When things reach their peak, a backlash follows, leading to a hard fall back to where they started.
Mark felt the same as the Blonde Elder; they both shared this sentiment.
"Even the Block World issued an announcement warning about how dangerous this boss is, yet you summoned it right in your chunk?"
"Do you have a death wish?"
Galen Yu was becoming arrogant and conceited, whereas they...
...the Alliance was becoming more stable, even regaining the Spartan Warriors as a pleasant surprise.
They were flourishing!
As for Kapil and Oakmoor...
They had been reminded previously to remain united, as fighting the zombies was the priority and personal grudges should be set aside.
Despite their verbal agreement, someone had committed a barbaric act and killed Kapil.
Many viewers from the Indus Kingdom and the Freedom Nation were furious, believing that Mark's words were being ignored.
Mark was certainly dissatisfied, but after hearing the announcement, his anger subsided.
At most, he would give Oakmoor a warning; there wouldn't be any real punishment.
Everyone had unlocked the SlashBlade, proving he could use it too.
A new mod was bound to be powerful and novel, and the strength of the SlashBlade had already been demonstrated by Oakmoor.
As the Samurai Nation understood this mod best, they had to maintain good relations.
Interests always came first. Losing one Kapil to increase the overall survival rate was a profitable trade.
If he didn't know the broadcast was being watched, Mark would have actually praised the Samurai.
"I hope this wall can hold back those monsters."
He turned his gaze toward the chunk.
He had been busy improving defenses. Since he knew the Mutant Zombies could only fly at low altitudes, he expanded the barriers and built high walls.
He would see how effective they were tonight.
Sky Island.
A Wither was summoned, its health bar filling from zero to max.
Nearby, the Architect and ten Guard Villagers stood ready.
"What a powerful aura... this thing is strange."
The Architect frowned, his expression puzzled.
He felt a somewhat familiar aura from the Wither.
It seemed like he had seen it somewhere, but he couldn't quite place it.
Since Galen Yu had cured him from his zombie state, he admitted he had forgotten many things.
Setting those thoughts aside, he aimed at the Wither.
"Is this thing really better than a bow or crossbow?"
The Architect muttered while holding the slender weapon.
Strongest in melee and skilled with bows and crossbows, the Architect originally wanted a bow to face the enemy.
But Galen Yu had given him this firearm called an AWM.
It wasn't cheap, costing a full ninety iron ingots and four diamonds.
In terms of iron ingots alone, it was three times more expensive than the AK-47, the King of Rifles, not to mention the precious diamonds.
The gun was valuable enough, but it even came with an attached scope.
An Elcan Specter 1-4x Variable Optical Sight.
This scope could be used at low magnification for close-quarters combat or at higher magnification for precise long-range shots.
It cost thirty iron ingots, twenty-six glass panes, and one redstone block.
It was more expensive than many of the guns themselves.
It was costly, but the Architect had yet to see its actual performance.
He adjusted the scope, loaded the magazine, and waited for Galen Yu's command.
As its health peaked, the Wither fully awakened.
Compared to when it first appeared, its size had tripled. Its three skeletal heads were hideous and terrifying, its body as black as charcoal.
Because of its appearance, the sky dimmed and dark clouds rolled in.
Boom!
With the Wither at its center, an explosion like a Creeper's blast erupted, tearing a massive hole in the ground.
Sensing an enemy, the Snow Queen landed as ice spread beneath her feet, her azure eyes locked onto the Wither.
Several Ice Crystals appeared, and she unleashed ice magic.
It dealt one damage per second and applied negative debuffs; such a combo would definitely be a handful for an ordinary player.
But against the Wither, which had just as massive a health pool, the effect was negligible.
It barely lost any health, and in return, it was struck by Wither Skulls, suffering continuous damage from the Wither effect.
Of course, with her own deep health pool, this damage wasn't much of a threat to the Snow Queen either.
However, it sent a jolt through the audience.
"Does he not understand the SlashBlade and just want to fight a boss instead of competing?"
"But this boss is really something else. The previous ones can't even compare!"
"It even causes explosions! It destroyed all the rails that were just laid down!"
"Exploding upon arrival and changing the weather... this is the true pressure of a boss. So powerful!"
"The Snow Queen is very strong, but even she seems to be at a disadvantage now!"
"And every attack carries a debuff. What was it called? Wither?"
"It's incredibly annoying. It almost killed Ronan Mountwell back then!"
"The main thing is that it destroys blocks. Part of the rail system is already gone!"
"Does this mean Sky Island is about to be overrun by zombies?"
A boss battle under the Blood Moon—whether it was the viewers from the Nine Provinces, the Freedom Nation, or elsewhere...
Everyone was fired up and watching with great anticipation.
Having moved away in advance, the explosion didn't harm Galen Yu.
With over two hundred health points, there was no need to worry about the Snow Queen just yet.
He drew the Tri-Bow to its limit, firing nine arrows simultaneously at the Wither.
[-18]
[-18]
[-18]
[...]
With Power V enchantment, each arrow from a full draw dealt around 15 damage, plus a 15% attack boost from the Great Wall of China's buff.
Each arrow could deal 18 damage.
If it was a critical hit, it could deal a massive 30 damage!
If all nine shots hit, even without crits, the total damage from a single attack was as high as 162!
An attack like a sledgehammer—the Nine-shot Bow's stats were truly broken.
A critical hit could push it close to three hundred.
Of course, such cases were rare. The target was always moving, and even at point-blank range, all nine shots wouldn't necessarily land every time.
A few shots missed, with only five arrows actually damaging the Wither.
Even with only five arrows, at 18 damage each, it still dealt nearly a hundred damage.
The Wither's health dropped by a visible chunk.
"Only that much?"
Knowing the power of the weapon in his hands, Galen Yu clicked his tongue.
As expected of one of the only two vanilla bosses, it had a full six hundred health points—three hundred hearts.
A hundred damage only took away a small portion of its health.
It didn't even trigger the second phase.
However, Galen Yu knew that there was no problem in this world that a Tri-Bow couldn't solve.
And if there was, it just meant he needed to fire two more shots.
He aimed and fired again. This time, he got lucky.
[-30!]
[-30!]
[-30!]
[...]
Six hits were critical, dealing nearly two hundred damage!
Combined with the Snow Queen's support, the Wither's health finally dropped to half.
It stopped flying and slowly descended back to the ground.
A yellow shield now enveloped it, emitting brown particles.
"What's happening? It still has half its health left!"
"Was it knocked out of the sky? Did it trigger some kind of mechanic?"
"Another explosion! And Wither Skeletons are spawning!"
"Is this... a second phase?"
"Holy crap, the Wither is immune to bows now! The arrows are just bouncing off!"
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