295 Engaged against the First World Boss

[BONUS]

The HELL?!

Although Leonel expected that he would be used as a shield, being thrown between the jaws of a World Boss and a mighty blast from a powerful NPC wasn't exactly his idea of going into his grave.

He was supposed to defend his comrades against attacks and shield them from harm as they killed the Boss with their wit and prowess. Who knew that his entrance was this short? Not even a minute after they engaged the Boss and he was dead.

Leave it to Ren for sacrificing his best friend for the sake of his goals. Leonel thought. Without his skill [Last Stance], he would have died.

Despite surviving the mighty blast, he wasn't able to escape the Ooze Colossus's mighty [Bite] that soon followed. He was yet to say his piece when he burst into particles.

[Leonel has DIED!]

A notification flashed on Ren and the others faces.

[Because you're currently engaged with a World Boss, Leonel's respawn time is set to one month until your group is wiped out or until the World Boss is defeated.]

"Men! Gather your weapons and rain attacks upon that pest!" The generals roared while the Princess was recovering and waiting for her skills to cool down.

But the main reason why the Princess halted her attack was to approach Ren's group and confront them.

"You! Why did you get in my way? I could have finished it with that one strike!" She thundered at Ren and the others.

[Your relationship level with ???? has decreased!]

Fun fact about the Princess, she was as arrogant as she was strong. Prideful as she was confident. She didn't like it if someone got in her way and she didn't took kindly to anyone pointing her faults. Unlike her sisters and the other royalties, she was far from being ladylike, so this was inevitable.

"Sorry about that," Ren said and thought, 'We can't just let you kill it and claim the [Monarch Sovereignty].'

However, now that they were engaged with the Boss earlier than Ren expected, the danger of being wiped out had increased. But for the sake of getting that scepter, he must think of a way to prolong the Boss' life and get the last kill somehow.

"We just wanted to help you defeat the boss," Ren told the Princess.

The Princess emitted an oppressive aura. If she could kill players on a whim, she would have killed them on the spot. Good thing that wouldn't happen unless their relationship level with her turned from [Strangers] to [Ruffian]. One smack on the face from her gauntlet-covered hand would surely kill them in one strike at their current ATP.

The Princess scoffed. "You would've been much of a help if you stayed out of my way."

Without sparing another glance at Ren and his group, the Princess dashed toward the Colossus once more.

"What are we going to do?" Evie asked Ren. They were still at a safe distance from the battle, but they couldn't disengage now. Jibblinplip might not go after them if they didn't attack it, but the Colossus would. Not to mention the barrage of magical and physical attacks they had to avoid while closing in for the kill. One hit from those, and they were a goner.

But they couldn't go back now. They were already in the middle of all the fighting and the system was preventing them from going too far from Jibblinplip and the Colossus.

"We lost our tank early on," Ragnar added. "Tell me you have a plan in this situation."

Before Ren could open his mouth, another blast of magical attacks headed their way.

"Incoming!"

The three of them broke and leaped away from each other just in time when a searing beam of hot lava scorched the earth from where they had stood a while ago.

"Lorelai wouldn't be able to use her skills for now. She already used them, and they have long cool downs." Ren shouted while leaping from side to side, avoiding the incoming arrows and bolts of thunder and flame.

"She will only use normal attacks. Just concentrate your [Butterfly of Deceit] and [Phantasmal Distortion] on her when she's about to use any of her skills. Remember the cooldown?"

If NPCs could attack the players, the same could be said about players attacking NPCs. Just make sure to be ready to face their wrath afterward, though.

Ren wouldn't have gone through all this trouble if only he had released Pii. Both Jibblinplip and the Colossus could've been slain within a minute. Maybe he could even earn a bonus reward for slaying a World Boss in such a short amount of time.

However, this was World Conqueror's fight. Ren wanted everyone to see his face after he killed the Colossus and Jibblinplip and gained enormous rewards for succeeding.

Amidst the chaos, Evie managed to reply with a nod. There was a good ten-meter distance between her and Ren because the steady streams of attacks kept them far apart. Ren had given them Princess Lorelai's information before. Evie already had memorized the cooldown of all her skills and spells.

"Leave it to me!" she shouted back at him, but the clouds of dust and smoke made it impossible to see him. After the dust somehow settled, she looked for Ren, but he was no longer in his position from before.

Worry dried Evie's throat. The only thing keeping her from searching for Ren was the absence of a notification of his death. She was assured somehow that he was fine.

"Let's go. Don't worry about him. His stat is way higher than ours." Ragnar helped Evie to her feet. His main job was to make sure that Evie was alive, so she could use her spells against the NPCs, stopping them from killing the Colossus when its HP turned low.

While his second job was to make sure that no one else kited the Boss. A job which he found beyond his level since he was only one against hundreds of guilds.

Ren really knew how to slave a person.

The only advantage they had was that they were small in numbers and could easily sneak from here and there.

And that was precisely what they did.

While the chaos was raging, no one noticed two players sneaking into the ranks of the Kingdoms' armies' mages. It was the safest location, and barriers and shields would even protect them.

Meanwhile, on Ren's side, he used [Teleport] to get away from the Colossus when it used [Bite]. He was just a hair's width short of being Engulfed. Its range was huge, especially since he was like an ant compared to it.

It wouldn't be long for the Colossus's HP to drop to the hundreds. Princess Lorelai's tempered body might be immune to all Status Effects, but Evie's spells weren't status effects anyway. This was the beauty of a Blue Mage. Although they were weak at first, once they leveled their ATP, their spells would become unstoppable to the point that even a [Priestess] couldn't dispel them.

Ren bet that Evie would be able to stop the Princess as well as some of the Kingdom's Armies from finishing the Colossus long enough for him to kill the giant Ooze and get the scepter.

Or Plan B could also work if Plan A failed. Whatever works in their current situation.