The raid party entered the eleventh floor boss room, confident that we were not going to fail the quest.
==[You have entered the King-Emperor’s Tomb boss room: The Fallen King-Emperor.
This raid is recommended for parties of at least 25 participants.
There is a maximum of 50 participants, and for every participant over 25, the boss’s Stats will increase by 25%.]==
“I’ll lead the Cheng Long Guild and attack from our three o’clock. You take your team and attack from nine o’clock. Make sure that your team doesn’t get caught in the crossfire.”
“Very well.”
“Also make sure to use Monster Detect and that you’re filming the battle properly. We’ll use them to check who contributed how much to the battle, so that there aren’t any misunderstandings later.”
“I’ll make sure to do so.”
“Good. Cheng Long, to me!”
“Sir!” Wai Chung led his team around the boss.
“Let’s go.” Song Myungsoo then led us to our positions. “We’ll go with what we planned. Remember; don’t expect any help from the Cheng Long Guild.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Jiwon, as I told you before, you’re free to do whatever you wish. Don’t worry about them or us. I’ll trust that you know what to do.”
“Thank you.”
We quickly took up our positions opposite of the Cheng Long Guild. The air became tense as we waited to see who would make the first move.
“Okay. Get ready.”
At Song Myungsoo’s command the main supporter and main healer began casting their buffs onto the team.
“Earth Armor, Brilliant Blessing, Roar of Rage.”
“Fatal Blows.”
=[You have received the effects of Earth Armor.
Penetration resistance increased by 30 points.
DEF increases by 15%, MDEF increases by 12%.]=
=[You have received the effects of Brilliant Blessing.
All stats increased by 500 points.]=
=[You have received the effects of Roar of Rage.
ATT and MATT increased by 7.5%.]=
=[You have received the effects of Fatal Blows.
CRIT chance increased by 4.4%, CRIT damage increased by 166%.]=
“Oh, I don’t…”
“There’s no harm in having a few buffs,” Song Myungsoo said, as if he knew what I was going to say.
I didn’t say anything else. I didn’t want to turn things sour by rejecting his kind offer.
“Haein, Dogun; get in the front lines and block his attacks. Haein, you’re the main tank and Dogun, you back her up.”
“Yes, sir.”
Our team composition consisted of two tanks, one main supporter, one main healer, one sub-healer and six ranged damage dealers. Both tanks were Unrivaled devas. I already knew about Haein, but I never heard about this Dogun person.
-Well, I suppose anything’s possible for the Sunbin Guild.-
At that moment, Wai Chung raised his hand from the other side of the room. It was the signal to attack in five minutes.
“Damagers, prepare to attack in five minutes with your most powerful skills.”
“Yes, sir!”
The most important part of a boss raid was the first strike. There was no way for the first strikes to be blocked and they had the highest chance to inflict the most damage against the boss monster.
“Show them the strength of the Sunbin Guild. Show those arrogant Cheng Long bastards who is truly worth the Fallen King-Emperor’s attention!”
“Yes, sir!”
As the time to attack came closer and closer, the tension rose and rose, until…
“Hell Chain!”
“Powerful Flame of the Demon Lord!”
“Burying Landslide!”
As soon as the five minutes were up, both sides pummeled the King-Emperor with spells and skills.
“Don’t just stand there! Damagers, prepare your next attacks! Haein, Dogun, move up to the front!”
“Sir!”
The mages quickly charged up their next spells, and Haein and Dogun quickly made their way in front of the mages.
==[Grahhh! You damned flies; you dare fearlessly disturb my slumber? I will punish you all for this insolence.]==
Contrary to the Sunbin Guild’s wishes, the King-Emperor had turned to the Cheng Long Guild when he was attacked. The Sunbin Guild may have been the strongest in South Korea and one of the strongest in the world, but it still fell behind the Cheng Long Guild. It also didn’t help that the Cheng Long Guild had more members.
==[You have fallen under the Fallen King-Emperor’s Disdainful Glare.
Your status effect immunity prevents the effects of Disdainful Glare.]==
“Shit! It’s a debuff that lowers all attributes by 20%!”
“Damn it! ATT and MDEF are affected, too!”
Besides me, Haein and Dogun, the rest of the Sunbin Guild was affected by the King-Emperor’s Disdainful Glare and I could hear them shout at each other, annoyed.
“It doesn’t matter. We’re already fighting the boss blind; don’t get tripped up over his abilities.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good. Slowly make your way towards the King-Emperor. Do not break formation.” Song Myungoo led the Sunbin team towards the boss monster, with Haein and Dogun in front.
And so, the real battle began.
—
“Soaring Fire Pillar!”
“Razor Wind!”
“Iron Wall!”
“Breath of Destruction!”
“Unbreakable Will!”
“Starting casting debuffs on him!”
“Yes sir. I engrave onto your soul. Sloth!”
“Sticky Earth!”
==[Insolent fools! I’ll punish you for that. King-Emperor’s Slash!]==
“Gwah!”
“Healers, keep your attention on the tanks!”
“Yes sir. Flourishing Incense of Cure!”
“Mega Heal!”
“Tanks, keep your focus! If you fall, it’s all over!”
The power from the mages’ spells broke the floor and walls of the room, and each of the boss’s attacks pushed the tanks back. The healers cast their spells onto the tanks and the supporters switched back and forth between buffs and debuffs.
“Damn…” I watched as this continued for some time. It was my first time watching and participating in a full on raid battle in person. I had watched countless raid videos on the internet in the past, but they didn’t compare to the raw tension and adrenaline rush I felt now.
I shivered as I gripped my Harrier tight in my right hand. Was I scared or nervous? No, I wasn’t shaking for those reasons. I was trembling from the excitement I was feeling just from watching the battle.
I had no intention to join in yet, however, nor was I looking for the right timing. Thirty minutes had already passed since the battle started. Had I joined in from the beginning, I would have been too fatigued in an hour. I just needed to wait for them to tire themselves out.
—
One hour into the boss raid…
As expected of the Sunbin and Cheng Long Guild, neither sides had lost a member yet.
“How much left?”
“He’s still at 72%.”
“Still?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Shit! Just how high is his HP…?”
“His debuff isn’t helping either.”
“His MDEF seems to be as high as his DEF.”
Song Myungsoo and Wai Chung frowned. If they could only knock out less than 30% of the boss’s HP in an hour, then this battle was only going to get more difficult.
==[King-Emperor’s Breath!]==
“Block it!”
Another problem was that the King-Emperor continued to focus his skill on the mages, which forced the tanks to busily jump around to protect them. Each blow inflicted significant damage. Had the tanks on either side not been Unrivaled, they would have fallen much sooner.
All the while, both sides kept glancing over at Lee Jiwon, who was still standing at the side and not doing anything. The Cheng Long Guild had been happy with that at first, but now they were getting more and more annoyed.
“Did all those buffs turn him into a statue or something?” Wai Chung asked Song Myungsoo in a low voice.
—
I clearly heard what Wai Chung told Song Myungsoo.
“Mana Conversion – Fire. Warrior’s Brave Spirit.” I quietly activated my skills.
==[Mana Conversion – Fire has been activated.]==
==[Warrior’s Brave Spirit Level 1 has been activated.]==
“Judge’s Gavel.”
==[You have activated Judge’s Gavel.
Your next attack will be a critical hit
Level 1: 3,600 second cooldown. Base damage increased by 5,000. The damage of the User’s next attack increased by 300% and CRIT damage increased by 500%.]==
I still had the buffs that were cast on me earlier. In other words, I was at my strongest point right now.
I slowly made my around the room until I came face to face with the King-Emperor. I raised my head and shouted at the devas who were fighting.
“Out of my way!”
Of course, no one from either guild heeded me, but that didn’t matter. At least I warned them.
I leaned forward and sprinted towards the King-Emperor. As soon as I was five meters away from him, I jumped high into the air and aimed my spear at the boss monster’s head.
-Come on, I need you to work with me here, Shaman Ko! It’s about time you did something!-
I wanted both the Sunbin Guild and Wai Chung to remember my name. However, nothing was happening the closer I got to the King-Emperor, until…
==[Shaman Ko’s Stats have begun to react to their user’s will. Shaman Ko’s 765 Stat points that have been added to your STR will increase a hundredfold.]==
-Yes!-
The message appeared just when I was about to lose hope. 76,500! That was a whole lotta STR!
==[Gah!]==
My Harrier pierced through the King-Emperor’s temple. The Judge’s Gavel that then appeared was nothing like the previous times. The massive, red hammer thundered down onto the monster’s skull.
The force from the hammer knocked the four-meter tall King-Emperor off his feet, and he fell towards the Cheng Long Guild. I didn’t have time to care about them, however. Shaman Ko’s Stats lasted three seconds. I needed to make the most of them.
I held onto the King-Emperor’s head and stabbed at him as many times as I could.
==[Gaaahh!]==
==[Your opponent has been struck by Powerful Shock. 100,000 points of damage have been inflicted. For three seconds, your opponent’s movement speed, attack speed, DEF and MDEF are lowered by 80%.]==
A bolt of red lightning followed the red hammer. I got super lucky there, but I didn’t have time to be happy about it. I turned around and began attacking his chest. I didn’t even think to tell the others to start attacking him. I was too busy trying to damage him as much as I could.
“Raaah!” I gritted my teeth and attacked him as fast as I could, faster than I ever had.
==[Shaman Ko’s Will reacts to its user’s powerful desire.
Shaman Ko’s Stats will remain in effect for 1 second longer per 10 Fatigue. (To a maximum of 90 Fatigue.)]==
As soon as I saw the message, I increased the time limit as much as I could without hesitation.
==[Graaah!]==
I kept my feet on the King-Emperor to keep him still. My STR was over 90,000 now; I could easily keep him from getting away. I then began stabbing him with my spear like a machine. Each attack pushed him into the ground from the force of the blow.
My Fatigue kept rising and rising. My VIT was over 8,000. Even if I would hunt all day, my Fatigue would never go over 30. But as my Fatigue sharply rose to 50, my body began to feel sluggish. It was enough to make me lose my balance and the King-Emperor took that chance to get back up.
The King-Emperor was a mess, as well. There was a deep gash in his temple and his chest armor had already fallen to pieces. Blood was pouring from his wounds.
==[How dare you! I’ll crush you, you insolent fly! Raaah!]==
-I’ve got 1 second left.-
I rushed back at him and quickly grabbed onto his right ankle.
==[Get off of me!]==
The King-Emperor shook his foot to try to shake me off, but I held on, keeping his foot still. I was going nowhere with 90,000 STR. I pulled, raising his foot into the air and began spinning him around.
==[Let…let me go!]==
He was dragged along the floor at first, thanks to his weight and height, but soon, I gained enough speed that he was completely off the ground. I spun him around and around until…
==[Shaman Ko’s Will has now been deactivated.]==
I felt an enormous weight in my hands and unconsciously let go. As soon as I did, the King-Emperor went flying off to where Wai Chung and the Cheng Long Guild were watching, wide-eyed in shock.
“Run…run away…”
“Holy shit!
The Cheng Long Guild couldn’t all get away and the King-Emperor’s body collided into them. It definitely wasn’t on purpose. It was funny to see, but it was not what I intended.
“Ha..haha…I told you…to get away.” I stumbled back to my original spot. Sharply increasing my Fatigue took a lot out of me.
I could also overhear what a supporter just said.
“It took both guilds one hour to knock off 30% of the boss’s HP…he lowered it 50% in less than a minute?”
“A minute…it took him a few seconds…”
The Sunbin Guild could not take their eyes off me as they watched me return to my spot.
