Although the spirit snake's health still stayed at 10%, with the addition of another boss, the team are bound to struggle. Especially since they have already exhausted their recovery items.
"From the two wind blade that the immortal had unleashed earlier, it can be said that he is several 'level' above us," Qinglong said through his mic. "Since this is our first time playing the game, we are not yet too exposed with the game mechanic. And technically, Immortal Tao is our first humanoid boss encounter," Qinglong added, dismissing Pillager Jingshen's existence from the list of dungeon boss.
"Then, how should we deal with it?" Illusory Swan asked.
"I will try and distract Immortal Tao. The rest of you, quickly kill the snake," Qinglong replied as he filled up his health with potions.
"How much reds do you have left?" Li Shenyang asked Qinglong while he eyed the boss.
"Not much, only 13."
"Then here, I think you need this more than I do," Li Shenyang said as he opened the trade panel and handed 50 red coloured potions to Qinglong. "The boss's hit is very high. Don't tank. We'll finish the snake in 2 minutes," Li Shenyang added.
"En. I'll go and pull the boss now. Everyone, get ready!"
As soon as Qinglong said this, he rushed forward. The rest of the team also moved to back him up.
The snake saw them approaching and started to defend by swiping its tail over to Qinglong and the rest. Naturally, such a big movement from a big creature was seen by everyone and they each changed their direction, effectively evading the creature's tail. The tail missed its mark, but the ground underneath where the tail had landed shattered upon impact. The team was now separated with Qinglong and Black Inferno Tiger on the other side of the snake's body, while the rest is on the other side.
"I can't get to the boss! Change of plan, the two of us will deal with the snake. The rest of you, try to delay the other boss!" Qinglong's voice sounded and the team gave out an affirmative answer.
Due to the impact of the snake's tail, dust and small debris flew, almost messing with the players' view. Li Shenyang, though dodging the snake's attack still focused his view on Immortal Tao's figure. He saw Immortal Tao took one step, then disappeared from his original spot.
"Be careful! Immortal Tao made his move!" Li Shenyang warned the team. Unfortunately, his warning came late because Illusory Swan's name had once again turned grey as the health was emptied.
Illusory Swan who had just revived from the one-hit-kill wind blade was once again being killed in one hit. Lightning Lynx followed his footstep not long after, then Bai Lang also fell from Immortal Tao's blade.
"Fuck! The developer didn't even give us any face, ah! How are we supposed to beat a boss that can kill us in one hit?!" Bai Lang cursed.
The boss seemed to attack those with lower defence first, and Li Shenyang suddenly feels worried. A flash appeared at the corner of his screen and Li Shenyang quickly made a move to dodge. The ground where he stood earlier were smashed by a single sword strike.
"Oh, managing to dodge my strike, it seems you have some skill," Li Shenyang heard Immortal Tao's voice and he quickly turned around to face him. Now that they are standing close, Li Shenyang could see Immortal Tao's expression clearly. He could see that the boss was looking at him with curiosity. "Interesting."
"Interesting my ass! What the fuck is going on in the developer's mind when they created you? This super OP boss that can one-hit kill people, how can one survive, ah?!" for the first time after joining Qinglong's team, he finally couldn't help but curse out at both the boss and the developer. "How about if I beat you, you call me daddy, ba!" Li Shenyang said as he pointed his sword toward the boss and lunged forward.
Though Li Shenyang knew that the boss is only an NPC controlled by A.I and thus, unable to respond, he can't help but want to vent his frustration towards it. Only, he did not expect that the boss does respond to his words.
"Developer, what is that?" Immortal Tao asked as he dodged Li Shenyang's attack.
"Huh?" before his computer screen, Li Shenyang showed a stupefied look. "Did you just- Fuck!!"
Li Shenyang's sentence ends with a curse as he narrowly dodged Immortal Tao's strike. "Fuck you! What kind of immortal do a surprise attack!?"
In response, Li Shenyang heard Immortal Tao broke into a chuckle. "Really an interesting fellow. In this dog eat dog world, do you think people will simply wait for you to be ready?" Immortal Tao asked.
'This boss really is responding to me! What kind of high-level AI is this?!' Li Shenyang thought.
"Yang Shen! Watch out!"
When Li Shenyang heard Qinglong's warning, he quickly moved away from where he was standing. A few seconds later, a snake's head crashed down on where he stood before, creating a sense of deja vu. Li Shenyang watched as the snake recovered and continued to attack him. Dodging to the side, he escaped the snake's onslaught, only to receive another attack from Immortal Tao.
Li Shenyang once again dodged to the side but Immortal Tao's sword still managed to nick his character slightly. It was only a small cut, but Li Shenyang watched in horror as his health went from 100% to 74%. Unfortunately, he was unable to wallow for too long because Immortal Tao continued to attack him.
"You've got to be kidding me! What's with this situation, ah!" Li Shenyang suddenly wanted to cry as he continued to dodge. "Qinglong! Black Tiger! Hurry and kill that snake!"
Li Shenyang glanced at the two boss's health on the top of his screen. Immortal Tao's health was still at 100% while the snake is down to 4%. Though it felt long for Li Shenyang, in reality, not even a minute has passed. In the background, the three players who were killed by Immortal Tao earlier was cheering Li Shenyang.
[System World Announcement: Congratulations to the player: Severing Talon, Regal Phantom, Haunting Paragon, Vengeful Star, Sleeping Mountain and Deceptive Sword for achieving the first kill of the dungeon boss, Spirit Snake Laoshe!]
[System World Announcement: Congratulations to the player: Severing Talon, Regal Phantom, Haunting Paragon, Vengeful Star, Sleeping Mountain and Deceptive Sword for achieving the first clear of Desolate Immortal Cave!]
"Fuck!! Is that the team sent by Black Vanguard?!" Lightning Lynx cursed. "They stole the first clear, ah!! Fuck this!"
"It can't be helped. We're stuck here with this OP secret boss. If there's anyone to blame, blame the stupid developer!" Bai Lang sighed. They came to the dungeon hoping to get the first clear but just when they were about to do so, the boss ran and they chased after the boss only to encounter a secret boss.
"Let's just say luck is not on our side for the first clear. But on the other hand, we can get a first clear on the secret boss!" Illusory Swan tried to get his team to look at the brighter side. But regardless of his effort, the team's morale seemed to have plummeted.
"Are you guys not going to revive and help me?!" Li Shenyang's voice broke through their conversation.
"I can't sacrifice my point anymore," Illusory Swan replied.
"Same here," Lightning Lynx said.
"En. I'll go and revive. At the very least, I can help reduce Yang Shen's burden," Bai Lang said as he clicked on the revive on the same spot icon. After paying the punishment of 300 spirit point reduction, his character got up with 75% health.
"Begone!"
Bai Lang had only been up not even for 5 seconds when he was once again killed by Immortal Tao.
Li Shenyang: …
The dead teammates: …
Li Shenyang finally could no longer patiently stay passively dodging Immortal Tao's attack. When he saw the spirit snake's health went to 2%, he decided to take a risk and rushed for the offensive.
"Let me hit you once, ba!" Li Shenyang said out loud as he let out a flurry of attacks toward Immortal Tao, which was easily dodged by the other.
"Brave," Immortal Tao said with a smile on his face. "Unfortunately, just bravery is not enough to beat me!"
Immortal Tao moved his sword to meet Li Shenyang's attack. With a 'clang', he parried Li Shenyang's sword and was about to land another attack.
Li Shenyang saw this and luckily, was able to move out of the way very quickly but the sword still reached his character. Once again, he watched in horror as his health went from 74% to 18%.
"Holy shit! I thought Yang Shen dodged that but he still lost more than 50% health?!" Bai Lang couldn't help commenting.
[System: Spirit Snake Laoshe has been slain.]
[System: The sealed space is now broken.]
The two system notification rang out and Li Shenyang could see the space around them started to crack. Then, he saw that Immortal Tao's health is rapidly decreasing at a fast speed.
"Ah… it looks like my time is over," Immortal Tao said in a somewhat dejected voice. "Heh… Mortal, if you can receive ten of my last strike, you will be able to leave with your life. If not, accompany my little Laoshe, ah!"
As the boss said this, the sword in Immortal Tao's hand started to shine. With a swing, a wind blade that is stronger than before rushed towards Black Inferno Tiger. The speed of the wind blade was fast, and before Black Inferno Tiger could dodge, he found that he was already dead.
The next wind blade was aimed at Qinglong. But Qinglong was ready for it and was quick to dodge before the wind blade hits him. Unfortunately, unlike before, another wind blade came in succession. The first hit reduced his health to 23%. Upon the first hit, Qinglong noticed that he was unable to move his character because his character was inflicted with the dizzy state. The second wind blade hit him, completely killing him.
Li Shenyang who was left alone, felt heavy pressure being placed on his shoulder. "Say… if I die here, what will happen? Will we end up failing to clear the dungeon?" Li Shenyang asked. Of course, though he asked this, he did not plan on dying now. Especially when he already struggled before. To die now would make all his effort from before becoming useless.
"Don't die, ah! If you die, the whole team will be punished!" Illusory Swan said.
"What's the punishment?" Li Shenyang asked.
"Reduced experience, reduced spirit points, silver coins deduction of 10%, 10% of total materials gained from the dungeon will be lost randomly," Qinglong informed Li Shenyang.
Immortal Tao's attention is now at Li Shenyang's character and he swung his sword. The first wind blade was dodged by Li Shenyang, but he did not wait for the second one. Learning his lesson just by watching Qinglong, he quickly moved in succession, depending on his movement speed buff.
"Go! Go! Ah, if I had known, I would also increase my speed stats," Lightning Lynx cheered Li Shenyang.
"I suggested that to you before, but you said the beast clan you chose was already fast so you decided to increase your dexterity instead, hoping to increase your critical hit chances," Black Inferno Tiger said with a sigh.
While they were conversing with each other, Li Shenyang was busy preserving the little health he has remaining. By now, he had already dodged his 4th wind blade so there are three more remainings. After narrowly dodging Immortal Tao's 8th wind blade, Li Shenyang began to move closer.
"Yang Shen!! What are you doing? Going closer will give you less time to dodge, ah!" Illusory Swan can't help but yell into his mic and Li Shenyang winced at the loud voice.
"Fuck! Can you not scream?! My eardrum was about to burst!" Black Inferno Tiger said.
[System: Player Illusory Swan has been muted by the Team Captain - Qinglong]
[Illusory Swan(Party): Captain, I'm sorry!! Cry.jpg]
"Quiet, don't distract Yang Shen," Qinglong told his team.
The rest stays quiet while watching Li Shenyang faced off with the cheating boss. The 9th wind blade came towards Li Shenyang, and it was easily dodged by him. By now, Li Shenyang already knew how to predict the wind blade's trajectory by watching closely at how Immortal Tao moved his sword.
Soon, the tenth wind blade came and Li Shenyang once more dodged it with ease. "That's your tenth fucking strike! Now kneel to daddy, ba!" Li Shenyang said as he thrusts his sword forward to Immortal Tao.
Unlike before where Immortal Tao dodged his attack, this time, he only stays in place while smiling at Li Shenyang. The sword hit Immortal Tao but his health has long reached 0% even before Li Shenyang's sword reached him.
"Mortal, although you trespassed my resting place and even killed my beloved pet… I have to admit that you are an interesting fellow. Once you left this sealed space, you will find my remains. What I have left, I will give them to you. And this technique, I'll also pass it down to you," Immortal Tao said as he reached his hands up to Li Shenyang's character's head.
[System: Congratulations! Wind Blade has been learned!]
As soon as Li Shenyang received the system notification, Immortal Tao Renjing's ethereal body started to dissipate. "One last thing… This sword will also be given to you."
Before Immortal Tao Renjing disappeared completely, he stabbed his sword onto the ground before Li Shenyang. Once he disappeared, another system notification appeared.
[System World Announcement: Congratulations to the player: Qinglong, Illusory Swan, Black Inferno Tiger, Lightning Lynx, Bai Lang and YangShen for achieving the first kill of the dungeon boss, Immortal Tao Renjing!]
[System World Announcement: Congratulations to the player: Qinglong, Illusory Swan, Black Inferno Tiger, Lightning Lynx, Bai Lang and YangShen for achieving the first perfect clear of Desolate Immortal Cave!]