"No! I never killed the old, sickly, women or children…"

"Tch!"

Lin Yixin glared at me. "Where the hell did your mind wander off to? I wasn’t even telling you to kill and rob people. I was only suggesting that you go buy some supplies from them."

"Oh, I see. If that’s the case, they’ll be better off being killed."

"..."

At this time, He Yi shouted, "Look, something’s approaching. Is it the seventh wave’s boss?"

Everyone gazed into the distance. He Yi’s guess was on point. A humongous black shadow was racing over from afar. It was a reptile 4 to 7 times bigger than an Earth Lizard. It was practically a moving fortress.

"Fuck, how cool would it be if I could catch it to use as a mount…" Gui Guzi licked his lips.

Beming Xue turned and said. "It’s a big lizard so there’ll be tons of pimples on its back. Gui Guzi, you don’t feel that it’s disgusting to sit on?"

I smiled. "No problem, Little Gui’s always been that hardcore!"

Gui Guzi smiled noncommittally. "Prepare for battle. There are only 19 of us so I don’t know how many casualties we’ll suffer to kill this boss!"

I walked to the front with my Purgatory Sword and faced the crowd. "Form two attack teams. All dropped items will be distributed based on roll. What do you think?"

Lin Yixin and Luo River God of the Capital nodded. This meant that my idea went through; the rest were my people.

……

"Melees, alternate your Charges. Please pay close attention to your safety and allow Lu Chen to be the first point of focus!" Lin Yixin said loudly. And so I was pushed to the front line.

The huge lizard had already charged over within the fog and its stats appeared before my eyes—

Orma the Skullbreaker (Purple Gold Rank Boss)

Level: 90

Attack: 1020~1350

Defense: 1000

HP: 500000

Skills: All-round Sweep, War Stampede, Barbaric Rend

Introduction: King of the Rank 7 guardians. Beast King Orma was an incredibly strong lizard that lived deep within a forest. After being summoned by the power of darkness, the huge Earth Lizard’s entire race became the servants of the Night Creatures. This Earth Lizard King had always guarded this city shrouded in darkness.

……

I couldn’t help gasping when I saw its stats and said in the party channel, "Watch out everyone, the boss has a max Attack of 1350. Melee fighters aside, other classes will definitely get one-shot. Even a mage with Magic Shield active might not withstand a single blow. Everyone spread out and prepare for battle!"

"Alright!" Luo River God of the Capital nodded.

By then, I’d already locked onto the boss and activated Charge!

Whoosh!

I arrived before the Lizard King in the blink of an eye and saw it raise its head, mouth open. The stun would only last 1 second so I quickly made my move.

Pardon! Desperate Gambit!

MISS!

3014!

Even though I had used Pardon, I still couldn’t break a substantial amount of its Defense. Its overall HP was 500k too. It was going to be a tough foe!

Crack!

The moment the boss recovered from the stun, I had already sent down a basic attack and the Paralysis Ring’s effects procced. I’d successfully paralyzed the boss for 3 more seconds!

The melee players behind me all used Charge one after another. Lin Yixin, He Yi, Purple Marquis, Xu Yang, Gui Guzi, and the rest all consecutively unleashed Blaze, Flame Thrust, Extreme Break and the like, instantly deleting a small chunk of the boss’s HP pool!

From afar, Beiming Xue let go of the string and fired her special Volley, arrows infused with evil spirits hitting Lizard King right on the head. She then swapped to Freezing Arrow to slow the boss!

Luo River God of the Capital’s attack was even more violent. She waved the Purgatory Scepter and multiple Ice Dragon Howls descended from the sky, each dealing close to 4000 damage to the boss. Tsk tsk, this kind of magic attack is seriously strong!

Murong Mingyue gave up attacking and went back to healing the melee players who weren’t at full health. It was the most logical decision since killing this boss didn’t require pure DPS. It needed huge heals for us to survive, since the boss’s vast HP pool made this fight into a battle of attrition. Brute force wouldn’t be enough to solve this problem. Our advantage lay in teamwork and strong healing abilities.

Once the boss recovered from the paralysis, it immediately lifted a claw and heavily slapped me on the shoulder. I felt a scorching pain and before I could do anything, the surroundings were filled with bloody light. It was the visual effects of War Stampede!

1505!

1634!

1847!

……

I took 1505 damage, and the melee players nearby all took damage. Gui Guzi, Lin Yixin, and a few of our close range fighters had also lost a chunk of HP. Luckily, Murong Mingyue and Moon Dew quickly replenished our losses, though barely managing to do so.

However, the Lizard King soon started attacking again. It curled up like a coiled snake!

"What’s going on?" Lin Yixin gaped as she looked at the boss with astonishment.

He Yi was shocked. "Not good, it’s an attack animation!"

"Huh?" Gui Guzi was also shocked.

Half a second later, the Lizard King suddenly extended its body and rapidly swiveled its body. Its long tail struck everything around it at the speed of lightning, dealing tons of damage to the surrounding players!

All-round Sweep!

Pow pow!

I was whipped twice by its tail and I saw my HP crazily drop.

1643!

1742!

No way. None of our melee players were spared this time and all got hit!

"Fuck!"

Zi Chuanyu was forced several steps back. His HP was already rock bottom but the boss pounced forward and swiped him on the chest with its claws, leaving behind a tragic scar!

3120!

Fuck, our first death had appeared. Zi Chuanyu slowly fell to his knees, our first casualty in the ancient ruins, and became an ice-cold corpse.

……

"Gulp!"

As I chugged a health potion, I charged at the Lizard King. I swung my sword, landing a Slayer Slash + Ice Ray combo, and successfully drew its aggro. The frightened Purple Marquis’s face was ashen. If I was a second too late, he would’ve been the next to fall.

"Quick, heal Lu Chen!" Lin Yixin shouted. "The rest of the melees, don’t approach. The boss’s All-round Sweep skill is too strong. It can easily one-shot you!"

"Alright!" replied Gui Guzi and Xu Yang.

In fact, that All-round Sweep skill damaged everyone twice. Even I was hit for 3000+ damage. Xu Yang, however, stood a bit further away so he had only been hit with the first sweep while Gui Guzi survived thanks to this Undying Shield. Even a first-rate warrior like Zi Chuanyu had been instantly killed, so there was no need to mention others.

I absolutely wasn’t the person with the highest survivability rate. Gui Guzi and He Yi both had higher Defense than me but I was still the person most suited to be the tank in this fight because I had enough Attack to aggro the boss. If the boss were to go out of control, our powerful but few long-range attackers would be massacred and our chances of victory would go in the dumps.

The Lizard King roared and continuously swiped at me with its claw. Every hit struck the Purgatory War Armor with a bang and tore through my HP, though it was immediately healed back up by our two priests at the rear.

The Lizard King’s claws then glowed with a bloody hue and another fierce attack skill came—

Barbaric Rend!

Crack! Crack!

Pain shot through my chest. The boss’s claws were like swords as they tore through the Purgatory War Armor’s Defense and swiped me thrice with its claws!

2485!

2395!

+2728!

2487!

I was instantly scared out of my wits. Fuck! This three-hit combo can totally one-shot me. Thank god for Murong Mingyue’s timely +2700 Greater Heal. I’d be a dead man otherwise!

I used Tenacity of the Dead to get some of my HP back and Moon Dew used a few minor healing spells. With our efforts, we barely managed to drag my HP to the safe 3000 HP threshold. Fuck, this Barbaric Rend was probably a move that ignored Defense. I couldn’t have been reduced to such a state with my 1165 if it didn’t!

I began to pay attention to the effects that happened before the boss unleashed its skills. 20 seconds later, the Lizard King’s sharp frontal claws glowed with a trace of bloody red. I’d prepared in advance this time as I slightly retreated and assumed the Guard stance!

Bang bang bang!

The claws landed on the edge of the Purgatory Sword. My Guard was successful. I wondered if the boss would feel hurt because of how pitiful its damage to me was—

384!

40!

401!

Murong Mingyue could instantly heal back this type of HP loss.

I immediately lost aggro after that so I swiftly launched my counterattack. Ice Ray + Desperate Gambit + basic attack. Three-hit combo later I regained the boss’s aggro. With this pattern I could be said to have grasped the battle’s rhythm. With just me standing in front of the boss, the entire process seemed relatively safe.

……

Behind me, a group of bystanders watched the show.

Gui Guzi stared with wide eyes. " Fuck, as expected of our CGL Hall of Famer boss. The way he switches between offense and defense is hard to follow…"

He Yi laughed. "Of course! Lu Chen’s the only person who can fight 1 on 1 with Candlelight Shadow!"

Lin Yixin booed, "I just didn’t get a chance to fight him 1 on 1 earlier…"

He Yi responded with a gentle smile, "Mn, you’ll get a chance next time!"

Purple Marquis’s chin fell to the floor as he watched the ensuing battle. "Fuck! Is Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand even human? He can even solo a Purple Gold Rank boss…"

Clear Perfume: "That’s because he’s getting healed. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t last 10 seconds."

"Haha, you’re right!"

……

Watching on from an even greater distance was a large group of Floating Ice City players. Among them were a few from Flower Room and Mad Dragon that seemed to want to rush the boss.

Lin Yixin and He Yi caught them in their sights and turned around at the same time. The two beauties drew their swords, pointing them at the group of people. "What, you guys want a taste of death?"

Fuck...

The two beautiful guild leaders came at them together. One was Snowy Cathaya’s Fruit Knife Goddess and the other was the leader of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. In terms of momentum alone, they lost to none. That eager group of Mad Dragon and Flower Room players were immediately struck dumb. One among them shook his head. "N-no…"

He Yi and Lin Yixin smiled knowingly and stabbed their swords on the ground. They stood outside the crowd like two beautiful war goddesses that defended our rights to this boss.

To be honest, these guys wouldn’t dare make a move. They feared the strength of our party but an even bigger reason was because of our backgrounds. We represented the administrative departments of Snowy Cathaya, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, and Purple Lily. Whoever dared to make a move would offend all three of these huge guilds, and the result of that would obviously not be pretty for them.