**Boom! Boom!**
Lightning filled the battlefield, its brilliance illuminating the chaos. I moved swiftly through the deadly storm.
"Rain...!"
**Crash!**
Lightning struck where Chris had just evaded with a perfectly timed backstep. She paused momentarily, then shouted to me again.
"Long-range targets are getting hit by targeted lightning—one strike every three seconds! For melee targets, both targeted and random lightning strikes are falling together!"
"Not easy, huh."
With a wry remark, I wrapped myself in a barrier formed by the starlight from my sword.
Swinging my sword rapidly, I created a dense shield of light around me. Confirming its formation, I lunged toward the Bone Dragon’s neck.
The lightning pattern had two distinct types:
1. **Targeted Lightning**: Strikes aimed at the player’s current position, predictable and dodgeable if you know the timing. Invincibility skills like backstep could also be used.
2. **Random Lightning**: Unpredictable strikes that couldn't be dodged visually. Even my heightened senses couldn’t evade them all.
My protective barrier gave me {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} three precious seconds of safety. In that time, I needed to act decisively. If necessary, I would extend the barrier’s duration by using my cooldown reset ability.
For now, my target was the Bone Dragon.
**Tap!**
With a light push off the ground, I leapt toward its neck, soaring up to about three meters away.
**Slash!**
I struck at the neck bone with a calculated reverse swing of my sword.
**Clang!**
The impact sent a powerful recoil through my blade, causing me to rotate midair. Using the momentum, I landed on the dragon’s spine.
**Hmmm.**
But I wasn’t standing on the bone itself. Something invisible was beneath my feet. Three seconds had already passed, and a tingling sensation ran through me.
**Zap!**
Lightning didn’t discriminate, striking the dragon’s body even as I stood on it. I immediately activated a backstep, leaping off its body just in time.
**Crash!**
From the corner of my eye, I saw the electricity dissipate against an invisible field surrounding the dragon.
"A barrier?"
It seemed the special phase prevented us from damaging the dragon with its current system gimmick.
Without hesitation, I jumped back to the ground, dodging another bolt of lightning while triggering Astaroth’s cooldown reset ability. With my barrier active again, I shouted to Chris.
"Chris! I don’t think we can handle this right now!"
"Should we retreat?"
I nodded.
The current strategy was ineffective. We needed a fresh approach. My cooldown reset abilities wouldn’t last long enough to withstand the random lightning, and breaking the pattern required a new plan.
**Sprint!**
Together, Chris and I dashed away from the Bone Dragon, narrowly avoiding the bolts raining down around us.
---
Over the next few attempts, we refined our damage cycle and analyzed the lightning’s special patterns. We needed to understand the nature of the Bone Dragon’s barrier.
"The barrier feels like a damage shield," Chris said, sitting cross-legged with me leaning against her legs.
"The barrier itself has a durability of 500 million HP," she continued. "If we break it, we’ll be able to damage the main body again."
I nodded, watching the dragon from our vantage point.
"That’s still an absurd amount of damage to deal. Long-range attackers only have to worry about targeted lightning, but melee fighters are exposed to both targeted and random strikes. Even I can’t consistently resist those while dealing damage. How are we supposed to break the barrier on top of the remaining 1 billion HP?"
"And it’s unlikely this barrier phase will only happen once," Chris added grimly.
Shaking my head, I let out a frustrated sigh.
"Even with 24 players, this would likely hit an enrage timer."
Chris stared at the bone-like pillars surrounding the battlefield, her eyes narrowing.
"These pillars... they're metallic, right?"
"Yeah, we confirmed that earlier."
"Have you heard of lightning rods? What if these pillars act like them? If so, maybe we don’t need to dodge the targeted lightning. If we channel it into the pillars, something might change."
My eyes widened.
"Have you tested this during our runs?"
"Not yet. I focused on the damage cycle, timing intervals, and analyzing the barrier," Chris admitted.
"Why would the barrier block the dragon’s own lightning if it doesn’t take lightning damage? That would only make sense if there’s a way to turn its own patterns against it."
We exchanged a knowing look and grinned.
"A gimmick to exploit its pattern."
---
**[First Named Boss]**
**[Bone Dragon]**
**[HP: 949,997,544 / 1,000,000,000 (95%)]**
---
With the Bone Dragon’s HP at 95%, the lightning summoning phase had begun in earnest.
Chris and I split up, positioning ourselves at opposite ends of the battlefield, each near one of the towering bone pillars.
I saw Chris wink at me through the dragon’s skeletal frame, and I returned her smile before focusing on the pillar nearest me.
**Tap.**
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I positioned myself at the northern pillar while Chris took the southern one.
We waited.
**Zap! Crash!**
The targeted lightning struck, illuminating my vision in a flash of white.
I didn’t dodge.
Chris’s theory was worth trusting.
**Whoosh!**
The lightning bolt aimed at me was instantly absorbed by the pillar, dissipating harmlessly into the ground.
"Rain! The pillar is glowing!"
Sure enough, the pillar shone with a bright blue light after absorbing the lightning.
Tentatively, I touched the pillar. It was warm but no longer carried a charge. With a steady pull, I dislodged the glowing spear-like dragon bone from its base.
"Chris! The pillars can be pulled out now!"
"Don’t just grab lightning-charged metal! Are you okay?!"
"I’m fine!"
With the spear in hand, I aimed at the Bone Dragon’s barrier.
**Whoosh! Thud!**
The spear struck the barrier, embedding itself about half a meter deep. Across the battlefield, Chris mirrored my actions.
"There are twelve pillars total," Chris called out. "In a twelve-player raid, we’d each handle one. Looks like we’re throwing all of them!"
We moved clockwise around the battlefield, systematically repeating the process: absorb the lightning, pull the spear, and throw it into the barrier.
**Hum!**
Soon, all twelve spears glowed brightly, embedded in the barrier.
I held my breath, waiting for something to happen.
"...Nothing?"
**Crash!**
A bolt of lightning narrowly missed me as I dodged backward, staring at the Bone Dragon in confusion.
"The barrier should’ve broken!"
Then it hit me—the random lightning strikes around the dragon had stopped.
Random lightning required proximity to activate.
**Tap! Tap! Tap!**
I sprinted toward the dragon, dodging targeted strikes. As I approached within 15 meters, random lightning resumed, striking near the embedded spears.
The lightning flowed into the spears and then into the barrier.
**Zap! Zap! Zap!**
One by one, the bolts poured into the spears, culminating in a final, massive discharge.
**Crack! Shatter!**
With a deafening, silent roar, the barrier shattered.
The Bone Dragon staggered, dropping one skeletal knee to the ground.
---
**[First Named Boss]**
**[Bone Dragon]**
**[HP: 749,997,544 / 1,000,000,000 (75%)]**
---
"Twenty percent in one go...!"
"Chris!"
"I’m on it!"
**Glow!**
Chris activated her *Spiritual Infusion* skill, enveloping me in its strengthening aura.
---
**[Spiritual Infusion]**
**Cooldown: 5 minutes**
**Boosts stats, attack power, critical hit rate, and critical damage for all party members (duration: 30 seconds).**
---
Feeling her power flow into me, I gripped my sword tightly.
We had spent about five minutes so far, and though the gimmick had dealt significant damage, 75% of the HP remained.
There was no time to waste. We needed at least three more successful gimmick executions to win.
If necessary...