Chapter 925 - King of Corrosion
The instant the team rushed down the staircase, the nearby Corrosive Beasts noticed them. The monsters turned their heads towards Shi Feng's group one after another, and quickly, they swarmed towards the group like a tidal wave.
The Corrosive Beasts were different from ordinary Elite monsters. A layer of corrosive fluid coated their bodies.
The corrosive fluid would reduce the Durability of anything that touched it, whether it be weapons or equipment.
If the equipment were Secret-Silver rank or below, it would be rendered useless after receiving a few of the Corrosive Beast's hits. Even Fine-Gold Equipment would only last a few more hits, and only Dark-Gold rank items could last any length of time.
Now that they had entered the plaza, there was no turning back. Against the tidal wave of Corrosive Beasts, the team's only option was to reach the teleportation array within the shortest time possible.
Shortly after the team met the Corrosive Beast army, although the Elite monsters did not break through the team's defensive formation, after several bouts, everyone wore grim expressions.
"My weapon!"
"My equipment!"
"What are these monsters?!"
Many of the players cried out in shock when they noticed their equipment and weapons' Durability.
Even after a brief moment of contact with the Corrosive Beasts, their Dark-Gold weapons' Durability had instantly decreased by one point. An ordinary Dark-Gold Weapon only had around 120 or so Durability.
Their Dark-Gold Equipment fared even worse. After receiving a few hits, their Strengthening Devices' Durability decreased by one point as well. It was obvious that, without the protection of the Strengthening Devices, their equipment would only last for a short time.
"Leader, look at that team. It seems that they came prepared," Fire Dance said as she pointed at the other team. As she was not standing in the other ring, attacking with her throwing knives, she could focus on their distant competition.
"That's a smart move," Shi Feng was slightly surprised when he turned to watch the other team.
Instead of using a circular defensive formation as they had, the other team employed a V-shaped formation; their most durable MTs served as the spearhead while the others followed closely behind. When the other team attacked, they would try to push the Corrosive Beasts standing before them away, forcing these monsters into the Corrosive Beasts behind them and buying some time. During this short period, the team pulled away from these monsters, with neither side having the opportunity to clash.
In addition, the magical classes in the middle of the formation used one Tier 2 Magic Scroll after another. The Magic Scrolls they used all contained AOE Spells. Whenever a Corrosive Beast King charged at the team, these magical classes used a series of Magic Scrolls to knock back the oncoming Corrosive Beasts and Beast Kings, allowing the team to move faster.
Despite both sides starting towards the Teleportation Magic Array at the same time, the other team was much faster.
"Boss Peerless, your method is really effective. We'll reach the teleportation array in half the time of our previous attempt."
"That's right! Boss Peerless is the best! We'll definitely clear the entrance trial."
"That team is pretty stupid. At this rate, we won't have to worry about them."
"Hahaha! I hope they can clear this stage, though. The fact that they reached this stage shows that their weapons and equipment are excellent. We might be able to earn some top-tier equipment."
Everyone on Peerless's team chatted cheerfully among themselves.
As both teams were fairly far apart, they couldn't tell who the other team was. However, as they had experienced the first stage's difficulty personal, they knew that the other team must possess high-quality weapons and equipment. Otherwise, reaching the second stage would have been impossible.
…
"Team Leader Ye Feng, we can't continue like this. These Corrosive Beasts are wearing out our equipment too quickly!" Youlan said anxiously after examining the team's situation. "Why don't we start using Magic Scrolls as well?"
The monsters' corrosive ability was much stronger than she had expected. If not for the Strengthening Devices, their equipment would have long since broken. However, there was still a long distance to the teleportation array. Moreover, more Corrosive Beast Kings approached.
In the beginning, they only had to deal with one or two at a time. Now, over a dozen attacked simultaneously. They weren't even a third of the way, yet so many Lords bombarded their team. Soon, they may have to face dozens of Corrosive Beast Kings.
The Corrosive Beast Kings were many times stronger than the Corrosive Beasts. Not only were they stronger in terms of Attributes, but their corrosive abilities were also stronger by a large margin. Even Cola, who used an Epic Shield, was having a difficult time against these Lords.
Currently, their only way to break through was to utilize the same method as the other team, which employed AOE Magic Scrolls. Although their team had not prepared to use these Scrolls, they had brought some with them.
Unfortunately, using large-scale destruction Spells would only add to the chaos of their situation.
Large-scale destruction Spells did not differentiate between friend and foe. Even if they cleared out the monsters in an area with the Spell, they would have to wait until the Spell's effects were over before proceeding. In the end, the monsters they had left behind would catch up while they wasted time.
"No rush. We'll use them after we reach the halfway point." Shi Feng rejected Youlan's suggestion.
Using Magic Scrolls with impact effects was certainly a method that many teams had employed in Shi Feng's previous life. However, the second stage had another hidden mechanism. When two or more teams were halfway to the plaza's center, they would awaken the slumbering King of Corrosion, Sailu Tiban.
Now that the other team had passed the midway point, Shi Feng did not want to do the same too soon. At the very least, they should wait until the other team completed two-thirds of their journey. This way, the King of Corrosion would target that team rather than theirs, which had just entered the King's Domain.
Hearing Shi Feng's rejection, Youlan was momentarily speechless. However, since Shi Feng's leadership had already proven successful, it would not be wise to oppose his commands now.
As time passed, more Corrosive Beast Kings converged on both teams. In the blink of an eye, each team faced over a hundred Lords. Even Peerless's team began to slow due to the large number of monsters.
However, when Peerless's team was a quarter of a distance away from the teleportation array, Shi Feng and the others reached the halfway point.
Immediately, a pillar of green light rose from the center of the plaza, releasing a dense, green fog. As this fog passed over the area, everything it touched heavily corroded, eroding hundreds and thousands of little holes across the ground. The scene sent chills down everyone's spines.
"What's going on here?" Peerless stared at the pillar of light, his expression twisting into something ugly.
This was not his first time here. Rather, it was his third visit. The first time he had reached this plaza, his team had only crossed two-thirds of the distance before they fell under the overwhelming sea of monsters. On their second try, while they had forged through this stage after many difficulties, they had not encountered anything like this. As he stared at the pillar of green light, he involuntarily shivered, his mind continuously warning him that it was extremely dangerous to continue forward.
As everyone was caught in their stupor, a ferocious monster that stood over twenty meters high emerged from the green light. This monster was nearly three times larger than the Corrosive Beast Kings, and green scales covered its entire body. A green liquid seeped from the gaps between its scales. When the liquid touched the ground, it ate through the earth, creating a large hole. A green fog also circled the monsters humongous body.
This was none other than the King of Corrosion, Sailu Tiban!
Seeing this, everyone involuntarily gulped in fear.
"Why has such a monster appeared?!" Peerless's complexion paled as he stared Sailu Tiban.