The layout of the Goblin camp became increasingly compact toward the center, where the density of monsters escalated.
Initially, upon entry, you could clear a single Goblin squad at a time, but after delving dozens of meters in, it was common to lure two Goblin squads simultaneously.
Fortunately, with the augmentation in both numbers and combat power of a Level 3 Skeleton Army, handling two squads at once was completely manageable.
With 10 Shield Combat Skeletons at the front, the damage sustained was significantly reduced, robust enough to withstand the attack of a Goblin warrior for 5 rounds without shattering.
A volley from 25 Crossbow Skeletons could terminate a Goblin soldier in two rounds.
Often by the time the Goblin warriors realized something was amiss and attempted to strategically flee, they would find themselves encircled by a horde of Shield Combat Skeletons, with not a single gap to escape through, ultimately succumbing to a barrage of arrows piercing their hearts.
By the time Zi Liyuan reached the center of the Goblin camp and laid eyes on the boss chamber constructed of stones and lumber, his level had already reached Level 13 (1500/50,000).
It had to be said, a rare dungeon was indeed rare, with monsters offering high experience and dense populations—it all depended on whether you were strong enough to clear out all the monsters.
With the Skeleton Army at his disposal, Zi Liyuan was confident, simply bulldozing his way through.
Peering into the boss room from afar, Zi Liyuan began to adjust his troop configuration.
Facing a large Goblin boss flanked by 8 Goblin warriors posed a considerable challenge—if there were too few Shield Combat Skeletons, the enemy could potentially break through and wipe out the entire group.
Life is precious, and one must learn to cherish it. Thus, Zi Liyuan's mind raced as he calculated how to maximize his Skeleton Army's offense and endurance.
Although the boss's detailed attributes were momentarily unseeable, the attributes of the Goblin warriors, having fought so many, were fully transparent.
With 400 health and 12 defense, it would take three rounds to defeat one, meaning that each round required damage output exceeding 134 points, necessitating 20 Crossbow Skeletons firing simultaneously.
Zi Liyuan immediately disbanded a few Crossbow Skeletons and substituted them with Shield Combat Skeletons.
Now with 38 points in Spirit attributes, he can command 38 skeletons and summon 18 Shield Combat Skeletons.
18 vs. 9, holding down the boss and its guards for six rounds would be no problem.
After calculating, once Zi Liyuan had tweaked his condition to its peak, with a grand gesture, 18 Shield Combat Skeletons charged forward.
Three engaged the large Goblin boss while the remaining 15 encircled the 8 Goblin warriors; simultaneously, 20 Crossbow Skeletons initiated their coordinated assault.
[Large Goblin (Rare BOSS)]
[Level]: Level 20
[Attributes]: Physical Damage 60, Physical Defense 20, Health 5000.
[Skills]: Double Strike, Heavy Hit, Cleave, Bloodthirsty Fury
[Combat Power]: 99
As the battle commenced, the boss's information appeared before Zi Liyuan's eyes. In the very moment the information revealed itself, he witnessed one of his Shield Combat Skeletons shatter into pieces.
The foe had delivered a normal attack followed by a Heavy Hit, instantly obliterating the Shield Combat Skeleton with 140 health points.
Then, causing Zi Liyuan's heart to tighten further, after nearly one-shotting a Shield Combat Skeleton, the boss fluidly executed a Double Strike on another one.
At the end of the skill's animation, the boss's unremarkable basic attack once again shattered another Shield Combat Skeleton.
Within less than 5 seconds of starting, two Shield Combat Skeletons had been reduced to fragments, nearly collapsing Zi Liyuan's battle plan.
Zi Liyuan, without missing a beat, quickly redirected two more Shield Combat Skeletons to surround the boss.
But plans couldn't keep up with the rapid changes.
Just as the two redirected Shield Combat Skeletons arrived by the BOSS's side, the opponent swept his greatsword, using Cleave instantly.
With a crisp "crack", the Shield Combat Skeleton that was in front was shattered into pieces, the two arriving Shield Combat Skeletons also suffered heavy damage, their health points dropping by 50 in an instant.
Skill combination with basic attack output equated to instant killing of Shield Combat Skeletons.
Even if the Shield Combat Skeletons successfully blocked with their shields, it was to no avail, for the Bone Shields simply couldn't withstand the BOSS's skill attacks and shattered upon contact.
The only good news was that the BOSS's attack interval was relatively slow, basically taking 2.5 seconds to deliver a basic attack damage; as for the cooldown of the skills, further observation was needed.
Zi Liyuan gripped the Magic Wand and immediately summoned three Shield Combat Skeletons to continue swarming and attacking the BOSS, pulling its aggro, while simultaneously commanding the Crossbow Skeleton squadron to focus fire on the Goblin Warriors.
This time, the strategy was to clear the minions first, then surround and attack the BOSS.
9 seconds into the battle, the third volley from the crossbows, the first Goblin Warrior died, allowing for two Shield Combat Skeletons to be reassigned to join the encirclement of the BOSS.
During the fight, except for the start where the BOSS's skill combined with a basic attack caught Zi Liyuan off guard, he maintained control of the situation from then on.
After all eight Goblin Warriors had perished, the Skeleton Army's configuration was also adjusted.
Eight Shield Combat Skeletons split into two squads, taking turns to besiege the BOSS, with Zi Liyuan continuously replenishing the number of shattered skeletons.
The remaining 30 Crossbow Skeletons stood at the farthest distance to output damage.
A 5000-health BOSS with 20 Physical Defense had three stacks of Sunder Armor applied, a single arrow from a Crossbow Skeleton could only inflict 2 points of damage, and a volley of 30 would only yield 60 points of damage.
Whittling down the BOSS was a lengthy process but thankfully not dangerous, until the BOSS's health dropped to 20%, activating its final skill, "Bloodthirsty Fury".
A layer of blood-red glow enveloped the entire body of the large Goblin and then the already over two meters tall muscle BOSS suddenly swelled to three meters, his muscles as solid as chunks of iron.
It wasn't just the change in size, even the attack power increased exponentially.
Previously, a basic attack couldn't shatter the Shield Combat Skeleton's shield; now just a basic attack could burst it, and a single sword strike would evaporate 80 points from the Shield Combat Skeleton's health, neatly taking out a skeleton with two swings.
Not to mention, a skeleton would be taken out with a single use of a skill.
Especially Cleave, which previously couldn't one-shot a Shield Combat Skeleton, now had such boosted power that it too could instantly kill.
This one skill could sweep a 180° range, meaning it could instantly take out three skeletons.
Luckily, from the very beginning, Zi Liyuan had been closely watching the BOSS's movements and as soon as the skill burst began, he started continuously summoning Shield Combat Skeletons.
With the Level 3 Summon Skeleton, he could summon four at once, fully capable of replenishing the destruction wrought by the BOSS at a swift pace.
What most frustrated Zi Liyuan was the assumption that the BOSS's amplifying skill corresponded to a burst mode, which would weaken after a certain point in time.
Unexpectedly, this skill didn't have any weakening phase; from the moment the BOSS's health decreased to 20%, the skill was activated and continued until the Skeleton Army shot the BOSS down, with the skill effect persisting throughout.
[Killed Big Goblin (Level 20, Rare BOSS), experience +5000]
[Acquired equipment: Bloodthirsty Greatsword (Blue) x1, Goblin Leather Armor (Green) x1, Goblin Mace (White) x4]
[Acquired materials: Goblin Skeleton (Blue) x1, Blood of the Big Goblin (Green) x4, Bloodthirsty Fruit (White) x10]
Having completely exploited the BOSS's remaining value with the drop, this aspect was still very satisfying to Zi Liyuan.