Chapter Forty-One: Most Have Fallen

After temporarily surviving a dangerous phase, everyone intensified their attacks. When the boss’s health dropped to five hundred thousand, it suddenly stopped attacking Zhang Shan and a casting bar appeared above its head.

“Damn, is it going to unleash its ultimate? Should we interrupt it?”

“Melee group one, assassins move in for the interrupt,” Wind and Cloud ordered without hesitation.

The guild’s assassin, Wind and Cloud Killer, quickly stepped forward and struck the boss with a stunning blow, successfully interrupting the cast. The boss retaliated with a Meteor Inferno, knocking him down, but then immediately began casting again.

Everyone was speechless. Was the boss’s skill uninterruptible? They had just interrupted it, yet it began casting once more. No matter how many control skills they had, it wouldn’t be enough.

“Boss, what do we do? Interrupt again?”

“Forget it. We’ve never seen this mechanic before and already wasted a skill. Don’t bother interrupting anymore unless the six health bars are sealed. Only then should you go in.”

“Understood.”

The boss’s casting finally ended. While attacking, everyone watched the boss nervously, ready to flee at the first sign of its ultimate. Anyone who could escape the skill’s range would try.

A massive phantom slowly manifested behind the boss.

“It startled me. Not the ultimate, then. This must be the Will of the Demon God. It seems this skill isn’t doing much.”

The demonic phantom appeared but neither cast spells nor attacked. It was odd.

“Wait, why am I losing health?”

“Damn, me too.”

“What’s going on? Is everyone taking damage?”

“Crap, the Will of the Demon God is dealing screen-wide damage!”

After the phantom appeared, everyone’s health began to drop. Although the loss wasn’t significant, those with weaker gear or fragile classes couldn’t withstand it, especially the support—if they fell, there’d be no one to heal Zhang Shan, and the fight would be lost.

“If any supports go down, there’s no one to heal Zhang Shan and we’re finished.”

“Everyone, use your own big health potions. Supports heal only the six health bars, ignore everyone else,” Wind and Cloud said quickly.

“If only Qingqing’s Totem Spell was available. That skill would be perfect in this situation.”

Wind and Cloud Qingqing…

“There’s nothing I can do. The skill costs two thousand mana at level one, and my mana pool is completely insufficient. Once I reach level fifteen, I’ll definitely get gear to increase my mana.”

The Will of the Demon God lasted fifteen seconds. Seven more members fell, and with those who had already died—Wind and Cloud Cannon, Wind and Cloud Blade, and Wind and Cloud Killer—only a little over thirty were left.

Fortunately, all the supports survived, which was to be expected—competent supports always stack health, or else, how could they heal others if they can’t keep themselves alive? These seasoned guild members understood this well.

“Damn, the Demon God is insane. That one Will almost wiped me out—I’ve only got a sliver of health left.”

“Yeah, terrifying. Two more seconds and most of us would have fallen.”

“That was close. Good thing most of us had green cloaks. Otherwise, we’d be done for.”

“All right, focus up. Heal up and get ready,” Wind and Cloud reminded them.

While quaffing potions, everyone ramped up their attacks, eager to inflict as much damage as possible. Especially Zhang Shan, who practically stood still, relying entirely on the support’s healing to keep him alive. If the heals couldn’t keep up, he’d just have to accept his fate. There was no room for fancy maneuvers—only raw damage and luck mattered now.

The faster they dealt damage, the less chaos the boss could cause. The boss’s health steadily dropped to just above twenty percent—it was about to enrage.

During this period, aside from two melee members who fell while trying to draw aggro when Zhang Shan was immobilized, there were no other incidents. The first melee group was completely down; group two stepped in, watching Zhang Shan’s status closely, ready to act at any moment.

“Everyone, pay attention. The boss is about to enrage and hasn’t used its ultimate yet. Anyone with a stun skill, melee or ranged, interrupt the boss’s cast in order.”

“The boss’s cast isn’t necessarily the ultimate, right?”

“Doesn’t matter what skill it’s casting. Interrupt any cast—we’re racing against time, and every second counts.”

“Also, ranged interrupts first. If the interrupt fails, assassins follow up. Coordinate your interrupt order among yourselves.”

Among known stun skills, the assassins’ stunning strike was the most reliable. Others, like the archer’s Meteor Arrow, could miss since it couldn’t lock onto the target. That’s why Wind and Cloud arranged for ranged to go first, with assassins as backup, to prevent failed interrupts.

As the boss’s health dipped below twenty percent, it began spamming skills frantically, its casting speed seemingly increased. The supports behind Zhang Shan struggled more and more to keep him alive. If the boss suddenly landed a critical hit, they wouldn’t be able to heal fast enough.

Thankfully, after a burst of frenzy, the boss started casting again. An archer quickly fired a Meteor Arrow, stunning the boss for three seconds.

Meteor Arrow usually stunned for five seconds, but bosses often had stun resistance.

This particular priest was rather fortunate—the stun duration was reduced by less than half, which meant low resistance. After all, as a spellcaster in cloth armor, defense was its weakness.

Three seconds later, the boss began casting again. A second archer fired, landing another successful interrupt, buying the team another six seconds of damage time.

However, no archers had Meteor Arrow off cooldown now. There were only three frost mages in the guild, and all had fallen during the Demon God’s Will phase.

Now it was up to the assassins. Fortunately, there were still five assassins with stunning strike, though Wind and Cloud Killer was down, leaving four with the skill ready.

“Boss, should we keep interrupting?”

One of the remaining four assassins asked.

“Keep going. If the boss gets its ultimate off, there’s no way you’ll survive. Use your skills now.”

…Such little faith in their survival.

But Wind and Cloud was right. If the boss unleashed its ultimate, the remaining squishy members would fall—even if not all, at least most. The assassins were at the front and unlikely to survive, so they might as well buy a few extra seconds.

The four remaining assassins took turns, interrupting the boss and buying even more time. With the consecutive stuns, the boss was disabled for over ten seconds, and the casting time itself added more, giving everyone more than twenty seconds to attack.

In those precious seconds, the enraged boss’s defense dropped, allowing the team to deal massive damage, reducing its health to under sixty thousand.

Now was the most critical moment, a true test of their gear and luck.

The boss began casting again.

When the cast ended, a rain of fire descended over Zhang Shan, instantly knocking out almost everyone nearby—including Wind and Cloud, who didn’t last a second.

Zhang Shan’s sixteen thousand health couldn’t hold out for long. The firestorm lasted five seconds, and the supports behind him fell as well, leaving no one to heal him.

Backup supports had no chance of rushing into the flames to heal him—he was doomed.

So be it, no point struggling. His first life was lost here. Hopefully, the others could hold the boss for the ten seconds it would take him to respawn.