"I need some healing over here!"

"Get out of the way!"

"Behind you!"

Kang Oh's teammates screamed as they engaged the enemies before them. Some fought Travium itself, while others dealt with the frozen beasts.

The Rakan Priests had no time to rest. After all, fights were going on everywhere.

Fortunately, they were led by Merlin, a priest with plentiful battlefield experience.

"Cast a thawing spell on the right front. Clasio, heal the left side. Rindo and Bamune, prepare another blessing."

Her precise orders and her calm, unwavering demeanor greatly uplifted the other priests.

"Yes ma'am!" the priests simultaneously.

Merlin slightly nodded her head and assessed the situation. Intense battles were taking place all across the battlefield. But at the moment, the raid team still held the advantage.

The 100 Fighters took down the frozen beasts fairly easily. Kang Oh would help out at just the right times, which was a huge help too.

Moreover, Dion, Eder, and Sephiro were safely dealing damage to Travium.

'The 3rd phase will start soon.'

Kang Oh was right on target.

Sometime later...

Kuhaahk!

Travium roared, signaling the start of the 3rd phase.

* * *

Whoosh.

Travium raised its icy axe into the air. Its axe radiated a blue aura. At the same time, several blue circles appeared within its vicinity.

"Dodge!" Khalidan yelled, and he quickly got out of range. The rest of his teammates threw themselves out of the way.

Glacial Crown!

Whoosh!

Glaciers rose from the ground, surrounding Travium; it was as if they were protecting him. From afar, it truly did appear like a glacial crown.

However, this was just the beginning.

Travium gripped its axe with two hands and spun like a top! This was the Spinning Slash skill.

As a result, the surrounding glaciers broke into bits.

Glacial Storm!

Destroying the glacial crown caused countless ice fragments to go flying everywhere. There were so many of them that dodging them was unthinkable.

Kang Oh spun Ubist, using it like a shield. His teammates did what they could to ensure their survival.

However...!

Travium suddenly leapt into the air!

Whoosh! Boom!

The ground shook, far surpassing the shaking caused by its stomp. It was an earthquake. As if the shaking wasn't enough, the ground cracked and split, and both people and snow fell into the crevices.

"Uhahk!"

"Jammer!"

A nearby teammate, who lied flat on the ground, held out his hand, but it didn't matter in the end.

"Worry about yourselves!" Kang Oh quickly yelled.

The storm of ice fragments wasn't over yet. They had to first protect themselves before worrying about others.

Bam, bam, bam!

Ice fragments mercilessly struck the shaking ground.

"Uhahk!"

"Ugh."

"Damn it!"

"Gyaahk!"

Screams of pain and curses could be heard all across the battlefield. The Rakan Priests weren't in good shape either, so they couldn't immediately cast their healing spells. They all just had to hope that this horrific situation would quickly pass.

There was no nightmare that went on forever. All of the ice fragments had fallen, and the earth had stopped shaking.

Thud! Thud!

Once the storm had passed, Kang Oh's teammates began attacking once more.

"Stand up and fight!" Dion rushed at Travium, a gladius in either hand.

"We sustained a ton of casualties over there! Start healing there first! Hurry!" Merlin pressed.

"Yes ma'am!"

The priests got a hold of themselves and began casting healing spells.

Rakan's Divine Breath!

A few of the gladiators on the brink of death were resuscitated. But their job wasn't done; several of their teammates still needed them. They didn't have time to rest.

"Cast the blessings again!"

"Yes ma'am!"

The priests began to reapply the blessings.

"Alright, let's do this."

"Let's go!"

The gladiators, who'd received healing and blessing from the priests, began to attack Travium once more. But there was no way Travium would just sit by and watch. It stomped on to the floor again, and a blue ring spread from beneath its foot.

This skill would summon frozen beasts to its side. However, animals hadn't appeared this time.

Frozen goblins, orcs, ogres, gryphons, wyverns, etc. It had summoned well-known monsters this time. Plus, these monsters were stronger than the previously summoned frozen beasts.

"Stop them!"

"Dodge!"

"Get behind them!"

"I need some reinforcements over here!"

The brutal battle continued.

* * *

Travium unleashed another Freeze Cannon from its axe. It split off into three different beams this time too.

"Ugh."

A gladiator took a direct hit and was frozen solid.

Another Freeze Cannon came for Sephiro. Because he was fighting a frozen gryphon, he was forced to use Absolute Evasion.

The final Freeze Cannon flew at Darion. He rolled on the floor and just barely dodged it.

With the appearance of the frozen monsters and Travium's rampage, the battle began to turn against them.

'We have to turn things around.' Kang Oh pulled out an ornately decorated spear.

It was called the 'Red Spear'. He'd bought it from the auction house specifically for this raid.

It was an AA-rank item with a fantastic ability.

Red.

Landing an attack leaves a mark in the shape of a red flower. Attacking the flower doubles one's damage. And if one lands a critical hit when striking the flower, one's damage is quadrupled instead.

Kang Oh immediately used Gluttony.

[Demon Sword Ubist has consumed the Red Spear.]

[It is an AA-rank item.]

[Entering Gluttony mode.]

[For 15 minutes, the demon sword and your character's abilities are tripled.]

[You may use one of the consumed item's abilities.]

[Red has been chosen.]

Right when his body began to emanate darkness, he added Devil Trigger to the mix. A beast mask covered his face, and a tail protruded from his back side. The Jet-Black Demon had risen!

Abyss Transfer.

Kang Oh melded into the darkness, and reappeared behind Travium. He immediately swung Demon Sword Ubist.

Swish.

His jet-black blade cleaved through Travium's tough fur.

Kuha!

It turned around and swung its axe at Kang Oh. As always, its attack was way too fast for its size!

But with the combination of his Hyper Intuition and his ability to act on its warnings, it wasn't so fast that he couldn't dodge it.

He turned his body to the side and dodged the axe. Bam! Its axe left a long scar on the snow-covered ground.

Regardless, Kang Oh was completely absorbed in scanning its body from head to toe.

'Over there!'

There was a red flower mark behind its left thigh.

As said, if he struck the mark, his damage would be doubled, and if he managed to land a critical hit, his damage would be quadrupled instead.

"Die!"

Just in time, Dion drew Travium's attention away from him. Kang Oh swung his sword right at the mark.

Slash!

Spurt!

A white line cleaved through the red mark.

He'd left behind a wound on top of the mark, so attacking there would always result in a critical hit. Thus, attacking the wound would always quadruple his damage.

Kuha!

Had it sensed danger? Travium suddenly turned around, and in doing so, concealed the mark.

It furiously swung its axe at Kang Oh.

"Tch." Kang Oh pulled back, avoiding its attack.

Once he'd gotten some distance away from it, Travium pointed its axe at him.

"A Freeze Cannon is coming!" Kang Oh and Khalidan almost simultaneously yelled.

The gladiators, who were busy fighting the frozen monsters, and the priests, who had their hands full healing, glanced at Travium. They were getting ready, just in case the Freeze Cannon was coming their way.

Whoosh!

A Freeze Cannon shot out of its axe. However, it hadn't split off into three sections this time. It was consolidated in a single beam! The Freeze Cannon, faster and more powerful than normal, came straight at Kang Oh.

'Shit.'

He hadn't expected this at all. Thus, he couldn't avoid it.

"Kuhahk!" Kang Oh swung his sword, desperately struggling against the incoming Freeze Cannon.

Tempest Tiger!

The mighty golden aura clashed with the cold, blue aura.

Bam!

The clash resulted in an explosion, which pushed Kang Oh further back.

Grr.

Travium raised its axe into the air. The icy axe began to radiate a blue aura.

"The ground!" Khalidan yelled. His teammates quickly got out of the way.

Glacial Crown!

Travium was surrounded by glaciers.

"This ain't going to end how you want it to!"

Abyss Transfer.

Kang Oh was swallowed up by the darkness.

A short while later...

Kang Oh reappeared within the glacial crown. The red mark was right in front of him, as well as the cut that went across it!

He thrust his sword.

Everlasting Darkness!

Stab.

His jet-black blade first pierced through the mark. Then, his blade expelled a massive amount of darkness.

Bam!

His abilities were already tripled by Gluttony. He'd also struck an area which quadrupled his damage, and added an Everlasting Darkness to it as well.

'This'll probably hurt.' Kang Oh grinned.

'Hurt' wasn't enough to describe the pain it was in; 'the feeling of being burned alive' was probably more accurate.

Kuaaahk!

It was only natural that it'd wail so desperately!

Once his attack was over, Kang Oh attempted to follow up with another attack. However, Travium began to rampage about. It swung its axe at random, cracking the glaciers with its arms and body, and rushed out of the glacial crown.

In such extreme pain, it briefly lost consciousness. It was completely defenseless.

"Dion, Eder, Sephiro. Concentrate all fire on Travium!" Kang Oh, who'd come out of the glacial crown, yelled.

This was their chance!

Dion repeatedly swung his swords at Travium's left leg.

Mad Wind's Sword!

The second attack was faster than the first, and the third was even faster than the second; his attacks increased in speed until it was difficult to make out his attacks with the naked eye.

Meanwhile, Eder and Sephiro went a different route; they decided to use a singular, powerful attack.

Buster Shot!

This was Sephiro's finishing move! A hundred arrows rained down upon Travium.

Eder summoned a giant bone scythe and swung it at the boss.

Bone Bomb!

Boom! The explosion engulfed Travium, and the resulting small bone shards raked at its thick hide.

Kuaaah!

Travium shrieked unceasingly.

Kang Oh appeared out of nowhere, planning to launch an Abyss Claw at the red mark. However, Travium counterattacked before he could make his move.

"Ugh." Kang Oh, struck by the icy axe, went flying. If he hadn't shielded himself with his sword, then he would've taken much more damage than he had.

Kuha!

Travium stood up scowling. It then did something rather peculiar.

It began munching on its SS-rank axe, the Glacier's Tear, as if it were candy!

"You crazy bastard! Do you know how much that's worth!?" Kang Oh was appalled.

'Did getting beat on by so many people drive it crazy?' Kang Oh briefly thought.

But when its breastplate fell off and its entire body turned to ice, Kang Oh made a realization.

"The 4th phase."

* * *

Thus far, the raid team had to keep fighting off the frozen beasts and monsters. But now, they had to face a completely frozen Travium.

Kuhaaaah!

It opened its arms wide and roared.

However...!

It was no ordinary roar. A deep blue energy was gathering within its mouth.

"Everyone, be careful!" Kang Oh quickly yelled.

Then...

Spurt!

Travium unleashed a wave of frost that froze the entire world.