"What right does he have?"
The joy of just slaying the Hydra vanished instantly, and Kira Oakmoor's composure shattered.
Looking at the progress of all contestants, killing four bosses in a dozen days was definitely among the top tier.
Familiarizing oneself with mechanics, solving maze puzzles, exploring the map, staying alert for the Blood Moon and zombies...
Even if you really had some hidden tricks—like possessing Ronan Mountwell's hunter skill that allowed one to instantly see through all the bosses' weaknesses...
...it would still take time, and you'd have to watch out for zombies, right?
Even if she upgraded her SlashBlade twice more, Kira Oakmoor didn't believe she could take down eight bosses within twenty days.
Those were eight bosses, not eight heads of cabbage!
Elsewhere, someone was even more devastated.
Mark had thrown all his belongings onto a tree, nearly getting surrounded by a zombie tide.
Fortunately, Jett had kept a few blocks. In a moment of crisis, they built a path back to retrieve the equipment and came back down fully armed.
After a quick cleanup of the surrounding zombies, they built a three-block-high wall to prevent further interference.
They began searching for a way to open the door.
Noticing some protruding stone pillars, Mark had a flash of inspiration and placed the trophy from the Minoshroom he had just slain into it.
The gate opened, and they successfully entered the labyrinth.
Having experience with the Minotaur maze, they quickly cleared the surrounding monsters and found the Phantom Knight's tomb.
"No zombies to interfere this time. Let's do this!"
They unequipped their weapons and entered the tomb empty-handed, triggering the Phantom Knights.
Six knights appeared, floating in the air.
With so many enemies, he planned to take them down one by one.
Alongside Jett and a Spartan Warrior, they targeted the nearest Phantom Knight and launched a joint attack.
A punch flew out, landing solidly on the knight's armor. The recoil sent a stinging pain through their hands.
"Bear with it, Jett! For our dignity!"
Gritting their teeth against the pain, they punched again. After several attacks, their hands were swollen, yet the Phantom Knight's health had barely budged.
On the contrary, they took a few hits themselves. Each hit cost seven points of health. After two hits, more than half their health was gone, leaving them near death.
"It's no use! We can't hurt them at all!"
Both hands were bruised and swollen from the armor's recoil; Jett was on the verge of tears.
It had been stated clearly: Galen Yu had defeated the Phantom Knights with his bare hands.
Galen Yu was just one person, while they were three. Why was there no effect after all this time?
"Galen Yu must have done something else we don't know about. We've been played!"
"These Phantom Knights deal too much damage. No, I'm going to put on my armor and grab my weapons. Spartan, you take the lead!"
"..."
The ranged Spartan had died, leaving only the warrior with the spear.
As a backup, he hadn't discarded his armor or weapons. Having the advantage of range, he thrust his spear forward.
[-1!]
A critical hit was triggered, dealing a terrifying one point of damage!
This was only because of the forced minimum damage; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to penetrate the Phantom Knight's armor at all!
"What are you doing? That damage is lower than my bare fists!"
Seeing the miniscule sliver of health removed, Mark was furious.
He thought the Spartan Warrior was slacking off on purpose and was about to scold him.
But then he saw the Phantom Knight take aim and launch an attack.
[-10!]
[-10!]
The Phantom Knight wielding a knight's sword charged rapidly. Two swings were enough to instantly kill the Spartan Warrior.
Before the reprimand could even leave his mouth, Mark's eyes filled with tears.
"No! Spartan!"
The servant he had fought so hard for, nearly risking his life to obtain, was gone!
And he died so pointlessly, so inexplicably!
A wave of dizziness washed over him, and Mark nearly fainted on the spot.
He rushed out of the tomb to pick up his gear and recover, but the Phantom Knights possessed the ability to phase through solid blocks and pursued him relentlessly.
Suppressing the grief in his heart, he could only pick up his weapons and fight back.
"Damn things!"
Seeing the Spartan's corpse, Jett spat a curse.
"His death wasn't in vain. I suspect the Phantom Knight's attacks deal extra damage to armored targets."
"The spear's damage is decent, yet it still struggles. We must use ranged attacks against them!"
It was sudden, but their combat foundation was still there.
The Spartan's health was the same as a player's. The only difference earlier was that they weren't wearing armor, which was why they were killed in two hits.
Getting close to a Phantom Knight invited a melee attack; if they kept their distance, only one Phantom Knight would attack at a time.
Fortunately, they had cleared the maze beforehand and still had the Zombie Scepter.
They summoned nine zombies to help, and by kiting and maneuvering, they finally managed to chip away at the health.
As the final sword stroke fell, Mark collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily.
"Finally wore these things down!"
Taking a breath, he looked at his backpack with a heavy heart.
Healing potions, regeneration potions, Zombie Scepter, golden apples, arrows...
After one battle, his entire stockpile was nearly exhausted!
"With no more potions for recovery, it looks like we won't be able to rely on the power of zombies for a while."
He looked at the durability-depleted scepter in his hand with a bitter smile, but what hurt most was the loss of the Spartan Warrior.
Supplies could be recollected, but once a servant was gone, they were gone for good!
From now on, he was missing two of his best men!
Jett was more optimistic and tried to comfort him.
"Relax, Mark. At least we've already defeated four bosses, right?"
Their progress was in the top tier. Once they went back to loot the Phantom Knight rewards...
Their strength would reach a new level!
He nodded, just about to agree. A first clear was their primary goal.
[CONGRATULATIONS TO GALEN YU OF NINE PROVINCES FOR BECOMING THE FIRST PLAYER TO COMPLETE THE TWILIGHT FOREST!]
The sudden announcement hit the two like a bolt from the blue, leaving them frozen.
"Who cleared it? Galen Yu?"
Since Galen Yu had already secured the first clear...
Then what were they struggling so hard here for?
They had even lost two Spartan Warriors for this!
His optimism gone, Jett's face darkened as well.
He felt like a clown who had spent these days putting on a ridiculous performance.
As proud as he had been before, the slap to his face was just as painful now!
Everything went black; Mark finally couldn't handle the blow and fainted completely.
It was a total loss!
"He's finally noticed his own red nose. What a clown!"
Outside the screen, Fries and Headmaster Quill shared a knowing smile.
Ever since entering the Twilight Forest, Freedom Nation had been the most arrogant.
This massive slap to the face made them feel incredibly satisfied and happy.
After their laughter subsided, Headmaster Quill spoke.
"We've watched several key contestants and haven't found any issues. Is something really wrong with the block world?"
The satisfaction was one thing, but the main problem—how the Snow Queen had been defeated—remained unsolved.
If it wasn't someone else's doing, how was the first clear achieved?
"Maybe it has to do with chunks? We still have one more contestant we haven't checked!"
Ever since it first appeared, Fries had vividly remembered the scene of Galen Yu's Sky Island.
That towering, magnificent miracle!
A shock that struck the soul; those faintly shimmering divine runes were definitely extraordinary!
He didn't believe a building like that was just for show!
"Something to do with chunks?"
Understanding Fries's point, he opened the screen for Stick Nation.
Having survived a whole night of the Blood Moon, daylight had arrived, and he could finally relax.
He knocked away the extra parts on the outside, then used an Ender Pearl to fly out to mine some ore and search for resources.
Returning to his chunk, Soren Park shivered and looked up.
Specks of ice crystals fell from the sky, adding a touch of white to the clear blue.
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