The boss had just summoned reinforcements and Cyclone escaped. A moment later the others reacted. Silver Blade spread her [Bulwark's Aura of the Sloth] to slow down the newcomers while approaching them together with Radiant Shield, preparing to attract their attention.
"Kekeke!"
The group of skeletons chuckled eerily. They tried to spread out before the two tanks could arrive. But Silver Blade would not have it. During the fight she had received as well as blocked quite a lot of magical damage, which was all saved as 'Bulwark Energy' by her passive skill. Now she generously spent a chunk of it to enhance her [Bulwark's Aura of the Sloth].
The sticky, greyish aura centred on Silver Blade spreading through the battlefield suddenly became even heavier. It was as if Silver Blade was a star surrounded by gravity pulling all enemies towards her. Reftrack was barely affected but the little common skeletons could not resist. Their eyes changed as they struggled to no avail. Their black bird mounts flapped their wings unable to move in the desired direction.
"Well done, my friend!"
Radiant Shield nodded at Silver Blade as the ten skeletons appeared in front of the two tanks. With a few skills the enemies were swiftly brought under control. The others also rushed over to take care of those minions. However, with most of their skills once again on cooldown they were not as fast as they would have liked. Fortunately, they still had a few cards up their sleeves.
Watchful Eye hovered above the ten skeletons, looking down indifferently. A thought, communicating with his loyal mount. The eyes of the Five Element Dargon Carp lit up with delight. It opened its maw wide, and a terrifying skill was built up. Five-coloured magic gathered within its maw. The air around the dragon carp visibly distorted. Mana seemed to proactively surge over.
After a second of gathering power the dragon carp was ready to unleash its might. The air roared and light shone from the carp's gorgeous scales. A chaotic breath abruptly erupted from the dragon carp's mouth, covering an incredibly vast area. It was like a bursting volcano, resembling a raging dragon, laying waste to everything it touched.
Powered by the green dragon's blessing this skill did indeed closely resemble a real dragon's breath, carrying at least one percent of its might. One percent might not sound like much but to the level 70 common skeletons it was devastating. Striking with the might of the five elements, breaking through the enemies' resistance, obliterating about 15.000 thousand HP per enemy and per second. It was indeed just short of turning the skeletons into ashes in an instant.
"You can do that?"
"Watchful Eye, are you trying to top the damage rankings?"
"Unfair, why is he hogging all the fun for themselves?"
Even the friends felt the threatening aura emitted by the rolling dragon's breath, staying some distance away until the danger subsided. Cyclone pouted lightly. She had already started casting her ultimate skill. But now that the skeletons were almost killed in a single strike it would be somewhat of a waste to use her [Thunder's Might] on them.
Watchful Eye was definitely doing this on purpose! Cyclone had already figured it out. Watchful Eye usually appeared taciturn, silently following Silver Blade. But in secret he enjoyed the feeling of wielding strong power.
Thanks to the green dragon's blessing the party right now was somewhat equivalent to level 90 players. One mustn't be fooled by Watchful Eye's indifferent expression. He was definitely happy striking the level 70 skeletons with such a powerful skill!
The others didn't overthink things. After Watchful Eye's attack ended, the skeletons barely managed to hang on. All their HP were below 5000 points. The party swooped in and dealt with them swiftly before turning back to the boss.
Reftrack froze for a moment and couldn't help but swear:
"Useless! All of you are useless! I have to do everything by myself!"
The little skeleton finally stopped remaining in his peculiar pose. He lowered his arms. The friends thought the heat would stop now but they were disappointed. It continued chipping away at their HP. Meanwhile Reftrack held his hands in front of his chest and clusters of grey flames ignited. They burned higher and higher, preparing for another violent blow.
Suddenly dark clouds filled the air above Reftrack. Thunder rumbled and lightning crackled, the flickering light illuminating the room. The war continued raging on, producing a tragic atmosphere. Suddenly a bolt of lightning erupted from the thundercloud, perfectly striking the boss's head. Reftrack froze as sparks shot along his body, striking his bones. The flames growing within his hands slowly fizzled out.
[-2471!]
"Hahaha, how do you like that? I'm the goddess of lightning!"
Cyclone raised her head high, laughing boisterously. After diverting her ultimate skill and targeting the boss, the first strike directly managed to paralyze the boss, interrupting his skill. Her luck once again shone in all its glory.
Everyone's eyes lit up. Interrupting the boss's skill was indeed extremely valuable. It might just make the difference between defeating the boss or not defeating him. Especially as the heat continued to bake them and every bit of healing they could save was important.
The boss struggled for two seconds, giving the party enough time to repositioned themselves. With skills on cooldown, it was only Quickstep who dashed at Reftrack. After moving around so much she was once again ready to enter [Hurricane Mode]. Her eyes shone with a sharp silver, storm gathered around her. She appeared next to the boss and unleashed her skills, her sharp blade continuously slashing at the little skeleton.
Hurricanes formed and lightning struck form above. It was an apocalyptical scene, and the boss was caught right in the middle. Even the haughty little skeleton couldn't remain unbothered at this moment. After regaining his movement Reftrack flashed left and right, doing his best to dodge as many attacks as possible. As a level 90 boss he was quite agile. Quickstep actually missed a few attacks and even lightning strikes could be evaded.
"His movements are basically at the level of a player…"
Quickstep murmured to herself. She was not afraid. Instead, she looked forward to it. Those dumb bosses who simply stood still and let you attack them are too boring for her taste. She would rather fight high-level bosses like Reftrack where each swing of her sword was a battle of wits.
Quickstep couldn't help but grin light. Her sword swept diagonally. Reftrack reacted, letting himself fall a bit lower, expecting the sword to pass above his head. But Quickstep cancelled her movement just in time before it could be counted as an attack. Instead, her loyal mount waved its fin almost the size of Reftrack's entire body, viciously slapping the skeleton.
The air was filled with small swords formed from high-speed wind and water, possessing a frightening cutting force, racing around chaotically. One of these blades reacted to Quickstep's attack and swarmed the boss, slashing from the side like a seasoned swordman. This was Quickstep's skill [Hurricane's Might] empowering her attacks, adding almost a thousand points of damage.
And right the next moment another vicious lightning bolt flashed out of the clouds. Reftrack was too slow to dodge, receiving a perfect hit to the head, causing his robe to dance wildly under the static.
"Enough!"
The boss's anger echoed from the walls as his HP fell below half, reduced to merely 187.000 points. A great power erupted from the little skeleton's chest, temporarily suppressing the entire battlefield, pushing back everyone who dared to come too close. Even the thunderclouds in the air were dispersed.
"Hey! That's cheating! You can't do that!"
Cyclone was startled. Her thunderclouds were gone and Quickstep's hurricanes were not spared as well. It was the first time a boss revealed an ability to interrupt the players' skills like this. However, as she complained the boss abruptly turned towards the mage. His blazing eyes were like the sun, sending a shiver down Cyclone's spine and the words got stuck in her throat.
Everyone felt overwhelmed for a moment. Reftrack suddenly produced a strange black crystal and crushed it in his hand. Instantly flames bloomed around him, burning in a devilish black, much more intense than the previous grey flames.
[Bleary Mirage: Everyone take a health potion!]
Liam hastily gave some orders. He knew that the real difficulty was only just beginning. Everyone's HP were still continuously affected by the heat. The only glimmer of light was that the effect didn't get stronger as the boss powered up.
"You! Congratulations! You managed to thoroughly piss me off, order faction dregs! Do you think I am still the old Reftrack? The little skeleton who can be pushed around by everyone? No! My master granted me unthinkable power! You are not ready to face it!"
"Can you stop spewing bullsh*t? I'm only here for the loot."
Cyclone, still in a bad mood from having her ultimate skill cancelled, rolled her eyes. Reftrack stiffened, never having imagined that someone would still dare to speak this disrespectful to him. He turned towards the mage and raised his hand.