Chapter 30: Gu Chen Isn’t Strong—His Summoned Beast Is

Auras of death emanated from the Fallen Witch as her feet slowly lifted from the ground. She soared forward, targeting the Nightmare Sovereign.

The Nightmare Sovereign was currently occupied, casting "Nightmare Entrapment" to hold off over a dozen black-robed deacons, preventing them from coming to her aid. In the Witch’s eyes, she had to eliminate the Nightmare Sovereign first to consolidate more power.

"Don't let her through!" Gu Chen shouted. Having immediately grasped the Fallen Witch's intent, he ordered the vampire deacons to intercept.

The vampire deacons swarmed forward, attempting to block her path. However, the Fallen Witch remained unmoved, merely flicking her wrist with a casual, dismissive gesture to trigger a skill.

A wave of energy brimming with deathly aura washed over the area. As the vampire deacons were struck, their health bars plummeted to zero instantly; their skin and flesh dissolved like melting snow, and in the blink of an eye, they were reduced to piles of skeletal remains shrouded in black mist.

Skill: [Apoptosis]

Having already drained over four thousand health from the Vampire Overlord in a single breath earlier, this strike now instantly killed five vampire deacons. The Fallen Witch didn't even spare them a glance, as if she had merely crushed a few ants, and continued her flight toward the Nightmare Sovereign.

Yet, just then, five dark shadows appeared around her like ghosts.

The Fallen Witch’s figure faltered for a moment, but it was only a brief pause; she held these vampire deacons in no regard, having already proven she could wipe them out with a wave of her hand.

However, just as she attempted to cast another skill:

BOOM—

Before she could react, the five vampire deacons detonated simultaneously right beside her.

A blood-red explosion enveloped the Fallen Witch, swallowing her figure in an instant. Although the Fallen Witch could transfer damage to nearby minions, her skills had a cooldown. Consequently, the self-destruction of the five vampire deacons directly depleted five thousand of her health points.

Before the aftershocks of the explosion could fade, dark shadows flew in at high speed, wrapping around the Fallen Witch in the blink of an eye.

In an instant, "Nightmare Entrapment" had stacked to its tenth layer.

The Nightmare Sovereign acted decisively, constructing a "Deep Dream" with the Fallen Witch at its center; enemy units trapped within would suffer continuous damage. Combined with the constriction of ten nightmare minions, the damage dealt to the Fallen Witch surged tenfold, and her health bar began to collapse at a visible rate.

A bloodbath!

She was losing over ten thousand health points every second!

This sight brought a look of excitement to Lin Yuan’s eyes.

"This damage—holy crap! Who will ever dare to say civilian Summoners are weak again?"

"This isn't just strong; it's monstrous."

"I don't get it. How can he, a transferee, unleash such terrifying damage?"

The group watched the Fallen Witch’s rapidly depleting health bar with a mixture of shock and joy.

However, Wu Ziyi’s expression remained grave. "Don't forget, the Fallen Witch’s attribute panel includes a 'Life Sacrifice' skill. She hasn't used it yet..."

Life Sacrifice.

Everyone vividly remembered how terrifying the Red-Robed Priest had become after triggering his sacrifice. If the Fallen Witch were to sacrifice herself as well, the consequences were unimaginable.

For a moment, they all fell silent, their faces etched with worry.

Inside the Deep Dream, the trapped Fallen Witch let out a shrill, piercing scream. A powerful force of death erupted from her body, defying the erosion of the dreamscape.

Furthermore, as the Fallen Witch unleashed an increasingly intense aura of death, the Deep Dream began to shake, showing signs of imminent collapse. After all, the Fallen Witch was a Level 15 boss, while the Nightmare Sovereign was only Level 9. Given the massive level gap, the fact that "Deep Dream" could trap her at all—let alone inflict massive continuous damage—was already an extraordinary feat.

The Fallen Witch’s death aura grew even stronger, and it looked as though she would soon shatter the dream and break free.

Gu Chen spoke immediately, "Necrotic Orb."

The Nightmare Sovereign understood, instantly activating the orb's effect. Since leaving the sanctuary corridor, the "Whispers of the Dead" effect had accumulated eight stacks. Earlier, while the Vampire Overlord was storming the altar, the Nightmare Sovereign had slain many more black-robed deacons. By now, the stacks of "Whispers of the Dead" had long since reached twenty.

[Necrotic Orb effect activated: The Nightmare Sovereign gains a 100% bonus to all attributes for 1 minute.]

The Nightmare Sovereign soared into the air, its total attributes doubling instantly. The black mist surrounding it surged wildly, dancing like flickering black flames.

"ROAR—"

It let out a thunderous bellow, and its ghostly form erupted with such overwhelming power that it felt as unstoppable as a mountain flood.

In an instant, the Fallen Witch’s death aura was completely suppressed, and she was locked firmly within the Deep Dream, unable to stir up even the slightest ripple.

With attributes doubled, the skill damage also surged; the Fallen Witch’s health began to plummet crazily, dropping by over twenty thousand points per second.

Whoosh!

A dark shadow flickered, and the Vampire Overlord appeared within the Deep Dream.

It was there to finish the job.

[Deadly Shot]

[Scarlet Feast]

Two skills were unleashed in quick succession, followed by a torrent of steel as the Overlord’s basic-attack bullets poured mercilessly into the Fallen Witch.

In an instant, the Fallen Witch’s health plummeted by another seventy thousand plus points.

"That's insane!" Lin Yuan’s face flushed with excitement. He hadn't expected the combination of the Vampire Overlord and the Nightmare Sovereign to deal over seventy thousand damage in one burst; if word of this got out, it would be shocking.

In less than ten seconds, the Fallen Witch had only thirty thousand health left.

"A monster, he's a real monster! How can Gu Chen be this broken?"

"I just want to know, among those of the same level, what class could possibly withstand such terrifying damage?"

"The Necrotic Orb is only a Rare-grade item; how can it provide such a terrifying boost?"

Wu Ziyi observed the battlefield and said in a low voice, "The Necrotic Orb is only one factor; the point is that Gu Chen’s summons are too powerful."

"For example, if your base attribute is 1, the Necrotic Orb only grants you a +1 bonus."

"But when your base attribute is 100, the Necrotic Orb grants you a +100 bonus."

"Simply put, the stronger the user, the higher the boost to combat power. If the Necrotic Orb were worn by Gu Chen himself, it would never unleash such terrifying damage."

Wu Ziyi’s gaze rested on the figures of the Vampire Overlord and the Nightmare Sovereign, a flicker of jealousy crossing his eyes.

"So, it’s not that the Summoner class is strong, nor that Gu Chen is strong—it’s his summons that are strong."

Lin Yuan had been nodding along at first, but he bristled at that.

"For a Summoner, doesn't the strength of the summons represent the strength of the Summoner?"

"..."

Wu Ziyi turned his head, his expression suddenly darkening.

"Oh no. That witch... she’s started the sacrifice."