“Rogues, keep the other Fallen Treant busy. Everyone else, use your crowd control. Then focus fire on the treant that the Stone Golem is holding.”
Nightwish and Evin, who had been on standby, immediately sprang into action. They went into stealth and slipped toward the remaining Fallen Treant. With Backstab and Gouge in quick succession, they drew its aggro and attention. Then, using the rogues’ signature agility, they coordinated with the others’ control skills to stall for time.
Meanwhile, the frontline finally understood why they had stopped attacking earlier. With his Arcane Shield active, Gilbert’s HP was dropping slowly, but the lack of damage amplification from breaking the shield meant the frontline could bear his attacks.
The battlefield had clearly split into two fronts, yet even as Hill directed the rear to clear the Fallen Treants, her attention stayed largely focused on Gilbert.
When she saw his HP lowering toward 40%, she immediately called out in party chat: “Priests, prepare Dispel. Warriors and Reese: form a four-corner formation, Defensive Stance active, be ready to Taunt. Paladins, stay away from Reese’s side—use Shield Wall and Aura. Await further orders.”
Black light began swirling around Gilbert’s body. That was the sign that Black Shackles was about to activate—a mechanic that would trigger at 40% and 20% HP, striking a total of six times.
Each hit stacked a Shackles debuff on the primary target, causing extended immobilization. From the second stack onward, the stun could no longer be removed by any means.
If all six hits landed on the same target, even assuming they survived, they’d be incapacitated for ten whole minutes.
Since all aggro was on Reese, if he got locked down that long, the backline would be in grave danger.
That was why Hill’s attention remained fixed on Gilbert’s side.
As Gilbert’s HP dropped below 40%, the moment the black light burst forth from his hands, Hill did not say a word—she even held Elk back from instinctively casting Dispel. “Wait for my signal.”
Elk, tense, nodded.
The black orb struck Reese, instantly transforming into solid Shackles that bound him in place.
“What is this? You despicable—” Reese was unable to move, but could still speak, glaring angrily at Gilbert.
“You don’t need to know,” Gilbert scoffed, conjuring another black orb.
But in that instant—mere milliseconds before the spell could land—Elk cast Dispel at Hill’s instruction. It not only removed the Shackles already present but even neutralized the incoming debuff entirely.
This was a hidden trick: a Dispel timed so precisely that it not only removes current debuffs but blocks all negative effects within the next half second. It took precise judgment and reaction. Most priests never learned this—after all, it wasn’t always applicable.
But I knew it. In my past life, this technique was what separated a top-tier priest from the rest, especially when unexpected mechanics appeared. One trick like this could dramatically increase a team’s survival rate.
Like now—one Dispel canceled both Shackles. Other teams would’ve needed at least two priests to manage this, and even then, a single mishap could’ve been fatal.
“Nice work, adventurer,” Reese said with a sigh of relief as the immobilization fell away.
But Gilbert sneered. “Don’t think that’s the end.”
The black Shackles immediately snapped back into place, binding Reese again. As Gilbert prepared to cast another wave, the frontliners braced for Hill to order another Dispel—but instead, her voice rang out:
“Clockwise rotation—Number 1, Taunt now.”
Number 1 referred to the first shield warrior clockwise from Reese’s position. Scarlet Rain, already aware of the system, wasted no time and cast Taunt, pulling aggro.
Gilbert redirected the spell toward Scarlet Rain, binding her in place while the lightning spread toward the paladins nearby.
“You’re in the way. I’ll deal with you first,” Gilbert snapped, building another orb. But Hill spoke up again.
“Number 2, be ready to Taunt.”
No frontline except Shuiyan could survive more than two orbs. Bullhead, positioned diagonally from Reese, raised his shield and cast Taunt, redirecting Gilbert’s nanosecond-active aggro—and the Shackles.
The sixth orb finally fell on Shuiyan, who took the hit. Just as Gilbert targeted the immobile shield warrior, Reese—freed from his debuff thanks to Elk’s perfect dispel—burst forward again.
“Your opponent is me, Gilbert!” Reese roared.
With aggro reclaimed, the frontline let out a collective breath—and their respect for Hill’s command reached a new level.
Those six attacks could’ve wiped the party. Instead, thanks to prepared positioning, the electric shock damage was evenly spread, and even without priest assistance, the paladins’ self-healing kept them alive.
With Gilbert under control, the Fallen Treants on the other side weren’t much trouble.
Though their attack patterns resembled the Fallen Treant Lord, they lacked the HP, defense, and even the tree-devouring regen.
With Tina’s Forest Golem tanking one treant, the others poured on damage, reducing it to ashes. Nightwish and Evin were freed from stalling the other.
Soon, the second treant fell in the same way. Tina dealt the most damage once again—and her occasional healing as a nature mage helped the Golem hold strong, relieving pressure from Hill’s side.
Everyone finally absorbed the lesson: they were just the support here. The main fight belonged to Reese and Tina.
With all firepower now turned to Gilbert, his shield dropped rapidly—and his HP plummeted toward 30%.