With a single move, the Sea Serpent King had crippled three of the twenty attacking ships, killing all twenty players aboard each ship. In addition, five other advanced speedboats would crumble if they received one more hit, while two Bronze Speedboats had suffered relatively significant damage.
The Freedom Alliance members were stunned.
"So, this is a King-class Sea Monster?" Passing Monarch's expression darkened as he looked at the Sea Serpent King. "Change of plans! Tank it with the Tier 3 summoned creatures! Everyone else, attack the Boss!"
The Sea Serpent King was far stronger than he had initially expected.
As the Serpent King shrugged off the threefold magic array's effects, the Great Lord would annihilate them all if it used that large-scale destructive Skill a few more times.
The longer they dragged this battle out, the more unfavorable the situation became for them. Hence, they had no choice but to use their trump card.
As soon as Passing Monarch gave the command, the Level 42 Summoner beside him took out a Tier 3 Summoning Scroll and activated it.
The astute Sea Serpent King abruptly turned its head towards Passing Monarch's Bronze Speedboat, a glimmer of ridicule and disdain flashing in its golden eyes. It swiped its massive tail at the speedboat.
The Great Lord's attack had a wide range and was extremely fast, making it impossible for the speedboat to evade in time.
Seeing this, Passing Monarch shouted in panic, "Activate the Strongest Defense!"
Suddenly, a light blue magic barrier formed around the Bronze Speedboat. At the same time, the ship's five MTs activated their Lifesaving Skills and moved forward to receive the descending tail.
Boom!
The collision created a tidal wave, climbing over a dozen meters into the sky, and sent the Bronze Speedboat flying over 30 yards away. As for the five Level 41 and Level 42 MTs, they had been smashed into the deck, their HPs decreasing by 50%. As for the Bronze Speedboat's condition, it fared slightly better as it only lost 34 out of its 400 Durability.
"It's too strong!"
The players maintaining the magic array could not help but shudder when they saw this. This was definitely the strongest sea monster they had ever faced.
That was a Bronze Speedboat they were talking about!
Despite Passing Monarch's speedboat having activated its defensive magic array and five MTs sharing some of the damage, the Bronze Speedboat had lost so much Durability from one of the Sea Serpent King's normal attacks. If it an advanced speedboat had received the attack, the speedboat would've lost at least half its Durability...
However, these players weren't ready to give up.
They still had a trump card they hadn't used yet.
As the Sea Serpent King's attack came to an end, an over-twenty-meter-tall leopard appeared on the water's surface. The leopard was entirely blue and arcs of electricity wrapped around its body. This was none other than the Tier 3 summoned creature Thundercloud Leopard.
Although they were currently out at sea, the Thundercloud Leopard was one of the few summoned creatures that could fly. It might not be as strong as other Tier 3 summoned creatures, but its flight granted it a considerable advantage over sea monsters.
This was also why Passing Monarch was confident enough to challenge the Sea Serpent King.
"All speedboats, distance yourselves from the Boss! Attack with your cannons only!" Passing Monarch commanded.
At the end of the day, players' attack range was limited to 40 yards. Even with the aid of certain special tools, they could, at most, extend their attack range to 50 yards. To colossal sea monsters like the Sea Serpent King, 50 yards was nothing. However, speedboats were different. Even normal cannons had a range of over 500 yards. Even a King-class Sea Monster would have difficulty reaching targets at such a distance.
As long as the Thundercloud Leopard tanked, the Boss should not target enemies that were too far away. Even if it did, with such a long distance, they would have more than enough time to defend themselves.
As time passed, the battle proceeded according to Passing Monarch's plans.
Although the Thundercloud Leopard's attacks were not particularly powerful, the summoned creature dealt around -20,000 damage with each attack. That was more than enough to hold the Sea Serpent King's aggro. Meanwhile, when the Serpent King attacked, the Thundercloud Leopard easily dodged thanks to its flight ability. As both sides were Tier 3 Great Lords, the Thundercloud Leopard was faster than its opponent, which allowed it to kite the Serpent King while the speedboats attacked the Boss.
The cannons dealt far more damage than the Thundercloud Leopard, each attack dealing over -70,000 damage. The Bronze Speedboats were even more impressive, dealing over -110,000 damage with each hit. If special ammunition were used, each attack could deal over -150,000 damage. Unfortunately, special ammunition was very expensive.
Even the most common Flame Shell cost 70 Silver Coins per round. There was also the more expensive Thunderbolt Shell, which cost 1 Gold, 50 Silver and was considerably more effective against sea monsters.
With how high these shell's prices were, if the monster didn't yield anything valuable upon death, they would suffer a major loss.
Moreover, sea monsters could block cannon fire, which would drastically reduce the damage they received. It would be fortunate if the attack even dealt 10% of its original damage.
Meanwhile, because the Freedom Alliance was occupied with the Sea Serpent King, they disregarded cost as they barraged the Great Lord with Thunderbolt Shells.
"Quick! Attack faster!"
Passing Monarch's heart began to beat wildly when he noticed that the Sea Serpent King only had 15% of its HP remaining.
They were now in a contest of speed against the Sea Serpent King. Their operation might fail if they failed to kill the Great Lord before the Thundercloud Leopard died.
As the Sea Serpent King's HP neared 10%, its pitch-black scales turned crimson. Tornadoes then began to twist down from the sky, one after another, plunging the sea zone into chaos. This sudden development hindered the Thundercloud Leopard's movements. As a result, one of the Serpent King's attacks struck, its HP falling by over 500,000 on the spot…
More tornadoes descended, moving towards the surrounding speedboats.
To make matters worse, the Sea Serpent King had stopped paying attention to the Thundercloud Leopard. Rather, it turned and sped towards the nearby speedboats.
Although the targeted speedboats saw the Sea Serpent King approach, the Great Lord moved as if it were unaffected by the magic array's suppression. It was frighteningly fast, and in the blink of an eye, it arrived before an advanced speedboat. Lashing out with its tail, the Great Lord struck the speedboat twice. Instantly, a considerably valuable advanced speedboat shattered and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. None of the crew survived.
As for the Thundercloud Leopard, although it tried to pin the Sea Serpent King down again, it stood no chance against the sea monster at all now that the King-class Boss had regained its full strength. As soon as the Thundercloud Leopard closed in on the Serpent King, the Boss sent it flying with an attack. The summoned creature couldn't stop the Serpent King for even a second.
"All ships, stop maintaining the magic array and attack the Boss!" Passing Monarch commanded.
It was obvious that the threefold magic array was no longer effective. They had to rely on sacrifice to whittle down the Sea Serpent King.
Boom… Boom… Boom…
A series of blasts rang out. Among them, the tornadoes blocked the majority of the attacks, while the Serpent King dodged. Only a small number of cannonballs actually hit the Serpent King. However, the balls only dealt around -100,000 or so damage.
"Roar!"
The Sea Serpent King widened its jaws once more, gathering even more Mana in its mouth than before.
"Dodge! Everyone, dodge!" Passing Monarch's expression darkened significantly when he saw the frightening amount of Mana gathering in the Sea Serpent King's mouth. He then turned to look at a Level 42 female Elementalist beside him and said, "Joy, use the strongest defensive Spell you have!"
Even without Passing Monarch's command, the female Elementalist named Blue Joy had retrieved a blue Magic Scroll from her bag. This Magic Scroll contained the Tier 2 Defensive Spell, Purple Flame Shield.
As a massive purple barrier formed around Passing Monarch's speedboat, the Sea Serpent King launched an attack.
The Great Lord fired a red beam from its mouth, the beam leaving behind a massive chasm as it sliced through the water's surface. It looked as if the beam had split the sea in half.
In the blink of an eye, over 60% of the 100-plus speedboats sank, with the remaining having suffered heavy damage. Only the four Bronze Speedboats that had used Defensive Magic Scrolls remained intact as they only lost around 40 Durability. As for the crews, each player lost over 20,000 HP.
What a strong Attack Power! Shi Feng was startled by the Sea Serpent King's attack. Fortunately, his speedboat was over 800 yards away from the Great Lord, not within range of the attack.
When Shi Feng saw that the Sea Serpent King only had 1% HP remaining, he fell into deep thought.
An opportunity had shown itself. If he missed it, he would regret it for a long time.
Shi Feng aimed the Swift Dragon Speedboat's Dragon Cannon at the Sea Serpent King and fired.