Chapter 436: Time Out

Monster: Corrupted Sphinx (Imperfect)

Tier: Legendary (Imperfect)

Level: 250

Status: Weakened

Description: The guardian of the Sun Dias that has been corrupted by the Mad Warlock for years. The guardian tried fighting off the corruption but being trapped for years made it go insane. It is still not fully corrupted, so it still has a chance of being cleansed when the Mad Warlock dies.

The Corrupted Sphinx is different from the Sphinx that accompanied him. The corrupted sphinx has no wings like the other one. It also has the tail of a scorpion which might be due to the corruption.

The skin of the corrupted sphinx turned pale gray. The runes on it body also changed into a pale green color like it was tainted with something. It also released a suffocating aura that dealt damage to those near it.

[You are in the presence of the Corrupted Sphinx.]

[Time is unstable in the presence of the Corrupted Sphinx. Temporal spells will have a 20% chance of activating. Temporal spells that fail will have a likely chance of it resulting into Temporal Explosion.]

[The Corrupted Sphinx releases a dreadful aura and all those around it would lose 1% health per second.]

"Continue to free the other sphinx while we deal with the one that we released." Adrian stated as he and his friend get ready to distract the Corrupted Sphinx.

Adrian knew that they needed the help of the other sphinx in order to subdue the corrupted one. All of them knew that they had to free the other sphinx because the one attacking them has infinite health. Adrian tried finding alternative ways to deal damage to the Corrupted Sphinx but found nothing even with his evil eyes.

"It is still a guardian which means that it should still have the rules of a guardian. Guardians must give out tests to those who wants to use the power of the relic it is guarding. I should figure out its rules so that I could incapacitate it for a few minutes." Adrian thought as he dodged the scorpion tail.

Kabrakan tried his best dodging because he got 20% of his health shaved when he tried blocking one attack. It came to the point that he even got in the danger zone at 30% health when he got stung by the tail.

The Corrupted Sphinx' attack pattern is more physical in nature unlike the other one. The corrupted sphinx would attack with its claws first then follow up with a bite. If you dodge the bite using a jump, the corrupted sphinx will attack using its scorpion stinger.

Each attack is lethal that Kabrakan had to ask Adrian and Vayu to help him deal with the corrupted sphinx. Adrian wanted to help but Kanlaon almost got killed with one strike. 

Vayu is different as something awakened within him when they killed Sylphis. He is gliding like the wind and fluid to the point that he would dodge the attack with an inch of space. He shouted that he could deal with the corrupted sphinx, but he still needs support.

Vayu got all the buffs that increases speed and reaction time while Kabrakan got the health regeneration and defense increases. Adrian decided to help the Evergreen guild with killing off the other Gestation Sphere.

The Gestation Sphere that the Evergreen guild is attacking is almost killed. They were strong but the heavy damage dealers are in Adrian's group which is why they finished first. When the Gestation Sphere holding the other sphinx started to get low, the corrupted sphinx changed target.

The corrupted sphinx' aggroed the other group as if its instincts were telling it to protect the other pod. The tanks of the Evergreen guild were the first to react and used their protection spells. They were able to hold it off, but they still took great damage despite mitigating the damage among all of them.

They did manage to buy time for the others to use crowd control on the corrupted sphinx. Levin Cloud used a skill that used vines to constrict the corrupted sphinx. Creepysoo used Bony Hands which summoned a giant skeleton hand from below the ground to grip an enemy.

They safely chained crowd control spells, but it only lasted for a quarter of the duration. They bought enough time as the damage dealers all rallied to break open the other Gestation Sphere. All of them managed to break the sphere holding the other sphinx.

When the other sphinx was released, a loud snarl could be heard from the corrupted sphinx. It did not look happy at all as it finally used a skill. Suddenly time stopped and it was only Adrian who could move freely albeit terribly slow.

He saw that the corrupted sphinx suddenly made a swiping motion towards Levin Cloud's head. It seems that it was still intelligent enough to deal with healers compared to the main damage dealers. It prioritized healers because it could not be damaged. All the spells that were aimed at it only dealt a flat value of one health.

Adrian feared that Levin Cloud would be killed instantly and threw his axe with an ability.

"Nether Soul Strike!" Adrian stated as he threw the axe as hard as he can.

[You have dealt tremendous damage to the corrupted sphinx.]

Adrian is shocked upon seeing the notification because he only dealt one damage so far. Upon hitting the corrupted sphinx, time flowed back once more. The group suddenly saw that the corrupted sphinx had 95% health left which was odd because it was still infinite when appraised.

"It can only be damaged when time is stopped!" Adrian shouted with glee as he found the way to win but the others could not say the same.

"You are the only one who could move when time is frozen. That means if you die, we all die." Alder pointed out but the other sphinx finally regained consciousness.

"I can help you with that, but you must beat him quick. Cleanse my sibling of its corruption." The sphinx stated as it buffed the whole team.