Chapter 202 – The Eighth Wave Boss
The previous seven waves were easy for the Ice Rose Alliance to deal with, only costing them some casualties. So, no one could have expected the wall to break at the eighth wave just like that.
With the over ten-meter-long wall destroyed, not only did the players standing on it directly fall to their death, even the back-up team standing at the base of the wall were either injured or killed. What’s worse, some players were still alive and trapped beneath the rubble, tragically screaming out in pain.
“Knights, fill the gap, we must not let the monsters enter!” Rosethorn’s face was overtaken by anxiety. She never thought that they had overlooked something despite the long time they had put into the preparation.
“You guys see that? When we establish a base, we must gather enough utility-type players and build up a strong wall first,” Fierce Dragon TheTalent pointed at the badly damaged wall. “While they did think of this, it seems they didn’t take it too seriously even so. Their wall isn’t solid enough; otherwise, it could have lasted through this wave.”
“Remember to prioritize utility types in our recruitment. Give them the same benefit as the team’s main force.” All the other guild masters told their subordinates.
“Oh? Collapsed already? Whatever, nothing to do with me anyway,” Fatty only spared the wall a glance before turning his focus to the items on the ground.
Until this wave, seven bosses had been slain. As the Ice Rose Alliance had already taken the loot of the first five bosses, the only drops left on the battlefield were from the Stone Puppet King and the Treemen boss.
Since everything was scattered all over, it was hard to tell which boss had dropped what from afar. Fatty could only rely on his memory to direct Wheat to the area where the Treemen boss had died and search for its loot.
“Ahh? What’s that?” A player suddenly spotted a hand reaching out from the ground before quickly vanis.h.i.+ng.
“What? I don’t see anything.” His friend craned their neck around, eyes wide open, but they didn’t see a thing.
“A hand popped out, but it’s not there anymore,” the other player started to explain when he suddenly saw it again. “There, it came out again! It grabbed something before it went back underground. Dang! What kind of monster is that?!”
This time, his friend saw it too. Their eyes instantly bulged, “What the heck?! That thing is no monster, that’s a player! Man, why didn’t I think of this as well? I could’ve taken this chance to s.n.a.t.c.h the drops!”
“Take this chance to s.n.a.t.c.h the drops?” The other player rolled his eyes. “You tired of living? Forget the fact that the Ice Rose Alliance would come looking for them later; you would dare try and steal them when that many mobs surround them?”
“How does that fellow travel underground? What equipment is capable of that? They’ve struck gold…” The two exclaimed with envy.
“Argh, why are these drops all trash? If there’s no Violet, you could at least let me have a Gold item.” Fatty stuffed the equipment in his inventory after a quick look. After looting so many items, aside from several superb pieces of equipment gained from the Stone Puppet King, there were only a few decent items, and the rest was all ordinary.
“Oh? The eighth wave boss,” Fatty’s eyes shone when he looked up. Amidst a herd of monsters, one particularly stood out as it sat stately in the center. It was dressed in pitch black armor with a blood red cape fluttering behind its back, holding a long spear in its hand. Guards tightly surrounded the boss.
Whoosh. When the boss jabbed its spear forward, a guard let out a shrill howl, and the tempo and the number of monsters a.s.saulting the wall were greatly increased.
“Look, Ice Witch is out again.”
A troop dashed out from the collapsed wall. Ice Witch led the five hundred members of Team Ice in a curved path toward the boss. Like a sharp blade, the troop cleaved their way through the army of monsters as if they were parting the sea, knocking out the monsters. Nothing was able to hinder them.
“This girl is at it again. Too fierce,” Fatty clicked his tongue. He urged Wheat to sink a little deeper so the battle wouldn’t affect them while they lay in wait for the drops.
The boss also saw the quickly approaching Team Ice. It pointed its spear in their direction, and over a hundred mobs from the attacking monster army stepped out to form a troop and blocked Team Ice. The two parties violently crash.
Rumble! Akin to a wave hitting a boulder, the monster troop was directly carved apart upon the collision. Team Ice paved a way through at the minor price of several dozen players falling from their mounts.
“Sisters, keep going!” Ice Witch shouted.
With the noteworthy distance from the wall to the boss, Team Ice had to charge through four or five waves of monsters at a harsh cost. Currently, only several dozen members remained beside Ice Witch.
“Kill!” The remaining girls shouted in unison, unleas.h.i.+ng all kind of skills at the boss. Their only mission was to escort Ice Witch here safely. As for whether she could kill the boss or not, that wasn’t something they could interfere with.
As they got closer and closer to the boss, a strange gleam flashed through Ice Witch’s eyes. The moment the monsters around the boss attacked, she abruptly jumped and pocketed her mount at the same time, separating herself from the team.
The rest of the team rushed into the crowd of monsters. While the players all died shortly after, their contributions helped Ice Witch by delaying the mobs from attacking her.
“OMG!” Fatty gawked. The moment Ice Witch soared across the battlefield, her hair danced as her figure seemed to sparkle. Fatty’s eyes greedily followed her form as he covered Wheat’s eyes with both hands. “PG-13, this is PG-13.”
Wholeheartedly putting her mind on slaying the boss, Ice Witch naturally didn’t know there was a despicable peeper below who had seen everything under her dress. When she landed on the ground, her feet instantly moved swiftly as she tried to find an opening to attack the boss.
While busily commanding the battle, Rosethorn saw Ice Witch’s situation. She thought for a bit and ordered, “One hundred rogues set out to a.s.sist Guild Master Ice in killing the boss. Do not be afraid to die. Every level you lose will be rewarded with corresponding compensation.”
The boss watched Ice With with cold eyes, not taking any action. However, the dozen guards around it screamed and rushed toward the girl while waving their weapons.
“Frost Dance!” Ice Witched gritted her teeth and unleashed this super skill. Countless snowflakes and ice swords appeared, filling up a large area in front of her in a frigid white ambiance.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Snowflakes and ice swords spun at the monsters within the skill’s range. In just a few seconds, all of the monsters’ health plummeted by half.
“Haah!” With a cry, Ice Witch directly charged through the guards to attack the boss.
Slightly raising its head, the boss refused to move far from its stationary position and only raised its spear to attack. With a cling, the spear and sword collided. The boss still sat in its seat elegantly while Ice Witch was forced to retreat several steps from the force of the collision, barely managing to stop.
“It’s too strong!” Not just Fatty, everyone who had focused their attention on the conflict was appalled. They were all well aware of how powerful Ice Witch was from her confrontation with the Stone Puppet King. Yet, this boss was able to force her to fall back with a slight gesture of its hand repeatedly. Just how high is its level?
Knocking back Ice Witch in the first clash, the boss urged its mount, a Horse Specter, forward. Like a ghost, the black horse trod soundlessly toward Ice Witch.
Clang. Ice Witch raised her sword to parry the boss’s strike. Continuing to pull back from the enemy’s sudden attack, she was too startled to cast a single skill.
Swish. Ice Witched turned her body to slay a mob that was sneaking up on her. Then, she began to move, intending to find an opening to ambush the boss.
“Guild master, we’re coming!” When the rogues approached in Stealth, Ice Witch’s eyes glittered.
“Encircle the boss and use Reckless Blow at the same time. The alliance will compensate you if your level drops.”
Bam! Bam! Under the onlookers’ surprised eyes, one rogue after another revealed themselves from Stealth and bravely began a suicidal group attack.
Reckless Blow could deploy 100% to 300% of the user’s attack at the price of half their HP. When roughly a hundred rogues charged forth at once, even the boss couldn’t hold them all back no matter how strong it was.
Some of the rogues were one-shot before they could reach the boss; others died from its counter-attack after their strike connected. As for the lucky ones, they safely retreated after a successful attack and got ready for the next. After the first round, all that survived was a little over a dozen rogues, while the boss’s health only dropped by a tenth.
“Ice Dragon Break!” Grasping the chance given to her, Ice Witch swung her longsword. A chilling gale screamed as an ice dragon materialized from thin air and tightly coiled around the boss.
“Grraaaaaaah!” The ever silent boss suddenly let out a booming roar. A black halo spread outward from its body and dispersed the cold air and directly melted away the ice dragon. Shockingly, Ice Witch’s skill was dissolved just like that.
Whoosh. The boss jabbed its spear at Ice Witch with terrifying force, the latter squinting her eyes. The instant the spear reached her, her longsword gently tapped the spear’s tip while the ice swordsman leaped forth, as graceful as a b.u.t.terfly.
“Well done!” The onlookers praised with thunderous applause.
“Ambus.h.!.+”
“Deadly Poison!”
The remaining ten-odd rogues made their move together, wanting to either dizzy or poison the boss.
Booom! The Horse Specter suddenly reared back before stomping its hooves on the ground. All the rogues were knocked out of their hidden state with a dizzy mark above their heads.
Pff pff pff. The boss withdrew its spear, then thrust out again. In a movement similar to a snake, the spear impaled through all of the rogues’ bodies, insta-killing them amidst a beautiful blood splatter.
“Frozen Strike!” Ice Witch stomped her feet against a monster, using the momentum to leap across the air. With a shout, she swung her sword.
“So beautiful,” Fatty gaped, not noticing the streak of saliva streaming down from his mouth. He only looked up dumbly at the soaring Ice Witch above.
Kaah… The boss stiffened, and a layer of ice froze it in the blink of an eye. As her attack finally connected, Ice Witch heaved a sigh of relief and wanted to kill it quickly with this chance. However, all of a sudden, an intense black miasma radiated from the boss’s body, followed by a series of cracking noise. In a matter of seconds, the boss broke out from the ice block.
At this moment, the boss’s guards flocked over to their leader and began to attack Ice Witch.