Even though Zyrus managed to break the serpents’ aura, the players' disaster hadn't changed by much.
The boss had an HP of 1000, and it barely went down by 15% after the death of half of the players.
Hajin Choi, the man who will be known as the ‘Divine shield’ in the future, played the lead role in battle.
He single handedly withstood third of the attacks and created a scenario where others could attack to their heart's content.
Not much of a surprise, Zyrus was the main attacker. He alone dealt around 10% damage and maintained the aggro.
The rest of the damage was dealt by the group of level 3s who were fighting in a wishy-washy manner.
Neither Kyle nor Lauren had joined the fight. Zyrus had told them his plan and they complied, albeit reluctantly.
*Thrust*
-26
Zyrus once again stabbed one of the serpent's eyes, landing the umpteenth critical hit on the weak spot. Despite it being an offense-oriented boss the monster still had 100 Def.
*Slash*
-25,-0
“Move back!” Zyrus shouted as he saw the serpent raise its fang.
*Whiisshhh*
“Aargghh-”
“Save mee--”
Two players who were late to react were turned into puddles of steaming flesh. Fighters were losing their morale as a feeling of inevitable despair started to kick in.
Zyrus charged ahead and observed the deteriorating condition of the teams. When he was a dozen feet away from the Keliodus serpent, he signaled Hajin who was looking at him.
They had predicted that an event like this would occur, and now was the time to use the countermeasure.
Zyrus saw the monster open its seven mouths to spew poison again, and without hesitation, he plunged his spear into one of them.
*Thrust*
-126
*Skeeiii*
The serpent hissed with its broken mouth, and one of its seven heads plopped down like a puppet whose string had been cut off.
The monster didn’t have any defense inside its mouth, leading to the first three digit damage number.
Zyrus had to pay the price for it as well. His armor was melted and his spear was also broken in half.
‘Damn it hurts,’ Zyrus winced as he removed his scrapped armor which was no longer recognized as an item by the system.
It was a relief that his spear was still slotted despite the damage it sustained.
‘That was close,’ sweat ran down his forehead as Zyrus looked at the red damage numbers pop up in front of him.
Thankfully, they stopped after a few seconds and Zyrus had maintained his HP at 75.
The poison had only touched his armor, and yet it dealt 1 continuous damage.
‘But everything went well in the end.’
Zyrus steadied himself and glared at the level 3 players with cold eyes.
They were fighting the boss monster like mad dogs. With its two heads down, the serpent's speed had been reduced by a third and it wasn’t able to dodge the barrage of attacks.
With their numbers which had been reduced to one-fourth, Hajin retreated with his team at this time.
The third team was certain of their victory now. Not only would they get the boss monster on their own, the remaining two teams were also for their taking.
*Krrigh*
At the cost of another three players' lives, the fourth head of the Keliodus serpent was down.
Zyrus observed the monster with a hawk-like gaze, but still, he failed to notice anything different.
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‘What am I missing… There must be something that makes it pseudo immortal…’
At last when only a dozen of the original 20 attackers were left on the field, a blood-red mist started to seep out from the monster.
*HISSSS*
“Arggh-”
“Fuck”
“Reetreeeaat… God damn it morons! run fast!”
The Keliodus serpent had gone berserk when its HP went below 40%. It consumed half of its remaining vitality and spewed poison all around it. Half of the players were late to react and in just an instance, the almighty third team was thrashed like a rug.
‘How pathetic.. Was I overreacting before?’
He had thought that the third team would backstab them, but looking at their condition now…
‘Useless pieces of shit! I gave away half of the corpse for nothing,’
The serpent had around 200 HP left, and Zyrus was certain about killing it with one or two hits.
‘Should I raise my intelligence? I wanted to use all 10 SP on mana stat but I need to figure out something first…’
Zyrus didn’t have much time left as the monster had started to calm down already. Intelligence was useless for him as he didn’t plan to choose a mage class this time. Mana was the source of power for all classes but only mages knew the best application for it.
In order to create spell models and research on new magics they needed a very high intelligence stat, but since he already knew about them with his memories he didn't really need to invest in that stat.
‘Fuck it, it’s all or nothing.’
Zyrus gritted his teeth and opened his status window. He concentrated on the Keliodus serpent with every ounce of his being and used half of his SP on intelligence.
His senses were enhanced by a lot and at this instance, he felt as if a fog had been lifted from his mind.
Zyrus didn’t have the chance to relish in this soothing feeling as he had noticed something different about the monster. Something that he wasn’t able to see in his previous life, despite being a max level player.
‘Is it because it’s a low-level boss? Whatever the reason may be, I lucked out on this one.’
“HaHaha.. time to die noodlehead.” Zyrus laughed from the bottom of his heart and strode ahead.
After increasing his intelligence, he could see a thread on the serpent now. It seemed metaphysical but with all his experience, Zyrus was sure about what it was.
It was without a doubt the power of origin. Although he didn’t have his own source of origin now, he could attack the string nonetheless.
He had neither the reason nor the capability to kill the boss monster permanently, but he had figured out a way to deal with the Eternals.
*THRUST*
-200
Exp +500
[Congratulations! You have killed the Boss monster “Seven headed Keliodus serpent”]
[You are the first players who have killed a boss monster in the tutorial!]
[+30 HP recovery, +2 SP]
Messages kept popping up in front of Zyrus but he had no chance to look at them. He panted for breadth and plopped down on the monster’s corpse.
As he had guessed, the third team attempted to attack him immediately after the general announcement. They had recovered their health, and they believed that they could kill Zyrus before he regained his footing.
Unfortunately for them, Kyle and Lauren were waiting for this exact moment.
Kyle charged ahead like a wolf in a sheep's den while Lauren threw her knife like there was no tomorrow.
Whenever Kyle passed by, red slashes of lights flew along with a flying head. Everyone on the third team was deader than dead after just a minute.
“That was amazing!” Hajin praised as he offered a hand to Zyrus.
“Flattery will get you everywhere.” Zyrus grasped the stretched hand and kicked the monster's corpse.
It was reduced to one-fifth of its original size, but it was big all the same.
His spear, or what was left of it was plunged on the intersection of its neck.
“We’ll take 5 heads and the neck, the rest is yours,” Zyrus concluded the deal and ordered to cut down the snake. Hajin was more than happy with the short interaction. He wasn't a chatty person to begin with, and even if he was, he wouldn't chat with a man who was bathed in blood.
Kyle stood up after comforting Lauren who was puking her innards out. He wanted to loot the dead players first but knowing Lauren, he would be nagged to death for being so callous. Thus, he could only join Hajin’s team to cut down the monster's corpse.
Zyrus didn't care about the looting at all. Why would he, a dignified ruler, would bother with such things? This had nothing to do with his luck in getting item drops from the boss monster. He laid down on the lush green grass and looked at the pending messages.
‘I’ve gained a lot from this fight!’
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Achievement: Killer of Keliodus (E-)]
[Achievement given to the person who had killed the boss monster “Seven headed Keliodus serpent” for the first time]
[+5 SP]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Achievement: Boss Buster(I) (E+)]
[Achievement given to the person who had killed the first Lv 5 boss monster]
[+10 HP recovery in Boss fights! +2 SP]
Lauren was speechless as she looked at the bloodied Zyrus sleeping on the ground with a grin.
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Achievement: Forged in combat, Shattered in Victory (C-)]
[You have given a noble demise to your first weapon. Achievement given to the person who had killed a mighty foe with the last strike of their weapon]
[The spirit of your weapon will live on with you!]
[20% recovery in durability when using a spear, CD: 24h]
[+5 SP]
‘Heck yeah! Using the same spear was worth it.’
Zyrus had gotten this achievement in his previous life when he was being hunted down by a field boss. What satisfied him the most was the achievement after this.
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Achievement: Gaze of the predator (A-)]
[Achievement given for dealing the maximum amount of damage by attacking the hidden weakness point]
[With your sharp eyes and enhanced senses, you have learned to locate a fatal weakness]
[You have accomplished a unique feat!]
[You have obtained the Skill: Eye of Annihilation (B)]
[+5 SP]
Just as Zyrus was about to click on his new skill, he felt a familiar vibration on his leg.
‘Yeah, I almost forgot about this.’ thought Zyrus as he stood back with a jump. Since he had reached level 5, it was time to go back.
“I’ll wait outside.” Zyrus waved his hand as he walked away from the players.
Now that he knew about some secrets related to the time in sanctuary, he wasn’t worried about his absence here. No matter how long he stayed on Earth, it would barely be a second in the sanctuary.
Zyrus held the cube in his hand. And just like the previous times he saw a red screen manifest in front of him.
[Would you like to return on Planet Earth?]
[Yes/No]
[Note: You can stay on Earth for 7 days. This chance to return will expire once you reach Lv 10]
‘About time I figure out my source of origin,’ thought Zyrus as he clicked “Yes.”
And in the next moment, he vanished from the sanctuary with a black flash.