The Great Thief
chapter-729

The two-man team quickly expanded to a dozen people. They rode their mounts and charged out from Night City.

After level 35, players would be able to purchase the most-basic mounts from each main city. However, the drop rate of the basic mount skill book was significantly lower. Sesame Rice Ball was a rich player, so he bought one himself.

Each of the players from Ruling Sword who had entered the Night Watchmen had their own mounts. This was the benefit that came from joining a small faction.

The dozen of them charged into the night and headed North-east for a while as they had been suggested. They soon saw the few simple houses that were covered by the bushes.

"What monsters are in this area?" Lu Li asked a Paladin beside him as he sat on his Headless Warhorse.

"Boss, Ghouls refresh in this area, but they aren't stronger than most level 45 monsters. We should be able to handle them," the Paladin said, then hesitated before adding, "But, intel from the Night Watchmen have suggested that reinforcements may be arriving. The Scourge army was bound to reach Night City."

"Looks like we need to put in more effort then. Prepare for battle!" Lu Li shouted decisively. He never underestimated his enemies.

Dawn was famous for the uncertainty of its quests. From how the game quests usually ran, the difficulty would most likely increase because of the number of players contributing.

The two Defense Paladins quickly changed equipped their Shields.

Paladins were an all-rounder class – they could heal, tank and deal damage. It was easy for them to blend into any formation.

In many of the Western games, Ghouls were a classic, Undead type of monster, and this was no exception in Dawn. The structure of the Scourge Army mostly consisted of common Undead creatures such as Ghouls and Stitches. The Cursed Church and Undead Knights were rarer.

One of the signature moves of the Undead Knights was to summon Ghouls.

Overall, Ghouls were much easier to deal with. They had two common skills – Stealth Detection and Plague – which had no use at all on Paladins. Lu Li barely even had to move a finger as all of them died to the holy skills of a dozen Paladins.

Then, Lu Li saw the most climatic thing he would see today – Stalvan, or more precisely, the transformed Stalvan.

At this point, you could no longer see the elegance of a tutor in him anymore; he had transformed himself into an Abomination.

Abominations were formed from various broken body parts. These filthy monsters tore their enemies apart, then chose the parts that they liked and glue them onto themselves. Their mangled bodies of mismatched organs would drip with blood and reek of a foul, decaying smell.

Abominations had always been the middle-tier soldiers of the Scourge Army. The Ghouls only thought about their stomachs and refused to move at all until their appetites had been filled, while the Crypt Fiends were more passionate about how they tortured their prey. Abominations had no thoughts of their own; they only obeyed their master's commands, which made them the perfect machines for war. Hence, the Mages from the Scourge Army had been constantly trying to perfect this kind of monster.

The Abomination that appeared before Lu Li and the others was around three meters tall.

"Should we ask for reinforcements?" one of the Paladins asked Lu Li.

"No need; this is only a semi-boss. At the very most, it's just higher-leveled," Lu Li concluded after studying the monster.

Without the dark magic support from Kel'Thuzad, Stalvan was only just a semi-boss. The only intimidating thing about him was the fact that his style was very exaggerated. However, all the previous scenes of gore that the players had seen were nothing compared to him.

"Fearless!"

As the Defense Paladins struck their shields heavily with their swords, a ring of visible light began to expand.

Even Lu Li received the buff – Attack +5%, Critical Strike +5%, Bonus 10% damage dealt to dark-type monsters. This was a very powerful buff.

"Stalvan Mistmantle, do you repent for your sins?" Lu Li asked as he smeared some poison onto his dagger. The effects of the poison were average towards Undead creatures, but it was better the nothing. The prices for poison had reduced anyway; it didn't cost him much.

"Who are you people? I have nothing to do with you," Stalvan said as he looked at the bodies of the Ghouls that lay around in the area with a twisted expression.

"Stalvan, in the name of the holy light, you shall receive the judgment of the Night Watchmen!" one of the Paladins behind Lu Li shouted.

This player had become so indulged in the game that he thought he was actually in the situation.

"Judgement? Why aren't those noblemen judged? Why hasn't Isara been judged? The crimes that she has committed are way worse than murder; she has destroyed me from the depths of my heart! When has the holy light ever displayed true justice?" Stalvan cried out.

"Stalvan, you're a joke. It was a one-sided situation," Lu Li said, trying to aggravate the semi-boss. "There's no way that Tilloa would ever like you, an old and dumb tutor..." he laughed mockingly.

All of these insults cut deeply into Stalvan's heart.

There was nothing wrong with love.

The story behind Stalvan was linked with plenty of people and events from real life. When the love that you gave was not reciprocated, the emptiness in your heart would gradually extend. Stalvan, who ended up alone, was eventually devoured by this loneliness.

How did Tilloa actually feel towards Stalvan?

Lu Li thought she held a certain amount of responsibility towards this tragedy. Perhaps it was the pride of a young girl - she wanted to feel superior by being popular, so in the game, she led her tutor on.

"No, she loved me. She betrayed me because I'm not a nobility. You're all dogs of the nobility; you should all die. Come and join me – we shall form a stronger existence together. The flames of the Scourge shall burn through the sky..." Stalvan rambled on as he waved the chains in his left hand in a crazed manner.

"Boss, I feel like he's going to go berserk," one of the Paladins commented in a worried tone.

"Yep, that's exactly what we want. A coherent Abomination is too hard to kill."

There was quite a few Abominations in the Plaguelands, but they were all elite models. Despite this, there were barely any players who would cross them.

The one before their eyes was a semi-boss, which meant that it was even harder to deal with.

Lu Li combated the weak point of Abominations, which was their slow movement speed, by playing through his mobility. Although most of the players here were melee, the Abomination was a gigantic size. It was rather difficult for it to turn its body around. This made it easy for the players to attack and quickly dodge the Abomination after their attack.

The battle began, and Stalvan, who had gone into berserk mode, had really high damage. However, all the players here were Paladins with plate armor, so he wasn't capable of instantly killing anyone.

As long as you weren't killed immediately and retreated after you had been attacked, would be able to join the group battle again when you recovered.