[Jenkins: NOW!]
Jenkins noticed that Hotpot's mages were distracted and considered this his best chance. On his order Graveyard of Heroes sprang into action. At the front of their group was a female demon standing at almost three meters, with menacing tusks on her squarish face. She was the group's tank, carrying a heavy, tall bone shield. With a low roar a pair of demonic purple eyes opened behind her back, staring down at Hotpot. Everyone staring back had a high chance of being aggroed, and a low chance of being stunned.
Silver Blade felt her body freeze. However, she reacted perfectly with [Unbreakable Will], regaining her movement. She was just in time as she watched all the enemies rushing at their group.
Although Cyclone appeared distracted, she was actually one of the fastest to react. She waved her staff and activated the upgraded version of [Lightning Strike], [Lightning Barrage]. Thunder roared, echoing from the cave walls as five violent lightning bolts fell from the sky, aiming right for a skeleton wielding throwing spears as his weapons.
"Help!"
"I got you!"
Kaleido was the group's second tank. He didn't even look back as he conjured a layer of blood-red fog above the group's head. With each bolt of lightning striking the fog it grew thinner, but it was enough to block the five strikes.
Suddenly an almost imperceptible magic surrounded the group of chaos faction players. It directly increased their movement speed and AGI. They sped up, instantly appearing in front of Hotpot.
But this was not enough. The warriors and their single assassin used various skills to rush past the frontline and threaten Balm.
"Oh no, you don't!"
Radiant Shield bellowed angrily. He turned around, his eyes blazing. A majestic shield was conjured behind him, and it barrelled towards Graveyard of Heroes' warriors, Jenkins and BloodGlaive. The moment the two warriors were hit by the aggro-pulling spell, a black-skinned shadow demon suddenly appeared behind Balm. Her black short sword was barely discernible in the azure light. She instantly stabbed at the healer's back.
Balm had been vigilant since the fight started. Without panicking she pulled off a beautiful flash step, appearing far to the left. Simultaneously a dazzling, indistinct figure appeared behind Radiant Shield as he activated [Target of Inquisition]. The figure pointed an elegant silver sword at the enemy's shadow demon. The skill allowed Radiant Shield to firmly secure the target's aggro, but he would also receive 25% more damage from them.
Shortly after the fight began it was already chaotic. Hotpot had to split their attention between the enemy's warriors who reached their backline and the ranged fighters who were preparing spells. They decided to first take out the warriors while Silver Blade had the job of buying time. Thus, Liam turned around and rushed at Jenkins. Quickstep and Watchful Eye unfortunately were aggroed at the enemy's tank, unable to provide help for a while.
However, there were still Silent Acacia, Fortune, and Cyclone.
The young Master of Beasts summoned Korn and Zorn. With two extra fighters on the battlefield, the pressure placed on Graveyard of Heroes increased sharply.
Meanwhile on the other side Graveyard of Heroes' mages had already started casting. Silver Blade swiftly approached them with [Luring Barrier], ready to tank all the damage coming at her. However, she couldn't help but furrow her brows as the dark mages didn't show any signs of avoiding her. Could they plan something else?
The tank glanced at a certain spot behind the mages. There, Bloody Edge was getting in position. He allowed his HP to decrease gradually, preparing to kill a mage in one rotation.
However, at this point there was a sudden change. Graveyard of Heroes had a player whose race was a beastkin. This was not overly surprising. The chaos faction was good at enticing those unhappy with their status and many beastkin had joined the chaos faction, thus also becoming a playable race for the players.
This beastkin players called BBBunny was rather inconspicuous. She stood silently behind the two mages, a dark hood pulled deeply, and even wearing a mask. She had reduced her presence as much as possible before suddenly springing into action. She waved her bone wand and pointed at one of the mages who used dark leather gloves as weapons. A black rune flashed, imprinting on the mage's back.
Meanwhile another mage slammed their staff into the floor. An invisible wave swept from him, increasing the dark damage and the area of effect of her allies' spells.
The first mage raised her hands high above her head. She noticed the buff provided by the rune. It was rather simple. The rune would shorten the cast time of her next skill by five seconds, but in exchange all other skills would have their cast time prolonged for three seconds. Of course, there was only a single skill which warranted the use of such a rune. Her ultimate skill [Burial].
Suddenly an enormous amount of mana gathered at the mage's hands. Silver Blade felt her chest tighten. She realized that something was wrong. Bloody Edge also noticed something amiss. He instantly attacked but simultaneously multiple shields landed on the mage. It was already too late. She managed to finish her ultimate skill.
Out of Graveyard of Heroes' group the mage was the only one who hadn't used her ultimate skill previously. The reason for that was that it was an AOE suppression skill, not very useful in a boss fight. However, it was great against a group of players.
Suddenly the sound of a bell rang through the cave. It was extremely eerie as if announcing death. Darkness fell, engulfing a large area.
[Silver Blade: Careful!]
[Bleary Mirage: It's Burial! If you hear a bell, dodge!]
Thanks to Liam's warning, everyone was slightly less tense. The unknown was more terrifying to deal with. But unable to see anyone else, the friends all raised their vigilance as they slowly walked towards where they assumed the edge of the darkness to be.
Suddenly Cyclone heard a ruffling sound. She tensed up, ready to dodge at any moment but there was no attack.
Elsewhere Silver Blade felt a gust of wind. But nothing happened.
Ding! A bell rang next to Silent Acacia's ear. He felt a chill run down his back. Instinctively, he made a big step forward. He felt the cold edge of a blade narrowly missing his neck. With a heavy chest he glanced over his shoulder just in time to see the figure of a grim reaper disappear into the darkness.
Elsewhere, Bloody Edge was not far from the mage who had just used [Burial]. His eyes narrowed dangerously. He should be on guard now, but the conversations of the last few days and weeks ran through his mind. He promised his friends to become one of the top thieves and now was the time to prove it! He suddenly advanced instead of retreating.
The darkness was incredibly thick. One could barely see one's immediate surroundings. Bloody Edge activated one of his new skills called [Blood Domain]. An eerie red domain spread with him at the centre, covering the surroundings, carrying the thick scent of blood. As it spread further Bloody Edge was unable to even see the edges of his own skill. But he could see something else. There was a thin blood-red thread connecting Bloody Edge to all the enemies within the domain. This thread siphoned HP from all enemies and healed Bloody Edge in return. Although this was actually not what Bloody Edge wanted right now, he had to use the thread to find his enemies.
One thread only diverted slightly from the direction Bloody Edge expected Graveyard of Heroes' mage to be. He instantly dashed following the thread, and a moment later saw the mage's back. Bloody Edge had some shock in his eyes as he saw that the mage had summoned her mount and was just about to jump on its back. However, this was also a great moment to attack.
Bloody Edge didn't hesitate. His daggers shone in a dangerous red as he activated [Boiling Blood]. The dark mage was startled as she suddenly felt an intense pain strike her waist. Her body grew unbearably hot, and she felt the need to mindlessly attack to get rid of the sensation.
The dark mage stopped her attempt of jumping on her mount and instead wildly waved her hands, firing attacks everywhere. However, her thoughts cleared up quickly. She realized that she had been hit by a skill, and her status had been negatively affected. She tried to activate her own skills, but it just wouldn't work, making her incredibly anxious.
Meanwhile Bloody Edge was far from done. His eyes flashed and above his target a symbol in the form of the blood-red fangs of a vampire with blood dripping from its dagger-like teeth appeared. This was his new ultimate skill [Horror of Blood]. Unfortunately, this skill would only unfold its might after two seconds. Thus, Bloody Edge continued with a normal attack. His daggers flashed in the darkness. A sound akin to breaking glass could be heard as the last shield protecting the dark mage from damage finally shattered.