Reftrack was revealed, the little skeleton surrounded by surging black flames. His eyes flickered with a hint of struggle. The black flames roared around him, obviously difficult to control.
"Our chance!"
It was Silent Acacia who shouted first, an arrow instantly pulling the bowstring. His body blurred slightly, becoming obscured as [Stalker] activated. In his vision a small target was painted on the little skeleton's chest. With a grin Silent Acacia let go of the arrow.
Reftrack felt the danger a moment too late. When he looked up, the arrow was already upon him. It hit the target perfectly, accompanied by the image of an enraged green dragon, striking the boss with a terrifying force.
[-3457!!!]
Right the next moment another target appeared in Silent Acacia's vision. There was no time to think. He instantly ordered Korn to strike with a black tiger's claw. Reftrack was still staring at Silent Acacia when a black, nimble shadow suddenly appeared from behind. A sharp claw tore on the way-too-big robe, almost ripping a hole.
[-3919!!!]
At this moment Silent Acacia's bow trembled, a force driving into the beast tamer's arms. The two critical hits triggered its effect. It was as if the invisible force was a guiding hand improving Silent Acacia's movements. He as well as Korn had their attack speed increase considerably.
However, the young man was not overly happy about it. What use was attack speed if his attacks dealt no damage to the boss? His skills didn't benefit from the effect. Thus, there was no increase to his damage per second.
Well, Silent Acacia didn't complain. Thanks to the green dragon's buff his skills already dealt more than enough damage. Without it there would have been no way for the party to take down this hidden boss. Yet with it, the task almost seemed somewhat… easy.
Grinning slightly, Silent Acacia saw the third target appearing on the boss's leg. Another arrow whistled through the air, striking perfectly, dealing thousands of points of damage. The boss shook, his HP already falling below 100.000.
Simultaneously the others arrived, unleashing everything they had. Of course, without Cyclone and Fortune, those two precious damage dealers, they were somewhat slower than they would have liked. The boss managed to stabilize himself once again, reigning in the chaotic black flames. His eyes swept over the party, burning red, unabated hatred.
"I will not falter during the first mission for my master! Order faction idiots, feel my wrath!"
Reftrack slowly raised his hands, once again emitting a rolling pressure.
"Still going?!"
Balm sounded somewhat exasperated, her eyes betraying exhaustion. The mental strain of a dungeon run could not be underestimated. Even with rests in between everyone felt more or less fatigued. And with fatigue it was easier to make mistakes.
On Reftrack's raised hand, a skull suddenly appeared. It had grey bones and azure soul flames were burning in its eyes. The boss willed it and the black flames burning around him suddenly engulfed the skeleton skull. The azure flame turned dark as night, extremely sinister, as the skull cackled and floated away from Reftrack. The boss repeated the process multiple times and suddenly the battlefield was filled with skulls burning with evil flames.
"What are these things?"
"Straight out of a nightmare…"
The friends were repulsed by these flying skulls. However, the danger they brought was seemingly not much. The skulls chased after the party, but their speed was too slow. Yet they were persistent and numerous. As the fight went on it would be difficult to avoid getting hit. The players had to stay on their toes, attacking the boss and quickly retreating, not daring to stay in one area for too long.
"It's time to end this!"
Even Quickstep felt somewhat exhausted by now. Because of her class she was forced to stay moving anyways but controlling one's flying mount for so long also put strain on the mind.
Liam could see that his friends would soon be unable to keep up. If they failed to kill the boss this time, they would be forced to take a long rest. Starting from the last checkpoint a lot of time would be wasted. However, the little skeleton didn't have much HP left. They could do it!
Darkness filled the air above Reftrack's head. This darkness gave an extremely pure feeling compared to the evil flames. Suddenly someone fell out of the darkness. Who else could it be but Liam using his [Darkener Sky] skill to close the distance? He appeared behind the boss and unleashed a swift combo, culminating in the explosion of five Dark Marks, shredding the boss's resistances.
"Now!"
A stern shout. Everyone revealed what little strength they had left. Radiant Shield activated his ultimate skill, surrounding himself with the illusionary image of a hammer-wielding angel, seeking to deal at least some damage. In this state the tank didn't even care for the flaming skeletons crashing into him. All that mattered was getting rid of the boss.
The others had similar thoughts. Everyone revealed the one or two skills which were not on cooldown. In the heat of the moment terrifying attacks continuously landed on the boss, each accompanied by a green dragon. Dragon roars echoed through the room incessantly as if multiple dragons celebrated the demise of the intruding infernal.
And celebrate they should. Finally, Quickstep stabbed forward with her sword, her eyes shining a sharp silver light. Water like a raging ocean and wind like a violent storm accompanied her, dealing additional damage. The green dragon appeared around her blade. Its head snapped forward, delivering a vicious bite at the little skeleton's head.
"No! I can't! How…"
A cry of despair rang out. The skeleton shook, losing control of his flames. The light in its eyes dwindled. Its HP reduced to a single point.
However, Reftrack refused to die. At the last moment the black flames suddenly surged around his body, turning into the most reliable protection. Reftrack also had tears in his eyes despite being a skeleton.
"Master! You have not forsaken me! Even in defeat your power protects me!"
The friends watched everything, afraid that the boss still had one last move up his sleeves. They could feel the skeleton's intense emotions. Reftrack was incredibly touched. In the chaos faction, in Hell, when had a master ever protected their subordinates? If you died it only meant that you were too weak. On the contrary, even if you made it out alive and returned to your master, they might just kill you for your failure.
Only Reftrack's new master was different. At this moment the little skeleton was sure that acknowledging his new master was the wisest decision in his life. He would even willingly die for them. Yet the master wouldn't let him seek death. The master's power, the black flames, firmly protected Reftrack as they suddenly burned with intense ferocity, pushing everyone else away.
The friends didn't dare to come too close. They could only take on the role of spectators as the evil flames burned hotter and hotter until even the very world seemed to falter.
This dragon temple, Nexkra'nar's Nest, was its own space. It shielded against forceful intrusion and escape. And yet the black flames broke through this shield, forcefully ripping open a portal and carrying Reftrack towards it.
"Order faction dregs! Dragon followers! Today you might have won but don't you dare become complacent! I will train under my master! When I come back, you better wash your necks!"
The friends looked at the defeated foe, too lazy to say anything. If Cyclone were here, she would surely laugh at the boss for spewing empty threats. But the others were too exhausted to bother.
Finally, pulled by the evil flames Reftrack entered the portal, returning to Hell. For a moment the scene fell silent. Everyone's eyes were on the portal.
"Boss!"
An alarmed shout rang out. One of the demons running at the front of the infernal army suddenly realized that their support was gone. He abruptly turned around and jumped into the portal.
"Ahh! Run!"
"Let me through!"
"Hurry! Hurry!"
Desperate and panicked, the infernals lost the will to fight. Their only goal was to reach the portal, which already began to shrink.
"Leave non alive!"
"Kill!"
"AHH!"
From above came the roars of the cultists. Under the matriarch's protection they suffered little casualties, but every dead family member was a deep cut in their hearts, never to heal. Their eyes were blood red as they unleashed everything they got to massacre as many infernals as they could.
The friends only observed the chaotic scene. Infernals were slaughtered by the dozens, extremely tragic. Eventually the portal closed. Some infernals escaped but about two hundred or so still remained. Just as the friends thought they had to fight again, Matriarch Evraina made her move. She raised her hand, invoking the power of the green dragon. It drove into the arrow she prepared on her bow.
The inconspicuous arrow suddenly appeared to be the centre of the world. Evraina let go and the entire room was filled with splendid green light. When the friends regained their vision there was nothing left of the infernal army.