Eight young figures were running, heading in the direction of a monstrous dragon emanating a terrifying aura. However, these people didn't seem to perceive it, because instead of stopping in their tracks, they increased their speed even further, as they got closer to the monstrosity.
The Undead Dragon quickly found itself being bombarded by numerous attacks: numerous spells, skills and techniques were thrown at it, as the group of eight acolytes mustered everything they had and unleashed the strongest assault they could possibly deliver.
The reason everyone acted as if they had completely descended into madness was because they had to kill the creature in under one minute. Otherwise, all of their efforts would be rendered meaningless by the dragon's abnormal regeneration.
Roran took the lead of the assault by brandishing the huge shield in his hand forward, while using [Shield Bash], focusing the dragon's attention onto himself.
Seeing that it had turned its head toward his direction, he immediately cast a spell that enchanted his sword, enveloping it in a luminous glow. Immediately after, he swung his sword repeatedly and so rapidly his hands became blurry, sending out successive slashes that managed to infuriate the dragon even more.
"Good one, Harlight!"
Gerri shouted excitedly, channeling all his spirit power on one hand while flying in the air, materializing the biggest [Pyroblast] he could make within his current level of control. Faint smoke could be seen appearing around his figure, showing the spell was hot enough to burn the water particle in the air.
On the other side, Sigurd, who had been healed by Orion, returned to his normal condition. He quickly picked up his ax embedded in the wall, before stomping on the ground and darting towards the dragon.
Eyes completely focused on the massive figure in front of him, the mighty Titan's Bloodline holder brought the axe high to the air and once again executed his special battle art [Soul Shaker].
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
Consecutive ear-deafening sounds were once again heard, as Sigurd's axe ferociously rotated under his command and struck the Undead Dragon mercilessly.
Sigurd's rampaging manner of attack was quickly followed by Yunxiao, who unleashed his powerful thunder spear again. The illusionary manifestation of the dragon visible on the tip of the spear coiled in the air, before landing on the Undead Dragon's right side, sending it sliding on the ground a few steps.
Even Annara decided to let go of her whip and focused on releasing a powerful offensive spell of her own. Few moments later, blazes of jet-black flame could be seen around her figure, as she cast [Hellfire], a tier 5 combination spell of darkness and fire element.
Emery was the last to enter the fray, as what he planned to 'gift' the dragon was something he had wholeheartedly prepared.
Approximately a dozen meters away from the Undead Dragon, neither too far nor too near, Emery closed his eyes, as he focused his concentration on rousing the spirit energy in his body and channeling as much of it as possible into the tier 4 sword in his hand.
A darkish glow slowly, but surely manifested on the sword, signifying the power accumulated within. It grew brighter and brighter, until Emery felt it finally reached the limit. The moment he did, he immediately shot at the dragon and swung the sword downwards.
[Shadow Edge]
BOOM!
A cloud of dust rose in the air, as the dark crescent-shaped slash hit the Undead Dragon squarely. Following it was the ear-piercing shriek of the dragon, informing them that the attack was effective.
Under the relentless attacks of the group, the Undead Dragon's health dropped as fast as an eagle swooping down for its prey. However, thirty seconds had passed but the group had barely reached the midpoint of the dragon's health.
[54/100]
"We won't succeed if we continue like this! Give it all you have!!" Roran shouted loudly, evidently desperate to beat this bonus level.
The young man had chosen to completely abandon defense, as he threw the shield in his hand at the dragon, while taking out a second sword. His figure immediately disappeared from sight, as he shot towards the dragon at twice his normal speed.
[Soulless Stream]
This was the sword skill that Emery considered to take, which would allow him to deliver 32 consecutive attacks in its later stage in a matter of seconds.
Lustrous glow of lights enveloped the two swords in Roran's hands, as he struck the Undead Dragon with it. It was apparent that the former had lost his usual calm and was currently giving his all, without caring of anything else.
"A little bit more!!!" Roran shouted irritatedly. They were so close to finally clearing the challenge, even he got quite agitated. They needed just a little bit more.
At the same time as Roran's persistent attacks, a figure jumped in. He moved around nimbly like a shadow, taking out two knives that faintly gleamed before striking the dragon's bare feet.
This figure was none other than Chumo. To everyone's surprise, the bone shard that had pierced through his body was still there but didn't seem to have any adverse effect on his actions. The young Asian was still able to skillfully launch his attacks, as if he didn't feel any pain at all.
Emery noticed his friend's body glowed slightly, which he immediately thought of as some kind of special spell that Orion cast on the latter to increase his strength.
It was obvious that everyone was doing their best to jointly attack the dragon, for the sake of bringing it down.
[40 seconds – 35/100]
[50 seconds – 17/100]
The situation forced Emery to once again the most powerful skill in his repertoire at the moment, [Shadow Edge]. His spirit force was gathered from every inch of his body and accumulated entirely into the tier 4 sword, before he unleashed the devastating attack at the dragon with the cost of the sword itself.
PRANG! Loud crisp sounds rang in the air as the tier 4 sword in Emery's hand shattered into pieces and scattered on the ground.
[57 seconds – 7/100]
[60 seconds – 2/100]
ROAR!!!
[100/100]
It was as if God had decided to press the stop button. The eight acolytes who ferociously attacked the Undead Dragon abruptly came into a stop. They were all utterly shocked, seeing such a close number even at their best efforts.
Especially to Roran, who took the failure extremely hard. To make matters worse, his decision to increase firepower at the expense of his shield and Annara, who discarded her whip that she used to restrain the Undead Dragon for the same reason, now put the young man in grave danger, as the dragon had turned its attention to him.
The dragon's massive claw crushed upon the Harlight protege, who seemed to be still in a dumbfounded state. This attack coming from it effortlessly destroyed the new tier 4 set armor the latter wore and sent him flat into the ground.
This time, Emery was unable to react fast enough. He could only watch as the young man turned his head toward him, seeing the last look the former had, before being smashed by the dragon's feet.
[Total number of acolytes: 7/692]
At the same time, in the corner of his eye, Emery saw Chumo fall to his knees, while the two knives in his hands weakly dropped to the ground. He immediately cast [Blink] and appeared where Chumo was, catching his body before it completely hit the hard ground.
It was at that moment that Emery finally saw the aftereffect the spell cast by Orion had over Chumo's condition.
Apparently, it was an adrenaline-type spell that would immediately put its user in critical state once its effect ended. It also didn't help that Chumo's body condition wasn't optimal when the spell was cast on him, resulting in even more severe consequences.
The Asian Prince looked at his dear friend with a faint smile on his face, "You can do it, Emery… finish this…" After saying those words, Chumo closed his eyes weakly and breathed his last.
[Your team Chumo has been eliminated from the game]
[Total number of acolytes : 6/692]
They were now two men short. Emery didn't even have a weapon on him. Not just that, the Undead Dragon was also busy running amok. It appeared there was no more hope for them to beat this challenge.
Annara, who was opposite where Emery was, shouted the obvious. "All is lost! We can't do it!"
Emery took a deep breath, ignoring the blasting sound of the dragon roar as well as Annara's incessant shouts. Roran's one last look was clear, he was obviously full of regret for being unable to defeat the dragon. Meanwhile, Chumo's last words, full of conviction that he would succeed, stir his blood.
Unfortunately, unlike the last Magus Games, Emery currently didn't have any other trump card that he kept. And without a weapon to use, his firm will alone would not allow him to kill the dragon.
However, it was at this moment that a thought suddenly appeared in his mind, a crazy one. Even so, it didn't take Emery long to be willing to bet it all on this idea of his.
Lifting his head, he confidently shouted, "Everyone, follow my signal!!"