MMORPG: The Elementalist

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The Green Goblin Spiders behind them were finished off quickly. When all three long-ranged artillery focused their AoE spells forward, along with everyone else unleas.h.i.+ng their stronger attacks as well, the spiders did not last fifteen minutes!

But even as the Green Goblin Spiders dwindled away, the ten of them bore grim expressions, because wiping out these spiders meant little now—the real battle was soon to begin!

Slayer"s Heart brought his hammer down on the last spider, and then immediately had Violet Orchid and Violetmoon Devilite refresh their buff spells on everyone, ensuring that they were all at their best. When this was done, he ordered everyone to move outward from the battlefield, now strewn with loot.

"We"ll collect the loot later! Right now, everyone scatter back, thirty meters away from here! Qin Ruo, get ready to let out the Earth-Enchanted Spider!"

Though no one had a clear idea exactly what level the Earth-Enchanted Spider was, it surely had to be more powerful than a Gorefiend Spider Demon or a Deathvenom Spider, and could not be underestimated in any way.

Obeying Slayer"s Heart, they all retreated to a safe distance, and then watched as Qin Ruo began to open up the Twelve Frostramparts Formation, gradually sliding back the walls of ice, away from the spot where the Earth-Enchanted Spider had been frozen in place.

Qin Ruo had never before seen Violet Orchid look so serious, when she suddenly said to him, "The Earth-Enchanted Spider should be vulnerable to water-based magic, but you probably won"t be able to freeze it again. When Slayer"s Heart enters combat with the Boss, you be ready to back him up."

Qin Ruo nodded.

Then Violet Orchid turned to Burning Rose, who was already gathering her mana. Orchid fixed Rose with an intent gaze, and spoke with a severe tone. "Rose, once Qin Ruo has the Boss locked down, you shouldn"t do anything more."

"Okay." Just as Burning Rose had nodded to this—in front of them, right where they had been standing moments ago, the ground suddenly shook. Everyone could clearly see the loot on the floor quivering, and then a great cloud of dust was thrown into the air!

Here it came!

Standing just outside the Frostramparts Formation, Slayer"s Heart narrowed his eyes, hefted Pazuzu"s Warhammer, and roared, "Get ready!"

Within the icy enclosure, the other nine drew a deep breath as one person.

The magical weapons were a.s.sembled: Little Arrow"s Moonlight Shackles, Dinosaurcerer"s Bonewither Blade, and a Compressed Frost Bullet overflowing with frigid mist. All eyes were on that patch of ground where the earthquakes had resumed, their nerves stretched to breaking point.

Boom! There was that deafening sound again, louder and clearer than ever before!

It was as though someone was slamming a colossal hammer against the floor from below! Though some of them had been to this dungeon before, it was the first time any of them had ever seen the corridor buckle like this, creating a fracture in the ground ten meters across!

Boom! The echoes from the last resounding boom hadn"t even begun to fade when the ground was struck again!

It was getting faster—the sounds of the floor being battered open from below.

Another deafening thud, and then a torrent of dust shot upward as the ground split open!

Everyone felt it—the monster had finally broken through, and was now about to emerge. Shattered cerulean floor tiles clattered across the floor, and the cracks spread ever further across the corridor.

"Here it comes!

"Here it comes at last!"

From the epicenter of the tremors, there was the high-pitched sound of something sharp being punched through the very floor tiles!

And then, they watched in horror as eight spindly legs reached out from the floor and spread to either side. Sharp and black with a metallic sheen, they were like scythe blades as dark as night.

The monster"s legs cut through the st.u.r.dy floor of the corridor as though it were made out of cheese! Bits of broken stone were thrown against the surrounding walls with bone-breaking force, exploding instantly into dust!

Boom!

Next, those eight legs which had been raised high into the air, now curved back downward with mechanical precision. With unbelievable strength, they stabbed into the corridor floor, becoming as st.u.r.dy as a tower of steel deeply rooted in granite!

Standing the nearest to the Earth-Enchanted Spider was Slayer"s Heart, who could feel its entrance the most clearly. Movements like a machine made of metal, this feeling as though it could cut any player to shreds with a single motion—it was a terror beyond words!

What in the world was the level of this Boss? To h.e.l.l with it!

Slayer"s Heart was heavy with lamentation, and all he could think about was whether the simultaneous entrance of two parties had caused the difficulty of the dungeon to rise so much. The Two-Headed Green Goblin Spider, which should have been the Boss of the second wave… had it been replaced by a tougher Tier 4 max-level Boss? Could it even be Tier 5?

A thunderous commotion shook Slayer"s Heart from his thoughts. In fact, everyone looked up at the sudden noise, and found something even worse! A section of floor, seven meters long, was being flipped over with a nightmarish howl of wind—right on top of their heads!

It was too much of a surprise—they could not respond in time. A few of the warriors at the front already knew that it was too late for them to run. Already consumed in its shadow, they looked up and watched as the floor came cras.h.i.+ng down toward them.

"Get away from there!" Gold Digger Babe and Violetmoon Devilite shrieked, their delicate faces white from panic.

But Slayer"s Heart was unshaken, standing his ground before the choking horror of the sky coming down. Defiant and indomitable, coursing with fury, he let out a great roar and attacked. Pazuzu"s Warhammer screamed forth with inhuman fury and blinding crimson light, leaving a hazy after-image in its wake, and slammed into the monumental stone slab that threatened to crush the warriors under its unimaginable weight.

Boom! Boom boom! Boom boom!

The descent of the great stone slab was intercepted by the flas.h.i.+ng crimson hammer, an overwhelming barrage of earth-shattering blows holding it back as it teetered in mid-air. Ma.s.sive chunks of rock fell like hail all around him, along with the equipment and Mana Cores left behind from their last battle, which showered all over the place as the stone slab was steadily broken down into pieces.

Standing firm and refusing to yield, Slayer"s Heart fought like a G.o.d of war, wrought of solid steel, holding back the colossal would-be tombstone and never taking a single step backward! With all his might, he stood in the way to refuse their first "gift" from this mysterious Earth-Enchanted Spider. As the party beheld his lightning-quick movements, it inspired them to shake off their fear and trepidation toward this unknown Boss.

What was so scary about a Boss?

Had they not slain even a Mutated Darkshadow Archdemon before? What did they have to fear from a mere spider, now?

What was the worst that could happen? At most they would die—that was all!

Qin Ruo and Little Apple were the first to return to their senses. One of them rushed in to flank the gargantuan spider that was rising out of the ground, while shouting at w.a.n.g Da, still stunned at the combined displays by both the Earth-Enchanted Spider and Slayer"s Heart; the other meanwhile used his Elemental Perception to thoroughly scan this abnormally large monster.

Looking down on it from above, the Earth-Enchanted Spider looked kind of flat, about five meters wide, with what looked like an enormous drill at its center. This protrusion was thick, black, and glossy, and with a width of two meters it appeared remarkably st.u.r.dy, as though it could hammer its way into anything! All over its body was a densely packed array of sharp, gleaming quills, pointing outward like a mouth too full of teeth.

It was probably these things which had allowed it to tear out an entire chunk of the floor!

Looking down, you would find eight delicate legs like scythe blades, holding the spider"s body high aloft. Each claw was nearly two meters in length, and festooned with the same p.r.i.c.kly quills!

And at the center, four pairs of glimmering blue eyes watching them, giving off a distinct sense of malice. Within those eyes lurked the unconcealed ferocity and rage which only a monster could be capable of, and yet at the same time there seemed to be a hint of fear.

"d.a.m.n it! Is it a spider or a hedgehog?

"Covered in nasty stuff all over, and so obviously hard and rigid… how are we supposed to beat it?"

Qin Ruo cursed silently in his own heart, and then let fly with the Compressed Frost Bullet, leaving a misty trail in its wake. That was when he heard Violet Orchid"s cry of despair.

"Oh no! It"s a Level 49 Elite Boss!"

Qin Ruo felt his heart sinking. What ill fortune was this? Barely the second wave of attacks, and already they were faced with one of the most powerful creatures at Tier 4!

Thud! Thud!

Ma.s.sive chunks of stone came cras.h.i.+ng down all around him, but Slayer"s Heart did not pause, his face a mask of fury. Quick as a flash, he charged toward the Earth-Enchanted Spider, now lifting itself up into the air.

The Earth-Enchanted Spider was unexpectedly slow—perhaps it had expended too much effort up-ending that section of the floor, for even though it had finally entered battle, it did not attack straight-away. Instead, it sort of hung in place for a couple of seconds, which was why Qin Ruo was able to score a direct hit with his Compressed Frost Bullet.

Target hit! Earth-Enchanted Spider received 528 damage!

Chilled: Earth-Enchanted Spider has Movement Speed reduced by 50%, duration 5 seconds.

Boom!

The Compressed Frost Bullet burst apart, as it always did, and this was when the Earth-Enchanted Spider broke out of its brief stupor. Wailing with pain from the biting chill, it stumbled back some distance, but was still badly damaged by the flurry of Ice Blades that followed.

Sudden Explosion dealt 620 damage to Earth-Enchanted Spider!

Chilled: Earth-Enchanted Spider has Movement Speed reduced by 60%, duration extended by 5 seconds.

Laceration: Failed!

Although that very last effect of the Compressed Frost Bullet had failed to trigger, 60% reduced Movement Speed would substantially swing the battle in the party"s favor.

And then Qin Ruo gulped down another Mana Potion with gusto, and willed the Twelve Frostramparts to close in around the Earth-Enchanted Spider once more!