Chapter 128: Second Mutation! Faye Takes Action!
Amid the shock, the players' eyes lit up with excitement. The biggest hurdle to defeating the boss had been overcome!
Everyone's expressions changed instantly.
A moment ago, there was despair and fear. Now, the players reverted to their typical mindset—
Time to farm the boss! Time for loot! Charge!
Only Sterl stood silently, watching the Legendary Crystal in Spike's hand with a flicker in his eyes.
To anyone else, that item would be a waste, but Sterl could allocate points to learn the legendary ability from the Legendary Crystal.
Although "Flowing Beads" wasn't as high-quality as "Shadow Stealth," it was still a legendary ability!
He pondered how to get his hands on that Legendary Crystal.
Under Spike's lead, the players regrouped.
Though the World's Abomination still had terrifying combat power, each attack was forceful and heavy.
But with over 200 remaining players coordinating, it was futile!
Frontline players activated various damage reduction skills, while the backline players cast healing and shields. As long as the World's Abomination couldn't one-shot them, it couldn't break through their formation!
The boss's life force slowly but surely dwindled, and after a while, the battle continued.
As more wounds appeared on the World's Abomination, it let out another roar.
Countless waves emerged from the void, and as time passed, the power limit of the Netherworld realm became increasingly unstable. Consequently, the boss's moves slightly evolved beyond the level of legendary abilities.
The range of Heaven Water's tidal summoning was now even larger!
In an instant, the azure waters rapidly encircled many players.
Despite the players being somewhat prepared this time, they still couldn't evade! After all, they were only second class... facing a legendary ability, especially one that seemed downgraded from Divine Power, they had no chance to resist!
Numerous water prisons trapped the players.
Fortunately, Spike kept his promise. With a pained expression, he quickly activated the Legendary Crystal in his hand.
The power of Flowing Beads surged!!
A semi-transparent barrier, resembling flowing mercury, appeared over every player on the field.
In an instant, the players trapped by the tidal waves were freed from control. They felt light as a feather and quickly retreated, distancing themselves from the boss's attack range.
Thus, the boss's formidable move utterly failed!
The World's Abomination roared, hunched over! But no matter how hard it tried to absorb energy, it couldn't draw in a single bit, and its wounds showed no signs of healing.
"It worked!"
"Haha, now we just need to finish off this boss!"
"Kill, kill, kill!"
...
Although the players had already trusted Spike's promise, now that Flowing Beads had nullified the BOSS's ultimate move, their last worry vanished.
What does it matter if the boss in front of us has high attributes and powerful combat abilities?
The subsequent battle became somewhat tedious.
The players followed their usual raid process: dealing damage, healing, and rotating the frontline tanks.
The World's Abomination's life force was rapidly depleting.
Spike displayed extraordinary valor. Alone with his sword, his attributes boosted by the golden-quality skill, he fought like a war god!
Facing the boss's attacks, he even stood at the forefront, clashing his blade against the boss's scythe-like hands!
Although Spike was occasionally knocked back, he managed to block the boss's onslaught head-on!
Spike's efforts significantly reduced the pressure on the other players.
The crowd couldn't help but praise him: "As expected of an S-rank player, so strong!"
"You're invincible, Spike!"
Amidst the cheers and laughter, the World's Abomination grew weaker. It used its last legendary ability, which was promptly nullified by Flowing Beads.
Sterl's expression suddenly changed. He sensed that the boss's life force was dwindling, now below 20%.
Due to the legion contract, players were considered a team.
Therefore, the loot was obtained through an internal bidding system within the team. Whenever an item dropped, it was displayed on all players' panels, and everyone could bid to acquire it. The resources spent on the bid were then evenly distributed among the remaining players.
However, Sterl did not intend to play by these rules. He had already made up his mind to leave the team, deal at least 10% of the damage by himself, and take all the drops.
Before he could act, he sensed something was wrong!
The "world" around him felt off! This was the power of the Perfected Law, which granted Sterl his insight.
He didn't leave the team but silently stood at the back.
At that moment, Spike pulled out another golden-quality skill scroll. Golden flames roared around him as he wielded a giant sword, slashing fiercely!
He charged through the "muck" barrage emitted by the boss, cutting through with his sword!
But the next second...
Boom!!!
The BOSS's body twisted once again, sprouting dozens of scythe-like structures. Its aura also changed dramatically, and its head split open, blooming like a flower to reveal numerous tentacles. It had completely transformed into a twisted being, no longer resembling anything human.
The boss casually swiped its hand!
Bang!
The golden armor and giant sword vanished into shards of light.
Spike, who previously outclassed ordinary players with his double S-rank strength, was instantly killed by this strike.
The shift in the situation was so abrupt that many players were caught off guard.
They stood there, dumbfounded, unable to react!
It was like a sudden death scenario.
The World's Abomination then took a deep breath and exhaled dark purple flames...
Boom!!!
The players were momentarily stunned, but their instinctive reactions drove them to dodge and move away.
However, the range of the fiery breath was simply too vast, and many players couldn't evade it in time. Even those who were merely grazed by the flames found their clothes igniting instantly. They were turned into human torches, screaming in agony as they met their demise.
"Holy crap, how did it get close to legendary level??"
"No way! Such a sudden power spike!"
"We're doomed, Spike is dead too!"
Many players used items and skills to scout the boss's new attributes, only to find it had evolved to a third-class, level 150 entity.
And the basic attributes were terrifyingly high, with all four major stats around 1400 points!
Now, any player who gets touched is dead! The boss doesn't even need to use skills to slaughter everyone!
Even Sterl looked grim. His base stats were all under 300 points. With the boosts from divine descent, Life Ignite, and other enhancing equipment, his actual attribute effects were only around 900 points.
Previously, before he had evolved his arcane skill to a C-level, he was slightly inferior to the Shadow of Hatred.
Now, facing the World's Abomination, Sterl felt crushed for the first time.
He was so overwhelmed that he didn't even think about the fact that Spike had been seemingly one-shotted, meaning he wouldn't get that Legendary Crystal.
However...
Sterl noticed something about the aura of the World's Abomination—it hadn't recovered its life force.
"Maybe this is an opportunity?" A gleam flashed in Sterl's eyes. The boss was covered with curses and armor-breaking skills from the players, so while its attributes were high, the physical/magical damage reduction from its constitution and spirit wasn't too extreme!
In other words...
The boss could one-shot Sterl, but Sterl might also be able to one-shot the boss!
All he lacked now was a powerful offensive method…
"Allocate points!" Sterl roared in his mind. This time, he added points to his legendary degree.
The legendary increase for [Divine Flame Drive] unlocked rapidly!
[Four Points: When Divine Flame erupts, it deals additional damage based on the opponent's lost life force.]
[Eight Points: You can use the Divine Flame eruption two more times, with only 75% power.]
...
Sterl was readying himself.
But on the frontlines, the players' morale had completely collapsed. While they wanted to take advantage of the boss's low life force and make a desperate counterattack, it seemed impossible.
The World's Abomination had entered a frenzied killing state. Without using any skills, it randomly swiped and breathed flames, releasing a few long-range malicious impacts. Any player hit was instantly killed. To avoid these seemingly simple attacks, players were forced to flee, leaving no chance to fight back. The boss could take countless hits, but any player hit by it was dead!
The continuous wailing echoed:
"It's over! We're really doomed!"
"Everyone could start preparing to delete their character."
"Dark Moon Alliance, you bastards! Damn you!"
"Spike got one-shotted?? No way, if the strongest player can't take one hit, how do we fight this?"
...
Everyone was utterly despairing, already planning what small jobs they could do in real life to make a living after quitting [Transcendence].
It wasn't just about having a bad attitude. Fighting bosses had basic rules—
The strongest melee unit couldn't even withstand one attack, so there was no way to play.
Within seconds, the players dwindled rapidly.
At this moment, a frigid aura suddenly surged.
The boss's attention instantly focused on a figure in a water-blue robe below.
Then...
Boom!! A blast of fiery breath erupted!
However... accompanied by an inexplicable surge of water, the fiery breath was forcibly blocked.
All the players present were instantly dumbfounded. Who... who is this expert that has appeared out of nowhere??