The Angel Guardian was now all alone. Its vines and roots that resembled that of the Tree of Life were now boxed in a single place as S-Class flames kept them at bay. The Demon Guardian was at the other corner, held there with the might of the S-Class tanks and martial artists. However, it couldn't be contained for long. It possessed far more strength and dexterity as compared to the average S-Ranker of Yudonia, which meant that in due time, it could break free from its confinement to reunite with the Angel Guardian. The damage dealers responsible for the Angel Guardian all rushed their attacks, bringing as much magic as they could to the table.
Flame Thaumaturge Nassisa led the assault. The entire Boss Room had a raised temperature, and Aria felt like she had entered into a magma pit. If not for her added magical protection, the Archmagus was certain that her face would have been melted. Like a cosmic meteor shower, huge flaming meteorites zoomed down from the ceiling, ravaging anything that was below.
BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!!
The earth trembled with fear as the side where the Angel Guardian was from had ironically transformed into a pit of hell. Crimson light was the prevalent colour scheme, completely eroding the Angel's terrestrial aura. If it was the Angel Guardian in its prime, it could have used a magic skill to completely wipe out the flames, but unfortunately, only one of its wings was functioning. The magic
"Open up a path! Damage dealers, all focus on the final wing that the Angel has!!!" Arcane Warlock Rhykius shouted. Guardian Paladin Arius was responsible for holding down the Demon Boss while Rhykius and Kama had their hands full taking down the Angel.
Behind the entire Raid Force, White Sorceress Minerva was continuously casting her barrier and support magic. Yvette was holding onto the unconscious Finn, trying to heal up the broken man who had blood flowing out of his mouth and bones broken all over his chest. They couldn't waste any more time. The longer the fight progressed, the more chances the Angel and Demon Guardians had to regroup and completely wreck Yudonia's S-Rankers.
Half of the Boss Room continued to get engulfed by flames, and the roots that the Angel Guardian summoned were incinerated the moment they formed. Realising that it was futile to stay this way, the Angel Guardian changed its approach. Its final wing glowed once more, filling the chambers with dense mana. Aria instantly felt breathless, and she fell to her knees. Many of the magicians did the same. Only those with S-Class constitutions could remain standing without feeling any penalty.
"ARGHHH!!!" Powerful mages covered their ears and laid on their stomachs. Their mana was beginning to go haywire, and there was a burning sensation within their veins. The Angel Guardian was severely damaged, but its core was still that of a monster exceeding the SSS-Class. The pure magic that it could unleash was unbearable for those without Higher Magic Resistance, which was only common for those fighting in the frontlines.
"Pull yourself together!" Rogue Lord Kama roared. "All supporters, cast physique buffs on the mages! We can't have them dropping like flies!"
"Hah!!!" Spells were continuously cast, giving every single person in the Boss Room some power to remain standing. Illusionists and Magicians without Fire Magic were forced to supply mana to the fire mages or supporters. It took a few seconds, but the Raid Force was now ready to attack once more.
"Fucking angel… [Abyss Familiar]!!!" When Rhykius came to be, his face was completely vermillion, and the handsome facade that he worked so hard to maintain had crumbled entirely. The one-eyed darkness familiar followed him up high in the air. Its hands glowed with arcana, and Rhykius did well in supplying it with more and more mana. Eventually, its entire body had been filled with enough Arcane Magic to make it a missile of pure destruction.
OOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
The Spectre rushed straight at the Angel Guardian like a guided warhead. Black lightning coils enveloped the air around it as it barged forward. The Angel Guardian was a little rattled by the foreign invader that dared to trespass on its territory. It lacked the ability to counter the little critter, so all it could do was watch as the Abyss Familiar exploded on its body.
"Did it work?" One S-Ranker had to gall to ask that question. As if scoffing at how little the S-Rankers thought of it, the Angel Guardian flapped its final wing and summoned even more vines to protect itself. However, instead of spreading it far and wide, the Angel only created twenty, each one ten times thicker than the ones before.
The flames of hell attempted to take the Angel Guardian out. It slithered like a snake, edging ever closer in hopes of incinerating the vines like before.
WHHHHHHAMMMMMM!!!
Alas, not everything went as planned. As if giving the Fire Mages a slap of the face, the one thickened vine whipped itself, pushing the fire far away from the shockwave it generated. After adapting, the Angel Guardian's Nature Magic was now even immune of the S-Class Flames that Yudonia's best S-Rankers could create.
"Fuck, it's getting accustomed to the S-Class flames!" Arcane Warlock Rhykius screamed, his face ashen and hollow. "All martial artists quickly attack that final wing! We have to destroy it before it adapts to our movements!!!"
"HA!!!"
None of the S-Rankers bothered to give a formal reply. They were in crisis mode. Defeating the Angel Guardian was key now. Rogue Lord Kama made the first move. He hung upside down from the ceiling, sticking both his feet as if unhindered by gravity. The assassin had been observing the Angel Guardian ever since he first arrived. Its mannerisms, what it did before attacking, what it did before defending, its timing… Everything had been analysed by the seasoned veteran. Now, he was finally ready to thread the needle.
The dagger in his right hand vibrated violently. There was no need for any poison, neurotoxin or paralysing agents to be laced on his weapon. All he needed was pure, brute, explosive strength. The muscles on his thighs expanded rapidly. Veins popped, and dust flew everywhere by the shockwave his feet were unleashing. If he were on regular concrete, the entire place would have been broken down into a million pieces. He had gathered enough potential energy… It was now time to convert it into kinetic movement.
VROOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
Kama's body disappeared from everyone's view, and a few moments later, a sonic boom echoed through the thick walls of the Boss Room. The man had broken through the sound barrier and was now travelling ten times the speed of sound. It took just a fraction of a second for the Rogue Lord to whiz past the Angel Guardian and all Aria could see was a flash of silver light. Then, as he landed squarely on the ground surrounded by the thick tree vines, Kama's Blink Bracelet glowed in radiant azure colour, before his entire body disappeared from view.
"Hah… Hah… Hah..." Kama reappeared behind enemy lines, right smack in the middle of Minerva's barrier. He was huffing and puffing from expending too much power and speed. Otherwise, Kama was free from even the slightest speck of dust. The Blink Bracelet had done its job. The man was able to use High Teleport to retreat. "Did I get him?"
That was the Rogue Lord's first question. He had executed his ultimate ability. His four limbs were numb, and many blood vessels had been snapped. Half of his mana was gone, and his trusted dagger had chipped. There had to be some payoff.
BBBOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!
Luckily for the Rogue Lord, there was some reward. The Angel Guardian stumbled, falling a little to its right. Before it could hit the ground, the vines that it created held it back up. Powder fell from the surface of the final wing that it had as a notable cut could be seen from its bottom. It had been damaged. Just not enough.
Still, it was good news for the Raid Force. "Physical attacks work!!!" Rhykius shouted into the intercom. Before, they were just working off assumptions theorised by the President and his league of analysts. Now, they were a hundred percent certain. "Everyone throw your strongest attack while its trying to recover!!!"
Swordsmen, Knights, Spearmasters, Assassin, Monks, Swashbucklers, Berserkers, Archers and Rangers all prepared their ultimate physical ability and threw them without mercy. The long-ranged attacks connected first. Elemental Archers like Luke stayed out of the barrage, not willing to feed the Angel Guardian even more magical power, so the vast majority of the arrows had some substantial weight to them. Some spearman even used their prized weapons as javelins to ensure that the Boss was damaged by their attacks.
Second after second, the Angel Guardian was being pushed back. Weaker attacks bounced off the stone wing like they were jelly while stronger ones pierced right through. Just as the first wave of arrows ceased, the melee-ranged fighters took the scene. Using their speciality weapons, the S-Rankers bolted past all of the rapidly flying vines unleashing their ultimate abilities right on the final wing.
The sound of metal hitting stone became the ubiquitous tune of the Boss Room. Each time an S-Ranker landed their strongest hit, their Blink Bracelet glowed ever so brightly and teleported them back. Using these guerilla tactics, the Raid Force was able to create more and more holes within the Angel Guardian's wing, as magical power was lost at a rapidly increasing rate.
Noting that the Boss was just taking a beating, one S-Class Berserker smiled. After landing one powerful swing using his two-metre-long Greatsword, the Berserker unleashed his deadliest skill, [Shattering Will], by kicking off the wall behind the Angel Guardian, hoping to land the finishing blow.
That was a mistake.
One of the twenty thick vines noticed that blatant attack and immediately moved to counter it. For the Berserker, who was isolated behind the Angel Guardian with no other reinforcements, he was an easy target. The vines slammed onto the Berserker's chest and charged him into the wall. Instantly, the man's sculpted body was wrung dry of mana. His healthy cheeks turned into a hollow ghost's and the muscles that attracted so many women had been drained completely. There wasn't even a chance for the S-Ranker to teleport away. It happened too fast. One second the man was about to land yet another dominating blow onto the Angel Guardian, the next, he had been drained till only his skin and bone remained.
"Fuck, Glorlaf!" Rhykius hollered out the Berserker's name. Blood trickled down the Arcane Warlock's lower lip as he watched a person he would call his friend pass away right before his very eyes. However, as much as Rhykius wanted to grieve, he was still at war. "Everyone be wary!!!"
It was the first fatality of the S-Class Dungeon. The entire Raid Force brightened up and uniformly gulped huge mouthfuls of saliva. They didn't want to replicate the actions of the Berserker, so everyone moved with much more caution.
Currently, the final Angel's wing was decorated like a honeycomb. There were dozens of holes and cuts within the stone structure that it wouldn't be a surprise for it to crumble at any moment now. However, instead of falling into pieces, the Angel's wing still remained flapping. Every odd second, it would continue to glow with intense mana, bringing even more thickened vines into the picture. The Angel Guardian had changed its strategy once more. It understood that Yudonia's S-Rankers were powerful enough to destroy it, so it was going to defend itself until the Demon Guardian was free.
Which leaves the strike force attacking the Angel with a problem. Its vines were now immune to S-Class Fire Magic and could absorb the mana out of anyone who dared to touch those nature creepers. They couldn't use the Blink Bracelet to teleport in, as that had a five-second cooldown. Anyone who used it to attack the Angel Guardian would be trapped and would possibly be taking a one-way ticket to River Styx. It wasn't something that any of the S-Rankers wanted.
Aria was also presented with the same problem. Among all of the S-Rankers in the Raid Force, she had the highest proficiency with Space Magic. With the treasured wand in her hands, her Higher Space Magic could be elevated to level 9. It made sense for her to be the one that teleports behind the Angel Guardian to land the deciding blow. Unfortunately, she didn't possess even the slightest bit of strength to launch a physical attack. All of her magic would be eaten up by the thickened vines, rendering her useless in the process.
'Damn it, think! Aria, I know that you can solve this!'
The Archmagus reprimanded herself, and all of her brain cells got to work. The image of the wing was shown in her mind. How battered it was, and what else it would take to destroy it. Aria thought about everything.
'Teleport… Attack… Physical… Wait! There is a solution!'
Having a eureka moment of her own, Aria activated [Fly] and sped up into the skies. Her eyes shifted rapidly between the two teams. She was looking for a specific individual and thanks to his unique characteristics, it wasn't long until she could find him.
"Mister Ridan!" Aria bolted down towards her target, a forty-year-old man with a face full of hair. Funnily enough, his head was void of any. Though that didn't matter to Aria one bit. Standing at two-metres-tall, the man was easily one of the largest beings in the Raid Force. All of his muscles seemed to be carved out of stone, and his tremendous physique would dominate any bodybuilder that dared to breathe in his presence.
"Lassie?" Recognising the Archmagus, Ridan dropped down his enhanced bronze knuckles and released his the tension in his biceps.
"I have a bold request!" Aria didn't want to waste time, so she quickly got to the point. "I think that I have the solution to break down the final wing! However, there might be some risks to your body. Are you okay with it?"
"Risks?! If we can't destroy the Angel Guardian, we'll all die anyway!" Ridan hollered back, evidently still pumped with adrenaline. "Just spit it out! I'll do anything!"
Seeing that the warrior was more than willing, Aria continued: "Could you charge up the Mountain Punch? I'll coat you with my Creation Golem's armour and cast High Teleport to blink you behind the Boss!"
Ridan's Mountain Punch was not just renowned in Yudonia, but worldwide. Ridan had a strength stat of 400, the highest in his nation. By converting all of his power into a single point, the Brawler had the capability of releasing all of his strength into raw physical power. Just like its name suggests, Ridan had levelled mountains in the past using that one skill. There was one drawback, though. The Mountain Punch took too long to charge up. Also, it could only work on unmoving objects right in front of Ridan.
"That sounds good, but is the Mountain Punch really enough?" Ridan was a little sceptical. He had seen how resilient the Angel's wings were. Even after an array of attacks from some of Yudonia's best S-Rankers, the Angel Guardian still stood firm.
"By my calculations, it should be enough!" Aria replied with confidence. "I'll teleport you to the place where the wing is the weakest. All you need to do is throw the punch! I'll handle the position and escape!"
BANG!!! BANG!!! BANG!!!
From the other corner of the Boss Room, the Demon Guardian was starting to get rowdy. It had smashed open the enclosure that Arius and the other Paladins had created, and was on the verge of escaping. Both Aria and Ridan gulped. There wasn't any time left.
"Fine! Let's do this!!!" Ridan didn't think twice anymore. He bent his knees, tucking his right hand to his waist and supported it with his left. The muscles that he boasted were now bulging out, with veins almost popping. The Mountain Punch was now in the works…
'Good, now for the hard part...'