The figure in black and white, almost clown-like clothes floated in the air below the greyish barrier. His eyes didn't show a hint of joy as they overlooked the tiny ants scurrying around the roulette table below him.
"Too slow? Bad luck! The game begins now!"
The voice echoed through the entire small world. Suddenly the central, green part of the board disappeared silently, leaving only the numbered fields. Bloody Edge took a deep breath. He had barely managed to reach field number 4. A few steps slower and he would have fallen into the nothingness below, facing an unknown faith.
Right then, a shuttering noise rang in everyone's ears. Tall walls rose, separating the fields from another, making it impossible to swap. Bloody Edge took a few steps back, startled, as the wall appeared right in front of his nose.
"Don't regret your choices. That's a terrible feeling. Speaking from experience…"
The boss's wistful voice lingered in the air. He raised two of his arms and small, intricate dice appeared in his hands, looking incredibly beautiful as if forged from flowing water. There was no more delay as the boss threw his dice. The two magical objects enlarged as soon as they left the boss's hands, allowing the party to get a good look. The dice were somewhat complicated with eighteen sides, bearing numbers from 1 to 18. They rolled as if they were on solid ground, coming to a stop a few seconds later.
"What is it?", asked Cyclone anxiously. Realising that luck played a pivotal role, she didn't want to disappoint her friends. Although she was usually extremely confident in her luck, this time it was a matter of life and death. No mistake was allowed!
Under everyone's apprehensive eyes the dice swiftly revealed the results. Rays of black light shone towards the sky, forming two numbers, 4 and 9.
"Oh, come one…"
Bloody Edge couldn't help but curse. His body tensed up in anticipation of a vicious strike by the boss. But he was too quick to jump to conclusions. The two numbers abruptly rushed towards each other, collided, reformed, and turned into a single 13.
A sigh rang out as Quickstep's expression turned ugly. Up in the air the boss's expression was almost sympathetic as if the finally found someone who shared his suffering. He raised a hand and before anyone could react, another die appeared, six-sided, plunging field number 13 into a deep shadow. Quickstep looked up and realized that there was no way to escape. The die dropped from the sky, covering the entire field, leaving no spot untouched.
Boom! The battlefield trembled as the mountainous die crashed into the ground. Everyone flinched, averting their eyes. A moment later the die disappeared into thin air, revealing a dishevelled Quickstep standing on field number 13, her HP reduced by 13.851 points, more than a forth of her entire HP bar gone in an instant.
"Are you… alright?", asked Silent Acacia carefully. But Quickstep only shook her head, directing a complicated expression at Cyclone. Was her luck really that bad? Was Cyclone the one who could save everyone from harm?
It was still too early to tell. Cyclone didn't feel smug or anything. She would have preferred if none of her friends had taken any damage. But the boss was not inclined to follow her wishes. After this opening he swiftly continued, now raising four arms, throwing four dice. After a few seconds the results were revealed. Bloody Edge let out a sigh of relief as numbers 2 and 35 were targeted. Two massive dice fell like a hydraulic press but fortunately they hit nothing.
"Bad luck, bad luck. It follows me wherever I go…"
The boss lamented sadly but this didn't stop him from continuing. Six arms were raised, six dice of fate rolling through the air. Three numbers shone brightly.
"12, 15, and… 4! Bloody Edge is in danger!"
Everyone's eyes fell on the thief. Radiant Shield thought about protecting him with a [Sacred Barrier] but as soon as he did so, runes lit up all over the walls and his skill was directly suppressed. It even went on cooldown.
"Talk about bad luck…"
Radiant Shield was understandably annoyed. He was forced to watch as his good friend was buried below an oversized die, losing close to 15.000HP, nearly one half of his entire HP bar gone in an instant. The thief already had one leg in the grave.
Finally, there was a change to the situation. The walls barring everyone's path disappeared. Balm thought about healing Bloody Edge, but she quickly remembered the peculiarities of his class and decided against it.
"Choose wisely…"
The boss's voice reached everyone's ears. Shocked, the party realised that the skill still hadn't ended. Cyclone took a deep breath. Without waiting for anyone to ask she gave commands, entirely relying on her gut feeling:
"Bloody Edge, field number zero! Mirage, 16! Fortune, 31! Silver, 30! Ther rest stays!"
Although the choice sounded entirely arbitrary, no one dared to question in. Riding on their mounts the friends moved as fast as possible according to Cyclone's instructions. The young mage herself was also in a rush. She moved by two fields, landing on field number 36. A few seconds later the walls reappeared, blocking everyone's path.
"Hah, luck, how can it be grasped so easily…"
The boss continued sighing as he threw another six dice. Everyone craned their necks, putting their trust in Cyclone. Yet this time there was an unexpected surprise. Suddenly, one of the dice violently exploded, sending all the other spinning far away.
"Did the boss overdo it?"
"Perhaps the skill won't work?"
While the friends were full of questions, the smoke erupting from the explosion dissipated. A light shone through and what was revealed was a big, dreadful, zero. Bloody Edge instantly felt his heart sink. Could it be that he was destined to receive another blow?
However, as the thief became anxious another explosion resounded through the battlefield, hammering against everyone's chests. A second die revealed a zero. Both numbers then attracted each other, forming a 00. Bloody Edge, standing on field 0 closed his eyes as relief washed over him.
A massive die devasted field 00 but none of the friends took any damage. Afterwards the other dice also came to a stop. Numbers 25 and 15 were targeted. The friends smiled lightly, praising Cyclone as no one took any damage.
"Awesome!"
"I admit it. I didn't think listening to Cyclone would be that effective."
"But is it really all about luck? How does this work?"
Quickstep was somewhat annoyed. She preferred a boss which could be overcome with skill. Her eyes fell on Liam, but the expert shook his head lightly. They didn't have the time to discuss the boss in detail right now. Actually, even Liam didn't know exactly how the boss worked, as this was never revealed in his past life. Not enough people fought against the boss. It was impossible to judge if the skill was truly random.
However, it could be confirmed that players with a higher luck stat had a higher chance to choose the correct fields. Thus, many players speculated that the targeted areas would only be selected after the players made their choice. Somehow the game pitted the players' luck against the boss's luck. Yet, this did not mean that a player with enough luck was invulnerable.
But Hotpot did have quite a good standing in the fight. Not only did they have Cyclone, whose hidden luck attribute was definitely one of the highest on the server, but every one of the friends had their luck attribute increased by two points due to the 'Headstart' achievement they received quite some time ago.
As the second round of attacks missed entirely, the party's spirit rose. Cyclone balled her fists, a grin on her face. And at that moment the boss lowered his arms. Shaking his head he slowly floated towards the ground. The central area of the battlefield reappeared, the walls retreated into the ground. The party could finally move freely. Riding their basilisks, they rushed towards the centre of the battlefield, sharply gazing at the slowly descending boss. At this moment they finally had time to check the enemy's status.
[Misortnimn, The Unlucky Jester, Devil of Misfortune
Rank: Boss
Level: 73
HP: 165.000/165.000
Status: Clone]
"It's a devil!"
"Only a clone…"
"Don't underestimate him. Remember Paradynimn, the devil we faced at the end of the dungeon in Deep Bell City? Back then we had Endal to hold her back, but now it's only us…"
"Level 73, let's see…"
While everyone discussed, Silent Acacia readied his bow and drew the string. Any moment now… the boss came into range! Silent Acacia abruptly opened his hand. A whistling arrow pierced the air, reaching the boss in an instant. The sharp tip aimed for The Unlucky Jester's heart. At the last moment a flicker of dark magic protected the devil, but the damage registered, nonetheless.
Yet Silent Acacia didn't appear joyful…
[-57!]