"Still thinking I will leave you a chance?!"
The red dragon's mocking voice echoed through the trial space which was now filled with fog. It swung its massive claw, targeting Radiant Shield in front. The tank immediately braced himself. He and his dignified griffon took a defensive posture.
[Stance -27]
It was impossible to mitigate the force without the ground as leverage. Radiant Shield was pushed back a few meters before he was able to stabilize his flight.
At least there was temporarily not much reason to worry about his stance. Before summoning his flying mount, the tank had about a fourth of his stance left, 71 out of 290 points. Now this was still the case, but since the limit was raised he now had 213 out of 780 points, enough to last for a while.
Circling the dragon on the mounts, the party struck violently, fitting the image of Dragonslayers. But fighting the beast turned out to be quite tricky. Dragons were extremely proficient at manoeuvring in the sky. Turning, tucking in its tail, swaying its legs, the beast knew how to evade attacks. If it weren't for its large body the friends might struggle to land even two out of ten hits.
Yet this was not even the full extent of its abilities.
Cyclone waved her wand, gathering a large amount of mana. Compared to Fortune the cast time of her skills was much slower, further shortened by the effect of her precious wand. Soon, sparks of electricity spontaneously formed. The mage could feel the magic streaming through her body. The skill was ready.
"This time it has to work…"
Encouraging herself Cyclone pointed her wand at the boss. She was rather frustrated by the dragon's resistance against status effects. Her ability to paralyse enemies was an integral part of her character. Without it she was unable to show her full potential. But perhaps now that the boss entered a second phase, its resistances might have changed.
"Go!"
Cyclone shouted and a spell loosened from her wand. Lightning crackled, forming a large cage around the dragon, trapping it within. Cyclone's eyes lit up as she noticed the dragon actually stopping, not daring to touch the cage. But her joy quickly turned to disbelief as the dragon's body became blurry and disappeared.
"Stay right there!"
"Where did it go?"
"Invisibility or teleportation?!"
"Stay vigilant!"
The friends huddled together, not too closely, leaving some room for dodging, scanning their surroundings. A light breeze moved the fog, tugging at the fur of the flying mounts. The whiskers of Quickstep's Kun Peng moved with the wind. Suddenly she seemed to perceive something. Scanning her pet, a doubt came to her mind. Why were the whiskers floating upwards?
"Not good! It's below us!"
With Quickstep's reminder everyone's hearts skipped a beat. A premonition of danger hit them. The friends instantly swarmed out towards all directions.
And right at that moment a pillar of flames erupted from below, growing like a towering tree towards the sky, targeting a large area. The friends had moved swiftly but for some it was still too late. Radiant Shield, Fortune, and Bloody Edge didn't react fast enough and were caught within the flames, each receiving close to 12.000 points of damage. Even the tank had little resistance against the pure fire element.
"My lapse in vigilance…"
Radiant Shield was just about to admonish himself when a sacred light flashed along his silver-white armour, healing him for 7% of his max HP, a full 6748 points. Seeing this, Balm who had already raised her wand, lowered it again, inwardly praising Radiant Shield luck since this low-chance effect actually triggered.
"Guys, this was kinda stupid!"
Silver Blade's saw that her shout drew everyone's attention and quickly continued:
"The biggest advantage of our flying mounts is their speed, especially with Dive! Why would we stop in place?! We should move around, make ourselves difficult to hit!"
"Silver got a point…"
"Let's go!"
The suggestion was quickly adapted by everyone. The friends started racing in the sky, rising and falling, profiting from the speed boost brought by [Dive]. The ten players' bodies were fast like the wind, difficult to spot with the naked eye. However, for a dragon this was far from enough. It soon began targeting the party again.
The hissing, roaring flames were unleashed, producing another heaven-reaching pillar. It was cleverly placed. Instead of targeting Quickstep directly it predicted her movements, appearing in her path. Quickstep was moving the fastest out of everyone. Caught off guard, she tried to pull her mount away, but the inertia was too strong and the time too short. She already knew she couldn't avoid the flames.
Fortunely Quickstep was not alone. After the earlier instance where three team members got hit, Silver Blade also blamed herself. As a tank it was her job to avoid such scenarios. Now, she paid close attention to the others. Realizing what was happening over at Quickstep's side, Silver Blade reacted swiftly.
Her intricate earring suddenly trembled as it revealed its power. Amidst the pillar of flames, a comparatively small black hole formed. It revolved around itself and a terrifying suction was unleashed. The flames were not just simple fire, but magically enhanced flames produced by a dragon. Yet they were unable to escape the fate of being devoured by the black hole.
Quickstep's body passed the area and she remained unscathed. A sigh of relief escaped her mouth.
"Thanks!"
Silver Blade didn't respond. She was focusing on the rest of the group. From the attack just now, she could tell that these flaming pillars were extremely tricky to avoid. The others would probably also need some help.
This guess should turn out to be the truth. The next flaming pillar erupted in front of Cyclone, directly cutting off her path. But the mage didn't need Silver Blade's help, showing a great reaction. One of her Lightning Hawk's proud tailfeathers lit up brightly. Lightning engulfed both rider and mount. They transformed into a bolt of lightning, their speed increasing multiple times over as they flashed forward. Before the flames could reach her, Cyclone had already left her position.
Coming up unsuccessful the dragon subsequently increased the difficulty even further. Now three flaming pillars erupted simultaneously, cutting off all paths for Silent Acacia. Korn was right next to him. The beast master had no defensive method available. He gritted his teeth, about to brave the flames, when a barrier of light enveloped him just in time. It was Radiant Shield who had made his move.
This scene continued for a while. The friends were highly vigilant, yet the flames were difficult to avoid. Even Liam had to focus in order to flash step in time. Multiple skills were used up. Radiant Shield's [Sacred Barrier], Silver Blade's mount skill raising everyone's elemental resistance, Balm's [Heal] was granted to Bloody Edge after the thief got hit a second time. This was one of the most difficult skills the party encountered so far purely based on speed and positioning.
Finally, after more than two minutes, no new attacks arrived. The friends slowly calmed down, taking a few deep breaths. And as the atmosphere relaxed, the red dragon also reappeared.
"Surprisingly you are still alive…"
The boss had just finished its sentence when Liam already arrived next to it. His swords were engulfed by dark magic, flashing continuously. A light grin formed on his face as he was finally able to apply his Dark Marks.
"That's our chance! Go!"
Cackling, ghostly laughter sent shivers down everyone's spine as Liam triggered his five Dark Marks, shredding the boss's resistances in the process. His friends unleashed everything they got. A storm of arrows, pets attacking in sync with their master, blades aided by wind and water, a staff coated with golden metal, lightning, condensed mana. Nothing was held back. The dragon's HP fell at an alarming rate. 1000, 5000, 10.000, 20.000…
"You! Adventurers! Stop!"
Even the dragon was shocked at this moment. The party was venting their stifled emotions after this period of tension. Especially Bloody Edge. He almost died just now. His daggers were even more ferocious than usual. Multiple effect overlapped as his HP fluctuated, his damage slowly increasing. Multiple critical hits were mixed in. The thief felt invigorated, his performance reaching a new peak.
"Keep it up! Good job! Go!"
The dragon got increasingly enraged as its HP dropped swiftly. It turned its body, lashing out with its tail. Although the target was Radiant Shield, the other were also forced to escape should they be in the way. Radiant Shield braced himself for the impact and raised his shield. A terrible force was driven into his body. His arm trembled, the pain piercing his mind. Yet he remained steadfast, quickly stabilizing his flight.
[Stance -29]
"Good job guys!"
"We're making progress!"
"65.000 health left! That's nothing!"
The effect of Liam's Dark Marks wore off but the friends kept encouraging each other. Their attacks never ceased. They knew that the dragon could repeat its skill any time, thus they were eager to make the most of this period.