Gu Xiang strode forward, swinging his greatsword in a horizontal arc.
His bronze greatsword had enchantment effects, and a fierce flame erupted along the blade, directly bisecting three decaying zombies.
One-shot kill!
Gu Xiang was a high-level swordsman, his strength completely overwhelming the decaying zombies. Killing these low-level elite monsters was as easy as cutting vegetables.
Another knight also joined the fray, wielding a shield in one hand and a spear in the other, directly using the knight's [Charge] skill to push back the three lead decaying zombies.
However, he didn't have Gu Xiang's high attack power, so after pushing the decaying zombies back, his spear strike, while injuring them, couldn't instantly slay them.
At this moment, the archers and mages in the back also unleashed their attacks, with spiraling arrows and fireballs accurately bombarding the decaying zombies.
As elite monsters, the decaying zombies' attributes weren't bad, but facing attacks from job changers higher in level, they had no way to withstand it.
In addition to Gu Xiang, the mages, and archers' damage output, Qiu Qiu also joined the fray.
Qiu Qiu chanted an incantation, waving her staff, causing white fireballs the size of fists to appear in the air, raining down upon them.
To Lufan's surprise, these white fireballs didn't discriminate between friend and foe, even enveloping Gu Xiang and the knight.
Strangely, while the white fireballs inflicted massive damage on the decaying zombies, Gu Xiang and the knight were unaffected, continuing to slash away.
Noticing Lufan's puzzlement, the nearby Qiu Qiu explained as she cast spells, "This is the specialty of my class, combining healing and damage output."
"My skills can not only harm enemies, but also restore my teammates' conditions. Of course, compared to true mages, my damage is a bit lower, and my healing is also slightly lacking compared to priests."
"I see…" Lufan nodded.
It seemed Qiu Qiu's hidden class was a combination of mage and priest.
While both her damage output and healing were slightly lacking compared to pure specialists, she made up for it with her balance.
With just Qiu Qiu in the team, she could fill the roles of two people.
And as she leveled up and gained more powerful skills, in large-scale battles, a single skill from her could potentially turn the tide.
Soon, the first wave of monsters was easily defeated by the group.
Lufan checked the damage statistics, and as expected, Gu Xiang, the highest-level swordsman, had the highest damage output, ranking first.
While Qiu Qiu's damage wasn't as high as the other mages and archers, her healing output was also astounding.
The two data points combined placed her firmly in second place, only about one-tenth less than Gu Xiang.
The team's mages and archers followed after.
Lufan and Cai'er had been in the second line protecting the rear, so they hadn't had a chance to attack, with their damage output at zero.
After all the decaying zombies were cleared, Gu Xiang casually pulled a piece of leather from his item bag, wiping the sticky, foul-smelling black blood off his greatsword, then said to the group, "Everyone, stay focused. That was just the appetizer, we still have over a thousand monsters to kill!"
The others understood, not showing the slightest bit of slackness, following Gu Xiang and the other knight as they continued advancing towards the Despairing Village.
Of course, Lufan didn't want to just drift along, even though with eight people in the secret realm, the others killing monsters would also give him and his pet Night experience. Lufan wanted to contribute some damage and earn the rewards for clearing the secret realm.
So he quickened his pace, joining the front line, clearly intending to be the main tank.
Gu Xiang glanced sideways at Lufan but didn't say anything.
He was actually curious to see how powerful Lufan's hidden class was, to allow him to level up alone in the depths of the Stone Mountain Plains.
The group advanced another two hundred meters, and the outline of the Despairing Village became clearer.
It was a small, dilapidated village, the houses built of mud and brick, pitch black inside, but they could clearly hear mournful wails and roars, indicating countless monsters lurked within.
Seemingly alerted by the group's movements, a series of spine-chilling howls rang out, and the doors of several houses on the village outskirts were smashed open, as a tide of zombies rushed out, far more numerous than the previous wave!
Lufan also noticed that among the decaying zombies, there were a significant number of a different type of monster - Bloodied Zombies.
Bloodied Zombie: (Elite, aggressive type)
Level: 20
Strength: 71
Agility: 82
Spirit: 34
Endurance: 50
Skills: Corpse Toxin (claws and teeth carry corpse toxin, can cause continuous bleeding in enemies, and turn them into bloodied zombies upon death)
Cling and Tear (grabs and tears at enemies)
Bloody Frenzy (enters a berserk state, increasing Strength and Agility by 40%)