Before the tailbone fell, Lin Yuan spotted its target first.
Those weren't the three people fending off the bone scythe, but rather the team behind them responsible for healing.
"Spread out to the right!"
Lin Yuan stepped onto the side of the bone scythe, using the force of the Boss's downward pressure to leap up. " Nameless " struck the end of the coccyx, pushing the spikes that should have pierced through the back row towards the wall.
With a loud bang, the coccyx pierced the stone wall.
More than ten wounded soldiers escaped from below, but the Skeleton Hunter immediately twisted its body. Dozens of suspended bone legs fell together, cutting the recently dispersed raiding team into pieces.
Lin Yuan could only protect the nearest gap.
He advanced between the bones, each time his sword collided with the bones, the recoil redirecting it to the next spot. The continuous slashes of " No Interval " did not aim to destroy, but only to draw the sharp spikes away from the crowd.
When the twelve sword strikes ended, the right-side team finally regrouped.
But another breaking sound came from the left.
Two players stepped into the range of the bone scythe to support Heathcliff, their heavy shields shattering after only one impact. Heathcliff spun to block the second blow, but still couldn't save the player who was further away.
The sixth victim turned into blue fragments.
"Don't come near me," Heathcliff said in a deep voice. "Attack the body as planned."
He held off the bone sickle on the left alone, leaving the others a clear path to attack.
Diabel quickly regrouped the team. Agil was responsible for blocking the bone feet, Klein led the attack on the joints, and the remaining players retreated after only completing one round of sword skills, not wanting to be greedy for a second attack.
The battle turned into a protracted war of attrition.
Each time the two bone scythes fell, the entire hall resounded with the clang of metal clashing. Heathcliff stood guard on one side alone; Kirito, Asuna, and Lin Yuan took turns bearing the brunt of the other side.
The boss's health bar is decreasing little by little, and fewer and fewer people are still alive.
The seventh person died from a tailbone sweep. The eighth person, trying to push away his frozen companion, was pinned to the ground by the bone feet.
No one could stop and call their names.
After Lin Yuan removed the bone scythe for the fifth time, " Nameless " began to emit a low, trembling sound. Kirito's breathing became rapid, and Asuna's HP also dropped into the yellow zone.
"My turn." Kirito stepped forward again.
"No need this time."
Lin Yuan saw that the bone sickle had been raised to a height it had never been before.
The Skeleton Hunter stretched its entire forelimbs back, the power of its massive body converging along the bones to the scythe. It wasn't preparing to sweep across, but to cleave the three people in front of it, along with the ground, in two.
Lin Yuan deliberately stepped into the attack range.
" Mountain Severance " can only be used once.
Since it always takes three people to take turns blocking this bone scythe, let's make sure it can never fall again.
"Step back."
Kirito and Asuna both left the front.
The bone sickle fell with a piercing whistling sound.
Lin Yuan didn't aim for the sharpest point, but instead focused on the narrow bone gap connecting the scythe to the first segment of the forelimb. He pulled " Nameless " behind him, and the power from his waist, back, shoulders, and arms flowed into the sword in a single instant.
There was no brilliance in the swordplay.
There was only one deafening roar that filled the entire hall.
" The Mountain Severance "
The sword slashed into the seam, abruptly halting the bone scythe's descent. The next moment, its massive forelimbs snapped off outwards, sending the entire bone scythe flying into the deserted area, where it crashed into a wall and shattered into blue fragments.
A brief silence fell over the hall.
"Severed? Severed it?"
" Heathcliff could hold off one side by himself, Kirito and Asuna together held off the other... and he just cut it in half?"
Many more people looked at the dissipating bone scythe fragments. The weapon that had been suffocating the right flank since the start of the battle was cut in two by a longsword devoid of any swordplay aura, before its durability could be worn down.
They were not awakened from their shock until the bony foot struck the ground again.
Exclamations of surprise rang out from the attacking team.
"Liberate the right flank, everyone switch to attacking the bone!" Diabel shouted, seizing the opportunity.
Kirito and Asuna bypassed Lin Yuan and rushed towards the Boss's side, which was now unprotected by its forelimbs. Klein and the others immediately changed direction, their sword skills flashing one after another.
The Skeleton Hunter let out a sharp screech, and the remaining bone scythes pressed down on Heathcliff, while dozens of bone legs simultaneously stabbed at the player on the right.
Heathcliff did not request assistance.
The cross shield blocked the scythe's edge. He used his position to firmly contain the boss's last and most dangerous weapon on the left side of the hall.
Lin Yuan landed back on the ground, and a series of soft, crackling sounds came from inside the Nameless Book.
The crystallization reinforcement layer has been crushed by the " Mountain Severance ".
He could no longer engage any of the bony feet head-on, yet he still charged forward despite the densest onslaught.
He doesn't need to cut them off.
As long as it paves a path for the expedition team behind them.
This time, everyone on his right who was still able to move followed behind him.
They no longer had to look up at that bone sickle.