As blood surged and the souls of the departed were harnessed, Seong's dual-cast ability came to life.
A crimson storm erupted immediately where Crescendra stood, obscuring its vision completely.
Amid the chaos, a turquoise spear shot through the obscured field of sight.
Though both attacks triggered simultaneously, the precise timing secured the success of the strike.
"I wasn’t sure it’d work with Phase 2... but it did."
Seong initially doubted if such an extraordinary entity like Crescendra would be affected.
But it worked.
Three seconds.
A remarkably short span of time, yet enough to create an opening.
It was time bought by Seong.
And that invaluable time ignited the fierce determination in the eyes of Valtar and Fiora.
Valtar’s eyes burned with a dark crimson glow.
Fiora’s radiated a deep navy blaze.
The two distinct glows intertwined, hurtling toward Crescendra in unison.
Yet, at that very moment, Crescendra, seemingly deprived of all senses, began to move—or attempted to.
It raised its arm, preparing for something.
Seong, observing closely, immediately recognized what it was.
"A skill?"
Though its senses were sealed, its skills were not.
Acknowledging this, Seong swiftly brought his index finger to his lips.
The skill, Command of Silence, was activated.
Even without its senses, Crescendra couldn’t have anticipated what came next.
From behind, an enormous witch appeared, laughing maniacally, her massive hand threading a glowing turquoise needle through Crescendra's mouth, sealing it shut.
The witch mirrored Seong’s motion, pressing a finger to her lips as she hissed:
"Shh..."
In a voice that echoed like a banshee’s wail, the witch vanished into the void.
[Crescendra has been silenced by Command of Silence for 5 seconds.]
[Hidden Raid Boss: Ancient Kingdom’s Guardian Golem Crescendra resists the effect.]
[Duration reduced to 2 seconds.]
Two more precious seconds.
Sweat dripped from Seong’s brow as he assessed the battlefield.
Valtar, crouching low with his massive crimson greatsword in both hands, drew a deep breath as he charged forward.
With the blade lowered, he carved a glowing red path across the crystal floor, the friction etching a searing groove into the ground.
The greatsword, now radiating an intense, storm-like crimson aura, roared as Valtar unleashed his ultimate strike.
Fiora, crossing paths with Valtar, prepared her own devastating attack. Her axe-arm, now grotesquely enlarged, rivaled Crescendra’s size.
As Fiora swung the massive axe, a chilling blue aura wrapped around it, sharpening the edge to a supernatural degree.
The two attacks struck Crescendra simultaneously—a storm of crimson and blue energy colliding against its core.
Behind this destructive onslaught, a spectral wraith emerged, delivering yet another devastating blow with its scythe, embodying death itself.
Shing! Slash! Thud!
The scythe fell not once, but six times, each swing more final than the last.
As the grim reaper faded into the shadows, the crystalline palace trembled violently. Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor, scaling walls and spreading to the ceiling.
The seemingly invincible structure was finally reaching its limit.
Yet Crescendra, though riddled with cracks and emitting a sharp grinding noise, still stood.
Its shattered form, now shedding shards of crystal, exuded an aura so menacing that even Seong’s strongest summoned allies—Valtar, Fiora, Barfur, and Kalisha—froze momentarily.
Seong, observing from a distance, muttered:
"This is insane."
Could this truly be a level 70 raid boss?
No, Crescendra was far beyond that.
Even the strongest level 60 raid boss Seong had faced—Anemore—felt trivial in comparison.
"I can’t win like this."
Seong knew that his Creeping Darkness, a legion buff skill, was useless here. It required a massive enemy force to activate.
Instead, he turned to the potions gifted by Plinky, consuming them one after another.
[You have consumed Plinky’s Special Mana Potion.]
[Mana recovery: +15%.]
[You have consumed Plinky’s Special Black Magic Amplification Potion.]
[Black magic skills: +5% for 10 minutes.]
[You have consumed Plinky’s Special Undead Reinforcement Potion.]
[Undead summoned by you: All stats +10% for 10 minutes.]
[You have consumed Plinky’s Special Resistance Boost Potion.]
[All resistances: +5% for 10 minutes.]
[You have consumed Plinky’s Special Mana Enhancement Potion.]
[Maximum mana: +10% for 10 minutes.]
Reaching for the whistle around his neck, he placed it in his mouth and blew.
[You blow the Tri-Colored Whistle.]
[Mana recovery: +30%.]
With the combination of potions and the whistle, Seong had restored a total of 45% of his mana, filling his reserves completely.
Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.
The reason he hadn’t consumed the potions earlier was to save time.
It had taken roughly six minutes to reach the second phase of the fight—a testament to how relentless their assault had been.
For Anemore, a raid boss Seong had defeated before, such a barrage would have ended the fight already. Yet Crescendra remained in Phase 2, seemingly unscathed.
Crescendra’s pale, glowing eyes radiated as it spoke:
"Un...believable... adversary."
Not only had it acknowledged Seong’s strength, but it had also recognized him as a genuine threat.
In response, Crescendra activated one of its skills.
Valtar and Fiora, anticipating the move, darted toward it in a coordinated attack.
But what followed wasn’t what they expected.
A sudden wave of searing heat exploded outward from Crescendra, forcing Valtar and Fiora back with immense force.
Boom!
The sheer heat of the blast expanded the surrounding air, creating a shockwave that sent both summoned warriors flying.
Even Seong couldn’t help but marvel at the intensity of the heat.
"How hot does it have to be to do that...?"
Almost immediately, the heat radiated throughout the entire raid field.
It felt as though the entire area had transformed into an immense furnace.
The source of this heat was Crescendra itself. Its crystalline body, once a brilliant red, now glowed as though it were molten, shimmering with waves of fiery energy.
The crystal palace, already weakened by Seong’s earlier explosive attacks, began to succumb to the heat.
Drip... Drip.
Bits of the palace, from the ceiling to the walls and pillars, began melting, forming sticky, molten pools that oozed downward.
The once-pristine floor turned into a molten swamp, its surface bubbling with relentless heat.
Kalisha and Anemore, the only two allies capable of flight, managed to stay above the treacherous terrain.
However, even they were forced to maneuver around the falling molten debris.
Fiora and Barfur, both undead, lifted themselves into the air to avoid the boiling ground.
Meanwhile, Anemore carried Seong, and Kalisha carried Valtar, ensuring they avoided the deadly surface.
The raid field had effectively become a molten wasteland, with persistent damage threatening to overwhelm any who remained grounded.
Crescendra, watching the chaos unfold, let out a booming laugh.
"Opponents who take to the air... how unfortunate."
Though its words could have been tinged with frustration over its now-useless battlefield, Seong knew better.
The laugh wasn’t one of regret—it was one of enjoyment. Crescendra seemed to revel in the battle.
Normally, this would have been the perfect opportunity to counterattack.
Even though the ground was melting, it was still possible to use it as a foothold.
The summoned allies considered striking now, but they held back, obeying Seong’s command.
Seong, more familiar with Crescendra’s abilities than anyone, made the call:
"Evade."
As Seong and his allies ascended higher, Crescendra’s molten red glow suddenly shifted.
Its crystals, once fiery red, turned an icy, piercing blue.
Swoosh!
Crack!
Snap!
The molten crystals that had once dripped ominously across the battlefield froze solid in an instant.
The floors, walls, and ceiling, now reinforced with frost, glistened with an unnatural cold. Crescendra’s shattered form, however, remained unchanged.
This wasn’t a skill intended for self-repair—it was a trap.
If Seong and his summons had rushed forward to attack while the crystals melted, they would have been caught in a frozen prison, immobilized by Crescendra’s ability.
The damage they would have suffered could have been catastrophic.
Perhaps even fatal for some.
Seong’s summoned allies exchanged glances, awe washing over them.
"Our Lord foresaw this...!"
"Y-Yes, truly incredible!"
"To think this is our master...!"
"Kyaaaah! (What a genius strategy!)"
"Piiieee! (A terrifyingly precise plan!)"
With the frost settled, the summons returned to the ground, resuming their assault on Crescendra.
The towering golem reclaimed its crystalline greatsword, charging forward with a renewed fury.
Valtar and Fiora intercepted, clashing against their foe with unyielding determination.
For countless exchanges, they battled, Crescendra’s amplified strength in Phase 2 evident with every strike.
But the combined might of Seong’s five summons held firm.
Amid the chaos, Seong’s attacks darted through any opening, his precision forcing Crescendra to dodge the emerald spears that carried a deadly aura.
Dodging these attacks, however, left Crescendra vulnerable to the relentless assaults of the summons.
Every few strikes, a shadowy figure emerged—the grim reaper—delivering devastating slashes to Crescendra’s crystalline body.
Slash!
With each blow, Crescendra’s strength visibly waned.
Kneeling on one knee, the golem growled in pain, the agony of severed souls coursing through its form.
Yet Crescendra refused to fall, quickly recovering and retaliating with a vengeance.
It parried Valtar’s greatsword, deflected Fiora’s axe, and countered Barfur’s spectral grasp with overwhelming force.
Kalisha and Anemore dove in together, balancing the scales, their combined efforts nearly matching Crescendra’s ferocity.
But Crescendra’s eyes began to glow—a signal of something catastrophic.
"Kyaaaaah! (What’s happening!?)"
"Piiieee! (We must stop it!)"
"Master! Retreat immediately!" Barfur screamed, sensing the danger.
Seong, however, stood his ground.
He opened the Gates of the Underworld, recalling his five most powerful summons and replacing them with 20 empty-shell Null Ghouls.
At the same time, he activated Poisoned Doom, infusing the ghouls with a sickly, glowing green toxin.
Crescendra, seeing the ominous light emanating from the ghouls, involuntarily shuddered.
For the first time, fear flickered in its gaze.
Yet it roared defiantly:
"You plan to self-destruct? Too late!!!"
With its crystalline body surging with energy, Crescendra teleported directly in front of Seong, its greatsword blazing with radiant light.
It swung the sword downward, aiming to cleave Seong in two—a blow no dark mage could possibly block.
But Seong drew his own blade.
A simple, unassuming weapon—yet it held its ground.
CRACK! BOOM!
The impact shattered the ground beneath Seong, creating a deep crater, but his sword withstood the strike.
Crescendra’s glowing eyes widened in disbelief.
"H-How...?"
Seong smirked, his calm voice cutting through the tension:
"Got you."
The green toxin coursing through the Null Ghouls ignited, triggering an explosion that consumed Crescendra entirely.
"Wretched...!" Crescendra roared as it realized its fate.
Seong vanished into shadow just before the blast, using Shadow Transference to escape the epicenter.
[You have used Shadow Transference.]
[You are invincible for 1 second.]
[A Blood Veil surrounds you.]
Even with the invincibility, the ensuing shockwave shattered the ground and vaporized the surrounding crystals.
The Blood Veil, meant to shield Seong, disintegrated in an instant.
As the heat from the explosion reached him, Seong grimaced, his body scorched by the residual flames.
"Not... enough."
The fire spread across his limbs and torso, threatening to consume him entirely.
[You take extreme damage!]
[HP reduced to 0.]
[The effect of 『Unbound by Shackles』 activates.]
[You are revived with 50% maximum HP.]
[Invincibility granted for 5 seconds.]
Revived by the unique effect, Seong stood amidst the chaos.
As the explosion subsided, the battlefield came into focus.
[Hidden Raid Boss: 『Guardian Golem of the Ancient Kingdom, Crescendra』 has been defeated.]
Seong exhaled deeply, exhaustion setting in as the system notification echoed in his mind.
"I won!"