036 The Weakness of Multiple Clones!

Shaman Enhancement’s Frenzy Virus clashed with the tri-talented Paladin Outrace. It was obvious without asking that the Shaman Enhancement was being suppressed. But this was only temporary. When the first clone of the Shaman Enhancement appeared, Outrace found himself in a bit of trouble. One Shaman focused on dealing damage, while the other handled healing. Although they shared skill cooldowns, this division of labor made cooperation very convenient.

“Playing a war of attrition with me?” Seeing the opponent’s stubbornness, Outrace ceased his attacks, switching to shield and one-handed hammer to heal himself. A Paladin with talents in three specializations was truly fearsome; if he adopted a defensive stance, he would become even harder to deal with.

Frenzy Virus was somewhat surprised; he hadn’t expected Outrace to use such tactics. Didn’t he want to trigger the Life Ring’s effect? If Outrace continued to stall like this, Frenzy Virus would have to bring out all his clones. Now, two clones guarded the directions where Outrace might escape, cutting off his routes. If all clones appeared, Outrace would likely try to flee.

Outrace’s approach wasn’t optimal, but it was exactly the kind of playstyle Frenzy Virus hated most. The battle should have favored the Shaman Enhancement, but he had to tilt the advantage to force Outrace into an offensive stance. Otherwise, winning would be truly difficult. Shaman Enhancement had few control skills; it was nearly impossible to control Outrace and take him down in one burst.

After receiving the battle alert from Outrace, Morning Breeze, who was vending in the main city, canceled his stall and began packing up. He took his time, not rushing to leave. Although he wasn’t sure who was watching him, he knew he had to find a way to slip from their sight.

“Let’s go, Morning Breeze, let’s level up together!” As Morning Breeze finished packing, Shadow Walk approached.

“Let’s head to the border fortress to hunt trolls.” After packing up, Morning Breeze sent a party invite to Shadow Walk and activated a spatial teleport flag. This method allowed him to temporarily evade the organization’s surveillance; at least for a short time, they would think he was leveling with Shadow Walk.

In reality, Morning Breeze teleported to the Lava Mountains. Based on Outrace’s knowledge of Frenzy Virus, he should have sealed his escape routes. Morning Breeze placed spatial teleport flags at two points in the Lava Mountains so he could be summoned immediately if needed. Morning Breeze and Shadow Walk appeared behind a patch of black-gray stone. Morning Breeze first cloaked himself, enabling a critical strike if he charged close.

Sure enough, Frenzy Virus was stationed at a junction in the Lava Mountains. Anyone heading in that direction from Outrace’s side would have to pass there. Using his skills as a psychic assassin, Morning Breeze silently approached. Even against another psychic assassin, it was easy for Morning Breeze to get close. With the enemy in the light and himself in the shadows, striking was far easier.

Charge!

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Critical strike! Morning Breeze’s charge startled Frenzy Virus, who hadn’t expected him here. Yet he wasn’t surprised; he immediately prepared to block. Jumping away now was impossible—Morning Breeze was too close, and jumping back would only result in a heavier impact.

—1452

—1192

Morning Breeze, now in God Mode, went all out. With a furious slash, he struck Frenzy Virus, who staggered back two steps. The damage was impressive, considering Frenzy Virus had activated Astral Shift, a skill that reduced incoming damage by 50%. Yet Morning Breeze’s slash still dealt massive damage.

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Tiger Strike doesn’t trigger the global cooldown. This skill mainly helps Morning Breeze gain rage points. Because of Furious Slash, Morning Breeze couldn’t use Bloodthirst, so his rage came from Charge and Battle Shout, totaling 40 points, plus Tiger Strike’s 10 points, reaching 50 rage.

Giant’s Strike!

Morning Breeze initially planned to surprise with Furious Slash, aiming to cut the opponent’s health in half with the first hit, but Frenzy Virus reacted quickly, activating his damage reduction skill. Now, Morning Breeze unleashed Giant’s Strike to pierce through the defense. With all major abilities activated and Giant’s Strike ignoring 50% of the opponent’s defense, Astral Shift’s effect was effectively nullified.

Thunderous Strike!

Transformed from Heroic Strike, Thunderous Strike was unleashed before the 1.5-second cooldown. Morning Breeze didn’t use two-handed attacks this time; his left hand’s strikes were mainly feints to tire the opponent, while the right hand delivered main damage. Within the first 1.5 seconds of Furious Slash’s global cooldown, he used three separate cooldown skills consecutively: Tiger Strike, Giant’s Strike, and Thunderous Strike, focusing his attacks in rapid succession.

Arena combat wasn’t like facing a boss—optimal output wasn’t the goal; the fastest and largest damage mattered most. Once the global cooldown ended, Morning Breeze didn’t use Furious Slash again, even though he had the chance. Instead, he used Bloodthirst, gaining 15 rage, landing a critical hit that triggered a free Whirlwind Strike.

“Don’t think you can kill me that easily!” Seeing Morning Breeze’s free Whirlwind Strike, Frenzy Virus knew he was doomed if he didn’t act. In the heat of battle with Outrace, Frenzy Virus had his two stationed clones swap positions, so Morning Breeze now faced a fully healed Shaman Enhancement.

Shaman’s Wrath!

Shamans have low survivability, but besides Astral Shift’s damage reduction, Enhancement Shamans also have an explosive skill called Shaman’s Wrath, which grants 30% damage immunity and allows the next spells to be cast without consuming mana. The swapped clone was indeed at full health. Although it lost the 50% defense reduction from Giant’s Strike, its damage reduction dropped only to 30%. More importantly, Morning Breeze anticipated this move.

Furious Slash!

Whirlwind Strike!

Tiger Strike!

Whirlwind Strike!

Whirlwind Strike!

Morning Breeze unleashed a burst combo. Tiger Strike and the first Whirlwind Strike landed together. Frenzy Virus, already weakened by Furious Slash, lost a significant portion of health. Continuous hits reduced his health to less than half. Morning Breeze still had Furious Slash ready and immediately unleashed it as soon as the global cooldown ended.

Frenzy Virus hadn’t expected Morning Breeze to anticipate the position swap. Seeing his health drop past half, he tried to activate his ultimate skill but was frightened. After removing fear with his badge, he was stunned by Morning Breeze’s Shockwave.

How was he controlled continuously?

Control skills share a global cooldown. Even though Morning Breeze used Intimidating Shout to control himself, he shouldn't have been able to cast Shockwave in time. What he didn’t know was that Shadow Walk, already invisible, had silently approached and applied the fear. No chance to escape by casting.

Furious Slash!

Morning Breeze’s Furious Slash finished Frenzy Virus, and as he fell, the other three clones collapsed as well. Despite nerfs to his divine-level clone skill and the position swap extension, the clone’s weakness of collective blindness remained. When one clone fell, all fell, and loot drops were calculated individually.

“Shadow Walk, check what the other clone dropped.” Morning Breeze picked up an orange fragment from the ground, recognizing it as a legendary gear piece. Shadow Walk summoned a skeletal warhorse and headed to the other teleport point, while Morning Breeze found a special scroll.

Outrace regained the Life Ring, feeling elated. “Crow, I didn’t expect your burst to be this strong. Even with the position swap, you still managed to kill it!”

Outrace had lost to Frenzy Virus because of that swap skill. At the crucial moment, the swap ruined what he thought was a guaranteed kill, causing his defeat.

“No challenge at all!” Morning Breeze was thrilled to have slain Frenzy Virus. He figured that being forcibly logged out meant Frenzy Virus had been sent to the Dark Room for reflection. The organization’s psychic entities, when killed, had to wait in darkness before logging back in.

“Frenzy damage is really fierce!” Outrace wiped away his earlier frustration. Since he had a Dimension Essence, he had an extra chance to revive, unlike Frenzy Virus who was logged out. “Shadow Walk, you deserve a drink at the tavern in Sector 23. My treat!”

“Don’t forget my white coins!” Morning Breeze reminded him upon returning to the city.

“I’m in a great mood today. Here are two white coins!” Outrace had picked up two items when Frenzy Virus dropped the Life Ring: an orange fragment and a ring suitable for his use.

At the tavern, Outrace indeed gave Morning Breeze two white coins, and they exchanged their loot.

“Legendary weapon fragment of the Stormhammer? You got one too?” Outrace was thrilled to see Morning Breeze had also obtained a piece of the legendary one-handed hammer.

Seeing Outrace share his fragment surprised Morning Breeze. Frenzy Virus had collected two Stormhammer fragments. If he gathered all four, he could combine them into the legendary one-handed hammer. Since both were free drops, Morning Breeze generously sold his fragment for one white coin.

In fact, the fragment was useless to Morning Breeze and might even attract Frenzy Virus’s attention. Earning a white coin and shaking off the trouble was much better. He had no intention of collecting fragments—what good was another one-handed hammer when he preferred the sword? Besides, he already owned the Brotherhood’s Sword.

At the tavern, the four psychic entities from the Cobra Organization’s Third Squad had all logged out, appearing in the Dark Room, questioning what had happened—Frenzy Virus had been killed and logged out?

The Frenzy Virus in the Dark Room was a psychic entity, a kind of physical form but trapped without freedom. Two Frenzy Virus entities repeatedly headbutted the wall, venting their rage, while another sat dazed or slept. Seeing others come offline, the dazed Frenzy Virus recounted the events to everyone.