While Bloody Edge was dealing with the boss the rest of the world didn't stand still. The line of priests advanced further and soon got into attack range. The group of Liam, Silent Acacia, and Balm waited outside the red dome and were forced to clashed with the priests. Luckily only a few of them focused on the players while the rest advanced towards the wall.
According to Liam's instructions Cyclone ordered the guild.
[Cyclone: DON'T attack the priests!]
[Cyclone: I repeat: DON'T attack the priests!]
Her orders were somewhat confusing. Most players didn't react fast enough and began throwing a few skills towards the mist dwarves.
Bloody Edge had just escaped the red dome when the skills reached the priests. Apostle Guadus, having lost half of his HP, stared at the sky with rage in his eyes.
The floating mist dwarf waved his hands. Suddenly his arms turned into countless thin line of mist. They shot out of the red dome with precision, striking directly at the players' skills. It was like the perfect anti air defence. None of the skills managed to reach the dwarves, keeping them perfectly unscathed.
Simultaneously Apostle Gaudus absorbed the skills' energy, using it to heal himself.
[+50!]
[+50!]
[+50!]…
[Cyclone: I told you not to fire! Damn!]
It was a rare sight to see Cyclone genuinely angry. Those who used their skills turned meek, apologizing hurriedly. In the meantime, the enemy priests got into position. Finally, it was their time to attack.
The guild members watched anxiously. If the mist dwarves could fire their spells but they weren't allowed to, wouldn't they be sitting ducks, unable to retaliate? Everyone's eyes fell on Liam's group, praying for them to deal with the boss quickly.
However, Cyclone remained calm. Her, Balm, and Liam already had it all planned out. Before the first wave of attacks could reach the defending army, Cyclone went through the spells provided by Lekraxc. She quickly activated the second spell [River's Protection], a skill with a frightening cooldown of two hours.
Standing on top of Greypine Tower Lekraxc made his move. A large magic circle appeared on one end of the wall. It unleashed a surging river of water meandering up and down in front of the wall. Some of the lizards caught by it were pulled away and were only released at the other end of the wall.
A moment later the spells coming from the mist dwarves reached the wall. They were all swept away by the river, unable to overcome it. Even the players had no way to get their attacks past the river. The violent exchange entered a truce before it even began.
Now only Liam's group remained behind enemy lines. They defended themselves against a few dwarven priests when Bloody Edge came out of the red dome.
[Bloody Edge: I'm out.]
[Liam: Good job! Now hide!]
After a brief communication Bloody Edge went into stealth and ran away from the battlefield, hiding somewhere towards its edges. Liam, Silent Acacia, and Balm killed their enemies and immediately rushed into the red dome, coming face to face with Apostle Gaudus.
[Apostle Gaudus
Rank: Sub-boss
Level: 39
HP: 21.464/29.000]
Silent Acacia was surprised when he checked the apostle's HP. Bloody Edge had done a whole lot of work. Unfortunately, the boss managed to recover more than 4000HP from absorbing the players' skills.
"You still dare to come here?!"
Gaudus stared at the newcomers with eyes full of rage. He didn't hesitate to immediately cast a skill. The mist on the ground surged and a pair of arms appeared close to Balm, reaching for her basilisk's feet.
"Easy!"
Fortunately, the young woman kept a focused mind. She instantly pushed her mount called Lem to jump to the side.
[Stance -29]
"What's with that stance cost?"
Balm let out a surprised shout. She watched as more hands appeared, targeting Liam and Silent Acacia. The healer decisively activated her mount's skill. Lem let out a low cry and a wave of energy spread from him. When it hit allied mounts, it reduced all their stance cost to zero for three seconds.
For a while the players couldn't even retaliate. They were feeling like swimming in a sea full of hungry piranhas which forced them to dodge constantly.
The only one who could make a move was Korn. Silent Acacia had already summoned the black tiger earlier after Liam told him that the boss was weaker against physical damage.
Korn flapped his wings, rushing towards Apostle Gaudus. His sharp claws flashed, cutting deeply into the dwarf's chest. And immediately he followed up with his [Bite] skill.
[-1530!]
[-2143!]
"You will be a great addition to the mist!"
Gaudus gradually reigned in his emotions, his voice regaining its strange charm. He ended his skill and stared at Korn, waving his hands. His arm transformed into mist which punched the tiger at an extreme speed. Silent Acacia still had his mind on the threat coming from below and didn't manage to direct Korn to dodge in time.
[-926!]
The tiger tumbled backwards but the damage was not serious for him. As a legendary pet his overall attributes were all quite strong. He had a bit more than 20.000HP, which allowed him to tank more than twenty such hits even without Balm.
However, this wouldn't be necessary as Silent Acacia and Liam joined the fight. Both used their ultimate skills as they began to attack. Each of their normal attacks dealt about 1800 and 1950 points of damage respectively, posing a great danger to the apostle.
As he fell below ten thousand HP Gaudus reacted swiftly with another skill. He floated high up, almost reaching the top of the dome. The mist in the surroundings surged towards him enveloping his body. He transformed into a cloud of mist. Korn tried to attack it with his sharp claws but didn't deal any damage.
A moment later a patch of the mist turned a charming pink colour. It separated from the mist and dropped towards the floor at a high speed. There was no need for a warning as everyone naturally avoided the attack.
The pink mist landed on the floor exploding like a small-scale smoke bomb. However, it didn't dissipate but kept lingering ominously.
Next the skill continued. More bombs fell from the sky tainting the ground. Gradually there was less and less room for the players to dodge. At least this skill was counted among the indiscriminate category, not costing the players any stance to dodge.
"Oh no, I won't be able to escape this one!"
Suddenly Balm exclaimed worriedly. She was surrounded by pink mist on all sides and could only watch as another bomb dropped towards her.
The healer felt helpless as the mist exploded around her.
[-1526!]
The amount of damage was still alright for her, but this was not all that the boss had to offer. Balm instantly felt a weird dizziness assault her body. As she breathed in the mist she was overcome with a languid feeling, too lazy to move a single muscle. She just wanted to lay down on Lem's back and sleep…
Balm swiftly realized that she was hit by a strange status effect. Although it made her lazy, her brain still worked.
"Careful! Balm!"
The young woman perceived the warning, but even without it she would have trusted her own judgement. In her hazy state she activated [Preservation]. A mighty force filled her body, completely fixing her HP.
At the next moment a slow laugh filled the surroundings. The entire pink mist flew to the air, gathering above the immobile Balm. Suddenly it all came crushing down like a waterfall, drowning out the healer.
[-566!]
[-566!]
[-566!]
After a while the mist dissipated and revealed Gaudus again. Everyone was relieved as the skill ended and Balm emerged unscathed. Her [Preservation] blocked more than eight thousand points of damage proving its value.
Afterwards the apostle came closer to the ground and Silent Acacia as well as Liam unleashed all their damage. Gaudus tried to retaliate with his first skill, but it was already too late. Under the fierce barrage of the two men, he fell quickly.
Immediately the red dome flashed and disappeared. The boss was finally down but now the group found themselves behind the enemy lines.
[Bleary Mirage: Run!]
Liam immediately took the lead. He didn't return to the wall and instead plunging into the thick mist covering the mountain. There were no enemies here, but they took continuous damage every second. It was on Balm to keep the group alive until the wave was finished.
Standing on top of the wall Cyclone was anxiously looking at the river blocking her sight. She could only hope that everything was going well on the other side. Finally, she received a message from Liam telling her to commence the attack.
[Cyclone: Let's go! We can attack the dwarves!]
Cyclone felt as if shackles were falling from her body. With a thought she deactivated Lekraxc's spell while simultaneously ordering Dream Avenue to attack.
The river abruptly disappeared, and everyone was able to observe the battlefield again. Making sure that the boss had been defeated, the players unleashed their attacks, raining skills down on the dwarves.