Vol. 3: Chapter 35
Ignoring the swarm of spiders around him, Kael sprinted forward.
With the upgrades to his Solar Mantle of Apollo, his defense was over 15,000, high enough to completely negate the attacks of the common mobs. The only real threats were the level 35 elite spiders, whose [Web Shot] skill could root him for three seconds.
Fortunately, with a combination of his [Diadem of Unyielding Will] and [Mirror Image], he bypassed them with ease. The elites, however, refused to give up, tailing him with a vengeance, determined to bring down the intruder.
At that very moment, a fifteen-player team was arguing at the final fork in the tunnel. It was the main force of the Frostfall Syndicate, led by their guild leader. They had just received the message from their doomed lookout party: the grim reaper himself, Dawnbreaker, was on his way.
Panic had set in immediately. When they’d asked in the chat channel what Dawnbreaker’s motive was, their ten teammates at the entrance had already been wiped and sent back to the city. Their last message was a grim prediction: Dawnbreaker was coming for the head of their leader, Frostfall.
“GL, what’s the plan?” a mage named Frostbind asked.
Frostfall was pacing back and forth, completely at a loss.
“Maybe we should just surrender,” someone suggested. “I ran into him in Starlight Village once, he wasn’t as bad as the rumors say.”
The idea was immediately shot down. “Surrender? Are you insane? His target is the GL! You want us to hand him over and run away?”
“That was Starlight Village, his home turf! Of course he was friendly there. Has Dawnbreaker ever left survivors on an open battlefield?”
“Exactly! Our ten guys at the entrance are proof of that. They got slaughtered!”
“Enough! Both of you, shut up!” Frostfall snapped, a headache building behind his eyes. He’d just brought his team here to kill a boss. How had he suddenly provoked the most infamous player in the game? Did a rival guild hire him? he wondered. I have to find out. I won’t die without knowing why.
After collecting his thoughts, he addressed his team. “I think he was hired by one of our rivals. We’ll talk to him. Find out who sent him and what they paid. We can make a counteroffer.”
The others nodded in agreement. “Good thinking.”
“I bet it was the Snowfall Syndicate,” one of them grumbled. “They’re always bitching that our guild names are too similar.”
“It’s definitely them! Telling us we should change our name. Why don’t they change theirs?”
Just then, a figure burst from the connecting tunnel, his player ID glowing a malevolent red. It was the grim reaper, Dawnbreaker.
Kael was both shocked and relieved to see the group of players. Had he made it in time? Or were these guys just blocking the path while their friends fought the boss inside? This was the last fork in the road.
A player with the title [Guild Leader of Frostfall Syndicate] stepped forward, forcing a tight, nervous smile onto his face. “Sir Dawnbreaker. Welcome. I’m Frostfall. Might I ask who hired you for this job today?”
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Huh?
Kael was utterly bewildered. But he had no time for bizarre conversations; he had to see if the boss was still alive. He gave Frostfall a cursory glance before looking right through him. He pointed at two players blocking one of the tunnels. “You two. Move. I’m going in.”
“Wha—? Oh! Right!” The two players stared blankly for a second before scrambling out of the way.
Kael strode smoothly into the passage, then paused. He turned his head back to the 15 stunned members of the Frostfall Syndicate. “Watch your backs,” he said, then vanished into the tunnel leading to the boss chamber.
Frostfall and his team were left standing in confused silence.
“He… he just left?”
“What did he mean, watch our backs?”
“Is that a threat? Like he’ll be hunting us from now on?”
“Then why didn’t he just kill us now?”
“What a weirdo…”
“You guys are freaking me— HOLY SHIT, WHAT ARE THOSE?!”
The group spun around. Thundering down the tunnel Kael had just come from were five level 35 elite spiders, which promptly swarmed and surrounded them.
“DAMMIT! Bastard Dawnbreaker!”
“He’s a total psycho! Killing us himself isn’t enough, he had to train a pack of elites on us!”
“Fall back! Retreat!”
“FUCK, I’m webbed!”
“I’m paralyzed, I can’t move!”
“DAWNBREAKER, YOU SON OF A BITCH!”
...
Inside the final chamber, Kael saw Roderic lying in his designated spot and finally breathed a sigh of relief. The boss’s idle posture meant he hadn’t entered combat yet today. He had made it just in time. If that team had gone in first, the whole day would have been a waste.
He summoned three clones—fewer than he used to, a consequence of no longer wearing the Soul-Devourer set—and prepared to face the boss.
[Roderic]: Level 38
Health: 33,000,000
Physical Attack: 18,100
Physical Defense: 8,500
Magic Defense: 8,200
...
Kael’s own stats were: 40,000+ HP, 28,000+ Attack, and over 15,000 in both defenses.
Trying to tank the boss head-on would be risky. He knew his Galeharrow’s [Silkbind Shot] wouldn't be able to CC a level 38 boss, so a stand-and-shoot strategy was out.
The cave was also too small to kite effectively. His best bet was his ultimate move. Time to use the trump card: [Apollo's Descent].
System: The skill [Apollo's Descent] is on cooldown and cannot be activated.
Shit!
Kael mentally slapped himself. He’d used the skill at 2 PM yesterday. It was now only noon. It still had two hours left on its cooldown.
He looked at the boss’s 18,100 attack stat, then at his own 15,000+ defense. He gritted his teeth. Screw it. Time to burn him down.
He drew his bow and let loose a volley of arrows.
-21,083 (Normal Hit)
-76,385 (Critical Hit)
At the same time, arrows from his three clones struck home.
-12,848 (Clone Normal Hit)
-51,031 (Clone Critical Hit)
-60,537 (Clone Critical Hit)
On average, a single volley from him and his clones dealt around 120,000 damage. It would take at least 250 seconds—just over four minutes—to kill Roderic.
Meanwhile, Roderic’s normal attacks would hit Kael for about 3,000 damage each. Over 250 seconds, that would amount to roughly 800,000 total damage. Kael was carrying two stacks of health potions, twenty per stack, each healing 20,000 HP, for a grand total of 800,000 healing. On paper, it was just enough.
But that calculation didn't account for critical hits. A single crit from the boss would chunk him for 20,000 HP. A few unlucky crits and his potion supply wouldn't be nearly enough. Besides, he didn’t want to waste such expensive consumables.
He had no choice. He throttled his own damage output to let his clones draw aggro, cycling them to tank the boss’s attacks. His clones were expendable, after all, and their summon skill had a mere 20-second cooldown.
A fight that should have been over in four minutes dragged on for a grueling ten.
Finally, as Kael’s last arrow found its mark, Roderic let out a final cry and collapsed. As his body hit the stone floor, his head rolled free. Kael immediately stepped forward and picked up [Roderic's Head].
Just then, a deafening screech echoed from the back wall of the cave.
SCREEE!
SCREEE!
SCREEE!
With each shriek, the stone wall began to tremble violently. Suddenly, it exploded inward as a monstrously large spider burst through.