"When Bladelight and the others left, they took some Antidotes with them," Guo Huai recalled.
"How many Master Antidotes did they bring with them?" Nie Yan asked. Ordinary Antidotes wouldn't work. Only Master Antidotes were effective.
"Two, I think."
Ever since receiving the Wish Necklace, Quiet Nannan had been concocting Master-rank potions, many of which were Master Antidotes. Although there were still many in storage when Bladelight left, he couldn't bear to bring more than two. These items were far too precious. No one would use them lightly. Besides, in what kind of scenario would they need more?
"Two Master Antidotes is far from enough." Nie Yan shook his head. He had witnessed the might of the Miasma Scorpion King first hand in his past life. Back then, he was following a 1,000-player expedition team. They wiped, with only a lucky few escaping with their lives.
The expedition team comprised 100 players over Level 100 and 900 players at Level 90 or higher. There were no Master-class players. The strongest player was a Level 130 Great Berserker. They had come with a large amount of scrolls and potions. Their preparations were flawless. If even a team like that wiped, Bladelight's group was in a lot of danger.
To defeat the Miasma Scorpion King, Bladelight and the others had to all be at least Level 100!
"How many Master Antidotes do we have left?" Nie Yan asked.
"I think around nine."
Nine was still far from enough! Nie Yan knitted his brows. "Bring them all over. Have them ready at the transfer point!"
"Alright," Guo Huai replied. After retrieving the Antidotes from the Starry Night Potion Shop, he had his people deliver them to the transfer point.
Nie Yan was already waiting there. After putting away the Master Antidotes in his bag, he teleported to Tellak Town, then set off on his Darkwing Dragon.
To get to Poison Valley, most players would have to teleport to Link Town and spend an hour travelling through the wilderness. Nie Yan was taking a shortcut. North of Tellak Town was a vast mountain range. It would take ordinary players at least several days to get from here to Poison Valley. However, the rugged mountainous terrain was of no obstacle to him since he was travelling by air!
With the Darkwing Dragon's speed, Nie Yan would reach his destination in a short few minutes.
...
While Nie Yan was rushing over to Poison Valley, Bladelight, Smoke Stub, and the others were facing off against a giant scorpion.
This large scorpion had a shiny black carapace which had the luster of metal. It looked like a giant tank with a pair of monstrous claws and a long tail with a sharp stinger that curved inward.
It was a Level 110 Lord with 5,000,000 health!
The Miasma Scorpion King was too powerful. Bladelight and the others struggled greatly.
Bladelight and 20 other Fighters surrounded the Miasma Scorpion King. There were already several dozen corpses on the ground. Further back, 600 Mages raised their staffs and bombarded the Miasma Scorpion King with magic. However, every hit only dealt 100-200 damage. Their damage output wasn't much. If it weren't for Bladelight's Level 100 equipment, they would've long since wiped.
About five minutes later, the Miasma Scorpion King's health fell below 25%.
"Quickly, stop it! It's going to use a skill!" Bladelight shouted. Several Thieves rushed forward and struck the Miasma Scorpion King with various crowd control skills. It was immobilized for three seconds but quickly recovered.
"Watch out!" Bladelight shouted.
"It's using Poison Mist again!"
"Paladins, purify it! Hurry!"
The Miasma Scorpion King opened its maw and spat out a black poison mist which started rapidly spreading out.
The nearby Warriors quickly retreated. Bladelight hurriedly drank a Master Antidote. Its effects were quite potent. As for Advanced Antidotes, they had first tried those, but they were completely ineffective.
Bladelight continued to engage the Miasma Scorpion King while the other Warriors hurriedly pulled back.
The poison mist shrouded the Miasma Scorpion King, completely obscuring it from sight. More than 10 Warriors and Thieves couldn't endure the mist's corrosive effects and collapsed on the ground.
Rays of holy light fell over the mist, gradually purifying it.
Three minutes later, the poison mist finally dispersed. When the players saw the Miasma Scorpion King again, they discovered it was back at full health.
The Miasma Scorpion King's health recovered rapidly within the poison mist!
"Fuck!" Bladelight cursed.
After recovering all its health, the Miasma Scorpion King started carrying out a massacre. It swung and snipped with its claws, killing one Warrior after another. Its tail suddenly struck toward Bladelight.
Bladelight grunted and quickly raised his greatshield. With a loud klang, he blocked the stinger.
Bladelight's skin immediately turned a shade of green. His health began rapidly falling. Just as he was about to die, Young Seven, Painted Muslin, and the other Priests quickly healed him back to full.
The expedition team's casualties quickly exceeded 50. Every time they got the Miasma Scorpion King down to 25% health, it would heal back up with the Poison Mist skill.
"We need better crowd control!" Bladelight said in frustration. If they had someone who could keep the Miasma Scorpion King locked down when it was casting Poison Mist, there wouldn't be any problems.
"That's not the issue. Even if we had more powerful crowd control skills, its resistance and evasion is too high," King of the World said. It wasn't like they hadn't given it a try. Four out of every five crowd control skills were resisted, and that was if they landed at all.
"Let's just leave," Smoke Stub suggested. "At this rate, our casualties will only continue to rise. We can't beat it."
"Bladelight, the Scorpions in the back have all respawned. We can't leave!" a Mage further in the back cried out.
Glancing back at the exit, it was filled with hundreds of Scorpions. If they tried to leave, they'd be pincered.
"It looks like we're going to wipe," Bladelight sighed. Even though it wasn't like they hadn't wiped before, it was never a pleasant experience.
"Those of you who have Unknown Transfer Scrolls, leave first."
Out of the 1,000 players in the expedition team, only 30 had Unknown Transfer Scrolls. They were simply too scarce. It was impossible to meet everyone's demands.
At this moment, the Miasma Scorpion King broke through the encirclement of Warriors and collided with the second line of defense. It instantly slaughtered more than 30 Paladins. Asskickers United's forces were slowly being pushed back. A wipe was inevitable.
"Everyone, take off your equipment to lessen your losses as much as possible. It's best if you find somewhere remote to die. That way when you revive, you can teleport back safely."
Bladelight, Smoke Stub, and the others quickly made their preparations. By doing this, they could lessen their losses by at least 50%.
One Paladin after another fell to the Miasma Scorpion King. The splattering blood caused it to enter a berserk state.
...
Nie Yan cruised through the sky on his Darkwing Dragon. Up ahead was a vast ocean of clouds, with only a few mountain peaks poking out.
Nie Yan couldn't seem to find Poison Valley. Searching around, he spotted pitch black clouds in the distance, almost as if they had been dyed in ink. "Over there! I found it!"
He quickly headed over with the Darkwing Dragon, chanting out an incantation at the same time.
Before long, the Darkwing Dragon arrived above the black clouds.
After finishing the chant, the Darkwing Dragon disappeared, recalled back to the pet space. Nie Yan started falling to the ground.
The Darkwing Dragon wouldn't die instantly if it made contact with the poison mist, but it would still be badly poisoned.
Right before falling into the poison mist, Nie Yan drank a Master Antidote.
Passing through the layer of clouds, Nie Yan saw the situation below. Bladelight's expedition team surrounded the Miasma Scorpion King. On the ground were corpses scattered everywhere.
"Watchful Snail said Nirvana Flame is on his way here right now!"
"By the time he arrives, we'll all be dead," Bladelight deeply sighed.
"Look up in the sky!"
Everyone looked up. A figure was rapidly falling from the sky, soon to reach the ground.
"It's the boss! He's here!"
They had already abandoned all thoughts of survival. However, when Nie Yan appeared, their hope was reignited. They had an unwavering faith in him. Perhaps he could reverse the tide!
"That fellow sure is quick. Everyone, listen up! Put your equipment back on. We're going to give it another try!" Bladelight shouted. He charged toward the Miasma Scorpion King and struck out with a Shield Bash. With a loud klang, it was knocked several steps back.
Painted Muslin, Young Seven, and the others quickly topped up Bladelight's health.
The entire team changed their formation and started dealing with the Miasma Scorpion King again in earnest. Over 200 corpses lay scattered on the ground. Thankfully, the damage was still there. The front line also still had more than 100 Warriors left. There wouldn't be any issues for now.
The Mages raised their staffs and bombarded away.
Nie Yan made a rapid descent. Just as he was about to hit the ground, he activated his Featherfall Jewel. With a loud thud, he landed.
−2,133
For the sake of saving time, Nie Yan only activated Featherfall at the very last moment. This kind of fall damage was still well within acceptable limits.
"Arcane Mages and Elementalists, listen up! Use fire magic! Arcane Mages don't use fire magic with a darkness attribute component!" Nie Yan shouted.
"Yes, boss!" All the Arcane Mages and Elementalists replied in unison. Their shouts towered through the skies.
Nie Yan's presence had reinvigorated their morale!