The guilds were all filled with excitement.
Everyone wanted to be the first to conquer the Godlike difficulty.
Many guilds were actively recruiting new classes to prepare for experimenting with various team formations.
Most people chose to face the Boss in the Demonic state.
There were still some guilds that decided to go with the Phantom of The Immortal Blade state, but most guilds that considered themselves serious about clearing the dungeon treated it as a joke.
Resistance to all attacks except true damage and health limits, the first strike delivers a deadly blow to the enemy.
When health drops to 90%, it copies skills, counterattacks like a god, and has unpredictable strikes.
The Demonic state hasn't shown to be overly difficult so far.
While the attacks of the Demonic Immortal Blade are strong, they can be countered. Teams can also deal damage to it.
Currently, many teams are forming maximum damage combinations to bring the Boss's health down to nearly 90%.
This is the most commonly used strategy at the moment.
Most setups will have an Onmyoji to buff damage and reset skills.
There are even rare teams that consist of 3 Onmyojis and 1 Tank class.
Tonight, the Boss's health had been brought down to 74%.
Thanks to the Noodle Shop guild.
Many predict that at this rate, the Noodle Shop will be the first guild to complete the dungeon.
Their lineup consists of Fighting Monk - Onmyoji - Musician - Flying Blade.
The Fighting Monk has a skill [Lay Down Your Knife, You Shall Become Buddha] that makes the user unable to attack for 1 minute. During this time, all incoming damage is reduced to 0. It can be canceled at any time, but canceling early will consume 20% of the maximum health.
It has no effect against true damage, but against Demonic state dealing Dark damage, it's perfect.
The downside of this skill is that the Boss's aggro will drop if the Tanker doesn't continuously attack.
The Flying Blade is here to compensate for that drawback.
[Myriad Blades Return To The Origin] deals continuous damage using blade energy. However, it doesn't attract hostility. This skill's damage increases over time, so if the Flying Blade isn't attacked, the damage output will be incredibly high, comparable to 2-3 players combined.
The weakness of this skill is that the Flying Blade's mana consumption increases continuously.
The Onmyoji has a skill [Fate Swap] that allows transferring or receiving mana from other players.
So this weakness can gradually be covered.
Up to this point, the meta classes (the trend or popular opinion that something is strong and widely used) are Onmyoji and Musician.
Almost every team tackling the Boss has these two classes.
Lady Lam, Sword of Love, No One, Ye Yu, Hana, Cherished Dream, TwinBird, and Hau Hau Noodle are observing the strategies of various teams before joining the fight.
"The Fighting Monk pairing with a Flying Blade to simultaneously nullify damage and deal damage is indeed very interesting..." Lady Lam is amused.
"A nice cheese strategy. At this rate, they'll reach 70%; let's wait and see. There may be a special mechanism at 70%."
The entire squad was watching at the City of Azure Flames, where, during pioneer stages, screens would display standout battles of the teams fighting there.
*Cheese: Often used to refer to an unusual and surprising team composition or strategy that is effective. It usually is only effective for a short period before being countered.
The Noodle Shop's team.
The Fighting Monk player named Diamond is nearly AFK.
The Flying Blade player Bald Cloud is also did the same thing.
Diamond just needs to activate [Lay Down Your Knife, You Shall Become Buddha], then stand still to let the boss attack him.
Bald Cloud just needs to activate [Myriad Blades Return to the Origin] and let it deal damage until his mana depletes, then the Onmyoji sacrifices their own mana to transfer it to him so he can continue.
During this time, the Onmyoji named Great Harmony will drink a potion to restore internal energy, preparing for the moment Bald Cloud runs out of mana. Additionally, when skills refresh, they will buff.
The Musician -Too Corrupt- operates similarly, providing buffs when skills refresh. He's also a target for Great Harmony to draw mana from to transfer to Bald Cloud.
The formation at this point is quite leisurely.
Many have indeed said that if you have the right strategy, everything becomes much easier.
If they were up against a normal Boss, No One truly believes they would defeat it today.
But having faced the Phantom of The Immortal Blade before, No One guarantees that things won't be that easy.
This Boss is treacherous...
"Just a bunch of fools."
At some point, the Heavenly Demon In Black had been standing behind No One.
Her words echoed, startling No One.
"M-Master?"
Everyone looked over, recognizing this as an NPC. Hearing No One call her Master, they assumed she was an NPC from his class faction.
Sometimes, NPCs can leave their usual spots.
The more special and high-ranking the NPCs, the more unusual their behavior can be.It's not surprising that the Heavenly Demon can appear in the City of Azure Flames.
"So, can't I come to watch my disciple fight the Tomb of The Immortal Blade?"
"Not at all, having my master watch me is an honor," No One shook his head.
Everyone didn't think much of it.
Maintaining a positive relationship with NPCs is very important. Typically, players in First World are taught to role-play when playing the game.
Having a disrespectful or dismissive attitude usually means losing quests or rewards, especially with important NPCs.
There was a player who offended the head NPC of a faction. As a result, the entire faction had a mission to hunt him down for a whole month.
Whenever he logged in, he was almost immediately killed.
"So, Master, did you just call the members of this team fools?"
"Yes, using this method to deal with the Phantom of The Immortal Blade, they won't be able to defeat it."
The Heavenly Demon shook her head as she spoke.
"You've faced the Phantom of The Immortal Blade, so you must know. The intelligence of this Phantom in combat is very high."
"The enemies within the shards are very rigid, because they are just fragments, not the true form. They lack a distinct intelligence."
The whole team was silently agreeing with the Heavenly Demon, although aside from Ye Yu and No One, they didn't understand what these shards were.
"However, the Tomb of The Immortal Blade is not a regular dungeon, and the Phantom of The Immortal Blade is no ordinary enemy."
"It possesses a fragment of the Immortal Blade. Just a tiny piece, like a speck of dust, but it still has it."
Everyone was listening intently.
The words of an NPC almost always have hidden meanings.
"Look over there."
The Phantom Demonic Form's health had reached 70%.
A warning sound echoed.
This is the signal indicating that the boss has entered a special phase.The Phantom Demonic Form stopped attacking the Fighting Monk at that moment.
Its head twitched.
It jerked sharply to one side, twitching as if something was malfunctioning, about to break apart.
It looked like a short-circuiting machine doll.
"You insolent bunch, daring to mock the Immortal Blade."
The whole team shuddered.
The way of speaking...
It was identical to when the Phantom of The Immortal Blade had killed Sword of Love and Demonic.
"I tend to call beings like this Residual Soul."
"They were once a part of someone, but only a fragment of them. They retain some level of consciousness and intelligence. Yet, they only occasionally manifest. It's a constant conflict between questioning their true existence and... not thinking at all."
"The stronger the origin of the Residual Soul, the stronger the Residual Soul itself."
At that moment, the Phantom Demonic Form twisted its head, looking over at the Flying Blade.
Bald Cloud was startled. What's going on?
He hadn't used any skills other than "Myriad Blades Return to the Origin" so theoretically, his aggro level should be zero.
"Let's end this boring game."
Slash.
Bald Cloud's head instantly fell from his body.
Killed with a single strike.
Immediately, the Phantom swirled with demonic energy, then consumed the body of the Phantom Demonic Form.
Heavenly Demon In Black swallowed nervously, her face darkening.
She still remembered this appearance.
Darkness engulfed the Phantom Demonic Form, shaping into a faceless demon.
The way it held its blade was incredibly abnormal.
Its head jerked repeatedly, as if malfunctioning.
Suddenly, from the faceless visage, a mouth tore open.
"Those who hurt Qiu Yu must die."
The jaws snapped open and shut.
A slash swept through.
Three heads fell simultaneously.
It pierced through the Fighting Monk's invincibility, cutting through all defenses of the Onmyoji and the Musician.
[Demonblade Descends, All Things Annihilate.]
The entire arena was obliterated!!!!!
Heaven and earth seemed to lose all order, everything floated and shattered.
The stage was engulfed by endless darkness.
Many spectators screamed in panic at this moment.
[Is this a game bug?]
[Oh my god, almost wet my pants.]
[WTF.]
[I have goosebumps all over, but I can't tell if it's from the thrill or fear.]
"It's not a bug."
"But all of you are indeed...Useless insects."
From within the darkness, the faceless figure emerged.
The mouth that tore open seemed to be smiling joyfully.
"It's just that you are facing a truly powerful being."
The bodies of all four players were now submerged in the dark mud-like shadow.
Ting
A notification appeared on the screen display and throughout the system.
[Players Diamond, Bald Cloud, Great Harmony, and Too Corrupt have been possessed by Demonblade. Haunted by Demonblade. Temporarily unable to return to the Tomb of The Immortal Blade.]
No One got goosebumps all over.
What kind of monster is this?
[Coward's Fear]
[Haunted by Demonblade's power, temporarily unable to return to the Tomb of The Immortal Blade.]