[The Boss Monster has reached the required threshold.]

A sudden whirlwind enveloped Tarren’s wounded form, pushing Nasrin and Circe away with a forceful gust. As they landed by the tornado’s perimeter, they realized that the wind had managed to sneak in a couple minor cuts onto them.

“Phase two,” Circe called out, tightening her grip on the Serpent Twins as she raised them in front of her. “Zeke, did ‘Gravity’ get disabled?”

“Pretty much,” Zeke responded in a low tone, his arrogance from earlier nowhere to be found. A stern look darkened his expression as he held out his staff, ready to cast a spell at a moment’s notice. “I just need another opportunity to use it again. For now, I’ll use Frost Grasp for CC.”

As soon as Zeke finished speaking, the wind around Tarren blasted forward; the invisible blades that fanned in every direction forced them to back away.

At the center of the cocoon of storm, Tarren let out an earth-shaking roar. Sparks flew violently from his body as thunder responded to his raging cry.

Even though Tarren had been verbal since earlier, he didn't say another word as he began summoning a storm of lightning around the arena. Each strike from the sky accurately pinpoints the location of everyone on the field, forcing the vanguards to go on the defensive while Zeke had no choice but to take each powerful bolt with his Mana Shield.

As the onslaught of lightning and thunder continued, Nasrin retreated into Zeke’s barrier. “Tarren’s attacks will be more frequent this time, it leaves us little room to attack.” she told him, calmly observing the arches of electricity curling around the boss.

“Then what should we do?” Zeke’s attention never left the enemy, his brows knitted into an annoyed frown. “Even with your ‘aura’, we’re not making any progress at all. Should I buff you with everything I’ve got?”

Aura. The manifestation of strength from a martial artist’s body. It serves as the ‘rival force’ to a mage’s ‘mana’, and a person cannot master both energies in one body.

Nasrin has gotten a good grasp on her aura. Usually, a novice could only form an aura around their weapons, but Nasrin managed to envelop her entire body with it, using it as a protective shield, while also shaping the aura into extended claws for combat.

“Even Creston couldn't utilize aura to this extent.” Zeke recalled.

“Yes, and I’ll rush in for Tarren’s neck.” Nasrin responded, and Zeke nodded in confirmation. Receiving his answer, she stepped out of the barrier just as two layers of magic coated around her form.

+

With the given support, Nasrin confidently rushed forward, drawing her claws back in preparation for a timely slash. Though as she weaved around the relentless lightning around her, Circe suddenly emerged from the storm of attacks and leaped into the air.

The boost from her skill’s effect allowed her to reach Tarren’s neck in a single jump. With all her strength, Circe thrust both her daggers into the boss’ skin, letting gravity drag long, deep wounds down his body.

“ARRGGGH! YOU IMBECILE!” Circe’s surprise attack earned her a threatening roar from Tarren.

As the bird staggered from the pain, Nasrin made a stop below him before uplifting her claws, slashing deeper into the wounds. The thunderous cries that followed got backed up by Tarren’s lightning breath, this time, the bolts arched to Nasrin and Circe’s movements, striking them both with deadly accuracy.

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+

“You annoying bugs!” Tarren screamed as he glared at Zeke from across the field before firing another lightning breath from his fang-ridden beak.

Bolts of electricity splitted into multiple streaks, gliding across the air in the blink of an eye. Despite their homing ability and destructive power, Zeke never disabled his Magic Barrier, and the attacks simply got absorbed by the shield.

‘CRACK!’

As shards of broken glass fell to the ground, a sudden jolt of pain ran down Zeke’s wrists, spreading all over his body as if he’d gotten struck by Tarren’s attack. His back arched from the pain, but he gritted his teeth and bared with it. “Fuck. The attack went over the barrier’s limit?”

[Granted (+5) Defense to ‘Silas Salvador’ for 60 seconds.]

Tarren prepared to fire another breath of lightning, but Circe and Nasrin emerged from the dust cloud, syncing their attacks on Tarren’s wounded neck.

Blood spewed in place of the lightning breath, forcing Tarren’s head down from the pain and agony. With his bronchia filled with blood, Tarren could only glare at his enemies as the health bar above his head slowly whittled down.

Both vanguards rushed in once more to deliver another attack, but Tarren’s five remaining wings swiftly carried him into the air. As the boss attempted to flee, he suddenly found himself unable to move.

+

[The Tyrannical Thunder is inflicted with ]

Even though Tarren managed to break free from the near invisible wires with his strength, the status condition had already begun to spread into his plumes and skin. His movement slowed down just enough for Nasrin to leap up, knocking him out of the sky with a single axe kick to the spine.

“Now!” Nasrin called out to Circe. Blades drawn back and ready to strike, they both rushed towards the fallen bird.

However, the arches of lightning around Tarren’s form suddenly lashed out at them. As they blocked and retreated, the tyrant’s widened eyes snapped towards them, shimmering with rage and malice. Even if it could no longer speak, his gaze told a thousand words.

[The Boss Monster has reached the required threshold.]

[The Boss Monster has activated ]

[ has cleared the Boss Monster of all Status Conditions.]

[ grants increased stats to the Boss Monster for 30 seconds.]

Before any of them could react, Nasrin got flung across the ground by an invisible attack. Her aura armor may have protected her from lethal damage, but it didn't fully absorb the impact, and sickening cracks! can be heard between the rumbling thunder.

Broken roars sounded from Tarren’s sliced throat as arches of lightning shot forth from his body. They aimed at their closest target; Circe, forcing her to activate Shadow Glide. Her choice of destination landed her next to Zeke.

“Tarren’s in his desperation phase,” Circe’s eyes briefly landed on Nasrin, watching as she slowly rose from the ground, broken from her forceful impact. “I ask for one good CC, Zeke, can you do that?”

[WARNING! The Boss Monster has gone berserk!]

Despite her injuries, Nasrin fearlessly rushed forward, jabbing her golden claws into Tarren’s fierce lightning bolts. The explosion that followed muffled the conversation between the two of them, but Zeke responded with a nod. “Unless I get closer, I can't cast Gravity at this distance…but I can buy you one second with Web Weaver.”

“Good enough.” With a nod as a response, Circe sprinted towards Nasrin. Tarren once again rained down concentrated strikes of lightning onto the vanguards, but this only served to narrow the boss’ vision with all the flashy attacks.

+

Near invisible strings wrapped around Tarren’s limbs, immobilizing him. Zeke held onto his webs with all his strength as the boss struggled against his grasp, roaring in frustration in sync with the lightning running from his body.

As one string snapped against the winning force, Circe had already gotten in position. One Assassinate carried her to Tarren’s neck once more, and a crossed slash deepened the pre-existing wound.

Nasrin paid no attention to Tarren’s pained cry, leaping into the air as she gathered all her energy into her right talons.

“...Go to hell, fucker.”

With one last slash to the neck, the head slid off his body, rolling onto the ground while it left trails of blood on the rocky floor beneath it.

[Killed the ]

[Equal contribution to battle…EXP has been distributed.]

[Temporary Party Member - ‘Nasrin’ did not receive EXP. Recalculating…]

[‘Silas Salvador’ has leveled up! LVL: 19]

[‘Ruelle Peregrine’ has leveled up! LVL: 20]

[‘Rulle Peregrine’ has met the requirements. S-Rank Equipments can now be used.]

[ has been cleared!]