The Eye of Heaven focused its attacks on Riveting Night now, discerning her to be the biggest threat to its survival. It felt the omen of death from her body, as well as an aura that suppressed its existence.
Riveting Night could technically solo this boss, but she would have a pay a steep price. Draining her bloodline energy and overdrawing her Control would be the least of her problems.
However, with 100 plus skilled players with her, this became a little less arduous. Her dark and eerie eyes swirled like a vortex of all consuming might, her body rigid and staunch.
All around her were the melee players slaughtering the mob of monsters as fast as they could, while the now free tank players prevented those straggler mobs from attacking the ranged players.
The ranged players in turn focused on the Eye of Heaven, dealing incremental damage to it.
However, the boss no longer paid attention to them. Its attention was trained on Riveting Night fully, as a bright charge began to gather around it. The cloudless heavens became chaotic and shifty, as all this power gathered in one place.
The attacks from the ranged players was sucked into that chaotic absorption of energy and rent to nothing, preventing them from dealing any damage whatsoever.
All of this was aimed at one person; Riveting Night! The Heaven's Eye was clearly pulling out all the stops in order to destroy her. Until she died, its death rate was 100%, which was unacceptable to it.
No price was too heavy!
As long as it survived, everything could be earned back. If it died, then that was the end!
Riveting Night frowned heavily but remained calm. Her usually feminine posture became very manly as she stood straight, her arms crossed and her eyes piercing.
In this moment, her posture was just like Draco's whenever the fellow was serious.
Truly, the habits of our lovers tend to rub off on us over time…
If we were to quantify the bloodline energy available to Riveting Night, we could use BP, or Bloodline Points.
With 80% bloodline purity, her BP would be 800. She had already consumed almost 300 BPs already. From using her light-based abilities against the Mini-Beholder as well as the other myriad monsters she had killed while with Warm Spring, and then to casting Izanagi, she had consumed a lot.
One should not forget, she was not like Draco who used more for less. She was trained to use the absolute minimum for the maximum effect. Yet, she had consumed almost half of her available energy.
In truth, using her light based abilities hardly took anything, she could recover that loss over a period of time. Her body was also reconstructed through her bloodline, but hers had been around her toddler years, not like Draco's whose was recent.
Izanagi alone swallowed up 250 BP!
And now, her response to this massive beam of light energy was an even more powerful, yet proportionately high energy consuming move.
"Izanami!"
A vortex formed in her eyes, but this time it spun counterclockwise. Izanagi's vortex of space devouring might spun clockwise, like wormhole that wanted to swallow all matter into its depths.
Izanami though, was the diametrical opposite. It spun against the clock, emitting a forceful pressure that rejected all matter and energy from approaching.
Light was a form of energy, which was manifested in the beam of light that looked no different from an orbital strike from a huge, neighborhood-sized spaceship.
It rushed down onto Riveting Night, rending apart everything within range. When light intensified to this extent, it produced heat. Heat energy and light energy were intricately linked, even though energy could be transformed to any other type.
This forced the various players and monsters to evacuate the area rapidly, their faces filled with fear and their hearts cold. Just being this far made it feel like they were in an oven, so how much more the Vice Guildmaster?
Sublime Notion's usually playful demeanor shifted rapidly as she felt fear. She had taken Riveting Night as her Life Sister, meaning that they were closer than anyone else.
To know that she was facing such a force made her worried. However, Sublime was no child. She did not shout or rush in the save Riveting Night.
The former would only distract her and the latter would only burden her.
Instead, she looked right at Riveting Night herself and saw her staunch and unyielding pose. When she saw that, she relaxed. She knew Riveting Night best in the world, so if she was so calm in the face of such an attack, then she had the means to handle it!
"What are you guys doing? Continue attacking! Angle your shots to hit the Heaven's Eye without crossing the boundary of the light beam! Assist the Vice Guildmaster while she handles the monster!"
Sublime Notion's words snapped everyone out of their daze as their eyes brightened. They immediately resumed attacking the Heaven's Eye, making the trajectory of their projectiles avoid the beam of light to hit the large Eye of Heaven.
The melee players began to clear up the dredges of the remaining monsters, along with the tanks. These monsters had been rendered too weak by the aura of the Heaven's Eye, making them like pigs about to be butchered.
Their level rose quickly, some going from 13 to 15, others from 14 to 16 and the remainder from 15 to 17. Sublime Notion was at level 18, the Five Generals were at level 19 and Riveting Night was now at level 20.
She had surpassed Draco!
For now.
The beam of light crashed into the vortex formed by Izanami, blinding the sight of every player and monster in the vicinity. A resounding boom echoed out as this powerful beam of energy collided with a mass of what was essentially a slightly weak reverse black hole.
Energy could not be destroyed. It could only be transformed into other forms of energy.
The beam of light was broken down and swirled in a counter-clockwise motion, outlining the invisible vortex that Izanami created.
Visually, it looked like a small, white milky-way galaxy was spinning slowly above Riveting Night's head. The light energy was mixed into the colorless vortex, creating an ethereal phenomenon.
Whether it was the players or the monsters, both parties halted in their footsteps as they saw this sight, their minds frozen from the sheer majesty.
Riveting Night stood under this vortex, and the bright light illuminated the inside of her ever-dark hood. None of the players could see in there of course, but the Eye of Heaven could.
When it did, it trembled greatly, as if it had gazed upon very source of heaven and could not comprehend what it had seen.
The aura from Riveting Night's body washed over the players and coupled with the phenomena above her, it spawned a title in their hearts, whether voluntarily or involuntarily.
Goddess! A Goddess of Light!
Riveting Night focused. With a low shout, she consumed 100 BPs to cast another Abyssal Eye technique. Along with the 350 BP cost of Izanami, she had barely 50 BPs left.
Regenerating this quickly would take a few swigs of some 1st Grade NuSmoothies, so she was technically unable to use bloodline techniques for a short while, probably until her next battle.
She had to wait for it to regenerate if she didn't want to have to logout and swallow down NuSmoothies like they were water.
As of 15 years in Boundless, all the Lineages members who had been in the game had speculated that potions or materials existed that could act as NuSmoothies and revitalize their Bloodline Energy outside of their natural regeneration.
However, the exact formula hadn't been derived yet, though they had come despairingly close. Riveting Night naturally knew this formula and had shared it with Draco before he left for the Flora and Fauna quest.
He had promised to do research on it and see if he could complete it.
Riveting Night gathered her all into this one heavy attack and fired it out.
"Susanoo!"
BANG!
A shockwave erupted that blew away all the dust in the area, lightly pushing back the ground-based players and monsters. The gathered mass of light energy that was trapped in the vortex of Izanami became still, then began to rapidly coalesce.
It formed a sharp blade of light that stretched across almost the whole squarish area, possessing a length of not less than 300 meters. This blade of light shined brightly as it keened with a sharp vibrato.
The light gathered by Susanoo was not like the light gathered by Izanami. Even though both used the same source of energy, Izanami's was somewhat gentle and pleasing to look at.
However, Susanoo was tyrannical, actively trying to blind anyone that looked at it, even if their eyes were closed!
Various players cried out in pain as they snapped their eyelids shut.
Only Kiran and Sublime Notion were able to barely look at the sword of light that keened dangerously.
Huh… wait, Sublime too…?
Hmm…
"Go!"
With that command, the sword of light ripped apart space as it rushed towards the Heaven's Eye, which was still shaking from peering at Riveting Night's visage without preparation.
The speed of light was often used as a measurement to display the fastest possible movement that the human mind could comprehend. When the beam of light had been fired, it moved at a slow and noticeable speed, like a rock being thrown by an average human.
In the grasp of Susanoo, the light displayed its true peak speed, flashing through the atmosphere as it appeared in front of the Heaven's Eye almost immediately.
When the Heaven's Eye noticed this, it was far too late. Its distraction had stolen its attention and rendered it unable to muster a defense.
It could only watch helplessly as the sword of light collided with its form, shearing away more than 2/5ths of its cornea.
100,000 damage!
Waga Kamiyo! (TL: My God!)
This counterattack directly swallowed up 1/3rd of the health of this Unique Boss!
This was why it was said that Riveting Night could solo this boss, but she would have to consume everything she had and suffer some wounds as well.
In truth, there were various factors that went into this.
The first was that the Heaven's Eye had shit luck. Its main property, which was light, was the domain of the Amaterasu Bloodline. It was like a puppy trying to out howl a wolf.
The second was that its charged up ultimate attack was broken down and kept by Riveting Night, before being combined with another technique and sent right back. It received its own attack with Riveting Night's own too on top.
The third was that it had not put up any defense. Had it tried to, the damage might not have reached 50,000. However, it fell under the effects of the Celestial Maiden Inheritance, which rendered it paralyzed.
The Celestial maiden Inheritance was the one that influenced the minds of others. For example, Riveting Night's heavenly beauty could be said to be paramount and really great, but it wasn't to the point where it could make people froth at the mouth like Draco described.
It was that aura that the Celestial Maiden Inheritance produced that augmented their beauty to the point where it was no longer physical, but spiritual as well.
After all, everyone had different perceptions of beauty. Someone might find Riveting Night's natural visage as 'eh' without the aura, but with it, everything changed.
The members of Umbra were so stunned that they almost screamed.
F.u.c.k, our Vice Guildmaster is too powerful!
No, not our Vice Guildmaster… our Lady Boss!
Too overpowered! Too overpowered!
Everyone instinctively turned to Sublime Notion, noticing her slightly surprised expression. With a cheap smile, she giggled and waved her hands.
"Teehee, our Lady Boss is quite strong eh?"
The members of Umbra shared a look and shook their heads. It seemed like they were wrong. The mysterious Guildmaster was more likely besotted with such a powerful woman, as opposed to this troublesome loli here.
Their hearts began to thump as they gazed on the form of the Lady Boss, who stood there like a towering mountain that would never fall. Her aura hadn't diminished and her momentum was far from depleted.
"Lady Boss! Lady Boss! Lady Boss!"
These players began to chant the name of their Vice Guildmaster, their minds overwhelmed with feelings of awe and reverence. They truly respected their powerful leader at this moment.
"Continue attacking! Stop dawdling!"
Riveting Night commanded them in a sharp tone, withdrawing a plethora of crossbows as she spoke. She also had the optimal trait, meaning that she was no longer weapon or skill locked.
"Yes!"
The members of Umbra responded without hesitation. They continued their attack with even more fervency.
The human mind was an incomparably strange thing. When we were given orders by a superior, we would follow them out of fear of consequence. However, this created some flaws, since it wasn't truly from the heart.
However, when one respected another genuinely, they obeyed orders wholeheartedly and without reserve. This allowed them to tap into their potential and show their best effort.
Attacks rained on the ruined Heaven's Eye like droplets of rain on the earth, but in reverse. The ranged classes no longer held back, they spent all their mana or stamina, drinking potions liberally and cheaply.
The melee class players also used whatever skills they had to assist the ranged players, whether they were buffs or debuffs. The tanks also did same, and their ability to buff and debuff was much stronger in that regard.
Riveting Night fired out so many shots to the sky that her attacks constituted almost 30% of the barrage. One woman sent out 1/3 of the projectiles that a team of over 30 people fired… this strongly nurtured the respect that the members of Umbra had for her.
The HP of the Heaven's Eye was dropping faster than the grades of an average college student after 3 years in school.
Before Riveting Night's attack, its HP had been 225,000. After having 100,000 sheared off, it had less than 125,000 HP remaining. This amount was no less than 70,000 after being bombarded with the feverish attacks of the Umbra guild members.
Of course, the wounded Eye of Heaven mustered a counterattack. Instead of using its phase 1 light beams or phase 2 acid tears, it used its auxiliary skill, which was to summon more monsters.
It felt that its best option was to overwhelm the players with numbers, swarming them to death. Throw enough ants on an elephant and they could chew it to death!
The melee fighters and the tanks were overwhelmed as they fought viciously. Before, they used almost three attacks to vanquish a Private Rank enemy and eight attacks to vanquish a Specialist.
However, the pressure of the battle forced them to become more efficient and precise. They now used one hit to clear Private Rank monsters and three hits to vanquish Specialists.
However, this still wasn't able to stem the tide. The adds kept spawning endlessly, two filling the gap that one left.
The cornered Heaven's Eye was holding nothing back anymore. Every single bit of mana and Worldly Energy it could muster was used to fuel this skill that spawned monsters.
Riveting Night remained undistracted by the suffering of her guild mates and the same could be said for the ranged players.
Where the battle had currently reached was a boiling point. It was either they won or they perished, and this held true for both sides!
If the party of players suffered a wipe, they would lose the battle. Unless the Lady Boss could pull an upset, which she could, they would be the ultimate losers. However, the Lady Boss doing so would cost her heavily.
In the case of a failure, they would lose this boss forever!
For the Heaven's Eye, if it didn't fight to its last breath, it would be destroyed! As long as it could kill them all, it could escape this conflict!
Riveting Night poured her all into her rapid fire barrage, consisting of crossbow bolts and a deluge of throwing knives. Her damage output was at least 3000 a second, which was more than 3 times the ranged classes' first output.
In a matter of seconds, the boss HP began to plummet into the red.
30%…
25%…
15%…
10%…
5%…
3%…
1%…
When it was on its last legs, Riveting Night roared and used the last of her Bloodline Energy to fire out a beam of sharp light. It was not as powerful as Susanoo, but it was more than enough to rip away that last bit of health the boss had.
With a strong tremble that shook the land and the air, the Heaven's Eye slowly closed as blood seeped from its edges, its form starting to crumble and fade away.
The monsters that were assaulting the players screeched in agony as they crumbled as well, turning into dust.
From the Heaven's Eye came a myriad of items that dropped from the skies. Before anyone could celebrate or even assess what boons they had acquired after such a grueling fight, an announcement popped up with loud fanfare.
｢Sturgehaven Kingdom Regional Announcement
Congratulations Guild Umbra, for being the first guild to defeat a Unique Boss! This is a resounding accolade that will echo in the Hall of Fame for centuries to come! Reputation increased by 15000!｣
｢Cario Continent International Announcement
Congratulations Guild Umbra, for being the first guild to defeat a Unique Boss! This is a resounding accolade that will echo in the Hall of Fame for centuries to come! Reputation increased by 15000!｣
｢Boundless System-wide Announcement
Congratulations Guild Umbra, for being the first guild to defeat a Unique Boss! This is a resounding accolade that will echo in the Hall of Fame for centuries to come! Reputation increased by 15000!｣