Seeing this eerily familiar death method, Zhang Yue was slightly startled.
"Mark of Death with permanent erasure effects?"
As if realizing something, Zhang Yue turned around. Sure enough, standing there were Crimson Chain, Nightshade, and Sakura—those three once again.
The priest Sakura held an ice-blue staff in her hand, with remnants of magical light flowing over it, as if she had just finished casting a spell.
Before Zhang Yue could speak, Sakura stepped forward and said, "I can help you!"
"Help me with what?"
Sakura took two steps forward, locked onto a nearby Undead Divine Guard, and waved her staff to cast a spell.
WHOOSH!
A beam of silver light descended from the sky, enveloping the Undead Divine Guard.
Immediately afterward, Crimson Chain and Nightshade exchanged glances and charged toward the Undead Divine Guard with their weapons raised.
Though Sakura's level was slightly lower at 79, both Crimson Chain and Nightshade were level 80.
Nightshade, an elite Ice Warrior clad in frost armor, charged toward the Undead Divine Guard with Sakura's defensive buff. Wielding a sword, he closed in for a direct assault.
SWISH!
With a quick sidestep, he perfectly dodged the spear thrust from the Divine Guard and countered with a slash to the guard's shoulder, dealing 80,000 damage and triggering the Ice Warrior's freeze effect to immobilize the Divine Guard.
Meanwhile, Crimson Chain, an elite Shadow Assassin, released three shadows to join her in attacking the Divine Guard. Under Sakura's attack buffs, she unleashed a relentless flurry of strikes.
One after another, damage numbers of 100,000 or so floated above the Divine Guard's head.
Behind them, the elite Priest Sakura continuously cast spells to provide buffs for her two teammates while weakening and controlling the Divine Guard.
The three coordinated seamlessly, battling an 87-level Undead Divine Guard as if they were facing a boss.
Having grown accustomed to Zhang Yue's god-like maneuvers—dealing millions of damage with a flick of his finger—watching these "ordinary" players might seem underwhelming by comparison.
But in truth, this was the reality for most regular players.
For an 80-level player, dealing 100,000 damage was already considered exceptional.
For those at this level with less optimized gear, the average damage output might only reach 50,000 per attack, meaning even with a full party, it would take one to two minutes to defeat an 80+ level mob with a few million health—a mob Zhang Yue could instantly obliterate with one shot of his God-Slaying Curse.
This was the standard for ordinary players—normal players.
Zhang Yue, however, belonged to a completely abnormal category.
He didn't intervene and simply watched the trio's performance.
After all, his three "sons" were handling other tasks, and he had nothing pressing to do.
On the battlefield:
Nightshade held the Divine Guard's aggro, using frost effects to control it while maintaining steady pressure.
Crimson Chain followed up, landing precise strikes at the Divine Guard's critical points, draining its health bit by bit with continuous damage of over 100,000 per hit.
Under Sakura's healing support, their health remained above 70%.
Their teamwork even drew the attention of nearby solo players, who began to gather and watch in awe.
"These three are pretty skilled!"
"Yeah, high damage, great coordination, and strong awareness. Impressive!"
Even Zhang Yue had to admit that they were commendable.
Elite professions indeed held an edge over standard ones.
It was also clear that their abilities were limited by their gear and skill levels. With some training, they might rival the likes of Warrior Night Owl or One Night Stand from the Heavens Hall.
In less than a minute, the trio managed to cross the 7–8-level gap and take down the Undead Divine Guard.
The defeated guard turned to ash and disappeared.
At this point, Crimson Chain approached Zhang Yue with a proud expression, showing off their accomplishment. "How's that, Zero God? We're pretty strong, right?"
Before her words could fully land, another Divine Guard suddenly ambushed Crimson Chain.
Before she could react, Zhang Yue swiftly cast a spell.
SS-Rank Thunderclap!
BOOM!
-6,825,000!
An 87-level Undead Divine Guard was instantly obliterated, its corpse flung 40 meters away.
Zhang Yue turned to Crimson Chain and said, "I won't deny it. Among your peers, you're indeed strong."
Crimson Chain's mouth twitched, feeling like she had just been slapped 10,086 times in one go...
Nightshade walked over, pried Crimson Chain's head away, and said to Zhang Yue with a serious expression, "Zero God, you must have noticed—her ability can bypass resurrection and permanently kill the target."
Following Nightshade's pointing finger, Zhang Yue's gaze fell on the priest girl, Sakura, in the rear.
"You have the Mark of Death?" Zhang Yue asked.
Before Sakura could respond, Crimson Chain, afraid of a misunderstanding, quickly explained with a laugh: "No, no, it's not the one from the Eastern Kingdom. How could we have something like that?"
"This is our Sakura's unique, exclusive skill!"
"She has a skill that, when used on an enemy, prevents them from resurrecting if they die during the skill's active duration, achieving permanent death."
"It's similar in effect to the Mark of Death from the Eastern Kingdom!"
To demonstrate, Sakura cast her skill on a group of Undead Divine Guards being bombarded by the Armageddon Black Dragon's firepower.
When most of the guards resurrected ten seconds after being killed, the one targeted by Sakura's skill turned directly to ash and vanished.
Sakura repeated the process with other Divine Guards, and the results were consistent. Every guard she marked died permanently.
"An unlimited-use Mark of Death?" Zhang Yue was intrigued.
In the World 15, the Undead Divine Guards' resurrection ability made them difficult to deal with. Sakura's skill could prevent their revival and expedite Zhang Yue's mission progress.
But more importantly, this skill could prove invaluable in the future.
Dragon Country lacked the Mark of Death, which had often hindered Zhang Yue in his retaliatory campaigns against the Eastern Kingdom. During an all-out war with the Eastern Kingdom, Sakura's ability could become a game-changer.
Noticing Zhang Yue's interest, Crimson Chain seized the opportunity to pitch their case. "What do you say, Zero God? Let us join your guild. Not only will you have unlimited access to Sakura's skill, but you can also consider Sakura herself entirely yours!"
Sakura's face turned bright red.
It was clear she was a shy girl, not good at expressing herself.
Ultimately, they just wanted to join Heavens Hall.
To be fair, Zhang Yue did find Sakura's skill indispensable.
Allowing her to join the guild would give him full access to her abilities and ensure she stayed by his side to maximize the skill's utility.
Before Zhang Yue could decide, a sudden commotion arose from all directions.
It was as if an army was surging toward the Fallen Temple...
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