Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 804 - 445: The Last Moment

Your mind must stay sharp, your gaze must remain keen, otherwise, the next second, you could be duped by the BOSS into a fatal wrist-foot combo followed by quietly waiting for death under seven or eight additional curses.

The system prompts are no longer reliable, with Armstrong, who has broken free from mental restraints, completely defying attack logic. Where it should sweep, it stabs; when it should roar and go idle, it uses area attacks; when a major move alert appears, it defends and recovers. Players and the game can no longer distinguish who’s playing whom, and the frontline damage dealers and tanks are in agonizing pain, with Tiffany, the commander, also in a pitiful state amidst Armstrong’s underhanded attacks. After sacrificing over a dozen players, Tiffany, with her rapid learning ability and a hunter’s eagle eyes, has fully grasped the BOSS’s attack methods. Casualties decreased due to her excellent command, and the delay from command issuance to execution had to be compensated for by the players’ personal abilities.

Gradually, this world BOSS expedition has filtered out many low-level, unskilled rookie players, elevated the players’ skill level, and made Tiffany’s command less stressful; even the output efficiency increased instead of decreased. Yet Tiffany couldn’t be pleased, as Armstrong’s 60% health threshold was nearing, and they were about to face another name-call barrage.

The overpoweringly strong beam attack could not be resisted in any ordinary way; Tiffany thought of a method, albeit a harsh one.

According to observations, the[Annihilation Cannonade]was a single-target directed skill, which meant that regardless of how wide the pillar of light was, it only killed one. This was the conclusion drawn from observing survivors of the barrage. A hunter player used his pet to block the attack; what was his fault, he just wanted to hug his little turtle before dying. Despite the Hunter Pet Protection Association’s strong condemnation of this beastly act, they all secretly breathed a sigh of relief and brought their pets, previously biting the tentacles, back to their sides.

The resurrection ritual for hunter pets required a lengthy process and a pricey toll, which reflected the game’s encouragement for players to cherish animals. Using one’s beloved pet to block a photon cannon, and the likes, is not to be advocated.

Even though the hunters could now survive longer, the number of pets was too small in comparison to the total player population.

With no pets to block the cannon, who should block it?

[Gatekeeper Angel Armstrong’s health has reached 60%]

[Holy Light Shackles broken, Skeleton Liberation]

[Skill activated, Annihilation Cannonade]

Tiffany clenched her fists, watching the blood-red mark on the battlefield; she bit her lower lip and quickly took roll.

"Lauf, protect General Charles."

"Xinsera, protect Priestess Essena."

"Luke, protect your teacher."

...

Command after command was issued, and the expressions on everyone’s faces varied. Those named were young, full of potential, with promising futures, but still immature for now.

Using the weak to protect the strong, letting the main force hide under the wings of support.

Doludo’s veins bulged, the skin and markings on his head turning a consistent blood red. He maintained the loud voice of a Berserker throughout the battle, now slightly hoarse.

"Luke."

His student looked particularly thin next to the towering figure of the Berserker. Luke spread his arms wide, as if a fledgling was straining its wings to the fullest.

Doludo heard his voice and laughed merrily.

"Don’t worry, teacher, it’s just a game. I..." The dazzling white light swallowed the young man, the Berserker stood motionless, his eyes fixed on the tombstone in front of him.

"To die for the General is my honor, even if it’s just in a game." Charles didn’t speak, his words turned into stone and spikes colliding against Armstrong’s massive body—insignificant, yet sharp.

Tiffany had even deliberately chosen victims with close relationships to them to boost their morale; it has to be said, the effects were significant.

The sacrificers headed towards death with mirth, while the survivors’ expressions were heavy. Such a sight made Kristo sigh, Susanna’s barrier resisting erosion seemed to solidify a bit more.

Powerless to retaliate, Susanna looked at the Gatekeeper Angel standing by her side; he hadn’t joined the others NPCs to fight alongside players. The will of holy light was tugging inside the body of the world boss, with a part also maintaining the souls of the dead within the tombstones. Considerable strength was required to prevent the Nightmare from eroding and assimilating his spoils of war. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

With combat strength further concentrated, Tiffany breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Kylo Servblade standing not far from her. Tiffany understood what had to be done and shook her head, "You are the main damage dealer, my level is low, my life or death is not important. His Excellency the Blue Dragon has just connected to the channel of the dead, and even if I become a tombstone, I can still give commands while lying ’dead’."

Kylo Servblade’s gaze was sharp, his eyes like icy blades.

"Only the queen can declare victory, you are our leader, our banner."

Tiffany smiled and responded to Kylo in the same manner as those young people, "Of course, my Captain of the Guard, but this is just a game, even if I fall, I will still cheer for your bravery."

Kylo Servblade looked down at Tiffany with a smile that resembled the warm sunlight filtering through the leaves, and turned his head away embarrassedly, thinking, "Even in the game, I won’t let you die, you can only die by my hand, my queen."

"Moreover, we have more than just one banner." The Elven Queen’s golden hair was lifted by the storm, thunder roared behind everyone, and behind that curtain of emerald green emerged, the Dream Elf Queen erected a new banner in everyone’s hearts.

Claudia, entering the battle strongly. Her wings, like tender branches covered with floral green leaves, were all condensed from the power of the dream, making her appear like a god descending in the dream world. The scaled heart-shaped small scales raised on the shoulder blades, the emerald scales on her arms and cheeks made Claudia appear dangerously enchanting. The Half-Dragon Queen held a Divine Artifact wreathed in storm, her momentum even surpassing that of Armstrong.

"Storm! Unleash!!" The Magic Sword flashing with lightning struck a vertical slash, stirring the clouds with thunderous lightning snakes landing on the flesh mountain.

[Ahhhhhhyyyyyy] A distorted scream rose from Armstrong’s body, his tentacles flailing wildly in the electricity, and the beams fired from the twitching magic eyes turned into a fine light drizzle.

"All forces on alert! Fire the third round!!!!"

Claudia, as if blessed by the gods, with her own power, managed to slash nearly fifteen percent of the BOSS’s health. Armstrong’s second release, Skeleton Liberation, greatly enhanced his defensive capabilities, with bone spurs growing from the flesh providing both defense and can pierce, like wearing Reflective Armor.

[Armstrong reaches health limit of forty percent]

[Holy Light Shackles damaged, flesh liberated]

[Skill activated, White Bone Storm]

[Skill activated, Annihilation Cannonade]

It was not just the deadly beam attack; the flying bone shards were like a deadly blizzard. Players taken out by the cannonade, the others endured across-the-board damage, with the sharp bone shards tearing flesh and embedding deep, warriors endured the pain to take the hits, while mages maintained their spells amidst the agony. It was as if an avalanche had come, the player’s defense line built by Tiffany collapsed at this moment, the falling tombstones turning into a tide of despair sweeping over the players, and in this pallid world, everyone was about to fall into slumber.

Gentle green light fell amidst the paleness, the fluttering light spots soft as leaves, the power within awakening the sleepers, refreshed and clear-headed.

"Dream and awakening, my kin stand at the pinnacle of dreams," Claudia said with a gentle and cool accent as if stating a fact, yet with an elegant pride.

The players opened their eyes, their various colored pupils at that moment turning the same emerald green as Claudia’s, the eyes seeming to sleep within layers of illusion, the dragons and the Dragon Followers becoming connected.

The Destroyer Armstrong seemed to sense a threat, his body bubbling and swelling like boiling meat porridge in a pot, his already massive body actually grew again, even starting to swell and trend towards the Formless. The new ability release allowed Armstrong’s health bar to not just recover sharply; the flesh liberation granted Armstrong powerful regeneration and evolutionary speed, if left unchecked, he would fully recover and even grow into a state that physical attacks couldn’t reach, the Formless.

There was no time for extra thoughts; Claudia immediately activated the Divine Artifact’s equipment skill once again. Dream Elf players had already fallen into a dangerous situation; their only choice was a swift resolution.

"Storm! Unleash!!"