[-955!!!]
[-507!!!]
War trembled as fierce attacks slammed into her knee joint, the critical hits taking a huge toll on her HP bar.
"That's it, babe!", praised Quickstep loudly, encouraging her boyfriend.
Everyone drew sharp breaths, impressed by Silent Acacia's prowess. Cyclone and Fortune instantly forgot their earlier jokes.
Cyclone immediately began to cast a skill, earning her a strange look from Fortune. The smaller woman understood the meaning, whispering an explanation:
"No way I'm offering myself up for direct comparison now."
Fortune chuckled, her face showing understanding, but she still wanted to upkeep the highest efficiency. Therefore, Fortune didn't skip the normal attack before beginning to cast as well.
[-350!]
"For Master Taragal!"
War's face was painted with anger after losing so much HP within seconds. Before the melee fighters could even get close, she used her first skill.
The nephilim roared, raising the heavy great sword in her hands high above her head. The black air stirred, forming a whirlpool above her. A large amount of air concentrated, forming a black great sword the size of a war troll's arm, looming dangerously above everyone's head.
"Scatter!"
Liam's timely warning reached the players, prompting them to evade to the sides. Only Fortune and Cyclone sighed with annoyance. Still in the midst of casting they couldn't move fast enough.
Instead of gambling on a lucky escape they rather stayed in place, focusing on their bodies. They carefully gathered more mana preparing for a flash step.
"DIE!"
A moment later War swung her sword and the black blade in the air followed her movements.
A storm reached the players first before the massive great sword crashed into the ground, causing the island to tremble and dust to fly everywhere.
The air was already dim, and mixed with the dust it was difficult to tell if the mages managed to evade. The party members looked left and right, quickly noticing Cyclone and Fortune standing close to Balm.
"You did it!", praised the healer happily.
Fortune answered with a composed smile but inwardly she was still working hard to get her mana back under control, stabilizing her cast.
Cyclone on the other hand looked clearly dejected. Although she escaped the attack her cast had failed, and she had to start it anew.
Someone else who looked similarly annoyed was Silent Acacia. Just as War swung her sword [Stalker] projected a target on her waist. Silent Acacia tried to attack it but due to the hasty movement his aim was off.
The hunter's arrow hit War's shoulder. Penalized by the [Stalker] skill the damage was ruthlessly halved, reaching only 239 points.
Luckily no one seemed to notice. Finally, the dust settled and everyone swiftly approached the boss.
Quickstep took the lead. Having moved so much already she had built up a tow of her resource storm. It was more than enough to show off her new skill [Aspect of Storm].
With a thought wind gathered around the female warrior, engulfing her in a storm. The black air appeared to be cleansed by an invisible force, purifying the air around Quickstep into a shining white color.
A strange feeling rushed through Quickstep's body as if some sort of shackles had been broken. This was a pleasant sensation originating from the skill's effect which temporarily eliminated the limit on her attack speed.
Usually, Quickstep's attack speed was at 0,77 attacks per seconds, which was comparatively somewhat low but it was easily made up for since she wielded two weapons. But now only her own skill dictated the potential of her damage.
Secretly agility and movement speed played a role as well but to begin with it was nearly impossible for a player to reach the limits of their in-game body. Even Liam couldn't guarantee that he would be able to do so for a prolonged time.
But Quickstep didn't know this yet. She wore a confident grin as her swords slashed at War's back. She found it incredible to finally move freely. No invisible blockade stopped her body from fluidly lining attacks.
The others watched in awe and with a hint of jealousy as Quickstep improved with every attack, engulfing War in a storm of blades, her effective attack speed inching towards 1,5 attacks per second despite her usage of two swords.
Simultaneously the skill also altered Quickstep's damage, making it 75% physical and 20% wind damage.
[-296!]
[-199!]
The others watched for a moment before snapping out of it, starting their own assaults. War was soon suffering dreadful damage, her HP bar emptying at a worrying speed.
Yet when she tried to retaliate, Radiant Shield blocked her path, not frightened by her heavy sword.
[Stance -15]
Sin watched as his colleague was besieged from all sides, finally unable to endure. With nimble feet he distanced himself from Silver Blade. Raising his hands, mana gathered around him taking on the image of black rose petals.
Silver Blade immediately realized what was going to happen, warning her friends:
"Careful! He's going to use a skill!"
"Oh, Silver, you're here as well?"
Silver Blade rolled her eyes, not deigning to answer Cyclone's cheeky question. Everyone paid attention to her warning, moving their gazes towards Sin.
The dark elf jumped elegantly rising to the air light as a feather. He stopped a few meters above the ground, stretching his arms. The illusionary image of a black rose formed behind him emitting a cold beauty like the moon.
He pointed with his finger, his cold eyes focusing on Quickstep.
"Damn, messing with my good time!"
The warrior complained angrily. If she was forced to dodge now, she would waste valuable seconds of her skill. As a consequence, not only would her damage be reduced, but worst of all, her fun as well.
Noticing Quickstep's reluctance Radiant Shield pondered for a split second before shouting at the female warrior:
"My friend, I will grant you a barrier. Make good use of it!"
Immediately a golden shimmering barrier surrounded Quickstep, which was Radiant Shield's [Holy Barrier].
Quickstep offered a brief 'thanks' before she was overwhelmed by black rose petals. The mix of a snow-white storm, a barrier golden like the sun, and petals black as crows made for a surprisingly gorgeous sight.
[-30!]x5
Watchful Eye standing close to Quickstep noticed the damage caused by the petals and couldn't help but ask in confusion:
"So weak?"
"It's more about numbers.", reminded Liam.
"But even so… couldn't I just dodge any time?"
"Want to give it a try?"
The taciturn man glanced at Liam, who could read the annoyance on the other man's face despite its indifferent expression. A daring smile formed on Liam's lips, but he didn't explain any more.
At that moment Sin suddenly changed targets. The black petals stopped shortly before Sin pointed at another spot, resuming his skill.
Watchful Eye's brows twitched. He wondered if Bleary Mirage had a way to influence the enemy as Sin now targeted him. For a split second he even considered to indeed let the skill hit him once to test what was so mysterious about it. But then his reason kicked in and he dodged quickly.
After realizing that the enemy's skill would only target a single person, the party members didn't hold back. They continued attacking War, shoving away at her HP.
Silver Blade's [Aura of the sloth] triggered, binding War in place. Sin unfortunately escaped the moment his feet left the ground.
But it was already good enough to immobilize one of the enemies. Instantly Fortune's eyes lit up with a fierce glint. The cast for her [Arcane Bolt] had just finished.
Now the enemy had become a sitting duck. Fortune secretly thought to herself.
If I don't hit at least 8… 7 bolts, I might as well change classes.
The mana surged in the mage's body, gathering towards her staff. With a simple wave a bolt of concentrated magic shot at the enemy, carrying enormous might.
[-512!]
The arcane bolt exploded in beautiful blueish fireworks, heavily shaking War's body. And more instantly followed.
Unfortunately the lord tier enemy wouldn't be immobilized for long. After about two seconds the nephilim began moving again, targeting Radiant Shield.
But it wasn't only Fortune who attacked during the short stun, but the rest of the party as well. Their combined efforts reduced War's HP below four thousand despite Sin's interference.
The black-armored nephilim let out a snort. She took a step back as her voice deepened by a notch, echoing over the battlefield:
"War is everywhere!"
The lord raised her hand and suddenly a black fog spread along the ground as if to mirror the black sky. Figures slowly rose out of it. Their bodies constituted of fog, their faces indiscernible. Only the gleaming black weapons in their hands looked substantial.
The party was suddenly surrounded, preparing themselves to deal with these new enemies. Bloody Edge was startled as a figure swung his sword next to him. He instinctively dodged to the side only to watch as the black sword targeted another figure.
Just then Liam's voice rang in everyone's ears:
"Those fog bodies will fight each other until suddenly targeting one of us! Stay vigilant but focus on killing the boss!"