The Great Thief

From next year onwards, after everyone had studied the strategy, even a random party could defeat the Headless Paladin. It was just that Lu Li was unlucky and had never commanded a strong enough group.

Some players had big egos and refused to listen to the instructions of other players. As such, they would usually end up dying.

In his past life, Lu Li wanted to kick those kinds of players out of the group. Now, he finally had that opportunity, but standing here, he could feel the great pressure that was put on him.

They were a 100-member group that had been fighting for over an hour. If they got wiped, not only would they have to start again, but they would also lose the great influence that came with the First Clear.

There were also many cases where Lu Li couldn’t show strategies that were too advanced. Otherwise, it would be just too obvious that he already knew the strategy.

Scattering four players to pull the skulls in the different directions was quite intuitive. This wasn’t the first time Lu Li had spread out the Main Tanks either. Sometimes, it was useful and other times, it was useless. However, it was all to conceal his true purpose.

The four Main Tanks needed to pull the four skulls because the Headless Paladin in the middle could suddenly rotate with his long single-handed weapon. It was just like the famous Berserker Whirlwind.

When a Paladin suddenly cast a Warrior skill, it surprised everyone.

”Peerless City’s second group got wiped as well,” Square Root 3 reported as they fought the Boss.

For Ruling Sword and the other competitors, the destruction of Peerless City’s second group was welcome news. Their gradient strategy was quite strong and had caught everyone off-guard.

”Ranged players, attack from max range. Make sure you keep moving. If I see you standing still I’ll kick you.” Lu Li wasn’t paying attention as he was fully absorbed in the situation.

Why would he bother with the others’ progress? It was much better to just make sure he was doing a good job.

The Headless Paladin’s Whirlwind skill also regenerated HP from the damage it dealt. That was why Lu Li arranged for the melee players to attack the skulls and for the ranged players to attack the Boss.

The range of this Whirlwind was way too high, so a wise commander would plan for it in advance.

After some observation, Lu Li noticed the behavior that was explained in the strategies. He mobilized a small party and even after a minute and a half of the Headless Paladin spinning, no one was hit.

It only had 60,000HP left!

”Today, we have fought well, but tomorrow, we will do even better.” Lu Li only started to speak after the skulls were destroyed and the Headless Paladin’s whirlwind ended.

”After we… about to defeat it?” Square Root 3 was even more excited than Lu Li.

Everyone turned to look at Lu Li in anticipation. It felt like victory wasn’t determined by the System, but when Lu Li decided it was so.

”Do you see him going berserk?” Lu Li was still a little nervous.

”We still have 50-60 players. Why would be afraid of him going berserk?” Square Root 3 asked with some uncertainty.

”Haha,” was all Lu Li could say.

This Boss that required a hundred players to defeat couldn’t be compared with some small Instance Dungeon Boss. It was unrealistic for him to continue only attack one target at a time; he was definitely going to perform a big sweep.

”If I am destined to perish,” the Headless Paladin said as it raised his arm, ”Then please fight with me one last time!”

”Dammit.”

All his fears were being realized today. The moment he heard the Headless Paladin speak, he already knew what was coming. If the Boss didn’t go berserk, there was an 80% chance that they could defeat it, but now that it was berserk, he wasn’t really sure what would happen.

However, giving up wasn’t part of Lu Li’s character; he was going to struggle, down to the very last player.

”Ranged players, keep attacking. Remember to keep 8 yards away from the Boss,” Lu Li quickly instructed. ”Starting from the first party, send two at a time to be killed. Everyone else, keep your distance from the Boss!”

They really were being sent to be killed. This time, the players couldn’t even touch Boss before they were instantly killed.

”Don’t send so many at a time. Do you not understand two at a time? Party leaders, arrange among yourselves.” Lu Li didn’t like the way he was speaking but he didn’t have time to worry about that.

If anyone made any mistakes, it was likely that they would have to redo the entire fight.

Other big guilds would deduct points from players who made mistakes; benevolence didn’t produce effectiveness.

Square Root 3 was also fighting the Boss, but his energy was directed outside. There were players constantly reporting to him about the situations of the other guilds. There weren’t many groups who could make it into the fifth stage, but if they were part of a big guild, they often would.

Peerless City, Blood Red War Flag, Glory capital and even Drizzle Court had made it into the fifth stage.

If they were lucky, the Boss wouldn’t go berserk and they would likely defeat it. Sometimes, luck was a great strength to have that could significantly tip the scales.

Square Root 3 glanced towards the guild commander Lu Li and admired his calmness.

Even in a moment when they were rapidly losing members, he was still calmly organizing the players.

”Main Tanks, send yourselves ahead. After the Main Tanks, send the healers.”

Lu Li moved around while trying to calculate whether they could finish off the Boss with the remaining players.

Fortunately, the Boss’ aggro was locked-on to the closest players. Otherwise, the scene would be even more chaotic.

When the melee players finally died, the Main Tanks went up and tanked the Boss for one or two seconds. Then, the remaining healers were sent. As the Main Tanks were already dead, they didn’t have a job left anyway. They were instantly killed as they were sent forwards.

Now, the Boss’ HP was almost empty.

”Everyone, spread out and deal as much damage as possible. Memories, do you have Bloodlust?” Lu Li pulled out his weapon; he also needed to fight.

”Not yet. One minute,” Sakura Memories said as she shook her head. They wouldn’t be able to use Bloodlust for the rest of this fight as it wasn’t going to last longer than a minute.

”We will either be victorious or defeated in this last push. Good luck everyone,” Lu Li said as he pushed forwards and attacked the Boss from behind.

He was the commander and needed to understand the overall situation, so he couldn’t attack. This was the first time he could show the formidable strength of his equipment.

He was the only player who could deal more than 200 damage.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t tank the berserk Headless Paladin. He had only cast a full-star Backhand Backstab before he was killed on the spot. After dying, his vision went black and he could no longer speak. The only way he could send information was through specific text channels.

However, he didn’t need to say anything more; the Boss’ HP was almost empty.

There were also more than a dozen surviving ranged players attacking with all their might…

Lu Li didn’t have to lie on the ground for too long before he noticed the First Clear on the World Announcements.

System: Congratulations to Ruling Sword, who under the leadership of Lu Li have defeated the festival Boss, Headless Paladin. They have been rewarded with the Headless Paladin’s Reins and a Basic Mount Skill Book.

The Ruling Sword team channel, guild channel and World Announcements were immediately filled with the guild members cheering in excitement.