Chapter 80: [80]: Void-Touched Hounds, The Artillery Synergy
Free from the suffocating health drain of the purple fog, Levi and Isolde left the shoreline behind and pushed directly inland across the Midnight Continent.
The terrain was a nightmare. The black sand eventually gave way to a jagged expanse of polished obsidian spires that jutted out of the ground like broken teeth. Glowing blue flora clung to the rocks, casting long, eerie shadows across the landscape.
Far in the distance, cutting through the swirling black clouds, was the Midnight Spire. It looked like a monolithic needle reaching straight into the heavens.
"That’s the target," Levi said, pointing his scythe at the massive tower.
Isolde walked casually beside him, her untextured gray cloak completely untouched by the jagged rocks. "The Night King resides at the apex. But the path is highly populated by hostiles."
"I was counting on it," Levi smirked.
He didn’t have to wait long for the welcome committee.
As they walked through a narrow pass between two massive obsidian rocks, the shadows on the canyon walls started to stretch and mutate. Low, rumbling growls echoed off the stone.
Ten massive, terrifying wolves stepped out of the darkness. They were easily the size of rhinos, covered in pitch-black fur that seemed to absorb the ambient light. Glowing purple energy leaked from their mouths and eyes.
Levi pulled up an Inspect scroll.
[Void-Touched Hound]
[Level: 55]
[HP: 60,000 | ATK: 2,200 | DEF: 800]
"Level fifty-five," Levi muttered, his smile fading slightly as he processed the numbers.
He was Level 36. He was only going to deal 5% of his actual damage.
He ran the breakdown in his head while the hounds circled them.
His Gold-tier scythe dropped their effective Defense to 640.
His raw damage per swing was exactly 440. Now, apply the 95% suppression penalty.
"Twenty-two damage," Levi groaned, shaking his head. "Against a sixty thousand health pool. I could swing all day and it wouldn’t even dent them."
He checked his skill damage just to be thorough, his massive nuke skill would only hit for 157 Final Damage.
It was mathematically impossible for him to kill these things alone.
He looked at the defensive side. The Hounds had 2,200 Attack. Levi’s current Defense was 349.
With his Diamond-tier [Heart of the Chained] meant he would take 926 damage taken per hit.
With his 6,480 Max HP, he could tank roughly seven hits before dying. That was decent survival, but there were ten hounds. If they all jumped him at once, he was dead in a second.
"Hollow’s Ward," Levi commanded.
The pitch-black dark-matter shield erupted around him, locking into place with exactly 1,505 HP.
He turned to Isolde. "I literally cannot hurt them. I’m going to play tank and debuffer. You are the artillery."
Isolde raised her basic wooden staff. "Understood. Commencing artillery protocols."
The ten Void-Touched Hounds lunged.
Levi stepped forward to intercept the pack. His Speed allowed him to easily match their pace. He didn’t bother trying to land basic attacks for damage. He just needed to hold aggro.
"Hollow’s Guillotine!"
[-157] [-157] [-157] [-157]
The damage was pathetic, but the Gold-tier skill applied its debuff. The broken shield icon popped up over their heads, shredding 20% of their remaining armor.
"Now!" Levi yelled.
Isolde didn’t hesitate. Because she was a God-fragment, she completely ignored the 95% suppression penalty and the enemy defense. She pointed her wooden staff and unleashed a rapid barrage of white light.
[-5,000 True Damage] [-5,000 True Damage] [-5,000 True Damage]
The red corrupted text exploded over the hounds’ heads. Isolde chunked their health bars massively with every single cast.
Levi used his speed to herd the beasts. When a hound tried to run past him to attack Isolde, Levi blurred into its path, swinging a basic physical attack. The swing only dealt 22 damage, but the scythe’s passive triggered instantly. The small teardrop icon appeared over the hound’s head, ticking for 5 true damage per second.
In Starfall, true damage generated a massive amount of aggro. The hound immediately turned its attention back to Levi, snapping its bone-fangs at his dark-matter shield.
The shield took a few glancing hits, absorbing 926 damage before violently shattering, but it bought Isolde exactly the time she needed.
She kept firing. The hounds’ massive 60,000 health pools rapidly melted down under the True Damage bombardment.
Levi watched their health bars closely. 30,000. 20,000. 15,000.
"Stop!" Levi ordered.
Isolde instantly halted her cast animations. The hounds were sitting at roughly 12,000 HP.
Twelve thousand was exactly 20% of their maximum health.
"Soul Harvest."
The pitch-black spectral guillotine materialized and slammed down, decapitating the first hound.
[Target Executed. Movement skill cooldowns reset.]
His Hollow’s Traverse instantly refunded the mana. He blinked to the next hound, dropping another spectral scythe. Blink. Execute. Blink. Execute.
He chained all ten executions perfectly, dancing through the canyon like a grim reaper. The Level 55 Elites shattered into massive clouds of blue polygons.
[System Notification: Slain 10x Level 55 Void-Touched Hounds. Massive gap modifier applied. Gained 7,500,000 XP.]
Levi let out a long breath and toggled off his Siphon Aura. The XP yield was absolutely insane, but he was more interested in the loot.
The crimson aura of the harvest ripped out of the polygons and slammed into his chest.
[Supreme Harvester triggered 10 times.]
[Void-Touched Hound’s primary stat is AGI (500).]
[You have plundered 3% of its core stat.]
[Gained +15 AGI permanently!]
Levi pulled up his stats. His Agility bumped from 326 to 341. His derived Speed shot up to exactly 361 on foot. He was moving faster unmounted than most players could dream of.
He turned around to look at Isolde. She was standing perfectly still, holding her staff.
"Your combat efficiency has increased by fourteen percent since we formed a party," Isolde stated mechanically.
Levi smirked, resting his scythe on his shoulder. "It’s called teamwork, Isolde. We cover each other’s weaknesses. Try to feel it."
Isolde stared at him. For a fraction of a second, her robotic eyes flickered, and a tiny glitch of static ran across her cheek. She didn’t respond, but she didn’t disagree either.
"Come on," Levi said, turning back toward the Midnight Spire. "We have a lot more hunting to do."
Fixing....
Your combat efficiency has increased by fourteen percent since we formed a party," Isolde stated mechanically.
Levi smirked, resting his scythe on his shoulder. "It’s called teamwork, Isolde. We cover each other’s weaknesses. Try to feel it."
Isolde stared at him. For a fraction of a second, her robotic eyes flickered, and a tiny glitch of static ran across her cheek. She didn’t respond, but she didn’t disagree either.
"Come on," Levi said, turning back toward the Midnight Spire. "We have a lot more hunting to do."
Your combat efficiency has increased by fourteen percent since we formed a party," Isolde stated mechanically.
Levi smirked, resting his scythe on his shoulder. "It’s called teamwork, Isolde. We cover each other’s weaknesses. Try to feel it."
Isolde stared at him. For a fraction of a second, her robotic eyes flickered, and a tiny glitch of static ran across her cheek. She didn’t respond, but she didn’t disagree either.
"Come on," Levi said, turning back toward the Midnight Spire. "We have a lot more hunting to do."