However, those guys were rather lucky—the BOSS didn't seem interested in finishing them off.
Instead, it turned its attention to players like Akimi and the others who were still in relatively good condition.
"What should we do next?"
Looking at the eight heavily injured players on the other side of the room, Kibaou seemed a bit reluctant to abandon them.
But he didn't act rashly either, because the BOSS was now far more dangerous than before.
Making a move without proper preparation would only put himself at risk.
Unfortunately, no one else had any good ideas either—the BOSS had completely changed its form, and no one had a clue what its new attack patterns might be, leaving them unsure of how to proceed.
"Looks like we'll just have to play it safe and slowly probe the BOSS's new behavior," Akimi shrugged and said helplessly.
To be honest, one of the main reasons this BOSS raid was so difficult was due to a lack of intel.
From the very start, the raid team had no understanding of the BOSS, because not a single player—including Argo—had found the BOSS quest.
There hadn't been the slightest hint of information anywhere else either.
If the raid team had known ahead of time that the BOSS would have two berserk phases, maybe the casualties wouldn't have been so high.
But unfortunately, there's no "what if" in reality.
All Akimi and the others could do now was try to finish the raid without suffering any further losses.
"Hey, Kirito, Kibaou," Akimi said in a low voice, tightening his grip on the Nichirin Blade as he stared at the BOSS slowly approaching.
"Time to revise the plan again... Asuna and I are fast, so we'll draw the BOSS's attacks and try to figure out its patterns. Once we've got a read on it, you two can focus on the damage-dealing. As for the rest of Kibaou's and Heathcliff's team members... just follow your guild leaders' commands."
There were still four intact teams: Team A, Team E, Team F, and Team G.
Team H's lone player was already gone.
That left Agil and his three burly companions, plus Kirito... and, of course, the solitary Lind.
However, the four solo players in Team G—excluding Akimi and Asuna—didn't seem very keen to keep fighting.
They quietly made their way toward the door, even placing their hands on it.
Naturally, Akimi and the others weren't blind—they noticed those four trying to bail.
But at this point, none of them could be bothered to stop them.
Unfortunately, just because Akimi and the others didn't care didn't mean the BOSS didn't.
In a sudden leap, the BOSS launched itself like a cannonball and, in the blink of an eye, landed by the door right in front of the four would-be deserters.
Its massive, dazzling eyes locked onto the players.
Its fearsome mouth opened slightly, as if silently saying, "You're next."
But judging by the pained expressions on the players' faces, they were more like silently screaming, "Have mercy...!"
The BOSS didn't waste time bickering.
It raised its claw and slashed down without hesitation.
Unsurprisingly, all four of them were wiped out instantly, their HP bars reduced to zero.
After dispatching them, the BOSS turned its gaze back to Akimi and the others.
But the moment it locked on, both Akimi and Asuna sprang into action.
As Akimi sprinted forward, he held his Nichirin Blade horizontally beside his ear, silently calculating the distance to the BOSS.
At the same time, Asuna mirrored his movement, a faint glow of sword skill energy beginning to shimmer along her rapier's blade.
When they were about five meters away from the BOSS, both of them launched their attacks simultaneously.
"Water Breathing, Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust!"
"Star Splash!"
Using thrust techniques, Akimi and Asuna dashed past the BOSS from opposite sides, leaving two wounds across its waist and abdomen.
The BOSS seemed caught off guard and only belatedly swung its claws after their attacks had already landed.
But it was clearly too late to pose any real threat to either of them.
After failing to land a counterattack, the BOSS immediately twisted its body, trying to lash out at them with its scale-covered tail—but once again, they easily dodged it.
Having failed to connect several times, the BOSS let out a furious roar.
Faint red, blue, and purple lights began to flicker between the gaps of the scales on its chest, radiating a deeply unsettling aura.
From its behavior, it appeared to be a breath attack's charging animation.
But just as Akimi and Asuna prepared to evade, the BOSS didn't unleash the breath in their direction as expected.
Instead, it raised its head and blasted a beam of red, blue, and purple energy at the ceiling.
The moment the light made contact with the ceiling, it spread like ink dropped into water—rapidly dispersing across the room.
The three colors evenly and thoroughly painted the entire space—walls, floors, everything.
As the entire room became covered in these colors, everyone simultaneously felt sensations of dampness, burning, and paralysis—and a special debuff icon shaped like a dragon's head appeared under their HP bar.
This status effect caused players' HP to drop by 1% every ten seconds, but the worst part was this: if it lasted for more than 20 minutes and the BOSS wasn't defeated, players' HP would instantly be wiped out.
Everyone's faces turned grim.
If it was just continuous HP drain, it wouldn't be too terrible—they could stall with healing potions.
But now, if they couldn't defeat the BOSS within 20 minutes, it would be total annihilation.
And just in case anyone thought they could escape, the debuff's description specifically stated:
"There is no way to remove this status except by defeating the BOSS, including leaving the BOSS room."
In short, they had no other option left.
It was now a do-or-die battle.
---------------
Exclusive access : 180+ch on paetron
Join now : patreon*com/DeCakraWnloverz