"What are you so worried about? I'm here, aren't I? " Ray exclaimed and threw a slew of curses at the boss to slow it down. They were moderately effective, but it didn't stop the boss from advancing.

"Here, let me try," Alison said and started a chant. When she finished the water around them was suddenly filled by tiny lightning arcs. She had cast the spell Static Field, which had a high chance to paralyze an opponent. When it reached the boss, he twitched for a moment, but quickly kept advancing.

Jonah also wanted to help, but the maddening evil eye wasn't useful to stop someone and he doubted the fearful evil eye would work on the enraged boss. He was thinking wildly, but the problem was that Jonah didn't know telepathy and couldn't communicate with Tryx, who controlled her curses and the illusion magic.

~Stop thinking so chaotically. I will curse it if it's close enough.~ he heard the annoyed mask.

"" Shay used his other hand to swing the trident and shoot three destructive torrents at the boss. Under the water, their power was visibly increased and they easily ripped a chunk out of the place that would be its thighs, exposing the bright molten core.

Any other time, this would have been a negligible wound, but with the ocean of water quickly drawing out and hardening his molten body, Maltus was not only stopped from healing himself but lost his heat even quicker for a moment, as shown in a big chunk of health quickly vanishing after Shay's attack. Monique had constantly observed and noticed that the loss was bigger for as long as the wound had not hardened.

"That's it! Keep hurting it. The wound increased the freezing damage and cooled it off quicker."

Monique explained and threw , an attack skill that allowed her to create and throw spears made of spear aura. Jonah followed her example, but what worked great for Shay's skill, hindered theirs. The mass of water hindered their attacks, stopping them from dealing any damage comparable to Shay's initial strike.

Maltus kept drawing closer like an inevitable force until- He suddenly stopped in place. They could hear dampened chortling noises from the massive creature as it started undulating rhythmically. Soon a slurping was added and it undulated faster, making its cooled shell crack all over.

"What is going on?" the party thought to themselves, astonished at the sudden turn of events.

~You are welcome.~ Jonah heard the smug voice say in his head.

Health 430/1000

Status. Freezing, Burdened, Slowed, Dreaming(Curse)>

"It's caught in the curse of my mask," Jonah explained to the others.

"Wait, wasn't the soul of your mask that of a succubus? Doesn't that mean the bos is currently..."

Alison didn't speak it out loud, but it was enough for them all to come to the same conclusion. With an awkward expression, they collectively made a step back. Even Shay. Everyone stared at him in shock, since he was supposed to make sure the ring spewed its water outside the barrier.

"Good news, the ring finished," the water mage answered their concerned gazes.

They heaved a sigh, for more than one reason. This also meant, their strongest asset in water environment battles was free to help them once the boss got out of the illusion. None of the harbored any thoughts of the boss being trapped in the illusion until it died.

Yet, nobody wanted to risk waking it up. They all just watched its health tick down in wordless agreement, preparing for the moment it would go escape the status effect. It was awkward to watch the boss engage in unspeakable behaviors all on its own, but they didn't dare to look away.

When its health fell below a quarter, it suddenly halted. For a fraction of a moment, they could see deep red cracks all across its body before a huge explosion occurred surrounding it. As if it self-destructed, fire and smoke expanded from the place it stood. The shock wave ripped away several of the shields Alison had set up until only Tekar's barrier was left.

The water outside had gotten murky from all the smoke and there was no for them to see what was going on.

"Everyone bottoms up. Just in case," Monique gave the signal to drink the potion Alison had given out. They allowed them to breathe underwater, in case the shield really broke. As if waiting for this, the sound of a gong ringing shattered their ears, as a massive fist crashed into their barrier.

There was no signal needed for this. Everyone started attacking in the direction where the attack came from. Maltus was not fast, especially not in water. But there was no feedback. They couldn't see his status, nor the boss itself.

"Let's me try something;" Shay said belatedly like he suddenly had an idea he should have had sooner. He started waving his hands in a circular movement, resembling radio calisthenics. The water outside started moving a whirl around the barrier

They all realized that lv.5 was nothing to scoff at, as whirlpool was generated around them, giving them at least some view ability outside the barrier. Just in time, their barrier rang again like a bell.

A fist made of bright fire had smashed into the barrier. It belonged to a figure clad in a whale of bubbles and smoke.

Health 180/1000

Status: Enraged, Burning, Freezing>

The figure was half the size of the original boss, but it vanished quickly back into the dark flood, where they were unable to see it anymore. They all came to similar conclusions. Maltus had shed a great part of its body and was burning its life force in exchange for speed and power.

It seemed like the boss had become desperate to end this underwater battle as quickly as possible. This led the party to do the only logical move. Sit it out.

"The boss is on his last legs. That form is quickly burning his life force in addition to the freezing. Let's bleed him out. Tekar, can you strengthen your barriers further? Alison, Shay, and Ray set up all the barriers and shields you have. Shay, do you think you could cool down the water around us further?" Monique gave her orders.

Alison was able to set up a shield of any element as a wizard, but she had an even better idea she suggested to Monique.

…

Maltus was pressed for time. He had to accept that his mighty and glorious body was useless when faced with a battler below water. Many challengers had fallen to his tactics of hiding in the massive magma sea in the boss room, but nobody had ever summoned an ocean on his head.

Had he stubbornly held onto his vanity, he would have just gone out like a candle, unable to even put up a real fight. So he had shed his cumbersome shell in exchange for speed and power, even opting to burn his life to quickly end this fight.

The water kept pulling the energy out of him, but with his body made of fire, it was unable to touch or slow him now. He just had to break the barrier and these challengers would be at his mercy. Once it was over the door of the boss room would open and the water would be drained.

Maltus had never felt desperation ever since he became the guardian of the fire key. Now he remembered the fight of his youth when he was forced to fight for his life in the dungeon conquests. His fist became faster and faster and he drummed against the barrier to break it.

Although he was suspicious, since the challengers were no longer attacking him from the inside, he had to keep going, while his life was slowly ticking away.

100/1000: he increased his efforts and cracks formed on the surface.

90/1000: The shields broke and the barrier was on its last legs.

80/1000: the barrier broke under his boiling fist and Maltus was ready. He immediately fired his strongest skills turning the place where the barrier had stood into a cooking area of molten stone,

70/1000: There were no signs of the challengers. Everything was evaporated. Yet, the gates of the boss room stayed closed.

60/1000: What happened? Why were the gates not opening? Were they still alive? They had to be! He had not gotten a notification of a kill. But where were they?!

50/1000: Time was running out, what was he supposed to do? They couldn't have vanished.

40/1000: Had the water gotten colder? He felt his life leaving quicker, all of a sudden.

30/1000: No, it couldn't be... Would he really end like this? How embarrassing... would his path to greater heights be cut short by this humiliation?

20/1000: Maybe there was a chance to survive? Maltus wanted to dive into the spot of magma, created by his attack. It was shameful, but maybe he could breach the hardened top of the magma and find some heat below.

0/1000: Before he could try to dive into the ground. He was suddenly hit by a wave of attacks that wiped out what was left of his health in one go.

"How?" was his last thought before he disintegrated.