After Quickstep's fall, all attacks were concentrated on Silver Blade and Radiant Shield. The two tanks were already without stance. Under the heavy assault from multiple sides it was Radiant Shield who couldn't hold on after a while. Despite Balm's best efforts the tank ran out of HP and was sent back to the dungeon entrance. Now under even more pressure Silver Blade was unable to endure much longer. And with both tanks dead the friends were picked off one by one.
"Wiped again…"
Cyclone muttered in disbelief as the party gathered at the dungeon entrance. Everyone thought it was unexpected. Things were going so well until the second batch of demons came from the portal. Fighting such a large crowd and with Chratyo constantly switching between magical and physical damage the party actually caved in under the pressure.
"Sorry guys, this was my bad. I should've anticipated the possibility that another batch of demons would come.", sighed Silver Blade. Immediately Liam and Radiant Shield looked at her strangely.
"You take the words right out of my mouth."
"I was about to say the same."
For a moment there was silence before Cyclone commented with a chuckle:
"Really, I think it was my fault."
"No no. I should have known more demons would come!", said Balm.
"Clearly, it was my job…"
"I'm sorry. I caused this loss."
"I am definitely at fault here…"
One by one the friends all admitted their guild until even Watchful Eye chimed in with a dry 'sorry'. At that moment everyone was unable to hold back. The friends erupted into laughter and the mood instantly became much better.
After laughing off the stifling emotions, the party decided to take a short rest and discussed their tactics for the fight.
"We need to let one demon survive."
"Yes, let's mark one at the beginning. No one will attack it."
"I can't really guarantee that for my hurricanes.", remarked Quickstep.
"Mhm. But if it's only your hurricanes it should still be alright. They don't do enough damage to solo a demon."
"Sadly, that's true…"
"What about my lightning? Some effects can't be controlled…", said Cyclone meekly.
"Well, with some luck the demon still wouldn't die even if it gets hit with lightning once or twice.", reasoned Silver Blade, albeit nor overly confident.
"Then there is still the boss. We can't control him. What if he kills all the demons? Can we protect them somehow?", asked Quickstep while looking at Balm and Radiant Shield. Both shook their heads with wry smiles. Their skills couldn't protect enemies.
"So, it's really all about luck. Let's just… no one attacks the marked demon deliberately and we will leave the rest up to fate."
Silver Blade massaged her temples and sighed. This couldn't even be called a strategy now. There were too many variables. However, they couldn't just not attack these common demons at all. Although they were not particular strong, the demons would still overrun the players with their numbers.
After the discussion the friends spent a few more minutes resting until everyone felt refreshed, before starting a new run. The wyverns at the beginning were not much of an issue. The friends breezed through them and soon faced Loro once more. This battle still was not easy demanding strong concentration from everyone. Despite some hits from the dense fireballs, the friends fortunately made it out without casualties. They continued through the dungeon and soon faced Chratyo.
The start of the battle didn't change much. Chratyo was blocked by Bafra and twenty demons emerged from the portal. The party used powerful skills to decimate the demons. Thanks to some luck the friends quickly managed to reduce their numbers until only a single demon remained. Radiant Shield secured its aggro and ignored it as he faced Chratyo.
"Ok, now don't attack that demon! Keep it safe!"
Everyone nodded as they directed their attacks at Chratyo. But only a short time later there was a brief shock when Chratyo was afflicted with the Conduit effect, spreading lightning towards his surroundings.
"Cyclone!"
"Yeah, yeah. I won't use skills…"
Cyclone felt it was unfair. She had to purposely limit herself to only using normal attacks now, avoiding any form of lightning damage. Otherwise, she might just randomly kill the demon without even targeting it. However, her worries soon turned out to be unfounded. In the worst way possible…
While the friends were focusing their efforts on Chratyo, pushing the boss below half HP, Cyclone suddenly perceived a ripple from the corners of her eyes. She turned her head towards the portal and froze.
"Guys…"
"Cyclone! Where is your damage?"
"Yeah, damage, ehm… can I use my lightning again?"
"What?!"
At this moment the others also noticed something wrong as demonic roars reached their ears. Everyone was hit with a bad premonition. Looking over towards the portal they watched as a new batch of demons crawled out.
"F*ck…!"
Quickstep couldn't help but curse. When this new batch of demons appeared, the friends began to struggle. But having already used up all their big moves the fight became extremely difficult. Liam furrowed his brows, racking his brain. Suddenly he recalled something from his past life. There was a strategy weaker teams had applied when facing difficulties in this battle. Liam only thought about it now because he never had to struggle in this particular battle.
"Cyclone! Try if you can the ice behind you!"
"Ice?"
Cyclone glanced over her shoulder and found the spot where Bafra had been frozen by Chratyo. She quickly understood. She waved her wand and shot a magical sphere at the ice, causing a small piece to break off.
"It works!"
"Great! Hurry up! Attack that ice!", urged Silver Blade catching that ray of hope. Everyone instantly rushed towards the ice, attacking the solid material like miners digging for diamonds. Silver Blade and Radiant Shield kept an eye on the monsters, warning their friends in time should any danger arise.
But it was unnecessary as under their combined attacks the ice didn't block them for long. Soon, a single hole was dug out and a green light erupted, blinding the entire room. After the light receded Bafra had reappeared surrounded by a puddle of water, her previously gentle eyes now staring angrily at Chratyo.
"Arrogant demon! You dare to rampage in our temple! I will not allow you to pass!"
Bafra spoke between gritted teeth as she waved her staff. Vines erupted from the ground and shot at Chratyo from all sides.
"Child's play!"
The boss laughed arrogantly. He swung his claws to tear through the vines, but new ones kept coming. For a moment the two NPCs were in a stalemate.
"Don't stand around dazed! Attack!"
"Whom? The boss or the minions?"
"Let's go with the boss! Kill him first!"
The friends urgently got moving. Everything which hadn't been used so far was brought out. Silent Acacia and Bloody Edge both had ultimate skills strong against single targets. They didn't activate them against the group of common demons. Now they both brought out their ultimate skills against Chratyo. Silent Acacia sighed as he saw the symbol looking similar to an arrow hitting its target appear above the boss's head. He glanced briefly at the skill's description.
[Mark of Death (rank 2)
cost: 20 Fury
Effect: Place a Mark of Death on one enemy (duration: 40 seconds). Allied attacks targeting this enemy have a 20% increased chance to strike critically. If at least two specially summoned pets deal damage to this enemy, increase the critical strike chance by another 14% and stun them for 1 second. This stun can't be resisted.
cooldown: 33 minutes]
It was a pity that he still only had two pets. With one of them being a regular summon, he only had a single special summon and was unable to trigger the extra condition of his ultimate skill. Well, perhaps he could land a few critical hits to make up for it.
Just as Silent Acacia consoled himself, he stared at the boss in shock. Similar to his own ultimate skill, Bloody Edge's skill also placed a mark above the target's head. This mark would trigger after two seconds and cause the enemy to flee in fear. As it was triggered by an ultimate skill, the fear was much harder to resist. Even Chratyo was affected.
For a second there was panic on the sub-boss's side. He forgot himself, let out an embarrassing scream, and tried to escape from Bloody Edge. However, this also stopped him from putting up a defence against Bafra's assault. Instantly multiple attacks struck the boss, reducing his HP greatly.
"Haha, nice one Bloody Edge!"
"That's it!"
"Attack! Attack!"
Silent Acacia's smile froze. If only he had more pets. No! He was wasting potential! After this dungeon he had to search for new pets! The young man branded this idea in his mind before suppressing any distracting thoughts and putting his attention back on the fight.
With the help of the cultist, the friends advanced fiercely. Chratyo's HP were falling freely. The friends ignored the other demons, counting on Balm to buy enough time. Fortunately, their strategy paid off. After a few minutes Chratyo took his last breath, dying with an unwilling roar. Afterwards the group turned towards the surviving demons and with Bafra's help took them all out.