Chapter 85: Unveiling the Final Secrets of the Underground Palace

Chapter 85: Unveiling the Final Secrets of the Underground Palace…

Kandaer's loyalty has increased once again.

Cao Xing nodded. With another elite-tier creature under his command, the team's overall strength had been enhanced.

Their chances of successfully challenging the powerful creatures inside this palace were now much higher.

Meanwhile, Liu Muxue was continuously casting [Purify] to dispel the [Frost Corruption] status from everyone.

After about ten minutes, everything was ready.

Cao Xing took out the palace key once again.

A system prompt appeared.

[Do you wish to use the Palace Key to open the gates?]

"Yes."

The key in Cao Xing's hand vanished.

The next moment, everyone saw the metal gates in front of them begin to shake once more.

Rumble!

The two doors parted from the middle, revealing a gap.

Through the gap, Cao Xing saw bright lights inside.

And once the gates opened completely,

a magnificent palace appeared before them.

The interior was filled with gilded decorations.

There were patterned floor tiles, golden pillars carved with designs, and all kinds of extremely luxurious ornaments.

Among them, Cao Xing even spotted a throne.

The throne had a golden sheen, its backrest inlaid with numerous gems that reflected bright, glittering light under the illumination.

Just looking at its appearance, one could tell this throne was incredibly valuable.

Cao Xing was instantly tempted.

However, there was a figure leaning against the throne.

It was a goblin clad in deep blue armor and wearing a crown.

Just like the goblins outside, its body was covered in a thick layer of frost.

Furthermore, its symptoms were even more severe than those of the goblins outside.

The frost had even spread to its face.

Yet, this goblin seemed to retain one last sliver of sanity.

It spoke in a raspy voice, "You have come."

Cao Xing stood at the back, looking at it with a bewildered expression.

What do you mean, "we have come"?

Did you know we were coming?

Cao Xing asked in confusion, "Are you waiting for us?"

The crowned goblin did not answer, remaining seated upon the throne.

However, its right hand was trembling constantly, as if it were trying its best to suppress something.

At the same time, Cao Xing glanced at the goblin's attributes.

[Corrupted Goblin King: Nagum Earthshaker Lv25]

[Race: Goblin]

[Rank: Tier 3 Boss-level Creature]

[HP: 41740/61740]

[Attack Power: 2738~2943]

[Armor: 415~432 (Extra +300)]

[Skills: King's Sweep (Swings the longsword in hand, dealing 139% physical damage to all enemies in front)

Thrust (Instantly dashes forward a certain distance, dealing 177% damage to the target and inflicting a 2-second stun effect)

Earth Spike (Summons a large number of earth spikes, dealing piercing damage equal to Attack Power * 155% to enemies)

Earth Riot (Plunges the longsword into the ground to awaken the will of the earth, dealing multiple instances of earth-element damage to enemies within 50 meters with a damage coefficient of 20% of Attack Power, and inflicting the Crippled effect on them)

Summon Earth Elemental (Summons two Earth Elementals with Tier 3 Elite strength to assist in combat; Earth Elementals last for 120 seconds.)

High-Grade Corrupted Shell (Armor +300, reduces incoming physical damage by an additional 30%)]

[Talents: Heart of the King (Grants all subordinate goblins an additional 20% to their attributes, and increases own HP by an additional 50%)]

[Status: Corrupted]

…

"Holy shit!"

Seeing this guy's attributes, Cao Xing blurted out in shock.

A Level 25 Tier 3 Boss-level creature with five skills and a High-Grade Corrupted Shell.

Over seven hundred armor in total! Even if it just stood there and let Cao Xing attack, he wouldn't be able to make a dent!

Obviously, this was not a monster he could deal with at his current stage.

At this moment, Cao Xing wanted to take his people and run away on the spot.

However, the Goblin King slowly spoke.

"I made a mistake…"

"A mistake that caused all of my clansmen to be afflicted by that terrible curse…"

Hearing this, Cao Xing keenly sensed that this might be related to the Goblin King's current state.

The Goblin King slowly spoke, "Human warrior, could I please ask you to help me break this curse?"

Hearing this guy's lines, Cao Xing was taken aback.

Drawing from his years of gaming experience, he keenly sensed that he might have triggered some sort of hidden quest.

He asked in confusion, "Help you? How?"

The Goblin King slowly stood up and said, "Kill me."

However, right after saying this, its face suddenly changed.

The Goblin King's expression became incredibly ferocious.

It suddenly turned around, its head rotating a full 180 degrees to face Cao Xing and the others with the back of its head.

However, on the back of its head, a distorted face appeared.

That face did not look human at all; instead, it resembled a beast.

Seeing this bizarre scene, Liu Muxue subconsciously gripped her weapon tighter.

It let out a threatening roar at everyone.

"Roar!! Get lost!!!"

That thunderous roar rang out once again.

Andrew, Sarah, and the others instantly readied themselves for battle.

Yet in the next moment, the Goblin King twisted its head back, returning to that pained expression once more.

It said with difficulty, "As you can see, my consciousness is becoming increasingly chaotic, and I can no longer resist that corruption."

"If this continues, my body will be completely controlled by this monster."

"Warriors, please… help me find peace…"

At this point, Cao Xing understood.

This Goblin King had also suffered from the erosion of corruption, and it was even more severe than the other goblins.

There was even a terrifying entity parasitizing its body.

But relying on its own willpower, it had been constantly fighting the thing on its back for control over its body.

And now, it seemed like it could no longer hold on.

Cao Xing scratched his head and said, "I don't mind killing you, but I doubt that guy on the back of your head will agree, right?"

"If you go crazy then, I won't be a match for you."

The Goblin King slowly said, "It is fine. I will do my best to help you suppress the curse on my back."

In the next moment, before Cao Xing could react,

the Goblin King suddenly drew the longsword from its waist and plunged it straight through its own chest.

Pfft!

[-21072]

A terrifying damage number floated up.

The Goblin King's HP actually plummeted to just over twenty thousand.

However, the Goblin King's action seemed to have provoked the face on its back.

"Roar!!"

The beast-like roar sounded once again.

It began to struggle frantically, seemingly trying to seize control of the Goblin King's body.

The Goblin King tightly held onto the longsword in its chest, preventing it from being pulled out.

"Quick… kill me!"

"I can't suppress this guy for much longer!"

Hearing this, Cao Xing was instantly overjoyed.

Holy crap, there was actually such a good deal?

"Everyone, charge! Focus all your attacks on the Goblin King!"

"Let's help this poor sufferer find peace!"

Upon hearing this, Assam, Andrew, and the others immediately rushed forward to besiege the Goblin King.

Renice was the fastest.

She directly drew her bowstring, her proud chest swelling once more.

Swish!

[-67]

A weak damage number appeared.

This was the first time Renice had dealt double-digit damage.

Cao Xing couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement on the side.

"My goodness, this monster's defense is seriously thick."

And this was even after the damage was boosted by Liu Muxue's Aurora Blessing and Blessing of Courage.

Otherwise, Renice's attack would have been even lower.

Bang!

The attacks of Assam, Andrew, and Sarah landed at the same time.

[-74]

[-112]

[-257]

The only decent damage came from Sarah's attack.

Under everyone's burst of focused fire, the Goblin King's HP dropped by about 500 points.

Compared to its remaining HP of a whopping 20,000, this was truly negligible.

Fortunately, however, the Goblin King did not fight back.

It continued to hold down the longsword in its chest, doing its utmost to suppress the beastly face on the back of its head.

Hope flared up in Cao Xing again as he quickly urged, "Damage! Deal damage quickly!"

Everyone accelerated their attacks.

[-94]

[-68]

[-77]

[-114]

[-374!]

Once Sarah triggered [Coup de Grace], her damage instantly surged.

Meanwhile, low growls continued to emanate from the back of the Goblin King's head.

"Roar! Roar!"

The Goblin King's entire body was trembling violently.

"Quick… hurry!"

The Goblin King shouted, almost through gritted teeth.

Cao Xing was also quite helpless. 'I want to hurry up too, damn it!'

'But your defense is just too high!'

'I can't do it!'

Swish! Swish, swish!

Everyone was attacking with all their might.

The three robots and two Centaur warriors also joined the battle.

Based on everyone's attack speed,

the Goblin King's HP was currently dropping by about 500 to 600 per second.

After a dozen or so seconds,

the Goblin King's HP had dropped to eleven thousand.

Right at this moment, the Goblin King suddenly pulled the longsword out of its chest.

It said one last time with difficulty, "I… I can't suppress it anymore!"

A ferocious aura erupted from its body.

Cao Xing was taken aback. "Holy crap, didn't you say you could suppress it?"

"We haven't even taken off half its HP yet!"

However, the Goblin King's pupils had already turned white, and a savage aura erupted from within its body.

Seeing that things were going south,

Cao Xing hurriedly ordered, "Retreat! Everyone, back away!"

However, Cao Xing's warning was a step too late.

The Goblin King executed a direct sweep.

Swish!

Assam, Andrew, Sarah, and Dabai were all struck by this single sweep.

[-2543]

[-2341]

[-2413]

[-2205]

Seven terrifying damage numbers floated up.

Assam and Andrew's HP instantly plummeted by a massive chunk.

The three robots and the Centaurs were even nearly instakilled by this single sweep!

Seeing that the Goblin King was about to execute a second sweep,

Cao Xing instantly cried out in alarm, "Kandaer, crowd-control it! Quick!"

At this critical juncture, Kandaer, who had just broken through to the Elite tier, threw the blunt weapon in his hand directly at it.

Bang!

[-114]

Although the damage was very weak, a swirl icon successfully appeared above the Goblin King's head.

It was stunned.

Cao Xing let out a heavy sigh of relief and quickly ordered, "Everyone else, retreat!"

…