49 Goliath Falls Harder

Name:Ashes of Gods Author:Yorth
With the tank team standing as an unflinching wall between the Boss and the backline, the latter charged with all of its might to break their defense.

"Mages, warriors, tanks, I want you to use every last bit of your energy here! Burst this damn thing down!"

Arthur's order unleashed the fire of rage within all of the players. With this order, they were finally able to show off all of their strength. Warriors pounced at the wolf king, with their spears, swords, and hammers covered in ki. Shesmu followed suit without hesitation.

It already took all of his self-control to stop himself from facing the Boss alone after it reduced his friend to such a sight. Now that he was given the opportunity to relieve the frustration in his heart, he wasn't going to let it pass by.

He covered himself in dark and green ki before he flew towards the wolf like an eagle. He unleashed a flurry of thrusts and slashes, each hit using the momentum generated by the last one and creating even more of it. He ended his barrage of attacks with a final slash.

Cross-slash!

Two crescent-shaped energy attacks merged into each other creating a black cross of ki. The overflowing energy overwhelmed the Red Wolf King, leaving it deeply injured. A terrible gash formed within its chest, leaking torrents of blood on the black and white board.

That display of skill, might, and power left everyone in awe. They all looked at Shesmu as if he was a beast in human skin. However, Shesmu didn't care. In fact, he grinned in front of that attention. His eyes darted towards Arthur. His face was dark, hostile, fierce, like that of a wounded beast. However, he soon masked his true emotions behind an easy-going, always smiling face.

"Brilliant," Arthur shouted. "Everyone, don't lose this opportunity. Attack!"

All of the mages raised their staffs and grimoires high in the sky before chanting in unison.

"Shuma meru!"

Dozens of fireballs materialized in front of the group of mages before launching like missiles towards the Boss. The spells exploded in the wolf king's face, forcing it to take a few steps back.

"Warriors, don't stop attacking! This is our chance!"

Arthur led his team one more time to fight against the beast. With him leading the charge, both the tanks and the warriors pushed their lungs to the limit as they slashed and hacked with abandon. Until the king awakened.

The Boss's HP fell below the 20% mark, signaling the activation of its berserk state. Fire emerged from below the floor, covering the boss in a ball of flame. This agglomeration of fire rotated with mindblowing speed before erupting in a pillar of hell. Tongues of flames lashed at anything and everything while a shockwave of hot air pushed the players away. All but Shesmu, who slashed the shockwave like it was made of paper.

The Red Wolf King that emerged from the pillar of fire was worthy of his name. Its claws were golden and sharp, its paws had flames raging on top of them. Its previously orange fur turned into white with stripes of bright red decorating it. The beast was the definition of elegance and lethality.

Looking around, Shesmu found that all the players were stunned under the effects of the black tiles. Even the assassins whose sole mission was to one-shot the boss at the end of the fight were on the ground, scrambled.

"Assassins, rise up! This is your moment!" Shesmu's shout was calm, but it hid behind it an undeniable authority.

While the band of the cloaked players was trying its hardest to organize itself, neither the Boss nor Shesmu stood idle. The wolf king took in a deep breath and gathered fire within its mouth.

Shesmu, on the other hand, looked at his reserves of Ki. It was already half empty. Guess this is my final shot, he thought. He poured all of his energy, both black and green within his sword, leaving only a minimal amount to coat his feet with. His blade was overflowing ki flames, bursting in every direction. Shesmu closed his eyes and by the time he opened them, the flames were gone. The only thing left was minuscule shine right at the tip of his sword.

He smiled before looking at the boss—Its breath attack was almost complete. Right at its launch, Shesmu jumped at the wolf like a cheetah. The momentum he was carrying was mind-boggling. He faced the breath of fire like a madman, thrusting his sword forward.

Like David facing Goliath, Shesmu's unremarkable blade pierced through the Boss's attack as if it was butter. He kept pushing forward until he reached the wolf's mouth, and cut through its back.

"Awoo!"

The blade burst into green and dark flames, pushing the wound in the king's nape wider.

"Now!" Shesmu shouted, and the band of assassins answered his call.

One by one, they appeared on top of the Red Wolf King's nape, slashing at its wound with their daggers cloaked in shadows. Until finally, the Boss's head fell on the ground.

Congratulation, You have slain the First Floor's Boss

[May you who followed on Aida's light reach eternal glory]

Congratulation, you leveled up

Everyone looked at the notification they received and the floor grew silent. Silence before the storm, as the cave erupted with cheers.

"We did it! We finally killed it!"

"Yes! This fight was so damn hard! Goddamn!"

Hector looked at his fellow tanks with a wide smile on his face.

"You did great, maggots!"

"Yes, sir!"

He then looked at Leo who was still recuperating within the broken ground. The latter was grinning from ear to ear after that adrenaline-pumping fight, Hector couldn't help but smile at him too.

Leo raised his head but didn't look at Hector, instead, his eyes focused on the direction of the wolf king. Hector couldn't help but follow his line of sight before his own eyes landed on Shesmu. Everyone, in turn, focused on the latter.

One after the other, they clapped at him. It soon turned into a torrent of claps, that even Shesmu couldn't help but look up and face all the players. He was weary, bloodied, and out of breath, but he still smiled.

"That was marvelous!"

"You did great, my man!"

Hector walked towards Shesmu while laughing. "You guys really have the best team around. First, your tank makes the best save of the century, and then you show off this hard. You should leave some of the spotlight to us too, no? Hahaha!"

Shesmu chuckled at Hector's joke before looking at Leo behind him.

"The spotlight is something you have to take by force, right Leo?"