Liam and his friends hastily got away from the cracks before more void energy erupted. The available space rapidly shrank even more. Balm made a bad decision, landing in a spot which was barely big enough for her to stand on. She knew that should the skill continue, she would have no room left to dodge. And it didn't look like the boss planned on stopping anytime soon.
"Guys, I'm in trouble!"
Hearing Balm's distressed voice her friends thought quickly, attempting to figure out some ways to help her. Fortune realized that she wasn't standing far from Balm, coming up with a suggestion:
"Balm! Follow my voice and try to do a flash step!"
"This…"
"Don't hesitate! If you don't do anything you will be hit anyways!"
"Ok…"
"Good! Here, listen to me! Here! Here! Here! Balm…"
Fortune kept shouting, her voice like a beacon in the dark. Balm listened closely and guessed her direction, staring at the violet wall blocking her path. Just then another set of cracks spread, and Balm realized that there was no more space left for her to dodge. She hurriedly gathered mana, and her body disappeared in a shower of sparks.
When Balm reappeared, she immediately spotted Fortune standing more than two meters away. Despite the large distance both were within the same safe region, separated from their other friends by dangerous void energy.
"You did it!"
"Yeah, thanks. How did you find such a large safe space?"
"I guess it's just luck. Although we are quite far away from the boss, so perhaps this helps."
While the two women conversed leisurely, the rest of the friends stayed vigilant. With Balm as an example everyone made sure not to get in danger. However, in the end it was a matter of luck. As the skill continued there were less and less safe spaces and soon some of the players were forced to jump through the walls of energy to avoid further danger.
Silver Blade, Bloody Edge, Watchful Eye, and even Bleary Mirage all had to escape at one point. And even Liam couldn't use flash step as he didn't know where he should go. Relying on trial and error would have been a waste of his stance. Thus, he endured the damage of passing through the void energy.
In a short time, the party as a whole received more than 30.000 points of damage and multiple stacks of void corruption. Luckily no one gathered the dreaded ten stacks.
A few seconds later the void energy finally dissipated. Only a lacerated ground was left behind. The void shadow stood in the centre of the crater, looking exhausted.
To the side was a dim green shield which protected the mages as well as the Deer of Life. With the end of the boss's attack the mages cancelled the shield, weakly lowering their staffs. However, when they looked at the players, they decided to conjure another wave of healing energy, informing their allies:
"Adventurers, take this blessing and vanquish the void shadow. We will need to recuperate for a while."
A wave of green magic sparkling like emeralds in the sun washed over the players, its effect twice as intense as the previous ones.
Yet this was far from enough. Balm acted quickly. She activated her newest skill, pointing her wand at the void shadow. A speck of light flew out, shooting towards the boss. It settled above the void shadow's head and turned into a little star.
Simultaneously the rest of the party rushed towards the boss, attacking swiftly. Liam took the lead. His ultimate skill was about to run out and he quickly had to trigger some Holy Marks to prolong its duration.
A dark shadow appeared behind the boss, clinging to its back. Meanwhile Liam arrived with a sprint. Without slowing down he swung his swords, cutting deeply into the boss's flank. Two Holy Marks and one Dark Mark were built up.
Liam's swords emitted an incredibly sharp force, slicing the very air apart as he followed up with a [Double Slash]. A low explosion shook the surroundings. Holy light pierced the boss's head. Three Holy Marks were triggered, prolonging the duration of Liam's ultimate skill.
As the boss swayed from the pain Liam still wasn't done. Another Dark Mark appeared above the void shadow. Liam's eyes were focused as he instantly activated his weapon. A holy light shot at the enemy. The Dark Marks struck at the boss before dissipating into thin air. Reychnalyn's holy sword unleashed a stream of holy light, replacing the Dark Marks with Holy Marks.
At this point the boss had already started moving, facing Radiant Shield with its large antlers, enduring the attacks from the players. Liam stood behind it, raising his sword above his head. A white force surged around the sword, feeling incredibly weighty, as the veteran slammed it down on the boss's back.
"ROOAARR!"
The void shadow roared angrily as more explosions erupted above its head, punching it left and right. Its back surged chaotically while Liam pulled his sword back. After going through this combination of attacks Liam's ultimate skill had recovered greatly and the boss had lost about 3000HP from Liam's attacks alone.
Meanwhile the others didn't sit idle either. Not being able to attack during the boss's earlier skill, Watchful Eye had recovered some Qi, largely thanks to his powerful equipment. His swords danced, almost creating afterimages as it slammed into the boss.
At this point the players had quite a substantial attack speed, sometimes even finding it difficult to bring out its full effectiveness. Yet Quickstep proved to be the exception. With her [Aspect of the Storm] eliminating her limits, she rushed around the boss like a whirlwind, her swords striking continuously. Thanks to the skill she had a lot of experience in fighting at a high speed. She was getting used to the superhuman body granted by the game, which continuously improved her fighting skills.
Under pressure from a rain of attacks the boss suffered greatly. His HP decreased step by step. Soon, they dropped below 20.000. The void shadow floated in the air again, repeating an earlier skill. But now the players were already on guard. No one looked into the boss's eyes, thus avoiding being stunned.
Although it was easier to dodge this way, it was still not entirely guaranteed. Surprisingly it was Silver Blade who slipped up and received a hit.
"Silver! I will miss you…"
"Tsk. She's so tanky. That bit of void damage won't hurt her at all."
While Cyclone and Balm were in the mood to joke, Silver Blade narrowed her eyes solemnly. Just before the dreadful beam of void energy was about to hit her, her armor suddenly shone with a white and dark light, seemingly confronting each other yet appearing harmonious. They began to swirl, welcoming the boss's attack.
When the beam of void energy collided with the swirling vortex a grinding noise sounded out. Impressively, the beam's violet colour was ground down and what reached Silver Blade was only a transparent, pure magic. The void damage had been turned into simple magic damage, making it much easier for Silver Blade to endure.
[-4843!]
The ensuing damage was still not low, but it paled in comparison to Silver Blade's vast HP pool containing 38.025 points.
After this unsuccessful attempt at taking out at least one of its enemies the boss slowly came back to the ground. Its body had dimmed a lot, and it looked weak on its legs, swaying lightly.
But the players showed it no mercy, instantly resuming their attacks. The void shadow's HP got lower and lower. Meanwhile Radiant Shield suffered from the retaliation but with Balm's help he managed to stay alive.
A couple of minutes passed, and the boss dropped below 10.000HP.
"Keep it up, guys!"
"My friends, the enemy is about to fall!"
"My skills are on cooldown!"
The friends kept talking while fighting. As the day slowly approached evening times there were hints of exhaustion on everyone's faces but it wasn't enough to affect their combat abilities. Liam was glad to see his friends improving each day. Even though they were the number one team in the federation, they still had room for growth.
Just as the mood among the friends got excited, a change occurred in the situation.
"Diiiieeee…"
The boss's voice was rough, sounding like a low whisper, yet piercing straight into everyone's ears. It made a light jump, its body churning with fierce void energy, and it distanced itself from the players. Its eyes took on a red hue while wisps of energy spread from its body.
"Is it about to go berserk?"
Silent Acacia's solemn question rang out. He didn't need his friends to answer, knowing exactly what was about to happen. He tried to land one last arrow before the boss fully entered berserk mode, but it was already too late. The void shadow suddenly sank into the ground, its body disappearing.
A moment later saplings grew from the floor just like at the start of the battle. They were formed from poor void energy, emitting a dangerous aura, causing everyone to instantly step away from them.
The saplings quickly started growing and within seconds a dense forest filled the entire crater.