One SSS Affix per Level: My Novice Club Can Slay Gods!

John’s eyes lit up slightly.

Double the area.

Whether he applied it to the Novice Club or Irene’s Fire Crystal Staff, it would be extremely powerful.

If embedded into the club, it could enhance [Cleave].

The shockwave that originally covered only a limited area would instantly reach far more targets.

If embedded into the staff, it could expand the range of [Binding Chains].

One would improve his area damage.

The other would improve his crowd control.

John considered it for several seconds but did not make an immediate decision.

"I’ll hold on to it for now."

He invested all five Free Attribute Points into Strength.

[Strength +5!]

[Voidwalker Class Trait activated!]

[Constitution, Agility, and Wisdom have each increased by 5 points!]

[Ding! Player "Staff of Judgment" has reached Lv.12!]

A flash of level-up light also appeared around Nonoa.

After clearing the wraiths from the streets, the three of them soon arrived beneath the giant tree.

However, now that they had drawn closer, the scene before them was completely different from the sacred ground Glen had described.

There was no altar.

No elven statues.

Nor could they see any offerings dedicated to the sacred tree.

Instead, countless coffins had been planted densely around the giant tree.

Each coffin stood more than two meters tall.

They were pitch-black from top to bottom.

Like stone monuments, they stood upright in the ground.

Row after row.

They extended all the way to the roots of the giant tree.

Zoey slowed down.

"Who buries coffins standing upright?"

Nonoa whispered,

"Maybe it saves space?"

"This really isn’t the time to analyze it seriously."

The giant tree’s crown blotted out the sky.

The rows of coffins fragmented their field of vision even further.

Once they entered the area, cold black coffin lids surrounded them in every direction.

They could see only a few meters ahead at most.

Zoey’s quest marker still pointed deeper beneath the giant tree.

The three of them had no choice but to steel themselves and continue forward.

When they reached the center of the coffin field, Nonoa suddenly stopped.

"Can you hear something?"

John stopped as well.

Scritch... scritch...

It sounded like fingernails scraping against wooden boards.

Or as though something was slowly crawling inside the coffins.

Zoey’s expression changed slightly.

"I hear it."

The three of them turned around simultaneously.

Crack.

The coffin closest to them slowly opened a narrow gap.

A rotting hand stretched out from within.

Immediately afterward—

A second coffin.

Then a third.

Piercing cracks rang out across the entire coffin field.

Bang!

A coffin lid slammed heavily onto the ground.

A rotting corpse clad in the armor of a Giantwood Town soldier stepped out.

Its body had long since decayed beyond recognition.

Its skin was gray-black.

Yet its joints were connected by strange black threads, making it resemble a marionette controlled by an unseen puppeteer.

A foul stench rapidly spread through the air.

[Shadow Guard Corpse]

[Level: Lv.18.]

[Rank: Elite Monster.]

[HP: 5,800/5,800.]

[Physical Attack: 630.]

[Physical Defense: 310.]

[Traits: Corporeal Body, Corruption Enhancement.]

A physical monster.

Physical attacks would work.

John immediately looked toward Zoey.

"Your turn."

Zoey had been holding in her frustration for a long time.

She drew three arrows and placed them on the bowstring at once.

"Finally."

[Triple Shot!]

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three blood-colored arrows shot into the group of corpses.

[-2,680!]

[-2,710!]

[-2,650!]

Three corpses staggered backward simultaneously.

Arrows continued flying from Zoey’s hands one after another.

It was as though she intended to vent all the resentment she had accumulated while standing on the sidelines earlier.

Nonoa did not remain idle either.

After experiencing several rounds of combat, her movements had clearly become much more practiced.

She no longer closed her eyes whenever monsters appeared.

Nor did she quietly apologize before casting a skill.

[Light of Healing!]

[Merciful Judgment activated!]

[-5,010!]

One of the corpses collapsed on the spot.

John nodded in satisfaction.

Neither of them was growing slowly.

Their progress simply seemed less obvious when compared to him.

More and more coffins opened.

Dozens of corpses surged toward them from every direction.

John raised Irene’s Fire Crystal Staff.

"Fire Serpent."

Boom!

A Fire Serpent raced through the passage between the coffins.

[-13,795!]

[-13,795!]

[-13,795!]

Rows of corpses collapsed wherever it passed.

A second Fire Serpent followed immediately behind it.

Then a third.

A fourth.

The skill had no cooldown.

And thanks to [Mana Reflux], his attacks continuously restored his mana.

Fire Serpents erupted from the staff one after another with almost no gap between them.

Flames flickered wildly between the coffins.

An area that should have been a slaughterhouse for players had been forcibly transformed by John into a monster-farming cage.

Zoey had just finished off a low-HP corpse with an arrow.

When she raised her head, she discovered that an entire row of monsters ahead had already vanished.

"You call that Fire Serpent?"

"What kind of snake comes out by the nestful?"

Nonoa also stared blankly at the flames filling the air.

She even felt that she could not cast her skills as quickly as John killed the monsters.

[You have killed Shadow Guard Corpse ×31!]

[You have obtained 2,790 EXP!]

[You have obtained 93 Silver Coins!]

[You have obtained Corrupted Armor ×12!]

[You have obtained Giantwood Town Guard Badge ×7!]

The first group of corpses had only just been cleared when the coffins farther inside opened again.

The second wave.

The third wave.

Each wave contained more monsters than the last.

The three of them continued advancing toward the center of the giant tree.

Fire Serpents, arrows, and holy light continuously exploded between the coffins.

[You have killed Shadow Guard Corpse ×36!]

[You have obtained 3,240 EXP!]

[Ding! Your level has increased to Lv.19!]

[Current EXP: 90/6,500.]

[You have obtained 5 Free Attribute Points!]

[Unique God-Rank Talent "Supreme Evolution" activated!]

[You have obtained the SSS-Rank Affix: Domain Expansion!]

John’s movements paused slightly.

Another [Domain Expansion].

Two identical Affixes would activate simultaneously.

Each Affix increased a skill’s total area of effect to twice its original size.

With two stacked together, the total would become four times larger.

There was no need to hesitate this time.

John immediately took out the first Affix he had temporarily stored.

[Embed SSS-Rank Affix "Domain Expansion" ×2 into Irene’s Fire Crystal Staff?]

"Confirm."

Hum!

Two brilliant golden lights erupted one after another.

The entire coffin field was illuminated in seven-colored radiance.

Zoey and Nonoa turned around simultaneously.

"What was that?"

"Equipment enhancement."

Zoey narrowed her eyes.

"Specifically?"

"Trade secret."

John invested the five Free Attribute Points into Strength once again.

[Strength +5!]

[Voidwalker Class Trait activated!]

[Constitution, Agility, and Wisdom have each increased by 5 points!]

[Ding! Player "Staff of Judgment" has reached Lv.13!]

Level-up light appeared around Nonoa for the second time.

At that moment, the final rows of coffins surrounding them opened simultaneously.

More than a hundred Shadow Guard Corpses surged toward them from every direction.

John raised his staff once again.

[Binding Chains!]

Boom!

The ground shook violently.

The dark-red chains that had originally covered only a section of the street instantly spread outward in every direction.

Almost the entire coffin field was enveloped by chains at once.

Countless chains burst from beneath the ground.

Their ends could not be seen at a glance.

[Domain Expansion activated!]

[Domain Expansion activated!]

[Binding Chains’ total area of effect has increased to 400% of its original size!]

Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!

More than a hundred corpses were bound by the chains simultaneously.

Their movements stopped abruptly.

It was as though someone had pressed the pause button on the entire coffin field.

Zoey slowly lowered her longbow.

Nonoa also forgot to continue casting her skills.

John looked at the final waves of monsters trapped by the chains and nodded in satisfaction.

"Four times the area."

"Not bad."

The next second—

Fire Serpents poured across the sky.

They swept continuously between the coffins.

The final waves of Shadow Guard Corpses were trapped in place by the chains, able only to watch helplessly as the flames came crashing toward them.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!