Chapter 81: Chapter 81: The murderer is always killed by others.

Zi Liyuan had just begun speaking, and the group besieging Shen Yurou already became restless.

They had not wished to make an enemy of such a powerful individual, but it seemed they had overthought the matter. Since that was the case, striking first was, of course, paramount!

Without delay, every profession capable of long-range attacks launched a covering strike at Zi Liyuan.

If they didn t kill this guy before his Skeleton Army advanced, did they still have a chance to survive?

Anticipating this very move, Zi Liyuan stepped back and took shelter behind Lao Tie.

The bulky body of the hellish demon puppet stood before him like a door god, absorbing the barrage of attacks.

The sound of “ding ding dong dong” clashing rang out continuously on Lao Tie’s body. A slew of “MISS” flew above his head, although there were a few hits that caused minor double-digit damage.

“Disturbing someone’s reunion is not a polite gesture. Since you’re so eager to seek death, I’ll oblige you!”

Not wanting to wait for the Voodoo Skeletons to come up the crowded staircase, he sent them back to the Netherworld with a wave of his hand. Then, a massive Summoning Array emerged in the middle of the building, with copious amounts of Death Fog enveloping the Array’s area.

Numerous Bone Sword-wielding Berserker Skeletons burst through the Death Fog and swarmed out, brandishing their swords and charging toward the multitude of candidates.

And it wasn’t over yet. Before the Array faded, the Death Fog rose again, and with the sound of bones rubbing, nearly a hundred Crossbow Skeletons stepped out of the Array. They raised their crossbows at the candidates, unleashing a volley of Bone Spears.

Skeletons were fragile, cannon fodder indeed, but when stacked with various enhancements, Skeleton Overlord and Bone Reinforcement, coupled with an offensive aura, the Skeletons were not as delicate anymore, especially with a significant boost in damage.

These ordinary profession candidates had gear that was merely green and blue basic level, with only levels ranging from 25 to 30. Only about a dozen organizers were around Level 35. Faced with the onslaught of the Skeleton Army, they were hard-pressed to defend themselves.

Moreover, there were quite a few healing professions among these candidates, with warriors in front, assassins sneaking in damage wherever they could, hunters and mages attacking from a distance, and priests along with other healing professions continually stabilizing the front-line warriors’ health.

Add in the commands of a dozen or so leaders, this large group of over 400 people, as a whole, coordinated quite well.

No wonder they could organize so many people to hunt the other candidates. They did have some capabilities.

Moreover, seeing that they couldn’t kill Zi Liyuan in an instant, they very decisively prepared their defense and began targeting the Skeleton Army charging at them. There was even a special squad that attempted to attack Shen Yurou.

As the Berserker Skeletons collided with the candidates, engaging in close­quarters combat, Zi Liyuan immediately began casting curses such as “Damage Amplification,” “Attack Backlash,” and “Weaken,” scattering them broadly over the candidates.

At the moment the curses took effect, Zi Liyuan ordered the front-line Berserker Skeletons to use the skill “Heavy Strike.”

Just like that, the damage output of the Berserker Skeletons’ skills doubled.

The warriors on the front line saw their health sharply drop, feeling their attributes being weakened, each attack now rebounding with damage.

However, the reaction from the other side was quick. They divided the heavily protected healing group in two, one part focused on sustaining the warriors’ health lines, while the other used various spells to dispel or purify curses, eroding the negative BUFFs.

Watching the opponents command competently, fighting the Skeleton Army in an orderly manner, Zi Liyuan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he began to cast another spell.

Targeting the healers first in a fight—this was an old rule.

Even if the opponent hid behind their team, surrounded by rugged Hunters, nothing could stop Zi Liyuan’s resolve to forcefully eliminate them.

The opening move was a Shadow Arrow Rain, which at Level 9, meant eleven Shadow Arrows were released in one go. The area affected wasn’t large, but the magic damage was a hefty 3000+, an amount of damage that was terrifying for these examinees.

That wasn t all, Bone Spears and Death Shadow Arrows, aided by the Spirit to lock onto targets, followed closely behind. These pinpoint skills were almost certain to hit their mark.

Moreover, the opponents were clustered together, leaving them with no room to dodge in such a confined space.

However, what Zi Liyuan hadn’t expected was that the opposing team’s commander would actually arrange for the protecting Hunters to leap out as human shields!

Under the Shadow Arrow Rain, a swath of damage was dealt, and coupled with the extraordinary magic damage from Bone Spears and Death Shadow Arrows, this combination of skills instantly killed several Hunters who had jumped out to take the heat.

Keep in mind, Zi Liyuan’s own health was just over 30,000, and he was equipped with a heroic silver suit.

These ordinary examinees with blue and green gear barely had health surpassing 10,000, so how could they withstand the onslaught of abilities dealing tens of thousands of damage?

The Death Shadow Arrow was somewhat better, hitting only one target, and once struck, the shadow energy would dissipate.

But the Bone Spear was different. As the most powerful single-target output skill of a Necromancer, it came with a natural piercing effect. As long as the Power of Death wasn’t depleted, and it could penetrate the opponent’s defenses and flesh, it would go through the target to strike those behind.

After a wave of Shadow Arrow Rain, these Hunters had at least a third of their health shaved off. Facing Bone Spears with damage over 13,000, they were like skewers, impaled one after another.

Especially since behind these Hunters were the fragile healing Priests.

The terrifying ability to kill in an instant caught the whole group of examinees off-guard, particularly the few commanders.

“Sir, we have no intention of being your enemy, and attacking your girlfriend was a misunderstanding. We are willing to offer compensation that will satisfy both you and your girlfriend. Please cease your attack, and we can discuss the compensation,” the leader of the assassins, who had already stealthily infiltrated the examinees’ team at the start of the battle, said urgently.

Facing a summoning-style Necromancer, especially one of Second Order strength, was nothing short of a nightmare for them.

And especially since he had the power to kill instantly, if they continued fighting, they might very well be wiped out right here.

Everyone was participating in the high-stakes exam with a bright future in mind. Now, only in the second phase, they hadn’t scored much, and being kicked out of the instance would surely mean a low score, ruining any chance of getting into their desired university.

The majority of these examinees were from the same high school, and if they faced a team wipeout, he would become a pariah at the school!

Unfortunately, he wanted to negotiate and use compensation to save the team, but Zi Liyuan had no plans to let them off the hook.

Setting aside the fact that these guys could organize and hunt other examinees, which was no kind deed,

Shen Yurou had been driven by them into a corner, barely escaping failure in her exams, and he was not about to let things slide.

As the saying goes, those who kill must be prepared to be killed.

If they had started this, they needed to be ready to be taken out of the game!