Fortune was saved at the last second. However, the sudden changes left her bewildered. Before she could sort tout her mind, another grey, flaming sword reached her and crashed into her body. This time there was no saving her…
"Fortune!"
"Already lost one despite just starting…"
The friends were shocked by Fortune's sudden demise. Only a single move by the boss was enough to reduce the number of players from ten to nine. If they continued like this…
The grey flames boiled and churned. Another swarm of swift swords shot out. Everyone instantly focused, dismissing the distracting thoughts. Yet even so they struggled. The speed of these swords rivalled Phorina's arrows. Yet Phorina was kind enough to reveal some signs before she fired. But these swords erupted from the surging grey flames almost without warning.
"Watch out, Edge!"
Silent Acacia was fortunate enough not to be targeted. However, it appeared that the boss concentrated his attacks. Three terrifying swords whistled through the air, spreading a tail of grey flames, the deadly threat radiating out, perfectly targeting Bloody Edge from three sides. The thief didn't know how to react.
A barrier suddenly formed in front of him, its sacred glow in stark contrast to the grey flames. The three swords collided with the barrier. Green dragon shadows flickered to life. A terrifying collision took Bloody Edge's breath away. A moment later everything was over, the barrier continued protecting the thief. Bloody Edge took a deep breath and gave Radiant Shield a brief thumbs-up.
There was a lot of attention on Bloody Edge, but he was not the only one targeted. Except for Silent Acacia and Balm, the rest were all forced to dodge a single sword. This time, no one failed. Although Silver Blade reacted on instinct, raising her shield to block, paying a price of more than 500 points of stance. Even the seasoned tank felt intimidated.
Perhaps it was the impatience of a child but after only two waves Reftrack stopped his skill. The intense grey flames retreated, burning around the little skeleton's body. The skeleton floated in the air, its head raised haughtily.
"See, nothing much. You want to protect this temple? I will send you to Hell!"
Reftrack laughed raucously. The friends observed with narrowed eyes. They stayed a safe distance from the boss. With their skills on cooldown and their normal attacks not dealing much damage there was no need to take a risk by coming closer.
However, this turned the situation quite awkward as Reftrack boasted, mocking the players, who couldn't do much but stand and watch.
"Damn that guy!"
Suddenly Cyclone gritted her teeth, tired of listening to the boss. At this moment her eyes instinctively fell on the rope formed from lightning, crackling and spreading sparks, which connected Cyclone and the boss. It was her [Overbearing Bindings of Lightning] skill. The purple-blue rope twitched and crackled, dealing continuous damage to the boss. The image of a green dragon flickered continuously making the rope appear like the body of a lightning dragon, quite mystical.
[-510!]
[-510!]
The continuous damage was not weak, lowering the boss's HP bit by bit. But what made Cyclone's eyes shine was when her passive finally activated. The boss froze in place as sparks erupted from his body, even causing the grey flame to turn unstable for a moment.
"Finally, he shut up!"
"Nice one, Cy!"
Everyone felt a hint of satisfaction. Even if paralyzing the boss right now didn't have any actual use, the little skeleton's nasty words were really too annoying to listen to.
Unfortunately Reftrack didn't stay silent for long:
"I see, I see. Order faction dogs. Do you have any idea who you are facing?! I, Reftrack, am a skeleton child of chaos! People have always looked down on me! But now I have risen! Do you know what happened to those who looked down on me? I cooked them and served them my demonic beasts as food! And you, you shall follow! Hahaha!"
The skeleton revealed a crazed expression, its deep eye socket burning with red flames. Reftrack raised both hands, the sleeves sliding back, revealing thin, long finger bones. Those fingers emitted a strange force which drove into the grey flames, causing them to change. The flames lost their colour, transforming into sweltering heat which filled the entire room. The players felt unbearable heat assaulting their bodies. Sweat ran down their backs, drenching their clothes.
The air distorted under the heat. Everyone felt extremely uncomfortable.
"Ugh, that's worse than a parked car during summer."
"Why don't we have an ice mage with us?"
"Quickstep, can you produce some wind for us?"
The friends pulled on their clothes or fanned themselves with their hands. However, the worst was yet to come as they suddenly noticed their HP decreasing quickly. Half a percent was gone in a second.
"Woah, woah, woah. What's that? We can't dodge?"
"That's too much of a cheat!"
"What now?"
Experiencing such a situation for the first time, everyone was surprised for a moment. A few eyes fell on Liam, who calmly explained:
"This is a test for our healing capabilities. We need to be methodical and use our healing efficiently. Don't panic. We got this."
Everyone nodded in understanding and a plan was formed quickly. The party had health potions and Bloody Edge had some capabilities to heal himself. But most of the pressure was naturally on Balm. The young woman took a deep breath, focusing on the party's HP bars displayed at the corner of her eyes.
A few seconds passed and everyone felt as if they were bread in an oven, waiting to be baked crisp. However, during that time most skills one by one came off cooldown. The friends were ready to unleash a new round of attacks at the boss.
Balm was informed by her friends and decided to make her move first. She pointed her wand at the boss and a glint of red light flashed through her eyes. For a moment a slightly malevolent feeling was emitted from the gentle healer. Suddenly a star appeared above the boss's head, spreading a crimson light, giving a much more warlike sensation than Balm's other skills.
The next moment Silent Acacia was the first to attack. His bow trembled and three arrows whistled through the air accompanied by the fleeting image of a green dragon ready to tear the invading enemy to pieces. The arrows squarely struck Reftrack, who didn't make any attempts to dodge them. The arrows were unable to penetrate the skeleton's seemingly flimsy robe, but the damage still came through.
Each arrow dealt more than 1300 points of damage. With each hit the crimson star floating above erupted with an unsettling light. Rays of light fell on Silent Acacia, healing him for 1885 points with each hit, serving to resist the damage brought by the unbearable heat filling the room.
Everoyne's eyes suddenly lit up. The friends praised Balm for her good choice of skill as they revealed their own attacks. However, they didn't unleash everything at once. Conscious not to waste any potential heal the friends delayed their skills. They would wait until their HP were reduced by a certain amount before attacking the boss to recover, rinse and repeat.
Even Silver Blade and Radiant Shield followed this strategy. It didn't matter that their attacks could only deal a single point of damage as the amount of the crimson's star's healing was largely dependent on Balm's level.
"Steady, steady!"
"Radiant Shield, you should attack!"
"Cyclone, hold back for a moment longer!"
After experiencing many battles, the party had long formed many good habits. And communication was one of the most important among them. Usually, it was Liam or Silver Blade taking the lead, but right now Balm took on the role. Her eyes were always on the other's HP bars, doing her best to maximize efficiency.
Balm's heart warmed as she realized how everyone trusted her calls and she focused even more, daring not to disappoint her friends.
Reftrack stood in the air with his hands spread from his body. The attacks from all around would land on his body, producing a rhythmic melody. The little skeleton's eyes flickered. He raised his head slightly, staring at the crimson star above, quite annoyed. Fortunately, no skill could last forever. Eventually the crimson star disappeared and the heat filling the room could show its power. Yet, it was not enough!
While the friends clashed with the hidden boss, the battle between infernals and cultists kept raging. Under the arrows of the matriarch and her daughter the infernals suffered brutal casualties but they continued to fearlessly surge ahead with their vast numbers. Suddenly Reftrack gaze fell on a group of skeletons riding on black birds, just about to pass by him.
"You! Soldier! Assist me!"
With a stern shout the skeletons instantly abandoned their target. Reftrack's orders were absolute. The group of ten skeletons turned towards the party, cackling menacingly as they rushed in for an attack.
"Reinforcements?! Coward!"
Cyclone's shout unfortunately didn't affect the boss. The group of skeletons immediately appeared in front of her. He chest tightened. Without thinking about anything else Cyclone instantly activated her mount's skill. Turning into a streak of lightning she flashed across the air, conveniently delivering a blow to Reftrack on the way, leaving the group of skeletons behind.