There are actually quite a few monsters on the road, but this mission doesn't limit abilities, and at this moment, Bruce is the only player in the entire psychology department building. There's no need for Bruce to hide anything, with Holy Light Power in his left hand and Dark energy in his right, even these high-level monsters are not his match.
Arriving at the psychology department office entrance, Bruce indeed saw that familiar figure, except that Shiller standing by the window was emitting a dense black gas all over. The umbrella in his hand was evidently not ordinary, its sharp murderous aura almost overflowing.
Bruce suddenly felt amused. Back when he couldn't finish his thesis and came to the office to see his professor, the Shiller in his eyes was no different from now. Although Brainiac added these effects, he probably exercised restraint, he should send his memories and imaginations to Brainiac, which would certainly allow him to create a terrifying Shiller like never seen before.
Bruce walked in. The boss Shiller clearly sensed someone had invaded his territory and slowly turned around. There's no denying, Brainiac really put some thought into this, this boss indeed resembled Shiller. Not only in appearance but also in temperament and expression.
This is actually very difficult. Most imitative villains wouldn't choose to mimic Shiller mainly because his temperament is hard to impersonate. Even agents, who have unique personality traits, possess distinctive temperaments that ordinary people can't portray.
Brainiac isn't human, yet he can observe Shiller regularly and imitate someone close enough. Although it seems to lack Divine Mind, that feeling is right, instantly making Bruce feel like he's back in the days when he couldn't write his thesis. This is evident from when he knocked politely at the door as he walked in.
However, truly imitating Shiller's words and actions is quite difficult, so Brainiac didn't design any dialogue for the boss, entering combat directly.
Bruce hadn't even reacted when the cold glow of the Umbrella Knife flew past his cheek, cutting a gash in the bat suit's mask.
"Hiss..." Bruce drew a sharp breath, "Brainiac, what's going on here? Where's the dialogue?"
"Acting like when you couldn't write your thesis, he didn't attack you fiercely like this." Brainiac, completely emotionless, exposed Bruce's past, "Stop thinking around, you might not even win this."
Bruce also realized, although the appearance is Shiller, the combat ability being used isn't Shiller's. This attack power and aggression match Arkham Batman.
Bruce had just dodged an Umbrella Knife, and the black mist behind Shiller instantly transformed into tentacles, slapping him away. Bruce, spinning in the air, spread his wings and shouted, "Brainiac! Is this right?!"
Brainiac didn't answer him at all. Bruce was at a loss, raised his hand for a Holy Light, but missed Shiller; the other hand sprayed dark energy, but was also dodged. Bruce realized he couldn't fight the boss like clearing small monsters, so he first landed and observed Shiller's actions.
Bruce stopped attacking, Shiller stopped as well. The two began maneuvering in the office. Bruce noticed the office size had been enlarged, which made sense, given the boss is so formidable, without a larger venue, it really couldn't be fought properly.
Although Bruce masquerades as Batman, he does possess Batman's skills. Despite usually losing more than winning against Arkham Batman, he almost never loses against other Batmans. He closely watched Shiller's movements, after several probing attacks, he found Shiller's skill cycle actually had a pattern.
Typically, it's Umbrella Knife slashes, followed by Sword Qi attacks, then black gas tentacle attacks, and finally two stages of Psyshock attacks. These basic moves changed depending on the opponent's position.
The toughest part of this boss is the incredibly strong attack desire, as soon as Bruce moves even slightly, it immediately slashes over. It might also be imbued with Shiller's power value, even if blocked, it hits hard enough to send you flying. Dodging is necessary, it can't be confronted directly.
But Bruce also discovered, between physical attacks and tentacle attacks, there's a brief pause, not only are moves not released, but the boss itself doesn't move. He tested several times and found this indeed a flaw. Unfortunately, the timing is too short, hard to grasp the opportunity, but if seized, it might lead to a fatal strike.
Bruce conjured a Holy Light Sword anew, swiftly dodging Shiller's Umbrella Knife. At the moment the tentacles charged, he powerfully flapped his wings, rushed to Shiller's side, and swung the Great Sword.
But just as brushing past Shiller, as the sword edge was about to strike down, Bruce first saw Shiller's side profile, then in the corner of his eye, glimpsed a shallow scar near his neck. Bruce's breath suddenly stalled, the Great Sword condensed from Holy Light Power disintegrated instantly. With a "bang", he was sent flying by tentacles.
"Brainiac!!" Bruce clenched his teeth, "You evil artificial intelligence!!!"
"Ah, an unexpected surprise." Brainiac's faint tone, no matter how heard, sounded infuriating, "Sorry, I joined after your graduation, really don't know the tangled affair between you two. I didn't mean to psy-shock you, just the craftsman's spirit."
Bruce sighed deeply, raised his hand, a hook caught the window frame, and the bat suit-clad figure burst out the window. As he fell downstairs, the cape fluttered noisily, vaguely seeing behind the silhouette standing at the window, boundless dense black mist, reminiscent of the unyielding darkness at the Morson district alley years ago.
"Finally settled." Harley pushed the door open as she let out a long breath, "We finally managed to drive that thing away."
"Can't imagine, with even a small monster this hard, what'll we do with the boss." Ted was also exhausted, nearly lost grip during the banishment, managing to pull it back with great effort.
Robin all seemed worn out, though having explosives, using them on this creature was tough; sometimes hard to make it follow the planned path, often running off track as it moved.
Constantine wasn't feeling easy either; starting the ritual of the old seal and bonfire required him to be present. Although he had Charles' mental protection, he still took several hits, and his face was very pale at the moment.
Deathstroke was in a good state, but his great sword got nicked from cutting the small monsters, so he hurriedly patched up his precious weapon as soon as he came in. The agent wasn't much better off either, as more small monsters needed clearing due to the crooked road. He fired a few blessed shots with Diana's blessings, and now his ears started bleeding again.
"Where's Batman?" Nightwing looked around and asked.
"He's off to fight the boss," Arrogant said, "he should be done soon."
"The boss? Regional boss? Which area is it?" Pamela asked.
"The final boss," Arrogant replied, "the one at Gotham University."
"Hiss..." A sound of gasps filled the air.
"No wonder it's Batman." Red Robin could only say this. Not only did he challenge the final boss directly, but he also picked the hardest one.
"Can he win?" Pamela frowned.
"It's really hard to say," Tim replied, "this Batman seems capable, and generally Batman doesn't fight battles he can't win. But I think he might not be trying to win all at once; he's more about gathering information... Wait, how did he pass the exam?"
Only then did everyone realize—to fight the Gotham University boss, wasn't there an exam? All eyes fell on Arrogant. Could it be that this Batman is the only one in the Multiverse skilled in the Psychoanalysis Method?
Arrogant shook his head and said, "It's just a small paper, not that difficult."
Robins collectively sighed, each scattering to organize their gear. Not long after, Batman returned. Nightwing looked at him and said, "How did it go? Did you succeed?"
Batman shook his head, "The boss is strong, I'm afraid we'll need teamwork. But I still suggest you tackle the others first."
The crowd wasn't surprised. Harley shrugged her hands and said, "It's because you're Batman that you thought to tackle Gotham University's one first; we never planned to provoke the Professor initially."
"I think we should take out one before the third attack starts," Tim spoke up, "the later attacks will become increasingly difficult, then we'll expend all our energy on dealing with the attacks and won't be able to explore outside. The more this happens, the less equipment we'll have, making it harder to fight, and eventually, we won't be able to win at all."
"Brainiac," Tim asked, "will killing the final boss in an area stop the attacks from that area?"
"Yes," Brainiac said, "after the final boss's death, the area will no longer trigger active attacks, but monsters will still appear on the map, with normal drops of all equipment and reward items."
"Then let's go for the South District first," Pamela suggested, "and then use it as a base to gradually push north; what do you think?"
"The boss in the South District is Batman," Deathstroke said, "let's go tackle the Godfather in the North District instead. Though there are many mob members over there, they're ordinary people; their weapons are sophisticated, but they're just modern firearms, lacking Magic Elements. Even if the Godfather is enhanced, he's likely a carbon-based lifeform, making this fight easier than other bosses."
This suggestion received approval from most people. Because if one had to find a target among the four, the mobs were indeed the weaker ones. Moreover, mob members drop modern weapons, which players are more proficient with compared to magical tools. And the rewards from the Godfather might be related to these modern firearms; if a production line could be set up, there would be no need to exert effort clearing small monsters later.
Once decided, the group prepared to first check out the North District. But the agent shook his head, saying, "Our base isn't large enough to host so many people. Each team sends one over, and we'll regroup when the boss fight starts."
"We're not going," the Bishop said, "we lack offensive measures, the defense pressure is too high, we'll return to the church."
"We'll pray for you," Constantine drew a cross on his chest, "may the Lord bless you."
"Enough of that," Harley sighed and said, "if we were counting on the Lord to protect us, Gotham should still be in the Gangster era. Let's go, it's been a long time since we saw the Godfather."