Genius Chapter 103: Successful Kill

Chapter 103: Successful Kill

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

ScarletFruit was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, but indeed, he was the safest in the entire team when it came to sacrificing himself. Without much time for the team to discuss further, right after they marveled at the buffs brought by Extreme Auspiciousness, the boss unleashed several consecutive ultimate skills, forcing everyone to focus entirely on both output and evasive maneuvers.

However, it must be said that this new buff was indeed effective. Several players in the team were high-end characters with high attack power. The 10% attack bonus directly increased their attribute base, bringing significant benefits. Moreover, the 10% increase in healing also alleviated some pressure, in a sense, providing timely assistance. It allowed healers to catch their breath and provided better conditions for DPS to output damage.

The only one suffering was ScarletFruit. He still maintained the third lowest threat, enduring the most intense attacks and occasionally lying in the blood pool for quite some time without waiting for teammates to rescue him.

“Wasn’t there just a ‘Divine Protection’ status?”

“Yes, I think I saw Brother Wanderer’s name being called?”

“Right, that seems to be the status.”

Su Mo calmly continued to give orders, but his peripheral vision glanced at Yu Zhen. “Does Divine Protection have details?”

“Yes, it boosts all skill power by 15% for 30 minutes and disappears upon death.”

Before Yu Zhen could finish, the boss unleashed another extremely fierce AoE attack. Without time for detailed explanations, Judge’s Pen swiftly activated, overlapping the three layers of defensive arrays.

The two healers initially thought the entire team would experience a significant drop in health, preparing for potential casualties. However, they were surprised to find that teammates within the array only lost about 20% of their health. Previously, when this ultimate skill appeared, they had experienced a situation where three team members were instantly lost, but this time the damage was far less severe.

During the duration of the skill, UnchainedWanderer even added another layer to the defensive array, completing it with four layers.

HealsFor25000 exclaimed, “Wow, is this defensive array with a 15% power increase really that strong?”

“Considering my array as well, we should have stacked about 7-8 layers of arrays,” Kawaii added. “A 15% increase in skill power is significant, especially for continuous stacking skills like arrays, where the power increase is equivalent to a strong and effective boost.”

Su Mo quickly grasped the new strategy. “Focus the main healing efforts on healing the melee. 25000, keep an eye on Watermelon. Despite the rapid changes in skills, the mechanics haven’t changed at all. Let’s take a risk this time.”

Yu Zhen asked, “What’s the plan?”

“The eye mechanics will still follow the original evasion method. The focus of healing will be on the melee. HealsFor25000 and ScarletFruit will specifically assist the physical swordsman and assassin. Boss’s ultimate skill will be handled by you and Kawaii,” Su Mo explained clearly. “The array masters will set up double layers of four shields. Coupled with the Divine Protection status, it should be enough to withstand this sustained damage phase.”

In simple terms, the plan was to let healers assist the melee fighters, while the ultimate skills from the boss would be dealt with by the array masters.

“It’s indeed a good strategy. Besides healing, healers also have supportive abilities, which can significantly enhance the melee’s attack capabilities,” Su Mo continued.

“ScarletFruit, you’re really something with this buff from the Luckiest state,” someone remarked.

“The most crucial thing is that this skill is still on the array masters. If it were on any other profession, it would just be an amplification skill.”

“Having it on the array masters is a huge boost! All of us can benefit from it! ScarletFruit, you’re a hero!!”

“Array masters, rotate to stack damage-boosting arrays. Keep defensive arrays up. When you’re out of the circles, magical swordsman, focus on reducing damage for the array masters with Sword Formation, prioritize protecting UnchainedWanderer,” Su Mo’s gaze scanned the DPS output list. “With only 25% health left, Old Daoist, focus on side control, apply defense symbols to teammates, and apply sluggish symbols to the boss. It has high resistance but your accuracy and control output are high, which can help teammates evade some attacks.”

“Marksman, move forward and take on the state effects to increase output. Trigger attack speed skills.”

“Summoner, pay attention to the timing of Black Tortoise. Summon at staggered times… CloudTraveller, use your Giant Mountain Shield to protect teammates.”

……

The 6-star boss wasn’t as easy as expected. The skills of the necromancer boss were more complex compared to the Four Seasons Gods, but once you understood the skill mechanics, the boss wasn’t difficult to deal with. The challenge lay in the random events triggered by teammates’ deaths and the pressure on healing.

HealsFor25000 was a rare type of support healer. His equipment and skill points weren’t focused on healing effectiveness or volume but rather on rare skills that support healers seldom have. Playing as a support healer was uncommon; support healers lack the abundance of skills like clerics, and focusing on support compromises healing volume. In normal dungeons, his healing would have been more than sufficient, but in an environment with high-attack bosses and fragile teammates, he became somewhat of a marginal presence.

In terms of healing volume, he couldn’t match his teammates; in terms of healing speed, he wasn’t as quick as them either, and he often didn’t have enough time to support his teammates.

Since the start of challenging this boss, he deeply realized his own limitations, especially when his healing output was surpassed by Celestial Horizon’s second mistress, a cleric. He keenly felt that he and his three teammates were dragging down the entire team.

Although their dungeon ratings were high, they were not all-round players. In fact, some of their equipment even included a few pieces of PvP gear, highlighting the differences. The support healer, the versatile marksman, and the primary control-oriented Doaist priest might have superior defenses compared to others, but they lagged behind in terms of output and skill execution compared to the rest of the team.

This team had the best main tank, DPS with explosive output, and a rational and calm commander. If they had a healer with slightly higher healing output or two more aggressive damage dealers, they wouldn’t have fallen into such a shortage of healing.

However, at this critical moment, Commander Momo issued new instructions to each of them, enhancing the attack power of the marksman and the Doaist priest with an amplified array.

To say it wasn’t shocking would be false. ColdHeart encountered this type of command for the first time, daring to boldly adjust strategies just because of a divine protection status, entrusting the protection of most of the team’s ranged professions to two array masters.

Yet, under this seemingly bold and reckless strategy, the boss’s health plummeted at an extremely fast rate.

“Targeting, ScarletFruit lead, ColdHeart ready to rescue.”

“Eliminate the left eye, Daoist Priest, Apple, move away from the crowd.”

“Ultimate skill, array masters activate shields, everyone inside the shields.”

“Right eye, move into the circle, Apple ready with Great Sword Formation to withstand the chain attacks…”

“Bitter Melon, retreat, CloudTraveller face forward, regain aggro.”

……

The DPS output numbers on the list kept fluctuating, and the voice channel gradually quieted down. Occasionally, teammates’ breathing could be heard, with the rest being orderly and precise commands from the commander— who moved and who didn’t, all coordinated under his direction.

Clearly, this team, which had only just familiarized themselves with three stages of the dungeon, had unexpectedly become exceptionally synchronized at this moment. The healing resurrection skills continued in a cycle, and all necessary major boosts and enhancements were applied at precisely the right times…

The boss’s health dropped to 5% just like that, and the attacks from the Necromancer became even more ferocious.

“Healers, change your healing targets. Prioritize protecting the ranged players. Everyone else, maximize your output.”

After the commander’s orders, the boss’s residual attacks suddenly killed two fragile assassins, triggering effects that lowered defensive attributes and allowed for on-the-spot revivals. Physical swordsman ClearWindIsHere promptly activated a large defensive array to reduce damage, but even so, the boss’s attack power continued to rapidly escalate.

Su Mo keenly observed this point: with only 5% health remaining, the slower they attacked, the stronger the boss’s offensive capabilities would become.

“Black Tortoise, reduce damage and support the assassin. ScarletFruit, rescue Watermelon.”

“CloudTraveller, prepare Giant Mountain Shield. Bitter Melon, you’re next with Giant Mountain Shield.”

As the health dropped to 3%, the boss’s attack speed increased even further.

The main focus of the output fell entirely on the ranged professions. Su Mo chose to prioritize protecting the main ranged DPS, also preparing to use Bear to absorb the main tank’s death. As the boss’s skills fell one after another, everyone had no time to worry about the cracks in the defensive array’s light shield or the fluctuations in health—it was dwindling.

At 1%, at this critical moment, nearly all front-line melee teammates were nearly wiped out, leaving only Bitter Melon barely surviving.

A major healing buff was applied to Bitter Melon, and Su Mo was ready to step in with the Bear. ScarletFruit was targeted again.

“Left eye, Apple, FireworksAndLanterns, leave the crowd.”

The two jumped down from a height in response, but this time the defensive skills couldn’t save them. The explosions from the two circles, combined with the high blood loss from the blood pool, directly killed them.

A tense atmosphere enveloped the entire team, while the commander’s voice continued.

Again, the next target was identified, this time locking onto HealsFor25000.

ScarletFruit was still lying in the blood pool. If another main healer died, their healing would collapse.

“Keep attacking, don’t rescue anyone,” Su Mo commanded sternly. “IHaveAColdHeart, preparing for healing. Array masters, stack defense. Everyone else, full force.”

ColdHeart couldn’t afford to think about anything else. His gaze was entirely focused on healing skills. He applied a continuous healing buff to the main tank Bitter Melon. As the boss’s ultimate skill appeared, the major healing skills, boosted by the array masters’ arrays, stabilized the teammates’ health instantly, keeping it at 50%.

At this moment, the boss’s health was successfully depleted to zero, instantly interrupting the ongoing ultimate skill.

The enormous skeleton crashed heavily into the blood pool. Spurting blood splashed everywhere, and half of the instruments of torture fell into the pool, leaving the entire chamber in chaos.

[Congratulations to the players for successfully killing Death Patroller, completing the ‘Journey Through Wind and Rain · Mechanical Iron Prison’ hidden gameplay challenge. Rewards will be distributed after successfully clearing the level.]

[Current progress: Killing Death Patroller (completed); Escape from Iron Prison (incomplete).]

As the boss fell, the completion message appeared in green letters before everyone. However, the challenge was not over yet—they still needed to escape from this place.

The situation within the team was grim. Out of 15 members, 8 had died and were all lying in the blood pool below, awaiting the sole surviving healer in the team to revive them.

ColdHeart first revived healer 25000 and then healer 25000 went to revive ScarletFruit. Revival skills had cooldowns, so they could only be used one by one, slowly.

“This scene is too tragic,” Bitter Melon said as he waded through the water in the blood pool, pulling each dead teammate closer to a more accessible spot. “How many have died?”

“We still haven’t fully figured out all the mechanics of the Death Patrol, but being able to clear it is already good. I’m prepared for a wipe,” CloudTraveller said as Bitter Melon dragged him to the side. “Don’t let your guard down. We still need to escape.”

At fifteen minutes past ten in the evening, a battle ended, leaving everyone utterly exhausted. They each found a place to sit and chat.

“Just now was too thrilling. Two healers died, and I was about to use healing potions,” someone said.

“Thank goodness for the Divine Blessing at the end, or else our DPS might not have been enough.”

“The difficulty is too high. If another team triggers this hidden gameplay, wouldn’t that mean waiting for a challenge failure?”

“We can’t leave combat in this dungeon yet. We only have one chance at the challenge.”

IHaveAColdHear also deeply felt this. Just thinking about the situation in the recent battle made him involuntarily turn to look for the commander. He found the commander standing on the wall with hanging torture devices, seemingly observing something. He couldn’t help but look closely, and after a while, he suddenly saw another person following along.

It was another big shot in the team, UnchainedWanderer, an attack-oriented array master.

IHaveAColdHeart couldn’t help but be surprised, his gaze fixed on the two of them.

Was it his illusion? Why were those two approaching so closely?

Su Mo waded through the blood water to the nearby wall to observe, looking at various ancient Huaxia characters written on the wall, quietly contemplating.

Their method of completing the challenge was too reckless, definitely not the normal way to clear it. A six-star challenge should have other mechanisms to counteract, rather than being directly reckless like they were.

“See anything?” Yu Zhen’s voice appeared beside Su Mo.

Su Mo turned to him and pointed to the wall, saying, “A story is written here in ancient Huaxia characters.”

The Mechanical Iron Prison was a prison forged by demons. Before the sealing of the Celestial Horizon Continent, it was a place where demons imprisoned human captives. The Mechanical Iron Prison itself was an ancient artifact. Its master, the Death Patroller, was a cursed human who fell into darkness after death. He built this prison to capture all the evildoers who had humiliated him during his lifetime. After the death of these evildoers, their blood filled a pool, which is the blood pool inside the sleeping chamber.

Later, he developed a penchant for killing and was suppressed by the Celestial Horizon Seal until players opened the seal some time ago, releasing him.

“It’s probably an NPC story. The first and second stages we passed through were on the outer periphery of the Mechanical Iron Prison,” Su Mo pointed at the map on the wall. “These two mountains represent the first stage. The area behind them, known as the Illusory Realm, should be the second stage. Different teams enter different illusions, and the final location is this Mechanical Iron Prison.”

“The text also mentions that the floating lanterns are Soul Lanterns, where innocent souls who died tragically can seek refuge inside the lanterns.”

Su Mo paused for a moment and said, “Our insufficient healing might be the reason we struggled. The correct approach should have been to use these Soul Lanterns, hiding inside them to avoid damage.”

He continued, “This was something we were reminded of from the beginning. When our three teammates weren’t taking damage inside the lanterns, we should have considered their usefulness. I was too hasty and didn’t think it through in time.”

The Death Patroller was a hidden gameplay feature triggered by teammates’ deaths. Without this hidden gameplay, they would likely have avoided the wardens, sneaked into the sleeping chamber to rescue their teammates, and wouldn’t have encountered the event of the boss returning to the sleeping chamber, making everything easier to pass.

Yu Zhen’s hand paused at the location of the Mechanical Iron Prison on the map. “According to the map on the wall, after leaving the Mechanical Iron Prison, we have to go through similar gameplay in the first and second stages again to completely leave this place.”

He added, “Let’s get out first. Isn’t it almost time for you to sleep?”

“Oh, right.”

Su Mo came back to his senses and as soon as he turned his head, he saw his teammates standing behind him. Each of them looked at him strangely, their gazes shifting back and forth between him and Yu Zhen.

ClearWind blinked desperately and whispered, “Maybe I’ve read too much fanfiction. My eyes feel a bit off now.”

HealsFor25000 looked at the two with a complex expression. “So, were we rushing just to sleep together?”

Apple said, “I think I get it.”

CloudTraveller coughed.

ScarletFruit interjected, “Bro, do you know what team voice chat means?”

Su Mo replied hesitantly, “… Is there a problem?”

The team started buzzing with discussion. Su Mo glanced at Yu Zhen beside him and only then noticed how close they were standing. As he looked at Yu Zhen, the latter also turned to look at him, but Su Mo quickly averted his gaze.

Seeing those eyes, it was as if he had returned to the suspended platform where the chains crisscrossed just moments ago. The more he thought about it, the more vivid the memory became.

Yu Zhen noticed and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Su Mo replied vaguely, wondering if he was paying too much attention to brother Zhen.

“Is that the main issue?” Watermelon’s voice came through the channel. “Could someone please revive me? Did you all forget there’s still an assassin in the team who hasn’t been resurrected!”