Chapter 343

Return Home (III)

“Out! Everybody out! Kramer and I will cover!!” Emma hollered at the top of her voice, deploying numerous frontal barriers and shields, with Kramer following suit, and temporarily stopping the onslaught of silver-white flames that were spreading across the room. As soon as everyone began exiting the room, both Kramer and her dipped out as quickly as they could, barely managing to leave in time, both with sub 10% health remaining.

The rest of the raid party wasn’t much better off, dancing around the dangerous 20%. Yuki desperately tried to top everyone off, but he had been running on fumes in terms of Mana for nearly five minutes now, and was struggling still. A couple of other healers that they picked up sat down and mediated for a moment to refuel before helping top everyone off to 50% just in case somebody elected to ambush them.

They found themselves outside a massive, silver-hung spire on top of a brown and black mountain. Instead of descending, they moved slightly away from the entrance and set up camp. Nobody spoke, too tired to even part their lips, electing instead to replay the fight in their heads over and over again.

That was their fourth time facing U’nul, Star of Hegon and Guardian of the 19th Floor. And it was also their best attempt--managing to barely push the boss into the second phase, 80%, before nearly dying instantly. Luckily, Yuki’s fast reaction time managed to save them, but it was simply a cascading spiral afterward, forcing them to retreat immediately.

The jump in difficulty was massive--though the Guardian of the 18th floor, aptly named Frosted Worm, was extremely difficult and annoying, they were never truly in danger of actually dying. Even when they had to retreat, it was simply because they realized they were running out of resources and they wouldn’t be able to kill it, electing instead for a safe retreat.

U’nul, on the other had, was not only difficult in terms of numbers--as even Emma and Kramer were repeatedly brought down to a dangerous threshold, even through their cooldowns--but also in terms of raw mechanics, as every single member of the raid had to do their jobs perfectly and any mistake effectively resulted in a wipe.

Cain mentioned, Emma recalled, that the 19th floor was a great ‘wall’ as it led into a ‘different kind of a Tower’--if the first 19 floors could be considered ‘tutorial’, then 20 and onward was when the game began. And they were certainly feeling it. After all, even with a complete rundown of what the boss did, including its every single ability, they still struggled to comfortably push even just its first phase.

Sighing, Emma pulled up the window of the boss’ description and glanced at the novel describing her--it was like a grocery store list of abilities, each complex enough to warrant a re-read.

U’nul, Star of Hegon (Level 151) (Human)

Vitality: 78,560

Phase 1:

Touch of Fire -- every 10 seconds, U’nul marks her target, dealing 86,000 damage to it, leaving behind a ‘Touch of Fire’ debuff. If the target with the debuff is struck with the ability, U’nul deals 800% more damage.

Violent Eruptions -- periodically, U’nul marks 6-12 members with one of the Aluni, dealing 23,000 damage individually after 6 seconds. In case marked targets aren’t standing above the designated Aluni, damage is increased by 300% and dealt to every member of the raid party.

Hegon’s Grace -- every 5 seconds, U’nul gains 5% bonus damage, stacking infinitely. Stacks are refreshed to 0 every 10% of her HP.

Calling of Flames -- U’nul retreats to her altar, becoming invulnerable for 30 seconds, summoning 6-12 pylons at previously activated Aluni. Pylons can only be damaged by the marked members and the Anti-star of Hegon. While alive, pylons radiate fire damage, dealing 6,999 damage every second to every member of the raid. Damage is increased the further away from the pylons members are.

Untouched -- upon reaching 80%, one of U’nul’s chains snaps, increasing her damage by 15% for the remainder of the fight. At the same time, she unleashes a massive burst of fire from the unactivated Aluni, dealing 76,000 fire damage to everyone hit. People standing on the activated pylons take 99% less damage. Shedding away her sword and taking out a spear, U’nul begins her 2nd phase.

Phase 2:

Holy Charge -- U’nul’s basic attacks grant her 3 energy, and her skills grant her 8 energy. She casts additional skills depending on the amount of energy she has.

Symmetry in the Blaze -- every 30 energy, arena erupts in line formations of fire, forming one of the three cosmic shapes. Lines erupt after 1,5 seconds, dealing 44,000 damage to anyone still standing on them.

Star’s Sigil -- in case the symmetry’s shape was Adun, U’nul unveils her wings and takes flight. Every 4 seconds, she descends like a falling star at a random target, instantly killing them if she makes contact, leaving behind a massive ring of fire. Players standing near the pylons are immune, but pylons are destroyed in the process.

Maiden of Worship -- in case the symmetry’s shape was Astra, U’nul slams her spear down and knocks everyone back 18 yards. She continues to radiate fiery winds for the next 3 seconds, dealing persistent fire damage to the entire raid. After 3 seconds, the energy is flipped, sucking everyone at her feet, slowing them down by 99%, as she leaps into the air, charging for 3 seconds after and slamming down. Anyone caught in the area is immediately killed. Pylon offers protective shield, though is destroyed after the fact.

Forewarned -- in case the symmetry’s shape was Est, U’nul unwinds, becoming her own Avatar for 10 seconds. Every one of her attacks during 10 seconds deals 800,000 damage in a 25 yards AOE, but the damage is split between everyone in the circle. At the end of her Avatar state, she explodes in rage, knocking everyone back and healing herself for 5% of the damage she dealt.

Marked by Fire -- at 50 stored energy, U’nul marks one of the tanks. For 45 seconds, the marked target becomes immune to damage.

Holy Cleansing -- every 8 seconds between 50 and 70 energy, regardless of her other casts, U’nul charges her spear for 3 seconds and fires a conal beam of fire, dealing 77,000,000 damage to everyone caught in it. Her aim changes depending on the position of the ‘Marked by Fire’. Holy Cleansing does not generate any energy.

Loved, Beloved -- at 70 energy, fires erupt from the Heart of Fire, awashing U’nul. She begins to radiate flames every second, dealing 3,000 damage at the start to everyone, increasing by 100% every 10 seconds. For everyone she kills, she permanently gains 5% damage and restores 5% of her health.

Bleeding Star -- at 100 energy, U’nul erupts, knocking everyone to the edges of the room. Swarming winds of fire begin to blow from the Heart, pushing everyone back as the pits open. Throwing away her spear, U’nul dons a pair of chakrams, entering her 3rd phase.

Phase 3:

Cut, Beaten, Broken -- for the remainder of the fight, U’nul gains 1% attack speed every 5 seconds, stacking infinitely. Every 5% increase in attack speed also grants her 1% leech on all her abilities. She no longer requires energy to use her Phase 2 abilities, though most are depowered.

In Fire, Forever Purged -- U’nul stabs the Heart of Fire and drains some of its Core, empowering her next Symmetry of the Blaze and spawning 6-12 pylons at the undamaged Aluni. Star’s Sigil gains an additional effect of the Impact Blaze--upon colliding with the ground, the crash spews motes of fire all around. If hit by them, targets receive 19,000 damage and ‘Burned’ debuff, dealing equal amount over the next 10 seconds. Maiden of Worship gains an additional effect of Awe of Fire. Everyone hit by the ability receives a permanent debuff of Awe of Fire, dealing 10% less damage to U’nul. Forewarned gains an additional effect of Judge, Jury, Executioner--U’nul only ever executes 3 attacks in her Avatar form, dealing 1,000,000 damage spread across everyone with each strike. Anyone struck twice with the attack, however, is killed. Instead of restoring health, she losses 1% of her current health per the survivor of the attacks.

Wings, They Burn -- U’nul sheds her ephemeral wings, turning them into angelic halos that radiate repeatedly from the Heart. Each radiating attack deals 500,000 damage spread evenly throughout the entire raid. Upon reaching the edge of the arena, the halos burn off 20 yards, narrowing the fighting arena with each successive radiation.

My Heart of Fire -- upon reaching 5% health, U’nul turns berserk and eats the Heart of Fire, engulfing herself in the devouring flames. Upon devouring the Heart, she has 6 seconds to kill everyone still alive. If she fails, she dies, and anyone killed during this part is brought back to life.

Reading through everything, Emma groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose. It was insane--everything, every bit of it. Just the first phase was already a massive headache, the second looked impossible, and the third sounded as a very painful way to commit suicide. The fight was intensive on all fronts--mechanically it was tight, as missing any part of the 1st phase literally dooms the rest of the fight. Furthermore, healing required was something that nobody has ever experienced--the first time they entered, they only brought Yuki and one extra healer that Rick discovered--the two couldn’t even heal through the first 5% of boss’ health with any level of security. And that was just the first phase.

The third phase was just a massive damage check--no, the entire fight was a massive damage check... and they had no chance of meeting it. Despite everyone begin decked out in top gear, they were falling short. It wasn’t the best gear, not by any means, as they mostly just spedrun the last few floors without exploring too much, but nobody in the world still could come remotely close to their output.

And then there were the tanking checks--both Kramer and her... struggled, to say the least. The amount of damage they had to eat consistently without much healing was insane. They couldn’t even complain--after all, the rest of the raid had to be healed, and they were sort of left to fend for themselves. Even Emma, with all her self-healing that could ordinarily easily outpace average healers, found herself repeatedly fearful of how low she was dropping. Kramer, on the other hand, had to be chain-healed during his taunt phase as he couldn’t survive even if he blew all his cooldowns.

“Rest,” she said when she saw that everyone was looking at her. “We’ll discuss it in the morning.”

Everyone happily obliged and disappeared as she popped open a bottle of wine, taking a few sips, thinking on how to further optimize the fight. She knew they stood no chance as-was -- they’d have to go back and start min-maxing their gear, likely getting anything and everything that has any Fire Resistance attached to it. Plus, it was looking more and more likely that they’d have to have more members. Then again, there was the risk of spawning 12 pylons. Even as-is, it was difficult to heal through 6 of them, and they couldn’t actually be destroyed, despite what the description alluded to. Everything... was a headache. But, they would figure it out--they always have, after all, and always will.