The jester boss lunged at the trio once more, aiming for Hazel. Unsurprisingly, Nycteris stepped in and defended his master, grabbing a hold of the boss and tossing it aside.

The sub-boss landed on the ground while in a pouncing position. Its arms and legs were planted on the ground as it keenly observed the group. Hazel and the others witnessed the Jester tilt its head until it was completely upside down while maintaining firm eye contact with them.

Hazel and Astrid both went pale after seeing this. Nycteris took action and charged at the jester creature with malicious intent. Hearing the loud screech from the Nightwing Bat brought them back to their senses as they took battle positions to aid Hazel’s familiar.

Nycteris clashed against the Jester, tackling it to the ground. He overwhelmed the boss until the scrawny, long-armed freak of nature pushed him off. The Nightwing rolled along the ground, trying to reposition himself just as the Jester blitzed toward him at a frightening speed.

It reeled its arm back, prepared to assault Nycteris once again. Just then, its arm jerked away to avoid a malicious crescent blade that nearly severed its limb in half. The boss swerved its head toward the source, locating Hazel, the one who fired the spell.

Hazel gulped fearfully; her eyes unable to look away from the Jester boss.

“Nice shot, Hazel,” Astrid mocked.

“Hey, I had that shot in the bag before it moved its hand all of a sudden! Maybe it could sense the cursed energy from my spell?”

As if enraged, the jester began to vibrate violently, like it was having a seizure. Hazel and Astrid braced themselves, believing that the boss was about to charge at them.

And they were right to assume that as they witnessed the clown-like beast blitzed toward them at inhumane speed. It then whipped out two daggers and swung both of them at Hazel’s head, threatening to cut it in half.

Hazel hastily cast her Mana Shield and watched the barrier materialize before her. Its formation time was a lot faster compared to before likely because of its higher rank. The two blades bounced off the barrier, jerking the Jester’s arms around from the rebound.

Astrid took advantage and fired several arrows at the Boss, only to watch the thing swing its entire body around to use its weapon to deflect the arrows. Both Hazel and Astrid were baffled by the Jester’s maneuverability. They’d never encountered such a monster that could move its body in such a way.

The jester wasn’t done as it started hurling its daggers at Astrid. The dark elf was quick on her feet and jumped around, doing her best to avoid the blades. But just when they thought it was over, it pulled out two more blades from its backside and threw them as well.

Astrid continued to move around, dodging the blades as they came her way. Meanwhile, Nycteris returned and lunged at the Jester, threatening to tackle it into the ground like before. Sadly, the boss seemed to have recognized his intentions and swiftly moved to the side, watching the Nightwing bat slam against the floor.

Nycteris attempted to retaliate and swung its claw at the boss’s side, determined to carve out a junk of its body. The Jester took a simple leap back, making him miss entirely. Then, with more daggers up its sleeve, or in this case, behind its back, it delivered a volley of daggers at Nycteris.

Instead of dodging them, the Nightwing turned around while swinging his winged arm, deflecting the daggers. With the jester distracted, Hazel and Astrid sent a volley of spells and arrows at their opponent, attempting to overwhelm it with numbers.

Seeing the volley, the Jester took evasive actions and started dancing around their combined attack. It moved around like a ballerina, spinning and jumping about while effortlessly dodging the spells and arrows hailing down on it.

Hazel was beyond perturbed by this display.

“Oh, come on! How is that even possible?!”

“Quit complaining and just keep firing!” Astrid chided while firing more arrows.

Nycteris joined the fray and blitzed toward the Jester. Seeing the Nightwing closing in, the dancing clown did something so surprising and extra that even Astrid couldn’t help but feel bewildered by the sight.

As soon as Nycteris got close to the Jester, it immediately hopped over him and placed its hand on his head, doing a handstand. Hazel and Astrid stared for a moment, briefly surprised at the display.

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Unamused, and perhaps annoyed, Nycteris screeched and flailed his body around, trying to get the jester off him. But it continued to stay on, practically mocking the Nightwing with its over-the-top performance.

That was soon put to an end when Hazel and Astrid finally managed to hit the jester. Mana Bolts and arrows stuck into its body, sending it flying into the rows of chairs below them. Several of the seats were immediately destroyed in the collision, kicking up dust that obscured the group’s vision from seeing the jester.

But Hazel and the others didn’t let this opportunity go to waste and they soon gave the Boss another barrage of spells and arrows. Hazel cast a single baneful sickle and was also launching two cursed spears into the midst. Nycteris even joined in and threw bits of debris from the initial fight. All in an attempt to take it down.

The dust soon settled, revealing a very mangled and eviscerated corpse of the jester. Its clothes were riddled with holes and cracks and the creepy mask on its face was completely shattered.

Hazel along with Astrid and Nycteris stared at the Jester’s mutilated body, looking quite exhausted from their battle. But they managed to defeat the boss. Surprisingly easy...at that.

Something wasn’t right...

“I don’t think this is over...” Hazel muttered.

“Yeah, I think so too,” Astrid responded grimly. “If we actually managed to take that thing down, then where’s the notification saying that we killed it?”

If the Jester boss was truly dead, then there should’ve been a notification that declared their victory. Instead, the group was in absolute silence. No panels, no anything for that matter. Which meant one thing; they hadn’t killed the sub-boss yet.

Hazel then stared at the supposedly dead Jester boss, curious to know what it would say.

Level 6

A fragmented copy of the Jester Sub-boss. Due to it being a copy, its level is extremely low along with its abilities being weakened.

Hazel’s eyes widened upon this revelation. “Crap...! It’s a copy!”

As if on cue, Nycteris was the first to react. The hair on his body raised on his body as he took another battle stance, whipping his head around to locate the source of whatever danger he was sensing. A moment later, the Nightwing spun around to face Hazel.

“Master...!”

Hazel didn’t hesitate or faltered. As soon as she heard her familiar cry out her name in fear, she immediately cast Mana Shield again. However, she wasn’t quick enough and felt something pressed against her side.

She was then flung in the air from the force. She could hear Astrid and Nycteris calling out her name in fear. Her eyes then spotted the Jester near the spot where she was standing just a moment ago. Its leg was raised in a kicking position, telling her that the boss kicked her away like a soccer ball.

While in the air, Hazel glanced down where the rows of chairs were. And judging from her current height and the speed she was flying, this wasn’t going to end with a few bruises. The mage raised her arms and bent her knees, getting into a rolling position. She didn’t expect it to work, but if it would mitigate the damage from the collision, then it was far better than doing nothing.

Thankfully, Hazel didn’t have to worry about suffering any major injuries as Nycteris appeared and zipped over to catch her. The familiar held her in his arms while landing in a path between the rows of chairs.

Nycteris took a quick look at Hazel, likely seeing if she suffered any injuries.

“Are you...hurt?” He asked.

“I’m fine,” Hazel said with a groan. “More or less anyway.” She rubbed her side where the Jester kicked her.

Seeing Hazel do this, Nycteris’s eyes narrowed angrily. Turning around to face the jester, who was currently fighting Astrid, the Nightwing let out a vicious screech. But it wasn’t just any screeching noise but his skill.

Activating the skill, the Jester’s movements were momentarily stagnant, making it difficult for it to properly move. However, it wasn’t completely immobile as evident when Hazel watched the sub-boss continue to dodge Astrid’s arrows barreling toward it.

Nycteris was about to jump into the battle until Hazel stopped him.

“Wait, something’s off...” The mage urged.

While the Boss was busy with Astrid, Hazel used that chance to appraise it once more. And what she found out only concerned her more.

Its description stated that it was another clone. And if that was the case, where was the real Jester?

“Hrr?!” Nycteris reacted instinctively as if sensing the danger.

He pulled Hazel close to him and whirled around as if defending her from something. A moment later, the sound of metal clanging against the nightwing’s skin could be heard before clattering on the ground.

When Nycteris turned around so that he and Hazel could face whatever attacked them, they were face-to-face with another Jester boss. Hazel quickly tried to identify the creature to see if it was the real deal but was instead greeted by another clone.

She glared at the copy with disdain. “So, you can make copies of yourself, huh? Is there anything else you want to show the class?”

The Jester leaned its head to the side as if considering her question. Almost immediately after, the boss copy reached from behind its back and pulled two more daggers. But that wasn’t all. It then sprouted two more arms from its back like wings as it pulled out daggers too.

With all four arms, the Jester copy pointed its daggers at the mage and her familiar. All Hazel could do was stare at the monster with a newfound hatred.

“I was being sarcastic, dammit!” She snapped, regretting her words as she faced a new problem before her.