Chapter 501 - The Gargoyle King
"Felice, how do you feel now? Are you alright now?" After summoning the little lady out from the Battle Companion Slot, Zhang Yang asked her, with genuine concerned.
Felice shook her head and said, "Nothing is off, big brother!"
Zhang Yang could not help but sulked a little. The little girl seemed to be on some form of heavenly steroids, as she went all out on the black dragon boss! So, logically speaking, she should have experienced some side effect from that kind of rush! The ancient Kung Fu masters who had went all out with their Super Skills and all in crushing their enemies would actually shorten their lives by 10 years or so! This little lady actually recovered after a nap? After everything that she went through? That doesn’t even make any sense !
What the hell! The black dragon must have died with its eyes opened!
"Can you remember anything that happened before you passed out?" Zhang Yang asked further.
"Nope!" Felice shook her head and said, "I have no idea what happened as well. I just saw a giant lizard, and I just burst into anger and lost control of myself. I just felt like tearing that big lizard into tiny little pieces!"
Ares once said that the Goddess of War had died at the hands of Hell’s Lord, the God of Vengeance, and the Devastator. Knowing that the Black Dragon Anubask was once the follower of the Hell’s Lord, it might be possible that the black dragon had contributed in bringing down the Goddess of War. That was most probably why that black dragon was targeted by Felice as an enemy! That explained why she had a Cosmic Explosion and went all out on the Ethereal boss!
Of course, all that was built, based on the deduction that Felice was Fraybe, the Goddess of Hope, sister of Lachesis, The Goddess of War.
Well, all thoughts aside! Time to clear up some monsters before saying anything further!
With Felice joining in, Zhang Yang could clear up the monster two times faster! But there were more Gargoyles in the palace. Zhang Yang spent about another 6 days just to reach the deepest area of the palace.
It was a very grand and huge palace, with 12 ink-black pillars holding up the entire building. At the lowest level of the palace, there was a large metallic throne right in the middle. However, there is no one sitting on it. On the contrary, by the side of the throne, a Gargoyle squatted beside it while it was still in its petrified state.
This Gargoyle was so much larger than the Elite Tier Gargoyles that Zhang Yang had encountered outside the palace. Its wings had a silver lining by the tips! That indicated that this Gargoyle is very different compared to the other Gargoyles! This Gargoyle is definitely much grand and extraordinary!
[Aegolous, The Gargoyle King] (Violet-Platinum, Spectre)
Level: 135
HP: 12,500,000
Defense: 3,300
Melee Attack: 17,310 - 19,310
Skills:
[Gargoyle Strike]: Inflicts the target with 100% Physical Damage as a Melee Attack, there is a certain rate to reduce 10% Attack of the target. Lasts for 15 seconds.
[Petrifying]: Petrifies itself and recovers 10% HP every second. The damage received while it is petrified would be reduced by 50%. But, when the Gargoyle is inflicted with Holy Attacks, the damage received will be increased by 100%. Lasts for 5 seconds.
[Putrefaction Aura]: Putrefies the target, inflicting the target with 3,000 Nature Damage every 3 seconds. Effect area: With the caster as the center point, 20-meter radius in a circular area.
[Gargoyle Screech]: Lets out a screech and damages all targets within the range of 30 meters with 40,000 Physical Attack. Casting time: 0.5 seconds.
[Berserk]: When the HP bar is at 10% and below, Aegolous would enter Berserk Mode. Attack increased by 50%, defense increased by 100%.
Note: Loyal minion of the Lord of Darkness. After being severely wounded by the gods during the great war, it still has not fully recovered yet.
Judging from the looks of it, that throne right in the middle of this palace must have belonged to the late Lord of Darkness! This palace must be the Lord of Darkness’s lair! This Gargoyle King must have followed the Lord of Darkness here. Because the Lord of Darkness had fallen too, this palace must have been here ever since that war!
Another Violet-Platinum Tier boss!
Zhang Yang felt a rush of joy in his heart. Well, the reason was mentioned before, the rewards that players earn from killing a high Tier boss for the first time and the second time would be luxurious! The system would drop additional items like [Skill Books]! Not to mention, the current stage of the game only spawns a limited number of Violet-Platinum Tier bosses. Well, Zhang Yang had all the more reason to kill it now!
Nonetheless, only Zhang Yang would be so confident to start fantasizing about the rewards! For other players, they would be worried sick, thinking of how to survive the boss that they might just lose their hair! Logically speaking, if Zhang Yang did not have a powerful DPS Battle Companion like Felice, Zhang Yang would have to at least try to get a [Forbidden Scroll] in order for him to solo the boss. In other words, Zhang Yang would have needed to use a large amount of money to bury the boss!
The interior of the palace was vast enough for Zhang Yang to summon the Serpent back out. Although both Serpent and Whitey were Yellow-Gold Tier [Mounts], however, the damage output of Spell Type [Mounts] is obviously much higher than the damage output of Physical Type [Mounts]. Furthermore, the Serpent could fly, had ranged attacks, and its {Venom Spat} could be instantly activated whenever the Skill is available, which would not affect the Serpent’s superior mobility. The amount of damage output of the Serpent would actually be so much more efficient and higher than Whitey Jr.’s!
Whenever the Serpent could be summoned, Zhang Yang would naturally consider using it as the first choice. As for the [Mythical Turtle]... if the system allowed him to put a pair of rockets on it’s back to increase its movement speed, Zhang Yang would definitely have used it in every single battle!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Zhang Yang charged towards Aegolous. Entering the range of 30 meters which is his maximum range, Zhang Yang quickly threw a {Spear of Obliteration} as he usually did.
‘-4,198!’
"Kreek!" The Gargoyle King instantly let out a deafening screech as it opened up its large wings and took flight. The moment it fluttered its wings and went airborne, the Gargoyle King began to dive at Zhang Yang.
The boss was deceptively agile! With a single flick of its wings, the Gargoyle King was already in front of Zhang Yang. It raised up the two monkey-claws and slashed at Zhang Yang!
{Block}!
Zhang Yang had no time to think or to make strategies on how to take on the boss. He reacted instinctively by raising his shield up to block the boss’s attack! Pang! A large clash was heard across the surroundings as Zhang Yang was sent back by the powerful strike of the boss, 3 to 4 meters away! But at the instance when the two of them made contact, Zhang Yang had swung his sword and landed a hit onto the boss! He did not waste any single possible chance to strike the boss.
With his legs planted firmly on the ground, Zhang Yang stopped the impact that had pushed him backward as he regained his balance. With a powerful kick off the ground, he pushed himself forwards and charged towards the boss again.
Aegolous let out another deafening screech as it began to raise up its monkey-claws. This time, dark air shrouded around the claws! The claws landed on Zhang Yang, as it inflicted damage on him, and not only that, Zhang Yang was inflicted with an additional Negative Effect, which reduced his Attack by 20%!
{Gargoyle Strike}!
Fortunate for Zhang Yang, he was not the main DPS for this boss battle! As long as Felice’s Attack is not restricted or reduced by any means, it would not affect their total damage output much!
Whitey Jr. and Felice were already in their positions. One was spitting greenish venom at the boss, while the other was channeling balls of fire towards the boss, while Zhang Yang was activating his Skills to inflict damage onto the boss with his sword. Flashes of reflected light from his sword shone upon the body of the boss! The scene was magnificent to behold!
Not long after the battle raged on, Aegolous suddenly let out a long and intimidating roar into the sky, as a rapid progression bar appeared right above its head!
{Gargoyle Screech}!
Without any hesitation, Zhang Yang immediately activated his {Frost Strike}!
‘-6,822!’
A damage was inflicted on the boss, and the boss started freezing up, its chanting having been interrupted! That was a lucky strike! The additional effect of the {Frost Strike} was triggered, and it was effective on the boss!
Zhang Yang did not continue to launch his assaults towards the boss, instead, he took out a [Bandage] and began to patch himself up!
The boss would stay frozen for the next 10 seconds, and the duration of using one [Bandage] is also 10 seconds! It was impeccably the same!
These days, Zhang Yang had been battling quite a number of monsters that are Level 120 and above. So, he had gathered quite a number of [Spiritual Cloths] which appeared to be one grade higher than [Inscribed Cloths]. He had made quite a number of [Spiritual Bandages] that could heal 50,000 HP in 10 seconds! Plus, he has the title of ‘Physician’s Friend’, so he could heal himself with an additional 10,000 HP. That is just awesome!
Following the last additional heal of ‘+10,000’ HP, Zhang Yang had restored himself back to full health!
Aegolous roared in rage again and again as it continued to extend its monkey-claws at Zhang Yang! Every single claw attack inflicted Zhang Yang with more than 10,000 damage! The boss did not immediately use the same skill again after its previous chant was interrupted. Instead, the skill had entered a cool-down period.
Therefore, Aegolous only began to chant for it’s {Gargoyle Screech} again, 30 seconds later. Although Zhang Yang activated his {Crash Magic} onto the Gargoyle, but the word ‘Immune’ appeared right above on the head of the boss.
A visible sonic wave came right out of the boss’s mouth and radiated into the surroundings. The boom echoed through air, as the shock waves that exploded out of the boss’ mouth struck Felice and Whitey Jr. and sent them flying back for a few meters! Both of them took some damage from the impact.
Actually, when Felice is in her Humanoid Form, her {Dragon's Spear Barrage} had the potential of stunning the boss for awhile. However, the rate was too low, and the boss only required 0.5 seconds to chant its spell. So, in order to interrupt the boss in time, she must stand in front of the boss and maintain in her Humanoid Form for 1 second before she can activate her {Dragon's Spear Barrage} to get the 10% rate of interrupting the boss’s chanting --- shifting forms would also cause the Skill Sets to enter the shared cool down period of 1 second. So, sacrificing the group’s damage output just to attempt to trigger the 10% rate in order to interrupt the boss’s chanting was not really worthwhile!
Zhang Yang was using his {Shield Wall} and {Last Vigor} in an orderly manner. If the {Frost Strike} struck and managed to stun the boss, then he would immediate use his [Spiritual Bandage] to heal himself up instead of attacking the boss. Although {Frost Strike} was not a guaranteed countermeasure, it could give him one chance to heal himself up. That was actually a good enough deal!
However, the recovery effect of {Shield Wall} was much lower than the healing effect of using the [Spiritual Bandage]. It was an unfortunate for Zhang Yang, as this is the special effect of the [Titan Chest Plate]. This chest plate is only a Level 80 equipment, currently 20 levels lower than the level of Zhang Yang. It was losing power drastically. Just like his previous [Dark Enigmatic Sword], when Zhang Yang reached Level 80, the efficiency of the sword’s special effect had begun to drop like hell.
Comparing to the rate of efficiency to when Zhang Yang was still below Level 100, the special effect of the [Titan Chest Plate] could heal Zhang Yang by 10% HP every time it kicked in. But now, the special effect of the chest plate could only heal Zhang Yang by 5% HP every time the effect kicks in. That was half of the effect gone!
The reduction in the efficiency of the special effect is a little too harsh!
Still, Zhang Yang took it in stride. If they did not make it so, such a powerful [Titan Chest Plate] could still be used, even if Zhang Yang reaches Level 3000!
Ting! Ting! Ting!
The [Sword of Purging Devourer} slammed into the boss again and again, as sparks sprinkled across the ground. It was as if the body of the boss had suddenly turned into some sort of titanium material. At the same time, terrifying numbers in green began to pop up on top of the boss with each passing second.
‘+312500!’
‘+312500!’
‘+312500!’
The boss had activated it’s {Petrifying} Skill! Fortunately, Zhang Yang had already struck the boss with his {Destructive Smash} and had reduced the healing capability of Aegolous by 75%! Or else, the boss would have healed iitselfby as much as 1,250,000 HP, every second! It would have been a disaster for Zhang Yang.
5 seconds later, the Skill was over, and the boss had healed itself by a total amount of 1,560,000 HP. That was an amount that Zhang Yang could still deal with. He could just treat it like an extension of the boss’s HP bar.
After Zhang Yang had activated every single life-saving skills of his for one cycle, he began to reduce his damage output on purpose, allowing the aggro value on Felice to exceed the aggro value on him. After a very brief moment, the boss had turned its attention towards Felice! Felice immediately descended down to the ground and transformed to her Humanoid Form as she activated her {Absolute Defense}. Then, she took over the role as Tanker for the boss battle.
Zhang Yang used another [Spiritual Bandage] and healed himself back to full health again. Then, he quickly went back up to the boss and began to attack the boss aggressively.
As the boss also had the ability to be airborne, Zhang Yang could not use his {Shadow of the Void} to clear out the aggro completely, as that is not a wise move to do so. As the damage of Felice was a little too aggressive and powerful, it was not possible for Zhang Yang to regain the aggro of the boss within two minutes. When Felice transforms herself back into her Dragonhawk Form and flies back into the air, the boss would pursue her and fly into the air as well. There is no way Zhang Yang can miraculously hook the aggro of the boss back onto him with Felice being the primary target of the boss! Felice might even be taken out while tanking the boss in that form!
Therefore, Zhang Yang needed to retain some aggro and wait for the duration of the {Absolute Defense} to be over before he actually resumes tanking.