Chapter 611: Last Stand

Marcus blinked in surprise, then he smiled. So that was it.

Damn, he’d almost one-shot the bastard. There was no time to dwell on it, though, and Marcus immediately launched his follow-up assault.

"Black Eagle’s Fury!"

He and Pebble activated the skill from their Black Eagle Great Wings at the same time. From above, Emily watched as the two of them beat their massive black wings, the force of each flap sending out a heavy whoosh. Two towering tornadoes formed in front of them and rolled toward the Thunder Drum Beast.

The tornadoes didn’t fly forward like arrows. They moved across the ground, tearing through every Thunder Beast in their path and sending the monsters spinning through the air. Each monster caught in the vortex took roughly 7,000 damage with every hit.

While the tornadoes cleared a path, Marcus and Pebble spurred Blackie forward and switched weapons in the middle of the charge.

"Attack!"

His pets immediately sprang into action. The two Sea Demon Souls moved to round up the Thunder Beasts while the five Royal Sorcerers, Lyanna, and Camillo unleashed a barrage of magic, keeping the surrounding monsters occupied.

Marcus didn’t slow down, and he and Pebble followed close behind the roaring tornadoes, heading straight for the boss. The Thunder Drum Beast had only a fraction of its HP left, and Marcus was already preparing to finish it with one clean attack.

Then the Thunder Drum Beast suddenly slammed its fists against its chest.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

"Drum Morale!"

Lightning surged around its body as the skill activated. Its stats increased by 15%, while its HP shot back up by 30%. A full 100,000 HP.

"Crap."

Marcus had completely forgotten about that skill. For a moment, he wanted to curse himself for overlooking such an obvious ability. He’d nearly finished the fight, only to give the boss another chance to recover. Stupid mistake.

Still, he didn’t hesitate, and there was no point regretting it now. The boss had recovered, but Marcus still had plenty of ways to bring it down.

He had already put away the Twin-Winged Ice Owl Bow and Blazing Explosive Arrows. Now he pulled out the Mist-Tear Spear of Purity.

"Mistform Illusion!"

Blue light flashed around him. The spear’s skill activated, creating a clone with 80% of his stats.

They were now only twenty yards from the Thunder Drum Beast. Lightning continued to strike Marcus as the boss desperately tried to stop him, but his HP regeneration was strong enough to keep him standing without slowing down.

"Nightmare Charge!"

Marcus, Pebble, and the clone activated Blackie’s latest skill together, the ability he had learned upon reaching Level 50.

Blackie surged forward with explosive speed, accelerating until he matched the tornadoes racing ahead of them. The three of them charged directly at the Thunder Drum Beast. Ten yards.

"Desperate Strike!"

Marcus, Pebble, and the clone threw their Mist-Tear Spears at exactly the same moment.

CRACK!

The impact shook the area.

The tornadoes slammed into the Thunder Drum Beast at the same instant all three spears struck its body. The boss released a shrill roar, and then something Marcus hadn’t expected appeared above its head: a massive purple damage number.

Purple. Lethal Strike.

The damage exceeded 130,000, wiping out every last point of HP the Thunder Drum Beast had restored. The final throw had killed it outright.

’What insane luck.’

A Lethal Strike against a monster above his level was already extremely rare, and against a Level 70 Golden Boss, the odds were even worse. Yet with Pebble, the clone, the tornadoes, and Blackie’s Nightmare Charge all contributing to the attack, they had somehow managed to trigger one at exactly the right moment. Unreal.

Marcus couldn’t help grinning as he muttered to himself, "Stonehaven, you absolute beast."

"Go!"

He enjoyed the moment for all of two seconds before spurring Blackie forward again, charging straight toward the Thunder Drum Beast’s corpse.

The boss was dead, but the fight wasn’t over. More than fifty Thunder Beasts were gathered within ten yards of its corpse. They were Marcus’s real targets now, and the monsters were only just beginning to recover from the fear effect he’d inflicted earlier.

Marcus switched his equipment during the charge. Two Divine Artifacts appeared in his hands: the Adamant Shield and the Blackflame Ice Flower Sword.

"Adamant Shield Wall!"

Golden light flashed as he activated the shield’s skill, increasing his damage reduction by 70%.

That wasn’t an exaggeration. He was about to charge directly into a group of more than fifty Thunder Beasts. If every one of them attacked him at the same time, even 1,000 damage from each monster would be enough to kill him instantly. Defense came first.

Unfortunately, the clone had disappeared the moment the Mist-Tear Spear left its hand. The weapon’s illusion couldn’t remain active after the spear had been thrown. It would have been nice to have another body there to draw some of the attacks.

Still, Marcus had the Adamant Shield, and Pebble could help split the aggro. He was confident he could handle it.

The Thunder Beasts began firing lightning at him from every direction.

"Nightmare Teleport!"

Black light flashed.

Marcus disappeared and reappeared beside the Thunder Drum Beast’s corpse just before another volley of lightning could hit him.

"Blackflame Ice Flower!"

Marcus and Pebble shouted the skill’s name together, and the Blackflame Ice Flower Sword activated.

From above, Emily and Tyler watched as blue light burst outward from the two of them, spreading across everything within ten yards. Waves of blue energy followed one after another, striking the Thunder Beasts packed around the corpse.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Four successive bursts of damage struck every monster in range, each dealing 10,000 damage. Marcus alone dealt 40,000 damage. Pebble’s attack followed his exactly. Another 40,000.

Eighty thousand damage in total.

The Thunder Beasts had only 75,000 HP.

When the blue light finally faded, the more than fifty monsters surrounding Marcus had all collapsed to the ground. One after another, they died where they stood.

Emily stared down from above. The area around Marcus, which had been packed with Thunder Beasts only moments ago, was suddenly empty.