Chapter 224 - The Guardian And The First Necromancer (I)

VRRRRRRRRR!

The sharp rotating blades of the Puppet Executor started to rotate at a very fast speed. They rotate so fast that the leaves that were just drifting in the wind were reduced to dust in just a blink of an eye.

TKTKTKTKTKTKTKTKTKTKT!

The weird machine sound echoed the silent forest as it floated above us.

"Attack long-range magicians!"

Topaz, Dolly, and Lucia immediately attacked with their magic spells and bombarded the Puppet Executor with different magic attacks. But the attacks seem to only just bounce back. Not only that, the Puppet Executor is now enraged. It suddenly dived and attacked.

Since the girls are the ones who attacked, they are the ones immediately marked as targets.

"[Taunting Stance of the Stone Defender]!"

PENG!

The Pupper Executor immediately changed target from the girls into Iron who immediately stopped the attack.

"Now! Melee attackers and magicians, bombard it with attacks while the skill of Iron is still on duration! We can't afford to lose this chance!"

Everyone nodded and they started to hit it multiple times with their weapons. The highest damage dealer out of all of us is me with Atlas being the next hard-hitting DPS. The rest are dealing a bit of minor damage to the enemy since they have no equipment with a defense pierce stat.

"Guys! The skill is about to end!" Iron said while struggling from the pressure of the attack. Sparks fly out from the shield and the rotating blades of the Puppet Executor, ready to slice Iron in half if he failed to defend.

"I got you covered!" I quickly come to the aid of Iron the moment his skills went to cooldown.

Iron used his shield to deflect the rotating blades of the Puppet Executor. With that small timing of releasing the contact, I used this chance to take the place of Iron and Ignited my sword to flames.

"Get lost!"

SWISH!

One of the blades was chipped that the Puppet Executor stopped one of his rotating blades and retreated.

"It's trying to recover its wounds!" Lucia shouted.

"Quick chase it!" Dolly said ready to chase it.

"No need, wait for a bit guys! I will do something!"

I changed my Versatile Weapon's form and changed it to a Hook and Chain and hook the Puppet Executor. As long as it can be hooked, I can pull it using the Hook and Chain.

CLANK!

The retreating Puppet Executor stopped on its tracks before it can even get away the moment the hook suddenly entangles itself to its body.

TKTKTKTKT!

The Puppet Executor struggled and tried to pull away, however, I am not that weak to not be able to hold my ground.

"Now! Hit it with long-range attacks while it is still busy trying to pull itself away!"

"Alright!" the girls nodded and started to channel their strongest blasting magic spells. I also didn't just wait for the others to their attacks to finish channeling, I keep on pulling the Puppet Executor while it was busy trying to cut the chain of my weapon.

From what I know, the rotating blades of Puppet Executor can reduce the durability of any weapon it comes in contact with. It can reduce a brand new sword or shield to dust the moment it loses all of its durability, leaving a player offenseless or defenseless depending on what was reduced to dust. However, in my situation and with my weapon, my situation is different due to the Versatile Weapon having no durability to call. Even if it is being hit by an attack that can reduce the durability of any weapon, I won't have to worry about it.

I continue to pull it towards us so that everyone else can also attack. After pulling a bit more, I managed to pull it to the maximum range that Lina and Goro can reach. They started their attacks too and didn't even pause to take a break. They are all intent on reducing its health to its last part. I didn't stop and continue to pull the Puppet Executor and everyone else who are all melee attackers are now capable of dealing with their attacks.

The Puppet executor's mind seems really simple. Once an enemy attacked it directly, it will focus on that person until the enemy is subdued. Too bad, it seems like its focus is now broken since my weapon will not be reduced to dust no matter how much the Puppet Executor tries.

With the continuous attacks of my allies, it didn't take too long before the health that was very high before started to crumble. But with everyone determined to bring it down, didn't stop falling from critical to zero.

KRKKKKKKKK! BZZZZTTTT!

The puppet executor started to crumble like pottery and it stopped moving.

"Did we kill it?" Lina goes on the defensive.

"Nope, not yet. That was its first phase, if that is the case, there is a second phase! Don't relax and keep your guards up!"

We back away for a bit when we saw the crumbled pieces of the puppet executor move a bit despite being already killed. It didn't take a full minute before the crumbled pieces floated and became a cuboid with a large saw on the middle of it. 

[Stone Cutting Puppet] Mini Boss (Second Phase)

Level 100

HP: 5,000,000/5,000,000

Type: Machine

Seeing the second phase, it seems like this is not the last transformation of the execution puppet, now named the Stone Cutting Puppet.

"It changed shape! This is the first time I have seen a boss that can change form once it goes to the second phase!" Topaz said. With how they keep adventuring with her brother and going to dungeons, she has encountered plenty of bosses with phases. But just like she said, I didn't expect to see Resurgia Continent possess a boss, no it is a mini-boss to be capable of changing forms once killed ones and move to the next phase. These types of bosses only appear in the new regions, including Sandurk.

Also, it seems like this is the first time I am seeing this boss. I have made a mistake about this since the Execution Puppet is also a mini-boss but from what I remember, the execution puppet is known to only have two phases. I didn't fight one myself since these bosses are mostly seen in Resurgia and I didn't explore much on Resurgia. I only read through them in guides.

But if this is the case, does that mean, this Execution Puppet is a hybrid one with multiple phases once killed?

ZOOOM!

In a blink of an eye, the Stone Cutter Puppet disappeared from where it was before and reappeared above our heads. It was so sudden that the others were almost late to dodge. I pushed some of them away but I was caught by it and one of my feet was not spared and got cut.

"Bladeheart!"

"Don't worry about me! Blast it with magic and make sure to hit the core that is currently revealed on the center!"

Everyone nodded and started to fire at the enemy. Seeing what happened earlier, they are now cautious on what will happen next or what attack pattern will it do. I grab my severed leg and cast [Regeneration] on it. In a few seconds, it was reattached back to my body. The torn clothes are also regenerated too which is convenient for me. But it has suffered some durability loss too. Looks like I also need to learn Sewing next time.

But first...

We have to deal with this bastard.

...

Somewhere...

12 seats circling around a big skull of a dragon started to rattle one by one and as if it suddenly phased out, the 12 empty seats before suddenly became occupied by 12 hooded people.

"It seems someone has chosen to make trouble on your lair, First," the hooded guy with a necklace with three-finger bones hanging on them said while chuckling at the hooded guy with one bone finger necklace hanging on his neck.

"Yes. However, it seems they are struggling with my creation that I just finished creating last month," the guy they called First said who has the one bone finger necklace.

"Ohoho, so your study in necromancy has finally come to fruition and you used your creativity to test it if it is indeed well enough is absolute madness! I like what you are thinking!" another hooded guy with 6 bone finger necklace said while caressing his beard.

"Yes. And it seems they are indeed struggling. Soon, they will struggle on this matter and my theory and testing will be completed. Once the results are done, I can finally contribute to resurrecting the deceased Dark Dragon Lord."

"Indeed, now that almost all of us are done with the preparations, maybe we should also prepare for our contributions to begin the process to resurrect our dark lord, hmm?"

"From the looks of it, you are already planning on how to bring the world to darkness soon, Twelve?"

"Yes, Eight. The rise of necromancy will soon be heard by the whole world. This world will soon fear the "walking corpses". Since we will make sure this world will be full of the dead.. What a paradise it must be!" a young man stood up from the chair, revealing his necklace with 12 finger bones hanging on them.