I lock eyes with the gigantic High Ogre King.
The monster's silver and gold blades shine bright as the monster erupts its entire body into a ball of flames.
This beast is using all my tricks… and I can't even use fire to fight back.
Arie's voice calls out from beside me.
"Jay! Focus!"
*CLANGGGG*
Upon hearing my teammates yell, I lift my daggers above my head to block the incoming blade of the mutant we'd previously been fighting.
I'm still glowing with a radiant golden crimson aura. I reply to Arie while letting out a grunt and slashing upwards with wind magic to deflect the monster's sword.
"Let's take out this mutant quickly so we can focus on the boss!"
He nods firmly and darts in as our immediate enemy loses its balance from my powerful thrust.
I take aim and whip both my daggers at its head while the beast regains its balance. With a rude snarl, the red-skinned mutant blocks one of my daggers with a swift movement of its blade. Arie runs in from below as my second shining dagger narrowly curves around the sharp edge of its sword.
I smirk while sinking a lone dagger into its neck ripping through flesh and drawing blood using telekinesis from a distance.
The monster is getting double-teamed. Its cool and calm facade from earlier begins to break down the more attacks we land. The monster lets out a painful roar leaning backward giving Arie just enough room to sink both of his own daggers deep in its back.
Blood spurts all around us as the ominous thudding noises of the enormous boss approach. It's less than 10m away and charging in quickly with two blades ready to kill.
I twist my head back and forth to make sure I won't be ambushed, then yell at the top of my lungs.
"Arie! Cover me and stall the boss for 10 seconds. I'll end this mutant!"
Again, he firmly nods and plants his feet changing directions to face the boss without hesitation.
I reach into my item box and replace one of my daggers with an HP potion, then stare down the mutant as it readies its sword and adjusts its shield.
The monster is dripping blood from head to toe, covered in deep wounds, but still standing proudly. It won't give up until its HP hits zero. Luckily, I know just how to make that happen.
"Stealth."
In an instant, I disappear from the mutant's sight. It blinks rapidly, then begins turning its head back and forth while glowing with its golden strength buff.
The moment I turn invisible, I dart around it making virtually no noise at all. In the confusion, I devise a perfect plan.
It begins swinging its sword and roaring loudly while stomping its feet trying to find me by any means. The King is quickly approaching and it needs to complete its job as a boss room guard.
I grin as I make my way to its backside and jump in the air piercing its spine with one of my daggers deep enough that my entire fist makes contact with its skin.
"Equivalent Exchange."
I input 1500 damage, and brace for impact. The white light appears all around my body along with the sensation of a thousand tiny swords piercing me over and over.
I grit my teeth and immediately bring the HP portion to my lips rejuvenating most of my health. The monster before me shrieks out in agony as the life force gets stripped away from it by force.
*THUDDD*
It falls to its knees in front of me and I immediately take out my dagger from its back to cover it in a thick layer of wind magic striking its neck.
[Level Up]
Decapitation may be overkill, but I want to make sure the job is completely done.
I stand over my defeated opponent breathing heavily while retrieving my second dagger and deactivating stealth. It's time to fight the actual boss now…
*CLANGGGG*
I look up to see Arie jumping at the massive High Ogre King with no fear. His daggers collide with one of the monster's swords and he's pushed backward like a rag doll…
Although the beast is overpowering him, he's swiftly maneuvering his body to avoid the long shining blades, distracting it just like I asked. I begin to run over and call out to him as he eyes down the behemoth.
"Finished, let's do this!"
My eyes track the shining silver long swords as the boss elegantly swings them both at us. Its left hand is about a meter above its right, swinging the twin swords horizontally across its body leaving trails of fire in their wake.
I watch Arie dart to its right side, so I sprint to the left. We have to divide and conquer…
The enormous monster lets out another roar, stepping backward and pointing its blades to both of its sides. With the fiery swords, its wingspan is close to 10m and the heat coming off it is very intense. It's going to be hard to get in close…
We go in for an attack anyways, it's now or ever.
I grit my teeth and air-step forward throwing myself at the monster while covering my blades with sharp layers of wind.
The monster's swords elegantly glide in the air. The control and precision of this hideous monster's blades is oddly… beautiful…
I get serious and begin zig-zagging in the air narrowly avoiding its fire-covered sword. Time seems like it's slowing down as I rocket through the air aiming my daggers at the monster's open neck.
I let out a yell as its blade whistles through the air back at me again. I manage to twist my body while pushing upwards with a large gust of wind to miss getting sliced by mere centimeters.
I smirk and keep launching myself forward inching closer and closer to the beast's wide open neck.
By the time its blade comes back to attack me a third time, I'm less than a meter away.
"This is it…"
I tighten the grip on both my blades as I see Arie occupying the monster from below. Both of its blades are completely out of range, this is a definite hit.
My grin continues to widen as I fall closer to its neck concentrating more and more magic around my blades for a deadly attack.
I see its right eye turn to me, then its entire body bursts into much hotter flames.
I'm used to the heat, a few burns don't bother me. I continue falling in without hesitation.
The monster makes a sharp turn, twisting the bone-white meter-long horns protruding from its back straight at me. As soon as I realize what's happening I activate a layer of body hardening, but too late, and my defenses are too weak.
My eyes open wide and I cough out a mouthful of blood while black crystals fragments shatter into the air. One of the sharp bones on its back pierces the right side of my chest ripping through flesh and sending me flying towards the ground at a ridiculous speed.
I let out an angry yell, watching my HP drop close to 1000 points in a single blow…
Moments before hitting the ground I create a pocket of wind to soften my fall, but still hit the hard red rock with a thud.
I look up at the beast with a furious stare, letting out a wave of intimidation. It doesn't do much…
The boss continues toying with Arie, sending him flying back with a swing of its left hand's blade. Arie's only advantage is speed and agility. That's how he's able to avoid its sword swings from a distance. I wonder if he'd be as helpless as I was up close.
I dart around the monster's backside for a moment, looking at the blood-stained mass of bone sticking out from right below its neck. It was way too reckless of me to jump in without accounting for those… A monster this strong wouldn't leave itself wide open like that on the first attack.
While reaching into my item box to drink an HP potion, I use self-regeneration to heal my chest and re-think my entire battle plan.
"Stealth."
I shake my head and get back into battle mode while completely disappearing from the monster's view. I'm able to sense stealth users at lower levels than myself, so I'll have to assume it can sense me a little bit too.
I take a deep breath in and out, then charge forward again. Once in range, I jump up simulating my last attack.
Arie clashes daggers with its long blade as I soar in at its neck with an identical trajectory to my last failure of an attack.
The High Ogre King naturally thrusts its blade upwards, but I avoid it with ease. With another subtle air-step to get back on course, I throw myself at the beast's open neck once again.
The monster's right eye shifts to meet my exact flight path as it ignites its body into flames. I continue falling into its trap… but it doesn't realize it's falling into mine.
I grin watching its shoulder begin to twist, then activate my skill.
"Dungeon Walker."
A dark portal appears in front of me as the beast spins its body attempting to skewer me straight through. With milliseconds to spare, I fall through my warp portal, and its sharp mass of bone whistles through the air without making contact.
Instantly, I force a portal open on the other side of its head about a meter above and come flying out with my blades ready to kill.
The beast lets out the most horrendous noise as I plant both my daggers into its neck reinforced by wind magic ripping its tough flesh to shreds. Its crimson liquid covers me as I dig deeper and deeper until it whips me off with a violent twist of its body.
I air-step away before hitting the ground and avoiding its flailing blades as it continues to cry out in pain. Two bloody gashes remain on its neck. It's nowhere close to a fatal wound, but it's a damn good start.
Arie is less than 10m away from me. I deactivate my stealth skill and let out a laugh.
"That worked, that actually worked! Haha, it's mad now…. but we can beat this thing! It's not invincible."
Arie smirks at me while breathing heavily whipping sweat from his forehead.
"You continue to surprise me, Jay. I'll keep it busy as best I can, you'll be our damage dealer. There's no way I can get in that close with its-"
Arie is cut off by the murderous roar and heavy stomping charge of the bloodied High Ogre King.
Both of us grip our daggers and ready ourselves without another thought. This is going to be a battle to remember.