Chapter 148

No Rest For the Wicked (V)

Without the group needing to do anything, the massive gates abruptly shuddered and began separating. Creaking and screeching noises bellowed out like war drums, forcing everyone to hold up their hands against their ears to ease the pain slightly. Sounds of the chains snapping joined soon after in concert with the hollowed-out wails of distant souls in the sky. Thunder boomed out above them as though on a cue, just as the gates finished opening.

A straight path was lain before them, carpeted in red, surrounded by two seas of graves stacked on top of each other. Some were slanted, some straight, some recent and some older than Earth itself, it seemed. The path led to the left wing of a massive castle that continued beyond the misty shroud, bridges connecting it to the wing in front of them; it was a squared building built out of obsidian brick, gargoyle statues decorating its entrance, shimmering, red rubies visible here and there as the only source of local light.

The group slowly proceeded onward, stifling their fears as much as possible; the whole scene was incredibly macabre, as though ripped from a badly-written but a highly-produced horror movie. The doors to the wing were already opened by the time they arrived, leading into a wide, chandelier-lit hall. Unlike the exterior, the interior of the castle was actually beautiful -- black-and-white tiles laced the floor, with hand-carved columns upholding the upper floor above them. It was crescent, winding above the entrance and to the front, dipping into a set of wide and silver-laden stairs.

The side walls were holding portraits and paintings abound, depicting various figures -- and not always in flattering ways. The group paused suddenly, their eyes veering to the top of the stairs where a shadow melded together and morphed into a standing figure; she was some six-foot-tall, approximately, donning a rather revealing set of clothes, a singular, crimson orb levitating next to her.

A ruby set of eyes was paired with an oval-shaped face and snow-pale skin, wide and plump lips, and somewhat rosy cheeks. Inspecting her, the group quickly realized that was their target -- Myeala the Unshackled. Kramer's group swiftly took out their weapons but held back from rushing as they saw that Emma and others just stood there calmly, at ease.

“... another pack of dogs sent to trouble my Master,” the woman spoke in a coquettish tone. “I am flattered that you have chosen me; it has been a while since I had some toys to play with. I shall wait for you in my Hall. Do not disappoint me.”

The woman vanished as abruptly as she appeared, leaving Kramer and others of his group confused. It was for just a moment, however, since a set of notification windows that sprung in front of them right after cleared up all the confusion rather swiftly.

//Welcome to the Undying Castle’s rightmost wing, ‘Wing of Desecration’, protected by Myeala the Unshackled!

The Guardian has challenged you to a battle, and you cannot refuse!

You will have a grace period of 1 hour to inspect the upcoming battle upon which you shall be teleported to the battle arena!

Once the battle begins, it will be impossible to leave until either the party or Myeala is felled!

Context: Upon arriving at Undying Castle, you have been intercepted by Myeala, one of the Castle’s Guardians. In order to reach the heart of the Castle, she is your first obstacle! Defeating her will unlock access to the rightmost wing, where Lek the Usher of the Dead resides, ‘Wing of Eternity’.

...

...

Myeala the Unshackled (Corrupted Ante-Human)

Level: 81

Vitality: 19,800 (190,800 Health)

Basic Attack Damage: Flat 4% of the max Vitality.

Phase 1 (100-60% Vitality):

Upon the battle's start, Myeala will summon eight 'Bloodstained Chains' at the edges of the room. Every 30 seconds, one of the chains will glow red and snap, instantly killing the closest party member. Note: the chain can also hit Myeala for a flat 10% of her current Vitality.

Storm of the Unchained -- periodically, Myeala will summon a set of chains from her vault that will strike at a random member of the party for 4 times over the course of 6 seconds. Each strike deals 25% of their max Vitality.

Caged -- whenever Myeala loses 10% Vitality, she will lock a random Support member of the party up, silencing them for 1 minute. The cage can only be broken by a chain.

Ripped Asunder -- Myeala channels her strength for 3 seconds upon which she will unleash a devastating strike at her current, highest priority target, dealing 99% of their current Vitality as damage. The damage cannot be shielded, blocked, evaded, or immuned. However, for each additional member within 6 yards of the target, the damage is lowered by 5%.

Servant of the King (commences Phase 2): At 60% of her Vitality, Myeala will enrage. The eight chains around the room will double and will now strike every 10 seconds. Furthermore, ‘Storm of the Unchained’ now deals its max damage over the course of 3 strikes and within 4 seconds.

Phase 2 (60-20% Vitality)

Weeping of the Souls -- each time Myeala lands a successful hit on a member of the party, she gains a charge of 'Soul' buff, increasing her damage by 5% for 10 seconds, stacking up to 15. The buff can be dissipated if she is hit by a chain at 4 stacks, 8 stacks, or 10 stacks. If she reaches 15 stacks, she channels for 2 seconds and does party-wide damage, releasing all her stacks. The damage equates to 80% of her primary target's max Health.

Sweep -- every 8 seconds, Myeala will sweep in a wide, frontal cone, dealing 890 damage to everyone she hits and applying a ticking debuff, ‘Locked’. Members of the party with the debuff are slowed by 60% and cannot use any Utility Skills for 6 seconds.

Sigil of the Master (commences phase 3) -- at 20% Vitality, Myeala enrages further, removing all 16 chains and drawing them to hover above her for the remainder of the fight. She will periodically strike with the chain, dealing 80% of the target’s current Health as damage. Damage is split for each member of the party hit. Every 30 seconds she will gain a ‘Sigil’ buff, upgrading the ability by attacking with an extra chain, targeting an extra person each time.

The Last Stand -- at 5% of her Vitality, Myeala draws upon the power of her Master; for the remainder of the fight she deals and takes 250% more damage, has doubled attack speed, and her direct strikes inflict ‘Locked’ debuff on people and ‘Soul’ buff on her.

...

The grace period now begins!

Time until the fight: 59:59... 59:58... 59:57...

Good luck, Conquerors!//

While Emma, Jamal, Diya, Senna, Daniel, and Lukas were somewhat okay as they had the previous experience of fighting a raid-type boss, Kramer's group had never experienced anything like this. Even in their hardest fight, they never got a full rundown of the boss' abilities -- which only meant one thing... those bosses weren't nearly hard enough to constitute giving the people fighting them a complete rundown of what they can do.

Reading down through the list, they also immediately realized that the ‘grace period’ was basically designed to have groups rapidly and in panic discuss the tactics on how to deal with the mechanics. And... we have to fight FOUR of these fuckers in a row?!! With the other three probably being even harder than this bitch?!! What in God's name...

The group was shellshocked for a moment; even if they didn’t experience the fight just yet, reading through the abilities alone was enough to understand it will be a nightmare. Even just a quick glance let them know there would be a lot of kiting, a lot of moving around, and a lot of pitch-perfect positioning and timing if they even stood a chance at defeating her. Furthermore, they only had one shot -- that was it. There would be no wipes and re-dos, no further discussions of the tactics and what went wrong. Because, if they made a mistake... they would die. And that would be it for their journey, dreams, and aspirations.

Kramer’s group glanced at Emma’s, their understanding of the small party furthering; it was no wonder that they were so much stronger than them if they had to face fights like these constantly. They had to be optimal with their damage, timing, and positioning because, if they weren't, they'd already been dead. This fight would, essentially, force Kramer and others to swiftly catch up in terms of how they fought.

“This seems easier,” Emma commented aloud after a few moments. “The boss can’t heal, there’s no enrage timer, and most mechanics are just about rotating between the chains and positioning. We can easily just stop doing damage at certain points and re-position if necessary since she doesn’t have any super hard-hitting abilities.”

"Yup," Diya nodded, her furrowed expression relaxing slightly. "Plus, we have three tanks so even if we miss a window or two, we can ensure safety by just switching. We can designate one person to note which chain will strike next, another person to keep an eye out on where the 'Storm' attack is going, and another to keep an eye out on chains during the last phase."

“Yeah, and we have enough melee attackers that it will be easy to stack for lowered damage...”

Seeing them so nonchalantly discussing what Kramer and others saw as an absolute nightmare... stung. Easier?! Easier?!! WHAT IN GOD’S NAME DID YOU PEOPLE FIGHT?!

In reality, Emma’s group was right -- but it was null. If Cain were here, he’d immediately realize that this raid, so to say, was likely designed for ahead-of-the-curve groups who’d already dealt with at least one or two similar fights and, in extension, had the gear to grapple with it. Kramer and others, essentially, were walking in blind and would need to be carefully guided through the process.

“Alright,” Emma yawned and sat down. “Relax, eat something, and let’s talk roles and tactics. Everyone will have to know what they have to do, where they have to be, and what kind of loot they want her to drop so they’re really inspired during the battle, ha ha ha!”

“...” Kramer’s group glared at the six seated ones, wishing only to say one thing to them: Go fuck yourselves!