Chapter 24: Burning, the Red-Robed Priest Who Sacrifices Life

"Holy crap! Twenty-eight thousand damage!" Lin Yuan exclaimed.

"How is that even possible? Isn't the Nightmare Sovereign a summon Gu Chen just contracted? How is it even more ferocious than the Vampire Lord?"

Watching the Crimson Priest’s health bar drop by more than half, he completely lost his composure.

"With damage like that, as long as it’s not targeting a boss, everything else is a one-shot kill," Lin Qingqing said, her face full of astonishment.

"The Crimson Priest has 72,000 HP; it seems like it’s not even enough for the Nightmare Sovereign to chew through..." Wu Ziyi felt equally incredulous.

The four people inside the dreamscape were all in disbelief, wearing expressions as if they had seen a ghost. A newly promoted Summoner had just dealt 28,000 damage with a summoned beast! If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed such an absurd thing could happen.

"ROAR!"

Having suffered heavy damage, the Crimson Priest erupted with terrifying power. Over a dozen skeletal wraiths swirled around it, letting out blood-curdling screams as they flew toward the Nightmare Sovereign.

At that exact moment, the Vampire Lord suddenly launched an assault. A barrage of bullets whistled through the air, striking the Crimson Priest square in the head.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A massive burst of damage erupted at the center of its brow, instantly stunning the Crimson Priest. The skeletal wraiths charging at the Nightmare Sovereign suddenly stalled, losing control, and began flying about like headless flies, crashing into the surrounding walls and sculptures.

For an elite monster like the Crimson Priest, the stun duration was only one second. However, for the current battle, that was more than enough.

[Deep Dreamscape]

The Nightmare Sovereign didn't hesitate, immediately unleashing its most powerful skill. Centered on the Crimson Priest, it wove the surrounding area into a Deep Dreamscape.

Caught within the Deep Dreamscape, the Crimson Priest let out a painful roar. Its form stretched, flattened, twisted, and dismantled as if it were made of modeling clay. Every second, it suffered massive damage inflicted by the Deep Dreamscape. Its health began to drop—though not as instantly as the 40% loss from before, it was steady, continuous, and descending at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"ROAR!"

The Crimson Priest snapped out of the stun and scrambled frantically, trying to escape the Deep Dreamscape. But how could the Vampire Lord miss such an opportunity? Even though it was also inside the Deep Dreamscape, the Vampire Lord was completely unaffected. It flickered, reappearing in a perfect shooting position.

[Deadly Shot], activated!

A streak of silver bullets whistled like lightning. The Crimson Priest’s health plummeted, instantly shedding another 24,000 HP.

"..."

Lin Yuan and the others felt their eyelids twitch; they were rendered completely speechless. It wasn't just silence; their entire worldview had been overturned. The Nightmare Sovereign dealt 28,000 damage, and the Vampire Lord dealt 24,000—what was going on? Was the damage of summoned beasts now measured in the "tens of thousands"? Weren't civilians told that choosing Summoner was a dead end? Why was Gu Chen so monstrous? Could it be that Summoner was actually the strongest class for civilians? Had the world been lying to them?

The four looked at each other, their expressions complex.

"Is this a Level 8 professional? Which Level 8 professional can dish out 20,000 damage?"

"Not 20,000. It's 24,000. The leftover fraction you ignored is enough to kill you several times over."

"..."

"If he goes to the academy entrance exam, what does the Shangjing Academy even count for?"

"Not necessarily." Wu Ziyi suddenly spoke up, not entirely agreeing with that sentiment. "Dungeon monsters have aggro mechanics, so they’ll keep attacking the summoned beasts. But in a normal situation, how would one fight a Summoner?"

"Kill the Summoner first!" Lin Qingqing interjected.

"Exactly. In a fight against a Summoner, you kill the Summoner first. If this were a real exam, as long as the attack target is set on Gu Chen, the battle could be resolved easily. At the end of the day, he is just a Level 8 novice professional."

Lin Yuan let out a soft scoff and laughed dismissively. "So, what makes you think you could get past the Vampire Lord and the Nightmare Sovereign to reach Gu Chen and kill him?"

"Just find a tank teammate to lure the summoned beasts away."

"Then here’s the question: what kind of tank could withstand 24,000 damage per second? If I gave you a full set of epic-tier defensive gear, could you take it?"

Wu Ziyi turned his face away and went silent. Lin Yuan gave a snide smile and said nothing more. There were always people who thought they could do it themselves if they were in that position; it was an illness that needed curing.

In the center of the sanctuary, the Vampire Lord’s dual guns spat tongues of fire. Wave after wave of damage was dealt. The Crimson Priest was trapped in the Deep Dreamscape, its health dropping rapidly. Soon, the battle neared its end, with the Crimson Priest’s HP reduced to around 10%.

Just as the Vampire Lord prepared to order the vampire guards to swarm in and self-destruct, a terrifying wave of energy swept across the area, forcing the Vampire Lord to retreat repeatedly.

"ROAR!"

A strong aura of evil rose around the Crimson Priest. Its crimson robes suddenly fluttered without wind, the color turning as vivid as fresh blood. In an instant, its aura surged, and it actually broke free from the restraints of the Deep Dreamscape.

The Crimson Priest rose into the air, extended five fingers toward the Vampire Lord, and gripped the air. In a flash, countless dark purple wraiths surrounded the Vampire Lord, crazily eroding its body.

"AAHH—"

Pain etched across the Vampire Lord's face. Its entire body was corroded by a intense, blinding light, dissolving at a speed visible to the naked eye. Its health bar plummeted instantly, dropping over 3,000 HP in one go.

Gu Chen’s eyes narrowed. He immediately ordered the Vampire Lord to withdraw from the center of the battle, while the vampire guards rushed in to draw aggro. One had to realize that the Vampire Lord only had a little over 10,000 HP; if the Crimson Priest raised its hand and took 3,000 HP just like that, two more strikes would surely finish the Vampire Lord off.

A dozen vampire guards rushed forward, but they couldn't even reach the Crimson Priest before being held in place by an invisible force. Following that, the Crimson Priest let out a shrill roar, and the robes on its body fluttered, igniting like flames. The controlled vampire guards surrounding it caught fire as well, turning to dust amidst a blinding glare. That light seemed to be summoned, flying toward the Crimson Priest and being absorbed into its body.

*Sizzle—*

Bathed in the piercing light, the Crimson Priest looked like a god reborn from the flames. Its once hunched and diminutive figure became tall and upright; its scrawny limbs became strong and powerful. The 10% health it had left surged instantly to 60%.

It had been reborn, and it was stronger than ever!

"This is the Crimson Priest's skill, Life Sacrifice!" Gu Chen’s expression shifted slightly, and he ordered the remaining vampire guards to retreat immediately. When the Crimson Priest’s health dropped below 10%, it would sacrifice itself and everything around it to recover its state and double its damage. In this state, the Crimson Priest would also continuously trigger [Echoes of Death], a domain-like skill. As long as one was within the range of the Echoes of Death, they would suffer extremely high critical damage, causing the health of any hostile unit to plummet like a cliff.

The Crimson Priest let out a earth-shaking roar and dashed directly into the group of retreating vampire guards. Immediately after, countless wraiths centered on it and struck out at the surrounding guards.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The vampire guards hit by the wraiths didn't even have a chance to scream before they were instantly corroded into piles of dry bones. In the blink of an eye, the remaining twenty-plus vampire guards were all killed.

The vampire descendants were completely wiped out!