NOVEL NEXT Chapter 69: Chapter 69: SSS Talent, Blessing of the Archmage
Chapter 69: Chapter 69: SSS Talent, Blessing of the Archmage
Bolt remained composed, producing a black spear and staring at John, saying calmly, "You can interrupt spell casting; I am indeed surprised. Unfortunately, you can't interrupt physical attacks. My physical attack is enough to kill you instantly!"
With that, he turned into a blur, a cold gleam flashing as his spear shot towards John.
"Die!" Bolt roared, full of confidence in his strike.
John made no move to dodge, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Slash!
Water Mist Clone stood before him, the spear piercing through it and slowly dissipating.
Bolt indeed had the power to kill John in one hit.
But he didn't get the chance.
"Death Whirlwind!" John shouted, vanishing and reappearing as a blur. Multiple flashes of cold light enveloped Bolt.
Splat...
Blood splattered.
With the dual talents of Physical Damage and Dual Mastery, John's base physical damage had reached a terrifying 22,000 points.
Moreover, with 100% physical crit, all his attacks and skills dealt critical damage.
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...
Ten red damage numbers flashed.
Bolt lost over 80,000 HP in an instant.
Three more hits like that, and he would be dead.
"Impossible!" Bolt panicked, retreating swiftly, staring at John in disbelief, "You're not a mage; you're an Assassin!"
John smirked coldly without answering, activating the Assassin skill, Shadow Strike.
"Coward!" Bolt cursed, his demeanor no longer calm. Dark energy surged around him, forming a protective shield.
Crack!
In an instant, the shield shattered, and the dagger struck.
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Another critical hit.
Although the shield absorbed most of the damage, John still knocked off over 30,000 HP.
Bolt was utterly panicked now, hurriedly saying, "Human, I can give you the City of Darkness and promise you a level 2 city!"
"Not interested! Deadly Strike!" John roared, activating another Assassin skill.
A flash of cold light pierced Bolt's body.
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Another critical hit!
With less than 50,000 HP left, Bolt couldn't withstand John's next attack.
Escape!
Without hesitation, he turned to flee.
"Now trying to run? Too late!" John sneered, his agility rivaling Bolt's.
In a burst of speed, he appeared behind Bolt, unleashing another Death Whirlwind.
"Die!" John's cold voice echoed as multiple slashes enveloped Bolt. Blood splattered, and damage numbers flashed continuously.
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-1
-1
The anticipated scene of Bolt being killed did not occur.
Instead, a purple glow surrounded Bolt, and a powerful aura surged.
After the fifth attack, John's strikes only deducted 1 point of health.
"What's going on?" John stared at Bolt, who was shrouded in purple light, sensing a tremendous threat.
A message appeared.
[Bolt, Rare Level 5 Demon General, Evolving...]
"Evolution!" John's expression changed.
Evolution in beasts and demons most often occurred during level transitions.
But Bolt was only at level 200, far from the level 500 needed for the next evolution.
Yet he was evolving without reaching that threshold.
Currently, Bolt had the strength of a level 200 rare boss; post-evolution, he would reach epic tier, doubling his combat power at least.
"I can't let him complete the evolution!" John thought, determined. He attacked the purple shield with his dagger, the cold gleam of his weapon striking rapidly.
Clang...
-1
-1
...
A clear sound of impact echoed; each of John's attacks could only forcefully deduct 1 point of
health.
Bolt had 817 health points left.
With an attack speed of two hits per second, it would take John about 400 seconds, nearly seven minutes, to bring him down.
John could only hope that Bolt wouldn't complete the evolution within those seven minutes.
...
Bathed in purple light, Bolt looked at John with a mocking expression, saying disdainfully, "Adventurer, it's useless, stop wasting your energy. But, I must thank you for pushing me to the brink and triggering my evolution conditions."
John ignored him, relentlessly attacking with his dagger, interspersing magic skills.
All still only deducting 1 point per hit.
Bolt watched his dwindling health, growing increasingly anxious. He continuously pushed
against his internal barrier, speeding up the evolution process.
If he were killed during evolution, it would be utterly humiliating.
John continued to assault the purple shield.
One minute.
Three minutes.
Five minutes.
Bolt grew more desperate. His health had dropped below two hundred points, not enough to
last another two minutes.
The evolution process was far from completion.
If only he had more health.
"Human, stop!" Bolt roared, aborting his evolution abruptly.
Boom!
A surge of energy exploded, the purple glow disintegrating, sending John flying.
Boom!
Bolt coughed up blood, his face pale, his eyes filled with fury.
"Human, you've ruined me!" Bolt roared in a deep, angry voice. Forcibly ending his evolution
had caused irreversible damage to his body, capping his evolutionary potential at the epic
level for the rest of his life.
"I will tear you to pieces!" With a furious cry, his spear, imbued with endless dark energy,
caused ripples even in the surrounding air.
Swoosh!
The spear flashed and instantly pierced John's body.
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A terrifying damage number floated up.
[You have been instantly killed. God-level talent Undying and Immortal activated, life-
sharing activated, your life is restored...]
The system notifications flashed. John felt disoriented for a moment but quickly recovered, retreating swiftly to put distance between himself and Bolt.
"What, still not dead?" Bolt was shocked, glaring at John, "Kid, just how many secrets do you
have?"
John had no interest in small talk. He swung his staff, and a Thunderstorm descended.
Boom!
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Thunder roared, and a terrifying damage number appeared.
"What's going on?" John was puzzled. Against a level five epic demon general, his magic
shouldn't even penetrate Bolt's defenses.
He stared at Bolt and suddenly realized.
Weakness!
By forcibly ending his evolution, Bolt had suffered energy backlash, leaving his body in a
weakened state with all resistances reduced to 1 point.
This meant John's attacks dealt full damage.
"So, you're not so tough after all!" John's confidence surged. He quickly created distance, ensuring Bolt couldn't get close, and rained down a series of magical attacks.
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...
Terrifying damage numbers flashed, with even some critical hits.
Bolt's post-evolution health reached five hundred thousand, but he couldn't withstand such
relentless bombardment from John.
"Kid, if you've got guts, don't dodge!" Bolt raged. Every time he tried to use a skill, John
would interrupt him.
His only threat to John was close-range attacks.
But John was too fast and had slowing skills that prevented Bolt from getting close.
If this continued, Bolt would be kited to death by this human.
Escape!
The thought of retreat surfaced again. Bolt feigned a charge towards John, saw John retreat to
create distance, and then abruptly turned to flee in the opposite direction.
John was momentarily stunned, not expecting Bolt, even after evolving to an epic level, to
shamelessly run away.
"You won't get away!" John chased relentlessly, casting spells in quick succession with hardly
any intervals.
Bolt was completely panicked and began to beg for mercy again, "Human, you can't kill me. I can tell you the secret of the Demon King treasure."
John sneered, his attacks relentless, and coldly replied, "You think I don't know? The Demon
King treasure is in the city instance. As long as I take City of Darkness, I'll get the Demon King treasure."
Bolt was stunned, "How did you know?"
"It seems I guessed right!" John smiled triumphantly. He wasn't sure, but seeing Bolt's
reaction confirmed his suspicion.
Spell Combo triggered, several magic skills rained down.
"No!" Bolt let out an unwilling roar, his health dropped to zero, and he collapsed to the
ground.
[You have killed Level 200 Epic Demon General Bolt, gaining 8416 experience points]
[You leveled up, Spirit +4, Strength +3, Agility +2, Free Attribute Points +16, Skill Points +2] [Plunder talent activated, you gained SSS-level talent: Blessing of the Archmage] [Blessing of the Archmage: SSS-level, unique; all skill levels +1, can surpass level limits]
[You have received Blessing of the Archmage, primary skill Great Fireball (Level 10) level +1, surpassed limit, upgraded to intermediate spell Blaze Explosion (Level 1)]
[You have received Blessing of the Archmage, primary skill Wind Blade Slash (Level 10) level +1, surpassed limit, upgraded to intermediate spell Wind Blade Rupture (Level 1)] [You have received Blessing of the Archmage, primary skill Rock Armor (Level 10) level +1,
surpassed limit, upgraded to intermediate spell Iron Armor (Level 1)]
...
More than a dozen notifications flashed.
With the Blessing of the Archmage talent, all of John's skills were upgraded by one level, from
primary to intermediate!
His power increased significantly once again.
"Another SSS-level talent!" John joyfully reviewed his upgraded skills.
Single-target magic and physical skills damage increased from 200% to 220%.
Area-of-effect magic skills damage increased from 153% to 160%. Especially the area-of-effect Earthquake skill, now upgraded to Tremor, which could stun
enemies for 1 second, becoming a powerful crowd control skill!
...
"Mike White, if you destroy my city today, I swear I'll annihilate your family in the real
world!" Ritchie's furious shout echoed through the city.
John hurriedly collected the items Bolt dropped into his Storage Ring and moved to support
the other battlefields.
The monster tide army was blocked by the beasts and hadn't threatened the city walls.
On the other side, the elves and Avis, working together, also kept the Dark Humans' army outside the walls.
However, Flame Legion couldn't hold off the players' attacks.
The city was breached, and everyone gathered at the altar, using their bodies to shield it and
defend it with their lives.
John noticed that many members had already dropped to Level 10, having died multiple times, and some had even fallen to Level 1, returning to the novice village.