"So frustrating…", sighed Quickstep. She was just about to land a blow on the boss when the basilisk left the ground, causing her to miss.
Meanwhile Endal didn't begin to attack immediately. He focused on the players with eyes which slowly filled with white-orange flames.
A blazing flame gradually engulfed Endal's body. It burned brighter and brighter.
"It's the dive attack! Mirage, what should we do?!"
Silver Blade recognized the signs of the impending skill urgently asking Liam.
The veteran immediately gave directions. Under his lead the party gathered around the circular fountain in the middle of the garden, forming a circle around it.
Water sprinkled happily appearing rather misplaced on the battlefield. It tried to comfort the party's backs but there was no way it could push back the mounting pressure in the cave.
"Tumbly!"
Suddenly Endal shouted loudly. His loyal basilisk understood. It let out a cry as it dived towards the ground.
Watching the rapidly descending boss Liam's chest tightened. He shouted at his friends to escape while simultaneously taking out one of the basilisk king's feathers from his inventory.
With a thought the gorgeous rainbow feather activated. A brilliant light shone on Tumbly. The basilisk felt immensely invigorated. With a loud cry it spewed terrifying flames, which fused with those surrounding Endal.
If Endal resembled a shooting star so far, he now turned into a brilliant sun. He descended with earth-shattering might.
The immense pressure pressed the air out of everyone's lungs. The party members tried to get away from the fountain as far as possible.
Thanks to the party's setup Endal took aim at the fountain. Before he arrived, the water evaporated filling the entire cave with steam. The air became dry and hard to breath.
Liam lunged forward, almost reaching the edge of the garden. Right at that moment a spectacular explosion erupted behind him.
For a moment the world turned silent before an unprecedented shockwave caused the entire city to tremble. Even on the lowest floor defence measures activated and golems were deployed.
On the highest floor a deafening rumble threatened to shatter the player's eardrums. Searing heat engulfed the entire garden, causing multiple plants to whiter on the spot.
"AH!"
"So hot!"
Some of the party members screamed in pain but no one other than themselves could hear it. Bloody Edge, Radiant Shield, Fortune, Watchful Eye, and Silent Acacia all failed to leave the impact area in time. Horrifying damage cut off large parts of their HP bars.
Bloody Edge alone received more than 5200 points of damage which almost killed him in one hit. If the party weren't basically at full health before the skill they would have lost multiple members.
The terrifying strength of Endal's skills lied in the fact that they had almost no physical or magical components but were pure fire damage. The party members almost had no ability to resist in the face of that.
The friends slowly dragged themselves back on their feet looking at the large cloud of dust and steam in the middle of the garden.
Radiant Shield looked battered; his armor blackened. His eyes settled on Liam as he questioned with a frown:
"Mirage, is this your attempt to kill all of us?"
"I admit that the explosion was somewhat fierce, but we have no other choice.", answered Liam calmly.
"But did you have to use the feather?", asked Quickstep, pulling some leaves out of her hair.
"Yes. We need the boss to break through the floor."
"No other way?"
"Not that I know."
"What if we skip the hidden boss this time?", asked Balm.
"There are many bosses we can skip. But not this one. Trust me!"
Quickstep took a deep breath. She could only accept it. No one doubted Liam but the boss's attack just now placed a hint of fear in everyone's hearts.
The players would love to just brush it off with the excuse that they were still in a game. But Fate of Crunaboul was too immersive to do so.
Except for the reduced pain everything else felt extremely real. The searing heat, the dry smell, the feeling of dirt on one's skin. Everything felt deceptively real.
Liam took in the emotions of his friends. He noticed their apprehension. Yet he didn't comfort them.
On the contrary, he hoped Endal could show even more power. It was a good time for his friends to get used to the world-shaking power NPCs could unleash in battle.
Compared to high-level NPCs Endal was in fact not that impressive. At least the current Endal.
"Are you faltering as soon as I use some strength? Disappointing."
A sigh echoed through the cave as the dust cloud dissipated, revealing Endal sitting on Tumbly. Liam found it amusing that even the boss seemed to agree with him.
Just then Cyclone clicked her tongue, producing a conspicuous noise which spread through the battlefield.
"Who is afraid of you?!"
The mage stood with her head held high and her chest puffed out. Her eyes arrogantly looked down on the boss. She drew everyone's attention on purpose.
With a flourish of her wand Cyclone unleashed her skill. Thunderclouds gathered above Endal's head. A loud clap sounded as the first bolt of lightning struck right at Endal's head.
"Haha, right! That's the spirit!", shouted Fortune in an attempt to encourage herself.
Cyclone showed a conflicted smile. On one hand she felt great being encouraged by her idol but on the other hand Fortune missed the real point she wanted to convey…
"Hey, Cy! Didn't you just escape with a flash step? You managed to retain your cast?!", blurted Silver Blade in astonishment.
Cyclone only answered with a confident grin yet inwardly she thanked Silver Blade a hundred times. It was still her bestest friend who knew her the best. Without Silver Blade pointing it out, the others might have missed her brilliant move.
Unfortunately, the rest could only praise Cyclone briefly as they rushed towards the boss. Tumbly and Endal jumped out of the badly damaged fountain and continued the fight in an orderly manner.
Water sprayed wildly in all directions making for a tragic sight. But maybe one could argue that the fountain now fitted better into the dilapidated city.
The players didn't care about such a detail as they worked together to keep the boss within the area of Cyclone's lightning. In a short time Endal's HP decreased at a quick pace. He was even afflicted by paralysis once.
But while everyone fought in high spirits, Balm's expression was fraught with worry. The enormous damage done by Endal's earlier skill couldn't be mitigated so easily. Soon her skills were on cooldown, but the boss showed no signs of weakness.
When Endal's HP dropped below 24.000 he once more flew towards the ceiling on Tumbly's stable back.
The duo circled above the party's heads, throwing sparks towards the floor.
The earlier scene repeated itself. Explosions erupted and spread waves of flames, forcing the party to jump over them.
But this time Silent Acacia fumbled. He miscalculated twice in a row. When he finally forced Endal to land with his third arrow, the party already had to make it through three explosions.
Watchful Eye was unlucky and was close to the explosion twice in a row, receiving two hits. But he wasn't the only one. Almost everyone in the party was burnt by the flames at least once.
Back on the floor Endal continued to attack Radiant Shield. The tank was forced to use his [Holy Barrier]. Just as he did so, the boss dashed away again, leaving the melee players behind, and threw flaming spheres left and right.
Silver Blade's stance was used up to protect Fortune. Others dodged or were hit. Gradually everyone's HP reached critical levels.
Right then Endal took to the skies. Flames brewed around him. Liam noticed the signs and told everyone to gather around the broken fountain.
The friends collectively let out sighs of sadness. They felt as if on the way to the execution platform.
"Don't be dejected. At least we have the honour of dying together. The greatest joy of my life was being able to fight side by side with you, my friends."
Liam almost stumbled hearing Bloody Edge speak such heavy words. He hoped it was a joke, but the thief's voice sounded grave as if he was a death row prisoner.
The friends also were unable to react at the first moment. Cyclone was the first to chime in, speaking in a similar tone. Immediately Balm followed, finding it amusing. For a second a strange atmosphere between laughter and tears spread.
Only when Quickstep reprimanded everyone for undermining morale did the party members stop. Right at that moment, Endal had prepared enough and shot towards the floor.
Everyone turned solemn when Liam took out the next feather.
Boom!
The city trembled as another explosion reverberated through the mountain. With a thought Liam caused ten health bars to appear in the centre of his vision.
Four of those were completely empty…