Chapter 614: Deep Winter War: Parux

[Colonial Forums]

Copied from Semmi's Original post.

Tomorrow morning Inferno will take down the last Regional Lord in Colonial. Thank you to all the guilds who helped clear out the Howlers. I don't expect that Parux will take longer than an hour. When that happens, we will most likely see the Realm Boss. We have no idea what its strength or abilities may be. Our best guess is this.

One Boss around level 125.

Multiple waves filled with lower-level mobs.

Regular Rage or stampede-like abilities.

[How you can help us.]

This is an open event, so no one is going to tell you what to do. That being said, the area immediately around the boss will most likely be the most dangerous. If I were running a mid-tier guild again, I would keep my members out of the main battle and carefully pick my targets. There should be many mid-range, named mobs on the outskirts considering the level of the mid-tier guilds. Inferno will try to respect any mid-range mob that has been claimed. Keep in mind, Inferno's objective is the Realm Boss.

Let's bring back the sun!

Semmi, 125 Level Gemini Thief

Frenzy reread the posting while considering the layout. The Anomaly was close to Cyphix Bay, which was a bit south of the city itself.

/Salamander: Frenzy: Let's head to the rift cave. We'll camp there for now.

/Salamander: Ruther: Understood, boss.

The Necromancer closed her hud and headed north. The original site of Nix's defeat would make the perfect fall-back position. They'd set up in front of it and take advantage of natural cover.

[Whisper: Frenzy to Nix] Good luck today! We're setting up in the rift cave. Feel free to throw us some mobs.

[Whisper: Nix to Frenzy] Heh... Since you asked so nicely, I'll make sure it happens.

Nix leaned against the warm Titan cub, not concerned that both of them were slowly being blanketed with a layer of snow. Ducky and Soup were drawing on the ice-covered ground with one of the Water Witches arrows. Occasionally one of them would look up to verify that he hadn't moved.

/Family: Nix: Tai keeps asking me to be her spirit companion. What do you guys think?

/Family: Ducky: Yes!

/Family: Morti: Yep. She's very nice to me.

"You're early, Punk Bastard!" Pon stepped off of his bone crow, his face creased in a wide grin. "Can't wait to kill that Ice Bitch."

Nix stood up, pausing for a moment to hug the cub's now covered neck. "Let's not look past this realm, boss."

Nix has activated his bloodline [Second Form: Emerald Salamander].

Soup immediately made a bee-line for him, her jade-colored finger petting the salamander's smooth skin. "Nom, nom, nom?"

Nix laughed and nudged her with his wide snout. "Don't even think about it."

"Going Salamander today?" Pon knew Nix could fight effectively under almost any circumstance.

"Yes. Since we're facing the forces of Ice, I'm going to rely heavily on my strongest fire form." Nix returned the old man's grin. "That doesn't mean I won't break out the Phoenix or my Basilisk."

Pon's old smile dropped immediately. "You have too many trump cards, bastard. What about the dread form?"

The salamander's green head shook from side to side. "You know how that goes. As a last resort, I would, but that effectively takes me out of the fight."

Pon stared at him for a long moment. "I'll be there to help. If push comes to shove, you can count on me to finish her off by myself!"

"I know it, old man." Nix felt confident that if it came right down to it, either of them could get the job done.

A breach opened a few meters away; a moment later, several members of Inferno streamed through.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Give me a moment to set up the main raid. Two groups will take down Parux while the rest of us head to Cyphix Bay.

/Inferno: Semmi: Normally, we wouldn't brief the second raid, but Parux isn't going to present much of a threat. Because of that, we'll play him straight. Morti tanks while the dps burns him down. Standard fare for this guy. Since we don't know how fast things will kick-off after he's down, we have to move fast.

/Jun Li: For the Realm Boss, we'll have three Breach Commanders keeping a close eye on the battlefield from high overhead. They will assist as the raid progresses. Here's our raid sheet. Ask questions after you've read it.

[Deep Winter War: Colonial]

[Breach Commander Renz][Breach Commander Polai][Breach Commander Mtui]

Main Tank: Morti

Alt Tank: Sharl

2nd Alt Tank: Banz

[Alpha]

Nix: CC, Ranged/Melee DPS

Pon: Ranged DPS

Wind: Melee DPS

Semmi: Melee DPS

Fajii: Buffs, Melee DPS

[Bravo]

Sharl: Tank

Ronnie: Range DPS

Bali: Range DPS

Milat: Melee DPS

Nansu: Melee DPS

[Charlie]

Banz: Tank

Chiba: Melee DPS

Beta: Melee DPS

Rhylia: CC, Ranged Support

Zhava: Melee DPS

[Delta]

Jun Li: Off Tank/Melee DPS

Shae: Ranged DPS

Donri: Ranged DPS

Sila: CC/Melee DPS

Sasi: Melee DPS

[Healer Protection Group]

Vooni: Tank, Melee DPS

Aja: Ranged/Melee DPS

Nunzo, Melee DPS

Omak: Ranged DPS

[Healers]

Tess

Gypsy

Pinky

Wylie

Saji

Nezbit

[Sniper Group]

Darsi

Moki

Dalton

Sorbie

/Inferno: Semmi: We've put our healers in one group and assigned Captain Vooni's team to protect them. Morti is the only companion I included because he's the MT. Feel free to summon your companions whenever you like.

/Inferno: Jun Li: The sniper team will be working with our Breach Commanders to find their targets.

/Alpha: Pon: Seems straightforward.

Fajii has summoned [Eron].

Wind has summoned [Atharabi Qi]

The tiny demon flashed a fanged smile at the group before pouncing on Wind. "Rabi will protect everyone today!"

The stoic Gemini Thief cracked a smile; no one was immune to the charm of Rabi. "Don't worry about the old bastard; it's fine if he dies a few times."

Rabi tilted his head sideways, his dark eyes glancing toward Pon. "Right... He's off my list."

/Alpha: Pon: Hey! Could you put me back on the list?

/Alpha: Wind: No way.

/Alpha: Nix: Gonzo... That's definitely a bad omen for you.

/Alpha: Pon: Hilarious.

/Inferno: Sharl: What's our timeline?

/Inferno: Semmi: We kill Parux, then roll into the WB. Once we have him on the ropes, the Dhassi will kill Oasis's last Regional Lord.

/Alpha: Pon: How many parts of that can go wrong?

/Alpha: Nix: Any and All of it...

/Alpha: Semmi: Time to take off the skirt and man up.

/Alpha: Wind: She's talking to you, Pon.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Alpha and Bravo get in position, the rest of us will head to Cyphix Bay. Whenever you are ready, Morti.

/Inferno: Morti: Okay. Time to swat things.

Three separate breaches opened up next to the raid; two groups remained behind while the rest exited the area.

Morti waited while Bravo and most of Alpha circled behind their target. Only Nix, Ducky, and Soup remained with him.

/Alpha: Pon: Hey! Where are the Sand Killers?

/Alpha: Semmi: In Oasis with Del and Raine. We'll see them later.

Rabi has shared [Enemy Information].

Lord Parux: Melee Fighter.

Main Weapon: Enchanted Ax.

Armament: Enhanced Plate armor.

Special Ability: AoE Stun attack.

[Warning: The death of Lord Parux will trigger the arrival of the Realm King.]

/Alpha: Nix: He's big. Let's not get sloppy.

Parux stood motionless on the icy field of western Jhabi. Heavy plate armor protected his torso and legs, leaving his overly muscular arms bare. He wore a furred helm with two horns that protruded from either side. A single white braid extended down his back.

"Gonna run right over him. Full speed." Morti stood on his hind legs, staring at the Regional Lord. "I really like his helmet."

[Morti has activated: Bone Emperor].

Long spikes emerged from the cub's shoulders, followed by the ridge bone-blades that ran down the center of his back. The cub dropped to all fours with enough force to shake the ground. However, it was completely soundless, thanks to upgrades Nix had placed on his battle harness.

Morti accelerated with surprising speed, his powerful strides throwing great chunks of ice and snow into the air as he rumbled toward his target like a runaway train. True to his word, he lowered his head and slammed into Jhabi's Regional Lord.

A pronounced 'woosh of air sounded upon impact, the Titan's shoulder spike impaled Parux's torso, causing him to scream in pain as he was tossed into the air, head over heels.

Morti has inflicted a serious wound on Parux.

A flash of jade followed in Morti's wake, Soup's round eyes focused on Parux as he fell toward the ground. She clenched her fist and swung it upward with all her strength.

[Sonic Boom]

The impact wave of the turtle's ability caused everyone to flinch slightly; Parux was tossed back into the air, spinning like a top.

Parux has been stunned.

/Inferno: Ronnie: Not this time! I'm getting a hit in before they kill it.

Bright green flames erupted around the salamander as it raised one webbed foot.

[Hellfire: Emerald Fury]

A blinding ball of light struck its target, sending it careening toward the charging group.

[Trueshot][Snake Arrow]

Ronnie has landed a critical shot.

Eight poison counters have been applied to Parux.

Pon has activated his bloodline [Third Form: Dread Mage].

Parux landed on the ground with a bone-jarring thud. Staggering to his feet, he howled with anger and stomped one of his heavily armored boots onto the ice.

[Ice Expulsion]

[Critical Interupt][Void Strike][Pickpocket]

Rabi has interrupted Parux's casting.

Rabi has landed a critical strike.

Rabi has stolen [Parux's War Axe].

[Balefire: Dread Flames]

Pon has slain Parux.

The bright red aura that surrounded the old man, pushed back the cold and snow for a dozen meters as his flaming wings flapped gently.

/Alpha: Wind: Damn you two. Why are the rest of us even here?

Pon laughed at the Gemini Thief and shrugged. "Comic relief."

/Inferno: Semmi: I'll loot everything; we'll figure it out tonight.

Two Breaches opened up near the corpse of the dead Regional Lord; without pausing, Inferno ran through the breach.