A tall skeleton stood in front of the crypta like a silent statue, basking in the ghostly wind. Suddenly a green fire lit up in its hollow eye sockets. Its head jolted abruptly, focusing on the approaching players.
Silver Blade didn’t dare to waste time.
“Let’s hurry up! As soon as I draw aggro, attack with everything you got.
[Protective Skeleton Guard
Rank: Lord
Level: 22
HP: 5200/5200]
While briefly using [Inspect], Silver Blade slammed her shield into the enemy.
[Stance -6]
Silver Blade stared wide-eyed at the message popping up above the enemy. Although she didn’t expect to deal much damage, she was taken aback to find an opponent blocking her attack.
Bleary Mirage had hinted at enemies capable of doing so a few times, however according to his words this should only happen in the future.
Silver Blade took a deep breath, adjusting her mentality for a difficult fight. However, the skeleton showed no signs of moving.
Frowning faintly, the tank had a few ideas.
Could it be that this skelly only defends and waits for the black wind do kill us?
While Silver Blade still tied to figure out the situation, Bloody Edge appeared behind the enemy. Four blinding daggers were followed by normal attacks.
[-386!]
[-19!]
[-9!]
When the bright daggers filled with holy damage were about to stab into the skeleton, the black wind suddenly picked up. It formed a faint layer around the boss, offering protection.
Silver Blade saw the damage numbers, taking a sharp breath. Her mind moved as she came to a quick decision:
“Don’t hold anything back. Use your ultimate skills!”
Bloody Edge nodded, directly turning invisible. At the same time Quickstep dashed towards the skeleton guard, swinging her sword in a graceful arc. She could only attack normally now, needing to build up storm for stronger skills.
However, when her sharp weapons reached the skeleton, it turned its body subtly. Swords and shield collided.
[Stance -14]
“Damn, why did it suddenly move?!”
Quickstep was annoyed. Before releasing another attack, she copied Bloody Edge, appearing behind the enemy.
Fortune saw what happened and didn’t immediately start to cast. She circled the enemy, finding a suitable angle for herself and throwing a probing attack.
[-12!]
“Its magical defense is as high as the physical one! What are we supposed to do? If we continue like this, I don’t know if we make it.”
“I will use my ultimate to melt its armor. Be prepared!”, announced Bloody Edge only to be held back by Quickstep.
“No, wait, I need to build up storm first!”
“How long will it take?”
“Give me two more attacks…”
Quickstep knew that they couldn’t delay for long. Glancing at her HP she noticed that another 100 points have been eroded by the black wind.
“Why are you all panicking? You still have me! If I were you, I would rather be worried for the other team…”, said Balm confidently.
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Silver Blade nodded upon hearing this, glancing over her shoulder where the others were fighting in the distance.
Liam was met with the same problem, but he wasn’t anxious. His swords flashed for the third time, stacking a second holy mark above the enemy’s head. Without using his ultimate skill, it took some time to build up his marks.
His teammates put in some effort as well. They had figured out the skeleton’s peculiarities, attacking form behind. A staff engulfed in purple flames crashed into the skeleton’s spine.
[-379!]
Knowing that elemental damage was useful, Silent Acacia let out Zorn. Influenced by [Rampage] the alligator’s eyes turned bloody red, biting the skeleton’s leg from behind. Her sharp teeth were coated in dangerous water magic, trying to crush the sturdy bones.
[-168!]
Cyclone had already used her lightning strike skill. She was now in the process of casting [Bindings of Lightning], aiming to deal damage with the powerful skill focused on single targets.
Only Silent Acacia felt awkward shooting his arrows, barely tickling the enemy. He was forced to watch as Liam attacked, expertly using his [Cross Strike] and [Double Slash], triggering the holy marks.
A blinding explosion shook the skeleton, shaving of another 211HP. However, glancing at his own status the hunter couldn’t help but frown. He had already lost four hundred HP himself solely through exposure to the black wind.
If they continued like this, he could only hold on for about two minutes more. Considering the various spell cooldowns, they would definitely be forced to drink health potions. And even then, it was difficult to tell if Cyclone, who had the lowest HP, would be able to make it through.
Silent Acacia’s thoughts spun. If even their party, who was equipped to the teeth, had to struggle like this, how could others hope to stand a chance?
Subconsciously ignoring the fact that their party had split into two teams, Silent Acacia was searching for another solution. He glanced at the crypta, inspecting it briefly.
[Crypta of the demonic wind
HP: 1/1]
It was just as Liam explained earlier. The crypta only had a single HP, indicating that it was meant to be destroyed. However, according to Liam it wouldn’t take any damage until the skeleton guard died.
Still, knowing that his arrows didn’t deal much damage to the guardian anyways, Silent Acacia decided to try his luck. He turned his bow, shooting at the small building.
Immediately the wind coming from the crypta condensed. It formed a small whirlpool, blocking the incoming attack. The arrow got destroyed in the air before even reaching its target.
Disappointment flashed on Silent Acacia’s face, but it suddenly turned into astonishment. He noticed Liam’s sword coincidently falling at the same time as his arrow arrived, dealing considerable damage!
[-227!]
Watchful Eye’s attack followed right after, but the damage was back to normal. The taciturn man couldn’t help but turn to Liam in surprise:
“Mirage, how did you do this?”
Even Liam was surprised by his damage output not able to come up with an explanation for now until Silent Acacia spoke up:
“It’s because I attacked the crypta. Your sword arrived simultaneously, dealing more damage!”
A spark lit up in Liam’s eyes. An old memory suddenly appeared in his mind. He recalled an obscure strategy founded on a certain theory.
Some people proposed that the skeleton guard and the crypta exist in a symbiotic relationship, protecting each other. If one could stop the black wind, the skeleton’s defense would be reduced.
After a few attempts people figured it out, coming up with the strategy of attacking simultaneously.
However, this maneuver was difficult to pull of even for pro players. Compared to relying on such a strategy it was more useful to bring additional players with elemental damage.
Thus, this strategy sunk into obscurity. Even Liam didn’t think of it when preparing for the dungeon.
“I didn’t expect you to discover something like this, Acacia.”
The young hunter grinned proudly. In the minds of the party, Liam was close to all-knowing. It was easier to discover a new lifeform than to find something in the game which Liam didn’t know about.
“Shout we try to do it again?”
Seeing Silent Acacia’s excited expression, how could Liam reject him? He asked the hunter to attack the boss while he would strike at the crypta.
But someone else quickly interjected:
“Let me do it. I’m useless here anyways!”
Liam looked at Radiant Shield, who stood before the skeleton without anything to do.
“Are you up for the task?”
“Sure. Isn’t it just hitting a building?”
“Well, then go ahead. Make sure that your timing is perfect.”
“Of course.”
Radiant Shield eagerly positioned himself in front of the crypta, signaling Silent Acacia to attack.
An arrow immediately shot through the air. Radiant Shield focused carefully as he abruptly turned around and slammed his shield into the black wind.
[-303!]
“Well done guys! Keep it up!”
Liam praised his friends with an impressed tone of voice while continuing with his own attacks, working to build up holy marks.
A moment later the crackling of lightning sounded in the graveyard. Cyclone casted her spell, connecting herself with the skeleton guard.
[-132!]
Everyone in the team felt reassured, knowing that the fight was on the right track. Since the skeleton didn’t move their only threat was time.
Now that they had an improved strategy, although it didn’t work each time, the difficulty was still reduced by a lot.
Before the team was forced to take health potions the skeleton guard crumbled, turning into a pile of bones.
Instantly the black wind went crazy. It turned into a storm of destruction, hitting the player’s bodies. The storm infused with black magic took away 10HP per second.
Radiant Shield was startled for a moment before reacting instantly. His hammer collided with the sturdy brick wall. Without resistance the crypta fell apart. The entrance was blocked, and the wind subsided.
Next, Liam’s team briefly took their loot and hurried to the other side, assisting their friends.
Their team was somewhat slower, but they also had no reason to hurry up. With Bloody Edge’s ultimate skill and Balm’s heals the team around Silver Blade fought steadily, eventually slaying the skeleton guard.