The players who were chasing after the death knight were shocked and paused for a brief period when they saw a ten meter long eastern red dragon appear. It was so eye catching that the players streaming was so thankful because their chats became fired up. The only one who was not surprised as much was Adrian and Levin Cloud.
"That guy really needs to put his acting skills to work" was the thought on Levin Clouds head because of Adrian's poor acting skills. He was worried the others might not believe it but then he heard another comment.
"That was so cool! Can you do it again?" Kabrakan said with admiration.
Levin Cloud could only face slap himself because his cousin was a straight forward person and very gullible. Even with Adrian's poor acting skills, his cousin believed it and with that the people around started murmuring that it was a cool item effect. Even Adrian did not believe that others would believe his claim that much. Adrian was very thankful that someone like Kabrakan was present in his party.
"I have to give him something to express my gratitude." Adrian said while he clenched his right fist and closed his eyes for a brief second.
The death knight who took a full dragon breath in the face was starting to recover from the surprise attack. Although, undead could not feel pain that does not mean they could not be damaged. The death knight's armor had visible scratches and deformed parts due to all the hits it tanked.
The lich's robe started having tatters due to sneaky piercing attacks that it was not able to defend against. The two undead have yet to drop their health below 50% but their equipment was getting ruined. The lich was also steadily losing its mana and it is steadily dropping to 50%.
The lich's glowing eyes lowed brighter but it was only for a second as no one noticed due to the effects of some spells. The undead that was charging towards the fortress was now redirecting and charging towards the players that encircled the lich. Some of the faster undead was able to reach the players. The pressure on the lich lessened and it started firing spells proactively as it could now handle the attacks aimed at it.
The death knight was not able to move close to the lich due to it being surrounded by players again. Although it was surrounded, it fiercely took step by step towards the lich while swatting the players charging towards it like flies. Cersei who was both siphoning the mana of the lich felt that a huge amount of mana disappeared from the lich's mana pool.
She wanted to speak but she must not break her concentration or else she would need to restart the spell again. Luckily, Adrian noticed it as he was observing the lich and the death knight to handle unexpected threats. The lich then raised its right bony hand up and brought it down while pointing an area.
"Meteor" the lich said in a spine chilling tone.
Seconds later, a giant ball of fire was descending upon the battlefield and the target were the players attacking the death knight. The players who saw the meteor falling down felt immense fear that some even fled from the battle but they were surrounded by a wall of players. Those at the middle were unable to escape as the players behind them started panicking and they tripped each other.
The moral of the players started falling apart as the meteor was falling from the sky reaches them by the second. Adrian started to think what to do but he could only think of slowing it down using magic spells but they could not afford it right now. If they use their spells at the meteor they might be able to slow it down but that would give the lich enough time to cast another high damaging spell.
"I could try that." Adrian thought as he might have away to at least divert the meteor away.
"Spells like meteor are dangerous even to friendly units. Once spells of mass destruction is fired, even allies in the vicinity will die unless they could protect them." Adrian's eyes then flashed with the sudden realization.
"It is going to use a protective spell for the death knight!" Adrian mumbled.
After Adrian thought of that, the lich began chanting and a black sphere started to envelope the death knight but it seemed invisible to the onlookers. Adrian was only able to see it due to his evil eyes. Adrian decided to use his new skill on the incoming meteor to test if it could deflect it a little or lessen the impact force.
Adrian immediately cast Quantum Repulsion on the meteor but the reaction he got was overwhelming.
"It is too heavy!" Adrian muttered.
Adrian then remembered his discussion with Ascalor about remolding skills.
"Elder Ascalor!" Adrian said to grab his attention.
"What brat?!" Ascalor replied.
"The spell used more mana than it should have been." Adrian stated.
"Oh! That would be the reaction if you try things that are way past the strength your body could handle. A great action should also have a great reaction. Does it not?" Ascalor stated.
"Seriously! How powerful is the Meteor spell anyway?!" Adrian shouted.
"It is assumed to be a legendary skill!" Levin Cloud answered.
"I was being sarcastic!" Adrian shouted back.
"Why?" Levin Cloud asked.
Adrian then vomited blood from his mouth. Adrian's mana was depleted severely and half his health was gone just like that. It seems that a legendary skill is leagues apart from an epic skill. Adrian kneeled down and immediately drank a potion. Not only did he get damaged, he also got the Mana Overexertion status effect.
Mana Overexertion is a status where you overuse your mana and you will not be able to regenerate mana for a few seconds to minutes. The duration would depend on how severe the Mana Overexertion. Unlucky for Adrian, he cannot regenerate mana for ten minutes. He also could not drink MP potions as it would only deal him damage because of the status. Mana Overexertion could not be purified either so Adrian would have to deal physical damage for ten minutes.
The meteor heading towards the death knight did however slowed down a bit. Its intended path also tilted a slight bit but nevertheless it still hit the area of the death knight. The shockwave from the meteor blew those who were unprepared a couple of meters. There were also numerous players that died.
The others survived with barely having any health or unscathed due to a damage nullifying skill. The latter were mainly from bigger guilds that know where these skills are obtained. Only a quarter of the total players in the fortress managed to survive.
Cersei was able to still siphon mana due to the two tanks and support blocking for her using their skills. They knew that they would have an even lesser chance to succeed if she fails or stops with her task. Adrian activated Soul Form Transformation on himself while he ordered Sirius to hide in his shadow. Saena was perched on Peridots head and was protected by her making a half dome rock formation with them the others in it.
The most drastic news however the death knight was charging towards Cersei's group. Peridot canceled her skill and Kabrakan saw the death knight charging so he charged against it. The lich had about 30% mana remaining due to the spells it cast. The death knight must also arrived at the same conclusion that Adrian had. A spell caster without mana is basically a punching bag.
Kabrakan went head to head against the death knight with all of his fortifications but even he thought it was heavy. He was only pushed back unlike Adrian who was thrown away by the force. Adrian also joined the team that assaulted the death knight as he would not be able to pierce the lich's defenses.
"Heavy Slam" the orc axe wielder shouted.
His twin axes glowed in a read aura as he slammed it towards the death knight. The death knight blocked the attack with its spear but it left him open from other attacks. The others started targeting the areas unprotected by the death knight while it was still blocking the orc player's attack.
"Seven minutes left" Adrian thought to himself.
Adrian needed seven minutes to be able to restore mana. It was this time that he felt helpless as his physical damage is not that great compared to pure physical damage players. Adrian waited for the minutes to pass but it felt like an eternity. He then got a whisper from Cersei unexpectedly. It seems she strained her concentration just to send it.
"The lich's mana is not dropping below 20%" the message from Cersei stated.
When Adrian read the message, he could only curse. The lich however had a smiling expression but it was hard to determine due to his features being all bone. Adrian then thought of the most obvious answer why it was not decreasing.
"The lich's phylactery is maintaining its mana at the 20% mark."