SPLASH!
Kane immediately fell and was submerged in some kind of body of water. He couldn't say if it was a river or anything as it was pitch-black, just like the other rooms.
'What's this? Water? Inside a Tower?'
Kane tried to swam back to the top. But he heard something.
"GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRR."
'Mamamia! What the hell was that?!'
Kane tried to swim faster to the top, but his incredible movement speed only worked on the land, not on the water. Upon reaching the top, Kane suddenly got the chills on his bones. He felt that something big is coming at him.
"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..."
Immediately, Kane took out the shield that he looted and used it as a surfing board. He took out his sword and used it to row forward.
Despite in pitch-black, Kane could feel the ripples on his feet. Something was coming. Kane immediately jumped away.
SPLASH!
RRRRRRRRRRRRROAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!
A massive reptile suddenly appeared from the water and swallowed his makeshift surfing board. A large health bar appeared on Kane.
Captured Heraldian Horrors LVL 200
HP: [?/?]
HP: [?/?]
'Holy fuck! Why is this here! And... there's two of them!!'
Kane's eyes managed to adapt to the dark. He could see the room a little bit. But that also mean that he could now see that massive crocodile that was trying to eat him.
Kane quickly swam forward, away from the Heraldian Horror, but he was too slow.
PLOCK!
Another Heraldian Horror rose up in front of Kane.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!
The crocodile opened its mouth and started sucking out the water. Kane couldn't run away as he was being pulled to the massive predator.
KABOOM!
The reptile's face was blasted.
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!
People started falling from the portal above while Xvin remained flying above the water with the help of his flaming hands. The massive health bar finally appeared for Xvin and his party.
'Heraldian Horror, in the Wallace Tower? What kind of shitty luck is this?'
Because of Xvin's arrival, Kane managed to survive and swam away.
BOOM! KABOOM! BANG!
Multiple colors filled the room as the players continuously firing their skills at the crocodiles.
The crocodiles took a significant amount of damage that made them dive into the water. Xvin was worried upon seeing that the crocodiles descended.
As they managed to take almost half of the crocodile's HP, the party members thought this would be an easy battle. The also dived down and followed the crocodiles. Xvin saw them.
"No! Wait! Don't follow!"
Just at what Xvin expected, the reptiles took the players one by one. This was the reptiles' domain. In these waters, their movement speed was highly increased. The players started swimming back to the surface.
Xvin was bothered that the Heraldian Horrors might not go back to the surface anymore. If that happened, they're forced to fight the monsters underwater. Ryore surfaced from the water.
"Xvin! We're losing people!"
"Yeah, the situation is fucking bad. Did you see the troublemaker?"
"I didn't. Is he dead?"
"No. I saw him earlier swimming away."
"That little shit sure used all the luck in his life on this day. What should we do?"
"I guess we got no other choice."
Xvin raised one of his hands upward.
[Combined Skill!]
[Underwater Breathing]
[Underwater Gravity]
An enormous glowing magic circle that encompassed the whole room appeared above Xvin. Bright purple energy immediately enveloped all of the players in the room, including Kane.
Ooop!
Kane was suddenly pulled down.
"Ugh! Shit! Did someone caug—wait. Why can I talk?"
Kane was continuously dragged downward, but he found it weird that he could talk despite being underwater.
Ack!
Kane fell to the bottom of the sea.
"Uggghhhh... I don't know what's going on!? Aren't there any notifications for these!"
Kane looked around and saw other people also falling to the ground. But unlike him, they were all landing safely on their feet.
Now, all of them were in the water. Ryore approached the exhausted Xvin, who was hiding beneath one of the underwater caves.
"Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine. Let-Let me just rest for a bit."
Ryore nodded at Xvin and then left.
"Remember! We need to take them out at the same time!"
Because Xvin was exhausted, Ryore temporarily spearheaded the team. Ryore jumped high and faced one of the Horrors while the rest of his party went to the other.
Ryore was floating in the middle of the ocean, facing the massive crocodile. Ryore slammed his axe toward the face of the gigantic crocodile.
[Critical Hit]
Despite the difference in size, Ryore could hold back the massive crocodile like it was nothing. The reptile twisted its body and slammed its tail at Ryore. To counter that, Ryore swung his axe toward the tail.
CLANG!
Ryore's axe and the monster's scales collided. The tail was deflected away. The reptile quickly retaliated by biting him. Ryore just swung his axe, and a water shockwave was formed, pushing the crocodile away.
[Critical Hit]
Despite only a shockwave, it did remove a large chunk of the crocodile's health.
"I already defeated the four of you. That battle was much much harder than this crap."
"GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!"
On the other side of the battlefield, an idiot was busy mining corals using his Pickaxe. But the colorful unleashing of energy caught his attention.
"Woah, this was just as impressive as Bastion and his friends. Ah, I'll be able to fight like that someday?"
The reptile rolled itself like an armadillo and rolled toward Ryore. Ryore recognized the attack and shouted.
"Yes! That attack gave me flashbacks!"
Ryore also started rolling while wielding his axe. He spun his axe so fast that he became a human bladed disk. The two rolling fighters clashed at each other and created a strong shockwave upon impact.
BAGAM!
It pushed everyone away. The reptile was slammed to the ocean floor, while Ryore was fine. The reptile glared at Ryore before producing some spikes on its back.
'This is the sign that it's already half hp. We're halfway there then.'
Ryore peeked at his right and saw that the other Horror also had spikes on its back.
'This is good. Both of them are both half HP. We just need to take them out together.'
Ryore raised his axe to slam it on the crocodile below. But his eyebrows subconsciously crooked upon seeing the crocodile with its mouth opened wide.
'Wait a minute? What's that attack? I never saw that before!'
The crocodile aimed its mouth at Ryore and fired a beam of compacted water. Ryore brought down his axe to deflect the attack.
CLANG!
The impact deflected his axe away. Luckily, his grip was strong enough that it still remained on his hands. While Ryore managed to avoid most of the damage, he was still sliced on his chest.
Ryore looked on his right and saw that their party members were also getting killed one by one. The crocodiles were wagging their tail, and it kept on producing invisible shockwave could slice anything in its path.
'What's with those attacks? Does the Heraldian Horrors had all these attacks all along? This never happened before.'
As a high-leveled player, people like Ryore and Xvin already defeated the legit Heraldian Horrors roaming the Herald Island. Even if it was a long time ago that they defeated these monsters, Ryore still had a gist of what Heraldian Horrors were. However, he was utterly flustered as the attack patterns on this crocodile was different.
'What was different? Is it because of... because it's on water?!'
Ryore dashed forward while continuously sidestepping left and right, underwater, to avoid the shockwaves. He ignited his axe with a glowing yellow light and tried to slice the crocodile's head.
SLASH!
But Ryore got sliced on his back. It came from the other crocodile. He gazed back at his opponent and saw that it was about to eat him. He didn't have any time to dodge.
BITE!
But Ryore was saved. Saved by Kane. Kane grabbed and swam away.
"Hey, brat. what are you doing?"
"Can't you see, I'm trying to save you!"
"B-But, you're not moving at all!"
Kane didn't realize that his movement speed was entirely reduced to 1 because he was carrying Ryore. Ryore had many items in his inventory, which made him heavier than Kane's weight limit. Kane only pushed him away, but couldn't carry him to safety.
"Ah, shit, old man. Goodbye! Have a nice day!"
Kane let go of Ryore and swam away. The reptile opened its mouth wide and tried to bite them again. It was too big that both of them will get bitten.
SHING!
White light spread out throughout the sea. The reptiles were taken aback and started retreating. The light came from a ball of light made by Xvin.
"Retreat!"
Ryore easily managed to reach Xvin, way faster than Kane could swim away from them. All of them managed to retreat, including Kane.
The two crocodiles came back and tried to bite randomly with their eyes clothes. But they couldn't bite anyone as everyone retreated. As soon as the team gathered under a certain underwater cave, Ryore immediately stepped forward.
"I don't know what happened, their attack pattern was different from the ones we fought before."
"Before?" a guy asked.
They all looked at him and saw that it was Kane. Ryore quickly grabbed Kane's clothes and pulled him up.
"You little shit! You have the nerve—"
"Stop!" Xvin shouted. He stared at Kane and requested a cease-fire.
"I don't know who you are and what do you want, but if we don't work together, we're all gonna die here! We need to help each other."
"I'm not sure how I can help."
"It's just like what you did in the past rooms."
"What? Running around?"
"Yes. I cast a spell on you, that is why you could breathe and talk while underwater. We need your help to get their attention and run around."
"Okay. I get it. But I think you're forgetting something. I saw those guys throwing some ranged attacks. I can outrun these Dino Crocs, but I can't dodge their massive attacks!"
"Point taken. What is your level?"
"My level? What's with me level again? Why do people always ask that?"
"We're about to temporarily let you borrow some of our items so you can shoot them from afar. We need to know what's the highest level item we can give you."
"Why? Can't I just equip anything?"
Xvin, Ryore, and the rest of the squad looked at Kane with contempt. They thought Kane was joking in the middle of a life and death battle. Kane noticed it and just accepted it as a yes. But Kane suddenly remembered something.
'Come to think of it, I can't equip the shield earlier.'
But he also remembered something.
"Pretty sure... I already equipped a level 1000 weapon."
"Level 1000?!"
Some of the red-cloaked players were flustered. Ryore shook his head.
"Look, Xvin. We're wasting time with this clown. Fucking level 1000 weapon."
At that point, Xvin also reached his limit.
"Look, if you're like this, then I'm just gonna kill you right now. Stop spouting shit and tell us your level."
"I'm level 8."
Ryore summoned his axe and was about to slam it at Kane. Kane's knees gave up, and he fell to the ground.
"Wait! Fucking shit! I'm really level 8!"
Luckily, when Kane fell to the ground, he managed to display his information box that showed that he was really level 8. Ryore was confused about his level.
"I was more surprised that you managed to enter this Tower with that stupid level."
Kane stood up like it was nothing and started dusting off Ryore's shoulders.
"Chill, bruh. Do you have some anger issues?"
Ryore tried to grab him, but Kane easily stepped back.
"Stop!"
Xvin intervened. He faced his squad members and asked.
"As you saw, he's level 8. I don't have any items that low."
But they were all silent. Most of the people in the room were around level 50 and above. Why would they store items as low as level 8? A blonde-haired woman in the back took out something but was hesitant to step forward.
But one of their party members shouted.
"I do!"
That person gave Kane a set of bow and arrows. But Kane replied.
"I don't know how to fire an arrow."
"..."
Xvin couldn't hide his disappointment.
"Oh, my. Alright. Anyone got more?"
A dude came out and handed Kane a crossbow.
"I don't know how to use a crossbow."
A woman gave him a javelin next.
"I don't know this, how do you throw this?"
Ryore snapped,
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Why are we relying on this idiot!"
"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!"
The crocodiles heard his scream and went to their direction. It started wandering above them. Xvin softly slapped Ryore's face.
"Stop playing around!"
Finally, the blonde woman stepped forward and offered her weapon. It was a rifle. Kane was mesmerized as this was the first time he saw a gun in Arcadia.
"Woah?! I heard guns were rare in Arcadia? Are you giving this to me?"
Even Xvin didn't know that the lady had a gun.
"Pixie. Why do you have this gun?"
"I got it a couple of months ago. It was just level 5 tho. So, it's basically useless for my level now."
Kane gladly accepted the gun with a smile on his face. Ryore asked.
"You looked so worked up. Do you know how to use a gun?"
"I don't."
"Fucking little shit!"
Ryore was about to grab Kane again, but the woman intervened.
"Don't worry. I have a tracking skill."
"Tracking skill?"
"Yes. Just aim the rifle at your target, and I'll control the bullet to your target once you fired it."
"Woah? So, basically, you're an aimbot!"
"Uhhh... sort of..."
Xvin asked.
"Then why didn't you say that earlier when we gave him the other items like the arrows?"
"I only unlocked mind-tracking skill for bullets."
"Oh, okay."
Kane took the gun and examined it.
[You received Galaxion Gunner]
[Galaxion Gunner – LVL 5]
Rarity: Rare
Attack: +80
'Woah.'
Despite only level 5 and a rarity of rare, it was as strong Bulgong's Staff, which had a higher rarity and level requirement. Not to mention that this was also a ranged weapon.
The red-cloaked players started dispersing one by one. But before Xvin could jump away, Kane approached him.
"I heard you guys kept on saying that we needed to take them out at the same time. What do you mean about that?"
"These Horrors had some kind of double ENRAGE status."
"Uhhhh, so is this different than the usual one?"
"Not really. It had the usual Enrage mode when its health falls under a certain threshold. But there was also another Enrage mode. This other Enrage mode will trigger if one of the Horrors were killed. It will not only change the monster's attack pattern, but it will also massively increase the stats of the Horrors. If the two Enrage modes overlapped with others, then we're doomed."
Kane reluctantly agreed, but in reality, he doesn't understand anything anymore. Xvin turned around and jumped away. The lady approached Kane and smiled.
"I'm Pixie."
She was a young lady, a little bit taller than Kane, with a cheerful face.
"I'm..."
Suddenly, Kane remembered his bounty back at Herald City.
"Reynold."
"Reynold? But why is it Kane250 on top of your head?"
"Top of my... shit."
Kane forgot that all of the player's ID was displayed unless your face was covered.
Embarrassed with himself, Kane just smiled and then walked away.
He continued running away until he reached far enough. At that point, the light coming from the ball became weaker. But it was enough for Kane to see. However, the crocodiles also restored their sight. They noticed the scrambling Kane and chased him.
They swam for quite a distance in seconds. With that speed, they could easily catch up to Kane.
KABOOM!
But Kane wasn't their only problem. Xvin and his guildmates bombarded the crocodiles with skills. With their back massively hurt, they turned away from Kane to retaliate at Xvin and his party.
The Horrors opened their mouths and fired water beams at Xvin, but the other mages quickly nullified that attack. Xvin snapped his hand and tried to bombard the crocodiles, but his hand only sparked.
'Damn it, we were saving skills and energy for the final boss, but of all the bosses, why did it end up being underwater. I'm so useless in this kind of battle.'
BANG!
A laser went straight at the crocodile's eyes. It was weak, but it was enough to get its attention. Kane turned around and ran away joyously.
'That was a cool-ass skill!'
Kane's aim was all over the place when he shot the Horror's eye. However, with Pixie's tracking skill, the laser bullet curved and went straight at the predator's eye.
Kane was totally amazed as he can't even see Pixie at all as she was hiding under the caves. Yet, she could cast her skill regardless of Kane's location.
'Damn, these pros are on a whole new level!'
The reptile swam back at Kane. Seeing that it was that easy, Kane aimed for the other crocodile.
BANG!
TOINK!
The bullet curved, but the crocodile that was chasing Kane still managed to shove it away using its tail. Xvin saw it, but he also noticed that the gap between the two crocodiles was big.
"We don't have a choice. Let's just take this guy first then ignore him when he's low on health."
The crocodile on Xvin's side charged at them while using its rolling skills and lasers alternately. Ryore was blocking the rolling each time, and the lasers were being blocked by Xvin. With that, the group easily showered their firepower at the Boss.
BOOM! BAGAM! KABOOM! POW!
With just a few seconds, the crocodile fell to the ground.
"It's low on health! Let's go over to that troublemaker!"
A few members remained on the weakened one to prevent it from chasing them. Xvin and the others bombarded the other crocodile while it was chasing Kane.
One of the people guarding the first crocodile was surprised.
"What's with this guy now?"
The crocodile suddenly bent over and then floated in the air. Midair, it started spinning rapidly like a shining spinning egg.
WOK! WOK! WOK! WOK!
The guarding players don't know what to do because if they attacked it, they might kill it. As the Party Leader, Xvin saw it but doesn't know what to do either.
'Why am I nervous? What's with these ridiculous attacks?'
After their bombardment, the crocodile's vision was blocked. Xvin and Ryore easily managed to sneak beside the reptile, reaching its eyes. Both Xvin and Ryore fired at each of the reptile's eyes.
BOOM! BANG!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Black smoke enveloped the crocodile. But that duo could hear the reptile's squirms. Xvin and Ryore were about to retreat, but spikes were hurled at them.
TSK! TSK! TSK! TSK!
Ugh!
Xvin was perplexed as he was hit by three spikes.
'What...'
KABOOM!
An explosion suddenly occurred inside the black smoke. Hundred of spikes covered in compacted water came out, hitting them like bullets. Xvin's mind went blank as he never thought the reptile was capable of this attack.
"What's going on?!?!"
The release of spikes continued on that everyone started dying one after another. Xvin's eyes widened as, aside from unleashing thorns, he saw that the crocodile in front of them also shaped itself into a spinning ball just like the other one.
Kane, on the other hand, was far enough from them, saving himself from the thorn barrage.
BANG!
He tried to fire at the spinning crocodile, but the bullets that Pixie was controlling were being deflected away. Kaen's attacks were useless.
Their efforts were futile. Xvin got no words to say. He stared blankly while he was falling to the ground.
'Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.'
He started to lose control. He doesn't know what to do. Suddenly, someone grabbed his shoulders. It was Ryore.
"Hey! Put your shit together!"
"R-right!"
Xvin dropped to the ocean floor and propelled himself upward to the crocodile. He was hit by multiple spikes, but he can't on moving forward.
PAK! PAK! PAK!
"Aggggghhh!"
[STATUS: FRACTURED]
While being hit by spikes, Xvin stared at the spinning crocodiles. He believed that both of the crocodiles were low on health. If he killed this one and the other crocodile will enter ENRAGE mode, the other players still could win the battle because the reptile was low on health.
Xvin continued flying forward until he reached very close to the attacking monster. He only has a small chunk of HP remained.
He spun around and raised his arms. Despite being underwater, flames started surrounding him, following his arms. And then he stopped.
[INFERNO!]
BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!
A massive explosion occurred. It originated from where Xvin was floating. The unleashing of spikes finally stopped. The whole dark ocean was lit up in red colors.
In just a few seconds, the smoke was slowly being cleared by the water. Xvin appeared fell down from the fog while Ryore caught him. Ryore shouted to everyone.
"Take a deep breath!"
Everyone took a deep breath. Kane was confused but still did it.
Suddenly, they all started flowing. Kane felt like the pressure of the water once again. Xvin's spell wore off.
Ryore grabbed Xvin while he was floating up. The weakened Xvin stared at him.
"Did we win?"
"You overdid it. I'll take care of the other one, its health is very low anyway."
Xvin and Ryore chuckled at each other. They finally cleared a Red Gate that everybody feared. They might have lost some lives, but it was far better than losing. Or so they thought.
Xvin and Ryore floated in the right place, just right in front of the Heraldian Horror's eyes.
"GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!"
It grumbled right in front of them with a vengeful stare at its eyes. Xvin and Ryore were both speechless upon the realization that both of the Heraldian Horrors were still alive.