A fierce fight went on. Mehphre was caught in another hailstorm, receiving a beating. As his HP neared the 400.000 mark, he finally broke through a tanks' stance for the first time.
[-2283!]
The tanks gritted their teeth. But just as they were prepared to lose their stance one by one, Mehphre suddenly flapped his wings and ascended to the sky.
Another round of flames was spewed at the guild. Everyone scrambled to escape. This time, however, Mehphre fired a daunting four times as if he was determined to finally cause some casualties among the guild.
Unfortunately, he was successful. Some players who were forced into unlucky positions suffered two hits in a row. The support of their fellow guild members didn't come in time and the players reluctantly left the fight.
"Damn! You have skills, use them!"
A few unhappy shouts rang through the battlefield as some team leaders berated their subordinates who didn't dare to retort, feeling guilty.
Mehphre let out a satisfied, deafening roar as he returned to the ground. Just as the players thought their time for revenge had come, the boss used another skill as red patterns spread on his skin.
"Come on, give us a break!"
"He's becoming more fierce, just as Silver Blade said!"
It was indeed Silver Blade who relayed some information about Mehphre apart from Liam. Their Colville family had also gathered information about the game in the past, but it was fragmented and couldn't compare to Liam's vast knowledge.
Silver Blade only knew that there was a draconian world boss who spewed fire and grew fiercer the more he fought.
Star Gazer had the same information, but without a clue about how to find the wandering world boss such information was not worth much.
Still, Silver Blade had spread her knowledge about the boss within Dream Avenue as she was also glad to support the guild as much as possible.
However, while it was nice to know that the boss would get fiercer the more he fought, this didn't help the guild evade the current skill.
A suction force came from Mehphre's mouth, targeting a large area, constantly draining the players' HP.
Simultaneously five black spikes drew curves in the air. Liam and his friends tried to get their hands on them as fast as possible.
Fortune frowned faintly as she caught another spike. After the previous manoveur her stance was comparatively rather low. If she used another [Flying Dash] her situation would gradually become critical.
Making a prompt decision Fortune turned to an elven mage next to her who sat on a wolf-like beast, fast and nimble.
"Here, take it and target the weak spot at his knee!"
The man was taken aback. He took a moment to comprehend the situation. Then he quickly grabbed the spike, nodding with confidence.
"You can count on me!"
Simultaneously Fortune coordinated in the chat with her friends, distributing the targets. She watched as people started from five spots. Except for the mage she just delegated her task to, the others all sailed through the air, aiming for the boss.
Quickstep was the only one who took the task a second time. Although she aimed for a spot on the boss's lower back, the cost wouldn't be low, and her remaining stance would prevent her from using [Flying Dash] a third time afterwards.
Fortune was slightly worried as the players were using up their resources bit by bit. However, watching the performance of the elven mage as he stabbed the spike into Mehphre's knee, Fortune gained some more confidence, reassured that apart from Hotpot others were also reliable.
"DIEE!", roared Mehphre in pain. "You are all the same! We draconians should be the mightiest race to ever exist! But wherever we go we are shunned!
I hate it! I hate those ugly eyes! I..."
Cyclone's eyes twitched as she listened to Mehphre. The draconian still hadn't gotten rid of his tendency to go on unnecessarily long rants. Luckily her [Raining Thunder] had just finished casting at that moment.
"Shut up! No one will have sympathy with you!"
An annoyed expression on her face Cyclone shouted loudly as she waved her wand. A cloud of thunder formed in the air. Since Mehphre's body was so massive there was not even a need to cast the skill with him as the centre.
Cyclone made sure to spare their tanks while still comfortably enveloping the boss. Swiftly the world was illuminated by a blue light as a criss-crossing lightning bolt struck the boss's head.
[-446!]
"Alright, not bad!"
Cyclone hyped herself up as everyone else was too focused on the boss to notice her in particular. Another bolt of lightning fell, hitting Mehphre's muscular tail.
Sparks scattered in all directions as the lighting was resisted by sturdy scales. But suddenly lightning flashed and snaked along Mehphre's skin.
The draconian froze for a split second. Cyclone's paralysis had luckily triggered as Mehphre was in the midst of his tirade.
"... and don't get me started about dragons. Oh, how I..."
"Hahaha..."
Cyclone immediately erupted with loud, carefree laughter. She couldn't even focus on casting the next skill and barely managed to wave her wand for a normal attack.
[-105!]
Suddenly two burning eyes brimming with anger focused on the young woman.
"Daring to interrupt me? Pay the price!"
Mehphre's voice echoed through the battlefield. Everyone had an ominous premonition.
The draconian opened his maw wide, ferociously sucking in a large amount of mana. Within his body, unseen to everyone, beat a sinister, black heart. As Mehphre directed mana towards it the heartbeat's sound suddenly amplified.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
The sound of a beating heart rang through the battlefield, resembling a bell announcing the apocalypse.
Suddenly the world in front of everyone distorted. The guild members found themselves in a bleak, dark landscape only observing a vast nothingness in all directions.
"What's happening?"
"Where are we?"
"Is this the skill Mirage warned us about?"
Everyone looked around in confusion. The ubiquitous silence caused dread to rise in their hearts.
"Hey, stupid boss, are you afraid to face us?", Cyclone shouted indignantly.
As if her provocation was effective a change suddenly occurred. The air distorted for a moment as an enormous creature appeared. No, it was not even a whole creature! It was only its head!
A head rivalling the size of a city with a maw like an abyss and long horns like enormous spires. The massive eyes looked towards the ground with a disregard for all life.
A mythical pressure emanated from the head, suppressing all the players. This was the might of a dragon, far beyond the current power level of the players.
This mystical, primordial might appeared so real. If the guild members hadn't been warned beforehand, they would think Mehphre summoned a real dragon.
Suddenly the black dragon head opened its maw wide revealing sharp teeth which could easily bite through mountains.
The dragon head unleashed a world-ending roar. Everything shook terribly. Cracks erupted on the black ground. The air distorted. The entire world heated up.
The players felt their heads spinning as a stun effect was added to their status.
At that moment a flame kindled in the dragon's maw. Everyone stared at it in fear. Stunned, they had no chance to evade.
Suddenly Silver Blade gritted her teeth. She knew exactly what to do.
"Ha!"
With a low shout a white light flashed around her body. [Will of the vanguard] allowed her to break out of the stun. Right after that she activated her ultimate [Might of the vanguard].
Having achieved rank two with the skill it could now protect her allies for 3,5 times the damage stored in her passive.
Unfortunately, she hadn't received that much magic damage so far. There wasn't much damage stored in her passive yet. The bigger part came from her [Aura of ranged protection], which also counted towards it.
This way I will never reach the higher stages of my passive...
And yet the effect can't even mitigate all the damage.
Silver Blade was somewhat unhappy but there was nothing she could do. A large silvery shield appeared behind her back as a protective light engulfed the entire guild.
The temperature in the world increased slowly as flames boiled in the dragon's maw. The guild players felt the sweat running down their backs.
[Demolish Me: This big lizard wants to bake us to death!]
[Gnetic: If this beast waits a little longer our stuns should run out.]
Just as the players were hopeful, the dragon brought them despair. It lowered its head and spewed out the prepared flames.
The sky was instantly blanketed by orange flames illuminating the dark world. The players could only move their eyes looking in horror at the incoming attack.
The extreme heat came first before the flames fell, seeking to turn the entire guild to ash.
Silver Blade closed her eyes as the flames engulfed her. She didn't try to run away as the entire world created by this skill was affected by the flames. There was nowhere to run.