In an instant, three dark spectral figures materialized beside the boss.
- Minion HP: 120
- Minion Attack Power: 30
- Minion Defense: 10
- Minion Abilities: Basic melee attacks and a spectral blast that deals damage over time.
Although these minions were weaker than Xalgun, they could still create chaos with their ability to distract and slowly deal damage over time.
"STICK TO THE PRE-PLANNED STRATEGY!!"
Serix reacted quickly.
The knights took their positions as tanks at the front, their heavy shields ready to absorb the incoming attacks from the minions. With their shields up, they created an unbreakable wall, making sure the DPS classes could fire off their powerful attacks without drawing any aggro.
"Alright! You guys are up!" Knight 1 shouted.
Archer 1 grinned. "Yeah, we got it…!"
"We'll make an opening for Serix and Ragz." Archer 2 readied himself.
The two archers, their bows charged with elemental magic, took aim and unleashed a rapid volley of arrows.
────ZIIIIIIIP~!
Each arrow shot through the air like lightning, hitting the spectral minions square in the chest. Two of the three minions stumbled after being hit by the barrage of magical arrows, but they only lost about 30 HP each!
With a gentle look at Shin, Aqua led him to a safe corner in the large boss room.
Standing beside him, Support Mage 2 cast a protective barrier around Shin to keep him safe.
"Okay, that's done, we need to regroup with the others."
Aqua nodded with understanding. "Right. Let's go!"
She felt uneasy and scared, but it wouldn't be fair if she didn't try as hard as they were.
━ ━ ━ ━
30 seconds later...
The opening they'd been waiting for was available.
The two Archers had already taken care of all three spectral minions.
"You ready, Ragz?!" Serix called out.
"I was born ready, boss!"
A sharp grin spread across Ragz's rugged face.
The Versatile Mage was already calling on the immense power of his strongest magic skill, [Overshot].
A boosted lightning-based attack spell.
"Prepare yourself, Aqua," Serix said. "This is it."
Aqua nodded.
Afterward, she and the other two Support Mages cast protective buffs on Serix and Ragz, boosting their chances of survival in case things went south.
Even at their current level, they weren't about to get complacent.
While the support mages did their work, Aqua kept her eyes locked on Xalgun. She knew the Versatile Mage had already cast a debuff to increase their critical hit chance, but something about this boss still bothered her.
But there was no time to dwell on it… victory required their full focus.
[Overshot!]
Finally, the Versatile Mage launched his attack.
A potent arrow-shaped lightning sparked into existence.
… KRAAAAAAK~!
It shot through the burning air and carved through the ground with explosive speed.
────BOOM!!
It shattered the barrier surrounding Xalgun but didn't directly damage it.
"That's all?!" the Versatile Mage cried out.
It served its purpose nonetheless.
Everything was in place!
Archer 2 took a small leap back as he spoke.
"Enough of an opening, I'd say. It's time for the swordsman and the berserker to strike."
With a smooth motion, Serix spun his sword, showing off his skill with the weapon. He rested it firmly on his shoulder.
Towering over him, Ragz raised his massive sword high and matched Serix's confident stance.
"WE GOT IT!!" They shouted.
A burst of unparalleled speed.
────ZOOOOOOM~!!
Serix and Ragz lunged towards their final target.
Victory seemed imminent, their plan executed flawlessly.
A single hit from a level 50 swordsman and a level 41 berserker should be enough.
Should…
Out of nowhere, Xalgun raised [Blade of Eternity] and swung it mercilessly at them.
'W… What…? H-, How is it so fast?!'
Aqua immediately thought.
… CRUNCH!
In an instant, blood flew across the battlefield as Ragz was violently torn in half by the force of the monster's attack. His body was ripped apart, leaving a gruesome scene behind.
Serix moved with the quickness of a skilled swordsman, not like a Berserker. He managed to dodge the monster's attacks, but it came at a cost. His left arm was sliced off, and he collapsed on the ground, overwhelmed by pain.
"MY ARM!"
Serix painfully cried out like a madman.
'Why does it hurt so fuckin' much──?!'
He didn't expect the pain sensors to be so high.
"SERIX, NO!" Knight 2 cried out.
Before he could say anything more, the massive Xalgun suddenly appeared, almost as if it had teleported right in front of the two knights. In one quick move, its enormous sword sliced through their once-strong barriers and shields, cutting through their flesh and bone like they were nothing.
Limbs were severed, heads flew through the air, and a shower of blood painted the room!
"No…"
Archer 1 crawled back in fear.
"What the fuck is going on?! Isn't this supposed to be a level 25 floor boss?!"
Yes, but not exactly.
Xalgunʼs special features made it unstoppable.
Xalgun's unique features made it unbeatable.
It was these same special features Shin would see and decide that they were dead.
|| UNIQUE FEATURES ||
- HP Scaling: Xalgun's HP scales with the number of players fighting it, increasing by 200 HP per player.
- Attack Power Scaling: Xalgun's attack power scales by 100 for every 5 levels above level 25.
- Defense Scaling: Xalgun's defense scales by 40 for every 5 levels above level 25.
- Magic Power Scaling: Xalgun's magic power scales by 120 for every 5 levels above level 25.
Swordsman - Level 50, Berserker - Level 41, Support Mage 1 - Level 20, Support Mage 2 - Level 26, Aqua - Level 9, Knight 1 - Level 25, Knight 2 - Level 27, Archer 1 - Level 23, Archer 2 - Level 19…
Combined, it left Xalgun at…
- HP: 700 (base) + 6 players x 200 HP + 4 players x 200 HP + 2 players x 200 HP = 4800 HP
- Attack Power: 100 (base) + 10 levels above 25 x 100 + 4 levels above 25 x 100 + 2 levels above 25 x 100 = 2200-2250
- Defense: 70 (base) + 10 levels above 25 x 40 + 4 levels above 25 x 40 + 2 levels above 25 x 40 = 1090
- Magic Power: 50 (base) + 10 levels above 25 x 120 + 4 levels above 25 x 120 + 2 levels above 25 x 120 = 590
|| C L O S E ||
The tide of battle had abruptly turned against them.
This creature didn't act like a typical scripted boss; instead, it started to adapt and grow stronger with each moment. Its range of powerful debuffs drained valuable HP from the players, stealing their life force to boost its own strength.
There was no hope for them…
Xalgun summoned its spectral minions.
They snarled and quickly dodged the archers' arrows.
Before long, these ghostly minions sliced through the support mages with brutal efficiency.
Aqua was fortunate to be helping Serix, or she would have been dead herself.
She focused every single drop of magic she could manage to heal him.
Serix felt waves of pain as he gripped the stub of his severed arm, blood spurting out with each heartbeat.
"Aqua, forget about me! Quick, tend to Ragz!"
He managed to speak with a hoarse voice.
"Serix… I… I'm sorry…"
Aqua's face turned pale.
"Ragz… he's gone. He didn't make it…"
Her voice shook as she spoke, and tears began to fill her eyes.
Serix's eyes widened, fear. "No… no, that can't be!"
He tightened his grip on his severed arm as he struggled to hold himself together.
The elven swordsman closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he clenched his teeth together. He slowly let go of his mangled arm, allowing the blood to drip onto the ground below.
"Aqua… stay back. I can't afford to lose anyone else."
His voice was low and steadier than before.
There wasn't a single emotion to be felt from him.
Aqua's eyes flickered with concern.
"B-, But you're not fully healed yet."
Ignoring her protests, Serix shook his head, and it was clear that his mood had changed significantly.
"The time for talking is over."
The Serix she knew was long gone.
All that remained now was a cold, burning anger!
Without thinking twice, Serix reached into his inventory and took out a small vial of healing potion.
He drank it in one quick motion.
A soft, red glow surrounded his body as his wounds began to close, but he was still far from fully healed.
━ ━ ━ ━
The story came to pause…
"That's enough. It should be ten minutes now..."
Shin calmly interrupted.
He cared more about getting out of the dungeon than the story Aqua was telling.
The only reason he even listened in the first place was because he was bored and it was a smarter move to allow Aqua get everything off her chest before they stepped out of the dungeon.
"Let's see if we can open the door now."
Shin yawned.
Wiping the small teardrops from her cheeks, Aqua tried her best to smile.
"Y-, Yeah…"
━ ━ ━ ━
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