'Is there even a need to truly think about it? Of course, we'll fight.'
"We can assume that the other teams are running into similar issues as ours or at least some type of impediment. I doubt they would pass up the opportunities that present themselves in the Chaotic Dogma Realm. Therefore, we also should not be afraid of facing what's in front of us. We will fight." Izroth said without hesitation.
Since Izroth had decided, none of them would question his choice. Besides, he was correct that other teams may have experienced more vicious situations than their own. There was also a part of them that was incredibly reluctant at having to give up a rare boss that appeared right before them.
"This creature looks bizarre. It looks more like a weapon than a monster." Zi Yi frowned at the strange appearance of the Silverline Entity. The fact that it had no recognizable facial features creeped her out for some reason.
"It looks pretty harmless to me." Even though Guan Yu said those words, that did not mean he would underestimate the Silverline Entity. After all, it wasn't just a rare boss, but it was also a monster that resided within the Chaotic Dogma Realm. It may appear harmless at first glance, but it was definitely not weak.
Izroth unsheathed his Blade of Lightning. When he did so, everyone else also drew their weapons and prepared for battle against the Silverline Entity. Halls was the first to make a move and steadily closed the distance between himself and the Silverline Entity.
30 meters...
20 meters...
10 meters...
5 meters...
This was strange, very strange. Usually, a boss monster had a very large aggro range. However, Halls was less than five meters away and yet the Silverline Entity did not react to him. It completely ignored him as if he did not exist.
Halls turned to look back at the others with a confused look on his face. Could it be that this was actually a boss monster that would not attack unless provoked? Or maybe it did not know that they were there since it possessed no eyes or ears that could be seen.
Izroth gave Halls a slight nod, signaling for him to proceed.
Halls looked back towards the Silverline Entity and charged forward, quickly closing the five meters gap. He slashed out with his sword and aimed right towards the Silverline Entity's chest area. While his attack was in motion, he activated the skill Taunting Aura in order to build further aggro onto himself.
Ding!
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A loud clinging sound rung out as Halls' sword made contact with the Silverline Entity. However, the Silverline Entity simply turned its head as if it would be staring at Halls if it had eyes of its own. To everyone's surprise, it did not retaliate and just stood there motionless.
'Would the system really make such an easy rare boss to defeat?'
Everyone else was having similar thoughts to Izroth's. They were suspicious and had certain doubts, but they still decided to continue on with the fight, if it could still even be called that at this point.
"Stay alert and remain cautious of any sudden changes." Izroth directed as he dashed in the direction of the Silverline Entity.
He swept his Blade of Lighting right across the neck of the Silverline Entity.
-378
Even after it was struck by Izroth's attack, the Silverline Entity continued to stand there with its "gaze" locked into Halls.
'Hm... A strange creature. It does not react to any of our attacks and appears to possess zero intelligence or any obvious weak points. Its defenses are also quite pitiful.'
No matter how Izroth looked at this monster, it was more like some fodder beginner monster rather than a rare boss.
Guan Yu, Zi Yi, and Valentine joined in on the attack. Soon enough, the group managed to drop the Silverline Entity's HP down to 90% with their assault. When its HP reached the 90% mark, the Silverline Entity made its first move.
Everyone noticed this and immediately went on high alert. It had finally reacted after all this time and its first move was directed at Halls. One of the Silverline Entity's arms became a formless silver liquid. A few moments later, it slowly began to take shape and formed into a guandao. Its appearance was similar to Guan Yu's guandao, however, there were some discreet differences between the two.
The Silverline Entity swung its guandao shaped arm outward in an arc directly at Halls.
Even though the sudden attack startled him, Halls remained vigilant this entire time and so he reacted swiftly. He used his skill Rebound to block the incoming attack and to try to interrupt the Silverline Entity's movements.
Swoosh!
The Silverline Entity's guandao cut through Halls cleanly as if there was nothing there at all.
When Guan Yu saw that skill he was a bit shocked. He was not the only one who was surprised, Izroth also recognized that move the Silverline Entity just performed. However, it could just be a coincidence and the moves just bore some resemblance to one another. Therefore, they did not think much of it but still kept it in the back of their minds.
«Blocked»
-1,696
Everyone was alarmed by the amount of damage the Silverline Entity just dealt. Even though Halls had successfully blocked the attack, he still took such a massive amount of damage! If any of them were hit by that, there was a good chance that they would die in one or two strikes alone.
However, thanks to how powerful the attack was, the Silverline Entity was knocked back more than ten meters. This gave Luna enough time to cast a few healing spells. She quickly cast a Healing Essence on Halls to start the healing process and then proceeded to use one of her new skills after reaching level 20, Heal, the more advanced version of her Cure skill.
Skill Name: Heal
Skill Level: 2/4
Skill Rank: B
Mana Cost: 160
Cast Time: 2 seconds
Active: Heals an ally target for 220% of the user's 'Healing Factor'.
Cooldown: 2 seconds
Although it was more powerful than Cure, it had a longer cast time and cost more mana to use. It was something she was unwilling to use unless someone received a great deal of damage. It seemed for this fight, Luna would have no choice but to use Heal over Cure. After all, an attack that was blocked dealt over 1,600 damage.
+1,485 HP
Halls had nearly all of his lost HP restored thanks to Luna's Healing Essence and Heal skills. If he had missed the timing on his Rebound skill, then he would not have gotten away with such a light scratch.
Zi Yi fired off an arrow that soon disappeared into the void. Around 1 second later, the arrow reappeared above the Silverline Entity's head and pierced right into what could only be referred to as its skull.
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"Even that things head has no weakness!" Zi Yi notched another arrow, however, just as she was getting ready to fire it off, she sensed something forming above her head. She immediately took action and used an evasive roll maneuver.
Swoosh! Crash!
Less than half a second after Zi Yi moved, a silver arrow pierced into the ground where she was previously located. The ground around the arrow could not withstand the pressure and soon collapse upon itself. This created a small crater of around two meters.
Zi Yi knew this attack because it was one she had used many times before. That was definitely her skill, Void Jump! But how was that possible? At first, she believed that maybe her own skill was reflected back to her, however, that arrow she previously launched was still sticking out of the Silverline Entity's head.
If it was not for the Soul Essence trait Zi Yi recently acquired, then she would have been forced into using a life-saving skill so early into the battle.
'First Guan Yu's skill and now Zi Yi's. Could it be the reason for its lack of response was simply that it did not know how?'
Once could merely be considered a coincidence, however, two times caused grounds for suspicions. This Silverline Entity was the most dangerous type of enemy, one that could learn and adapt by just observing.
"Everyone, try to limit your higher ranked skills for the moment. At least until the Silverline Entity's HP reaches closer to its endpoint." Izroth said as he rushed towards the monster.
'I'll have to avoid using the Lightning Field and Flickering Steps until we have managed to grasp the limits of this creature's copy ability.'
"Zi Yi, what grade rank does your skill Void Jump carry?" Izroth asked. It was obvious that a skill that involved space would possess a high rank, but Izroth needed to know its exact rank.
"Hm? It's A-rank, why do you ask?" Zi Yi was curious as to why Izroth told them to hold off on using powerful attacks for now. Did he discover something about the Silverline Entity? She had a general idea about the abilities of this monster, but she only had a theory, not proof.
'It can even mimic A-ranked skills?'
Izroth knew that there was a good chance that it would be able to do so, but he hoped that it would not be the case. He wondered if it was also capable of copying S-ranked skills. However, did he want to risk finding out? Frankly speaking, there was no one here who could track Izroth during his Flickering Steps.
The people with the best chances of doing so were Luna and Zi Yi. This was because of Luna's unique ability that she had yet to disclose, and the fact that Zi Yi possessed the most refined senses out of everyone present. But even then, they would not be able to handle that kind of speed for a full twenty seconds.
"I believe that this Silverline Entity is capable of copying any skill that we use against it, even those at A-rank. Earlier, it used Guan Yu's skill and just now it used your own skill against you." Izroth said as he arrived in front of the Silverline Entity.
"You mean that it can copy whatever skills we throw at it?!" Halls was there to witness Izroth's use of the Second Baneful Sword: Kill. If it was able to copy that skill, then there was no way any of them could survive against that strike.
Everyone now understood why it was that Izroth wanted them to avoid using their higher ranked skills. It would only mean making things more difficult for themselves.
Izroth's leg shot towards the boss monster as if it were a snake striking at its prey. Since the Silverline Entity did not appear to have any vital points, he decided to use the same method as when he uncovered the weakness of the Chaos Fiend.
A light glow formed around the body of the Silverline Entity. When Izroth saw this glow, he instantly tried to slow his attack as much as possible. However, the system appeared to be restricting his ability to do so and the attack carried forward.
When Izroth's foot crashed into the body of the of the Silverline Entity, its entire body was locked in place.
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Izroth used the skill Serpent's Bite. Although its damage left more to be desired, it served its purpose in successfully halting the movements of the Silverline Entity.
However, Izroth was knocked back a few meters as a result. The Silverline Entity had used Halls' Rebound skill. But, the strange thing was that it did not block any of the damage as Halls' Rebound skill should do.
Izroth instantly regained his footing as the knockback effect ended. He was unsure of the reason, but the Silverline Entity was only able to copy a part of Halls' skill and not the whole skill like with all of the others. This made Izroth think of one important question.
'What is it that was different about that skill?'