Putting On A Show Pt3

I could tell Donna and Little Thirteen were anything but happy after being told to take care of things themselves but they still organized their numbers and had them advance.

The undead barricading the entrance lashed out as soon as players came within reach, smashing about with multiple giant bony arms. Their attacks mostly fell on the shields of tanks and were pushed back but health bars still appeared swiftly as the healers paired with those tanks unleashed a barrage of spells at the undead. Since they were healers and this was a single undead entity they used holy healing magic to fight, depleting hundreds and thousands of HP in each attack.

Under such an assault the single undead did not last long, barely managing to cut away half the HP from a couple of tanks before crumbling into a scattering of misshapen bones. As soon as their 'barricade' was gone the ram-head Taurians and chimera demons inside started pushing their way forward to block up the entrance.

The initial front line of ten tanks and healers quickly split to the sides and maneuvered around to the back of the players, letting the next line of fresh tanks and healers push forward to tackle the headquarters defenders. The demons were more resilient than the single undead, managing to trade blows for almost a minute before the next wave was forced to push forward.

As the next wave came forward to the entrance the front line of players once again changed places with their fellows behind, keeping a fresh pair of hands at the front line to minimize the potential for player deaths during the combat. The demons seemed to understand that their numbers could no longer compare to ours as they were slowly pushed back into the headquarters. Causing them to attack more violently with abandon as they tried to deal the same level of damage.

After having struggled through two large-scale fights mostly on their own, a simply skirmish like this one was nothing to the two main clans of our alliance. They had already experienced most of their abilities and made feasible counters for them. If they were dealing with at least equal numbers to their own, though, I might be worried.

Now that the players actually outnumbers the demons it was not long before their front lines of tanks and healers were making their way into the building. The crude tunnel-like entrance was constantly shaking and crumbling in places from the exchange of magic and skills but it continued to hold as players started making their way inside.

However, not long after going inside the players started retreating once again as the quaking attacks grew even more numerous and furious. Even without a clear view inside the headquarters I could tell that more demons had begun fighting and even the outpost's boss had stepped up.

With the players slowly retreating back outside to draw out these greater forces into the open there were a few losses, the entrance was simply too small for the players to continue exchanging positions. Luckily there were only a few deaths before the players made it back outside, allowing them to simply spread out in a semi-circle before the entrance.

With this new formation they could unleash a steady stream of spells and skills, wrecking the headquarters entrance so that it collapsed around its defending occupants. Even though they were demons and giant in size the boulders and pieces of building making up the headquarters were equally huge and several times heavier. Few demons survived the collapse.

Once the entrance collapse the wall around it also gave way, creating an even larger opening through which a handful of Taurian and chimera demons rushed out while a single giant body slowly pushed forward.

This body stood about as tall as Zekrom and was humanoid in form similar to Orion. Unlike either of them, though, this commander demon was covered in brilliant scarlet fur with an elephant-like head despite having no ears at all. Its feet were large and round like an elephant's but its arms and hands were numerous, long, and spindly like an insect's while ending in giant pincers.

Above the demon's head was the Appraisal tag, 'Stronghold Commander Izark LVL200'. It carried no weapons but its pincers could close into large spearheads with a reach almost equal to its height. Izark was obviously an upgraded version of the previous chimera boss from the last outpost despite not having any tails or venom.

By the time Izark came within reach of the players the other demons had long since fallen to the players and the bulk of the players were looking worse for wear after the continuous skirmishing. This caused Little Thirteen and Donna to make their moves, calling back their front line troops while they and their elites came forward to face the boss.

Izark took the preemptive for himself, lunging forward with a sudden flurry of thrusts from its arms that appeared like a centipede taking steps in the air. The tanks among the elites did their best to soak up the damage, managing to block many of the thrusts with their bodies. Sadly, there were only a few of them in either group facing against almost twenty arms so there was little they could do to control them all.

Many of the other elites ended up taking hits and lose large amounts of HP from around the tankers, but the greater numbers of them managed to spread themselves out beyond Izark's reach while unleashing their ranged skills at the boss. Izark did not look like a defensive type but his immense size alone allowed for an immense vitality.

Each attack only chipped away around five percent of the boss's health but there were so many joint attacks that almost half of the boss' health was gone by the end of their retaliatory barrage. As I hoped, they were actually making the fight look easy. Until, of course, Izark suddenly raised its elephant's trunk nose and loosed a trumpeting roar that caused the very air to shake.

This trumpeting turned out to be a kind of sonic attack, dealing damage to everybody within a hundred feet of the boss as our health bars appeared in unison and started draining away. Some of the other players who had yet to fully recover from the skirmishing found themselves dangerously low in health by the end of the trumpeting.

Breaking free from their ranks, Little Thirteen rushed out to meet the boss and by time for his elites as another barrage of attacks were released. In his hand was a knapped black crystalline sword crackling brightly with lightning, leaving arcing tails in the wake of its slashes as he struck out at Izark's arms.

The trumpeting seemed like one of its upper skills, causing a few seconds of lag between it and its following attacks. These few seconds were filled with retaliation from the players as Little Thirteen did his best to sever three of the demon's insectoid limbs. Three limbs may not have been much but coupled with the other incoming attacks the boss was quickly whittled down to less than twenty percent of its health.

Reaching critical levels the boss soon began stomping about, causing the ground to crack and fissure as large pillars of rock sprang up at random from around it. These pillars appeared among the players as well as around them, sending people flying this way and that while stealing away large portions of their HP.

Calling out words in a language I could only assume was actual manage, Donna raised her hands to the sky and suddenly glowed with a golden halo. This light spread all about the area and everybody touched by it quickly began regenerating their health at an insane rate. Within just a few seconds the players around her were all back to full health.

Retreating from the front of the fight as Izark rears back and roars normally while entering a berserk state, his health was even slowly ticking up and out of critical. Until, of course, the refreshed elites all charged in to attack in close quarters. Even before he was done initiating his berserk state the boss was slowly winding back down to critical health.

Izark's defenses had clearly risen as he soaked up these attacks like a fresh sponge in water, turning about at the waist with a new flurry of spearing limbs that swept over the numerous tankers surrounding him who were calling out challenges while lashing out. His damage had also risen to new heights, dropping these heavy defense units down to half health even as they healed in its face.

Watching this fight and the skirmishing leading up to it play out, I could not help but wonder at how different things were. Under the right settings, the combat was smooth and filled with patterns that one could easily follow. It looked like normal game combat with a predictable boss, which was vastly different from much of my experiences.

If I was in there, the fighting would have already found its way halfway around the outpost and the headquarters would be gone while the boss would have used more than just two or three skills. Honestly, though, I was glad not to fight this boss. If I was soloing Izark then even with two lighter and faster swords I would have been seriously fucked up by those arms.

Once the flurry of attacks were over Little Thirteen rejoined the fray, having circled around behind the boss while the other elites and tankers held its attention. His first move was to simply jump on the boss' back and plunge his sword in, releasing a flare of arcing bolts that danced about the sword on Izark's lower back.

Izark was partially stunned even in his berserk state thanks to the electrified sword left its in back, causing them to jerk about and miss some of their attacks as they attempted to normally smash out with their numerous limbs. The other players were quick to abuse this opportunity, unleashing the skills still at their disposal to bring its health down below ten percent.

Donna was still maintaining her praise-like position with her arms raised to the sky, glowing brilliantly with a divine golden light that continuously healed the players around her. However, it was obvious that this skill was taking its toll on her. The long hair left exposed down her back from under her helmet was dark from being wet with sweat and her hands were visibly trembling as she sustained her ability.

A new pair of black crystalline blades appeared in Mr. Thirteen's hands, finding their way in and out of the boss' back as he casually climbed up to Izark's shoulders. By now the attacks were and paralysis were so great that the boss was lowering itself steadily to the ground in defeat. With only a few percent of HP left, the boss was soon dispatched as both of those black crystalline blades were thrust down into their skull.

Letting her arms down, Donna quickly bowed over with her hands on her knees to recover from the fatigue of her skill. I could tell from its swift healing effects that this was probably something she only used for a few seconds at a time. To have sustained the skill for over half a minute was downright praiseworthy.

After a few brief moments of resting the regular clan members started setting to work, gathering up the bodies to be dealt with as best as they could while the elites and leaders came together. I could tell Donna was still worn out as she simply sat on the ground and accepted an energy potion from Oleander. Even though he had only taken part a few times to show his place as the strongest among his people, Little Thirteen did not look so hot as well.

"That was actually really good," I praise them after a full minute of relative silence. "It certainly wasn't easy but to anybody outside it probably looked like a walk in the park. The other clans won't know what hit 'em when they face their own outposts."

"You're going to help us catch some of those, right?" Little Thirteen asks while nodding toward the fallen boss whose arms were being butchered free of its body by some of the elites. "If we had a few of them we'd be in much better shape right now."

"Yes, yes," I reassure him with a flippantly dismissive wave of my hand, turning to survey the players at work around the outpost. "You guys an go ahead and decide now how to divide the other bosses we face. Like, who gets first then second then third and so on. I don't want to embarrass myself with you guys arguing over the bosses in front of them."

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