Chapter 691: The Zombie Vice Leaders

The Spider Demoness’s soul was caught completely off guard when Lady Silvia suddenly launched a counterattack. After being locked in a stalemate with the peerless beauty for over a year, she had assumed the woman was nearing the end of her strength. She certainly hadn’t expected Lady Silvia to still have enough energy left to turn the tables on her.

Yet the black iron rod’s crimson light still couldn’t break through the defenses of the white jade twin rings. No matter how fiercely the Spider Demoness attacked, the protective barrier remained intact, preventing her from laying a finger on the beautiful woman she had coveted for so long.

There was a reason the Spider Demoness hadn’t gone all out from the beginning. She wanted Lady Silvia’s body intact. If she damaged it too severely before completing her Corpse Possession, all her efforts would be wasted. Instead, she had deliberately dragged out their confrontation, gradually draining Lady Silvia’s strength while waiting for the perfect opportunity to claim her body once the woman was completely exhausted.

What she hadn’t realized was that Lady Silvia had been playing a similar game. Knowing she couldn’t defeat the Spider Demoness on her own and had no reliable way to escape, Lady Silvia had concealed what remained of her strength and focused on maintaining the stalemate. All she could do was hold on and wait for someone to arrive who might be capable of turning the situation around.

Impressive. And rather cunning.

The Spider Demoness’s desire for Lady Silvia’s body only grew stronger. Not only was the woman exceptionally beautiful, but her potential was equally astonishing. If the Spider Demoness could successfully possess such a body, her strength would increase by leaps and bounds, allowing her to reclaim far more power than she currently possessed.

She absolutely had to get her hands on it!

With that thought driving her, the Spider Demoness poured even more energy into her attack. The black iron rod, a divine artifact known as the Lustflower Staff, once wielded by the Lustful Demon Lord himself, erupted with an even more intense crimson glow. Its terrifying energy gathered around the weapon before it crashed down against Lady Silvia’s white protective barrier.

The Spider Demoness intended to settle everything with a single, devastating blow.

Unfortunately for her, Lady Silvia’s white jade twin rings were divine artifacts in their own right. Furthermore, the Spider Demoness had underestimated how much strength her opponent had been concealing. Even with nearly her full offensive power concentrated into the attack, she couldn’t immediately shatter the rings or destroy the barrier protecting Lady Silvia.

As the two forces continued to clash, the Spider Demoness glanced toward Marcus, who was now only about eighty meters away and rapidly closing the distance.

"Sssss!"

Her beautiful woman’s face twisted into a vicious scowl as a hiss escaped her lips. Only now did she fully appreciate how unfavorable her position had become. She couldn’t break through Lady Silvia’s defenses, and she couldn’t afford to remain locked in this stalemate with an unknown enemy approaching.

If Marcus reached the platform before she could resolve the situation, everything could fall apart.

With no better option, the Spider Demoness made a desperate decision. She gathered more than a century’s worth of sinister venomous energy within her body, then abruptly redirected it away from Lady Silvia and sprayed it toward two corpses lying beside the circular platform.

Soul Venom!

The dark, sinister energy spread over the two lifeless bodies, seeping into them as though it were searching for something to awaken. Within five seconds, both corpses began to move. Their limbs jerked, their bodies rose from the ground, and the two dead warriors staggered to their feet as the Spider Demoness’s venom forcibly restored them to a semblance of life.

One was a towering Berserker wielding a two-handed great axe, his imposing frame still radiating the menace of a seasoned warrior. The other was a Hunter dressed in light armor, a water-element longbow gripped firmly in his hands.

They were none other than the two Vice Leaders of the White Tiger Mercenary Group, the men who had accompanied Lady Silvia and protected her a year ago. Both had been captured alongside her and subsequently killed. Now, thanks to the Spider Demoness’s century-old Soul Venom, their corpses had become her puppets.

Under her command, the two Zombie Vice Leaders immediately fixed their lifeless gazes on Marcus and charged toward him. By the time they reached a point just fifty meters from the circular platform, Marcus was already preparing to step onto it.

"Insight!"

Marcus wasted no time activating his skill. If he wanted to rescue Lady Silvia and complete his quest, he first needed to know exactly what he was up against. Charging in blindly was a good way to get himself killed, and he had no intention of throwing away his advantage through carelessness.

—

Zombie Vice Leader Big Axe: Level 65 Golden Boss. HP: 400,000. Class: Berserker.

Originally the Vice Leader of the White Tiger Mercenary Group, Big Axe had once been a Level 80 Golden powerhouse. However, after his death and subsequent reanimation by the Spider Demoness’s century-old Soul Venom, his strength had dropped considerably.

—

What a pity.

If the Spider Demoness had been able to use Soul Venom accumulated over three hundred years, the resulting zombies wouldn’t have lost any of their original strength. They might even have become more powerful than they had been in life. Unfortunately for her, Lady Silvia had kept her occupied for so long that she could only use the century-old venom she had available.

Marcus’s expression turned thoughtful as he glanced at the Spider Demoness.

’What a nasty ability.’

A single spray of Soul Venom could turn a corpse into a powerful monster, and she had managed to raise two Golden Bosses in a matter of seconds. If she had been free to concentrate on creating more zombies, dealing with her would have been a much bigger headache.

Fortunately, she was still tied up with Lady Silvia. Otherwise, Marcus would have seriously considered retreating and coming back with a better plan.

He continued examining Big Axe’s attributes, paying particular attention to his combat talents and skills.

—

Talent: Axe Talent. Proficient in the use of axes, with formidable close-combat capabilities. Attacks carry a powerful Knockback effect.

Skills:

Axe Flurry: Unleashes a rapid series of axe attacks against enemies within a designated area.

Axe Cleaves the World: Delivers a devastating single-target strike with a powerful Stun effect.

—

Marcus nodded to himself before turning his attention to the second zombie.

—

Zombie Vice Leader Bow Cloud: Level 65 Golden Boss. HP: 350,000. Class: Hunter.

—

Both enemies were Level 65 Golden Bosses, and their overall combat strength appeared to be roughly comparable. Big Axe had more HP and specialized in melee combat, while Bow Cloud could attack from a distance with his water-element longbow.

Marcus didn’t bother inspecting Bow Cloud’s skills in greater detail. The zombie had already raised his weapon and was drawing back the bowstring, leaving little doubt about what he intended to do next.

Twang!

The bowstring snapped forward, and an arrow shot toward Marcus with startling speed. However, his Agility was high enough that he barely needed to adjust his footing. He shifted aside at the last moment, allowing the arrow to whistle past him.

A bright MISS appeared above his head.

Unfortunately for the two zombies, their attack had triggered something far more troublesome.

Both were within thirty meters of Marcus when Bow Cloud loosed his arrow, bringing them into range of the passive skill attached to his Ghost-Face Mask, Nameless Fear. A wave of invisible pressure spread across the battlefield, immediately weakening both undead warriors. Their HP and all attributes dropped by fifteen percent, putting them at a disadvantage before the fight had properly begun.

Marcus had no intention of wasting the opportunity.

"Charge!"

At his command, the two Sea Demon Souls surged forward and headed straight for Big Axe, preparing to engage the Berserker in close combat. At the same time, Pebble spurred his Nightmare Dragon Steed into a Nightmare Charge, raising the Blackflame Ice Flower Sword as he galloped after them.

Marcus himself turned his attention toward Bow Cloud.

"Summon Yin-Yang Giant Panda!"

A flash of light accompanied the appearance of his Super Divine Beast, which immediately prepared to join the fight. Marcus continued advancing while preparing to summon the rest of his companions, intending to overwhelm Bow Cloud before the Hunter could inflict any meaningful damage.

After all, these two Zombie Vice Leaders were only Level 65 Golden Bosses. Their strength wasn’t dramatically different from that of the Level 60 Golden Boss Centennial Spider Maiden he had fought in the temple.

Marcus had little reason to be worried.

Of course, he was well aware that his confidence came from his own ridiculous attributes and the powerful lineup of companions at his disposal. An ordinary player facing two Level 65 Golden Bosses would be in a very different situation. Even a Level 60 player equipped with top-tier gear would have a difficult time handling them alone. Most would need a mercenary group of twenty to thirty well-equipped players working together to have a reasonable chance of victory.

The White Tiger Mercenary Group’s quest was clearly no joke.

Without his two Sea Demon Souls, Pebble, the Seven-Colored Divine Eagle, and Blackie, Marcus would have had little hope of handling the situation by himself. Even with his impressive attributes, trying to fight both enemies while also dealing with the Spider Demoness would have been a serious challenge.

Fortunately, he had no intention of making things harder for himself than necessary.

Why hold back when he had the advantage? Only an idiot would insist on fighting fairly when there was nothing to gain from it.

With a flash of black-and-white light, the Yin-Yang Giant Panda appeared on the battlefield. The adorable-looking Super Divine Beast wasted no time reaching for the Yin-Yang Divine Drum strapped to its waist and striking its surface with both paws.

"Drumbeat Shakes Yin and Yang!"

Two deep, resonant booms echoed through the chamber. Twin blasts of yin-yang energy burst from the drum and shot toward Bow Cloud, who was still attempting to pepper Marcus with arrows.

Bang! Bang!

The two blasts struck almost simultaneously, each producing a damage number of 3,000 above the Hunter’s head. In a single skill activation, Bow Cloud lost 6,000 HP.

Not bad at all.

Considering the Yin-Yang Giant Panda was only Level 50, Marcus was quite satisfied with its performance. The damage wasn’t overwhelming by his standards, but it was a respectable contribution, especially since the panda had only just entered the fight.

And that wasn’t all.

The moment combat began, the panda’s passive talent, Yin-Yang Clone Art, activated. A second Yin-Yang Giant Panda appeared beside the original, identical in appearance and ready to fight. Without hesitation, the two pandas charged toward Bow Cloud together, forcing the Hunter to deal with another threat.

Meanwhile, Bow Cloud managed to fire two consecutive arrows at Marcus.

Bang! Bang!

Both attacks struck, but the combined damage amounted to only 2,200 HP. Marcus barely paid it any attention. At that rate, Bow Cloud would need a ridiculous number of successful hits to pose a serious threat to him.

And this wasn’t even the full extent of Marcus’s power.

He couldn’t help feeling that the battle was going rather smoothly.

Still, there was no reason to leave anything to chance. With a confident grin, he summoned Goldie, Wyvern Saint Knight Lyanna, and Vixen Queen Camillo, sending all three charging toward Bow Cloud. Big Axe was already occupied by Pebble and the two Sea Demon Souls, so Marcus could afford to concentrate the rest of his forces on eliminating the Hunter as quickly as possible.

What followed could hardly be called a fair fight.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Marcus and his companions descended on Bow Cloud from every direction, unleashing one attack after another. Between Marcus’s own strikes and the coordinated assaults of the two Yin-Yang Giant Pandas, the Hunter was repeatedly caught in Stun effects, leaving him barely able to respond. Before he could recover, Goldie, Lyanna, and Camillo followed up with their own attacks, adding powerful magical damage to the relentless barrage.

Bow Cloud had barely managed to put up a fight before his HP began plummeting.

Less than ten seconds after the battle began, his entire 350,000 HP had been depleted.

The zombie stood frozen for a brief moment, looking almost bewildered by how quickly everything had gone wrong. Then his body collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud, finally returning to the stillness of death.

This time, there would be no getting back up. With Bow Cloud’s body reduced to a lifeless corpse, the Spider Demoness had lost her opportunity to use him as a weapon against Marcus.

Although, if Marcus were being honest, he wouldn’t have minded if she had managed to reanimate him a second time. Level 65 Golden Bosses provided excellent EXP, and he was more than happy to collect as much of it as possible.

During the four days he had spent underground upgrading the Yin-Yang Giant Panda, Marcus had finally advanced from Level 56 to Level 57, reaching sixty-eight percent of the EXP required for his next level. Killing Bow Cloud had earned him another eight percent, a substantial increase for such a short fight.

At this rate, killing four more monsters of the same caliber would be enough to push him to Level 58.

What a pity there was only one Big Axe left.

"What a waste," Marcus sighed, genuinely regretting that he couldn’t squeeze more EXP out of the encounter. He then turned toward the remaining Zombie Vice Leader and led his companions into the next fight.

Big Axe was about to discover that being the last enemy standing wasn’t going to help him much.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Marcus’s group descended on the Berserker with the same overwhelming force they had used against Bow Cloud. Big Axe had fifty thousand more HP than his former companion and possessed considerably higher Defense, but those advantages weren’t enough to compensate for his poor Agility.

Against an opponent who could barely keep up with their movements, Marcus and Pebble had little trouble landing one critical hit after another. The two Sea Demon Souls kept Big Axe occupied from the front, while Marcus and the others exploited every opening they could find.

The Berserker tried to fight back, but the relentless barrage left him with precious few opportunities to retaliate. His greater durability only prolonged the inevitable, and before long, his HP had been exhausted.

In the end, Big Axe fell even faster than Bow Cloud.

A series of system notifications rang out, announcing the conclusion of the battle.

Ding!

[Congratulations, Player Stonehaven, on defeating the Level 65 Golden Bosses, Zombie Vice Leaders Big Axe and Bow Cloud. Rewards: 200 Reputation and 5,000 gold coins.]

Marcus was slightly surprised when the notification appeared, but he didn’t dwell on it. The rewards were welcome, and the fight had been considerably easier than he had expected.

Once the system prompt faded, he approached the two corpses and activated his Gathering skill, hoping to collect something useful from them. Unfortunately, neither body yielded anything of value. After searching both corpses, he discovered that the two Zombie Vice Leaders had dropped only a single item between them.

—

White Tiger Mercenary Group Medal: A mercenary medal engraved with the image of a white tiger. If you have the time, please return it to Tobias, the leader of the White Tiger Mercenary Group.

—

Marcus examined the medal for a moment before putting it away. At least it was something, and since it belonged to the White Tiger Mercenary Group, returning it to Tobias might prove useful later.

Still, he couldn’t help feeling that the fight had been almost disappointingly easy.

He hadn’t even needed to use his ultimate skill, yet he had already taken down two Golden Bosses with barely any trouble. The sheer difference between his strength and that of his opponents was almost comical.

Marcus grinned as he turned his attention toward the Spider Demoness’s soul, which remained locked in its struggle with Lady Silvia.

There was no point wasting his strongest skill on enemies he could defeat with ordinary attacks. He had always believed in saving his best weapon for the moment it mattered most, and with the two Zombie Vice Leaders out of the way, he could finally focus on the real threat.

The Spider Demoness was next.