"That was incredible, Mirage!", exclaimed Silver Blade, voicing her admiration. She looked at Liam who stood under the golden stars falling from the sky like snow, his heaving chest granting him the appearance of a victorious warrior.
The golden light reflected from his white armor engulfing Liam in a heroic sheen. No one could deny that he looked extremely dazzling in the dark graveyard.
Liam, however, felt beyond exhausted showing only a faint smile. The fight had pushed him towards his mental limits.
"Expert, you're insane! It felt like you had my every move in your mind! How did you do it?", questioned Cyclone with sparkling eyes.
"It's nothing.", answered Liam while sitting down between two graves. The others thought Liam was just being humble seeing how he was clearly exhausted. But Liam rather didn't know how to explain himself.
Should he tell everyone that he was living a second life and had already studied the game extensively down to every last detail, his vast experience giving him an advantage even if he wasn't familiar with boss's exact skills?
Liam was afraid his friends would call him crazy. Well, at this point... they might actually believe it.
Chuckling to himself Liam shook his head.
"What? Trying to be mysterious?", joked Quickstep.
"No, no. I'm just not sure myself. I guess I'm just that talented."
"Pff and here I thought you wanted to be humble!", exclaimed Balm, drawing laughter from everyone.
The mood was great as the party continued to talk amusedly. Liam's friends once again felt that with him around no obstacle could bar their path.
However, everyone could tell that the fight took a toll on their expert. No one mentioned continuing until Liam had recovered, giving the signal himself.
Cyclone hastily took the lead as a bunch of loot was still waiting for her. Tall chains laid next to the black portal leading towards Kelsnim's tower, dissolving upon being touched by Cyclone.
The blond woman's expectation unfortunately turned into disappointment. The boss didn't grant a single rare item rather dropping an overwhelming number of uncommon ones.
It was enough for the party to upgrade some equipment and still store a few pieces in the guild treasury, among them even some with level requirements nearing thirty.
Although the value of so much equipment wasn't low, Cyclone didn't hold it in high regard. She urged the party to continue, stating that Kelsnim better pay the debt he owed them now. Her frightening expression could scare even devils as the party entered hell.
The view from the large tower was still bleak as always. Liam and his friends didn't waste much time here, walking down the stairs, their footstep echoing ominously through the tower.
Soon they were blocked by a black barrier, prompting them to cross one of the four doors, entering the dim room permeated with a faint chill, a smell of decay wafting through the air.
"I never thought you would make it here."
Kelsnim's familiar raspy voice rang through the room followed by heavy footsteps as Rouna'ar appeared carrying a large, spiked club engulfed in a bloody aura.
A moment later the staircase disappeared revealing the red-skinned Kelsnim sitting on his throne, haughty as ever, as if his previous defeat was but an illusion.
The party didn't interrupt Kelsnim's mocking words anticipating the start of the fight. As soon as they could move, they checked the two bosses.
[Devil Child Kelsnim
Rank: Boss
Level: 27
HP: 11.600/11.600]
[Rouna'ar, Kelsnim's servant
Rank: Boss
Level: 26
HP: 14.600/14.600]
"Level 27? So fierce?", cried Cyclone involuntarily. Everyone frowned preparing for a difficult fight.
Immediately a terrifying wail echoed through the room, assaulting everyone's heads, stunning them in place. Kelsnim and Rouna'ar showed no hesitation as they began their assaults.
Only Silver Blade, breaking the stun with her [Will of the Vanguard], was able to prevent the worst-case scenario. She threw herself in front of Fortune blocking both the devil child and his servant.
[Stance -23]
[Stance -26]
Watching Silver Blade's stance reduced by a large amount her friends felt the mounting pressure. They shook off the stun a moment later, ready to drown the enemies in attacks.
Liam took the lead in targeting Kelsnim, appearing next to the devil child, his swords resembling an executioner's blade targeting the devil child's neck.
[-159!]
[-80!]
His friends moved simultaneously except for Radiant Shield and Bloody Edge who were still affected by the stun. Damage numbers popped up above Kelsnim's head, chipping away at his HP.
"How dare you attack the master!"
Rouna'ar's shout brimming with righteous anger echoed through the room. The tall demon swung his massive spike at Silver Blade putting pressure on the tank. It didn't take long until only a little of her stance was left.
Fortunately, Radiant Shield finally recovered, drawing the black abyss demon away. Still, the next attack coming from Kelsnim was enough to brake Silver Blade's stance.
[-803!]
The tank's body shook as a black sphere of sinister magic shattered on her shield. Silver Blade checked her status, doing some brief calculations.
>>> <<<
Name: Silver Blade
Level: 24
Race: Original Nephilim
Class: Magical Vanguard
Primary Attributes:
STR: 68
INT: 20
AGI: 6
HP: 11316/12119
Fury: 6/115
(show more)
>>> <<<
"I can only block about fourteen hits!", informed Silver Blade gravely. Fourteen hits weren't much, and this calculation didn't even include the increased damage of skills. It was Balm's job to extend the tank's life beyond that.
But the healer had to simultaneously keep an eye on Radiant Shield who faced a similar predicament. It was obvious to the others that they couldn't drag this fight out.
Cyclone and Fortune were already casting their powerful skills while everyone else attacked fiercely.
Kelsnim suffered under the oppressive attacks. With a wave of his hand, he turned to smoke, which surged towards one of the many black banners in the room.
Balm's eyes lit up. She remembered this skill. Keeping her eyes fixed on the cloud she was ready to destroy whichever banner the boss stopped below.
A moment later Balm's moment had arrived. She flourished her wand just as Kelsnim came to a stop. To everyone's shock however it only took the boss a split-second to heal himself. When Balm's attack arrived, it was already too late.
[+500!]
While everyone kept staring at the smoke in surprise it already moved towards the next banner.
"No chance!"
Balm adapted wisely. As soon as it became apparent which banner Kelsnim was targeting, she destroyed it even before the boss could arrive.
Her efforts proved useful. For a second the smoke remained in place expressing its confusion. Two swords arrived slashing into the cloud, stirring the smoke.
[-80!]
[-40!]
Although the damage was halved, Liam showed everyone that the smoke wasn't invulnerable. As the boss continued the others didn't hesitate to throw some attacks naturally refraining from using skills, though.
Those actions quickly drew the anger of Rouna'ar. The powerful demon slammed his club into the floor, causing devastating fissures to spread over a large area. It was impossible for everyone to escape the damage. Especially Cyclone and Fortune suffered gravely.
[-1569!]
[-1595!]
The single blow put a lot of pressure on the party and especially on Balm who immediately used her AOE healing skill. But it didn't stop them from attacking Kelsnim.
Even the two mages managed to uphold their casts. They were only waiting for Kelsnim to abandon his smoke form before unleashing hell on the devil child.
It didn't take long for Kelsnim to reveal his real body again. He was just about to say something when terrifying magic and mighty lightning interrupted him.
The boss saw a huge chunk of his HP evaporated radiating immense anger from his eyes. He instantly waved his staff, conjuring ten ghost faces on the room's walls.
Soon the entire room was filled with spheres of fire emitting a hellish heat, threatening to burn the players to ashes. Simultaneously Rouna'ar began to spin crazily, occupying a large area, driving the players towards the flames.
Everyone scrambled to escape but these versions of the skills were extremely dreadful. The fire balls moved faster and Rouna'ar affected a bigger area than on normal difficulty.
It didn't take long for the party to suffer the first casualty which was Silent Acacia. The young man put too much focus on directing Zorn how to escape, causing himself to succumb to the flames.
At least the pet disappeared with him which didn't count as dying.
But with one of their ranged fighters dead the party found it even more difficult to reach Kelsnim amidst the flames. Their rate of damage slowed down until the two bosses finally ended their skills.
Immediately the friends revealed their fangs. Kelsnim didn't even have time to swing his staff for the next attack when powerful blows hit him from all sides.
Bloody Edge sneaked behind the enemy in stealth, his dagger stabbing into the devil child's back. Surprisingly the effect of his new pants triggered.
Despite his attack the thief didn't get revealed, instead imprinting a symbol in the form of a dagger on the enemy's back.
His eyes lit up brightly. He instantly separated from Kelsnim, rushing towards Rouna'ar.