The only order that the two received is to 'attack at your own discretion'. Zeus didn't specify any specific strategies or patterns.
In response, the two rear guards rained down attacks on the monster.
"Holy Ray! Third Step!"
"Snipe! Triple Shot!"
The long-range attacks deal greater damage. However, the hate earned too is great. The only thing that is protecting the team from being wiped out is the endless rain of normal attacks from Zeus.
If he stopped his attacks for even a moment, the monster would surely move towards the back where Faye and Marielle, together with Hel and the steeds are.
Then, as if still dissatisfied with their current status quo, Zeus shouted.
"PHASE 3! FAYE! MANA FIELD!"
Zeus gave commands without stopping his fluid attacks even a second. Faye then followed his order and chanted her skill.
"Fairy Summon!"
After her shout, particles of light immediately gathered in front of her. Then, the Fairy spoke.
"What do you need now, Human?"
"Erect a Mana Field! Center is Zeus!"
At her orders, the Fairy Queen, Fayble waved her small hands. Immediately, a bluish-white light flowed around Zeus. It was about a 10-meter radius around him. Noticing this change, he then started using his skill too.
Due to the Mana Field, the regeneration of mana was doubled.
"Dragon Summon! Slice the enemy in front to pieces, Slyfer!"
At his heed, a large gust of wind started flowing around them. Then, the wind turned into violent rain of blades that mercilessly slashed at the monster's large body.
"HAHAHAHA! FEAR MY STRENGTH YOU LOW-LEVEL LIZARD!!!"
The tide turned. The almost neck-to-neck battle immediately became a one-sided beating. Its emerald green scales and the black ones on its chest were easily covered with bloody cracks in no time.
"Prioritize the joints! Make it so that it will have difficulty to move!"
"No need to tell me!"
"Faye! Speed buff!"
"Roger!"
"Marielle! Aim for the gem in the middle of its head. Use Snipe only!"
"I-I'll try!"
Now that the tide turned, the battle became a little lighter and they can now converse normally. When flares faded, Faye immediately threw replacements. She even started setting traps around the battlefield at Zeus's command.
All the items that were originally for exploration are being used extraordinarily against the monster. And with the help of the said items, Zeus could safely conduct a type of hit-and-run tactic that gives him enough time to rest.
After 20 minutes, the battle was reaching its climax. The monster started going berserk and ignored the traps around, swinging its clubs wildly.
The attacks were easy to avoid, however, the strength behind each hit increased incredibly. Each hit, even without contact, could make Zeus lose his footing.
Instead of being more careful, Zeus became bolder. He reached inside the bag behind him and pulled out an item. He then threw it toward the monster's legs.
It was a type of restraint, a chain with weights on both ends, also known as a bola. After it hit the legs, it immediately tied the two legs together due to centrifugal force, causing the monster to trip.
A large cloud of dust rose as the monster fell face down. Zeus jumped up and landed on the monster's head. He then released a flurry of attacks.
The monster screamed in pain. It flailed around, trying to lose Zeus atop its head. However, like how the Sphynx above his head cannot be removed, Zeus stubbornly maintained his position.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
With a shout, Zeus continued raining attacks on the monster's head.
Then, instead of just flailing, the monster tried hitting Zeus with its hands. Zeus dodged the first one by jumping, however, seeing the incoming attack, he jumped down.
"OWAAAAAH!"
The monster swung its club towards its own head. A loud sound echoed inside as it hit.
"… Did it die?"
After hearing that loud impact, all of them thought that it is dead. However, that wasn't the case.
"GGGGGUUUOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
After the heavy hit it received through its own hands, the monster shouted loud in anger and stood up. The restraint tied on its legs ended up snapping. Then, it tried to catch Zeus. It first reached its empty left hand, then tried smashing him with the club.
Zeus evaded the first by ducking and the second by jumping. Still airborne, the third attack came.
The lizard turned around and used its tail like a whip. Zeus twisted his body in the air and tried to evade, however, he was too late. He was hit for the second time. This time, with a much stronger force.
"AAAAAAAGGHHHHH!!!"
He flew in a straight line and crashed into the opposite wall of the cave. His health instantly dropped from almost full to less than 10%. A single hit and he's already in a critical state!
"Guhah!"
Air was knocked off him. The pain made him almost crazy. He felt his eyes get watery due to the excruciating pain.
"––!"
Seconds passed, two, three… He still couldn't recover his breath. He dropped to his knees. He could feel that some bones were broken. Even his left shoulder was dislocated.
"––––––!"
He ended up rolling on the ground. He still can't breathe in. All he could do is exhale the air out of his lungs. Then, as he was suffering, a warm light fell onto him. Almost instantly, he recovered his breath.
"Haaaah, haah, haaaaaaah…"
Taking a few deep breaths, he finally recovered. The warm light even fixed his broken bones. Even his dislocated shoulder. The pain still lingered even after healing. At the same time, his health was recovering slowly.
"… Thanks… Faye…"
He muttered his gratitude under his labored breath. Marielle ended up having to attract the boss's attention, which was a nail-biting scene. She used her Snipe skill to hit the Lizard's head, drawing the monster's hate instantly. Then, the two played a game of tag that can kill upon contact.
After Zeus managed to stand up, a different colored light fell and his health recovered up to 40%. The pain was still present though, numbing his legs.
"Faye… Use Blessing…"
Zeus spoke as he staggered to walk forward. Faye was slightly surprised.
"… I can only use this skill once a week… Are you certain?"
"There's no time to waste!"
Receiving the request, Faye immediately chanted the Blessing Spell. It was a spell that triples all stats for 15 minutes. One of the newest skills that Faye got. The skill is too overpowered that using it will consume all the remaining mana of the caster. It will also stop the mana regeneration of the caster for 10 minutes.
In other words, if she used this skill, they couldn't count on her healing anymore. They need to break through with sheer force.
"… Give your generous blessing to my companions! BLESSING!"
As Faye finished chanting, a warm light surrounded all those present. Even Hel that was just standing behind them was included.
Right after the light faded, Zeus immediately ran toward the monster. Revenge time!
"Marielle! Get back!"
Hearing his command, Marielle immediately timed her jump after evading the club the monster swung, and she immediately gained distance. At that moment, Zeus cut in and slashed at the monster.
"GUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The monster cried in pain.
Now that all of his stats were tripled, his current damage output was beyond comparison to his previous. The monster couldn't strike back as it was continuously flinching through the series of attacks.
Not a single moment was wasted. Zeus poured all the remaining stamina in his body to slash at extremely high speeds.
The flares around the cave were reduced to half. The monster's vision slowly became clearer. After more flares vanished, approximately 3 minutes, the monster finally managed to avoid Zeus's blade.
It stepped back and then jumped away from him. Finally being freed from the onslaught of attacks.
However, as the monster landed, it felt pain incomparable to any previous ones.
At its feet, a magic circle glowing with pale blue light was drawn. Blinding white light courses through the circle, binding the monster. It couldn't move. When it tries, unimaginable pain courses through its body.
"… Finally…"
It was one of the countermeasures that Faye was told to set in advance! A magic barrier. It prevents anything from moving as long as it is within the circle.
Earlier, he couldn't help but try to lure the monster to the circle, however, after getting a power-up, he became able to just push the monster towards it. Thus succeeding in their plan.
Zeus leisurely walked towards the gigantic monster that now looks like a statue.
"You almost got me there earlier. As thanks, I'll end this quickly. Dragon Summon!"
Gusts of wind converged and formed a small figure. Slyfer once again appeared.
"Now what do you need?"
"Finish him."
"… AHAHAHAHAHA!"
Looking at the monster, Slyfer just laughed loud. The circle was quite large, around 5 meters in radius. In other words, there's no way to reach the monster inside other than long-ranged attacks.
"BE GRATEFUL YOU PLEBIAN! FOR I, THE LEGENDARY DRAGON SLYFER WILL PERSONALLY END YOUR LIFE!!!"
Then, as he finished his grand speech, a large amount of air was compressed. It was to the point that those inside the cave felt slightly faint due to the sudden drop in the volume of air.
Then, after a few seconds of compressing, a glowing ball of fire was formed. It was reaching a meter in diameter, exuding heat of unprecedented level. It feels like a furnace is right in front of their faces.
"Meteo Borea!"
As Slyfer shouted the name of the skill, the large ball of burning gas flew in a straight line and crashed with the lizard monster. A large explosion followed.
"O-Oi!!! Don't use fire type spell inside here! What'll you do if we run out of air!"
Zeus shouted in vain as he covered his mouth from the dust cloud formed by the explosion.
"I'll take that as a compliment! Hahahaha! Well then!"
Then, without even seeing the conclusion of his own skill, Slyfer vanished.
The monster continued wriggling in pain as it burned. The sound that it let off as it burned was enough to make the air vibrate.
In less than a quarter of a minute, the monster vanished into dust and then a confirmation window appeared.
- - -
- You defeated "Draconis Hepa", a mutated monster made by the mad alchemist Fleura.
- Due to the high difference in level, you earned 8,900,000 experience. Experience will be shared with party members accordingly.
- You picked up the boss class item Dragon Scales x120.
- You picked up the boss class item Elemental Orb x80.
- You picked up the boss class item Dragon's horn x2.
- You picked up a world-class item "Magic Imbued Spirit Crystal" x4.
- You picked up the boss class item Heaven Splitting Sword's Fragment (Blade).
- You picked up the rare item Hall's Bow +24. Luck has increased by 1.
- You picked up the rare item Draconis Sword +24. Luck has increased by 1.
- You picked up the rare item Dragon's Magic Armor Set (Fire) +24. Luck has increased by 3.
- Through defeating a boss monster way above your level, all stats increased by 16.
- By fighting courageously, Courage increased by an additional 8.
- - -
A rotten smile quickly ran up to Zeus's face.
"I won't have a problem with my set in the future anymore! Hahaha!"
The Dragon's Magic Armor set was one of the best armor for levels 80 to 100. Its market value reaches over $100,000 for each part and a stunning $500,000 for the whole set in the real world. If he sold this, then he wouldn't have to worry about living expenses for over 5 years!
"… And what is this? This is the first time I heard about things like this…"
World Class Items. They were items that have effects on the game world itself. One of the early World Items discovered is the Teleportation Magic Circle that enabled far-off kingdoms to open trade routes with each other.
World Class Items causes a great change in the game itself, that's why Zeus read all the articles about these sort of items before. However, this item was news to him.
"Item Information!"
- - -
Magic Imbued Spirit Crystal
An ancient artifact.
It was once said that two worlds are present. Magicians of that time tried to determine ways of communicating with the other world. Hundreds of years of research led to the discovery of a Magic Crystal that enables them to view the other world.
Type: World Class Item
Durability: Infinite
The discovery of the Artifact will give a large impact on the current state of the community. Donating one to the Magic Council for research will grant you large fame and honor.
- - -
"… Enables to view the other world…"
After reading it several times. This phrase alone kept on bugging him.
"… D-Did you feel that just now…?"
Marielle then suddenly spoke while she was sitting down on the cold ground of the cavern.
"What?"
Then, the whole place started vibrating. It started with gentle shaking and immediately turned chaotic. Having realized the cause, Zeus quickly denied it.
"T-T-This is Slyfer's fault! Not mine!"
"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! RUN!"
"U-UWaaaaaaaaH!!!"
"Ahahahahahhaha!"
And so, the party quickly ran out of the cavern. Zeus and Hel lead the way with flares in their hands.
Hel and Zeus ran. Faye and Marielle rode their steeds. The rescued individual was together with Faye, carried like luggage.
Monsters along the way were all cleared so there was no struggle on getting out. Their only problem was their baggage.
After 4 minutes of running, they reached the large dome again. At the same time, the whole cave behind them collapsed.
"… We're safe now right?" Faye said while sighing.
"HEY! Don't raise flags here!" Zeus quickly shouted.
"T-The shaking ended already. Maybe we're already safe?"
"Marielle too?! Don't raise flags! Please!!!" He said, exasperated.
"What are you panicking about flags… There's no way that's true right?"
Then, a small piece of rock fell on Zeus's and Faye's heads.
The two reflexively looked above. Then, the blood on the two's faces quickly drained.
"G-G-G-G-GOGOGOGOGO!!! Run!!!! Go out!!!"
"I-I-I-I Know! C'mon! Marielle!"
"E-Eh?!"
"Ahahahahha!"
They stopped caring about overloading as all of them boarded the steeds. Zeus rode behind Faye again and Hel with Marielle.
Faye buffed the steeds with speed and strength buffs, praying that it was enough to take them out of the cave in time.
The ceiling of the cave, over a kilometer high, was showing large cracks despite the low visibility. It was to the point that it could be considered a miracle it was still in one piece.
The steeds took off by kicking the ground leaving dust flying around. They flew in an arc to avoid strain on their steeds as much as possible.
As they were halfway up, large rocks started falling down. Rocks rained down at irregular intervals, increasing the difficulty of flying.
"Woah!!!"
Evading it was quite a trouble due to its large size.
"Sora! Run through the walls!"
Hearing the order, the steed immediately ran through the walls of the cave. The ride became bumpy but they can't be picky in their current situation.
With the additional thrust from running through the walls, evading was easier. Marielle and Hel were nimbly evading the debris falling while they flew in a complicated pattern.
Then, their fears came true!
"!!! Sora! Go faster!"
"Felix! Please!!!"
The whole ceiling started falling. It was slowly sliding down at the moment but who knows when it will fall straight toward them.
They are currently a few seconds away from the exit. Tension starts building as they were nearing it. The sliding ceiling too started to gain speed.
"Just a little more!!"
"Felix, faster!"
The ceiling was already 20 meters from the top of the hole. The group was 10 meters away from the entrance. They can still make it!
A second felt extremely long. The adrenaline in their bodies, full of tension, caused their consciousness to accelerate.
After 2 seconds, they reached the top. Now, they only need to dash toward the hole where they came from. However, fate seems to want them dead.
"Wha––?!"
"WHY!!!"
"W-W-W-What should we do?!"
A large boulder was blocking the only exit. And ultimately, they don't have time. The ceiling was right above their heads.
"Guh!!!"
It was too late to return. And they have no other way out. They were literally stuck to their deaths.
"Arf!"
Then, the decoration above Zeus's head started moving. The Sphynx, which looks like a Siberian husky, jumped down from his head.
Zeus tried catching it and followed down the mount.
But, it didn't land. It stayed afloat. Glowing with a light-green light, it seems to be trying something.
Then, suddenly, the boulder above them was covered in similarly colored glowing light. Slightly after, when it was just a foot away from their heads, the boulder stopped in its tracks.
After confirming the phenomenon, all of them gave a sigh of relief.
"Arf!"
However, that was not all. With just a short bark, a hole larger than the previous passage was opened on the wall.
"… Amazing…"
"D-Don't judge a book by its cover… So that's what it means…"
Faye and Marielle gaped at the cute-looking thing's strength.
"…"
"Hahahahahaha! That was interesting isn't it?!"
Hel was still laughing maniacally while Zeus was stupefied.
"W-We better get out now! Who knows how long this will last!"
"Right. Let's go, Sora!"
Then, after regaining their senses, the group dashed out from the opened hole. Just as they got out, a large crashing sound came from behind them, followed by a whirlwind of dust rushing out of the hole.
Just as they got out, the Sphynx once again returned to Zeus's head. This time, with eyes closed.
"Hahaha! As expected of a Sphynx! Even at a disadvantageous state, it can still perform quite greatly!"
"Poor Gerald… It must be tired now after covering for us."
"W-Without Gerald, we surely would have died back there. Thank you."
The two girls spoke as they patted the dog's head atop Zeus's head. It was quite irritating for Zeus. It feels like he himself was being patted.
"Arrgh! Let's head to the village now! I want to end this quest even a second early!"
Zeus exploded and started walking towards Sora.
"Well, he has a point. Let's go."
At Faye's confirmation, the group headed to Yale Village. Riding the steeds, it didn't even take 5 minutes.
Their convoy gallantly landed in the middle of the square where a lot of bystanders were gathered. What an eye-catching arrival.
The village chief immediately appeared from among the crowd. He quickly headed to Faye and Zeus, where the missing person was sleeping.
"Ohh! It really is Tyler! Why thank you, adventurers. As agreed these are your rewards."
- - -
- Received A-Grade Peryton Leather
- Received Map of the Continent
- - -
They finished another step in their chain quest. Now they just need to confirm the next stage and all is clear. However, all the chief did after passing them the items was to bring Tyler to what looked like an infirmary. The next step seemed to be delayed.