“What happened?”
The list of Players who died were flooding the System page when Edward finally arrived at the scene. Although most of them were revived by the Clerics, there were still quite a number of them lost.
“We were pushing in when the ground suddenly blew up!” Joe, whose HP was now red had temporarily pulled back to the rear, allowing a healer to restore him while he explained the situation to the confused Edward between gasps. “There’s a basement beneath, and there has to be a super macho Boss hidden inside!”
“How macho?” Edward asked, curious.
After all, Joe’s illogical body ratio was definitely exceedingly ripped even for normal Players, just his behavior was a perfect reflection of his masculinity-reckless and straightforward.
Therefore, Joe didn’t consider most physically strong creatures to be ‘macho’, but at best ‘strong’ or effeminate.
As such, any Boss he would declare to be super macho must be beyond imagination.
“How macho, huh…” Joe searched his mind for the right description, when a Swordmaster Player was sent screaming and flying through the air.
His butt was on fire as he streaked in a perfect hyperbola curve before crashing into a house, which looked sturdy before but looked about to crumble now.
Several Clerics who had yet to change class quickly ran up, dragging the Swordmaster Player out of the debris and took turns to beat him up with their war hammer to heal him.
As a matter of fact, healing was possible just by singing a song and waving the war hammer in front of him, but the movements were complex and was time-consuming, which was why the painful yet efficient method was preferred.
While the Swordmaster screamed ‘I’m fine! I’ll drink a potion for the rest! Damn it, you almost knocked my teeth off’, Joe turned to Edward and said, “That much macho.”
Edward nodded in understanding.
*
*
*
Soon, the formation which the Players had assumed were complete crumbling in the face of that super macho Boss, and Edward finally saw for himself what he looked like.
First and foremost, he was a Tigerman.
But it was unlike any other Tigermen, who only had a tiger’s head while the rest of their body was more resembling of humans (a trait most nonhumans shared, which make them identical humans save for their beastlike features and in turn categorized them as non-demons). From the bone structure and physical structure, this Tigerman would resemble an actual tiger that was walking on tow legs, and its muscles were almost bursting out from every part of his body as if it was a bodybuilder—the kind of tiger that could kill a cow with a single punch.
Moreover, most Tigermen’s fur were a combination of yellow, black and white. This Tigerman, however, was a mix of red and black. Its eyes which glinted fiercely and frighteningly were amber-colored, and anyone looking into them would have the illusion of being burned.
Its body also palpated extreme temperatures, something which was obvious from how everything seemed to be shimmering. Wood and straws that were an inch too close would self-combust, whereas the footprints that the Tigerman leave in his wake were small craters of magma wells.
There was no doubt that this one was actually a fire-type monster.
Edward looked above his head and found that his name was a shining red.
[Roaring Blaze Tiger Warrior (Elite), level 42]
(Status: Core Meltdown (There is an incomprehensible reaction occurring within the body of this creature, with substantial energy being released in every given moment. The energies would strengthen its physical capabilities while leveling him, a process that could neither end nor reverse and only detonate horrifically when the creature’s heart melts)]
[Status: Conflagration (This creature is palpating extreme heat of almost five thousand Celsius. All fire-type skills would therefore be strengthened exponentially, and even if the skill doesn’t reach its target, a mere brush on the skin by the flame holds a certain chance to get burned)]
(Status: Kindling (This creature is immune to fire-type skills, which only increases its power equal to the power of the skill hitting it)]
And within the split second the Edward took to check the creature’s name and the explanation of the buff in its status bar, it had risen from level 42 to level 43!
Tch! Really super macho!
Edward cursed inwardly-how were they supposed to defeat this one?
The Roaring Blaze Tiger Warrior was now Level 43, making it on par with the first-rate Players. And with the Level 35 Ancient Imperial Wrath Tiger Warrior being able to tear Marni apart with his bare hands, the Roaring Blaze Tiger Warrior who likewise had an elite template just might be able to chase the elite Players into one pile and tear them apart too…
Moreover, it was only Level 43 for the time being. It could keep leveling up from the looks of things.
And that was not all—its body was definitely spreading such horrible extreme heat that the faintest of touch meant serious damage.
Worse still, its buffs almost seemed tailored to counter Edward and other Skyblaze Heralds.
Fire-type skills wouldn’t hurt it but instead buff the creature, just water-type skills would be largely weakened because of class change. Against this Boss, the Skyblaze Heralds just couldn’t do a thing… which includes Edward himself, one who was recognized as the best Player there is.
“Edward, what should we do now?” Joe gulped and asked him quietly.
I want to know that too!
Edward’s heart was fuming in helplessness.
But being the greatest supporter of the God of Games in his church, he soon calmed down, thinking that ‘the God of Games wouldn’t give us an impossible quest’ and began to think about whether there were any hints provided by the System.
Soon, he read between the lines and found the information he wanted.
He then turned to the other players around him and began issuing orders. “Keep it busy! Do everything you can to make it waste its strength! Don’t care about anything else-just stop its level from increasing!”
“Who knows what monster it would become if we don’t keep wasting its strength and it continues to level up! We just last until its core melts down!”
All the other players immediately showed looks of understanding and went up to run interference on the Roaring Blaze Tiger Warrior-only to be punched into the air.
The insurmountable gap in fighting ability left the battlefield a gruesome sight.
Even so, they were not retreating.
It was not stubbornness that took root from their sense of justice or vengeance, nor was it an anime flashback sequence.
Their reason to fight had changed from avenging fellow Players or aiding the Long Ears, and every Player knew clearly what it was.
Such a powerful Boss would definitely drop the good stuff!