The Great Thief

”Three Bro, what is so hard to understand? The Boss will pressure them.” Fat Monkey quickly understood the situation and smiled as he said, ”If that keeps on the way it is…”

Square Root 3 wasn’t an idiot; he understood and quickly made the arrangements.

As such, the World Announcements were filled with players who were on-lookers of Ruling Sword. They had reached the fifth stage and only had 80 players left. There was also some conversation about what kind of items were going to be dropped.

Then, there was news that Ruling Sword was just about to get the First Clear.

In reality the only requirement of the final stage was stability. They needed to watch the Boss carefully and persevere to the very end. If for example, the commander got impatient after losing a third of his players, the results could be disastrous.

Lu Li didn’t pin much hope on this strange strategy, but it was better than nothing.

”Azure Sea Breeze!”

”Huh? Ahh!”

This seemingly ordinary conversation that would occur in an Instance Dungeon was very strange in this situation, because it came from the mouth of the Boss.

Azure Sea Breeze was at a loss as well. The Headless Paladin had actually shouted out his name. Was this an illusion?

The next thing he heard was a pitiful scream.

According to some records, the Headless Paladin would ride a Spirit Warhorse and led nine other Spirit Paladins around the entire of Azeroth during Halloween. During the tour, he would call the name of a dying man and take away his soul.

If he cried out your name, you were dead.

Azure Sea Breeze found himself in this situation and his HP was immediately depleted.

The players responsible for healing him didn’t even have time to react.

”God of Destiny, pull the Boss. Everyone else, stop what you’re doing!” Lu Li shouted while using a resurrection skill on Azure Sea Breeze.

This was a Druid Resurrect skill, and only required mana to cast.

Lu Li was a Thief, so his skills relied on energy to cast, but that didn’t mean he had no mana – itjust wasn’t shown explicitly. The Tempest Leather Boots he was wearing gave him 10 points for every attribute, which included 10 points of intelligence.

There was no one near Azure Sea Breeze who was free enough to Resurrect him, but once revived he ran straight back into battle.

God of Fate could only tank it for a while and almost died in that short time.

They couldn’t see the level of this Headless Paladin, but was definitely not a low level.

Under normal circumstances, five tanks taking turns should have been sufficient. When there was some immediate danger, they could all cast their damage reduction skills.

This was how the big guilds did it, but Ruling Sword was different. Azure Sea Breeze was level 31 and had several Gold equipment equipped, as well as many Silver equipment that had exquisite properties. He was in an entirely different league when compared to the other Main Tanks.

Not to mention, he also had more Skill Points. For a Main Tank, the value of Skill Points was immeasurable.

Azure Sea Breeze was back at the Boss and the little crisis had been averted. Lu Li calmed down and went back to managing the players, not feeling any sense of urgency for this First Clear at all.

”Peerless City got wiped,” Square Root 3 said happily.

”Under what circumstances?” Lu Li didn’t wait for a response before he rearranged some of the offensive groups. They were crowded too close to the melee groups, and that could end in disaster…

”The specifics aren’t clear. They didn’t know how to engage the Boss, but it suddenly performed a large sweep, returned to 20% HP and went back to Stage 4. The Boss flew back up again, haha…”

Lu Li understood one thing particularly clearly – that was the Stage 5 Boss’ big move.

The Headless Paladin would deal a thousand damage to all enemies within three yards and regenerate the amount of damage dealt. However, the regeneration was capped at 20% HP.

The number of melee players around it were way too high. With that kind of regeneration…

”All melee players, pull back. Ranged players, continue to fight. Memories, cast Bloodthirst,” Lu Li quickly instructed, refusing to make the same mistake as Peerless City.

Not long after the melee players were pulled back, the Ruling Sword members saw the Boss’ big move.

It really was a 360-degree sweep. Unfortunately, the only person he hit was Azure Sea Breeze, but the 1000HP that it regenerated couldn’t be dealt with by the ranged players alone.

”What about the second group? Didn’t they have another group in the fifth stage?” Lu Li asked.

”They haven’t been wiped. I wonder why/” Square Root 3 was a little worried.

”That’s fine. The First Clear of the Headless Paladin doesn’t affect its drops. We’ll let them gain a little ground in the overall race. Everyone, stay calm and take it slow. Melee players move up,” Lu Li encouraged.

This stage of the Boss required melee players to complete. The Undead Paladin’s defense was too high and Magic professions could only deal double-digit damage.

Lu Li’s conservative movements of the players was a bit of a waste. After moving the melee players back and forth, and taking into consideration the Boss’ HP regen, they had only dealt 10,000 damage after three minutes of fighting.

The Boss still had 16% HP remaining.

Everyone felt like Lu Li really was going to give up this First Clear, otherwise, he wouldn’t be dawdling like this.

”When your Druid’s Resurrect is ready, revive a Shaman. Anyone who is running out of mana, type ‘1’ into the chat.” Lu Li was really playing the long game. He had calculated it and felt that the remaining heals weren’t enough.

”Lu Li…” Square Root 3 was becoming increasingly anxious.

”Calm down. Safety first.” Lu Li was like a meditating monk and didn’t take on any of Square Root 3’s anxiety.

He could play a little more boldly, but the risk would also be greater. If the Boss regenerated too much HP, or if they lost too many players, then they really would have to start again.

”There are quite a few other guilds who have made it into the fifth stage as well,” Square Root 3 muttered.

There were groups constantly being wiped and other groups constantly entering the fifth stage…

13%, 11%, 10%...

”My head? Where did my head go?”

The Headless Paladin clutched his head and suddenly remembered that he was missing his head.

”Melee players, leave the Boss and run 8 yards away!” Lu Li clutched his hands and was sweating as he stared at this scene.

”Heads, come!” The Headless Paladin waved his hand and four players’ heads flew up. It was just a visual effect, but it scared some of the other players silly. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have nightmares tonight.

The players that had lost their heads naturally all died.

Fortunately, the removed heads started to burn, which caught everyone’s attention and snapped them back into action.

”Each tank will pull a skull in a different direction. Melee players, attack the skull and ranged players, attack the Boss!” Lu Li shouted as he slightly retreated.

This part was something he had never personally experienced before, so all of the strategy from this point onwards was purely theoretical.