"How did he pull that off? Did he pop a survival skill?" Huan Ji, who was clearing werewolves in the distance, stared at Gu Jiuji's fully restored health bar and couldn't help but gape.
The others, who had been dismissive of the Shura Adventure Team moments ago, were also stunned into silence.
The team's main tank was essentially a symbol of the team's overall strength. Having such a powerful MT was more than enough to prove the Shura Adventure Team's capabilities.
A single strike from a Level 55 High Grand Lord could inflict at least 15,000 points of damage on any of the current top-tier MTs — that was nearly a third of their total HP. Yet Gu Jiuji had taken only a little over 10,000. And when two werewolf captains attacked simultaneously, they still only managed to strip away less than two-fifths of his health…
The damage numbers were one thing, but what was truly staggering was the fact that Gu Jiuji could hold off two werewolf captains by himself.
For the current top-ranked guild MTs, tanking a Level 55 High Grand Lord wasn't exactly impossible.
The problem was that doing so generally required several MTs coordinating together. If a single MT tried to tank alone, the outcome was simple — death.
Even when facing a High Grand Lord of the same level, a top MT using advanced techniques to deflect and absorb the blow would still experience a brief window of stagger. And a High Grand Lord's attacks were blindingly fast — that brief stagger, if things went even slightly wrong, could allow the boss to smash through the defense and land a direct hit. Even with a large team of healers, the burst healing wouldn't be enough to keep up.
That was why other MTs needed to step in and share the boss's aggression during those critical moments.
But when facing an army of werewolves, the team's MTs were severely limited. It was simply impossible to commit several MTs and a large number of healers to pin down a single High Grand Lord.
Yet here was Gu Jiuji, simultaneously tanking two werewolf captains and still looking like he had energy to spare. It was almost unbelievable.
But the most surprised person of all was Gu Jiuji himself.
"This shield is insane."
He couldn't help but glance down at the half-moon shield in his hand, still unable to believe that after blocking one werewolf captain's attack, he could immediately follow up by tanking another captain's strike — all without any stagger in between.
On another front, Anye Kuangxiang had also drawn the aggro of a werewolf captain. He wasn't as relaxed as Gu Jiuji, but with the combined effects of his eight-piece Dark Gold set and a pure defensive stance, he was able to hold his ground.
With four werewolf captains locked down, dealing with the remaining Grand Lords, High Lords, and Lord-level werewolves became much more manageable. The experts Feng Qianyu had recruited were all top-tier — any single MT on the team could easily tank a Level 55 Grand Lord, let alone High Lords or Lord-level mobs.
With the MTs forming a protective ring to hold back the outer werewolves, everyone in the safe zone began furiously clearing the mobs that blocked their path.
Spells and arrows rained down. Leader-level werewolves were instantly annihilated, while the obstructing mobs were steadily ground away, allowing the team to inch forward.
"Other melee, back up the MTs! All ranged DPS, prioritize the blocking werewolves — don't waste damage! Healers, watch your mana management — absolutely no gaps in MT healing!" Feng Qianyu called out urgently as the werewolves continued to swarm in growing numbers.
"No. Focus on the werewolf captains first. Ignore the trash mobs," Shi Feng suddenly said.
"If we don't clear these trash mobs, they'll keep piling up, and we might never break free." Xuan Jing swept a glance at the werewolf squads heading their way and clearly wasn't convinced by Shi Feng's approach.
Eliminating a High Grand Lord would take far too much time — their HP pool was simply too massive. With that same fighting power, they could mow down far more small mobs and break free from the werewolf encirclement sooner.