Chapter Ninety-Two: A Hard-Fought Battle with the Boss

The boss let out a thunderous roar and charged straight at the crowd. Its eight heads took turns striking the players nearby, and after a brutal slaughter, only thirteen people remained in the party. Yet the boss still had more than three hundred thousand health left.

Then a rain of energy came crashing down on the boss. We saw that these blasts were fired from the direction of the plaza, and then streams of white light followed from there as well. You have to understand, the city hall was five or six hundred meters from the central square of Heavenly Dragon City. What skill could possibly reach that far and still draw the boss’s hatred, luring it all the way onto the plaza? At that moment, a woman’s voice rang out from the plaza: “I’ve brought the boss here. Everyone, work together!”

We rushed over too, and saw that the one attacking was that arcane mage. She had bound herself in midair with three energy chains, and from her hands came a nonstop barrage of white energy beams and energy spheres, pounding the boss again and again.

At the same time we charged in, the boss swept its tail and flung away the two frontliners, Snow Night War God and Yanhuang Spearman. Then two white beams rose up; after those two went down, a lone swordsman launched the first forward rush. There was a deafening crash, and the boss was stunned.

A few of us immediately surged forward. Heart Moon was the first to unleash a torrent of potion bottles, applying a whole series of debuffs to the boss—lower defense, lower attack, slow, reduced resistance—while Dragon Heart, Little Hope, Silver Moon, and Little Ai all hurled their ranged spells and attacks as well. Ye Shuang and the other melee fighters dumped every skill they had onto the boss, and once they were done, they scattered in every direction!

When the boss recovered, it spun around and roared, its eight heads spewing red flame, blue frost, purple venom, green hurricane, black poison smoke, white energy, brown stones, and yellow lightning.

In an instant, the entire battlefield was swept over by those elemental storms. After that attack, only a few of us made it out alive. The remaining names were Little Ai, Lone Sword, Ling’er, Illusion Moon, Heart Moon, Purple Moon, and me, half-dead already.

The boss, seeing that its proud ultimate move had failed to kill these insignificant humans, flew into a frenzy. Its eight heads lunged at us in unison. We dodged desperately, but one head snapped down and caught me—though I immediately slipped away with a feint and a real move.

At that moment I saw that in the jaws of the head to the left, there was still another person clenched between its teeth. It was Illusion Moon. I watched as the serpent’s enormous maw bit crosswise into her body; only her legs were outside, while the rest of her was already swallowed in those fangs. Then the snake stretched its neck straight, preparing to swallow its prey whole.

All at once, an inexplicable surge of feeling rose in my chest. I lunged forward, activating the Long Winged Flight technique.

“Ahhh—”

With a furious roar, I charged straight for that serpent head.

Feeling the master’s overwhelming resolve, Heavenly Radiance and Dragon Battle, already nearly exhausted on the ground, shot out like lightning almost at the same instant.

The master’s emotions infected both summoned beasts, giving them boundless courage.

Their speed was like lightning and thunder. Dragon Battle, though covered in wounds, reached out in that instant and seized the two snake heads that were trying to block me, then bit down hard on the very head clamped around Illusion Moon. At the same time, Heavenly Radiance’s twin blades drove into another serpent head, causing a gush of blood, and that head was slammed violently into one of the others beside it.

Lone Sword let out a savage cry. “All of you, in together! If we don’t kill it, we all die! Put your lives on the line!”

His roar shook the air, and Lone Sword himself lunged in like a madman.

The Thunderfire Sword transformed into a ten-meter blade of annihilation, chopping down one serpent head. Little Ai also hurled herself forward without the slightest hesitation. Facing this terrifying boss, she did not waver at all. The silver spear in her hand flew out, splitting into six javelins in midair, which she hurled down at the boss.

The boss whipped its head and knocked away four of the javelins, while the other two went in with hissing sounds and blasted two bloody holes open in its skull. At the same time, Ling’er’s powerful healing support kept everyone going. In that moment, every single person was fighting for their life.

By then, Illusion Moon’s whole body had been swallowed to the waist and could disappear into the mouth at any second. Suddenly, a shockwave erupted from beneath the Serpent King, blasting everyone around it apart, and even Dragon Battle was thrown clear.

I was the one blown back the farthest. By the time I got up, the effect of Long Winged Flight had already worn off, and it was impossible to rush in again. Then I remembered that Heart Moon, as a healer, should have attribute-enhancing potions, so I shouted, “Heart Moon, give me your stat-boosting potion, now!”

Heart Moon startled, glanced at the boss, then pulled out a red bottle and threw it to me. I caught it and swallowed it without even looking.

“Ding! You have consumed Madness Potion: movement speed increased by 200 percent, jump power by 150 percent, attack speed by 60 percent, health and mana recovery speed by 25 percent, damage taken reduced by 20 percent. Duration: 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, you enter a weakened state: all attributes reduced by 70 percent for 1 hour.”

I ignored the warning. I was already throwing myself in from behind like a madman. This time, before Illusion Moon was torn apart and swallowed whole, I was determined to pry open that huge mouth.

Then Lone Sword rushed over as well. Seeing the situation, he did not hesitate and let out a long howl, pouring every ounce of strength he had into both hands, gripping the Annihilation Sword, and slashing fiercely at a massive serpent head lunging toward me.

The serpent head twisted aside to evade the strike, then smashed back down with full force. Lone Sword spat blood wildly and was sent flying like a cannonball. A damage number of eight thousand flashed over his head, and by miracle, he did not die.

That single blow bought me precious time. I threw myself into the air with all my strength, clutching the Wishful Staff, and charged madly at the serpent head biting Illusion Moon.

The Wishful Staff jammed hard into the monster’s blood-soaked maw.

“Give my friend back to me!”

I kept roaring as power surged through my whole body, forcing that enormous mouth open. I could clearly see the rows of pale teeth inside the gaping jaws, and even Illusion Moon’s body inside had been bitten to a bloody wreck. She lay quietly upon the snake’s blood-red tongue. Fortunately, I had rushed in in time. At the last instant, before the boss could swallow the final part of her body, I arrived. But now the boss began to move that mouth again, trying to swallow both me and Illusion Moon together.

I scooped up Illusion Moon. Her whole body had been almost completely chewed apart, and her beautiful face was covered in wounds. I carried her on my back and smashed the cannon shot into the fleshy wall inside the serpent’s head. The boss, in pain, opened its mouth, and I reached the edge of that maw as well. But then the boss snapped its mouth shut again. I hurriedly feigned an attack, relying on my shield to absorb the blow, and once more forced open the blood-red jaws.

The boss paused, then bit down again with even more force. There was no way I could escape that bite. But at that moment a white light struck us both and knocked me and Illusion Moon out of the boss’s mouth. I saw that the one who saved me was Little Ai. That one strike let me escape the Serpent King’s maw, but she herself was crushed to death.

I had just landed and taken less than two steps with Illusion Moon on my back when the Serpent King’s eight huge heads, with sixteen pairs of cold snake eyes, silently and simultaneously came after me from behind.

As fast as lightning, as forceful as a mountain, the serpent heads lunged to my back in an instant. That terrifying, scorching breath was already blowing against the nape of my neck.

In that instant, every hair on my body stood on end. It was over. I had done all I could. Was this the end? But then Dragon Battle charged out from the side, crashing bodily into the boss and saving my life, only to vanish into thin air under the boss’s alternating attacks from all eight heads.

Ling’er rushed to us and quickly created a magic array. The effects of the potion on my body were removed, while my health and mana began to recover rapidly. At the same time, Illusion Moon’s body also started healing at a visibly rapid pace.

Ling’er then stood before us, murmured a long incantation, and four pillars of light descended from the sky. A row of terrifying damage numbers floated up from the boss!

Forty thousand.
Forty thousand.
Forty thousand.
Forty thousand.

In an instant, one hundred and sixty thousand health was ripped away from the boss. But she herself was struck by the full force of the boss’s serpent tail—eighty thousand damage floated above her head, and without question, she was instantly killed. Still, that priest girl had fulfilled her duty.

Although the boss was left with only a sliver of health, suddenly one serpent head bit into Heart Moon’s body, and she too was kicked offline.

Now, Heavenly Dragon City was left with only four people and one humanoid summon. And the boss still had a sliver of health left—only no one knew just how much that sliver amounted to.