A few minutes later and the cavern had fallen silent, devoid of any soul but a mountain of Sahuagin corpses toppled over each other like they were reaching for the stars.
A muffled crackle suddenly echoed from an unpinned location within the quiet cavern, and the next moment an explosion of fire burst from within the mountain of corpses, scattering limbs and bodies that flew in all directions like broken dolls. Standing at the core of the previous undead mountain was Felix, who had a condensed fireball dancing over his palm.
—
[Elemental Dominion Lv1 | Active]
At level 1, the user has the ability to summon one of the five elements: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Darkness, at will, that can be shot at a target within a 10-meter radius.
—
Felix stretched and flexed his sore muscles from being trapped in an awkward position below the undead horde. Not to talk about the sheer stench of decay that drove him to momentarily lose his sense of smell. But the pain was all worth it as his suicidal act had allowed him to train his Constitution from getting hacked and slashed over and over again till the last Sahuagin dropped dead. Though it wasn't that hard as their strength had been greatly reduced as undeads, including that of the elites that fell somewhere between the concert.
He also hadn't expected the Constitution attributes to replace that of the Agility attributes after they became undeads. But all in all, he's had the opportunity to farm so much Constitution attributes that the ravaging energy of the [Overdeath] skill wasn't so overbearing as before and he felt he could go a few more minutes before the backlash.
Now without wasting any more time, Felix looked back one last time—for real this time—at his loots which he'd carefully combusted to free himself so as to not damage their value, then dashed for the boss room whilst recalling his sword with the [Telekinesis] skill from the murky water which followed in tow.
It wasn't long before Felix arrived from the winding tunnel to the chaotic view of a Sahuagin undead onslaught on the seven S-Rank and SS-Rank team who looked to be on their last leg trying to flank the shamanic mob boss amidst the frenzy.
Felix was surprised to see Aaron flashing all over the place, defying the laws of gravity as he teleported at random, sniping the mob boss at every angle and every now and then getting close enough to bash it with his shield.
Athenae on the other hand served as the tank and faced off the mob boss in a 1v1 with the help of Aaron who helped to clear the area of the undead minions. But even with her double bastard swords against the shamanic mob boss's staff, it still countered her every attack effortlessly while casting a torrent of curses on her which Lucy the healer worked overtime to nullify, buff, and heal not just her but the rest of the team as well. She was truly a priceless asset in the team which should have fallen long ago without her help.
Chelsey was tasked with protecting Lucy and turning to crisp anything that came too close or even looked at her the wrong way, which she did but was quickly running out of magic power and would be of no use soon enough if the battle were to keep dragging on.
Ballista was facing off the undead Sahuagin Elites and though they didn't seem to be too much of a threat for him, he had run out of stamina and was now only fighting not to clear the horde, but to stay alive. Whilst MJ had run out of reserve arrows and now fought using the tips of his spare arrows to stab into the skulls and eye sockets of the undead mob—guess they weren't infinite and could run out of arrows unlike Felix's first impression of it.
Michael was rarely spotted in the battlefield and looked to be having an easier time than the rest of the team, but you'd know he was there when an undead mob creeps up behind you unannounced but has its head rolling a few feet away from its body the next moment.
The battle was so heated that neither party had noticed Felix's arrival as he stood at bay to access the situation, except for the human hostages of varying ages locked in heavy metal cages to the sides of wide cave who instantly recognized him to be another Sage to their rescue and their eyes filled with terror and some defeat now held a flicker of hope on his arrival changing the tide of the battle.
Looking from the hostages to the inbuilt altar inscribed with the crude writings of the Sahuagin and the ancient tomb which stood to the side that made Felix's skin crawl just from the sight of it, Felix could put two and two together and call it a day at solving the mystery of the strange disappearances happening in Lumengarde.
—
[Ding! Quest Update]: Devil Men of the Deep
Defeat Sekolah The Maw Crusher whilst ensuring the safety of the hostages.
Rewards:
Pending…
—
Another soul-piercing shriek reverberated throughout the chamber that forced everyone to have to hold their hands over their ears to protect their eardrums. And right before the eyes of everyone, the mob boss Sekolah The Maw Crusher was coated in darkish-red hue and began levitating into the air whilst chanting incomprehensible words.
This was the final stage of every mob boss where they went into a frenzy state after their health went below 10%. Which surprised Felix as the previous shriek that had risen the dead back when he was at the other cavern was the second stage where Sekolah's health went below 50%.
Though it seemed the S-Ranks were barely holding on, they had slowly but steadily chipped away at Sekolah's health, but the question remained if they could keep that up till the end as not only would the battle get harder from that point on but Sekolah The Maw Crusher likely at peak Lv3 might be temporarily breaking through to Lv4 as soon as it went into a blood frenzy.
Looking at the hopeful eyes of the imprisoned locales of Lumengarde and at the exhausted yet fierce expressions of the S-Rankers, Felix knew it was time to step in and put an end to the tyranny of Sekolah The Maw Crusher.
With his sword floating by him, Felix began taking powerful strides towards the Sekolah in his pre-frenzied state that nullified all physical attacks as he chanted nonstop.
As soon as he got within the detection range of the undeads, they began swarming towards him but were swiftly cut down by his sword which seemed to have a mind of its own. It was at that moment that the S-Ranks acknowledged his presence and couldn't help but to steal hopeful glances amidst battle as he confidently approached the boss, unaffected by the undead horde which was swiftly cut down by his sword with graceful ease.
All the blood in the chamber began flowing in a steady stream towards the levitating Sekolah; from the blood pool that coated the chamber floors to the bloods from the injuries of both the S-Ranks and the prisoners involuntarily flowing and condensing above the head of Sekolah The Maw Crusher, manifesting a disastrous aura that screamed at it being an ultimate skill in the making.
Everyone felt it.
The prisoners began sobbing and wailing in their cages as they hugged their knees in terror, whilst the S-Ranks all had expressions ranging from fear to a broken resolve. Aaron and Athenae were no different, with the former feeling nothing but guilt at dragging the rest of the kids on the suicide mission, and the latter who's expression remained passive, but one could tell from her eyes that she had resolved to her fate as the massive blob of blood mixed with something sinister reflected off her eyes.
"Foolish humans! I, Sekolah The Maw Crusher shall sacrifice you all to resurrect the ancient god and offer my body as a vessel. And together we shall enslave all of humanity alongside the Dark Lord—"
"Die!" Felix suddenly interrupted.
Thud!
[Ding! You have killed Lv3 Sekolah The Maw Crusher]
[Ding! You have been bestowed the title 'Devil Queen of the Deep']
[Ding! You have successfully cleared the Lv2 Sahuagin Dungeon]
[Ding!…
[Ding!…