When Kings Meet

"Holy shit, that's a huge boss! It's an elemental lord! I knew this dungeon couldn't be that simple." Cries of astonishment rang out below.

Elemental lords were second only to elemental kings on the elemental plane, and they weren't something one saw every day.

Shit, did we bite off more than we could chew? Long Ao Jiutian thought, regretting a little that he hadn't accepted Xiao Yu's earlier offer to settle things peacefully. But it was too late for regrets now. He roared, "Prepare for battle!"

The well-trained adventurer party immediately formed a crescent-shaped battle formation. At the very front stood Long Ao Jiutian and Phoenix, two players with hero templates. One was a tank and the other a healer, making up two parts of the holy trinity.

The other twenty-eight adventurers were all ranged classes, with everything from mages and hunters to warlocks, priests, and clerics. They spread out evenly around the area like a sprinkling of pepper.

Although Long Ao Jiutian knew Phoenix's healing output was high, the Balrog Lord before him put him under too much pressure. He called over a few of the party's healers to help restore health, and only then did he feel much more at ease.

They look the part, at least. I wonder how strong they actually are, Xiao Yu thought, raising the Hammer of the Balrog in his hand.

As the dungeon's final boss, the Balrog Lord had three combat phases, the so-called P1, P2, and P3.

Only two skills were available in P1: Great Blazing Fireball and Path of Burning, both AOE skills. Entering P2 unlocked two new skills, Elemental Gate and Flame Storm, while entering P3 unlocked Meteor Storm and Body-Burning Blast. Xiao Yu's tactic was simple: first, use Great Blazing Fireball and Path of Burning to wear down the adventurers' health and mana. Once most of their health was low, he would use P2's Flame Storm to shatter their formation in one fell swoop. Since Flame Storm covered the entire screen and dealt high damage, over half the adventurers were generally dead or wounded after it was unleashed. Then he would use Elemental Gate to finish the rest off.

This tactic had already let him reap many adventurer parties. So far, not a single one had managed to take him to P3. He hoped it would work today, too.

"Villain, do you dare fight me?" Long Ao Jiutian used a taunt as soon as the battle began. The portraits of all the other players around him immediately dimmed, indicating that they could not be targeted.

Xiao Yu sneered and abruptly flung the flames in his hand. A fireball the size of a locomotive came crashing down.

Hehe, this is an AOE skill. Your taunt is useless against me.

Boom! Amid the explosion, the adventurers in the rear scattered to dodge.

Xiao Yu raised his hand again. Path of Flame! Lines of fire began spreading across the ground. The adventurers had to dodge while dealing damage, and their ranks fell into chaos.

Xiao Yu hurled Great Blazing Fireball and Path of Flame one after another without so much as looking at Long Ao Jiutian beneath him. His AOE skills didn't need a target to be cast, so the taunt was useless. He simply let Long Ao Jiutian slash at him again and again.

"Guild leader, this boss doesn't seem to have any single-target attack skills," Phoenix said in shock and anger as she hacked furiously at the Balrog Lord.

Bosses usually had single-target attack skills. After all, it was better to sever one finger than wound ten: killing one player was better than injuring ten. Single-target skills dealt more damage than group skills, and as long as the tank could be taken down, the healers and DPS behind them could be reaped. But Xiao Yu's tactic was entirely different. He attacked the DPS and healers with AOE skills first. Killing them was naturally best, but even if he couldn't, he would wear them down and keep them scrambling, then reap them all at once in P2. That was why he simply didn't use single-target attack skills.

Seeing his subordinates in constant danger, Long Ao Jiutian made a snap decision and addressed the healers behind him. "Don't worry about us. You few, go heal the others," Long Ao Jiutian said. The priests and clerics immediately nodded and retreated to the rear.

"Hehe, you don't really think I have no single-target attack skills, do you? Granted, I don't have any skills, but my hammer's basic attacks can still kill you." Seeing the healers withdraw, Xiao Yu cast another Path of Flame, then swung the Hammer of the Balrog fiercely down at him.

With a clang, the enormous Hammer of the Balrog, as large as a locomotive, was actually stopped by the shield in Long Ao Jiutian's hand. The ground beneath him cracked, and his feet sank ankle-deep into the obsidian floor, but he wasn't flattened.

System notification: Attack blocked. Dealt 2,247 shock damage.

That seemed like a lot, but to Long Ao Jiutian, who had over twenty thousand health, it was only a sliver.

Fuck, that makes no sense! Shocked and furious, Xiao Yu swept the hammer sideways again. Clang! Long Ao Jiutian was struck once more.

System notification: Attack blocked. Dealt 1,874 shock damage.

Great Blazing Fireball! It crashed straight down on Long Ao Jiutian's head. With a boom, flames completely engulfed him. I'll take you out while the healers aren't nearby, Xiao Yu thought.

System notification: Dealt 7,652 fire damage (5,651 negated). Actual damage dealt: 2,001.

The hammer blows and fireball had instantly stripped away a third of Long Ao Jiutian's health. Unfortunately, the Crimson Flame Dragonscale Battle Armor's fire resistance was too high, and Xiao Yu had no single-target attack skills, so that was all the damage he could deal. In fact, if the hero template hadn't given him several times an ordinary adventurer's health, Long Ao Jiutian would probably have died already. Xiao Yu was just about to press the attack and land a few more heavy blows when, suddenly, a flash of holy light restored Long Ao Jiutian's health to full.

It was Phoenix. Damn, I forgot there was a paladin standing next to him.

Xiao Yu glanced at the female paladin beside Long Ao Jiutian. She had been standing quietly at his side since the battle began. She's pretty good-looking. How did she end up with this guy?

With a hero-tier healer standing next to him, there's no chance of killing this main tank. I'd better stick to the original tactic.

With that thought, Xiao Yu once again hurled Great Blazing Fireball and Path of Burning at the small fry in the distance.

Although the damage was high, the small fry had all drunk fire resistance potions and used fire protection scrolls, giving them absurdly high resistance. After all that time, not a single adventurer before him had died. Many were low on health, struggling to hold on in the sea of fire as they frantically chugged potions and continued attacking Xiao Yu.

As the battle went on, however, Xiao Yu's health finally dropped by a third, bringing him into P2.

Now!

Balrog Lord Lagrios: "Foolish mortals, tremble before the power of the ancients!"

Flame Storm!

Boom! Flames swept outward in every direction from the Balrog Lord, spreading like a gigantic halo.