After Liam revealed his power, his friends naturally couldn't hold back. Bolts of magic, crackling lightning, and five elements hit the devil from all sides. Bloody Edge also went for a second dance with the boss, using the skills which were not on cooldown yet. With a critical strike he recovered some HP, enough to comfortably continue the battle.
However, while Bloody Edge didn't want all his HP to recover, the same couldn't be said about the others. Thus, Balm also moved. She started by casting [Guidance] on the boss, which continuously dealt damage, healing all nearby allies according to the damage dealt. Although the damage and subsequent healing was negligible, it was a perfect skill to trigger Balm's passive multiple times, empowering her friends with various positive effects.
Yet obviously this was not everything Balm could do. Her wand pointed towards the air and the murky grey was replaced by a brilliant starry sky seemingly hiding endless mysteries. Twelve of the stars were especially radiant, with a chance of shining their light on the ground and creating an area of recovery.
Cyclone and Fortune immediately dashed towards the closest healing area. And a few seconds later Silver Blade regained her movement and also sought healing for herself. It was somewhat comical to watch Silver Blade moving, prompting everyone else to avoid her like the plague. No one dared to stand too close to the boss.
[+5670!]
[+5670!]
The percentage-based healing was incredibly effective for tanks like Silver Blade. But Misortnimn was determined not to let the enemy recover. He waved his umbrella again, covering Silver Blade in an eerie, cold breeze. The tank hesitated for a moment, but she decided not to block the attack. Since the damage-reducing effect of her [Unavoidable Bulwark] was still active there was no need to use up her stance.
After this series of blows the fight entered a momentary lull. Most skills were already used up. Watchful Eye aimed to hold his Qi reasonably high, using his skills sparingly. Quickstep was still building up storm. Liam slowly applied his Dark Marks on the boss. The effect of shredding resistances was strong, but the respective skills dealt too little damage in comparison to using holy magic.
The air above the devil was devoured by a pitch-black darkness. An uncomfortable pressure covered the area. Suddenly Liam appeared from the darkness like a nightmarish monster, crashing into the ground, spreading his dark magic in all directions. However, the contrast between appearance and actual impact was despairingly big. The [Darkened Sky] skill dealt a pitiful 8 points of damage. Everyone had to try their hardest not to laugh at the veteran.
For a while the friends only progressed slowly but at least the devil's HP kept reducing. However, while the friends felt that they were too slow, Misortnimn actually shared their sentiment. He still had a lot to do. Chaos had to be sowed, and cities had to be destroyed. If he moved before the guardians could stop him, the devil would be able to use chaos as catalyst to improve the power of this clone of his and strengthen his domain. Perhaps the disadvantage of his premature descent could be made up for.
The Unlucky Jester swept his eyes over the players, his gaze becoming increasingly unhappy.
"Adventurers, our game was fun, but I don't have enough time to play with you. Let me send you off!"
With those words Misortnimn suddenly closed his umbrella. A bang stirred the air as smoke enveloped the boss. The smoke dissipated and the devil had disappeared.
"Over there!"
Watchful Eye was the first to spot the devil. However, just as everyone's gaze fell on the figure which had suddenly appeared at the edge of the battlefield, the friends perceived movement from multiple directions. Looking around they found not only a single figure but eight in total.
"Time to end this."
The boss didn't allow the party to adapt. The eight clones spoke in sync, sending shivers down the players' spines.
"Careful! That one is moving!"
Cyclone suddenly exclaimed as the clone in her view made its move. The jester held his umbrella with one hand and waved the other five. A small pile of chips, closely resembling poker chips, fell from his hands, covering the ground in front of him. The players watched each move closely, not sure what the boss was planning. Silver Blade and Radiant Shield hastily took positions to block for their friends.
The next moment Misortnimn lightly tapped the ground with his foot. An invisible force spread. It was as if a small burst erupted below the poker chips, throwing all of them into the air. Misortnimn grinned and pointed his umbrella to the front. Mimicking the noise of gun with his mouth the devil opened his umbrella abruptly. A blast of wind erupted, impacting all the poker chips, sending them towards the players like a hail of bullets.
"Hide behind the tanks!"
"Dodge!"
The friends immediately fell into chaos. Everyone tried to get behind Silver Blade and Radiant Shield. However, not knowing what to expect, some players were too far away.
For example, Quickstep. Still doing her best to constantly stay in motion she had distanced herself somewhat from the party, which now put her at a disadvantage. Before she could even come close to Radiant Shield, the hail of bullets was already upon her. The female warrior took a deep breath and faced the threat head-on.
Quickstep's mind was highly tense. She clung closely to her basilisk, controlling the mount's movements down to the tiniest detail. The first chip reached her. The basilisk swayed to the side, narrowly dodging. A few chips passed harmlessly. Another wave arrived. Too dense! Quickstep was unable to dodge them all. Her mind turned quickly. She decided to accept two hits in order to dash closer to the edge of the skill's area of effect.
[-2337!]
[-5843!]
"Ouh!"
The warrior couldn't help but let out a pained growl as one of the chips slammed against her knee. However, her attention was quickly drawn by something. There was quite a disparity in damage. There was no need to think too much. It definitely had something to do with the different colours of the chips.
Being a good teammate Quickstep informed the others of her discovery even if they might have figured it out on their own by now. While doing so she was still able to dodge one more bullet. Suddenly she noticed a brief lull. There didn't seem to be anything shooting towards her right now. Quickstep came to a decision in a snap. Activating her mount's [Dash], she raced towards the edge of the targeted area. After only suffering one more strike she finally made it out safely.
[-1168!]
Quickstep let out a sigh. She turned around and observed her friends. After the initial chaos they had found their rhythm. Forming two lines they hid behind Radiant Shield and Silver Blade. Yet even for the two tanks the situation was not comfortable. Their stance was reducing constantly. Since the skill dealt physical damage, Silver Blade was fearing even worse than Radiant Shield.
Thus, the friends instantly realised that they couldn't go on like this. At Silver Blade's suggestion they all moved backwards in a straight line. The poker chips only travelled for a certain length and the party managed to leave their range after a few seconds.
Yet, how could it be that easy to synchronously move backwards? Even the friends, with great tacit understanding, found it difficult, especially sitting on their basilisks. A single misstep at the wrong time and one would lose the tanks' protection, suffering a blow from the devil's skill. More than fifteen thousand HP were lost among the entire party before they made it to safety.
"Ok, we can't continue like this!", stated Silver Blade.
"Agreed!"
"Ideas?"
"I suggest we spread out. The skill's area is not too big. They can't target all of us!"
Radiant Shield quickly received approval from everyone. Fortune made a brief addition:
"And keep your eyes open. Whoever gets targeted, escape the area as fast as possible!"
"Yes!"
"Let's do it like that!"
Fortunately, the friends didn't need much time to came to a decision. At this moment all the shooting chips lost their momentum, falling to the ground. The players swarmed out. The poker chips disappeared as if they never existed. Eight devils grinned at the players. Everyone waited with bated breath. Finally, another clone made his move. Waves of bullets shot chaotically in a large area in an attempt to mow all the players down.
Balm and Radiant Shield realized they were the only ones within the affected area. While the healer reached the edge with an elegant flash step and successively escaped with [Dash], Radiant Shield blocked with his shield while retreating as fast as possible, soon escaping unscathed.
"Good job, you two!"
"Well done!"
The others shouted some quick praises. However, Balm was surprised she didn't hear Cyclone's voice. She looked towards her friend and saw the mage wave her wand. A sphere of magic slammed into one of the clones.
[-108!]