely deal damage to the Dullahans while staying out of their reach. It did not take her long to notice the two huge pieces of boulders at the base of the shrine.

The two huge boulders were leaning against each other at a 45 degree angle, forming a perfect hiding spot for three. Due to their position at the base of the shrine, there was only one possible entrance from the east, which was a rather narrow crevice.

Ye Ci knew from her past experience that a phenomenon was perfect for funneling monsters into a chokepoint. This would of course require very exquisite positioning, which was why Ye Ci decided to have a look at the area first. She needed a spot that could fit both Alaunar and herself, and could also reduce the effectiveness of the Dullahans’s charge, while simultaneously enabling the duo to effectively dish out damage to their opponents.

Ye Ci stepped between the boulders and observed her surroundings. It was a very good spot. The position of the rocks could be said to be an unintentional BUG. The rocks leaned against each other and against the base of the temple, forming a triangular space with a tiny entrance at its tip. A slab of stone protruding from a shrine served as a roof, completely blocking off access from the top, and with Ol’ Four blocking the entrance, no monsters would be able to reach the position.

With her survey of the area done, Ye Ci silently led Alaunar to the spot.

At that point in time, Alaunar was already at lvl86, which meant that the boy could deploy 14 totems at a time. She carefully directed Alaunar to place his totems around the entrance, which would form a killzone for the Dullahans.

Ye Ci entered Stealth and crept towards Vantor once the preparations were done. Vantor had 400 Dullahans under his command, and their aggro were all linked together. An attack on one of their numbers would trigger the entire horde.

She knew that she could never outrun the Dullahans on their steed, but she stood a chance with the use of a bottle of Potion of Haste. It’s time to put the two bottles of Medium Potion of Haste dropped by the shadow riders earlier on to good use. She unslug her bow, and fired off an arrow at Vantor

It was a Barbed Arrow

The arrow hit, and Vantor was affected by Bleed.

Ye Ci was shocked. She did not expect her first shot to land on an opponent that was 35 levels ahead of herself. Damn! That’s quite some luck I have! She did not even have the time to have a look at the damage done by her arrow. She drank the Potion of Haste and immediately dashed towards the two boulders.

Due to a difference of 35 levels, the Barbed Arrow did only a very tiny amount of damage to Vantor, but it’s damage over time effect was dealing at least 200 damage to the NPC every second. This was easily nullified by Vantor’s self-regenerating HP. The Dullahan turned to face Ye Ci, and despite the absence of its head, Ye Ci could still feel a cold glare on her back. She had been discovered by Vantor.

Then again, Vantor was a high level monster. Spotting Ye Ci was anything but hard for the NPC.

Vantor let out a large shriek that shook the ground itself.

She dared not look back at her enemies. She knew what horrors would be coming her way just by the sound alone.

Ye Ci was not slow on her feet, but even with another dose of Potion of Haste, she had a feeling that she could not outrun the Dullahan. She sprinted full on ahead, as if Death itself was right on her heels.

Vantor was enraged. It charged at Ye Ci with an angry roar. The soundwave that was empowered with magic brushed past Ye Ci and her movement speed was immediately decreased.

Shit! It’s a Sonic Attack! Thought Ye Ci. She was afflicted by a debuff that reduced her movement speed by 50%. I’m going to die if this keeps up, and I’m almost there too! She gritted her teeth and prepared to activate her ring’s Dark Dispersal.

That thing got to have a cooldown right? There’s no way he can use it again so soon right?

Dark Dispersal!

The 50% movement reduction debuff on Ye Ci was immediately removed, and she immediately headed straight for the two large rocks.

Vantor did not expect that his opponent would remain unaffected by his attack. The monster's enraged gap that he was able to close was rapidly widening. He spurred his horse onwards and dashed towards Ye Ci.

“Hurry, Elf! The big guy is right behind you!” shouted Alaunar as he peeked out from behind the rock.

Ye Ci knew that Vantor was right behind her, but she was at least 8 yards and 2 seconds away from safety.

A second could pass in the blink of an eye, but it could also mean life and death.

The whistling of wind was picked up by Ye Ci’s sensitive ears, and she dodged slightly to her left out of reflex. A sword brushed past her ears, missing its mark but also taking away nearly a third of Ye Ci’s health. This was a great source of alarm to Ye Ci, who increased her speed.

Vantor momentarily lost his momentum when his attack missed. He paused for a mere second, before charging at Ye Ci. The horse reared its legs and leapted at Ye Ci….

Who did a roll and right into safety, with the hoofs of Vantor’s steed missing her head by mere millimeters, leaving two pockmarks in the sand. Ye Ci knew that she would lose her life there and then if the hooves did not miss their mark.

Ye Ci gazed out from the crevice, and saw the sand that was kicked up by the countless Dullahans galloping at full speed towards the two boulders. With all the aggro currently on her, Ol’ Four would be torn to pieces by the monsters. This was why Ye Ci had to transfer her aggro immediately to Alaunar.

She stared at the mass of Dullahan, and shouted once they were within the range of Alaunar’s totems, “Begin your attack!”

Despite his anxiety, Alaunar was encouraged by Ye Ci’s presence. He nodded at his companion and began channeling his spells. Ye Ci cast feigned death once Alaunar’s totems began dealing damage to the Dullahans.

“You’re no longer in combat.” rang a system notification.

As long as she was no longer in combat, her aggro would be transferred to Alaunar, which meant that the monsters would not attack Ol’ Four even if he stood in their way. Such was the rules of the game. The party member with the highest aggro would be the one who would be attacked by the monsters.

Alaunar’s Chain Lightning dealt massive amounts of damage to the Dullahans and caused a “Paralyzed” debuff that greatly reduced their movement speed. Ye Ci rummaged through her inventory and produced her three remaining Scarlet Bombs. It’s time to put them to good use.

As the momentum of the Dullahans’s charge carried them forward, none of them noticed the single Scarlet Bomb slipping into their midst.

“BOOM!”

The explosion blew a huge crater in the ground, and shrapnels rained on the surroundings. The boulders were able to block most of the shrapnel, but this did not mean that Ye Ci and Alaunar were left unscatched. A Recovery from Alaunar, however, was able to heal the duo up.

Ye Ci saw countless corpses of Dullahans scattered around the crater when the dust had finally settled. A number of them that survived were strewn across the ground, missing most of their health, and disoriented from shellshock.

Vantor who could be seen staggering had apparently survived the explosion, but with only less than a third of his health.

“Keep attacking, Alaunar!” Ye Ci was overjoyed by Vantor’s state. She could barely damage the monster, but with Alaunar’s aid, taking out Vantor was easy especially when they were safely hidden away in this fortress of stone.

Alaunar nodded at Ye Ci. He was brimming with confidence when he laid his eyes on the havoc wrought upon their enemies by the Scarlet Bomb. The fear in his heart was gone. He closed his eyes and began channeling a spell. The totems crackled with energy, and began dishing out vast amounts of damage.

Ye Ci could see a sea of red damage values from her safe spot, and her EXP gauge immediately soared. This is a very good way of farming EXP!

It’s a shame that something like this can only be achieved with the right conditions… Despite her slight disappointment, Ye Ci had racked in a huge profit from this battle alone.