The entire ground of the altar began to tremble continuously with the system sound.
Multiple cracks continued to appear on the ground. Subsequently, the stone statues, which were previously buried underground, emerged, bearing mysterious characters on them. This setup created the final activity area alongside the minimally shrinking protective barrier.
“Is this supposed to be an immersive experience? Feels a bit like it,” Nobody remarked.
“But I don’t like it.” Snake Scorpion Curse had been furrowing his brow the entire time. Clearly, he was growing impatient with the incessant design of these never-ending activities. After observing the surroundings and fixing his gaze on the nearest statue, he instantly threw a vial, spreading a large area of poison circles around him.
Fortunately, with everyone now grouped together, otherwise, this sudden move would’ve seemed like an ambush or troublemaking.
The second to take action was Nobody.
Just a moment ago, he was conversing with Snake Scorpion Curse. Now, his massive magical sword radiated light as he directly slashed toward the poison circle on the ground.
It seemed like a feint, but as the electric current conducted through the sword, it instantly spread through the invisible air, briefly outlining a spherical shape. As it extinguished, it vanished in a flash.
If they hadn’t paid much attention before, this sudden clear visibility made everyone notice the gradually enveloping black mist coming from beneath those statues.
“Watch out and stay clear; if you have no health, it should work as interference,” Nobody summed up his previous probing action. He raised his head, coincidentally locking eyes with the pair of ice-blue eyes appearing in the void. He softly muttered, “The boss is here.”
“I see.” Before Mad Stomp’s words fell, he was already charging forward, wielding a massive axe.
Nobody chuckled. Once he saw the appearance of this hidden boss, he too swung his massive sword a few times, activating the Sword Domain Expansion skill, enhancing the magic damage for the Spellsword. He joined forces with Mad Stomp.
Although the black mist surrounding them was intangible, it was highly sensitive to everyone’s movements.
Seeing the mist moving towards the two in front, suddenly, clusters of miniature machinery spread out from around them.
Like a swarm of sudden flies, they instantly attracted the mist in all directions before it coalesced.
Jiang Shi seized the opportunity and erected the Frozen Field.
As anticipated, this dark mist, although intangible, couldn’t evade the Frozen mechanism. Visually, it seemed to create an instantly erected frozen world around, a spectacle combining artistry and visual impact.
Throughout this entire process, members from different guilds hadn’t communicated at all but had silently made their operational judgments right from the beginning.
And executed them perfectly.
Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands had already locked onto the safe zone, monitoring the team’s health from behind, observing the entire process without any intention of reminding or speaking up. After all, they were all top players on the server, and the phrase “seize the opportunity” was ingrained in their bones.
In this situation, who needed a commander?
A glance and silent communication was enough.
The true form of the Sea God Kriskenths was a deep blue sea dragon.
Actually, from its appearance to the level of its displayed dominance, it was quite impressive. Unfortunately, the few individuals encountered earlier didn’t seem to regard it with much respect.
Dodging several sweeping water pillar attacks in a row, Mad Stomp countered with a strike into the dragon’s claw. Before that, he made use of a leap to adjust the angle, completely embodying the violent idea of “jumping up to hit harder.”
Despite engaging in what seemed like a wild output, a calm voice echoed in the team voice chat: “The Runesmith’s a healing debuff, right? Your skills are indeed impressive. Can’t tell you’ve been away for five years! How about considering joining our Blood Roses directly?”
Jiang Shi was guiding the BOSS’s movement using Rune Field when he paused upon hearing this.
He didn’t know Mad Stomp before, and there had been no interaction since his return. Hearing the old game ID from the other party’s mouth, his first reaction was to glance at Han Yuze.
At that moment, Han Yuze happened to turn around, innocently clarifying, “Ask Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands; I’ve never betrayed you.”
Before the words had even settled, an array of short-range machinery had spread across the ground. As the dragon’s claw slammed down, it instantly triggered a burst of full output.
Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands checked the teammates’ health values and cleared his throat, saying, “It’s indeed not Yu Weize who betrayed you. Mainly, I know you too well. Only you could get that Light Sprite so excited to run off to Seven Coin Guild. It’s not hard to guess, right?”
Seemingly exonerating Han Yuze, upon careful consideration, there was a lot of buck-passing in his words and tone.
Jiang Shi used to be a friend of Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands. After his return, seeing the friend slot empty of the other’s ID, he knew he had been removed during his hiatus.
Previously, they acted unfamiliar when they met, but at this point, they didn’t continue pretending: “You still remember me.”
Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands preemptively cleared his throat in a low tone.
Thankfully, when it came to thick-skinned matters, he was always quite thick-skinned, behaving as if nothing had happened. He even took the opportunity to suggest, “Once we’re out, should I add you back as a friend?”
Jiang Shi was quite magnanimous: “Sure.”
In the midst of this conversation, he precisely blocked the BOSS’s attempt to pursue, providing a buffer for Mad Stomp by using a deceleration field.
Han Yuze was operating machinery to attack the dragon’s left rear claw, which was gathering energy.
Seeing Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands getting close to a friend slot in just a few words, he couldn’t help recalling his various roundabout hardships: “You’ve got quite the face, Spring God. Deleted and directly added back as a friend.”
Mad Stomp apparently didn’t catch the sarcasm in the tone, happily slashing ahead in a blood-stained state: “Add a friend? Sure thing, count me in.”
Han Yuze was somewhat inclined to target these teammates: “…Are all of you from Blood Roses this friendly?”
Snake Scorpion Curse had been finding an appropriate angle to set up a poison circle. Suddenly, in a unique and gloomy tone, he spoke: “Let’s add too.”
Nobody, wielding the Storm Sword, trapped the dragon within the wind field: “I think it’s a good idea.”
Han Yuze detonated all the machinery on the spot: “…”
That should do it!
Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands also furrowed his brow.
As a veteran expert in the circle, he was well aware that both Snake Scorpion Curse and Nobody joined the game in the second season. Logically, they shouldn’t have known players who had retired after the first season.
At this point, proposing a friend request made Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands catch a hint of something different: “Do you both know Poisoned Milk?”
Jiang Shi laid out a Rune Field on the ground and clapped his hands in satisfaction, entering a semi-idle state: “Oh, I’ve met these two before…”
Snake Scorpion Curse timely interrupted before he mentioned the Rune formula trade: “Business cooperation.”
Jiang Shi was momentarily stunned, then instantly understood, laughing: “Right, business cooperation.”
Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands subconsciously looked at Mad Stomp, and his old partner read a hint of wariness in each other’s eyes.
Could it be that members of the Rattlesnake Guild were also attempting to recruit?
Simultaneously, Snake Scorpion Curse and No One exchanged a silent glance.
When they overheard Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands’s group conversation earlier, they vaguely remembered that the ID [PoisonedMilk] sounded somewhat familiar and quickly recalled.
Wasn’t this the Runesmith that Guild Leader Army Blade Five once mentioned?
Initiating a friend request wasn’t a problem at all.
The entire team voice chat fell into a subtle silence.
The challenge of the Sea God Kriskenths continued in an orderly manner.
Such sustained combat undoubtedly carried an extremely high intensity, allowing the top-tier professional gamers on the field to chat casually for a moment or two. If anyone with slightly weaker capabilities were involved, a single misstep could potentially cause the entire rhythm to collapse into chaos in an instant.
The visuals of the central square only displayed the scene within the water screen; the specific exchange of words couldn’t be heard.
To the onlookers, this BOSS challenge was undoubtedly intensely thrilling. Watching every move of the few experts in the field, they couldn’t help but subconsciously hold their breaths.
Although the team in the arena seemed to be conducting the battle methodically, everyone knew very well that a BOSS of this intensity, if placed in a dungeon, would at least require the capacity of a 25-member normal raid.
It wasn’t surprising that these experts had to maintain high-intensity communication throughout the entire process!
In the visuals, as Mad Stomp swung his blood-shimmering giant axe, the leftover force even split the ground, creating a deep rift.
Kriskenths was affected by the aftershock and crashed heavily to the ground.
The battle continued.
The entire central square fell silent, with only time passing second by second.
Occasionally, someone would swallow saliva discreetly, unwilling to shift their gaze from the water screen for a moment, fearing they might miss any exciting moments.
Ten minutes passed.
Fifteen minutes.
Twenty minutes.
…
Finally, nearly half an hour later, this enduring battle concluded with the resounding fall of the dragon.
In the visuals, the giant bricks at the base of the altar cracked layer by layer, emitting a golden light that gradually spread across the underwater continent, enveloping the entire underwater city tightly.
Everyone could hear the system prompt once again.
[The curse, has it finally ended?]
[The underwater city of Moni Anke, is free…]
When everyone returned to awareness, all the water screen visuals on the square had disappeared.
In their place were the game IDs of the Dragon Slayers.
Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands, Mad Stomp, Snake Scorpion Curse, Nobody, Yu Weize, and… Materials Main Account.
The intensity of the entire BOSS kill was such that players couldn’t divert their attention, not until that game ID appeared among the IDs of the top professional gamers, causing them to suddenly realize.
Then, they began to gather and discuss.
For anyone who had watched the entire process, it was easy to see that even when coordinating with these gaming experts, the Rune Master player’s actions showed no inferiority whatsoever.
With such skill… who exactly was this Materials Main Account.?
At the same time, the individuals who had defeated the hidden BOSS had been mysteriously transported to the underwater palace.
Regaining contact with the outside world, Han Yuze received a series of friend messages that had previously been blocked, all coming from the Green Fanatic.
Quickly scanning through them, his eyes stopped at the last one.
[Green Fanatic: Master, Master, Master’s battle has brought fame! It’s really amazing. Now everyone outside is guessing who you really are!]
His eyelids lowered slightly for a moment. Han Yuze lightly patted Jiang Shi’s shoulder.
Jiang Shi turned his gaze, questioning.
Han Yuze didn’t rush to speak, retrieving something from his backpack and handing it over with a smile: “Distinguished figure, I’m giving you an early Qixi Festival gift.”
Why would it be an early Qixi Festival gift?
Jiang Shi was puzzled about what kind of trick this person was up to again, reaching out and taking it.
Upon a closer look, it was a name change card.
Pausing for a moment, he asked, “Qixi Festival, why are you giving me a gift?”
everyone wants to add and be friends with JS~
lol HY is jealous.