"Don't save any of your skills! Throw everything you have at it!" Two Tons roared as he pressed forward with his assault. As the battle progressed, he became more comfortable with the attack patterns of the Ouroboros. While this made it easier for him to fend off its attacks, in the end, the Ouroboros was still a rare boss monster. Two Tons felt that even if they were to fight this boss another two or three times, it would still be a difficult and uphill battle.
Since Phoenix had the help of Reilei's Mana Attraction, as well as her mana potions as backup, she no longer had any troubles when it came to managing her mana. However, that did not mean that she was able to slack off and ease up on her heals. This was even more so now that the Ouroboros had entered into its enraged state. This meant that its damage, speed, and everything else would skyrocket! Also, who knew what kind of last resort skill it had up its sleeve?
When the Ouroboros entered into its enraged state, its purple eyes darkened and became pitch black in color. The vile aura that only covered a small portion of its body just moments ago suddenly spread throughout its surface and seeped into its scales. This changed the color of the Ouroboros' scales to a corrupted black and white pattern.
Although there was only 10% of its HP remaining, it could be said that this was the most exciting and also equally dreadful part of a boss fight. It was the time when victory was in sight and the chances of defeat were increased. However, Reilei and her party did not let this prevent them from pushing forward with their assault. Instead of being fearful, they attacked with a fearless mentality.
It was either them or the Ouroboros and, needless to say, they much rather it be the Ouroboros!
Swoosh!
Shuyi cut deep into the Ouroboros with his daggers. There was strange blood-red energy gathered around his daggers that sunk into the wounds of the Ouroboros.
"Persistent Deep Wounds." Shuyi had been saving this move until the end of the fight because he knew that it would shine best when the boss went into its enraged state. The small and numerous cuts on the Ouroboros' body began to split open as if some invisible force was tearing its body apart!
Gruuuuuuah!
-5,009
-501
…
-501
With one skill, Shuyi was able to immediately remove a bit more than 2% of the Ouroboros' remaining HP. However, the damage did not stop there. Every one second, the Ouroboros would receive damage and the effects of the skill would not end until the battle was over.
Everyone was shocked when they saw the chunk of the Ouroboros' HP shaved off and continue to drop by the second. That Shuyi actually had a terrifying skill like that hidden away this entire time?!
"Although the cooldown is a bit annoying, I can't say it's a waste against a rare boss like this." Shuyi said to himself as he released a small sigh. Even though everyone was surprised by his skill and the massive damage it did, Shuyi knew just how situational and limited Persistent Deep Wounds could be.
While it appeared to be this all-powerful skill that Shuyi could use at a whim on the surface, it was actually severely restricted due to its effect. It was practically useless for short term battles which rogue-like classes like himself specialized in and was mediocre at best for average timed fights. The place where Persistent Deep Wounds truly shined was during a long fight.
If he had used it at the beginning of the fight, it may not have even dealt 10 damage to the Ouroboros let alone 5,000 damage. The reason behind this was simple, the more attacks Shuyi landed and cuts he created using his daggers, then the more damage his Persistent Deep Wounds would cause. The base damage of the skill was extremely low and so it required a decent number of cuts before it could actually do any real damage. But, it all worked out perfectly in this fight.
8%…
4%…
The attack patterns of the Ouroboros became wild and unrestrained. Both its speed and power had increased exponentially and showed no signs of decreasing. This made the pressure soar by leaps and bounds on Reilei and her party.
2%…
1%!
The Ouroboros released a potent poison mist that was countless times more deadly than any of the previous poison skills that it used before. This damage directly bypassed Reilei and her party's defenses as it removed 10% of their total HP everyone second regardless of how much HP they had! This put Two Tons in a challenging spot given that he was already struggling on tanking the now overwhelming and enraged damage from the Ouroboros.
The new and deadly poison also forced Phoenix to use up a large quantity of her mana reserves in order to cast her group healing spells, as well as some of her more higher-ranked healing skills. However, it was obvious that she would not be able to keep up with that pace of healing for an extended period of time.
Woosh! Bang!
Reilei struck the belly of the Ouroboros, one of its major weak spots, the instant it lifted its body off the ground to launch its final attack of desperation.
Gruuuuuuaaaah!
The Ouroboros abruptly halted its movements after Reilei's attack. The corrupted aura on its scales had vanished into thin air and its huge body collapsed onto the ground. The color of its eyes and scales had returned to normal. In the moment of its defeat when its body was scattering into countless particles, the Ouroboros set its gaze on Xiao Liang who rested upon Reilei's shoulders.
At the same time, a violet color scale unknowingly appeared on Xiao Liang's back right underneath the red-orangish scale he acquired a while back. This was the second scale that appeared on Xiao Liang's body that differed from the rest of his scales.
As if being timed with the appearance of that violet colored scale, the Ouroboros finally disappeared and a system alert appeared that had everyone in a state of disbelief and temporary speechlessness. After all, they could not believe what they had just managed to accomplish.
〈System Alert: Congratulations, you have defeated the Corrupted Ouroboros!〉
〈System Alert: You are the first players to defeat the hidden boss Corrupted Ouroboros! The quality of your loot has been improved.〉
〈System Alert:…
There was a stream of system alerts that popped up, however, everyone's eyes were focused on one thing and one thing only… The pile of loot that formed where the body of the Ouroboros had just disappeared! There were items with a faint glow around them which was the sign that the loot contained rare items!
"We did it… We actually did it…" Phoenix was the first to break the silence. If that fight was just 5 to 10 seconds longer, then she was sure that they would have been wiped out! After the realization of victory set in, Phoenix felt her legs go weak as she did not fight against it and collapsed onto her knees.
"Are you okay?" Reilei asked as she went over to check on Phoenix who seemed to be the most exhausted member of their party.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just glad that nightmare is over. Realistic, you're amazing, you know that?" Phoenix released a deep sigh and gave a helpless smile. Reilei was the most inexperienced out of everyone present and yet she seemed completely unbothered by everything that had just happened. Not including her beginning freeze-up, Reilei had pushed forward in a way that caught Phoenix off guard. How could she still be standing after an intense fight like that?
"Your kind words are wasted on me. After all, I'm still too inexperienced and ended up causing some trouble for everyone. I'm sorry." Reilei said in an apologetic manner.
"Realistic, you're glowing. You're glowing way too much. I might go blind." Phoenix said in a playful tone as she covered her eyes as if she were peaking at the sun through the cracks of her fingers. This, in turn, caused Reilei to be momentarily taken aback, however, some soft laughter found its way to escape from her mouth.
As Reilei was speaking with Phoenix, Broken Fists' eyes were filled with greed as his gaze had not once left the pile of loot that dropped from the Ouroboros. If he obtained that loot and sold it, then it would be enough for him to live comfortably for quite some time! He had to find a way to reap the most benefits.
"Hehehe, since it was all thanks to my quick decision making, I think I should have the first p-" Just as Broken Fists was approaching the loot pile, he lost control of his body.
Puuuhtk!
Broken Fists' eyes widened in shock. At first, what had just occurred did not register in his mind. It was not until he saw a piece of metal floating in front of him that he realized that something was wrong. Wait, no… That piece of metal was not floating in front of him… It was coming out the back of his head!
Broken Fists was not the only person shocked but the sudden turn of events, Reilei, Phoenix, Shuyi, and Hidden Pulse were also baffled.
"Y-you-! What do you mean by this, Two Tons?!?!?!" Broken Fists roared when he noticed that the metal sticking through his head was not just some random piece of metal, but instead, it was the sword that belonged to Two Tons! At the same time, Broken Fists noticed that he had been kicked out of the party. Two Tons waited until just before the Ouroboros was about to die before kicking Broken Fists out of the party.
"Did you think that your actions would simply go unpunished?" Two Tons stated with a cold look in his eyes. He pulled his sword from out of Broken Fists' head. The moment he did so, Broken Fists' body had already begun to dissipate. There was an intense level of hatred and rage that could be seen in his eyes as he listened to Two Tons' words.
"You think you can do this to me?! How dare you! Do you have any idea who you've just offended?! Trash! If I don't get my cut of the loot, don't even dare think about leaving this place alive! Do you hear me?! Two Tons you bast-!" Before Broken Fists could complete his sentence, the remaining pieces of his body scattered into nothingness. Just like that, he had died!
There was an awkward silence that filled up the room as the atmosphere grew tense. Everyone suddenly became on guard and was cautious of any sudden movement. Could this be the start of a falling out over rare loot? After all, everyone understood that such things were not uncommon in randomly formed parties. Greed often blinded the wisest of men!
All of a sudden, laughter echoed throughout the room which caused everyone to jump in surprise. This laughter came from none other than Two Tons.
"Ahahaha! What are you all so jumpy about? That guy nearly got our entire party killed and didn't bother listening to any instructions or even trying to work together with us. His attitude was also not suitable for our dungeon party and so as the leader of our party, I found it as my responsibility to hand down a fist of justice. I apologize for not discussing it with you all beforehand, however, I could not allow the risk of him retaliating and creating unforeseen trouble." Two Tons explained with a calm smile on his face.
However, despite his words, everyone was still surprised. They did not expect Two Tons to have such a cutthroat personality when it came to matters like this. Not to mention, he seemed to be genuinely upset about Broken Fists' previous actions. Also, it was true that they got lucky in their victory against the Ouroboros.
If Phoenix never helped Reilei learn about how to use her own skills, and if she did not possess such a precious mana restoration skill, then there was no way they would have made it out of that mess alive! In truth, no one really enjoyed Broken Fists' company due to his arrogant and negative attitude. Even though Shuyi also had some behavior issues, at the very least, he did not intentionally drag the party into danger and was willing to work with the party.
In the end, although it was somewhat awkward, no one blamed Two Tons for the decision he made.
