"How do we fight?"
Rong Xing looked at the giant rock demon spirit in front of them with excitement. To be among the first players to face a level 50 dark gold boss, although not the absolute main force, still felt like an honor.
Ding Chi narrowed his eyes and said, "Its spiritual attack power must be terrifying. I wonder if it can instantly kill us heavy armor players, after all, magic damage has a 25% bonus against heavy armor."
"No rush."
Chen Xue, holding her gold-grade giant rock spear, stood beside Lin Zhao. She appeared slender and straight, smiling, "Let Lin Zhao decide how to fight. After all, he's tackled more bosses than us in 'Tian Xia' and understands their mechanics better."
"Mhm."
Lin Zhao nodded and said, "Everyone, stay out of the boss's aggro circle. Qing Ning will follow me later. Keep a distance of 40 yards from me. I'll solo the boss. You heal me. Let's first observe all of the boss's skills, calculate their characteristics and cooldowns, then retreat. Once I've fully healed and recovered, we'll have our second official attempt."
Chen Xue nodded with satisfaction. This was a leader with brains, which was reassuring.
Qing Ning stepped forward with her staff, "Boss, I'll go with you."
"Then I'm going in."
Lin Zhao brandished his long sword and charged forward. His sword energy directly collided with the boss's body. The situation became a bit awkward. Lin Zhao, at 1.8 meters tall, collided with a 7-meter-tall boss. He leaped up and struck its knee. However, the boss had a Stone Skin effect, so the strike barely caused any damage!
"Insignificant creature."
The giant rock demon spirit roared in fury. Wisps of orange-yellow energy rose around it. It circulated its spiritual power and, the next moment, summoned an Enhanced Meteor Strike. A massive meteor, a full two meters in radius, crashed down directly onto Lin Zhao's head. Lin Zhao swiftly summoned a sword qi shield for protection. In the next second, he felt a wave of sharp pain, and a large damage number popped up above his head—
"2318!"
This single-target damage was quite formidable.
"Chen Xue, note this down!"
Lin Zhao frowned and said, "First skill, Enhanced Meteor Strike. The damage dealt to me is approximately 4500 points."
"Mhm!"
Chen Xue opened her notepad and quickly recorded it.
Lin Zhao continued to swing his sword aimlessly, luring the boss and regaining health. The giant rock demon spirit let out another roar, raising both hands simultaneously. The entire area turned golden-yellow and ash-grey. The next moment, dense meteors rained down from the sky, pattering onto the ground within a 30-yard radius of the boss. Lin Zhao took damage three times in succession—
"1239!"
"1332!"
"1401!"
After this round of damage, Lin Zhao consumed a health potion and continued to fight the boss. Qing Ning behind him cast healing spells on him one after another, greatly enhancing Lin Zhao's survivability.
"Note this down too."
Lin Zhao, while swinging his sword, said in a deep voice, "Second skill, Meteor Rain. It deals three consecutive hits within a 30-yard radius around the boss. The total damage to heavy armor players is about 8000 health. You absolutely cannot take the full brunt of it, or all heavy armor players except me will die unless they activate their sword qi shield."
"Noted."
Chen Xue nodded. Her coordination with Lin Zhao was proceeding methodically.
A few seconds later, the second Enhanced Meteor Strike descended!
Lin Zhao, enduring the pain, said grimly, "Enhanced Meteor Strike, cooldown is 7 seconds."
"Mhm!"
Chen Xue nodded and recorded it.
A while later, the second Meteor Rain arrived. Lin Zhao glanced at it; his sword qi shield's cooldown was not yet ready. He said, "Meteor Rain, cooldown is 18 seconds. This is less than the cooldown for Sword Qi Shield. You'll have to count the time yourself."
"Mhm!"
Chen Xue nodded.
A few more seconds passed. The giant rock demon spirit, unable to break through, let out a low growl, raised its staff, and boomed, "Hot magma sleeping beneath the earth, erupt with your burning heat and scorch this illusory world!"
"Hong—"
Flames rose from the ground around the boss, erupting continuously. Simultaneously, a large blood-red "question mark" appeared above Lin Zhao's head. He was silenced for 5 seconds and his body continuously burned, causing him to lose a significant amount of health. By the time the boss finished using this skill, Lin Zhao was left with only 25% health.
Soloing was not an option. The boss's attack rhythm was too fast. Someone needed to control and coordinate to have a chance of killing it.
"Third skill."
Lin Zhao frowned and said, "Silence Fire Rain. It silences all players within a 40-yard radius for 5 seconds and deals approximately 5000 damage over those 5 seconds. This is quite deadly. If Silence Fire Rain overlaps with Enhanced Meteor Strike and Meteor Rain, it's very likely to result in instant kills, even wiping us out."
"Mhm!"
Chen Xue nodded, "Got it!"
After fighting for a while longer, the boss still only had three skills. Lin Zhao's health bar fluctuated, repeatedly reaching dangerous levels, making Qing Ning's heart skip a beat. Chen Xue frowned, "Alright, everyone retreat. Withdraw from combat and wait for Lin Zhao to recover before we begin the formal assault!"
"Mhm!"
Lin Zhao withdrew from combat, sword in hand. They ran a good 500 meters away from the group before the giant rock demon spirit finally stopped chasing. At this point, Lin Zhao's health bar had dwindled to a mere 9%.
...
"Alright, we know the boss's attack mechanics now."
Lin Zhao, healing himself, looked at everyone and said, "Chen Xue has all the skill cooldowns. I'll focus on outputting damage throughout, and Chen Xue, you'll be in charge of commanding. Okay?"
"Can do."
Chen Xue smiled and nodded. When she was in Cang Long, she was the overall commander of the second raid group. She was very familiar with commanding battles. Although the current team in Fei Yue Knights was not exceptionally strong, they had capability, especially with a high-damage heavy armor player like Lin Zhao, who was skilled in operation and had strong combat awareness. This significantly lowered the difficulty. Honestly, without Lin Zhao, she wouldn't have been willing to command this ten-person team to fight the boss; the win probability was too low.
"Let me explain."
Chen Xue, holding her giant rock spear, swept her beautiful eyes over everyone and smiled, "Lu Li and Yao Guai, you two ranged attackers need to maintain a distance of 38-40 yards from the boss at all times for maximum output. I will give a warning when the boss is about to use an AoE attack, and you just need to take a few steps back. Don't get instantly killed. Qing Ning, you too. Heal at maximum range. Heal whoever the boss locks onto. As for the remaining heavy armor players, keep your sword qi impacts ready. You might need them to stun the boss at any moment."
"Got it!"
Everyone nodded in unison.
"Let's go!"
Chen Xue chuckled, "Lin Zhao, you go first. Once you've locked down the aggro, the rest of us will follow."
"Mhm!"
Thus, the ten-person team of Fei Yue Knights slowly approached the boss. Mo Yin, wielding his twin blades, patrolled the surroundings. He wouldn't directly participate in the boss raid. As a fragile melee assassin, going forward would be suicide. It was better to patrol the perimeter, alert the others, and be aware of any approaching guilds.
"Shua~~~"
Lin Zhao swung his Qing Lu Sword. A wisp of sword qi enveloped the boss's head. The next second, it violently struck the giant rock demon spirit's knee. Following this, a sequence of normal attacks, Sweeping the Thousand Armies, normal attacks, Heaven and Earth Throw, and normal attacks, dealt 7 hits in quick succession, making the giant rock demon spirit tremble. In an instant, all aggro was locked onto this small sword hero.
The first Meteor Strike and Meteor Rain fell almost instantly upon Lin Zhao's head. Chen Xue signaled Qing Ning to heal Lin Zhao alone, while Lu Li and Yao Guai began outputting damage at their maximum range. After a few more seconds, the giant rock demon spirit roared and finally began chanting the incantation for Silence Fire Rain. At this moment, Lu Li and Yao Guai retreated on their own, leaving Lin Zhao to face the boss alone!
"Is it that easy?"
Lin Zhao, barely reaching the boss's knee, smiled slightly. He lowered his stance, and a wisp of sword qi erupted from the ground, directly executing an Ascending Dragon Slash that lifted the boss's body nearly 5 meters, interrupting Silence Fire Rain. He then unleashed a furious barrage of Sweeping the Thousand Armies and Heaven and Earth Throw.
"That's enough."
Chen Xue stepped forward with her spear, "All heavy armor players, attack the boss together!"
Everyone followed suit. Instantly, people were surrounding the boss from all directions. Amidst the dancing sword light, Ding Chi, Rong Xing, Zhang Jun, and Luo Man all unleashed their skills onto the boss's body. In terms of output, they were all far inferior to Lin Zhao, so most of the boss's aggro remained on Lin Zhao. There would be no risk of OT (over-aggro) in the short term.
"Be careful!"
Chen Xue, while attacking the boss with a series of thrusts, said in a deep voice, "Meteor Strike cooldown is still 2 seconds away. Everyone, fill your health bars and tough it out this wave!"
"Mhm!"
The next second, Enhanced Meteor Strike descended from the sky, targeting a single player. It instantly dealt nearly 6000 damage to Ding Chi's health bar!
"Ding Chi, retreat from the boss's aggro circle and heal yourself. Prepare your sword qi impact!"
Chen Xue commanded.
"Got it!"
Ding Chi consumed a health potion and turned to leave.
Chen Xue stared intently at the timer on her support tool, saying, "Meteor Rain cooldown is 5 seconds away. Rong Xing, fall back 5 yards and prepare for a sword qi impact. If Rong Xing's impact is successful, everyone continues attacking. If it fails, everyone activates Sword Qi Shield and tanks the wave!"
"Mhm!"
Everyone nodded in unison while attacking. The next moment, the boss raised its staff again, initiating the skill animation. Rong Xing delivered a fierce sword qi impact, but a "miss" appeared above the boss's head. The level disparity was too great, and the chance of a charge stun also decreased accordingly. The next moment, everyone activated Sword Qi Shield. Under the rain of meteors, their health bars plummeted.
"Drink your own health potions to recover!"
Chen Xue continued to command. She glanced at the cooldown timer and frowned, "The next Enhanced Meteor Strike targeted attack is coming soon. Be careful!"
In the air, a giant meteor rock fell, crashing onto Zhang Jun's head and dealing nearly 3000 damage. Fortunately, Qing Ning's timely instant healing spell pulled back some health, otherwise he might have been instantly killed.
"Continue!"
Chen Xue attacked while keeping an eye on the skill cooldown countdown. "Silence Fire Rain countdown, 7 seconds. An Enhanced Meteor Strike is sandwiched in between. Zhang Jun, exit the boss's aggro circle. Ding Chi and Luo Man, move into charge range. Lin Zhao, get your Ascending Dragon Slash ready too. We'll combine our efforts to destroy the prelude to this Silence Fire Rain, causing the boss's ultimate move to be stillborn."
"Okay!"
Everyone nodded in unison.
At this moment, a smile appeared on Chen Xue's lips. At this moment, she suddenly felt a strong sense of belonging to Fei Yue Knights. Such a team was truly worth staying for.
After all, everyone was serious. Serious about playing the game, serious about getting stronger, serious about surviving in this world.
...
"Sasa..."
Outside the combat circle, a shadowy figure slowly approached. It was a level 37 assassin from Sheng Shi Mu Dan. But as he neared the group, a grayish figure appeared to his left. It was a level 40 assassin.
"Get lost immediately, or die."
Mo Yin looked at the other party coldly.