Chapter 152: Kill Steal
A heavy silence descended after the other group got wiped out.
Rakusha's sinister eyes locked on Ren and the others next.
"Another soul to take?" Rakusha laughed like a hyena, and the engagement was automatically triggered.
Ren huffed a chuckled before he stored Pii inside its [Pet House]. He didn't want the little guy to suddenly attack the Boss's and accidentally get himself killed, revealing his ace.
Ren then summoned [Infernal Staff] and began casting [Inferno]. He would finish this Boss as soon as he could. This would be his last job doing these kinds of things anyway so he might as well end it with a bang.
Rakusha's eyes locked onto Ren.
While Rox panicked. "W-what are we going to do?"
Should they just face the Boss head-on without a plan?
"You guys take your position away from each other so you won't get wiped out with its AoE damage," Ren instructed. "Ragnar use [Taunt] against it first while I cast my spell. Evie, you cast [Butterfly of Deceit] on me as soon as I finish casting my spell before the Boss could make any counterattack. Your timing had to be perfect. Got it?"
"Got it."
Ragnar went to Ren's side and muttered in a low voice, "You're not trying to get rid of me again, are you?"
Ren laughed a little. "This time, I want you to live as much as you can so I'll be spared from the Boss's attack."
"You do know that one hit from that boss's magical damage, and we're a goner, right?"
"No worries, its MP only has two thousand left. That's the beauty of engaging the Boss after everyone else."
Ragnar only flashed a slight grin while shaking his head slightly. He then engaged the Boss.
While Ragnar and Roxy were busy defending against Rakusha, Evie and Rox tried to chip off its HP.
Though Evie was attacking the Boss, she made sure to pay close attention to Ren. When she saw that a concentrated red fire was enveloping his body before all of it shot towards Rakusha, she immediately cast [Butterfly of Deceit].
Everyone's eye squinted when a searing hurricane of hot lava erupted from Ren's staff and shot directly at Rakusha with the intent to kill.
Like before, the blazing explosion engulfed everyone, and the others shade their eyes with their arms. For a time, only a blazing red and the loud eruption dominated the battlefield.
After seconds the surrounding was back to normal, and Rakusha was still standing on its feet with only less than half of its HP left.
Rox's jaw dropped. "T-ten thousand damage with just a single hit?" and the Boss even had Magical Resistance! How crazy was Ren's INT to inflict that kind of damage?
Roxy couldn't say anything but only thought of one thing. Ren was a God!
On the side, Ragnar had an inkling as to why Ren wanted to hide his identity. That scepter he held must be a rare item since he didn't see Ren equipping that weapon and casting that spell when they cleared Gargantuan Cave.
And with the in game currency that was about to be introduced, the more reason he needed to protect himself or his life might be in danger just for a rare item.
"Evie now!"
At Ren's shout came hordes of butterflies enveloping Ren in a soft embrace just in time that Rakusha made its counterattack. A [Multiattack] with the intent to kill Ren in one shot. It knew that amongst everyone else, Ren posed the most significant threat.
Rakusha must kill him first and as soon as possible.
However, its [Ram] and [Spirit Beam] were only wasted when all it killed was Ren's Illusions. The real Ren was transported near Evie.
Rakusha wasn't finish, though. It opened its mouth, and another wave of white light assembled in the center of its jaw.
That's right. Ren mused to himself. Another spell like that would surely deplete its MP.
Roxy and Ragnar were quick on their toes and cast another [Taunt] to draw the Boss's aggro on them before Rakusha could launched its attack on Ren.
Rakusha could do nothing but flick its attention on the two Orcs and cancelled its spell. Even for a beast that was operated by a system, it was smart to reserve its last spell for Ren.
However, because of that, Rakusha could only do physical damage to both Roxy and Ragnar while the two Orcs DEF was high enough to withstand its blows.
"Keep it occupied. I'll finish it with this last strike." Ren consumed an MP potion since [Inferno] almost depleted his current MP. [Mana Conversion] didn't keep up with the amount of MP he used compared to the amount that he regained.
Ren then used a grinding stone on his [Infernal Staff], and after making sure that its durability was full, he cast another [Inferno].
The single strike that everyone was waiting for came with a loud explosion. And like before, the blast felt like ten grenades were thrown at the same time.
Rox and Roxy couldn't believe that they had managed to defeat the Hidden Boss that they had a hard time defeating before. They really thought that they were merely wasting their time and EXP for another death penalty.
But who knew that a single player could create this much miracle? With their low ATP and numbers, they still managed to defeat a Hidden Boss without breaking a sweat!
Was this guy Ren a beta tester? Or a bug himself?
While Rox and Roxy were rejoicing, Ren, Ragnar, and Evie were readying for the Boss's [Berserk Mode]. They knew that the fight wasn't finished, and they were preparing their last attack to finally end it.
Their expectation was met with a notification ringing in front of them.
[Rakusha entered BERSERK MODE!]
"Berserk mode? What's that?!" both Rox and Roxy shrieked at the same time.
No one answered them as Rakusha's form doubled in size. Its INT and STR doubled as well, while its HP and MP increased to half.
"What in the f***!!"
Roxy and Rox cursed when they saw what had happened. Just as they were about to acquire their much-awaited victory, the Boss became unbeatable once more.
The only one who wasn't worried was Ren. He rejoiced that only Rakusha's STR and INT doubled, not its MDF.
This time, he would surely end the Boss for good!
After using another [Grinding Stone], a series of four concentrated beams of white light burst forth from his scepter, hitting Rakusha straight on. Ren didn't bother to use [Inferno] since he didn't want to waste another [Mana Potion]. Four [Spirit Conjuration] was enough to kill it at its current HP. And if Rakusha survived the shot, the others could simply finish it off.
Rakusha gave off a loud resounding cry as its HP flashed red and halted to only two digits.
"Finish it off, now!" Ren shouted at the others.
Rox and Roxy momentarily froze. They blanked out and hadn't recovered at the series of events that flashed before their eyes in mere seconds. One second, the Boss doubled its HP and MP and the situation turned hopeless again. But the next, its HP went down to only 2.
They shakily caught their breath and forced their body to move.
Ragnar and Evie were quick to respond, though. Evie used [Fire] to reduce Rakusha's HP some more while Ragnar unleashed a series of blows, making sure that Rakusha was dead even before it could move.
Came their attacks was another shot from meters away. Ren and the others really thought that they killed the Boss when it burst into particles after another cry that shook the ground and it went weak and became nothing as pixels.
Rox and Roxy were ecstatic, and that was when they recovered and jumped on their feet.
"We did it!"
"We really defeat the Boss!"
But upon seeing that Ren, Evie, and Ragnar's faces were dark, that was only when they noticed that the notification for first blood didn't appear in front of them.
Instead, it burst into the sky, saying that another group claimed firstblood with Rakusha.
[ CONGRATULATIONS to the group Michael's Team on getting first blood from defeating the Hidden Boss, RAKUSHA! ]