“It really is a skeleton-type boss!”
“Heavy Warriors, go forward and draw aggro! Light Priests to the rear, Archers protect!”
The adventurer party quickly organized their formation.
Watching the adventurer party settle into their positions, Li Xiuman figured it was about time.
Stopping his roar, he raised his hand.
“Tier 1 Magic, Skeleton Summoning!”
Accompanied by sharp screeches, a pitch-black magic circle expanded. Skeletons rushed out of it, charging toward the adventurer party.
“A Necromancer skeleton!”
“Use holy light to suppress it! Swordsmen, sneak in from behind and ambush it!”
Got it. The Swordsman will try to ambush me from behind.
“Golem!”
Li Xiuman quickly raised his hand. One by one, golems disguised as rocks rushed forward, completely surrounding him.
The remaining golems charged toward the adventurer party.
“How are there so many golems!”
The Light Priest leader was shocked. He quickly adjusted their tactics, pulling back some of their forces to protect the Light Priests.
“Tier 2 Magic, Storm Molten Spear!”
As he raised his wand, three layers of brilliant magic circles unfurled in the air.
For the current Li Xiuman, he had already completely mastered Tier 2 three-element hybrid magic.
“How does he have Elementalist spells!”
“Quick, dodge!”
The adventurer party, who had been on guard against Li Xiuman's Necromancy, had never expected this skeleton to unleash a hybrid Elemental Magic spell right off the bat.
By the time they realized, it was already too late.
A massive stone spear wrapped in flames instantly skewered a Heavy Warrior.
[Ding! Killed Heavy Warrior Lv. 23. Experience +2,000.]
That was one Heavy Warrior taken out by surprise.
There were six enemies left.
Sheltered by his golems, Li Xiuman dodged the incoming holy light and casually threw a barrage of Fireballs.
The adventurer party tried to dodge.
But the golems and skeletons quickly lunged forward, blocking their escape routes.
“Holy Light Barrier!”
The Light Priests waved their staves and erected a Holy Light Barrier, blocking the barrage of Fireballs as explosions bloomed like fireworks.
“Tier 2 Magic, Create Skeleton Warrior!”
The black magic circle expanded once again, and a Skeleton Swordsman clad in battered armor was summoned, joining the fray.
“Holy Light Protection!”
Holy light gushed out once more, draping a layer of sacred radiance over the members of the adventurer party.
In an instant, the adventurers went on a full offensive, focusing entirely on attacking while ignoring defense, as all counterattacks were blocked by the holy light.
“Don't get bogged down! Target the skeleton king's main body!”
Hearing this, Li Xiuman immediately shrank further back into his pile of golems.
Damn it, if my Strength and Constitution weren't heavily nerfed, I would have charged in swinging my wand already.
Li Xiuman hid deep within his wall of golems, quietly slinging spells without ever showing his face.
This left the adventurer party, who were desperate to find an opening to turn the tide, completely at a loss.
They had never encountered such a tricky boss before.
It was almost as if he could understand every word they said.
But Li Xiuman was still waiting.
He was waiting for his heavily invested trump card.
Not long after, the thundering sound of rushing footsteps echoed from the direction of the boss room's main entrance.
A domineering skeleton clad in armor and sporting horns charged inside.
This servant has arrived late to save Your Majesty!
“My dear minister, you have finally arrived!”
“Beat these bastards to death for me!”
Seeing the skeleton golem he had spent a fortune to craft, Li Xiuman, who had been hiding timidly among his golems, finally felt relieved.
“How is there a Unique Variant!”
The adventurer party desperately tried to pull back their defenses, but they were already caught in a pincer movement.
The skeleton golem Li Xiuman had meticulously crafted swung its twin flaming swords, cutting down a backline Light Priest as easily as chopping vegetables.
[Ding! Killed Light Priest Lv. 21. Experience +800.]
The adventurer party fell into complete disarray.
Realizing that the battle was lost, they wanted to retreat.
How could Li Xiuman let them get their way? In a split second, a decision was made.
The golems went on a full offensive, and the champion skeleton golem stood like a lone guardian at the gate, keeping the escape route tightly sealed.
Wielding its weapons with wide, sweeping strikes, it did not allow the enemy leader to advance a single step.
The enemy leader grew desperate. Seeing the unfavorable situation, he thought fast and decided to make a risky move.
Turning his spearhead, he led a Swordsman and a Light Priest, charging straight at Li Xiuman.
At this moment, Li Xiuman had no golems left by his side, his main gate wide open. This was seemingly the only way out of this deadly formation.
The closer the enemy leader got, the more elated he became.
But how could Li Xiuman be incompetent? He had already devised a plan, summoning a skeleton to entangle the Swordsman.
He then feigned retreat, luring the enemy leader in.
As expected, the enemy leader rushed forward blindly, attacking Li Xiuman without realizing he had stepped into a trap.
The enemy leader cried out to the Goddess of Light.
A deluge of brilliant holy light poured down directly onto Li Xiuman's head.
The battle was decided in an instant.
Seeing that Li Xiuman did not retreat, the enemy leader was overjoyed, thinking, “This skeleton is finished!”
However, as the holy light receded...
the skeleton showed no signs of weakening whatsoever. In fact, he looked exceptionally refreshed.
Seeing this, the enemy leader's expression shifted wildly.
He cried out.
“I've been tricked!”
...
[Ding! Experience points are full. Level has been increased to Lv. 24.]
[Constitution +1, Spirit +2]
[Dragon-Blooded Skeleton Strength Modifier, Strength +1]
[Free Stat Point +1]
Having dealt with the adventurer party, Li Xiuman's level successfully rose to Lv. 24.
But immediately after, his expression darkened.
As expected, two surges of power rushed from both of his arms, while the death energy throughout his body seemed to boil.
In his current state, how could he possibly withstand the power from both sides?
Worse, the chaotic death energy coursing through him had completely shattered the balance. These two forces would undoubtedly kill him outright.
Without any hesitation, he dumped his Free Stat Point into Constitution, barely halting the total collapse of his body.
Next, ignoring everything else, he tried to rip the arms off his body.
But when he pulled, he realized both arms were fused so tightly to his frame that they wouldn't budge at all.
He applied more force, but the next moment, a pain that pierced his very soul forced him to stop.
He instinctively realized that forcing these arms off would cause irreversible damage to him.
Was it because of the consecutive level-ups that these arms had become linked to his soul?
It seemed he would have to completely digest the energy within them before he could detach them.
Li Xiuman had no choice but to think of another way.
He flipped through The Skeleton's Magic Book and found a new spell he had analyzed from the teleportation magic circle over the past few days.
Block Magic.
It was a rather useless, highly specialized spell.
But at this point, he could only try any desperate measure. Waving his wand, he aimed at his arm bones and cast the Block Magic.
The pitch-black magic circle was branded onto his two arm bones, firmly locking down the energy inside.
The restless energy within his arm bones finally calmed down, though it continued to constantly batter against the magic circle.
It looked like this method wouldn't hold for very long.
Li Xiuman lay on the ground, gritting his teeth as he waited for the stirred-up death energy in his body to subside.
While he waited, the ground began to shake for some unknown reason.
As if realizing something, Li Xiuman took out the dungeon core.
“As I thought, is the number of floors in this labyrinth tied to my level?”
The dungeon had expanded to 24 floors.
His private boss room had also descended to the 24th floor.
Rate on N.U.
