Chapter 520: ‘First Clear’ of Ethereal Tier Boss
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Truth be told, out of the 48% HP that they had taken off, 10% of it was the additional ‘bonus’ provided by the {Glare of the Death God}. This would indirectly mean that Zhang Yang and his party members were only capable of reducing 38% of the boss’s HP bar in an hour! Based on their current performance, the boss would still have 14% HP remained on him when Zhang Yang’s {God of War Transformation} wears off!
By then, Zhang Yang should be able to use another {Glare of the Death God}. As long as it takes effect, they should still stand a chance at bringing the HP bar of the boss down to 4%.
Still, 4% of such an HP of such magnitude is still a ridiculously large sum. According to the current total DPS of Zhang Yang and his party members, they would still need to go all out for 6 minutes, before they could empty out that hypothetical 4%. Without the {God of War Transformation}, it begs the question of whether Zhang Yang and gang would even survive for 30 seconds. So a duration of 6 minutes is really a long time for them!
Furthermore, what happens if the {Glare of the Death God} does not work? What then?
Battling super powerful bosses are heavily luck-based ventures! For instance, if the second {Glare of the death God} manages to take effect, then the boss should only have 4% HP remaining on him when Zhang Yang’s {God of War Transformation} fades away. The [Zombie Potions] should be able to take care of the remaining 4%!
If not, they would really be in big trouble!
Although they still had their super Skills {Dance of the Heaven and Earth}, 100,000 damage would only scratch the boss!
Going all out!
Zhang Yang and his gang did not have the luxury to even think about saving cost, or weighing the pros and cons of anything! They took all sorts of [Potions] like there was no tomorrow! Within the 2-hour time frame of the {God of War Transformation}, they continuously spammed the skills over again and again --- immediately right after the cool down period, they would just activate their Skills in an attempt to maximize their damage output as efficiently as possible! Every single one of them understood, that if they failed this time, they would have to wait for another 3 days before they can challenge this boss again!
--- without the support of the {God of War Transformation}, they would merely be insects cowering before the boss!
10 minutes before the {God of War Transformation} ended, the HP of the boss dropped down to the remaining 20%.
Under the effects of [Power Potions], everyone decided that it was the right moment to activate their super Skills. They chose the right timing to do so, and began to channel their damage towards the boss at the very last moment.
{Dance of the Heaven and Earth}!
‘-14,000’
‘-14,000’
...
Other than Fantasy Sweetheart, the other nine members in the party activated their {Dance of the Heaven and Earth}! Zhang Yang had also activated his {Chaotic Dance of Electric Current} to boost the damage output of the entire party! However, the damage that {Chaotic Dance of Electric Current} could deal had been greatly diminished, due to the Level Gap Suppression function of the game. {Dance of the Heaven and Earth} inflicts Chaos Damage while {Chaotic Dance of Electric Current} inflicts Nature damage. {Chaotic Dance of Electric Current} performed much poorer than {Dance of the Heaven and Earth} in this case!
10 seconds later, the boss had lost about 1,500,000 HP.
16% HP remaining!
Without having a second thought, Zhang Yang activated all of his remaining powerful Skills on the boss. Since his Rage Bar would always be filled to the brim, Zhang Yang had no worries about having not enough Rage Points to use.
‘-401988!’ {Killing Cleave}
‘-94212!’ {Horizontal Sweep}!
‘-198422!’ {Destructive Smash}!
‘-48222!’ {Frost Strike}!
Even though Zhang Yang had landed quite a number of Critical Attacks, his damage output was still affected by the Level Gap Suppression function of the game, making it impossible to reach his maximum damage output. But, his current damage was already pretty satisfying, especially his {Killing Cleave}! An attack that could reach up to a 400,000 damage could really leave people stunned with their jaws hanging wide open!
This is the power of an [Inheritance]!
Everyone was amazed by it! Fatty Han was anxious and worried at the same time. He was beginning to imagine the glory on him after he gets his [Inheritance]. But at the same time, he was worried that all of their efforts might go to waste if they fail to take down this super boss!
15%, 14%, 13%!
The {God of War Transformation} was nearing its end!
Without any hesitation, Zhang Yang activated {Shield Wall} the moment the {God of War Transformation} was over.
‘-58,417!’
Zhang Yang frowned intensely. He had still received so much damage with his {Shield Wall} active! Without the {Shield Wall}, this strike would have definitely dealt over 200,000 damage! He would have been instantly killed!
After tanking the boss for another 14 seconds, the cooldown period for {Glare of the Death God} was finally over. Zhang Yang prayed deep down his heart as he threw another {Glare of the Death God} onto the boss! If this takes effect, they still had a chance of finishing this! Or else, they would have to die and come back again after 3 days!
Shoof! A shrouding dark skull began to form on top of the boss!
It was a success!
Everyone was cheering in joy, as they now stood a chance at bringing down the boss!
‘-450000!’
‘-450000!’
...
The HP bar of the boss started dropping rapidly, 1% at a time.
"You bastard! It’s that skill again!" Ferra let out a raging roar into the sky. He was so furious that his very face itself started twisting up into a knot, "I shall exterminate you! Exterminate every one of you tiny little insects! To actually push me this far, you all must die!"
"Hey witch! Come! It’s time to use our paired Skills!" Zhang Yang quickly shouted to Han Ying Xue.
Han Ying Xue nodded, and she directed her Flying Mount [Bumblebee] towards Zhang Yang. She jumped off her [Mount] and stood by Zhang Yang’s side.
The two of the held their hands together as they activated their {Blizzard Sky} and {Luna’s Dew}!
‘Immune’! ‘Immune’!
The word ‘Immune’ kept popping out on the top of Zhang Yang’s head as the boss continuously raked at Zhang Yang with its claws. On the other side of things, the boss was receiving a steady stream of 5,000 Chaos Damage numbers!
30 seconds passed, and the bombardment of the {Blizzard Sky} and {Luna’s Dew} finally stopped. The boss reached out with his claws and gave Zhang Yang two powerful slashes! The first hit caused 100,000 damage, while the second hit caused 240,000 damage, killing Zhang Yang in an instant!
However, a white holy light flashed across Zhang Yang’s entire body, and he got back on his feet immediately --- {Rise Anew}!
However, without the support of the {God of War Transformation}, Zhang Yang was like a piece of wet paper standing right before the boss! The boss killed him again with another strike that caused 250,000 damage! Still, it was not over, and Zhang Yang got back to his feet for the second time --- the [Zombie Potion]!
Although the [Zombie Potion] allows players to continue fighting for the next 30 seconds after they die, players would no longer be able to retain the aggro of the boss. The boss immediately turned away, turning himself into a bat, and arrived right on Felice in just a blink of an eye. His claws penetrade all the way through her chest.
‘-248,128!’
‘+24,812!’
Blood oozed out from the chest wound of Felice as she turned into a white ball of light and flew back into the Battle Companion Slot within Zhang Yang’s inventory. At the same time, she dropped a level back to Level 103. She remained curled up in a fetal position as she lay quietly in the Battle Companion Slot. Zhang Yang would have to wait for another 10 minutes before he could summon Felice again.
"Haha! A bunch of weak imbeciles! I’m bored!" Ferra was finally beginning to display the power of an Ethereal boss! He started going on a killing spree as one after the other falls.
Wei Yan Er, Sun Xin Yu, Lost Dream... every single one of them did not stand a chance at all. They were instantly killed by the boss! Fortunately, all of them had already taken a [Zombie Potion] prior to the battle! So, they were able to continue fighting for another 30 seconds after dying. The best part about this 30-second extension was that they would all be invincible for 30 seconds!
At that moment, the boss only had 1% HP remaining! That was only a total of 260,000 HP!
250,000, 240,000... 190,000! The effect of the [Zombie Potion] faded, and Zhang Yang was the first to collapse onto the ground. This time, he lay on the ground for good!
180,000!
150,000!
140,000!
Wei Yan Er sunk to the ground dead.
130,000!
110,000!
90,000!
Sun Xin Yu collapsed!
"Damage output! Damage output! We can finish this!" the gang shouted encouragements to each other as they started the sprint to the finish!
70,000!
50,000!
30,000!
10,000!
8,272!
3,711!
One by one, they hit the ground in dramatic fashion, as one by one, their [Zombie Potion] effects faded! The only one left standing was Fantasy Sweetheart!
{Punishment Ray}!
‘-2,311!’
"We are so close!"
"Go, go, Sweetheart!"
Fantasy Sweetheart swung her arms with all her might, trying her best to cast another {Punishment Ray}! That was literally the final thing she could do in that boss battle! Her own [Zombie Potion] ran out of time, and she too joined her comrades in death.
‘-2,212!’
"Argh ---" the boss let out a deafening roar to the skies as his slender body began to fall. As his body hit the ground heavily, the dust on the ground flew up.
"We did it! We really did it!"
Everyone was cheering through the party channel.
‘Ding! Congratulations for being the First Party of the server to slay an Ethereal Tier Boss, your glorious deeds shall be remembered forever in the Historical Lists of the world. As the leader of the party, please key in the name of your party. Your party name shall be published on the Historical List, allowing the world to praise you!
This kill has finally been recognized by the system! Thank god! Praise the lord!
Zhang Yang quickly entered the habitual ‘Advertisement Slogan’, and the Server started to repeat the announcement over again and again. In just a few seconds, Snow Seeker and Sky Shaman, followed by other players from other guilds began to congratulate Zhang Yang. At that moment, Zhang Yang could not even see anything in front of him, because the new messages kept on popping up right before his face.
"Haha! Everyone, quickly! We must get back to our dead bodies and resurrect ourselves first! Loot, don’t forget the loot!" Zhang Yang laughed madly as he selected the option to release his soul. The, he began to sprint all the way back to his dead body!
While running back to his dead body, Zhang Yang could not help but to let out a sigh. He could not help but to think that, even though he already has the [God of War Inheritance], he had still struggled against such powerful bosses! If he had not come across the divinely powerful skill {Glare of the Death God}, it would have been impossible to slay the boss with just the 10 of them!
Well, it was very tiring indeed to do an Exceed Level Challenge in slaying a boss. Furthermore, this Vampire Count was not really that powerful. He did have the {Vampiric Blood Drain}, a rather considerable AoE attack. But, this Skill was rather unique, as it was basically a ticking time bomb! As long as players slay all the monsters within the given time frame, the party would not be harmed in any way, and they would also get a 30-second window to regroup!
The King Kong boss that Zhang Yang had slain in his previous life was even more annoying and harder to deal with. The boss would randomly shake the ground and throw rocks at the players without any sign of warning! If it is up for Zhang Yang to judge, he would say that the difficulty of this boss battle would be about as difficult as getting a Class C [Inheritance].
7 minutes later, all 10 of them had managed to resurrect themselves. All of them sat down and started taking some [Snacks] to recover. Meanwhile, Wei Yan Er was the first to go up to the boss to check on the loot.
Although this was a legitimate ‘First Clear’, the boss had been ridiculously stingy. Only a total of two equipment were found on the ground. One was a violet necklace, while the other one was a dark-gray leather helmet. Everyone was soon feeling depressed and disappointed.
Zhang Yang shook his head and said, "This is probably the system’s way of telling us not to simply go through an Exceed Level Challenge! Still, it doesn’t really matter if loot is measly. We can always get more of them in the future. The most important thing about ‘First Clears’ are the additional rewards like [Skill Books]!"
"Hehe, noob tank sure is sharp as always! You got me!" Wei Yan Er took out two [Skill Books] and said, "There are two of these [Skill Books] and three [Middle-Tier Aura Stones]!"
"Yan Er, stop being such a tease! Just show us their attributes already!"
Wei Yan Er giggled. After picking up all the coins, she picked up the dark-violet necklace and said, "Can you guess what Tier this equipment is? A Mythical, or an Ethereal?"
[Violet Coral Necklace] (Ethereal, Necklace)
Vitality: +1,089
Intelligence: +373
Spirit: +373
Equip: Increases damage and healing efficiency by 5.6%.
Equip: Increases Maximum HP by 2,000 points.
Equip: Increases Maximum MP by 740 points.
Equip: Absorbs 321 damage when struck.
{Unidentified}
Required Level: 140
Special: Reduces 20 levels of the Required Level.
"Wow! This is one awesome piece of equipment that we have here!" Fatty Han’s eyes were popping out, "A Level 140 equipment that can be equipped when player reaches Level 120! You know how amazing that is? Furthermore, this equipment boosts both HP and MP, while also boosting damage and it even giving players the ability to absorb damage! This necklace has basically covered all aspects of combat!"
"Indeed!" Zhang Yang nodded. It would indeed be a major advantage if a Level 120 player can equip a Level 140 equipment. The player that equips this equipment would no doubt have the upper hand over other players of the same Level (Level 120)! This is one of the ‘First Clear’ rewards, so it makes sense that such a powerful equipment would be dropped. Well, for the moment, there is no other better equipment that boosts both the offense and defense of players!
Han Ying Xue, Daffodil Daydream, and Fantasy Sweetheart automatically rolled dices, as if it was a daily ritual. Ironically, they knew each other so well that there was no need for pleasantries anymore. By the end of it, Fantasy Sweetheart was the one who got lucky and she acquired the amazing necklace.
The next equipment was the dark-gray leather helmet.
[Blackhawk Leather Helmet] (Ethereal, Leather Armor)
Defense: +192
Vitality: +4,356
Strength: +645
Agility: +1,490
Equip: Increases Maximum HP by 8,700 points.
Equip: Increases damage and healing efficiency by 5.6%.
Equip: Absorbs 641 damage when being hit.
{Unidentified}
Required Level: 140
Special: Reduces 20 levels of the Required Level.
"What the hell! Is this a Leather Armor or a Heavy Armor!" Endless Starlight was so shocked that his voice had turned squeaky, "My Violet-Platinum Heavy Armor only gives me an additional 80 Defense! This piece of Leather Armor is too much! It actually adds 192 Defense! If my eyes aren’t playing tricks with me, it also adds vitality points by more than 4,000 points! No, it’s actually more than 4,000 HP!"
"This is an Ethereal Tier equipment, my friend!" Daffodil Daydream smiled, "Actually, it should give more than 6,000 vitality points after identification! One piece of such equipment would already provide about 60,000 HP... that amount is actually much higher than my current amount of HP!"
"That is why, people say that Levels and Equipment are keys to becoming successful in any online game!" Zhang Yang took the leather helmet over and said, "There are two Thief Classes and two Hunter Classes here, so, the four of you roll for it! Let’s see who gets to keep this masterpiece! Forget the Ethereal Tier, the main point is that this equipment can be equipped, 20 levels earlier! That is more than just awesome already!"
Everyone had no reason to be polite to each other, as they had been party-mates since the beginning! So, the four of them rolled for it. By the end of it, Fatty Han was the one who struck the ‘jackpot’! He had succeeded in acquiring the equipment!
However, it requires approximately 10 days or so just to level up once, after the Level 100 bracket. So, when Fatty Han reaches Level 120, it should be another 6 to 7 months in the future. Therefore, it would really be boring and frustrating to do an Exceed Level Challenge on higher level maps. They needed to pay for a bigger price, such as more effort needed to get things done, and they would also have to wait for a much longer time before they can equip any equipment they earn from doing so. After all, it is truly torturous to see a powerful piece of equipment lying quietly in your inventory, within your reach, but also out of your reach at the same time!