Chapter 16: Embroiled in a Tough Battle
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Shit, Old Sang still has this trick up his sleeve? What a pleasant surprise.
Morphis was pleasantly surprised as he looked at the Skeleton Dragon on the screen. Just by its size, the dragon was almost as big as him, and its rank was only two levels below his own. If this was played right, it could even lead to a total wipeout of the opposing party.
Meanwhile, the Adventurers on the other side were all shocked and pale—this situation wasn't part of the script.
Only the Dawn Divine Sword remained calm, "Everyone buff me up! I'll take the aggro of the BOSS! You all start dealing damage after three rounds."
Upon Dawn Divine Sword's command, the Adventurers immediately responded.
All kinds of spell buffs were cast on the Dawn Divine Sword like money was no object.
Brutal Strength Spell!
Blessing of Strength!
Blessing of Courage!
Divine Grace Spell!
Mark of the Wild!
Enduring Stamina!
The Dawn Divine Sword's body visibly grew in size, covered in colorful lights, and he charged at the BOSS with the Dragon-Slaying Greatsword in hand.
The Skeleton Dragon let out a roar and swiped with its claw. Dawn Divine Sword quickly rolled to the side.
Boom! The skeletal claw landed less than two meters away from him, bones splattering everywhere. Dawn Divine Sword struck the claw with his sword, dealing -421 damage. Bones flew, but the damage was not significant.
The Skeleton Dragon swiped with another claw, and Dawn Divine Sword rolled to the side again.
The dragon's mouth gaped open, going for a bite—Dragon Devour!
Instead of backing away, Dawn Divine Sword rolled forward, passing right under the dragon's maw.
Rising Dragon Slash! He leaped into the air, bringing his sword down on the dragon's lower jaw...
Seeing that the aggression was securely on him, the Adventurers behind him also began their ranged assault...
As Morphis watched, his expression gradually grew more serious. Something wasn't right. How was this Dawn Divine Sword so evasive? It was as if he was intimately familiar with the Dragon Race's attack patterns, nearly having them at his fingertips.
Unlike Humans, the Dragon Race, with their large stature and weaponless combat, didn't have a repertoire of flashy moves. Humans had Martial Monks who could deliver 360-degree spinning kicks or Human Race swordsmen who could dazzle with intricate Blade Dances.
But not Dragons. Given their massive size and the lack of weapons, they had only a few attack patterns.
Dragon Claw Swipe, Dragon Tail Sweep, Dragon Wing Beat, Dragon Devour (mouth attack), and at most, Dragon Rush—all basic attacks that Dragons would alternate between.
Generally, these few moves were sufficient. After all, their large size meant a wide attack radius—a single tail sweep could cover a distance of over ten meters, and a single claw strike could reach three to four meters around.
Even pure agility-based Adventurers would have difficulty avoiding them.
But the battle posture of the opponent seemed to have all the moves figured out.
His dodges, though seemingly perilous, were always executed just in time to escape the attack radius, almost as if he had foreseen the moves. It would be unbelievable if the guy hadn't been through this before.
It seemed he had quite the experience with dragon-slaying.
No matter, this guy didn't have a shield. Just one careless hit and he'd be at half Health Points, and no matter how evasive he was, he couldn't dodge every attack, right? Besides, aren't Undead usually immune to taunts? Why is Old Sang suddenly so keen on him?
Speak of the devil, seeing that it couldn't bring down Dawn Divine Sword, the Skeleton Dragon immediately charged toward the group of Adventurers.
Dawn Divine Sword hastily chased from behind, trying to regain the aggro, but the Skeleton Dragon turned with a vicious counter, swinging its claw forcefully.
This time Dawn Divine Sword had no chance to dodge. As the claw was about to hit him squarely, he suddenly lifted his greatsword, blocking it in front of him.
Bang! The huge dragon claw solidly struck the greatsword. Dawn Divine Sword's legs were buried into the ground by the sheer force, yet he did not fall over.
Block! A bright red number left Morphis stunned on the spot.
That word might seem unremarkable, but to him, it was more astonishing than any spectacular fighting he had seen before.
In the World of Sky, weapons could be used for parrying but not blocking—that function was reserved solely for shields.
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What concept is this? This guy can actually use weapons as shields?
But upon closer observation, the Dragon-Slaying Sword, over two meters long and half a meter wide, made entirely of metal, resembled a door panel. Wasn't it a natural shield? And he could still play like this?
Mo Fei's heart sank. Could his close combat abilities be higher than those of the Skeleton Dragon?
They should be somewhat higher. At least with 'Step Into Death' and 'Berserk,' plus the war behemoth form, he must be much more formidable than the Skeleton Dragon.
But could he take down the opponent based on that? He had been quite confident before, but now, he wasn't so sure.
The battle continued.
This Skeleton Dragon didn't seem to have any critical points; no matter where it was hit, at most, some bone fragments would fall off, losing just a bit of Health Points. So, after fighting for over ten minutes, getting struck multiple times in the chest and skull, it was still able to fight and had only lost a third of its Health Points.
The Dawn Divine Sword looked just as unfazed. Every time its status dropped a little, the Adventurers would immediately cast a dozen healing and enhancement spells, reviving it in an instant to its lively state.
The two sides exchanged blows, with both the Dragon's Health Points and the Adventurers' Mana Points steadily decreasing.
But overall, the Adventurers still had the upper hand. The Adventurers could drink Mana Potions, but the Skeleton Dragon had no means of recovery.
Finally, the Skeleton Dragon's Health Points dropped to 50%.
With a sweep of its tail, the Skeleton Dragon forced the Dawn Divine Sword back. Its skeletal body was in shambles, and it was enveloped in a surge of death energy, clearly severely injured.
'Step Into Death' Santazzak (Skeleton Dragon): "For Lord Morphis… at any cost… awaken… departed Undead... resting warriors, you shall fight once more for Lord Morphis!"
The Dragon unfurled its wings fiercely, and the breath of death surged out from its body, instantly reducing its Health Points by another 10%.
Under the influence of the death magic, the bones on the ground began to tremble, move, and assemble, forming a battalion of skeletal warriors.
They stretched out their bones, twisted their skulls, and emitted creaking sounds, picking up rusty swords and weapons from the ground, then charging at the Adventurers in groups.
The Dawn Divine Sword's expression darkened. He hadn't anticipated this move.
"I'll hold off the BOSS, you guys clear the minions quickly."
As the Dawn Divine Sword said this, he swept his sword, turning the skeletons rushing at him into fragments before charging towards the now somewhat sluggish Skeleton Dragon. Meanwhile, the Midnight Mage and the Adventurers also took on the skeleton army.
The Sharpshooters fired their arrows first, but they were embarrassed to find that their attacks hardly damaged the skeletons. Arrows often flew straight through the gaps in the bones, constantly missing.
When an arrow did hit a bone, the damage was low.
The spellcasters were more effective. A barrage of magic easily blasted the skeletons into pieces.
However, they quickly realized the situation was not so simple. Under the influence of the death magic, the shattered skeletons' broken bodies somehow reassembled and continually resurrected.
"It's death magic! Death magic allows them to come back to life again and again," exclaimed an Adventurer.
"You think I haven't figured that out? Can you give me some actually useful advice?" shouted the Midnight Mage. "Priests, quick, dispel!"
After shouting twice, nobody moved.
"Black River, hurry up and dispel, aren't you a Priest?"
"I'm a War Priest, I follow Odin. Didn't you see I'm wielding a hammer?" said Black River, clad in plate armor, wielding a war hammer, looking much more like a warrior, as he went about hammering the skeletons one by one.
"Kumquat Lemon, aren't you also a Priest?"
Kumquat Lemon the Priest shook his head, "I follow the Earth Mother; I don't have the Skill to dispel Undead. But I can do this—"
With that, he threw a Rock Sphere, knocking over several skeletons. But the fallen ones immediately got back up.
The Midnight Mage was somewhat speechless. Out of the fifteen Mage Class members in the team, including four Priests, not one had the ability to dispel Undead.
In this game, the abilities of Priests and War Priests are linked to the deities they worship. Only deities like the Sun God or God of Light from the Holy Light sect would grant their followers the power to dispel Undead.
This time, since the main target was the black dragon, the team's lineup was configured to counter the Dragon Race's Flame Breath. They were clearly somewhat ill-prepared for this unexpected event.
"Mage, release your ultimate ability!"
The Midnight Mage sighed helplessly, "It's still on cooldown."
The Flamestorm Spell was so powerful because it was a Hero Skill. However, Hero Skills have long cooldowns. He had planned to use it only once in a boss battle, and by clearing minions on the way, the cooldown would reset. But the design of this dungeon was too damn inhumane. They spent an hour clearing minions and navigating a maze, and then the three boss battles were all back-to-back. Also, the previous two boss battles were too short, so his Skill was still not ready.