"Mages! Target the sides! Tanks, swap positions! Damage dealers, stop the boss!"
Liam instructions were echoing incessantly as he was leading six hundred people in besieging a world boss. Well, at the beginning it were six hundred but at this point only less than four hundred remained.
Screee!
A shrill scream pierced everyone's ears. It came from a giant bug. It had six legs ending in extremely sharp tips. Its black carapace was almost indestructible. Two heads, each with terrifying horns, loomed dangerously above the players, as if the world boss wanted to show everyone who the real bugs were.
This was the level 73 world boss [Screeching Beetle Elder]. With its high physical defence, it made life difficult for the players. If the guild hadn't advanced so quickly over the last week, Liam wouldn't have considered attacking this boss.
The highest-level members were still Hotpot of course, having reached level 71. After them were the likes of Final Fend and Braag, lagging behind by one or two levels. The guild's average had risen to level 66, and this was after the lower-level members had been transferred to the sub-guild to train.
Of course, Liam and his friends didn't exclude the members of the sub-guild. Of the six hundred fighters about one hundred were from the sub-guild. Although they didn't deal much damage, every little bit was important. Furthermore, they had another important job.
Tulip took a deep breath. She was a mage proficient in earth magic, part of Dream Avenue's sub-guild. She had been personally chosen by Liam during the last round of recruitments. As an avid gamer she had been playing multiple games before Fate of Crunaboul came out, but she was never really able to find her place. She was always middling along, never committing.
Yet, upon entering Fate of Crunaboul she had a stroke of luck, receiving the rather rare class of [Earthmancer]. She advanced rather quickly, managing to catch up despite starting late, slowly building self-confidence and even earning money as a mercenary. Eventually a friend recommended her to try her luck during Dream Avenue's recruitment.
Tulip didn't have much hope but as a big fan of Fortune she applied anyways. And to her big surprise she got chosen, even personally recommended by Bleary Mirage.
At first, people were sceptical. Tulip was already close to 30 and never managed to make a name for herself. Could she really have the talent? But Tulip didn't care. She worked hard and eventually earned her spot in the sub-guild, joining the same team as the guild leader AtopThePeak, who was a good friend of Bleary Mirage in real life.
Now many people were looking up to Tulip. She stood on top of one of many earth mounds. This was the living place of the screeching beetles. Only after killing the colony of screeching beetles did the boss come out. However, the colony was obviously bigger than the players could guess. Throughout the fight the boss's piercing screech kept calling for new beetles to swarm the enemies threatening the colony.
Tulip stared at the tunnels to both sides, where the scattering of legs against the solid stone could be heard. A new wave of beetles was about to appear any second.
At the beginning of the battle the mage was confused why Bleary Mirage ordered a few players to specifically protect her. However, when the first beetles arrived, she understood. She had the perfect spell to deal with them. The mage waved a thick staff which looked like it weighed more than her frail body should be able to handle. Her movements were not exactly fast, giving her an enigmatic appearance. She pointed her staff to the right side, and her spell was revealed.
Three large, almost hill-like boulders suddenly appeared out of thin air. They crashed into the ground, causing cracks to run along the wall, perfectly blocking three of the five tunnels. The boulders squashed a few beetles, who laboriously managed to free their injured bodies afterwards. Additionally, they remained in front of the tunnels, cutting off the stream of beetles.
"Good job!"
"Nice one, Tulip!"
Tulip smiled brightly, a sense of accomplishment welling in her heart. But she also knew that her spell didn't solve the problem. It only blocked the beetles for a while. At least the wave wouldn't be so big, making it easier to handle.
On the other side, Fortune was making her move as well. She pointed her staff towards the beetles skittering out of the five tunnels on the left side, like a wave threatening to bury the players.
Fortune narrowed her eyes. Her cast was completed. Mana erupted from the tip of her staff, condensing into the form of a giant sphere bigger than the size of the world boss's head. The size got boosted by Fortune's passive ability. Its azure surface rippled with mana, causing palpitations to everyone it passed. It was faster than one might expect, arriving in front of the incoming beetles. With a thought from Fortune the sphere abruptly split into three, confronting the wave of beetles.
Terrified screeches rang incessantly. As the three spheres closed in, the suddenly began shooting threads of magic at every enemy in range. They were like moving thunderstorms unleashing lightning upon the ocean of beetles. These common beetles were not powerful, only level 26 on average. Fortune's powerful magic caused a massacre wherever it passed.
[-3307!]
[-3307!]
[-3307!]…
Soon the two split-spheres crashed into the wall. They exploded, taking a few beetles with them. Fortune was only able to control the main sphere's trajectory. She saved it from experiencing the same fate, moving it along the wall, frying the beetles as soon as they rushed out of the tunnels.
"Fortune! Fortune!"
"That magic sphere is awesome!"
"Is it too late to switch classes?"
The other mages cheered and joked. Yet their weapons never rested. Fortune alone was unable to deal with this many beetles. Everyone's efforts were needed.
While a portion of the players were sent to obstruct the beetles, the rest still focused on the world boss. The beetle elder only had 100.000 HP left. This wasn't the first time it called for reinforcements. The players already knew what to do.
"I got it!"
Bloody Edge shouted loudly. He fell into a sprint, approaching the beetle from behind. With a nimble jump he reached the upper part of the screeching beetle's hindleg. His fingers easily found their grip in the cracks between the beetle's carapace. Showing off his agility, the thief climbed higher, stepping onto the beetles back. A few other players copied his actions, arriving from the other legs.
However, the players didn't immediately rush towards their target. Instead, they went to their knees, tightly holding onto the beetle's back.
"Screeee!"
The irritating sound increased by a level as the beetle elder shook its body, trying to get rid of Bloody Edge and the others. The players were in for a bumpy ride. Some of them had been shaken off during previous instances. They gritted their teeth and held on even tighter. The earlier embarrassment mustn't be repeated.
After a few second the beetle calmed down again. This time only three players fell from the world boss's back. The ensuing damage was swiftly mitigated by the guild's healers.
Bloody Edge was the first to jump up. He rushed towards the twin heads of the boss. His steps on the slick back of the beetle were steady, his nimble, black-clad body reminiscent of a ninja from movies.
Together with a few others the thief reached the heads of the world boss. The two heads were directed towards the ceiling of the cave, the boss bending its neck. Poisonous spikes were scattered around its neck. The players moved with experience. They climbed by using the cracks in the carapace as leverage, avoiding the poisonous spikes.
Bloody Edge's feet were only a metre above the beetle's back when he reached his target. There was an obvious white spot at the upper part of the beetle's neck. Bloody Edge looked towards the others, waiting for them to get into position. Everyone nodded in unison. Their weapons stabbed forward, piercing deeply into the marked weak points, causing a disgusting black liquid to spurt out.
From one second to the other the beetle elder shut up. It trembled. Its legs gave in, and it crashed onto the ground.
"Now!"
Liam's command was unnecessary. Everyone knew what to do. A small part of the players dealt with the remaining small beetles while the rest jumped at the world boss. All kinds of effects were unleashed, maximising the damage.
While Liam triggered his Dark Marks, others revealed similar tricks. Overbearing Zen and Dominating Zen unleashed rays of water and flame, which met in midair, attracting each other and spiralling around each other. The combined skill crashed into the beetle, not dealing that much damage, but reducing its resistance to elemental magic.
Such effects were crucial. The beetle was too tough. Without skills to shred its defence the guild wouldn't have been able to kill the world boss.