'What a ridiculous luck I have!'
When Lin Mo had equipped the Poison set earlier, he had deliberately kept the replaced piece, Radiant Flow · Crown of the King, instead of smelting it away.
That was because the King's Crown had a special effect skill, Glowing Light Guard: every 10 seconds, the wearer automatically generates a Glowing Light shield that can negate any single instance of damage.
What Lin Mo had been thinking back then was that, at a critical moment, he could use this equipment skill to block an unavoidable, lethal blow.
And the facts proved it: it really did come in handy.
If not for this Glowing Light Guard, the Dark Ruler's terrifying damage of more than fifty thousand points would have been enough to kill Lin Mo eight times over.
After using the King's Crown's special effect to block the Dark Ruler's killing blow, Lin Mo immediately swapped the Poison Crown back on.
Before the Dark Ruler could pursue him, he pulled away and sprinted toward the dungeon exit, plunging headfirst into the curtain of light.
Behind him, the Dark Ruler charged forward on his warhorse, yanking the Authority Sword from the ground. Staring toward the dungeon exit ahead, dark flames burned in his eyes.
"No matter the cost, you must seize the Shadow Codex back for this king!"
"Yes!"
Behind him, ranks of Shadow Clan cavalry mounted their shadow warhorses, following the Dark Ruler as they charged toward the exit of the Shadow Holy Hall dungeon.
———
At the same time.
[Blazing Ember City, Resurrection Spring]
Splash!
As white light cascaded down, Dragon Soul · Aoshi also revived and respawned.
All around him, the Dragon Soul guild players who had died in Shadow City and been teleported back were filled with shock and despair.
"Even the boss… is dead."
"Then doesn't that mean all the dungeon guardians are wiped out?"
"No, there's still one person," Dragon Soul · Aoshi said in a low voice, "Liuli."
"But with only her left, can she really hold back the thousands of troops from the Chaotic World guild?"
Su Muqiu said worriedly, "If Liuli also dies, all ten guardians will be dead. According to the rules, the dungeon will be forcibly terminated, and Rulebound will fail the challenge."
"We have to hurry back and protect Liuli! The last guardian, she absolutely cannot die."
"We can't get back," Dragon Soul · Whisper said, "Wang Junjie already stationed people outside Blazing Ember City to intercept us, just to stop us from rushing back to Shadow City."
"Besides, there are only three minutes left in the dungeon. Even if we went now, there wouldn't be enough time."
"Whether she holds or not, this Liuli has sacrificed far too much," Su Muqiu said with some regret, "Even though we also fought to the death, we still played it conservatively, trying our best to reduce the evil value we carried, to lessen the death penalty."
"But just before I went down, I saw that Liuli had already turned purple. In Divine Oracle, a player only turns purple if their evil value exceeds a thousand points. By now, she's probably already black-named."
"In that state, once she dies, all her equipment drops. Her level goes straight back to zero. This battle, she held nothing back at all. Her personality is just too straightforward."
As Su Muqiu let out a soft sigh, Dragon Soul · Aoshi said, "It's not that she's straightforward."
"It's because the person she wants to protect, Rulebound, already outweighs herself in her heart."
As soon as those words were spoken, Liuli's image in everyone's eyes was instantly elevated to a height they themselves could never reach.
Dragon Soul · Aoshi then frowned deeply and said in a low voice, "But no matter what, from here on, we can only rely on Liuli alone."
"Success or failure depends on whether she can hold out for these final three minutes."
———
[Shadow City]
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
With each swing of her staff, spell orbs slammed into the Chaotic World players closing in around her.
-5368!
-4799!
-5124!
The explosively high damage caused every Chaotic World player who tried to approach the Shadow Gate to die halfway there.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless pillars of white light shot skyward, striking fear into those behind them.
Liuli stood alone, guarding outside the Shadow Gate.
As the number of players she killed grew, so did the evil value she carried.
The ID above her head had long since turned from red to purple, from purple to black.
At this moment, in the eyes of the surrounding Chaotic World players, she was like an unrivaled female emperor who could destroy heaven and earth with a flick of her fingers.
"Holy shit… her damage is higher than my blood pressure!"
"Damn it! She can even one-shot a level 23 full-HP knight? This top-ranked Liuli on the Heavenly Rankings, why is she so damn fierce!"
"Did she and Rulebound buy hacks from the same place? Their level of broken is practically the same!"
"What do we do? We just can't push through at all!"
The underlings' fear of battle sent Wang Junjie into a rage.
"I just can't figure it out. What the hell kind of charm does Rulebound have, that every one of you is willing to die for him?"
Even as he said that, Wang Junjie subconsciously took a step back, standing far outside Liuli's effective attack range.
Then he shouted orders at his men, "Get up there, all of you! So many people, and you're scared of one woman?"
"She's got at least several thousand evil value already! Kill her just once, and she'll drop straight back to level zero!"
"For Rulebound, you insist on going against me, huh?", Wang Junjie stared hard at Liuli standing outside the Shadow Gate, his face twisted with ferocity, "Today, I'll cripple you!"
"Kill!"
Amid earth-shaking roars, from all directions, hundreds and thousands of Chaotic World guild warriors, knights, and assassins raised swords and shields and swarmed toward Liuli.
Knowing full well it was a dead end, knowing that once she died, all her equipment would drop, her level would fall back to zero, and everything would have to start over, Liuli still clenched her staff resolutely, holding her ground outside the Shadow Gate without moving a single step.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
She swung her staff, blasting one Chaotic World player after another who rushed at her.
But sadly, alone and with a frail body, she ultimately could not withstand the overwhelming army of Chaotic World.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several Chaotic World archers fired at the same time, instantly crippling Liuli.
Right after that, a group of Chaotic World assassins wielding daggers lunged toward her in a sudden strike!
At the critical moment, just as Liuli had already prepared herself to fight to the death.
Whoosh!
The surrounding air suddenly plunged to freezing point.
An arrow carrying the breath of ice shot out from within the Shadow Gate, brushing past Liuli and piercing straight through the body of a Chaotic World assassin in front of her.
-19945 (Critical)!
Crash!
Centered on the Chaotic World assassin struck by the ice arrow, an extreme frost domain blossomed outward, freezing the entire battlefield.
At the same time, above the frost domain, a golden five-pointed star array tore through space and manifested.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Seven golden starshine arrows rained down at extreme speed, like thunder, piercing through seven Chaotic World assassin players within the frost domain.
-3825 (Critical)!
-3759 (Critical)!
-3811 (Critical)!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, eight pillars of white light shot into the sky, illuminating the night!
At the same time, three consecutive system announcements descended from the heavens, echoing across the entire Divine Oracle Dragon Nation server, from river to sea—
[System Announcement (Dragon Nation Server): "Ding~ Congratulations to Human Race Tier-3 Main City Blazing Ember City player Rulebound for clearing the Elite Hidden Dungeon Shadow Holy Hall, achieving the accomplishment · Dungeon Elite! Rewards obtained: Gold Coins +100, Reputation +100! Permanent title acquired · Hidden Player!"]
[System Announcement (Dragon Nation Server): "Ding~ Congratulations to Human Race Tier-3 Main City Blazing Ember City player Rulebound for clearing the Elite Hidden Dungeon Shadow Holy Hall…"]
[System Announcement (Dragon Nation Server): "Ding~ Congratulations to Human Race Tier-3 Main City Blazing Ember City player Rulebound for clearing the Elite Hidden Dungeon Shadow Holy Hall…"]
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