Lenn was the first to move, slamming his shield into the demon's chest to get his attention. Kreinon turned towards the dwarf, his condescending eyes showing deep despise.
"Mortals should be obedient when facing the lord devil!"
As he said this Kreinon repeated his first skill. An illusionary maw appeared above Lenn, trying to tear him apart. The dwarf blocked quickly but his stance was gradually dropping dangerously low.
After the short exchange though, it was time for the players to show their might. Liam, Quickstep, and Braag attacked at the same time. Their big skills were on cooldown but even with normal attacks they still dealt considerable damage. Kreinon dropped eight thousand HP in a short while.
But suddenly Liam took a step back. He had kept an eye on the fused demon behind them, watching the left concubine's HP get obliterated by Fortune.
The gorgeous mage was just about to use her only skill without cast time, [Arcane Strike]. At that moment the fused demons regained their ability to move but it was already too late. The skill landed on the left concubine's head, which finally killed her.
Liam knew their chance had come.
"Focus the right concubine! She is weakened now!"
"Ok, ok."
Quickstep was somewhat annoyed. She hadn't even really attacked Kreinon yet and already had to turn around. But despite her reluctance her movements were swift. She instantly dashed towards the weakened enemy.
At that moment she suddenly got a dangerous sensation. Without thinking much, she threw her body forward, performing a skilled roll. And illusionary maw appeared, hitting only empty air.
"Nice one!"
Liam didn't forget to offer some praise as he passed Quickstep and arrived next to the boss. Braag had already begun attacking, dealing nearly 1700 points of damage, a good start.
But Liam was sure to beat him. His swords flashed for a normal attack before he conjured three holy swords for a swift [Holy Sword Trinity] dealing a frightening 8500 points of damage. When Quickstep arrived, she tried to compare but in a competition of damage she was too far apart from Liam at the moment.
Still, the three players working together managed to bring the demon below half HP before she recovered from her weakened status.
The right concubine shook her head, a venomous light flashing in her eyes, her voice hysteric:
"AHH! You dare to kill one of ours!"
Suddenly the right concubine seemed to turn crazy. She slammed her snake tail into the floor. Cracks spread as the temple shook dangerously. The right concubine made use of the recoil to jump into the air like a spring. She curled her tail around her body and began to rotate in the air before crashing back to the ground.
Liam, recognizing the dangerous skill, swiftly directed his group:
"Don't stay close to her! Melodious Edelweiss, it's a good time to use your ult. Lenn, use any shields you have!"
Everyone reacted quickly, perceiving the seriousness in Laim's voice. Liam, Melodious Edelweiss, and Quickstep rushed in two different directions but Fortune, having almost finished her next cast, couldn't do so.
Lenn waved his hand, and three metallic spheres rushed towards Fortune. Supported by small blades rotating at a high speed the spheres levitated in the air, forming a triangle. White lines connected them, and a shield was erected to protect Fortune.
Now everyone had made their preparations apart from Braag. The dwarf had turned around, trying to run away when he noticed something appearing above him.
Instinctively Braag ducked his head away. He heard a snap, feeling the vague sensation of a warm breath. Shivering he knew that he only barely escaped from Keinon's skill.
[Stance -28]
Yet the short distraction had terrible consequences as the right concubine came down, crashing into the floor right then. The temple trembled. Candles toppled over starting small fires. The high priestess, still bound by Scholar Feng's skill, watched everything happening in hatred.
From the point of impact, a violent shockwave spread. Liam used a flash step at the last moment to escape from it while Quickstep made use of her high movement speed.
Fortune was protected by Lenn's shield. But the rest of the group were not given any chances. Even Lenn suffered more than 3000 points of damage while Braag and Melodious Edelweiss both had to endure around 3400 points.
And yet the right concubine still wasn't done. She jumped again, repeating the same move. This time, however, Braag and Melodious Edelweiss had enough time to escape the affected area. The dreadful shock wave only reached Fortune and Lenn.
Finally, after two attacks, the right concubine calmed down and stayed in place. Braag let out a sigh of relief, still felling shocked by the dangerous situation just now. At that moment he heard two feminine voices filled with anger. Fortune and Melodious Edelweiss both unleashed their ultimate skills simultaneously.
The right concubine was first hit by a bloody melody sounding of vengeance before two gigantic, magical arms appeared and clapped her like a fly.
"NOO!"
The demon let out a tragic cry. Under the combination of terrifying skills there was not much she could do. The hands conjured by Fortune dissipated and the snake demon fell lifelessly. Now only Kreinon remained.
The lord tier enemy didn't seem to be in a hurry. He had already broken through Lenn's stance and was now using normal attacks to pressure the tank.
Noticing that Lenn had less than half of his 25.000 HP left, Melodious Edelweiss was somewhat anxious. She sprinted until the tank was within the range of her skills and began to use her [Song of Healing]. Green soundwaves brimming with vitality spread and refreshed all her teammates.
The skill was already rank 2. Melodious Edelweiss in general found it rather easy to upgrade her skills, only her ultimate skill [Song of Vengeance] gave her some trouble. But knowing about tier 2 characters she was working hard, eager to catch up with Liam and the others.
Liam was already pretty satisfied with their bard. The initially rather timid person shone brightly in the game making use of the life-changing opportunity she was given.
Her healing assisted the team well, giving Lenn the confidence to hold out against Kreinon. A second later Liam and Quickstep arrived while Braag and Fortune fired from behind. The demon was under great pressure, enduring a rain of attacks.
Trying to create some room for himself Kreinon attempted to repeat one of his skills and sent out walls of magic. But this time Lenn wouldn't have it. With a confident grin it was his turn to use his ultimate skill.
A swarm of small metallic spheres appeared. They floated in the air, spreading with Lenn as the centre, even flying out of the temple. An uncomfortable buzzing sounded as the spheres connected to each other with a dense net of white lines.
Kreinon kept an unimpressed expression, swinging his claws to unleash his skill. Some black magic began gathering in front of him. But then the net covering the air trembled heavily and the magic dissipated, the skill failing.
"What is this sorcery?!"
Immediately the demon's eyes were filled with shock. He tried to unleash another attack, but all his magic was rendered unusable.
But while Kreinon was shocked, Braag looked around and didn't find anything amiss. He grinned as he mocked his friend:
"Hey Lenn, why is nothing happening?"
Instantly he was met with an angry rebuke:
"Are you stupid? Don't you see that the boss is standing around, completely useless? My ultimate has nullified the magic here!"
"Ohh..."
Braag wasn't the only one now realizing what was going on. Fortune and Melodious Edelweiss were the same. Their eyes went wide as they stared at Lenn, causing the tank to flinch.
"That's why my attacks don't work?!"
"My healing was interrupted..."
"Cancel this skill!"
Lenn didn't give in under Fortune's stern gaze though, saying:
"Why should I cancel it? We can freely attack the boss like this."
The tank and the mage tried to stare each other down. Eventually Fortune let out a snort, knowing that what Lenn said was not wrong. She just felt incredibly uncomfortable not being able to contribute. Melodious Edelweiss was less adamant, taking the opportunity to rest and slowly regenerate her mana.
While a small argument was brewing around them, Liam and Quickstep were unperturbed. Some of their skills had come off cooldown and they made full use of them to take down Kreinon. The boss had low physical resistance and had no way to defend himself against the two rampaging warriors.
In no time at all Kreinon was left with 10.000 HP. Only then did he manage to get past the players, who had blocked him with their bodies, and leave the area affected by Lenn's ultimate skill.
Immediately Fortune's eyes lit up. Finally, she could contribute again. The cast for her [Arcane Bolt] was already finished. Instantly the magical projectiles raced towards Kreinon.
The demon had barely recovered. He attempted to use his skill to hold the melee fighters back, but Liam didn't play by his rules. The veteran used a well-timed flash step to pass through the wall of magic and appeared behind the demon.
With attacks from two sides, magical and physical, Kreinon didn't survive much longer and soon fell under one last arcane bolt from Fortune.