Fortunately, all the planning was unnecessary, as the group made it up the walls without any hiccups.
What surprised Michael most was that the 'ground level' was only a few meters lower than the top of the walls. This damn fort was carved into the mountain, and the gate they stood in front of, was only blocking a tunnel with stairs climbing to where they currently were.
Keeping silent while the Reapers were scouting the area, the Necromancer easily found plenty of enemies in the area ahead.
"There's a pretty large group ahead: over thirty Ghouls, five Revenants, three Blood Mages, and a swarm of Vampire Bats. No Elites. How do you want to do this?"
[We go in and stomp them. It would be best if we could attract all the monsters to us. If we get overrun, we can use the shattered wall we just climbed on as an escape route. Worst comes to worst, we'll go in, kill, retreat, and repeat until there's nothing left.](Gonk)
[Sounds good to me.](Amurin)
[Did you also get the update?](Kor'Tha)
[ World Stronghold Event joined - Kor Dragan
Objective: Explore Kor Dragan. ]
Everyone nodded, resulting in Gonk shrugging. Without a better plan, they decided to go in strong and loud.
Furthermore, with Michael there, hordes of enemies would simply mean an easier way to clear the fort. With a couple of well-placed Corpse Explosions, they could return home much faster.
[I'll charge in then.](Gonk)
"Play it safe! There's no need to overexert yourself from the get-go. If there are thirteen Elites, each one of us might have to face more than one. Let my Reapers and the Golem take the brunt of the horde, and we can slowly grind them down."
[I agree with Michael. The Elites are split up around the fort, but if they come charging in, it will become tedious dealing with them.](Kor'Tha)
[I have no problem with attacking from behind the Skeletons. It looks fun!](Amurin)
[Mhm. We'll do it like that, then! Let's move!](Gonk)
With the planning session concluded, the Reapers charged in, following behind the massive Quarterback.
When five meters away from the surprised mini-horde, the Golem roared and used its taunt skill. With the Reapers attacking and the Quarterback losing Life Points, plenty of Corpses were already created, including from the Vampiric Bats, which were smacked to death in one hit.
Before Michael could take the stage, Kor'Tha spoke in a strange language that echoed through the fort, and two totems fell. One hit in the middle of the gathered monsters, dealing lightning damage to them, while the other hit the bedrock and turned it into sand, slowing down the Ghouls and Revenants.
Surprised, the Necromancer cast his Corpse Tendrils, followed by two casts of Decrepify, barely enough to cover a large amount of grouped-up monsters.
[Rain of Stars!](Amurin)
Taking advantage of the situation, the Spear Thrower directly used his Ultimate Skill and conjured tens of javelins made of different elements, which began pelting the stunned creatures below.
Not wanting to be outdone, Michael cast his Corpse Explosion ten times in a row, and the mini-horde vanished.
Everyone turned to look at each other with slight confusion.
"That Rain of Stars, is it a skill you can use often? It's goddam awesome looking!"
[It's my Ultimate Skill. It has a long cooldown and uses up 75% of my Resource Pool.](Amurin)
"It would be too damned overpowered otherwise!"
[Was that crowd-control skill you used your Ultimate?](Kor'Tha)
"Nope. Just a normal skill."
[Damn... That's just broken... What's the cooldown?](Kor'Tha)
"About 13 seconds, but I can use my other skills to decrease the cooldown if I apply the combo right. Your totems were amazing, also! Is there a cooldown on them?"
[No. I can use them repeatedly as long as I have enough Consciousness.](Kor'Tha)
"...that's ridiculous! I saw all the Ghouls near the electrified totem die instantly... Also, is Consciousness your Resource?"
Watching his three party members converse happily and praise each other, Gonk felt like introducing them to his new weapon.
They all went bonkers and destroyed the monsters in one go, leaving nothing behind for the poor man!
Muttering curses under his breath, he headed for the first blood boil in sight, where he charged without waiting for his companions. With a deafening battle cry, all monsters and the two Elites were stunned in place.
Gonk leaped into the air without hesitation and smashed his hammer at the stunned Blood Mage. To Michael's horror, blue numbers popped up above the creature, showing 3,892 damage points being inflicted.
"Holy fuck, what the hell!? What the fuck was that damage!?"
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[Tsk! That bastard... he went full Overpower build.](Kor'Tha)
[Damn it! Even with my best single-unit skill, I barely reach 2,300!](Amurin)
"Fuck! What's wrong with everyone's damage!? I barely scale above 1,000 after stacking Corpse Explosion!"
[Huh!? That's not right... I saw your damage reach 1,600 in the crowd of monsters before...](Kor'Tha)
"What!? Are you sure?"
[Mhm... I think so? Unless it was Amurin's Ultimate... I'm not 100% sure since they were hit from all sides...](Kor'Tha)
[Not possible for me. The damage from each javelin created by Rain of Stars deals around 900 damage or so.](Amurin)
"Shit! You're acting as if it's an insignificant skill... I counted more than forty javelins, for fuck's sake!"
As the trio hassled each other, nobody bothered with the berserk Gonk, who kept mowing down the monsters. With a swing of its hammer at the Revenant's midsection, the creature was sent flying through the blood boil.
Curious after hearing the disgusting 'splosh' sound made after the collision, everyone looked at what the Sanctuary identified as 'Vampiric Corruption.'
[ World Stronghold Event update - Kor Dragan
Objective: Purge Kor Dragan of Vampiric Corruption. ]
The four men immediately turned their heads to look at the entrance to one of the fort's facilities, which was blocked by one of the two ridiculously huge blobs of blood and flesh.
Furthermore, there was a gray barrier visible to the naked eye protecting it.
[It doesn't look like we can smash that one yet.](Gonk)
[Hmm... do you see those small tendrils from the blob Gonk smashed?](Amurin)
"Eh? They seem connected to the big one?"
[The smaller growths protect the larger ones.](Kor'Tha)
[Let's split up and...](Gonk)
"Absolutely not!"
Everyone turned surprised at Michael, who didn't even flinch from the sudden attention.
"Stop treating this so lightly. All jokes aside, this was a fort protected by the Cathedral. Their elite Knight Penitents are strewn around the entire damned place. I don't want to end up in a similar fashion."
[When you put it like that...](Gonk)
[Hmm.](Amurin)
[Let's move a bit faster than. I saw another small growth next to the window of that place.](Kor'Tha)
From ramparts to watchtowers to behind the buildings, the party searched and destroyed six smaller Vampiric Corruptions before the gray barrier surrounding the bigger ones was dispelled.
The closest one was on the fort's western side, in the middle of a small plaza-like clearing.
"Judging from how things usually go in Dungeons, after we destroy this... thing, a Unique Elite should pop up. How do we deal with it?"
[Hmm... You can send your Golem to test the waters. Based on the monster's damage output, I can take the tanking role, and the rest of you can attack it from afar.](Gonk)
"Eh? I thought you'd ask to fight it one-on-one."
[What!? No, no, no! There's a time and place for everything. We know nothing about the creature. Jumping head-first is stupidity, not courage.](Gonk)
Gonk annoyedly ignored the surprised and condescending looks he was getting from his friends as Michael ordered his minions to destroy their first large Vampiric Corruption, which suddenly changed its name to Vampiric Incubator, drawing disdainful looks from the group.
As expected, once destroyed, it opened up like a flower, revealing a Revenant Elite at its core.
[ Dowd Rimeclaw (Elite) - Level 52
*Frozen: Summons six balls of frost. Upon explosion, they freeze and deal 350 fixed damage in a five-meter radius.
*Cold Enchanted: All attacks deal an extra 250 Cold damage.
*Chilling Wind: Summons a wall of wind to block all ranged attacks. ]
Contrary to their expectations, the monster was a Knight Penitent rather than a Revenant or a Blood Mage.
The implications were clear, ruining the atmosphere of the party. Usually, with the Knight turned Vampire and its large shield and lance, Michael alone would've had a bad time, especially due to its Chilling Wind modifier.
But now, with Gonk smacking the poor bastard with the hammer, the large shield was compromised after only two bashes, while the lance fell after a well-aimed elemental javelin severed its right hand.
[I think it's the first time I saw an Elite creating six balls of frost. Most of them were capable of four.](Amurin)
[Same here. Looks like things will get more fun at later levels.](Kor'Tha)
"I had the misfortune of running across a Khazra Champion at the Boss level who kept using this modifier. I think it summoned over sixty frost balls in less than ten seconds. It was absolutely disgusting fighting against it."
Once again, the trio started chatting while Gonk was bashing the poor Knight left, right, and center.
After the monster died, they even had the audacity to complain to the man about his lousy luck since only a Rare item box had dropped. What was even more infuriating was that the three people disdained the item so much that they actually gave it to him for free!
As a result, Sir Roulf has inevitably suffered.
[ Sir Roulf Glacium (Elite) - Level 52
*Frozen: Summons six balls of frost. Upon explosion, they freeze and deal 350 fixed damage in a five-meter radius.
*Crystal snowflakes: Summons three snowflakes in random locations around itself, targeting an enemy. The snowflakes have a homing modifier, allowing them to chase the enemy and deal 250 damage each. Enemies affected by the snowflakes would be inflicted with a Chilled status, slowing them for 50% for five seconds.
*Chilling Wind: Summons a wall of wind to block all ranged attacks. ]
Gonk still hadn't vented enough, but Michael stopped him and the other two from participating in the third and last fight against the Vampiric Incubators and their 'byproducts.'
It wasn't because he wanted to show off but because he was the one among the four who could use his skills repeatedly without exhausting himself in the process.
[ Commander Bertelemi Firemaw (Elite) - Level 52
*Mortar: Randomly throws seven fireballs toward an area occupied by an enemy. Each fireball deals 550 damage.
*Fire Enchanted: All attacks deal an extra 300 Fire damage.
*Explosive: Explosions send shockwaves around the creature afflicted with this modifier, dealing 550 damage to its surroundings. ]
The third Unique Elite turned out to be the fort's commander and a very shitty pairing to the Necromancer's minions.
[Seventh time.](Kor'Tha)
[Tsk! It's quite annoying to fight against his Class. He just revives them each time they die.](Amurin)
[Can't you just ignore them and jump straight to the caster instead?](Gonk)
[The damage the minions deal is fairly high. For a Class without high Armor, it would be dangerous.](Kor'Tha)
[Kiting and attacking from a distance, then?](Amurin)
Michael rolled his eyes and ignored the three Barbarians discussing how to kill him more efficiently. He couldn't afford to be distracted.
It wasn't that the Elite was too strong and might put them in danger; he just didn't want to embarrass himself in front of the trio. Fortunately, the resurrected Knight was slow, and plenty of Corpses were surrounding it. The Necromancer closed the fight in less than five minutes.
[Ugh... one of 'those' dropped.](Gonk)
[That's why I keep telling you... Stop being so lazy and put more effort into learning to read! There are very curious and interesting things mentioned in those notes.](Kor'Tha)
[And they drop very often. Especially in Dungeons.](Amurin)
Ignoring the trio, Michael picked up the 'Bloody Condemnation,' signed by Bishop Nilcar. Seeing as it was one of the strange writings that dropped during Dungeons, he curiously brought it back to the group, and they started reading it together.
At least three of them did...
[ May you forever be shunned by the Light. Like rabid mongrels, you will turn on your masters and all around you. May the darkness in your heart spread like blood from an open wound amongst your kin until you are surrounded by that which you find most vile.
MAY YOUR RIGHTEOUS HUNGER CONSUME YOU FOR ALL ETERNITY! ]
Michael's face changed slightly as he remembered the rank of the one who wrote this 'letter of condemnation' and the fact that it was written in blood.
"I think we found our traitor..."
[A bishop... damn! What the hell did those idiots from the Cathedral do this time around!?](Kor'Tha)
[To make such a high-ranking member betray them and write such words... you can feel the anger and malice behind them.](Amurin)
[*Sigh* Let's just get this over with and leave. We're lucky things work out this easily, so let's wrap it up.](Gonk)
The other three party members nodded and turned their eyes to the flight of stairs leading below, where the largest Vampiric Infection blocked the way forward.