Kelsnim (II)

The combined attack of the two bosses worked well to drive Radiant Shield into the fireball.

[-1895!]

The tank shook as he felt his heavy armor heat up, resembling a sauna.

Balm hesitated for a moment but held back her [Heal], knowing that the important skill should be used to full efficiency.

Meanwhile the other fireballs moved slowly around the room. Everyone avoided them calmly. Even Cyclone and Fortune weren't met with much difficulty despite casting their next spells.

Only when Rouna'ar came close did the players scramble to evade. However, the two bosses' movements weren't random, prioritizing Kelsnim's safety.

The melee players felt quite annoyed as something would come in their way every time they tried to attack the devil child.

Silent Acacia noticed the situation and decided to try his luck. He sent out two arrows, one being a normal attack and one being enhanced by the [Ensnaring Arrow] skill.

[-510!!!]

[-306!]

Silent Acacia doubted whether he had been blessed by the goddess of luck. Not only had he landed a critical hit, but his skill even stunned the enemy for almost a second.

Liam's eyes lit up immediately noticing the delay in Kelsnim's movement. The devil child was just about to hide behind one of his fire balls when Silent Acacia's arrow arrived.

This slight delay was all Liam needed. He glided over the floor, circling a fireball by a hair's breadth. A sulfuric smell entered his nose coming from the flaming sphere.

Kelsnim even turned his head towards him, greeted with an excited grin.

Swords flowed through the air, drawing a graceful painting as skills were unleashed one after another until five holy marks exploded above Kelsnim.

[-474!]

Liam's skillful combo took away more than a thousand HP, reducing Kelsnim's health almost to half.

"How dare you defy me?! I am a mighty devil's child! I am Kelsnim! Fear my might, ignorant adventurers!"

Kelsnim bellowed angrily. He sent another attack Silver Blade's way before returning to his smoke form and floating below the ceiling. Ominous incantations came out of his mouth.

"He is casting! Expert, what should we do?"

At this moment golden pillars gradually grew from the floor.

"Destroy those! Quick!"

The others didn't need much more explanation. Watchful Eye was already swinging his staff at a pillar right next to him. With a heavy impact the pillar stopped growing, but it didn't fall apart yet. A quick look revealed that it lost only one of its three HP.

"Don't waste time! Use your skill!"

Listening to Liam the taciturn man used his [QI Push] skill. His staff collided with the pillar again before unleashing an explosive QI. The single skill counted as two impacts, breaking apart the pillar.

Not far away Silver Blade was close to a pillar as well. She attacked once, followed by [Brutal Strike]. Right then she turned her head to the side, frowning slightly. She noticed a flaming ball about to collide with her.

Since they were seemingly in a hurry, she decided to allow the fire to hit her while swinging her sword to destroy the pillar.

[-1804!]

Three pillars remained but they were quickly taken care of by Bleary Mirage, Quickstep, and Bloody Edge, who had a distinct advantage with their two swords.

"Arhh!"

Kelsnim let out an angry roar. His smoke form churned, and the ghost faces turned unstable, slowly disappearing together with the fire balls.

Bloody Edge sighed in relief as one of the flaming spheres was just about to run into him.

"Watch out!"

Silent Acacia's shout startled the thief. While dealing with the pillar he forgot to keep an eye on Rouna'ar. Heavy steps sounded behind him as a mace swung towards his back.

The moment the heavy weapon touched his body, about to break his bones, Bloody Edge's passive luckily activated.

The thief turned into a spark of light, vanishing from the spot and appearing not far away in stealth. A figure made of light remained in front of the demon. Hit by the mace it erupted into brilliant rays of light, attempting to blind the enemy. Unfortunately, Rouna'ar proved resistant, not affected by the light.

But with Kelsnim's fireballs disappearing Rouna'ar also ended his skill. Both bosses gathered at the center of the room, staring angrily at the players.

Silver Blade and Radiant Shield didn't delay and engaged the enemies. Heavy attacks fell on their shields.

[Stance -22]

[Stance -24]

"Out of big moves? Well, then it's my time to shine!"

Cyclone taunted the two bosses while unleashing her skill. A cage of lightning surrounded Kelsnim, forcing the mage to remain in one place.

Simultaneously Fortune unleashed her arcane bolts. They shot through the air, aiming to fell Kelsnim. Noticing the threat however, Rouna'ar suddenly took a step to the side, blocking the magic.

The smaller devil child was hidden behind the tall demon, only hit by the first arcane bolt. Five more crashed into Rouna'ar's broad chest.

[-303!]

[-216]x5

But the black abyss demon couldn't be everywhere. Bloody Edge appeared behind Kelsnim, stabbing his daggers into the enemy's back.

The devil child moved to avoid the thief, touching the lighting cage surrounding it.

[-223!]

[-127!]

[-150!]

[-46!]

Lighting shot through Kelsnim's body. The devil child was hit by the shock, immediately withdrawing his hand, not getting paralyzed.

But with his hasty movements the devil child directly ran into Quickstep's swords, which produced a whirlwind around him.

[-51!]

[-51!]

The fierce storm cut into Kelsnim's skin, shaving away at his HP. With some luck even the skill's bleed effect triggered, increasing the damage even more.

Seeing Kelsnim caught between the players, Rouna'ar's eyes reddened. His mace crashed into the ground, creating a far-reaching fissure.

"You all deserve to die!"

Standing this close even the agile players found it difficult to dodge. The fissure spread below their feet and black magic erupted.

Realizing the severity of the situation, Silver Blade didn't hesitate to use her ultimate skill [Might of the Vanguard]. An illusionary, towering shield appeared behind her back emitting vast amounts of mana.

Every ally basking in its glow felt a faint connection as a protective magic settled around their bodies.

Silver Blade was not a second too late as the fissure spread, hitting Quickstep, Watchful Eye, and Bleary Mirage.

Everyone was hit with around 1400 physical and 650 magical damage. Seeing these huge damage numbers Balm was already prepared to use her newest AOE healing skill.

She quickly noticed, however, that her friends' HP bars didn't move. Instead, the shield behind Silver Blade's shook heavily with each hit, but it held on.

Cyclone looked at Silver Blade full of surprise:

"Hey, Silver! You had such a trick up your sleeves?"

"Well, I never found a good chance to use it."

"Maybe you're too careful. How long does it last?"

"My passive saves all the magic damage I tank, including blocked attacks. And this shield can withstand three times that amount. But physical damage against it is doubled."

"Sounds pr…

Hey, that's cheating!"

Cyclone was just about to praise her bestest friend when she noticed a movement from Kelsnim. The devil child had taken on his smoke form to avoid Rouna'ar's attack. He floated towards a safe place to the side, directly ignoring Cyclone's lightning cage.

"Adventurers, this will be your end!"

The devil child spoke more empty threats while swinging his staff. Ghostly faces surrounded it, letting out a bone-piercing wail. The players were once again hit with a stun.

However, not only NPCs developed immunity. The difficulty of stunning players also increased with every subsequent try. Thus, Silver Blade, Bleary Mirage, and Cyclone remained unaffected.

"Stupid boss! Look how it's done!"

Cyclone suddenly felt like she met a moment of brilliance when she noticed Kelsnim regain his solid form close to her.

The cast for her [Bindings of Lightning] finished just in time. But instead of using it on Kelsnim, who might shake off the skill with his smoke form, she targeted Rouna'ar.

A crackling rope of lightning connected the young woman and the tall demon. Before the first tick of damage came through Cyclone swung her staff again. [Static Domain] activated.

Lightning began to dominate the room. A domain with a radius of 5 meters spread around Cyclone, just enough to envelop Kelsnim within. Instantly, lightning bolts erupted striking the devil child.

They only dealt a single point of damage, but their high frequency was perfect to trigger Cyclone's passive. Suddenly lightning played on the devil child's skin as he was hit with a paralytic effect.

As soon as [Bindings of Lightning] began dealing damage to Rouna'ar, a thin bolt flashed, striking Kelsnim's chest as part of Cyclone's passive.

[-208!]

[-46!]

"Haha, you can call me Master of Lightning from now on!"

"Wow, nice move!"

Hearing Liam's praise, Cyclone's chest swelled with pride, in danger of exploding.

The powerful black abyss demon on the contrary didn't seem pleased in the least. It slammed its mace violently on top of Radiant Shield's head.

Silver Blade's ultimate skill trembled fiercely, bursting apart with a deafening rumble.