"Ahhh! Adventurersss…"
It was the first time that the elder beetle spoke an understandable word. Its voice sounded like a hiss, just as shrill as its earlier screech. The beetle's facetted eyes turned read as it slowly pulled its body up.
"Only forty thousand HP left! Don't slow down now!"
"Careful! It's moving!"
"Damn! It's entering berserk mode!"
Noticing the beetle's movements everyone became anxious. They knew that the others were still outside, holding back the players who tried to steal from them. With every minute fellow guild members were dying. They had to take down the boss! Quickly!
Just now during the beast's period of weakness many trump cards had been used up. Thunderclouds were still brewing above the boss, raining down lightning. Shattering against the beetle's carapace they did little to damage the boss. On the contrary, they even added to its fierce image. The cracks between the beetle's carapace were opening slightly. Red light wandered through them and steam erupted.
"Die!"
Another screech as the now berserk beetle made its move. It raised both of its heads high and terrifying energy started to gather between its horns. It was about to unleash violent death rays, the beetle's signature skill, but this time clearly even more precarious.
Cyclone gritted her teeth, her eyes spewing lightning. She was praying for a stun. Throughout the fight she only manged to paralyse the boss thrice, perhaps for the duration of one second if added together. The boss was already developing resistance. Cyclone's luck didn't aid her now.
Everyone could feel the energy gathering around the boss. An invisible pressure spread. Breathing became more difficult. Their attacks dealt even less damage than before.
At this moment Silent Acacia's mind raced. His eyes suddenly lit up. He looked at his trusty pets Zorn and Korn.
Zorn had been around for the entire fight, but Korn was called upon as a special summon, limited to a duration of five minutes. Yet there was a new addition to their little family quietly waiting in Silent Acacia's pet slot.
A few days ago, the guild defeated a world boss called Reychria the Treasure Hunter. It was an unassuming little goblin who loved to steal treasures, no matter their origin, making many enemies.
Among her collection there was the egg of a precious beast. Liam had chosen the boss on purpose to get Silent Acacia a powerful new ally.
The new pet was still level 22. For such a short time this was not a bad result. But in the battle against a level 74 world boss, it was too weak. Silent Acacia only dared to summon it briefly, letting it sit at the edge of the battle so it would receive a tiny part of the EXP at the end. But now it was time for the beast to play a bigger role.
"You can do it, Born!"
Silent Acacia encouraged his newest family member as he called upon the next special summon. A flash of light passed and in front of the beast master a gorgeous beast appeared. Standing tall on its four sturdy legs, it had a scaled body and a lion's head. Its majestic white-and-red mane flowed like gentle water. Long whiskers dangled from its face and small horns grew on its head.
Born's species was a qilin, a celestial beast rumoured to bring luck to those seeing it. Inclined to earth and fire magic but endowed with a powerful physical body it was a strong allrounder. As a pet the beautiful beast dealt magical damage with its normal attacks as well as its skills, but it fought at close range.
"Go!"
Silent Acacia gave the command and his three pets roared happily. Above the world boss's head, the symbol of a sharp arrow was floating. This was [Mark of Death], Silent Acacia's ultimate skill, which was still active from earlier. Apart from increasing everyone's critical strike chance, the skill had an additional effect which Silent Acacia had been unable to use until now.
Should [Mark of Death] be active and two special summons damage the marked enemy, a stun of three seconds would be triggered which was irresistible and unbreakable.
Born, Zorn, and Korn, all understood the assignment. Silent Acacia instructed them with his mind. For simple tasks it was still alright, but if he wanted to control their movements in detail Silent Acacia would find it difficult and might even fail to move his own body at the same time. He realised that this was the difficulty of the beast master class and the more he trained, the more refined his combat style would become.
And yet one pet slot was still waiting to be unlocked at level 85. In the future if he faced other players, he would be able to directly outnumber them five to one with perfectly coordinated attacks. Who would still be his opponent then?
Silent Acacia abruptly snapped out of his daydreams, admonishing himself for getting distracted. It was lucky that the boss wasn't moving right now, still charging its attack. Silent Acacia was determined to interrupt it.
Two beasts raced through the air. Born, despite not having wings, was able to fly either way. Zorn almost felt envious but thinking about how her two brothers always had to jump right into danger while she could lazily stay next to Silent Acacia and attack from a distance, the white alligator felt that flying was not that great.
Silent Acacia felt the emotions of his pets and smiled wryly. He watched with bated breath as Korn and Born closed in on the beetle elder.
"Please let there be enough time…"
Silent Acacia was slightly anxious. Born's movement speed was only half that of Korn. In the face of the terrifying beetle, he seemed somewhat slow. If the beetle unleashed her death rays before the two pets could reach it…
Fortunately, the dreaded scenario didn't happen. Born and Korn both reached the beetle, swaying unsteadily under the pressure caused by the gathering energy. Korn arrived first. His dagger-like claws struck the beetle, only leaving shallow marks. The damage was low, but this didn't matter right now.
A second later Born followed suit. His thick leg stomped on the beetle's back, the foot erupting with sparks.
Yet the beetle barely cared for the qilin. Its red eyes were shining with excitement as its death ray was about to take form. Once unleashed it would turn the murderers of its youngling to ashes!
Just as the beetle was about to attack, the [Mark of Death] reacted to Korn and Born. The symbol of an arrow trembled and abruptly stabbed downwards, piercing into one of the two heads. The screeching beetle froze on the spot and the arduously gathered energy dissipated.
"Eh, why did it stop?"
"Did someone manage to stun it?"
"Look at Korn and Born!"
"Haha, nice! Acacia! You're the best!"
From the initial surprise it quickly transformed into excitement. No one expected the boss to be interrupted at the last second. Smiles formed on many faces.
"Don't waste the opportunity!"
The reminder spread quickly. The common beetles have been killed in the meantime. Only the big boss was left. All the surviving players used whatever they had left to attack the boss.
[Bleary Mirage: How is the situation outside?]
[Final Fend: We're holding on. But it's getting difficult!]
[Bleary Mirage: Cy, use the scroll we prepared!]
Cyclone's eyes betrayed reluctance but her body showed no hesitation. With a flick of a wrist a spell scroll appeared in her hands. It was one of the items they luckily received after killing the first world boss of the week. Liam had praised its might, stoking everyone's expectations. Cyclone didn't expect that they had to use it so quickly.
With a flick of her wrist the ancient paper unfolded. Instantly an inconspicuous, small magic circle unfolded. However, as soon as it started devouring mana, the cave almost seemed to be emptied. The mana circle was charged in no time at all. Suddenly a silver light flashed. It was as thin as a thread. Most of the guild members barely noticed it. But as the thread shot at the beetle, it left black cracks in its wake, piercing through space. Its speed defied logic. It was impossible to dodge.
Of course, the beetle couldn't even move. It didn't register the incoming attack until a hole had been punctured through one of its heads. The elder beetle lost three percent of its maximum HP on the spot. A damage number of 33.000HP popped up, glaringly conspicuous. The guild members drew sharp breaths as they realised that the beetle only had a few thousand points remaining.
"End it!"
"Let's not waste the scroll!"
"Take that stinky beetle down!"
Chaotic shouts spread. Attacks came from all sides. There were barely any skills mixed in. Some players only dealt a single point of damage.
The beetle woke up again. It shook its heads, letting out a cry throbbing with pain. Everyone felt a headache coming in but their actions didn't slow down. The world boss took a step forward. But before it could attack again, its HP were reduced to zero. The light in its eyes went out. The beetle lost its strength, falling to the ground. Finally, it was dead.