"This boss has a second phase?"
Xia Yuan sounded surprised.
Mo Shiyu trembled as she looked at the enormous creature. "Max-level dungeon bosses have several attack phases. It's like they have several lives. They're extremely hard to kill."
They floated in the air, watching the battle from a distance.
The Alliance Raid Team was no pushover, either. Every Contract Spirit there was above level 90.
Even the lowest-ranked among them was B Rank.
The strongest and most striking of them was a valiant swordswoman in white armor—and she was an SR Contract Spirit!
Every swing of her sword carried tremendous power. Even compared with Xia Yuan as he was now, her attacks were no less lethal.
Under the Contract Spirits' assault, even that massive black dragon boss kept taking damage. Its health bar was falling steadily and had nearly hit bottom!
It looked as though the Alliance Raid Team's Contract Spirits had been fighting for a long time. They were on the verge of emptying its health bar.
"Whoa, they're about to kill it. They're pretty capable."
Xia Yuan was a little disappointed.
He had thought he might get to help out and pick up some experience along the way.
It seemed they didn't need him after all.
Mo Shiyu comforted him from beside him. "Xia Yuan, once you reach max level, you'll definitely be stronger than them. Don't get discouraged. We can still kill the smaller monsters and gain plenty of experience!"
Xia Yuan held her slender waist and kneaded it. "Chubby Yu, when did I say I was discouraged?"
Mo Shiyu squirmed as the ticklish sensation ran through her. "Don't... I was wrong, Xia Yuan! Stop it!"
Just then...
Under the Raid Team's relentless assault, the black dragon boss's health bar finally emptied!
But to everyone's astonishment, the black dragon boss did not fall. It entered a third phase!
Mo Shiyu stared in disbelief. "A third phase? Are you kidding me? It has a third phase?"
The hill-sized black dragon began to shrink until it became a humanoid monster!
Its massive health bar, nearly a hundred thousand points long, refilled completely!
[Level 100: Shadow of Nidhogg, Star-Abyss Extinction (Phase Three—Humanoid Tyrannosaur Form)!]
The Raid Team's Contract Spirit Masters and Contract Spirits apparently hadn't expected a third phase, either. They froze for a moment in surprise.
Then the Humanoid Tyrannosaur launched a ferocious assault!
It was nothing like the clumsy giant monster from the second phase.
Its speed, reflexes, and strength seemed to have reached their limits. In an instant, it knocked several high-level Contract Spirits out of the sky, leaving them unable to fight.
It even circled behind the group and killed a support Contract Spirit who provided control skills!
In the blink of an eye, the Alliance Raid Team was at a severe disadvantage.
Only the SR swordswoman in white armor could still hold her own against it.
"This doesn't look good. Time for us to step in!"
Xia Yuan couldn't keep the grin off his face. He had been worried he wouldn't get a share of the experience, and now an opportunity had appeared!
Mo Shiyu was nervous. Even from so far away, she could feel the crushing pressure coming from the Humanoid Tyrannosaur boss!
"Xia Yuan, are you sure you can handle it?"
"Of course. I'm the strongest."
The Alliance Raid Team sent to defeat the Abyss Dungeon boss...
...consisted of five Contract Spirit Masters and thirteen Contract Spirits above level 90.
Their captain was Han Yue, a T1 Rank Contract Spirit Master in the Alliance!
She was also contracted to the strongest fighter on the team: the level 95 SR Ice Soul Queen!
Han Yue and the other four Contract Spirit Masters remained inside a spiritual-energy barrier, watching the battle.
Things were going badly!
She had already requested reinforcements from the Alliance.
The appearance of a powerful boss with a third phase had thrown their battle plan into disarray.
After fighting this long, they had little strength left.
The Humanoid Tyrannosaur was absurdly powerful. It had left several more Contract Spirits on the verge of death and unable to fight, so their masters had no choice but to withdraw them into Contract Spirit Space.
Only Ice Soul Queen and three support Contract Spirits remained on the battlefield.
Han Yue bit her finger, forced herself to stay calm, and watched the fight without blinking.
Ice Soul Queen and the Humanoid Tyrannosaur boss had become two streaks of light in the sky, colliding again and again in a furious clash. They looked evenly matched!
But the boss had a terrifying amount of health.
Ice Soul Queen, meanwhile, had taken heavy damage earlier in the fight. She had little spiritual energy left.
If this dragged on, they might collapse before the Alliance's reinforcements arrived!
"This is so unfair!"
"The first two phases were already that strong! We've almost lost every Contract Spirit we brought, and it still has a third phase?!"
"We never saw this coming!"
"Captain Han Yue, what do we do now?"
"..."
The white-armored swordswoman in the sky swung her sword. Cold air burst outward, sending the boss flying, and she flashed to a position above Han Yue.
She shook frost from her armor and spoke with a cold expression:
"Master, we can't keep this up. Do you have another plan?"
Han Yue bit down hard on her finger and sighed. "There's nothing we can do. With the strength we have left, I'm afraid we can't defeat the boss. Prepare to retreat!"
Ice Soul Queen fell silent for a moment, defiance filling her golden eyes.
"Run? I want to try again. Its defense in this phase isn't actually as strong as before."
"If I use my ultimate skill, I'm confident I can kill it."
"But it dodges too quickly. I can't land a hit. If only we had a control skill!"
She was an SR Contract Spirit, the strongest ice swordswoman. She truly didn't want to flee in the middle of a fight.
If word got out, what would become of her reputation as the undefeated queen?
Han Yue said helplessly, "That thing is smart. It just killed our last control-type Contract Spirit. Queen, don't be stubborn. Retreat is our best option. Once I run out of spiritual energy, we won't even be able to do that..."
The other Contract Spirit Masters exchanged looks. They knew there was no other choice.
It seemed they would have to put off clearing this Abyss Dungeon for a while.
As everyone considered what to do...
A languid male voice suddenly rang out.
"What are you talking about? You're going to retreat?"
"That would be such a waste when you've already reached the third phase."
Han Yue and the others looked up in shock. A silver-haired man in black floated above them, holding a young woman.
The level 28 marker over his head was impossible to miss!
Ice Soul Queen spun around, astonishment breaking through her icy expression. "You... How did you get here?"
She hadn't sensed him at all!
Her passive Super Perception let her sense everything within a hundred meters.
Yet she hadn't noticed his arrival!
"Level 28?!"
Han Yue's eyes widened. She suddenly realized what was happening and shouted,
"What are you doing here? Do you have a death wish?!"
"Get inside the barrier! You're already within the boss's attack range!"
While Ice Soul Queen was distracted, the Humanoid Tyrannosaur boss, hundreds of meters away a moment ago, charged over. In the blink of an eye, it appeared right in front of Xia Yuan!
"Oh no!"
Ice Soul Queen's pupils contracted. She tried to move to save him, but it was already too late!
The Humanoid Tyrannosaur boss brought its bone blade down in a precise strike at Xia Yuan's head!
The blow carried enormous force, and the blade moved at nearly the speed of sound.
A sonic boom followed!
The force of the strike kicked up a raging gust, sending yellow sand swirling everywhere!
Ice Soul Queen, Han Yue, and the other Alliance Contract Spirit Masters looked on in horror. It's over...
A level 28 Contract Spirit can't survive a blow from that boss. The young woman might die with him!
But when they got a clear look, they saw something beyond belief.
The boss's long bone blade had stopped right in front of the silver-haired man. It could not move another inch!
Ice Soul Queen's golden eyes widened in shock. "It stopped?"
Unfazed, Xia Yuan reached out and flicked the blade in front of him. He clicked his tongue. "That strike really packed a punch. Just what I'd expect from a level 100 boss."
Excitement surged through Mo Shiyu, and she reveled in it!
Just as she'd thought—even a max-level Abyss boss couldn't break through Xia Yuan's Limitless Technique!
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