Before a crumbling yet towering altar deep within the trial tunnel, Water Blue Rose and the others stood at a distance, silently gazing toward it. Every one of them wore an expression of deep gravity.
Because atop the altar, aside from the trial boss they had already discovered, the surrounding area was swarming with Trial Warriors and Trial Elites — easily two to three thousand in number. On top of that, four Mana Towers stood guard around the altar. Not only did they suppress the entire space, but no player would ever be able to cast spells within the domain of those towers — they couldn't even use skills.
"This is ridiculous! The sheer number of monsters plus a boss would've been bad enough, but four Mana Towers on top of that? Forget two hundred players — even two thousand probably couldn't break through this kind of defense." Floating Light stared at the four towering Mana Towers, barely restraining himself from cursing.
Mana Towers were war-grade defensive structures, and not just any buildings — they were absolutely top-tier constructions, the kind every Western Continent player knew all too well.
Every major NPC city on the Western Continent was equipped with these defensive structures.
The reason the major NPC cities could hold so firmly against the demon armies was largely thanks to these Mana Towers. Mowing down demon hordes during a siege was child's play with them.
Now the monster side already held an overwhelming advantage, and on top of that they had four Mana Towers guarding them — how were players supposed to even play this?
"Was it still too early for us to come?" Silent Star looked at the lich resting with its eyes closed on the altar and couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.
Zorok, Ancient Lich, High Legendary, Level 122, HP: 3.7 billion.
3.7 billion HP wasn't enormous in absolute terms, but for a lich, it was enough to make any player despair.
Among the monsters and bosses in the Divine Realm, magic-type creatures were rare, but whenever one appeared, its difficulty was thirty to forty percent higher than a physical monster of the same level. It was just like how magic-type NPCs were far more precious than physical-type NPCs — magic classes excelled at AoE damage, and their destructive power was far greater, firing off spell after spell like living turrets.
As for Ancient Liches, their magical talent surpassed even the current Elven race. Magic was nothing but a toy in their hands — they could do whatever they pleased with it.
Last time, Violet Sword had faced a wild Level 87 Legendary Ancient Lich. They had dispatched a five-thousand-strong elite corps, every member Level 90 or above, fighting in rotations of one thousand at a time. In the end, they had lost nearly four thousand experts before finally managing to take it down.
The Ancient Lich before them now was not only Level 122 but a High Legendary monster. Forget fighting it out in the open — they would have turned tail and run on sight. And that was without factoring in the trial monsters and Mana Towers bolstering its defense.
Even a legion of ten thousand would be utterly futile…
At this moment, not only were the Violet Sword and Azure Commerce members grim-faced with furrowed brows, but even Water Blue Rose and her companions wore equally dark expressions.
The boss's difficulty was simply too extreme. In their eyes, it was no longer something a Tier 3 team could even attempt — only a team that had entered Tier 4 stood any hope of challenging it.
"Guild Leader Black Flame, with a boss this difficult, even if we threw every last life and spent every trump card at our disposal, we probably couldn't even scratch it. Do you still want to keep going?" Wildfire Berserker sighed and turned to look at Shi Feng, who had only recently arrived.
They had fought so hard to reach the trial boss's doorstep, and if there was a chance, they wanted to take it — but he truly couldn't see any possibility of success.
To take down the Ancient Lich before them, they would first have to destroy the four Mana Towers. Otherwise they would be nothing but sitting ducks, utterly incapable of fighting back.
But to destroy the four Mana Towers — forget the towers' ridiculous defense and durability, just getting close enough to attack them meant facing the Ancient Lich and a massive army of trial monsters.
And beyond that, the Mana Towers themselves had formidable defenses. Without Tier 4 power, you couldn't even deal any damage to them.
Yet the four Mana Towers suppressed the surrounding space, making it impossible for them to cast spells or use skills. How many people in their group had attacks that could reach Tier 4?
A handful of people trying to destroy the Mana Towers alone — they would probably be wiped out without even bringing one down. And the towers themselves could unleash wide-area destructive magic. Against a team like theirs, a single volley would be enough, let alone all four towers firing simultaneously. It would be an absolute nightmare.
"If Guild Leader Black Flame is unwilling to give up on this, I can suggest to my guild that we slightly modify our agreement — we wouldn't need to clear the Heroic difficulty, just the Elite difficulty would suffice. However, the number of slots would be significantly reduced. Would Guild Leader Black Flame be willing?" Silent Star nodded and proactively offered a suggestion.
Wildfire Berserker, standing beside him, raised no objection.
Zero Wing's strength had far exceeded their expectations. If the two sides could cooperate, it would certainly be a good thing for Violet Sword.
"Silent Star sure is quick on the uptake," Duan Hanshan murmured to himself with a faint smile, not particularly surprised by the suggestion.