The party looked at the ruins of the small crypta, feeling the pressure falling from their shoulders.
“Finally, that wind is gone!”, exclaimed Cyclone in relief.
“Dear viewers, we are another step closer to finishing the dungeon. What will await us next? Will we meet another boss?”
While Fortune made the outro for a video, she zoomed in on the vast portal in the distance where the chains locking it down trembled faintly.
“Whatever comes will fall under my blade.”
“Let us kill those invaders so the soldiers don’t need to sacrifice their lives.”
Radiant Shield’s and Bloody Edge’s voices sounded from the left and right of Fortune, attempting to create a dramatic atmosphere.
Cyclone exceptionally ignored her idol, having more important matters to deal with. She excitedly looted the skeleton guard.
An uncommon quality helmet appeared in her hand. Since it added a bonus to holy damage, the helmet was given to Liam.
Despite knowing that the skeleton was only of lord tier, Cyclone was still somewhat dissatisfied. Seeing her like this, Liam spoke in a joking tone:
“Don’t you want to loot the crypta as well?”
“Hey, don’t make fun of me. I would loot it if it were possible.”
“Who says it isn’t, let me show you something.
Laughing, Liam led Cyclone around the rubble which used to be a crypta. As soon as they saw its backside, Cyclone’s eyes lit up.
“Precious treasure!”
In a flash Cyclone was already next to the chest, quickly opening it. A book appeared in her hand. She just wanted to throw it at Liam when her body froze, looking at the cover.
“Ha! Praise me, expert!”
“Hm, what makes you so excited?”
“I got a skill book!”
Cyclone had a joyful smile, waving the book in front of Liam’s eyes who quickly caught its name.
“Golden net? Not bad, let Silver Blade and Radiant Shield fight it out.”
“What? Why them?”
“Because this skill scales off max HP.”
Cyclone didn’t find a good reason to refuse. She sighed dramatically, saying:
“Once again, my luck profits others. Is this a restriction from god?”
“Ok ok, don’t exaggerate. Let’s go back.”
Liam rolled his eyes and returned to the group. After a short discussion the skill book ended up with Radiant Shield. [Golden Net] was a skill which trapped enemies in a net and stunned them. It had an increased effectiveness against animalistic opponents.
Furthermore, the net didn’t disappear with time but by damaging it.
The tank was understandably happy about his new skill. Eager to fight a boss he took the lead to bring the party towards the center of the graveyard, where Onrabell was waiting for them.
Cyclone reminded everyone that there was more loot on the other side, urging her friends to wait. But Liam admitted that they already looted everything, causing the blond woman to ignore him for almost two minutes.
Luckily, she was soon distracted when the party began talking to Onrabell.
“Adventurers, I have been waiting for you! I have already infused divine blessings into all those graves. Now I need to perform a certain ritual to cleanse these pure souls. Your job will it be to protect me!”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Yes, major. You can count on us.”
“Good. Let me know when you are ready!”
Although the party was eager to fight, they took the chance to rest under Liam’s directions. On one hand it was important to relief some mental fatigue, on the other they had to wait for all the ultimate skills to come off cooldown.
Subsequently they were delayed for almost thirty minutes until Bloody Edge finally gave the ok. Many were anxious, fearing that the other guilds might catch up soon, urgently telling Onrabell to start her ritual.
While the fairy took the bracelet and rose into the sky, Liam thought it was necessary to calm down his friends:
“Guys, close your eyes and take a deep breath. The upcoming fight won’t be easy.”
“Can you tell us more about it?”, asked Silver Blade with a relatively calm mind.
“Sure. The next fight will have a time limit. It’s important that we maximize our damage. When you dodge skills, don’t forget to attack.
Also, the boss might appear somewhat disgusting to some of you. But don’t get distracted by something so simple.”
“Disgusting? How so?”
“You’ll see in a second.”
While Liam spoke, Onrabell arrived right below the black river in the sky. She held the bracelet high, murmuring incantations. The blessed artifact turned brighter and brighter, illuminating the graveyard like a miniature sun.
Suddenly it exploded and golden sparks glided down slowly like a beautiful snowfall.
Everyone turned their heads upwards, feeling their hearts elevated by this gorgeous scene.
Suddenly an enormous amount of black magic came out of the sealed hell portal. It shot into the air, forming a thick dark blanket and blocking the golden sparks, slowly eroding them.
“You see this? When all the sparks are gone, we have lost this fight!”
Liam’s friends nodded absentmindedly. Their attention was captured by the hell portal, where a strange, green matter like jelly oozed out between the chains. Occasionally a few violet parts could be seen as well.
The jelly came out of the portal and dropped to the ground, forming a small hill. It began to churn, twisting and shifting. Within a few seconds a grotesque creature consisting of jelly was created. It had a round belly and thick legs with long arms hanging to the ground.
One of its arms was entirely purple. A face could barely be made out on its round head as it silently roared to the sky.
But just as everyone thought the fight would begin, a change occurred. A grey ghost shot out of the portal and sunk into the jelly creature. Its head suddenly exploded, splashing the green substance in all directions. In the same position a ferocious, horned ghost head appeared.
After being possessed the creature slimmed slightly and its surface formed a strange scale armor, turning a dark green. Only its two arms remained the same.
“I have to say I underestimated you guys. But trying to destroy the master’s plans? What a joke! Your journey will end here!”
The boss was still some distance away, but its whispering voice reached everyone’s eyes. After it spoke, it began walking towards the party. Its first steps looked unstable as if the ghost was unaccustomed to its body, but it gradually improved.
Watching the approaching boss the party members adjusted their minds, getting ready for battle.
“Expert, didn’t you say this is a timed fight? Could this stupid boss not waste so much time?”
Cyclone’s question broke through the tense atmosphere, causing everyone to smile. But her words weren’t wrong.
Silver Blade glanced worriedly at the sky where the golden brilliance fought against the dark magic, feeling helpless as the game kept everyone in place.
When the boss was only a few meters away, the party finally regained their ability to move. The fight had officially begun.
[Void-Corrupted Experiment Enem
Rank: Boss
Level: 23
HP: 7800/7800
Status: possessed]
“Void-corrupted? Like that world boss?”
“Yes. Be careful of its void damage, guys!”
“Got it.”
The party discussed among themselves as they began to engage the enemy. Radiant Shield took the lead, attracting the boss’s aggro.
A flop sound could be heard as a green arm the size of a small tree flew at the tank like a whip. Radiant Shield braced himself, holding his shield close to his chest.
Bits of jelly splashed from his shield. The tank felt his body shaking. It proofed difficult to defend against the strangely moving jelly, which was also reflected in the stance Radiant Shield had to pay.
[Stance -21]
The tank felt his heart sink. He knew it would’ve been even worse without their training. A spark of competitiveness lit up in Radiant Shield’s mind. He had the urge to find out how other tanks were dealing with this attack.
Not knowing about their tank’s thoughts, Cyclone and Fortune began attacking as soon as it was safe to do so.
[-43!]
[-80!]
Silent Acacia’s arrow followed right behind the two magical attacks.
[-147!]
The hunter sighed in relief seeing that he was allowed to do some damage again. In a good mood he immediately used [Mark of Death] and [Flurry].
[-176!]
[-352!!!]
“Haha good job, babe!”, praised Quickstep generously, knowing that her boyfriend was feeling quite stifled earlier.
“Thanks, feels like I got rid of some shackles.”
Bloody Edge listened to the couple conversing happily, feeling as if a knife was stabbed into his heart. Even after gaining some fame the young man didn’t manage to get a girlfriend. With nowhere to complain he could only vent his frustration on the boss.
[-58!]
[-29!]
[-58!]
[-85!]
The thief frowned faintly as he observed his damage.
“Why am I doing so little holy damage? Shouldn’t all these ghosts in this dungeon be weak against holy?”
“Well, you’re not wrong. But this is a void-corrupted jelly thing. It’s not really an infernal.”