The party members watched the spectacle before their eyes. Brutal thunder snaked through the path, turning everyone stupid enough to enter the trap into ashes.
“Hm. I could do better.”, commented Cyclone while swinging her wand.
“Sure, sure. Keep pretending.”, joked Balm, earning her an angry glare.
The party chuckled while the thunder slowly subsided.
“Ok guys, we can continue. Remember to keep your eyes open!”
Silent Acacia nodded his head, taking the lead. The hunter sneaked through the labyrinth, constantly scanning his surroundings.
Liam’s directions came from behind:
“Left, right, here right, turn around…”
“And here I was thinking you had a map for this place, but turns out even you make mistakes.”, joked Quickstep with a fake sigh of relief.
“I didn’t make a mistake. The labyrinth changes.”
Mirage spoke in a tone suggesting this was the most natural thing in the world, leaving his friends stunned. Silver Blade opened her mouth but didn’t even know what question to ask. She just smiled wryly and accepted it.
“What are you dawdling about? Come on, Acacia.”
“Sure…”
Shaking his head Silent Acacia continued doing his job. Obvious tripwires and hidden trapdoors were discovered by him one by one.
Soon, they reached a room noticeably decorated in yellow. A yellow stone protruded from the wall at the back, circled by a yellow ring.
Liam nodded inwardly. The presence of this room proofed that the layout was the same as hard difficulty in his past life.
“Ok guys. Get into formation. As soon as we press this button, a monster will arrive.”
The others nodded, forming half a circle around the door, with the tanks at the center. Balm stood close to the wall, pressing the yellow button upon receiving a signal.
A conspicuous click rang through the room. Cyclone looked towards the entrance, a thoughtful expression on her face:
“If we came here through the labyrinth and saw no one on the way, how could a monster attack us now? Maybe it got lost…”
Before the mage finished her sentence, her eyes widened, staring at the wall outside the room. There, a leg, faintly transparent slowly stepped out of the wall.
Soon the body followed, revealing a blue-skinned demon with sharp spikes on its back.
“Hey, you’re a demon! Since when can you pass through walls?!”
Cyclone’s befuddled question was answered with an angry roar as the demon lunged itself at the party. Sharp claws caused hissing noises as they approached.
Radiant Shield took half a step forward, tensing his body and welcoming the attack.
Meanwhile Silver Blade inspected the enemy.
[Minor Wild Demon of Ice
Rank: Elite
Level: 22
HP: 5100/5100
Status: possessed]
Silver Blade was taken aback by the monster’s status, glancing at their encyclopedia:
“Mirage, what does a possessed status signify?”
“The monster will take on some of the characteristics of the entity which possessed it. For example, ghosts, most of the time.”
Suddenly Mirage’s eyes opened in shock.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Careful, backline!”
While he and Silver Blade were talking, the opponent was eager to prove its abilities. Instantly after clashing with Radiant Shield, it waved its hand throwing five ice spikes in an arc before it.
The party members were confused by Liam’s shout. The melee fighters surrounded the elite, so why would the backline be in danger?
However, they quickly received their answer when those ice spikes suddenly turned illusionary, effortlessly passing through the bodies blacking their way.
The ranged fighters, just about to attack were caught off guard. In the narrow room every delay might end deadly. Fortunately, Silver Blade reacted at this moment.
[Aura of ranged protection] activated, shielding her allies.
“Damn, that hurt!”
Two crisp shouts could be heard as Cyclone and Fortune were hit by freezing ice spikes.
[-780!]
[-842!]
While the two mages lost considerable amounts of HP, Silent Acacia moved swiftly, dodging like an elusive shadow.
Balm stood at the very back of the group. Her chest tightened, seeing the damage numbers above her friends’ heads. She quickly closed her eyes, gathering all her concentration.
A few sparks were left behind as the healer suddenly vanished from her position, reappearing in the hallway.
Liam’s eyes lit up, praising Balm with a smile:
“Well done!”
The others echoed his words, causing Balm to smile shyly but a certain pride was in her eyes.
Behind the group Cyclone and Fortune felt embarrassed, swearing to do better next time. Their feelings didn’t diminish when a warm magic engulfed Fortune and Cyclone, allowing them to recover their HP.
Eager to get over the situation the two mages quickly threw out attacks before beginning to cast their powerful spells.
[-243!]
[-197!]
The others didn’t remain idle either. A rain of skills shaved away the elite’s HP.
Liam didn’t waste his ultimate against the minor character, but his luck was good, allowing him to stack four holy marks before detonating them.
[-379!]
The elite lost more than a thousand HP in a short time. It growled angrily, an ominous sheen coming from its claws as it brought them down on Radiant Shield.
At this moment an arrow suddenly pierced its skin. A strange force spread through its body, holding it in place as the stun brought by [Ensnaring Arrow] triggered.
Silent Acacia’s eyes lit up. He looked at his white alligator pet, which still hadn’t caught up in level and therefore couldn’t play much of a role in big fights.
However, the elite was just right to give Zorn some EXP.
The alligator followed Silent Acacia’s command, dashing towards the demon. Her maw opened wide, showing sharp teeth coated in magical water.
[-67!]
Silent Acacia wasn’t quite happy with the damage his pet did. He resolved himself to find equipment for her soon. Even pets couldn’t fight barehanded apparently.
A second later the party released another rotation of attacks before the elite managed to free itself from the stun. It let out an angry roar. Ice magic wafted around its skin, causing the temperature to drop.
It swung its claw again.
“You only know this one trick.”, mocked Radiant Shield as he readied himself to block.
But at this moment Watchful Eye felt a shiver run down his spine. He turned around, finding a ghostly grey claw aiming for his back. He moved awkwardly, evading the claw but losing a large amount of stance.
[Stance -23]
At the same time Radiant Shield waited for the impact on his shield but it never came. Looking down he was met with an eerie sight. Only half the demon’s arm remained while the claw had mysteriously disappeared.
“Watch out, guys! The skill’s not done yet.”
While Liam spoke, his sense suddenly sounded alarm. Without looking he took a smooth step to the side. A claw passed directly by his waist.
Despite the ghostly threat the party members didn’t stop their attacks. The demon’s HP got continuously reduced while it kept the players on their toes.
A second later, Cyclone suddenly felt her hair stand on end. But with a glance on her progress bar, she gritted her teeth. Her spell was ready any second now.
With a ferocious claw only a hair’s breadth away from her neck, Cyclone finally succeeded. She pointed her staff, and a cage of lightning formed around the demon. A crackling sound echoed in the room as purple lightning snakes danced around the opponent.
But its skill arrived, nevertheless. Cyclone flinched as she imagined five knives cutting into her neck.
Luckily though the mage had reliable teammates. Radiant Shield raised his hammer, conjuring a magical barrier to protect Cyclone.
The ghostly claw barely made a dent against the powerful skill.
Seeing it’s attack blocked, the ice demon seemingly got angry. It turned its vengeful eyes back to Radiant Shield. Its claw reattached to its arm. Letting out a rumbling roar it swung at Radiant Shield.
A hissing noise could be heard as the elite collided with the thunder cage surrounding it, causing it to reel back in pain.
[-213!]
The demon’s muscles twitched, smoke rising from its skin. A confused look could be seen in its eyes.
However, the demon wasn’t blessed with much intelligence, directly attacking again. If its right claw didn’t work the demon would just use its left.
[-213!]
To no one’s surprise lightning shot into the demon’s body once again. But this time it didn’t disappear directly. [Lightning Cage’s] effect triggered, paralyzing the enemy.
Once again, the demon was forced to remain in place, powerlessly watching as the party attacked him freely.
When Fortune was done with casting her [Arcane Bolt] she could only get in a single attack before the ice demon lost its life.
“Finally. This fight was quite difficult.”, said Silver Blade with a look at the dead opponent.
“Yes.”, agreed Cyclone. “Could it be that our enemies are getting stronger?”
Liam felt a few eyes turning towards him. He nodded, stating matter-of-factly:
“Of course. That’s why it is important to increase the ranks of our skills.”
Cyclone appeared thoughtful as she came to her own conclusion.
“I hope stronger enemies means more plentiful loot as well.”
Silver Blade rolled her eyes watching her best friend approach the dead demon.