MM - Chapter 126 - ROUND TWO, FIGHT!

“How does it feel to be blind, huh?” Raine didn’t care that the boss couldn’t hear him. He flipped upside down, jumping off the air to slam weapon-first into the center of its back. Debilitating Crush wreaked further havoc on its Defense, reducing it to a quarter for twelve seconds. [-8,673]

Raine didn’t stick around after smashing into the Avatar of Rhashkahal. He Lunged into the air right before Rocky came down in the middle of its back with both feet. [-31,112] The boss folded backward, flaming spittle jettisoning from its mouth along with an agonized wheeze. The sound cut off when Rocky wrapped an arm around its extended neck, pulling tight on its throat with an elbow.

Even in that state, its tail remained completely independent and unaffected by its blind and deafened status. Which is why Raine positioned himself where he did. Parry brought his staff around in time to smack the deadly whip of solidified fire away. The force behind the blow sent the tip of its tail streaking into the ground. The soil turned red, rapidly melting into a bubbling pool.

Like the drums of war, Rocky’s other arm unleashed steady, thudding blows into the side of its head. [-27,808] [-27,622] [-27,899] Each dealt significantly more damage than Raine could, precisely as planned. On this final attempt, his job was not to deal damage. He and Rocky had their foes to face, and Raine’s was already whipping back into the air, ready to strike again.

The tail came fast, and Raine dove from his momentary perch on Rocky’s shoulder. He met the tail midair, staff cracking pitifully against the more potent attack. This time, Raine was hurled to the side, arms aching. [-218] But he was successful. The tail narrowly missed Rocky’s waist and even came close to sinking into the boss’s back. 

Choked, pinned, blind, and deafened, the boss was done playing games. Its entire body contracted with the full power of a hierarch, snapping free of Rocky’s hold. Commanding the noble’s every action, Raine let the boss go. The sudden release of pressure saw the demon’s face smashing into the ground, helped along by another full-powered, fists-clasped, overhead smash.

Boom! [Critical hit! -76,408]

A pressure wave of dust washed across the arena and was cleared an instant later by a roar so loud the entire tunnel shook. With its hands and feet under it, the boss pushed up with all its might. Once more, Raine anticipated the move. Rocky somersaulted from its back, coming up in a martial stance. The boss flew high, putting more strength into throwing itself into the air than necessary. Nearly reaching the ceiling, it stared down at the duo. Its beady eyes were gone, replaced by roaring infernos of hatred.

Powerful emotions burst forth from Raine’s chest. This was it. This was what he wanted, what he craved.

Taking a page from Raine’s playbook. The avatar turned upside down, planting its feet on the ceiling and lunging with full force. Its huge body blurred, streaking toward Rocky. It was a perfect move. Unable to execute martial techniques with its massive, inhuman body, Rocky had no chance to escape in time. Parry was still on cooldown, and the glahm was already down a tenth of its health just from the demon’s immolation.

Rocky bent over, dropping both its hands to the ground. Even the boss was surprised when it lashed out with both feet simultaneously. Spread eagle, Rocky presented its back as the perfect target for revenge. Overjoyed, the boss eagerly anticipated smashing into the glahm from above. Except, that’s not what happened at all. Instead of hitting empty air, Rocky’s feet smashed into the nearby edge of the arena. The force of his perfectly executed dual donkey kick sent him hurtling forward just before the boss slammed into the ground where he’d been.

With one hand dragging through the dirt, Rocky spun, coming up on three limbs. Recovering, the boss’s head whipped around to find Raine right before it. He unleashed another Four Winds right in its shocked face. The flames on its eyes winked out and the ground trembled as Rocky sprinted as best it could. A stoney fist wrapped around one of the blinded demon’s horns, and the other fist crunched into its still wide-open jaw, distorting its ugly face. [Critical hit! -72,810]

Raine narrowly deflected another stab from its deadly tail and was gifted a quick flight into the soil for his efforts. The damage he took was negligible compared to how bad it would be if Rocky were hit. It would only take one shot to relieve the glahm of a limb or pin it in place long enough for the boss to recover. The ease that a hierarch could tear through a noble was similar to Raine fighting a player ten levels below him. Wet paper came to mind, or a child’s toy in the hands of a bodybuilder.

Raine Lunged to get back into position to deflect another whipping slash from the tail, once more being sent streaking to the ground. His best chance to win came down to predicting the erratic flight paths of the tail. His previous attempts against the boss weren’t for show; likewise, growing familiar with its moves wasn’t for his own sake but for Rocky's. He was the key to this fight far more than Raine.

Unfortunately, Rocky was slower and weaker than the boss, took damage every time it attacked, and had much weaker regeneration. So far, five seconds had passed and they already managed to deal enough damage that the demon wouldn’t fully recover with the first tick. It was far from enough.

“Celeste! Rhino!” Raine shouted into the raid chat as he activated Four Winds for the third time.

The duo leaped forward at his signal, entering the arena. The boss’s killing intent smashed into them like a hammer, and their vision faded. They knew the general direction to face. While Celeste fired off icy Charged Blasts as straight and fast as she could, Rhino utilized Warriors Toss to launch his spear with all his might.

[Charged Blast: (Adept - Ice) Launches a ranged attack with staff, wand, or bare hands, increasing damage by 75%. Manipulate one or more facets to suit your needs. Range, Acceleration, Intensity, Force, Area (Cost: 1-26 EP depending on facets) (Cooldown: 1 second)]

[Shimmering Star: (Lustrous Blue - Spirit Weapon - Soulbound - LVL 25) The heart and soul of an ancient warrior given new purpose (Attack Power +117) (DEF +38) (PTC +35) (FNS +35) (ACU +35) (PHY +35) (Innate Skill - Revert: At will, the spirit weapon returns to its owner)]

Having reached level twenty-five while killing the last of the unliving paroxysms, Celeste’s hands held a glistening golden staff. Even better, she gained two general skill points, allowing her to buy another ice-attuned Charged Blast. She released them twice per second. Rocky had no issue pulling the demon’s head into the path of both their attacks. [Elemental weakness! -3,112] [-2,683]

“Celeste, a little higher! Rhino, five degrees to the right!” They followed Raine’s shouted instructions as best they could. The rest of the raid watched anxiously from outside the arena's boundary. They all had a role, but it wasn’t their time yet.

Parry was ready, and Raine used it without hesitation, sending the tail streaking off course. This time, it fell in the way he hoped for the last time. Rocky’s heavy foot stomped, pinning the tail in place while continuing to yank the boss around by its horn, keeping it off balance. Its clawed arms swiped ineffectually, hitting thin air. The skillful, one-legged dance took most of Raine’s focus. 

It was impossible to ensure every one of Celeste and Rhino’s attacks landed, but they were only a bonus. Rocky’s free fist continued to offer up the real damage, steadily pounding away at the durable avatar. The final use of Four Winds bought them maybe another three seconds. After this, the one-sided beating would end. 

Instead of joining his own attacks into the mix, Raine Lunged to the ground, flashing through his roulette as quickly as he could. A circular-shaped light began to coalesce on the outside of his arm, and eleven percent of his health was excruciatingly yanked from his flesh. [-455] The light was canceled, replaced by an elongated stick that didn’t finish forming before it was cast away. A knife took form and disappeared just as quickly.

Raine gritted his teeth as his body flickered like a lightbulb and his health plummeted. One weapon after another almost formed before it was cast aside, “Mel!” The girl dutifully stepped forward, instantly reaching Raine, who had positioned himself at the arena's edge for her. Her vision blinked out, but her hands found him easily. Each of her hands released a copy of Healing Burst that jerked his health bar back into the green. His own copy of the skill added to the mix, bringing him back to full.

Knowing his role without being told, Fizgore leaped in front of Mel with his shield up. He stood in a low stance, a new green and gold cape clasped around his neck, billowing in the arena’s intense heat. Even with the upgrade, there was little chance he would survive more than one hit. His sole purpose was to slow the boss down enough to allow Raine an extra second to rescue their healer. Additionally, he would absorb any stray attacks that came Mel’s way and she could easily heal him after.

It took another six roulette uses before the weapon he’d been searching for appeared. During that time, Mel hit him with every buff she had. The demon’s eyes had snapped open, and the flames there burned much brighter than before. A staggering tick of regeneration appeared above its head. [+400,000] Rocky fell back, releasing the deadly monster’s horn and tail which angrily lashed the air behind it.

Raine could practically hear the bells ringing, calling the start of round two.

Inhaling deeply and dropping to all fours, the avatar’s fury manifested as flames that shot from its mouth. Raine had seen the attack enough times to know what was coming before its front claws sank into the sizzling soil. The boss, however, hadn’t seen much of Rocky by this point and completely failed to anticipate the uppercut that clamped its mouth closed. Flames shot from the sides of its lips and gushed out its nose. 

Looking up, it released the napalm-like demonic fires to splatter across the ceiling. They rapidly ate away at the solid stones, causing hot showers of dripping magma to fall across the raid. Raine had Rocky back off a step to regenerate his health. He was at a little over half, and his semi-melted state was getting hard to control. With the most challenging AOE attack out of the way, it was his turn to step in.

Lunging, Raine met the demon as it was charging the retreating rahk glahm with murderous intent. He approached its head from the side. A clawed hand lifted to swat him away. Using Connection, Raine made just the right adjustments to fly head-first right between two of its huge fingers. It was a tight fit, a daring maneuver he’d perfected by the fifth round.

Jumping off thick air, he reached the demon’s face, his arms wound back for a heavy swing, “Miss me?” 

He struck it in the eye as hard as he could, eliciting no more than a flinch. [-1,436] With its defenses back to full, Mel's Guardians Armament was the only reason he did that much. It snapped a hasty bite that Raine predicted and easily avoided with an air hop. He struck the same eye again, this time with both his weapon and Life Drain at the same time. 

The boss tried to swat the annoying fly but smacked itself in the face instead. Growling, its tail came around in a whoosh of displaced air. Raine Lunged beneath its chin where it had no good angle to reach him. His weapon crunched against its throat several times in rapid succession. Meanwhile, Rocky scrambled to avoid contact while attempting to angle it into Celeste’s ice lances. Neither was overly successful.

When Rupture was ready, Raine didn’t hesitate to use it. He continued annoyingly hopping around the demon’s head, chipping away roughly eight thousand health per second. She and Rhino got in a few hits, but even combined with Raine, they dealt less than a quarter of its regeneration. While his DPS was much lower than the previous attempts, Raine was nearly at maximum Discipline while the boss sat at 85% health. In his opinion, they were holding out well enough.

Regrettably, he underestimated how much damage the avatar’s immolation would do to Rocky. By the time his pet was back at one hundred percent, the boss would be too. Sighing, Raine called for a trump card he’d been hoping to save until the boss went berserk, or not at all, as he would love to keep the item for the future.

“Talerra!”

She nodded sharply, activating the scroll he’d given her. Softly glowing lines of power spread across the ancient page, then burst away to dance across the floor, forming a large circular pattern. The lights settled into incredibly complex, sharply angled lines as the circle spread nearly twenty meters in diameter. The lights perfectly duplicated into two, pulling away from each other, one layer of symbols directly atop the other. The top layer rose into the air, higher and higher. As though she had summoned a magical 3D printer, a new Rocky took shape between the separating layers.

[Summoning Scroll (Greater Rahk Glahm): (Lustrous Blue) Summons a level 30 Greater Rahk Glahm to fight under your command for 1 hour]

Despite the majesty of the summoning, it was a short-lived process. Standing outside the arena, Talerra had no issue seeing to command the enormous monster. It rushed inside and barreled into the demon’s side before it could trap the original Rocky against a wall. Raine was there with Debilitating Crush, once more bringing its Defense to a shadow of its former self. Rocky 2.0 pummeled the boss with all the martial skill of a Phoenix Clan scion, and Raine intercepted its tail with Parry.

Over the next twenty seconds, Talerra's summon and the boss fell to seventy percent health. Rocky rejoined the fray. Between the two monsters and Raine, the demon's health fell faster than ever, rapidly reaching forty percent.

Raine held back on his and Rocky's attacks, easing up their damage to give all his abilities time to refresh. He downed a Minor Discipline Recovery Potion and, when everything was ready, tripped the boss so Talerra could deliver a powerful overhead slam. Its health fell to thirty percent. An instant flash of light preceded a massive wave of fire that rushed outward, obscuring the sight of everyone who wasn't already blind.

The rahks lost twenty percent of their health from the flashfire despite jumping back immediately. Raine also took a considerable hit through his fire resistance. [-1,520] At the edge of the arena, Fizgore, Celeste, and Rhino screamed in agony, understandably unable to appreciate being burned alive while blind. Protected behind Fizgore, Mel was quick on the healing.

A large, demon-shaped hole was blown in the wall of flames and a dark object streaked across the battlefield. Raine had barely been able to see the Berserked boss move. It was already on the other side of the arena, Rocky's detached head clenched tightly in its clawed hand. It squeezed, and the stone popped, turning to slag that oozed through its fingers.

The flames covering its body had gained an ethereal quality. They were now so light blue as to nearly be clear, revealing its horrifically disfigured, dark skin. Additionally, the intensity of its immolation had at least tripled, along with its speed and strength. As far as berserk abilities went, ones that increased skills, elements, and attributes all at once were definitely the most troublesome.

Raine's grip tightened on his weapon, sweat sprouting across his body. It turned to sizzling steam, unable to handle the heat.