Guild Master, I'm Back

The moment the Castling ended, Xiao Yu was hit squarely by Pyroblast.

Boom! The explosion from the incoming Pyroblast engulfed Xiao Yu. -2653! A huge, bright red number appeared above his head. However, while such damage might be very serious for Esmehalda, it was nothing to Xiao Yu, who had over 100,000 health points.

With a composed air, Xiao Yu turned around to face Amalarui.

There are reasons why he is so confident in fighting Amalarui, but the reasons are a long story.

In the Sky World, the most fundamental difference between BOSSes and heroes is that BOSSes have extremely high health, but their damage is very limited. Even the highest single-target damage skill is often difficult to kill a tank-type adventurer instantly. The reason for this design is, of course, to make it easier for players to defeat BOSSes. Otherwise, if adventurers were wiped out as soon as the BOSS raised its hand, what would be the point of fighting?

However, this also leads to a consequence: when two bosses want to defeat each other, it often takes a long time to determine a winner. Moreover, because bosses are immune to most control skills, the process of fighting bosses is often quite monotonous, consisting of nothing more than standing still and fighting each other.

The usual approach is to first test the waters with various skills to find the output strategy that deals the most damage to the enemy, and then the two bosses can just stand and fight each other.

Heroes are different. Heroes often deal very high damage, sometimes even enough to one-shot tank-type adventurers. However, their health is usually quite limited. While it's much higher than that of adventurers of the same level, it's far less than that of bosses of the same level. Therefore, if a boss of the same level were to fight a hero one-on-one, the hero would almost certainly lose. What truly makes heroes powerful is their ability to draw upon the strength of adventurers or team up with other heroes.

As mentioned before, Xiao Yu is very familiar with the combat settings of dungeon bosses. The advantage of a boss entering a dungeon is that you can obtain a boss tactic. This tactic is very useful. Depending on the boss's experience and type, the boss tactic you can choose will also be different. If used well, it can often directly affect the outcome of the game.

Just like the previous boss tactic for Leah Bloodmoon, it should obviously be 'Pre-Battle Retreat'. This boss tactic allows you to make a tactical retreat during a dungeon battle, and each retreat costs 100 reputation points. It is generally used when you encounter a hero that you feel you cannot defeat. Of course, this means you can't use the boss tactic to enhance your own combat power in the dungeon. Generally, only players will choose this tactic when they are not sure of their own strength. It is very rare for NPCs to choose this tactic.

Moreover, this tactical option is only unlocked for bosses who have narrowly escaped death multiple times in various story events.

Because Amalarui is Legendary mage, his boss-hunting tactic is Mass Teleport. This tactic allowed him to eliminate a large portion of the enemy's forces instantly, which is undeniably impressive.

However, every advantage has its disadvantages. While entering a dungeon gives the boss an advantage in terms of strategy, it also has a negative impact: skills. Each dungeon boss has a limited number of skills available. Even if you have hundreds or thousands of skills, you can only use a few once you enter the dungeon.

The number of skills that can be used varies depending on the difficulty of the dungeon. Generally, a boss in a five-player dungeon can only carry a maximum of four skills, while in a 25-player dungeon like this one, the boss can carry six. In addition, if the boss has the "Versatility" boss tactic, then it can carry two more skills.

However, Amalarui has already used the BOSS tactic of Mass Teleport, which means that he can only use a maximum of six skills in the dungeon.

While Xiao Yu was fighting Balor, he had been keeping an eye on this side. Since entering the BOSS battle, Amalarui had used four skills: Pyroblast, Summon Demon, Spellsteal, and Icy Touch. This means he still had two skills left to use.

But why hasn't it happened yet? The answer is simple: it has a second phase. It's not hard to imagine that a boss of this level could be killed in one go. It would definitely transform or unleash a special attack halfway through the fight. Those two skills should only be unlocked when entering Phase 2. That's why Amalarui's skills, except for Pyroblast, almost never cause a wipe.

Knowing all of the opponent's trump cards, Xiao Yu was confident that he could withstand the BOSS on his own. Judging from his current skills, he had no need to worry about not being able to hold out.

On the other hand, his battle with Balor had given him an understanding of Balor's abilities.

With four skills in total—Flame Cleave, Flame Whip Entanglement, Summon Dretch, and Fear Aura— Esmehalda could definitely handle it if played properly. That's why he asked Esmehalda to switch lanes with him. At least compared to Amalarui, who possessed Spellsteal and could bombard from a distance with Pyroblast, this Balor was much easier to deal with.

Amalarui Ferdinand (Legendary Mage): "You want to challenge me, a Water Elemental? I must say, a very foolish choice."

Azathoth (Water Elemental Prince): "Whether you're foolish or not, only time will tell after we fight." He said, but inwardly he sneered, "I've seen all four of your skills, what are you still being so arrogant about?"

"Pyroblast!" Amalarui raised his hand and unleashed Greater Fireball.

"Frostfire Bolt!" Xiao Yu also raised his hand and fired Frostfire Bolt. He didn't plan to use any other skills. Since the opponent could Spellsteal, Summon Fire Elemental or unleashing other powerful moves would only benefit the opponent. He just needed to slowly stall for time.

Although Amalari is more powerful than Balor, his damage isn't necessarily higher. His strength lies in his ranged spells and his spell steal ability, which counters mages. Magic-based classes like Esmeralda would have a hard time withstanding him, but Xiao Yu has amazing health, so there's nothing to fear. He can simply tank the damage.

Sure enough, after exchanging blows for a few moments, Xiao Yu's health dropped rapidly, but he was still able to hold on for at least a few minutes.

While exchanging blows, Xiao Yu glanced back at Esmehalda. The female mage on the other side seemed to be handling the situation with ease. Although the Balor had astonishing damage, it didn't have many crowd control skills. Esmehalda, who had the ability to Blink, wouldn't have an easy time winning, but she could easily stall for time.

Frostbolt slowed her down, Blink bound her with Flame Whip, Frost Nova and Frost Detonation the summoned demons, and Balor's attacks couldn't even reach the hem of Esmehalda's clothes.

The battle lasted for three minutes in the blink of an eye. Esmehalda was fine, but Xiao Yu was starting to feel the strain. His 120,000 health points had dwindled to just over 50,000. He was worried if the adventurers didn't return soon. Fortunately, the adventurers were all carefully selected experts. Just then, a figure suddenly appeared in front of the gate.

He was a hunter under Esmehalda's command.

"Guild Master, I'm back! I was teleported to a room and finally managed to find my way out. By the way, who should I help!?"

Esmehalda (Dalaran Mystic): "Go help Azathoth!"

Azathoth (Water Elemental Prince): "Go help Esmehalda!"

The two shouted almost simultaneously.