Checking the enemy's status, Silver Blade fully understood what was going on. Once again, they attracted a hidden boss. Thinking about it, Reftrack might have appeared no matter what actions the party took but without sparing all those cultist, allowing them to survive, the party might not have been recruited to fight the skeleton.
Well, such thoughts had to be shelved now as Silver Blade was about to collide with the boss.
"Audacious!"
Reftrack laughed in anger as a single adventurer rushed at him. He raised his hand and three large clusters of flames separated from the grey flames burning around him, taking the form of mighty demonic scimitars. The swords rushed ahead simultaneously, one targeting Silver Blade and the other two rushing into the crowd behind her.
"Dodge!"
A simple instruction and the party immediately dispersed. The sword brushed past them, carrying an unbearable chill. Even Silver Blade made the right decision, not stubbornly blocking the sword and instead veering to the side. Shortly after, she arrived in front of the boss and slammed her shield forward. It landed on the flames, which felt strangely substantial.
Right the next moment Cyclone stabilized her flight and threw an attack at Reftrack. A condensed, magical sphere shot like a bullet. It crashed into the grey flames and… was instantly burned to nothingness.
[-1!]
"What?!"
"Cy! Can't you read?!"
"Why?"
"The buff only strengthens skills! Normal attacks aren't included!"
"Oh…"
Cyclone felt somewhat embarrassed. She quickly put her focus on her next action, starting to cast a skill, not daring to look at the others.
Cyclone served as an example. Meanwhile Bloody Edge stayed quiet knowing he also didn't read the information correctly. He pondered if he had to change his combo, but there was not really a need to. Although normal attacks wouldn't deal damage, they also weren't a hindrance. And perhaps they could trigger some item effects. Thus, the thief remained in stealth, watching his HP slowly decrease, waiting for an opportune moment.
Others didn't need this kind of preparation. Liam activated [Darkened Sky]. Instantly night fell above Reftrack's head, spreading darkness which even the grey flames couldn't penetrate. Liam suddenly appeared from the darkness, falling from the sky like a nightmarish ghost, crashing into the boss. At the moment of contact the vague image of a majestic green dragon head flickered for a moment. Instantly the grey flames became turbulent, resisting some invisible power. Reftrack grunted as a wave of dark magic spread from Liam and landed on his body.
[-306!]
Liam was not dissatisfied with his damage. He knew that the boss had a high resistance against dark magic. Thus, it was already better than expected. He only aimed to stack a few Dark Marks quickly so he could trigger them, shredding the enemy's resistances.
Liam swords flashed, cutting into the grey flames. He had the same rationale as Bloody Edge. He didn't need to do damage with his normal attacks. But he could still apply Dark Marks.
While Bloody Edge was charging up, Liam was preparing a surprise for the boss and Quickstep was running in circles, Watchful Eye was the only one of the melee fighters who could immediately unleash all his power. He reached out with his palm and a small seal shining with five-coloured radiance appeared. It separated from his palm, shooting at the boss. The grey flames roared, trying to block the seal but as the image of a green dragon momentarily appeared, the flames were pushed back and the seal landed squarely on the small skeleton.
Watchful Eye instantly closed the distance standing on his gorgeous Five-Coloured Dragon Carp. His staff twirled as a drop of water formed on its tip, voraciously absorbing Watchful Eye's Qi. The drop of water became incredible heavy as a vast amount of water condensed in this single point.
Just short of being unable to bear it, Watchful Eye grabbed his staff with both hands and smashed it at the boss with all his strength. The taciturn man's muscles bulged, his robe stretching dangerously. The grey flames tried to resist before being overcome by the dragon's might. The staff broke through and landed on the skeleton's head.
[-1868!]
[-1619!]
A valiant feeling washed over Watchful Eye as he observed the powerful damage. It felt great to pummel a high-level NPC like that. Soon he would be able to wield such a force in the real world…
However, a single attack was far from enough. Purple flames hissed, engulfing Watchful Eye's staff as he instantly produced the next attack.
[-1454!]
[-1389!]
Form one attack to the next there was a noticeable increase in damage. On one hand Watchful Eye's attacks received a damage bonus depending on the amount of Qi he still had left. And on the other hand, the boss obviously boasted a higher resistance to fire than to water.
However, since changing to his new class [Master of the Five Elements], Watchful Eye's passive received an upgrade. Now, upon hitting the same enemy with two different elements within two seconds triggered an additional explosion which also allowed him to recover some Qi.
On another note, the same condition was necessary to trigger the five-coloured seal originating from [Power of the Elements] which Watchful Eye had placed on the boss. The small seal suddenly rotated quickly, enveloping the boss in a strange, weakening force, making him more susceptible to all elemental attacks.
Of course, Watchful Eye wouldn't miss the chance. Since Reftrack was standing still at the moment Watchful Eye showed no hesitation and immediately revealed his ultimate skill [Five Element Celestial Array].
Symbols of light immediately lit up, taking the boss as their centre. They formed rings around him with five focus points encircling him. On those five points, different versions of Watchful Eye mysteriously appeared. All of them had majestic images rising behind their backs, emitting a vast aura.
Purple heavenly flames burning everything in their rage, a divine tree reaching towards the heavens, a gigantic mountain suppressing everything, a vast ocean ever changing and mysterious, and an unparalleled sword sharp and eternal.
Each version of Watchful Eye symbolized one of the five elements, their staffs radiating with elemental might. With a simple thought from him, five Watchful Eyes instantly started to attack the boss from all sides, their staffs moving in a flurry. The ultimate skill granted five seconds in which he could freely attack. And each attack was strengthened by its respective element. Fire roared and earth trembled. Multiple explosions sounded out as Watchful Eye's passive triggered again and again.
"That guy usually hides his violent streak really well.", chuckled Cyclone.
After five seconds the smoke cleared. Everyone stared at the scene as the image of the five elements slowly disappeared. Only a single version of Watchful Eye was left with a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, quickly suppressed again. His ultimate skill, used right after shredding the enemy's resistances and aided by the might of a dragon, dealt incredible damage, almost 20.000 points.
"Let's go! Can't let Watchful Eye have all the fun!"
It was Fortune who spoke this time, waving her staff and activating [Arcane Bolt]. Next to her Cyclone was also making her move. Magical bolts and lightning fell on the boss. Silent Acacia's arrows followed. Bloody Edge's daggers as well. The brutal assault dealt blow after blow, swiftly weakening the boss.
After a short while the little skeleton had its HP reduced below 300.000. Liam and his friends used up most of their skills, feeling somewhat fatigued but also exhilarated. Reftrack served as a great punching bag.
"Done already? Heh!"
Reftrack finally started moving. He swept a mocking gaze over the players. Even just standing there and not doing anything those weak adventurers were unable to kill him. Now they had exhausted their means. It was time to show them what real power looked like.
"Open your eyes wide, little adventures. This will be the last thing you will ever see!"
The childish skeleton opened his arms wide, his much too large sleeves completely hiding his bones. With his gesture the grey flame surrounding him suddenly began to turn chaotically. It tumbled and rotated and suddenly began to swell.
"Don't dodge to the sides!"
Liam hastily shouted a reminder as he shot into the air, rushing in the direction of the cultists. The others heeded his warning, either flying up or down. They quickly realised why, as the flames grew at an astonishing speed, soon filling the entire width of the room, a burning wall dividing it into two.
And from the burning wall there suddenly erupted flaming swords, chasing after the party. Everyone was faced with at least two swords, which flashed at impossible speed, almost unavoidable. Silver Blade and Radiant Shield took a defensive pose. Liam and Balm performed a swift flash step. Everyone else did their best to escape.
However, the swords were so incredibly fast. Three explosions rang out as Fortune, Watchful Eye, and Silent Acacia were all hit. The damage was terrible. Fortune was even hit by two swords, each brutal blow dealing more than 16.000 points of damage. The frail mage only had about 27.500HP. As everyone thought she was done for, the once-a-day effect of her staff activated, saving her life at the last moment.