The doors of the Mermaid Queen's Palace opened.
An unusual aura swept out.
Azure blue light enveloped the space.
Appearing along with the light was the Mermaid Queen.
Noble, elegant, beautiful.
Although not human, it didn't hinder the appreciation of her beauty.
"So beautiful..."
A haze covered Isla Ning's eyes, her pupils losing focus.
She unconsciously began walking towards the Mermaid Queen.
Morintis pulled her back immediately.
Not only Isla Ning, but Peach was also affected.
Morintis, Jade, and Daniel remained in a normal state.
Jade exclaimed, "It's a Charm spell!"
As she spoke, she quickly cast a skill, several beams of light falling upon everyone.
Skill: Clear Mind.
Isla Ning woke with a start.
"What happened to me?"
Peach also shuddered, her pupils refocusing.
"What happened?"
Jade looked at the Mermaid Queen.
"She has an innate Charm spell.
You and Isla were affected.
I dispelled it with Clear Mind."
Morintis, Daniel, and Jade had relatively higher Spirit, so the Mermaid Queen's innate Charm spell didn't affect them.
Isla Ning felt a bit shaken.
"That was scary."
Peach took a deep breath.
"She's the BOSS after all.
Having some special abilities is normal."
She had experienced many dungeons.
Although the levels were low, some BOSSes indeed possessed special skills.
They were hard to guard against.
She had almost fallen for it this time too.
The Mermaid Queen looked at the slain Mermaid Elite Soldiers, her gaze falling on the Skeleton Warriors.
She suddenly let out a sharp scream.
Despite her beautiful appearance, the Mermaid Queen's scream was piercingly shrill.
Everyone covered their ears in discomfort.
The Mermaid Queen's scream stirred layers of waves, whipping up a violent wind.
The numerous corpses on the ground were instantly blown scattered in all directions.
Morintis's eyes narrowed slightly.
He had originally planned to use Corpse Explosion directly when the Mermaid Queen approached.
He hadn't expected her to scatter the corpses first.
The Skeleton Warriors charged forward against the gale.
Facing the Mermaid Queen, who was at least five meters tall, the Skeleton Warriors seemed so small.
They looked fragile, but the hurricane stirred by the Mermaid Queen couldn't blow them over.
As the Skeleton Warriors moved out, a Detection Skill followed closely.
[Mermaid Queen (Leader-tier Monster)]
[Level: 24]
[Strength: 5000]
[Agility: 6000]
[Spirit: 5000]
[Constitution: 6000]
[Skills: Terrifying Screech, Tidal Wave, Queen's Lament]
The Mermaid Queen's attributes were extremely high, surpassing the Skeleton Warriors in Agility and Constitution.
Her Strength and Spirit were also very close to the Skeleton Warriors'.
She was, after all, a Level 24 dungeon BOSS, a Leader-tier Monster.
The Skeleton Warriors were only Level 17—a full 7-level difference.
Peach was also shocked looking at the Mermaid Queen's attributes.
She swallowed hard.
"Compared to other dungeons, the Mermaid Queen's attributes are higher."
"Using normal tactics, eliminating her would take at least an hour."
By 'normal tactics,' Peach meant with a full, balanced party.
A six-person team: one Knight, two Supports, three DPS.
That way, they could slowly whittle down the dungeon BOSS.
But now...
She couldn't estimate what would happen at all.
Morintis's existence completely shattered her conventional understanding.
Could the gap between classes really be this vast?
She couldn't comprehend it.
Twenty Skeleton Warriors were surrounding the Mermaid Queen, launching fierce attacks.
The Mermaid Queen wielded a massive trident, constantly sweeping it around.
Each time, Skeleton Warriors were knocked back, only to get up and continue attacking.
Morintis could sense the Skeleton Warriors getting injured under the Mermaid Queen's attacks.
Her 5000 Strength was sufficient to damage the Skeleton Warriors.
Moreover, with her 6000 Constitution, the damage the Skeleton Warriors dealt was significantly reduced.
The Skeleton Warriors besieged the Mermaid Queen gave the illusion of a wolf pack attacking a lion.
Based on this, it was uncertain if twenty Skeleton Warriors could take down the Mermaid Queen.
After several rounds of attacks, bones on a few Skeleton Warriors began to fracture.
Their movements started to slow down.
Peach noticed this.
"Daniel, buff us. Be ready to fight at any moment."
She intended to step in when the Skeleton Warriors couldn't hold on.
Morintis said softly, "No need."
A faint light glowed on his palm.
A giant red net fell from above.
Skill: Slow Curse!
A red shackle enveloped the Mermaid Queen's head, slowing her speed by half.
Her combat power dropped sharply.
Sensing the curse, she glowed and let out another scream.
Skill: Tidal Wave!
Azure blue light illuminated the space.
A colossal tidal wave surged forth, instantly scattering all the Skeleton Warriors.
The soaring wave swept the Skeleton Warriors into the sky.
The Skeleton Warriors spun uncontrollably in the wave, torn byimmense force.
In the tidal wave, several Skeleton Warriors were seriously injured.
Their bones fractured successively.
Morintis immediately recalled them.
Peach gripped her sword and shield tightly, thinking it would soon be her turn to step up.
The skill ended, the tidal wave vanished, and the Skeleton Warriors fell from the sky.
At that moment, Morintis pointed his finger.
A sinister wind howled, and a dark mass appeared before them.
He released all his remaining 88 Skeleton Warriors.
The Skeleton Warriors, upon appearing, charged towards the Mermaid Queen like lightning.
"So many!"
"How can there be so many summons?"
"That's terrifying!"
Only then did the others realize Morintis hadn't summoned all his creatures.
What he had sent out before was only a part.
Peach even wondered if Morintis could have easily wiped out the Mermaid monsters blocking the mountain path if he had wanted.
A few of those big explosions would have been enough.
Nearly a hundred Skeleton Warriors launched a siege on the Mermaid Queen.
In the blink of an eye, Skeleton Warriors covered the Mermaid Queen's entire body.
One after another, they activated their skills, relentlessly striking the Mermaid Queen.
The Mermaid Queen's flesh split open, and she screamed incessantly.
She wildly swung her trident and thrashed about.
Under the effect of Slow Curse, her speed was halved, making it impossible to shake off the Skeleton Warriors.
Suddenly, a crying sound drilled into their ears.
Skill: Queen's Lament!
The Mermaid Queen used her skill.
Amid the crying, Peach and Isla Ning were simultaneously affected.
Their pupils lost focus again.
Jade hurriedly used Clear Mind.
But this time, the Clear Mind skill didn't work.
"It's no use.
My level is too low.
Clear Mind can't counteract the BOSS's skill."
Morintis said softly, "It's fine."
As long as he wasn't affected, it was okay.
He held Isla Ning back, preventing her from moving forward, while Jade held onto Peach.
Morintis's Spirit was high enough to remain unaffected.
The Skeleton Warriors were even less affected.
They had no emotions, no pain, no fear.
The concept of Lianxiangxiyu was impossible for them.
The Skeleton Warriors' greatswords never stopped for a second.
With her skill ineffective, the Queen attacked again with her trident.
As her skill ended, Isla Ning and Peach recovered.
Both wore expressions of lingering fear on their faces.
The skill was too terrifying; they had no resistance against it.
Azure light erupted once more, and rolling tidal waves hit.
The waves swept up some Skeleton Warriors, but others clung tightly to the Mermaid Queen, refusing to let go.
Their other hands held swords, attacking continuously.
This time, the tidal wave's effect wasn't as good.
The battle lasted a full three minutes.
Finally, the Mermaid Queen fell to the ground with a final mournful cry.
[Killed Mermaid Queen. Experience +80000]
[Obtained Silver-grade Weapon: Mermaid Queen's Longsword]
[Obtained Silver-grade Weapon: Mermaid Queen's Staff]
[Obtained Mermaid's Tear 1]
[Mermaid Queen's Longsword: Silver-grade.Strength +50, Constitution +50. Warrior-type skill power increased by 10%. Usable after Level 20.]
[Mermaid Queen's Staff: Silver-grade. Spirit +50, Constitution +50. Mage-type skill power increased by 10%. Usable after Level 20.]
Seeing the prompts, Peach clenched her fist excitedly.
Besides the Mermaid's Tear, they also obtained two Silver-grade weapons.
Their attributes were much better than Bronze-grade weapons.
The 10% skill power boost could greatly enhance any class's combat power.
Isla Ning jumped for joy.
"Yay!
Trial mission completed!"
"We're one step closer to Genesis Academy!"
Peach smiled.
"As long as we complete a few more trial missions and level up a bit more, we'll definitely get into Genesis Academy."
"This time, it's all thanks to Morintis.
Without him, we probably wouldn't have completed the trial."
Jade also said quietly, "Yes.
The worst was that guy Ethan."
"Don't mention him. That kind of person...never teaming with him again."
Peach gritted her teeth; she looked down the most on people like Ethan.
Morintis calculated the time.
About half an hour had passed since they entered the dungeon.
Outside the dungeon, a standoff might still be ongoing.
Even if other teams entered the dungeon, they probably wouldn't clear it this quickly.
"Isla, do you have a Cooling Charm?"
Isla Ning's beautiful eyes sparkled; she immediately understood Morintis's intention.
She giggled, "Of course I do."