Chapter 39: Dungeon (13)
Blake had followed people, monsters, and other entities' lines of sight so many times during the beta era that he was proficient at reading them.
With only a glance at his minimap, he could tell the boss's slash was targeting the healer.
Without hesitation, he stepped in front of her and adopted a middle-guard stance. He smirked, lifting his blade and holding it steadily in front of him.
Just then, the ice slash passed through everyone, stopping at Blake, whose katana absorbed its brunt and weight. He slid back a few steps, stopping right in front of the healer. Then, the slash vanished into thin air.
That feat drained Blake's stamina significantly, but it was still preferable to losing the healer!
She whispered, "Thank you."
"No problem. It's because of you that I figured out its pattern," Blake replied. "It's the portrait! When the boss jumps back, just look at the portrait and figure out who it's aiming at!"
That seemed straightforward enough for him. Everyone he worked with before the official release could adapt to this kind of challenge and respond accordingly. Yet, Scarlet Tornado and her teammates didn't seem capable of doing the same, despite their determination. In fact, this responsibility fell solely on her and Silver Dash, since the mage and healer couldn't match their speed. The tank's hands were already busy up front.
"I-I'll do my best!" Scarlet Tornado said, gathering her courage.
Silver Dash stayed silent but nodded.
"Is it hard?" Blake asked.
Scarlet Tornado nodded weakly.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance and looked around. After a few quick glances, he devised a new formation: one that would keep Scarlet Tornado near the healer and Silver Dash by the mage. He would protect the others himself.
It annoyed Blake because he could have dealt far more damage if everyone had followed the standard rotation. However, there was no helping it. Everyone had to stay alive.
'I'll save Prideful Step to guard the others if I can't make it in time,' he thought, lunging at the boss's flank.
In most games, it was easy to swarm a single boss. In virtual reality, however, there was limited space for both players and their skills. Blake and Silver Dash could attack from the same side, but Scarlet Tornado couldn't—her spinning attacks required too much room. Since she and Silver Dash couldn't read the portrait's line of sight, Blake's movements were further restricted.
'We're too slow,' Blake thought, stepping away from the boss and glancing at its portrait. This was only the first pattern the team had to handle. How many more tricks did the boss have up his sleeve?
After two more slashes—one of which Blake blocked with Prideful Step—the entire battlefield seemed to freeze.
Shards of ice began falling from the ceiling like snowflakes. They gleamed so brightly that the scene was almost picturesque, worth recording. The boss stood in the middle, apparently frozen, resembling a genuine work of art amid the scattered shards.
"What are you freezing for?!" Blake's voice cut through the serene spectacle. "Go get him!"
Closing in on the boss with Prideful Step, Blake hacked at the ice statue with quick, precise strikes, each swing dangling around him because of Crescent Pride. Startled, his teammates snapped out of their daze and joined him.
Cracks spread rapidly across the boss's ice shell. It was so effortless to damage him that it looked like Blake had carved a spiderweb of fissures all over. Silver Dash's thrusts were equally effective, punching a hole in the boss's side. Scarlet Tornado went so far as to slice off the boss's arm. The mage's fire melted half of the boss's face, and the tank's broadsword embedded itself in his stomach.
'It must be Beatrix's doing,' Blake thought, eyeing the shards of ice swirling down like snowflakes. It made sense for Beatrix to have done this, since she followed his instruction to destroy all the ice statues.
Within that brief opening, the party inflicted so much damage that it seemed they were well on their way to victory. They couldn't have been more wrong.
As soon as the boss's health dropped below two thousand, the portrait hanging above him crashed to the floor with a heavy thud. The ice sculpture exploded into shards that struck everyone nearby.
Then, the sleepy ghost's eyes shone with sudden awareness. Floating above the icy debris, he spread his five fingers, summoned his weapon to his hand, and gripped its hilt tightly.
"The unworthy shall be slain," the Winter General said, drifting near the ceiling. He slashed the air twice, conjuring two unavoidable attacks.
No one but Blake could predict their trajectories.
He yelled, "They're heading for the mage and the swordsman!"
Silver Dash and the mage's faces contorted in alarm.