End Online: Volume 6 (15 page)

Trying to keep myself from
panicking, I quickly use ‘Creature Analysis’ on the two types of enemies I have
never seen before.

“$#!%,” I swear at the
stats of the beasts. “This is a complete trap! The ‘Devil Goats’ are all level
160. What’s with this? Level 210? Level 235? This is no small hunting ground!”

Gladox and Fen are the
only ones who aren’t worried. Verde and Sir Laurence are in disbelief at how
strong the enemies are. Unfortunately we are almost already surrounded so I
give out orders rapidly.

“We will charge out
through the ‘Bone Beasts’, they’re magic types with a high health! Sir
Laurence, bash them away with your shield. Don’t bother trying to kill them.
Gladox, knock as many aside as you can. Verde, support Sir Laurence so none can
attack him from the side. Fen, cover the ground under the enemies with ice so
it will be easier to knock them back.”

Our rush is uncoordinated
at first, but we rapidly find our bearing with our positions. Fen does her job
first, making a field of ice, only…

“Damn it! Fen, it won’t
help if we have to run on the ice as well.”

Fen quickly melts a path
through the middle, but it is still quite slick with water. The next part is up
to Sir Laurence and Gladox. The ‘Bone Beasts’ however cast their spells before
we can reach them, spitting out a thick miasma with similar properties to Fen’s
earlier mini-blizzard: we suffer a small amount of damage over time, and it
slows our speed down, albeit only by a quarter.

They manage to get in
another wave of attacks before we can reach them. Ten purple-black orbs of
energy materialize around each ‘Bone Beast’ before lancing towards us. The
collective attack is strikingly similar to my ‘Dire Starburst’, but it only
deals about half the damage. My health drops to eighty percent after that
second attack, and the others suffer about the same due to most armors (except
those with special resistances) having little defense against magic attacks.

Seeing such a familiar
attack, I reflexively cast ‘Dire Starburst’ to send back an fiery flurry of
similar quantity at the enemy. The miasma between our group and the mobs is
filled with shooting streaks of black and red as we get closer to one another.

I don’t have the time to
look behind me, but I can sense the rest of the enemies quickly closing in.

We collide with the ‘Bone
Beasts’ moments later, Sir Laurence being the most effective with his holy
magic and shield bashing Sacred Art. Gladox is incomparable when deflecting
attacks, but he seems to have some trouble knocking the enemies aside with his
own initiative. It doesn’t matter much as the icy ground still causes them to
slide back just far enough.

I have no attacks that can
knock back an enemy, so I just use up all my mana dealing as much damage to the
group as possible. This way they will be easier to kill when we are in a more
advantageous position.

The enemy doesn’t seem to
care about being knocked aside as they constantly send dark magic at us. The
barrage of attacks grows unavoidable, dealing even more damage to us. I also
notice that as time goes on, more and more attacks seem to be directed
specifically at me.

Just as we are about to
break free of the enemies, a streak of red comes from the side and hits Sir
Laurence and Gladox, blasting them nearly ten meters away and leaving the rest
of us exposed. I see in the party window that Sir Laurence’s health drops by
about thirty percent, a terrifying amount. I don’t know about Gladox, but his
high level should give him at least twice as much health so it won’t be as bad
for him.

The red streak comes to a
quick stop and is revealed to be one of the ‘Hell Bulls’. The red was the glow
of a Sacred Art that allows it to do an instantaneous charge. It was at a speed
that even I can’t compare to.

“They can get out on their
own, we are the ones still surrounded. Verde, fall behind Fen, we will keep
going forward.”

Right now there are only
two more ‘Bone Beasts’ standing in the way. I use ‘Backstab’ to appear behind
one of them and slash a few times with my short swords. Whether it is due to my
attacks or the auto aggravation I constantly emit, the two ‘Bone Beasts’
blocking the way, as well as most of the others, turn to attack me.

Fen and Verde easily slip
out of the slowly closing circle of foes now that they are not under constant
attack, but I am getting closer and closer to death as my health keeps
plummeting.

As soon as the two girls
are out of the way I take a quick glance at Sir Laurence and Gladox to check on
their condition. The prince and the four-eared wolf man are fighting against
the raging ‘Hell Bull’, but no other enemies are targeting them so they aren’t
under any pressure.

My health drops to fifteen
percent and I don’t wait any longer, hastily retreating to protect my life.
Each death gives a heavy penalty to my agility stat, which is the main pillar
for my character’s build. Dying a single time can take a full week to restore
my stats back to their prior number.

In my desperation, I
consider using ‘Partial Draconic Transformation’, but quickly realize I
wouldn’t be able to outfly the enemy’s magic attacks. With no other option, I
run as fast as possible, leaving behind an afterimage that misdirects
everything apart from the wide-area attacks and charge out through the broken
wall.

With the wall to protect
me from enemy attacks, I use the brief respite to quickly drink a few health
potions and then chew on the most effective herb I have, ‘Red Medicinal Herb’,
to stimulate my health to keep recovering. I also give some to Fen, but she adamantly
refuses to drink the potions and only eats the herbs. Verde has her own potions
prepared so she uses them and also rejects my offer of goodwill.

Before we can get too
relaxed, the enemies come charging out the broken section of wall and turn
toward me. I can no longer afford to hold back, and I don’t have the strength
to seal the gap with the half-buried blocks of masonry around us. I use
‘Partial Draconic Transformation’, my weapons disappearing from my hands as
they are unequipped by the system.

The snow white scales
start covering a large portion of my body and my hands turn into deadly
draconic claws. Two pure white wings spread from my back and the transformation
is complete.

“Fen, all-out attack!
Verde, strike when you have a chance!” I command as I take to the air and fly
above the nearest enemy.

I leave an afterimage even
in the air, so the enemy’s stronger single-target attacks have difficulty
hitting me. I drop down from the air and land on top of the enemy, knocking it
to the ground. My mana has recovered somewhat so I throw two ‘Minor Dire
Fireballs’ at the other nearby ‘Bone Beasts’ before slashing at the one beneath
me.

Dark Magic attacks are
constantly launched at me and some of the ‘Devil Goats’ are also now stampeding
out of the temple. I reflexively spread my wings out in front of me and block
the magic. I am still damaged by the attacks, but the defense increase
surprises me greatly. I never knew the wings could be used for such a purpose.

‘Could this skill have
hidden effects that aren’t written in the description?’ I wonder to
myself.

The ‘Bone Beast’ beneath
me quickly dies despite the fact that its level is equal to mine and it would
normally require careful planning to take down solo. Fen’s attacks fill the air
and attack the other beasts to take down two more. I can see the health bars of
the enemies nearby, and all the ‘Bone Beasts’ are now near death.

Once all the magic type
enemies are dead, the enemy monsters have lost their long distance attacks. The
‘Devil Goats’ can still use magic, but it is incomparable to the damage done by
the ‘Bone Beasts’.

I flutter around the
enemies that are charging out and start picking off ‘Devil Goats’, cutting
large chunks of their health off with heavy attacks. I deliberately avoid the
two remaining ‘Hell Bulls’ and keep flying into the air in order to avoid their
charging Sacred Art. They are currently under my aggravation so I have no
concerns about them attacking the other party members for the moment.

Despite my being in the
air, Fen’s magic is under her impeccable control and not a single one of her
attacks hit me.

When only a few ‘Devil
Goats’ are still alive, Sir Laurence and Gladox emerge from within the temple.
Gladox, who has never seen my other form before, stands rooted to the spot with
his jaw dropping so low it nearly falls off his face.

“That’s awesome!! So you
were a dragon race! How come I didn’t get a cool race like that!?” Gladox yells
and points at me.

I frown slightly at the
distracting shout but keep my attention on the enemies. The two new arrivals
soon join in on the battle, Gladox being slightly delayed by slowing to admire
my snowy white ‘Partial Draconic Transformation’ and shouting compliments.

“You use fire right!? Can
you also use ice!? Fen can. If you can combine fire and ice into one attack in
that form, it would be perfect!!” Gladox is enthusiastically going on about
something I don’t understand as the last ‘Hell Bull’ falls to the ground dead.

My dragon form has triple
my standard defense, and even the ability to use some parts of my body as a
shield, but despite all that my health has fallen back down to dangerous
levels. There isn’t as much of a rush now as we have spent a lot of time
fighting the patrol groups and then these enemies, so I decide to bring out my
cooking equipment and cook us all a quick meal.

The food I make helps us
steadily restore health and mana, and within twenty minutes we are ready to
venture back into the temple. I am aware of what sorts of enemies are inside
now, so I won’t let us get in a situation similar to the one before. I also
won’t be able to use ‘Partial Draconic Transformation’ again for some time.

Entering the temple
through the broken wall, I notice some ‘Devil Goats’ still wandering around.
Rather than getting close to them, I use a throwing knife to attack and get
their attention. They let out shrill calls that alert anywhere between twenty
to thirty new enemies, but this time we aren’t surrounded and can retreat back
to the broken section of wall and create a proper defense there.

We end up repeating this
process eight times, fighting into the early night before all the enemies in
the temple are dead. There was a final large mass of about sixty enemies
crammed up in the main temple too, which was incredibly difficult even with Gladox’s
help. I know that it was the last group because a quest update notification
shines before me.

The rest of my party also
receive it, so they find out it is over at the same time as me. Gladox is
disappointed there is no boss when I tell him the quest is completed, but I
personally am tired of these dark attribute enemies. I do need a strong boss to
find rare equipment to sell, but I should be able to find one within the next
week.

We decide to camp in the
temple for the night. I take a chance before sleeping to have a look at my
stats. Thanks to the high leveled enemies, I had even gained another four
levels. Unfortunately it takes forever to raise my class skill, and it only
grew by a small amount.