His body became stiff. The thunderous vibration of a gigantic beating heart penetrated him to the bones. It was the first time since he acquired his Epic Master Class that Christopher was under the influence of paralyzing or stunning status effect! One of his sustainable abilities allowed him to resist almost any status effect at the same or similar Level, but, apparently, now it wasn't effective at all.
No matter how much willpower he used, he couldn't move even a muscle. He couldn't activate any skill. His original plan was to use the remaining four uses of his shield skill to survive at least a few more minutes. But the reality is crueler than he thought. By his estimations, the paralysis would last for at least another 15 seconds. More than enough for the Ultraboss to finish him off a few times! It started to preparing the ugly purple tentacles with the rows of suckers to finish him off.
Instead of smashing him with its tentacles, the monster enveloped Christopher gently. It seems that it wanted to use its suckers to consume his nutrients instead of just killing him. It is, most likely, the way to gain the highest benefits from finishing off its prey.
Is this the way I'm going to die? Being sucked off by those disgusting tentacles? This is far from what I imagined as the death of a hero... Fuck... fuck... fuck!
Now, the last bits of his hope were crushed.
Beth... please, run away to Aerhtia. This place...this place is doomed. There is no hope. There is no savior. No hero who could save us. Just escape from here...
Just when he readied himself for the grim ending, a booming roar shook the surroundings.
ROOAAAAARRR!
The air trembled as something flew towards the Ultraboss at a frightening speed.
Boom!
After Christopher heard the loud sound of a collision, he immediately felt his body being released. When he could, at last, see what happened, shocked expression appeared on his face even through paralysis.
A dragon! It is a fucking dragon! Wait a minute... is there someone on its back?
The majestic twenty-meter-long dragon with beautiful blue scales and two pointed horns attacked Corrupted Titan Heart with its clawed legs while circling around it in the air. Riding it was...an ordinary-looking youth in casual modern clothes.
"Hehehe, experience points, here I come!" the dragon rider laughed merrily as if fighting this powerful monster was nothing special to him.
What the hell am I seeing? I never heard about any player with a dragon mount. Moreover, no matter how you look at it, his clothes aren't even Equipable Items.
In less than a minute, the Ultraboss lost 30% of its HP. The heart was enraged, and so it changed the pattern of its attacks. Instead of using tentacles that are easily dodgeable mid-air, it started to use wave-like sound attacks. It didn't matter though, the dragon and the one who mounted it were unperturbed.
Christopher long since recovered from his injuries, but he didn't have any confidence to join the battle. It was already one-sided as it is. Soon, he noticed that the dragon rider's hand held a blue crystal orb covered in mystical runes. He recognized what it was!
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T-this is... the Calamity Orb! There are only seven of them in existence, and each hides incredible might! Who is he? What is his Level?
Only now, Christopher realized that he could just check the mysterious person's Level if he wanted. What he saw was even more confusing. Both the rider and the dragon were Level 65! This was even lower than his own!
I-impossible! How can they have such power at this Level? I've never heard about any Player like this! Even with a Legendary Class, they shouldn't be so overpowered, right?
The dragon rider muttered complex incantations while holding the Calamity Orb. As he did it, the dragon tried to avoid a direct confrontation, concentrating on dodging instead.
What are they planning? Could it be he wants to use the Orb's power?!
It took the rider about two minutes to finish his chant. As he did, the Orb started to radiate beautiful blue light even more. It shined brightly, and then a blue ten-meter-wide pillar suddenly descended from the sky, smithing the Ultraboss!
Corrupted Titan Heart's HP decreased at incredible speed. 63%, 44%, 32%, 24%, 15%, 10%, 9%, 4%, 1%... 0%! When the blue pillar disappeared ten seconds later, the powerful Level 70 Ultraboss was already dead!
"Thanks for the meal~," the person on a dragon said with a smile.
As he barely contributed to the fight, Christopher almost didn't get any experience, but the System message he received still was proof of what happened. It wasn't an illusion!
The dragon landed before Christopher, and its rider jumped from his steed as well.
"Hey, pal," the youth who now was Level 66 said casually. "Thanks for keeping it busy for some time before I arrived. You saved me the hassle of trying to track it down."
He patted Christopher on the shoulder.
"As a reward, you can receive a gentle forehead kiss from my wife," he said while pointing out at the dragon.
Grrrrr...
It seems "his wife" wasn't glad to hear it.
"Why are you so stingy, Elle?"
Growl...
"Haha, I'm joking, I'm joking~," the youth hurriedly waved his hands in defeat.
"Anyway," the dragon rider continued as if nothing happened, "you can thank your companions for contacting the city immediately after leaving you here all alone, hehe. You are also lucky that I enjoyed some quality time with my wife not far away from here~."
Christopher suspiciously looked at the man and then at the dragon. At the man. And then at the dragon...
"Hey," the 'dragon lover' said, "don't look at me like this. She is just too shy to show her human form to strangers. She is a beauty, really~."
Without waiting for a response, the man continued to talk.
"Anyway, pal. How could you make such a stupid mistake? Didn't you know that the Titan Brain always comes in a package with the Heart and the Corpse? Could it be you never completed Aerhtia World Chronicles 3? Why could such a noob level-up so much is a mystery to me~."
As a Ranker from the top 100, Christopher couldn't remember when it was the last time someone called him a noob! But he can't muster any courage to talk back.
Compared to this person, I'm indeed nothing more but a noob, he thought, ashamed.
Then, as if realizing something, he asked, "The Corpse?"
Christopher raised his head and looked above. There, he saw it. The giant Portal, at least ten times bigger than the two from before! It trembled and distorted as if the thing that is going to go through it was too much for this world. His body started to shiver against his will. The horror he felt was a few magnitudes above that he experienced when facing the Heart.
"Hahaha," the dragon rider heartily laughed, "the true fight will start soon. Buddy, you'd better run from here as fast as you can. I can't guarantee your safety when this thing enters the stage, you know~?"
Christopher looked at this fearless man, the man who can face the unknown enemy with excitement and joy. The man who, alone, can do something that his whole team would be unable to do. He knew that staying here will only hinder this person.
"Can I at least hear your name?" Christopher decided to ask before leaving. He wanted to know the name of the hero who saved him. The name of the hero who, possibly, could save them all.
"Alex Turner," the young man answered casually, "The Best Player."