Chapter 422: Overwhelming Aura
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
[Gluttony Aura]: Inflicts the status effect of {Gluttony} every 3 seconds, on any target within the aura ranged. {Gluttony} will decrease 1% of the target’s attack power. Maximum stack: 50. Additional attack buffs will be granted to the aura’s owner whenever one of the following auras is applied on the target: {Greed Aura}, or {Slayer Aura}, or {Destiny Aura}.
Two auras: 50% bonus attack.
Three auras: 100% bonus attack.
Four auras: 150% bonus attack.
Aura radius: 20 meters around the owner.
{Gluttony Aura} belonged to Bellroy, while the other three auras belonged to the other horsemen. As the aura skill description depicted, if more than one aura is stacked, the bosses would gain an attack bonus buff.
{Greed Aura} would cause players to receive a stackable debuff, just like {Gluttony}. {Greed} would cause players to receive additional damage received, by 1% per stack, with a maximum of 50 stacks. Debuffs will stack once every 3 seconds.
{Slay Aura} would inflict direct damage of 3,000 chaos damage, every 3 seconds.
{Destiny Aura} would create a field where players will be stunned for 3 seconds, at a certain chance, every 3 seconds.
Zhang Yang practically threw in the towel when he had read the description of the auras on each of the bosses. To make things worse, he just realized that the bosses were sharing the same HP bar! That meant, they could not kill the bosses one by one to slowly terminate the threat of the auras! All 7,600,000 HP had to be dealt with before all the bosses could die.
"Boss, how you want to split it? You’d take two, or three at the same time?’ asked Endless Starlight.
Without a doubt, these bosses had to be kited away from each other to prevent the aura from stacking on each other. If each of the bosses gains a 150% attack power boost, the team would not even last for 1 minute.
Zhang Yang thought of a strategy for a long time before talking to Endless Starlight. "You’ll take on Mecca. I’ll let my Mythical Turtle tank Cindy. I will take on Bellroy and Gray at the same time. These four bosses share one single HP gauge. That mean, we have no need to fight them all. Just focus only on one at a time, and that is Mecca!"
This was a last resort. Endless Starlight might have a strong equipment, but he would never be as powerful as Zhang Yang. The battle would be over in a flash for Endless Starlight if Zhang Yang had allowed Endless Starlight to tank two bosses at the same time. Furthermore, Mecca’s {Greed Aura} was able to increase the damage taken. If Endless Starlight had more than one boss on his *ss, the auras would stack atop each other, and would further increase the overall difficulty.
Besides Mecca, the other bosses’ aura effects could lower a player’s damage output, damage them over time, and inflict a group status effect skill. If everyone were to fight within the aura range of the bosses, the team could not deal much damage, while taking damage over time, and risk getting stunned every 3 seconds!
If the attacking players did their jobs well without taking much damage, and Endless Starlight properly tanked the damage, it would not greatly affect the team’s overall performance.
Zhang Yang summoned the Mythical Turtle and got it ready for the attack. "Hundred Shots, when the fight starts, I need you to kite Cindy to the turtle. Can’t ready depend on the turtle’s movement speed to move to Cindy. Endless Starlight, you’ll position the boss to the left, and I’ll position my own bosses to the right. Remember to keep the distance between us as far as 40 meters!"
"Got it, boss."
"Understood."
"Any questions? Fatty, follow me. When I fight Bellroy, I want you to attack Gray. When Gray chases you, I’ll draw his attention," said Zhang Yang.
"Leave it to me."
Zhang Yang gazed at Fantasy Sweetheart and said, "Sweetheart, I want you to focus on Endless Starlight. However, at the same time, you’ll need to heal the Mythical Turtle once in a while."
"Ok!" squeaked the busty dullard.
Lastly, Zhang Yang turned to Han Ying Xue and laughed. "I guess you’ll be healing me then. It’s all up to you now. You’ll be focusing on me, and you’ll also have to make sure that the Mythical Turtle does not die!"
Han Ying Xue glared at Zhang Yang for a long time, until Zhang Yang was extremely afraid that she might just jump in and hump his brains out. That woman might actually do that! She walked closer and said, "Dinner’s on you!"
"…Fine..."
Without a doubt, Zhang Yang was glad that she had just demanded dinner and nothing else. Right when he turned his back to face the boss, he could feel a sudden shiver down in his spine. Zhang Yang could have guessed that it was because of a certain Frost Snow giving him the death stare.
"*cough* Erhm. Let’s get ready!" Zhang Yang charged up to the boss with Hundred Shots, Endless Starlight, and Fatty Han following him.
{Spear of Obliteration}, {Finger of Justice}, {Take Aim}!
Four attacks flew out in the air and landed on all four of the bosses. With a great battle cry, the four foes charged at their attackers.
"Criminals will be punished!"
"The Sacred One does not tolerate evil!"
"Kneel down before the Lord!"
"Judgement shall be on you!"
With their short opening speeches delivered, the horses neighed furiously and galloped towards their targets.
Hundred Shots leaped back and ran towards the turtle. Although it was slow, the turtle was still able to snap its jaw and add a {Tear} on Cindy. The Mythical Turtle had easily taken over the minimal aggro generated by Hundred Shots.
Endless Starlight had kited Mecca for as far as 50 meters away from the Turtle, maintaining a good distance to prevent the auras from stacking with each other.
Zhang Yang had started his attack and grabbed hold of both Bellroy’s and Gray’s attention firmly.
‘Ding! You have gained the effect {Glutton} (1 Stack). Attack power reduced by 1%!’
Zhang Yang had received the first stack of debuff on him, which had lowered his basic damage by 1%. Although he had received the DoT effect of the other boss’ aura, it was as low as 294 damage every 3 seconds, which was close to light caress.
Sun Xin Yu and the other of party members had started to attack Mecca as furiously as they could. They knew that this slugfest was a matter of speed. Healers were extremely important in this kind of fights since their speed and power of healing would definitely affect the outcome of the battle.
Back to Zhang Yang’s battle, he clearly felt the power of the aura stacking effects when both Gray and Bellroy were on his radar. Each of the bosses had gained an additional 50% attack boost, causing their attack to pack quite the punch.
‘-12,831!’
‘-13,042!’
Their huge sword swings had literally torn the air around them ever so violently that Zhang Yang could hear, and feel the devastating blow from them. Each of the bosses had whacked him for close to 13,000 damage points, EACH! Han Ying Xue alone could not heal that much HP alone! From the first strike onward, Zhang Yang knew what he had to do. Speeding the fight up would be the very least he could do. On top of that, Zhang Yang had to utilize all his other defensive skills and various jugs of potions!
Bellroy attacked Zhang Yang without waiting. By the time the huge, blade landed on Zhang Yang’s shoulder, he could feel a faint flash of light behind him, and the boss was stunned in his place. The Titan’s set equipment set effect had triggered its skill and had stunned Bellroy for 10 seconds.
The 10 seconds stun was too good to be true. Not only had it greatly reduced the attack power, its aura was also deactivated!
‘-7,328!’
As seen from Gray’s diminished attacks, the aura stacking bonus attack was gone for 10 seconds. Han Ying Xue was able to heal Zhang Yang back in time, and had even managed to spare some time to heal the Turtle!
Since all the bosses shared the same HP bar, all attacks on the boss had been averaged out and had caused the entire battle to be dragged on for a little longer. Still, they had only 7,600,000 HP, which was still lesser than a Level 80 Violet-Platinum. Sun Xin Yu and the rest of the party members could easily deplete the boss’ HP in less than 3 minutes.
The problem was not the attack, but the endurance. Could the tanks and the turtle hold out for that long?
3 minutes later, the HP gauge had been hacked down, leaving all the boss with 20% HP and had allowed the usage of {Killing Cleave}. This was a new threshold for all players to attack. Almost all class had skills like a Berserker’s {Indiscriminate} and {Killing Cleave}. Pyromancers had {Rage of the Flame}. There were other class skills which had not revealed themselves yet, but the important aspect was the fact that they could only be activated or used on a target with less than 20% HP.
Sadly, during this crucial moment, the Mythical Turtle had drawn its last breath. Even though the Violet-Platinum tier battle mount had a higher Defense compared to Zhang Yang, and a strong Defensive boost skill, it was only limited to a few seconds and had long cooldown. Although both Han Ying Xue and Fantasy Sweetheart had managed to find some time to heal the turtle, they had their focus on Zhang Yang and Endless Starlight. It was already a miracle that the turtle was able to hold on for that long.
Cindy’s menacing attacks had crushed the turtle, and had turned the poor turtle into an empty shell.
"Victory shall be granted to those to worship the Lord!" Cindy raised her sword high, as she claimed victory. Without delay, Cindy shifted her horse and turned to attack the second aggro target, which was Han Ying Xue. Although Han Ying Xue had realized that she was being targeted, there was nothing she could do in time, as the boss had taken no time at all to reach to her side. A sword was swung and struck Han Ying Xue.
Transferred!
With speed on par with lightning, Zhang Yang had cast {Sacrifice} on Han Ying Xue. At the same time, Zhang Yang quickly made his way to Cindy and had attacked her. He had to draw all the aggro from Han Ying Xue to him as soon as possible. Although the amount of aggro generated by healing was small, Han Ying Xue had been healing for a full 3 minutes, so even Zhang Yang would have to work his *ss off to snatch her aggro!
As expected, after 5 seconds, Cindy was still attacking Han Ying Xue. Zhang Yang continued to attack Cindy and displayed an utmost prowess display of footwork. He stood in between Cindy and Han Ying Xue, utilizing every possible move to physically block Cindy’s attack.
"Curse you!" Cindy growled madly and wanted to circle around Zhang Yang to get to Han Ying Xue.
This time, Zhang Yang performed faster and moved around like a fish in the water. With little but fast movements, Zhang Yang had anticipated every possible move that the boss was about to make, and blocked them without fail.
"I’ll be d*mned. Dummy! You’re one hell of a protector!" said Han Ying Xue after witnessing Zhang Yang’s heroic actions. "Look at you, trying your very best to protect this lovely maiden. I’ve decided to accept your love!"
"What the hell, woman!? Can you please choose the right time and place to say such things! We are fighting now!" Zhang Yang cried out in frustration. He had no time nor the effort to spare for Han Ying Xue’s random rants or compliments. This time, she was spouting nothing but harassment!
Bellroy had long since recovered from the Titan’s stun and had rejoined the other two bosses, combining their aura. All bosses had gained a 200% attack boost and were capable of dealing as much as 18,000 damage per boss. Without any action taken, Zhang Yang would go down in mere seconds!
"What about {Dance of Heaven and Earth}?" everyone asked.
"No! Not here!" Zhang Yang shot down their suggestions to use the ulti skill. {Dance of Heaven and Earth} was a skill with a 24 hour long cool down time. Undoubtedly, the skill could only be used once! If they were to use this skill and waited for the skill to be used again, the quest [Breaking Free] would definitely fail. On the other hand, the quest - [Bury the Secret] was an S tier quest. The time taken to complete the quest would surely be used to evaluate the final score. Zhang Yang had never wished to compromise that just to complete the quest! Perfect score, nothing else! With a steeled decision, Zhang Yang would not use {Dance of Heaven and Earth} here because he knew, from the bottom of his heart, that the other bosses up ahead would be even harder than this fight.
After a good time moving around swiftly, Cindy’s attack had finally been diverted to Zhang Yang. It was both good news and bad in the same time. Cindy has stopped targeting the healer. But now Zhang Yang was taking attacks from three bosses at the same time. It was not something that anyone, not even himself could last against! In the depths of desperation, Zhang Yang used {Shield Wall} to protect and heal himself, thanks to the [Titan Wall] and the [Titan Chest Plate] armor effect. In that 15 seconds, he had gained an immense defensive power and was able to heal himself back to full health! A 15 seconds, God of War effect!
14%...
On the overall perspective, the four bosses were at the ends of their lifelines.
5%...
After the 15 seconds {Shield Wall}, Zhang Yang was once more plunged back into the mouth of the tiger. 87,000 HP was strong, but here, it was as weak as soft tofu being squashed into smithereens.
Zhang Yang still had one last trump card, the [Heart of the Death Knight] which granted him 10 seconds of true invincibility.
4%...
2%...
1%...
0%.
"T-The L-Lord shall…bless…his..s-serva-ant.." One by one, the horsemen dropped fell from their horses and left the world with one last speech at the tip of their tongues.
They had done it. Even so, there was still a lingering fear in their hearts. If the bosses had slightly more HP, they would have killed Zhang Yang. Once the main pillar falls, so would everyone else in the party.
"Why are the bosses here so hard to defeat?"
It was natural that they would voice out their complaints. Compared to the other Yellow-Gold bosses that they had encountered before, it was heaven and earth. It would better for the system to just change their tier to Violet-Platinum instead of hiding it behind a mask.
"How should I know?" said Zhang Yang. Level 90 was just a brief period. Once players had surpassed Level 100 and entered the Chaos Realm, the difficulty of all the monsters and boss would have a major upgrade. Perhaps, the system had made the bosses here harder to defeat, to allow a certain level of adjustment for the player to get used to. After all, Yellow-Gold bosses were being seen more frequently than before. What was the use of just increasing the difficulty then? It may be frequent, but the number of bosses would never be too many for everyone to fight. As such, close to 90% of players around China had never fought a battle as hard as Zhang Yang and his party had just been through.
"Enough sulking! Let’s check out the boss’ drops!" The chirpy voice belonged to none other than Wei Yan Er.
As expected and predicted, each boss dropped one fragment of the hammer. Endless Starlight had swept them all and had collected a total of five pieces. The man was so happy that his smile had closed his eyes shut.
[Evil Breaker Glove] (Yellow-Gold, Leather Armor)
Defense: +24
Vitality: +151
Strength: +137
Dexterity: +60
Level Requirement: 90
Sun Xin Yu had a pair of Level 80 Violet-Platinum gloves and had no need to participate in the rolling for the item. Fatty Han, Hundred Shots, and Lost Dreams rolled for it, and Hundred Shots won the item.
[Ring of Grandiose] (Yellow-Gold, Ring)
Vitality: +76
Strength: +68
Dexterity: +68
Equip Effect: Grants a 1% chance to inflict 10,000 Shadow damage on every attack. Upon successful proc, a magic shield will be cast on the user which will absorb 10,000 damage. The shield will last for 30 seconds, or after 10,000 damage points have been absorbed.
Level Requirement: 90
"This is a bloody good ring!"
It was good. The effect itself was enough the ring to be a Violet-Platinum tier. However, the 1% proc rate was too low.