Chapter 22: Tough Battle, Deaths
NOTE: Even if two skills are in the same Tier, like if two skills are 1st Tier skills, that doesn't mean both skills have the same potential when evolving. The evolution of the skills is also affected by users and how they use them. So, a seemingly trash 1st Tier skill can possibly become better than the majority of 2nd Tier skills after evolving to 2nd Tier.
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Erix and Rin focused on the monster and attracted its offense by attacking it first.
Rin unleashed her Sword Beam and attacked. This skill showed the requirement to evolve when she used it while fighting the mutated Bulldog, and she was looking forward to completing the required tasks.
[ Kill enemies with a sword. (0/100) ]
[ Kill Supra-Order enemies. (0/50) ]
[ Get 10 Mortal-Order skill stones. (0/10) ]
[ Get 1 Supra-Order skill stone. (0/1) ]
The flower monster had four vines, and they were attacking Erix and Rin, but they nimbly dodged the vines while attacking.
Isabella also joined the battle right after Erix and Rin started attacking.
She started by using her newly acquired skill, Flame Whip.
[ Flame Whip (1st Tier active skill): A whip made of flame that inflicts burning damage to enemies hit. Inflict a stack of burn upon hitting that deals 14% of the user's magic stat per second for five seconds. Maximum 5 stacks.]
-Cost: 60 mana points.
-Duration: 5 seconds.
Isabella held a whip made of flame in her hand after using the skill.
*Swoosh!*
She swung the whip as it extended up to 10 meters and hit the Flower monster's petal.
-84! 1x Burn!
She didn't stop and continuously attacked five times and managed to inflict five stacks of burn.
-84! 2x Burn!
-84! 3x Burn!
-84! 4x Burn!
-7! 4x Burn!
-84! 5x Burn!
-7! 4x Burn!
Although 14% of her current magic stat was 18, the burn stacks dealt 7 damage to Helix Flower due to its resistance.
Still, 7 damage each second five times for five seconds meant the burns dealt 175 damage + 420 damage of her whip attacks total! All because of her 124 magic stat and the newly acquired skill. It cost high mana, but the damage was worth it.
"Attack!" Toshin shouted as he, his wife, and others also used their skills.
The battle only started, but the monster was brought down to less than a thousand vitality!
Toshin dashed forward and cut off a vine after seeing Rin cut one of its thick deadly vines.
The monster's attack weakened by having two of its vines cut.
However, after its second vine got cut, the monster released a weird cry!
The flower stopped attacking with its vine and suddenly bloomed before spraying dark green pollen in a large area that was not avoidable by moving around!
Isabella quickly used her Frost Shield skill and floated it horizontally. "Everyone! Come under the shield!"
"Some of you, come here!" Erix shouted as he used his Iron Flower skill and consumed two petals to create a flower barrier!
'Welp, I'm out of mana now,' Erix thought as using the Iron Flower skill only left him with 5 mana points.
Upon seeing the barrier, which was bigger with more space, Serina, Toshin, Jacob, and all bodyguards went there before the pollen started falling after that flower sprayed it out.
While under Isabella's Frost Shield, Rin, Lena, and Isabella continued attacking using long-range attacks.
Isabella used her pistole to shoot the monster flower's petals, and Rin spent the last of her mana points to unleash sword beams, while Lena also unleashed some black orbs before she continued shooting with her handgun.
Erix and others couldn't attack from within the barrier as they would hit the barrier instead of passing through it.
The pollen was falling on the barrier and shield but was not doing anything.
"This must have some other effect instead of direct damage," Erix said as he observed the magical pollen that didn't damage his barrier or Isabella's shield.
*Criririirr…..*
The flower monster dropped to the brink of death, with only a bit over 100 vitality remaining.
Erix also deactivated the barrier since all pollen fell on the ground.
Everyone rushed out and started attacking again. But instead of seeing the monster dying in the next second, they saw it brightly glowing before it issued a sharp cry.
"What's going on?!" Jacob shouted as he backed away.
"Just attack and kill it!" one of the bodyguards said before he waved his hand to release a wind blade. This was the same bodyguard who got a 1st Tier skill called Sharp Winds.
However, when his wind blade hit the flower monster's head, it was absorbed inside before the same wind blade returned with double its initial speed.
It zoomed straight toward that same bodyguard and cut him into two!
"Wh-what?" The bodyguard was shocked before pain flooded his brain. His upper half fell backward as he saw his lower half in front of him before falling on his back and facing the sky.
His eyes soon lost focus as he died without uttering any scream.
"Fuck!"
Everyone backed away and didn't dare to attack.
It was only left with precisely 100 Vitality!
The monster started regrowing its vines and started attacking everyone with higher intensity.
The vines now had sharp spikes on their bodies.
"Watch out!"
Everyone jumped up, down, and rolled sideways as they tried to dodge, but the rampage of those vines was truly fast, powerful, and chaotic!
"Arghhh!"
"No!"
Two bodyguards with big body frames were hit as they were smacked with such intensity that their chests caved in before they shot out of the garden's border and vanished into the darkness.
"Arrghhhhhh!!"
Horrifying screams reverberated from the darkness, indicating the agony they were suffering. But their screams soon stopped.
*Puchi!*
Toshin's left leg disappeared from a bit below his knee as the vine hit him there with blinding speed!
Blood sprayed and formed a pool as he fell to the ground after a scream!
"Toshin!" Lena dodged a vine attack, but her husband's scream and the sight distracted her as the vine neared her head!
However, Erix's Metacyber Arm pushed her and saved her from the attack before Lena quickly adjusted herself.
On the other hand, Rin and Isabella noticed the glow on the flower monster subsiding and attacked simultaneously!
Isabella could easily dodge with her special soldier passive skill and movement-type 1st Tier skill, Wind Dash.
She quickly dashed ten meters at the front and neared the Helix Flower before using her Wind Dash skill and attacking it with her pistol while Rin somersaulted ahead and dashed forward before jumping up and throwing her sword towards the monster's head!
"Arghhh!"
Before the monster died, everyone heard two more screams as Jacob and another bodyguard got hit by the berserk vines and died!
At the same time, the flower monster lost 100 vitality and finally died with Isabella's and Rin's attack.
Everyone living heard a ding in their heads and a notification about them leveling up.
The flower monster also turned into motes and disappeared while leaving three glowing orbs, two white and one cyan, on the ground.
Aside from the orbs, there was a blue-patterned treasure crate, a blue-patterned treasure chest (Rare), and two cyan-patterned treasure chests(Uncommon).
"J-Jacob…" Lena looked at her son's spattered body. Her gaze turned blank before tears spilled like rivers from her eyes.
Toshin was also devastated after losing his son and howled. No matter how incompetent, Jacob was his son, after all.
Serina's eyes also started dropping tears as she fell to her knees.
The remaining bodyguards turned sorrowful as they also lost their five companions with whom they had been together for a year.
"Erix!" Rin shouted with wide eyes when she turned around to look at Erix and saw his condition.
"Well... I fucked up," Erix said with a wry smile as his right leg was gone from the knee. A vine also hit him, but he was already focused on two places, so he couldn't completely dodge that vine attack.
Although that plant monster only went berserk for several seconds, it literally gave everyone hell because of its quick vine attacks and...caused deaths.
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