Reilei's eyes turned into two flaming suns as she extended her arm outward.
The next moment, a small wisp of raging sun fire formed at the palm of her hand.
Even Luna, who was still several meters away from Reilei, could feel the intense waves of heat being generated by the sun fire.
At the same time, the Failed Kitsune started to realize that something was wrong. The mana that it had been gathering and condensing was beginning to break down. But, that was not all.
The mana that broke down did not merely dissipate into thin air. Instead, it was drawn directly into the sun fire in front of Reilei! And, the more the kitsune tried to compensate for the absorbed mana, the faster it felt its strength draining.
RAAAAAAWR!
Left with no other choice, the Failed Kitsune unleashed its magic attack that was a combination of multiple elements.
However, despite having to release the skill ahead of time, the power it carried was at least three times that of the attack it used earlier that also struck the outer walls of Eastgate!
Just from the amount of mana contained within the blast, Luna knew that it was not an attack Reilei could afford to take head-on—even if her HP was higher than normal for a summoner. But, for some reason, Reilei remained unmoved.
"I should take some precautions." Luna internalized as she used the skill Protective Barrier to form a damage absorption shield around Reilei.
However, just as Luna prepared to immediately follow up with another support-type skill, something unexpected happened.
〈Battle Alert: You have been affected by the skill «Gluttonous Matter Breakdown»!〉
〈Battle Alert: 30% of your mana has been absorbed by Player Reilei!〉
"This is…" Luna instantly halted her actions upon receiving the battle alerts and seeing the large amount of that was mana f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y extracted from her body.
As a member of the Trephasia race, Luna's mana reserves were much higher than other players. Therefore, 30% of her total mana was not a small amount by any means.
Luna quickly shifted her attention to the party interface. And, just as she suspected, something unusual was going on with Reilei's mana.
When Luna last checked not too long ago, Reilei had roughly 21,000 points of mana remaining. But, after checking it once more, Luna discovered that number had shot up to more than 235,000!
However, Reilei's maximum mana stat of 44,000 did not budge from its spot.
"Absorbing that much mana… Is she Flooding?" Luna said to herself as she inwardly furrowed her brows.
Mana was like water and a player its cup. However, this cup had a tightly sealed lid. This meant that upon reaching its maximum capacity, not even a single drop of water more could fit inside. There was no overflowing effect, but rather something that more resembled an explosion. This effect was officially referred to as Mana Overflow; however, players gave it another name—Flooding.
Flooding was something that had been gaining an increase in popularity lately among the smaller guilds. But, it was something the bigger guilds frowned upon.
Smaller guilds often used this strategy against powerful bosses beyond their immediate reach and increase their guild's overall power with the loot that dropped.
However, there was a reason Flooding was not being used by top guilds. After all, just a death penalty alone would not be enough to cast aside a potential trump card.
The problem was that player's who performed the act had their mana pool virtually crippled, permanently affecting their mana regeneration and even having their cast time for spells increased.
For the top players of big guilds, the negative effects far outweighed the momentary benefit that would come from a single success.
That's why Luna was taken aback when she first saw Reilei's mana.
Yet, to Luna's surprise, Reilei did not seem to be suffering from any such side effects despite having exceeded her capacity by more than fives times.
"Gluttonous Matter Breakdown… That skill is the reason why my Protective Barrier was abruptly canceled. But, if I am unable to use any skills on Realistic while she is in that state, then… No, since I said I would act as her support, if it comes to it, I will just have to use that." Luna internalized as she stopped exactly fifteen meters away from Reilei's location.
Right as Luna came to a halt, the Failed Kitsune's attack approached within one meter of Reilei!
Since the kitsune f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y entered into an enraged state, its overall combat prowess had risen severalfold. Even though it could only maintain such a state for less than fifteen seconds, it was more than enough to wipe out an entire party of players, let alone one or two people.
Not to mention, when fighting against an enraged boss rank monster, fifteen seconds often felt like an eternity to those on the receiving end of the creature's assault.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The magic attack sent out by the Failed Kitsune made contact with the sun fire, creating a large explosion and kicking up a huge cloud of dust on the battlefield.
The Failed Kitsune howled in glory as it overcame the apex predator that appeared before it. Now, it no longer had to experience that fear ever again!
As the dust began to settle over the battlefield and the kitsune no longer sensed the threatening sun fire, its fur began to revert back to its pure white color.
〈Battle Alert: Polketin's Failed Kitsune is no longer enraged!〉
Name: Polkentin's Failed Kitsune(Epic Boss)
Level: ???
HP: ???(3.52%)
Regardless of its apparent success, the kitsune was cautious by nature. It waited until the very last moment to cancel its enraged state.
However, as the dust fully settled, the kitsune's body trembled. That's because standing in the same spot completely unharmed was the person it had unleashed all its might to take down! In the creature's mind, their survival was an impossibility. After all, it clearly sensed that the sun fire had vanished along with its owner!
Luna was also a bit surprised when she saw Reilei; however, it was for a different reason.
"So pretty." Luna found that these two words had unknowingly crossed her mind in the moment.
Reilei's transformation had come to an end. The scales, claws, tail, and other changes were no longer anywhere to be found.
Luna could tell that Reilei was still a beauty while in her transformation, but it did not compare to her original appearance. It was like looking at a real-life fairy!
"You did well, Xiao Liang. Try to get some rest." Reilei said as she lightly rubbed Xiao Liang's head.
Xiao Liang had reverted to his small lizard form as he rested upon Reilei's shoulder. He was exhausted after taking in and controlling so much mana while simultaneously maintaining a transformation link with Reilei.
At first, when it noticed Reilei, the kitsune retreated a step. However, after realizing that the menacing aura around her was not there, the creature quickly regained its confidence and arrogance.
She must have used the last bit of her energy to block the last attack—this was the conclusion the kitsune reached. Right now, she was completely defenseless!
The Failed Kitsune was low on HP, but it knew that allowing that person to survive would bring it nothing but trouble. No matter what, they had to die!
However, the instant the mana started to physically manifest, it disappeared. The kitsune was visibly confused by what had just occurred, but before it could process what was happening, it felt something lightly press against its forehead.
The object was a small bead no bigger than a round marble. Inside this tiny bead, there seemed to be an entire world, and giving life to that world was an undying sun.
The kitsune did not have a chance to react as the bead sunk into its forehead. The next moment, it released a terrifying howl as its body became engulfed in sun fire!
At the same time, a small orb no bigger than one's fist formed above the kitsune.
This orb rapidly rotated before expanding and trapping the kitsune within as the sun fire raged on.
As this went on, the sun fire became so intense that it became difficult to see what was going on inside the orb.
After some time passed, the sun fire within the orb finally calmed down as the orb itself fragmented before shattering into pieces.
However, when the sun fire faded, the kitsune had seemingly vanished into thin air.
What emerged from the sun fire was a small creature that resembled a young fennec fox with white fur, two tails, and a dazzling pair of baby blue eyes.
