Han Wu confirmed his selection and a brand new tower was built on his territory.
[Dark Locustman Lord Tower (Lord)
Attack Method: Dark Domain
Attack Rate: 0.1 second
1. Confusion (Passive) – Targets that enter the Dark Domain have a 10% chance of becoming confused. Lasts for 10 seconds.
2. Erosion (Passive) – Targets that enter the Dark Domain will have their Defense reduced by 1 per attack.
Sacred Object Slot: 10]
When Han Wu saw that the Dark Locustman Lord Tower had an Attack stat of 0, he was immediately confused. He blinked and looked again, convinced his eyes were playing a trick on him. It took him a moment of careful inspection to confirm that the tower’s Attack stat was, indeed zero.
The despair that had initially flooded his mind was quickly replaced by elation as he continued to read the rest of the tower’s information. He was overjoyed to discover that while the tower possessed no offensive capabilities whatsoever, it was instead equipped with an arsenal of incredibly powerful supporting skills.
The tower’s Dark Domain had a radius of 100 kilometers, giving it an area of about 31,400 square kilometers. This domain alone covered more than half of Han Wu’s current territory. Furthermore, the two passive skills it came with, Confusion and Erosion, were also extremely effective.
Not only did the tower have the ability to turn enemy units on each other with Confusion, but it would also continuously chip away at their Defense. This meant that even the strongest units, provided their Defense were sufficiently lowered, could be damaged by his weakest Locust Tower. It was precisely the kind of tower he needed to effectively counter the Holy Knights.
As the Dark Domain spread across his territory, the Holy Knights were immediately affected. The Dark Locustman Lord Tower unleashed a barrage of attacks every 0.1 seconds, each with a 10% chance of confusing and disorienting its target. As a result, the Holy Knights began to attack one another while within the Dark Domain, severely disrupting their advance.
With the Holy Knights temporarily stalled, Han Wu took advantage of the delay to quickly purchase a large number of Sacred Objects through the trade channel. He decided against using the Wolf Tooth, as it provided just +10 Attack even after merging it to its limit, which was of little use against the Holy Knights.
He bought another Sacred Object of a higher rank, the Swift Cheetah Tail, using a significant amount of Energy.
[Sacred Object: Swift Cheetah Tail (Elite). Increases attack rate by 5% and +2 Attack when equipped.]
While the effect of this Sacred Object was beneficial, most representatives passed on them, finding the minor bonuses not worth the cost. Han Wu, however, bought every single one he could find on the trade channel, ending up with 50 of them for a total of 20,000 Energy.
His first attempt was to merge ten into a single +9 Swift Cheetah Tail, which granted a +25% attack rate and +20 Attack to his towers. However, to get the most out of his remaining Sacred Objects, he decided to merge the remaining into +4 versions. Each of these provided a respectable boost of +15% attack rate and +10 Attack.
With all the items equipped, his Dark Locustman Lord Tower underwent a dramatic transformation, its attack rate soaring to an impressive 145%. Han Wu had expected the tower to attack even faster, but he was surprised to discover that the attack speed was capped and could not exceed one attack per 0.01 second.
However, to ensure the wargame remained balanced, the system bestowed a new attacking method on the Dark Locustman Lord Tower. This new skill, called Double Hit, allowed the tower to inflict damage twice with every single attack, though the damage from the second hit would be reduced.
The Dark Locustman Lord Tower now boasted an attack power of 100, which meant its new Double Hit skill would inflict a first blow of 100 damage and a second blow of 55 damage. Unfortunately, even with the combined hits, the total damage still failed to overcome the Holy Knights’ powerful Defense, rendering the tower’s attacks completely ineffective.
However, Han Wu wasn’t worried. He was biding his time, waiting for the second skill of his tower to take full effect. He had already noticed the constant -1, -1 damage numbers ticking away from the Holy Knights’ heads. Those numbers were not an indicator of their decreasing HP but were a representation of their Defense being gradually eroded.
With an attack rate of 0.01 seconds, the Dark Locustman Lord Tower was launching 100 attacks every second, and with its Double Hit ability, it was hitting the enemy with 155 damage per attack. The Holy Knights’ 600 Defense stood no chance against the constant barrage, their Defense melting away to zero within just three seconds, finally making them vulnerable to the Dark Locustman Lord Tower’s attacks.
The tower’s absurd attack rate, now dealing 155 damage per strike, resulted in a devastating 15,500 damage per second. Having lost their Defense, the Holy Knights, with only 3,000 HP, were instantly obliterated in a single second, despite their recovery skill being activated.
After his first victory against the Holy Knights, Han Wu was rewarded with a large amount of Energy and four Unique Sacred Objects known as Holy Silver Armor. The sudden annihilation of her units, however, did not go unnoticed by their owner, Elina, the representative from the God King of Life’s faction.
The Divine Civilization housed numerous colleges dedicated to raising the next generation of Gods—Imperial College was not the sole organization of this type. Elina came from the most highly-regarded church among them, the Radiant Church, and her core race was the very reason she was selected to represent Life. These units, the Holy Knights, were so absurdly strong that they were considered unbeatable by any lower-ranking towers.
During the initial stages of the wargame, Elina secured quite a decent amount of land and Energy. She then proceeded to use this newfound wealth to aggressively erect numerous towers and summon even more units, all with the purpose of completely trampling the representatives from the opposing faction.
Consequently, having her supposedly unbeatable Holy Knights exterminated came to her as quite a shock. In fact, the entirety of her troops was obliterated. Elina was confused by what had happened.
Who is strong enough in this stage to kill my Holy Knights? she wondered. Is there someone more powerful than me?
“No, that cannot be. I am the daughter of the God King of Light. I am the strongest! I will defeat the one who killed my Holy Knights!” she snapped.
With that, she drew a Final Battle Card and activated it on Han Wu’s territory. The moment she did, a notification flashed before him.
[The God King of Life’s representative Elina has just activated a Final Battle Card targeting you! As a result, both your territory and hers are now completely sealed off, and neither party can withdraw from this area until one of you is defeated.]
“Again?” he blurted out.
A transparent barrier surged into place, enclosing both territories. Han Wu turned toward Elina’s side and took in the vast expanse of her domain. The land gleamed white beneath the sky, stretching so far it was estimated to cover over 150,000 square kilometers.
Han Wu was shocked. “How many representatives has she defeated?”
Elina emerged from the heart of her territory, revealing herself at last. Her long blonde hair framed a tall, fair-skinned figure, and her delicate features held an angelic beauty.
She approached the edge of the boundary with effortless grace, then stopped and offered a greeting. “Hello. I am Elina, the daughter of the God King of Light. I would prefer that you surrender of your own will.”
Han Wu frowned. The Divine Civilization did indeed have a God King of Light, one who slightly surpassed both Life and Death in power. This was not an entity he could afford to offend at this juncture. Yet, this wargame was between Life and Death, and they were merely representatives of their respective God Kings. Why should he yield to her?
Surrender would tarnish not only his own reputation but also that of Imperial College and Death. He couldn’t afford to do so.
“I refuse,” Han Wu declared firmly. “If we must fight, let us do so fairly and honorably.”
Elina shook her head with stubborn resolve. “No, I am the daughter of the God King of Light. My power is immense. If you refuse to surrender, I shall send my Holy Knights to trample your lands.”
Han Wu scoffed. “Then bring it on. I'm eager to witness the strength of the God King of Light's own daughter.”