Chapter 255 - Holy Knight
Li Zhe seethed with rage, having realized Han Wu was encircling his territory with low-ranking towers, purposefully positioning them just beyond his towers’ attack range! Having exhausted all his Energy, Li Zhe was now powerless to prevent Han Wu from claiming the remainder of his territory.
Ultimately, Li Zhe was left with a mere 600 square kilometers of land, not nearly enough to get any Energy. Unless a miracle happened, Li Zhe would remain trapped, awaiting the inevitable moment when Han Wu gained enough power to eradicate his remaining forces and eliminate him.
“You spineless bastard! Come here and face me like a man!” he shrieked. Han Wu, of course, ignored the shallow taunt.
“Sorry, senior, but it’s really not your place to call me spineless,” Han Wu retorted, a light chuckle escaping him as he openly taunted Li Zhe. “Just stay put. You never know, you just might be able to find a way out.”
With those words, he turned and left, ignoring Li Zhe’s stream of angry curses and insults, and proceeded to check on his own territory.
After successfully trapping Li Zhe within the small piece of land, Han Wu’s territory swelled to an impressive 53,802 square kilometers, generating 5.3 Energy per second. At that rate, he could construct a single Locust Tower with his passive Energy gain alone every 19 seconds.
However, as his territory expanded, Han Wu had to face even more opponents. Thankfully, few of the representatives of the God King of Death were as greedy as Li Zhe; most were friendly, so Han Wu wasn’t attacked.
The representatives of the God King of Life, however, targeted Han Wu as their next major opponent and many of their troops to invade his territory. In response, he quickly erected towers to defend against them, and though he occasionally failed in his defense, he managed to hold them off most of the time.
With his territory steadily increasing, Han Wu had barely defeated another representative from Life’s faction when a notification chimed in his mind.
[Your territory has made contact with the territory of a representative personally endorsed by the God King of Life. If you can defeat this representative, your outstanding merit will surely be recognized by the God King of Death.]
After reading the message, Han Wu’s gaze swept over his territory. He glanced to one side and confirmed that his territory’s boundary had indeed made contact with the territory of another representative from the opposing faction, just as the notification stated.
The fog blanketing the territory was noticeably purer and holier than any he had encountered before, and he instinctively recognized it as his next objective. He also sensed that the opposing side had likely received a similar notification regarding him.
Just as he suspected, a troop of soldiers burst forth from the swirling white fog, storming into his territory. They were clad in gleaming silver armor and rode majestic war horses, their thundering hooves shaking the earth beneath them. Without a moment’s delay, he quickly began to inspect their data.
[Holy Knight (Unique)
HP: 3,000
Attack: 300–800
Defense: 600
Attack Method: Sacred Orb, Sacred Stab
Range:
1. Sacred Orb – 500 meters
2. Sacred Stab – 3 meters
Attack Rate: 1 second
Movement speed: 500 km/h
Skills: Sacred Recovery – Recovers 10% max HP per second upon activation. Lasts 20 seconds.]
Their powerful stats filled Han Wu with dread. The invading forces not only possessed an extensive attack range and powerful melee attacks, but they were also equipped with a terrifying skill that enabled them to rapidly recover their HP, making them incredibly difficult to eliminate.
Moreover, their defenses were exceptionally high. Almost none of Han Wu’s existing towers possessed the capability to deal more than 600 damage, and even his most powerful Epistian Tower, when charged to the max, could deal just 1,000 damage. Against the Holy Knights’ formidable defenses, this attack would ultimately result in a mere 400 damage. To make matters worse, the Holy Knights were more than capable of healing themselves with their rapid recovery skills immediately afterward, negating any damage dealt.
Still stunned, he watched as the Holy Knights reached his Giant Dark Cursed Bug Tower. They completely ignored the Shadow Nails raining down on them from above, focusing instead on plunging their lances deep into the towering structure.
The Giant Dark Cursed Bug Tower, with its 100 Defense, was no match for the Holy Knights, whose attacks dealt a raw 800 damage. Each successful lance strike inflicted a massive 700 damage, allowing them to obliterate the tower in just twelve hits. Having completed their objective, the Holy Knights swiftly changed their course to target the next tower in their path.
The loss of the Giant Dark Cursed Bug Tower sent a jolt of pain through Han Wu, and his heart bled at the sight of its destruction. A Heroic tower that had cost him a massive 10,000 Energy to build was obliterated in an instant! Overcome with rage, he let out a furious roar, “Epistian Tower, eliminate them!”
The Epistian Tower immediately responded to his command, beginning to charge its attack. A massive fireball with 1,000 Attack then erupted right in the center of the Holy Knights. However, just as he had expected, the Holy Knights activated their recovery skill and were fully healed in just two seconds. Undeterred, they pressed on, moving towards Han Wu’s next tower.
Han Wu found himself in quite the difficult situation. To prevent the loss of too many of his towers, he made a quick decision: he chose to merge the tower that was directly in the path of the Holy Knights with another one. Without a target to attack, the Holy Knights, though disoriented for a moment, charged toward the nearest tower.
Han Wu was able to use this method to stall for time. However, it was a temporary solution, and he needed to find a way to defeat the Holy Knights as soon as possible.
The Holy Knights soon penetrated the deeper layers of Han Wu’s territory. Just as another of his towers vanished from their sight, they spotted a nearby group of towers that seemed to belong to another representative from Death’s faction. However, as units aligned with Life’s faction, they had no reservations about attacking the forces of the opposing faction, regardless of who they belonged to.
Seated quietly within his small, encircled territory, Li Zhe was completely caught off guard. He had been so engrossed in trying to figure out a way to escape his current predicament that he was unprepared for the sudden assault. He was also taken aback by the Holy Knights’ incredibly high defenses.
All 74 of his Azure-Eye Tiger Towers launched a coordinated assault, but their attacks failed to inflict a single meaningful hit on the invaders. The only damage came from his two Unique Azure-Eye Black Tiger Towers, which were just barely able to make a dent in the enemy’s defenses.
The Holy Knights once again activated their recovery skill, and in an instant, they were completely healed from their injuries. They then resumed their attacks, raining down a barrage of powerful blows upon Li Zhe’s towers. He was completely outmatched, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to save his remaining forces.
In the end, his two Unique Azure-Eye Black Tiger Towers unleashed their most powerful attacks, managing to kill only four of the Holy Knights before they, too, were completely destroyed. With all of his towers now gone, Li Zhe’s territory size plummeted to zero, and he was officially disqualified from continuing the match.
However, rather than aiming his hatred at the Holy Knights who had destroyed his forces or their owner, his fury was redirected entirely toward Han Wu. “Han Wu, you despicable bastard! You used an outsider to finish me off? I’ll get my reven—”
Li Zhe, however, did not have the chance to finish his sentence, as his body was forcefully removed from the chessboard; he had finally been eliminated.
Han Wu overheard his frustrated shouts and felt wronged. After all, he genuinely had no idea who was controlling the Holy Knights or why their forces were so incredibly powerful—he certainly hadn’t colluded with them just to eliminate Li Zhe. On the bright side, the annoying senior had inadvertently bought him enough time to finally construct and merge 10 Giant Dark Cursed Bug Towers.
After the merge, he was given two choices for a new tower:
[Mega Dark Cursed Bug Tower]
[Dark Locustman Lord Tower]
He was unable to determine which option was more powerful based on their names alone, but time was a luxury he didn’t have. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and made a quick gamble, ultimately selecting the Dark Locustman Lord Tower.