DCO- Dungeon Core Online

Chapter 31

The question about the blood around the Demonic Lamb was answered almost immediately. Ifrit, with his massive stride and 20foot size, was the first to get within range of the creature. As he did, the red swirling liquid lashed out, striking like snakes, and bit his form in multiple areas. The damage inflicted on the summon was minimal, but he was instantly hit with max stacks of Blood for the Blood god, which threatened to deal over 400 damage if it wasn’t cleansed in the next 5 seconds.

James quickly cleansed his summon, and channeled a haste buff into him a moment later, increasing his attack speed and granting him increased dodge chance. The Djinn, likewise, activated its own skills, its form becoming a spinning blur as it worked to strike at the lamb from various angles, constantly moving in an effort to avoid the strikes. The skill itself, James knew, gave Ifrit an increased dodge chance, which would stack with the buff he gave him.

Immediately after, James activated his Greater Seal of Solomon cooldown. It increased the Djinn’s size from twenty feet to thirty feet, and lasted a base of 25 seconds, with an additional 0.4 seconds per James’s level. With James at level 79, that meant the skill would be active for 56.4 seconds. While active, not including the increased size of Ifrit, the skill would enhance Ifrit’s stats and abilities by a base of 25%, with an additional 0.8% per level. That meant an increase of 85.2% to Ifrit for the next nearly minute, and also, per the skill, ensured Ifrit’s health couldn’t hit 0.

Essentially, it eliminated the need for James or anyone to focus healing on the off-tank, and allowed James to focus purely on increasing Ifrit’s damage output. The perfect skill for a burn fest.

James wasn’t the only one burning his cooldowns. Given the timer that was counting down from above the Demonic Lamb’s head, which showed a minute and thirteen seconds, they had a limited amount of time to try and kill the boss. Normally, if it were any other group, the plan would likely be to play it safe and jus try to survive for that length of time. Common gamer sense implied that type of a countdown, after an insta-kill summoning, usually meant the creature had a limited duration.

But not the Knights. Not James, and not Rue. Simply surviving wouldn’t be good enough. James smiled as he thought that. As he saw that very mentality playing out around him. It pushed his concerns aside and helped him solidify in his mind his plan moving forward was the right one. He couldn’t just sit back and let the government decide his, and everyone else’s fate. Even if their chance of success was unknown, it was better to try, to go down fighting, than just accept what was coming.

Resolve grew in James’s chest, and he felt a weight lift off his shoulders, one he hadn’t realized had settled so heavily on his heart and mind. He looked at Rue, his love, who was grinning from ear to ear, blood swirling around her as she cycled her own skills between healing, protection skills, cleanses, and DoT effects. Her talents really were wasted being stuck as purely a Dungeon Fairy. Rue belonged out here, with the adventurers. Perhaps after everything was said and done, they could spend more time adventuring with everyone.

Turk swooped down, dropping Badgy atop the Demonic Lamb. Ifrit’s increased attack speed and DPS meant he was solidly holding aggro, and the blood serpents around the special creature didn’t strike at Z’s animal companion.

Badgy roared and became a ferocious blur of his own, muscles sprouting around his form as he activated his own special skills. Badgy the Badgerker entered a blood rage, a cooldown that would ensure he too, for the duration of the skill, couldn’t die. It increased his attack speed, and gave him life steal for his attacks, as well as increased armor penetration. The skill didn’t last as long as James’s Seal of Solomon, but still, the fact Z’s companion could use such a powerful skill on its own, was impressive all the same.

Hornz, meanwhile, had surrounded itself with a putrid cloud of insects, and was standing near the Demonic Lamb, attempting to inflict a multitude of debuffs to the creature. It was a cooldown the tank mob had, and explained why the strange, towering humanoid creature with the antlers smelled so… foul.

Arrows rained down on the Demonic Lamb from Elm and Z, Elm’s flashing with brilliant lights and colors as his Cosmic Sniper class enhance and empowered every shot, cycling through elemental affinities and effects. Z’s, on the other hand, had the ability to apply a debuff to their target, increasing the damage his pets did to that target, with each consecutive hit.

Faust, meanwhile, was in the process of unleashing the extremely impressive, and destructive, power of nature. Winds swirled around the Demonic Lamb, ripping rock and stone with every twist, launching shrapnel at the creature, while lightning crackled and struck the creature from above.

And then, last, but certainly not least, was Oak. The freshly revived tank joined the fray immediately, leading with his Unique shield, keen on dishing out as much suffering as he could to the creature that had consumed his life to be pulled into the world.

The might of seven adventurers, along with four summoned companions, equaled that of a small raid party. With two proper tanks, an off tank, two healers, and a healthy range of both physical and magical DPS, it was a party that could, and should, strike fear in damn near everything close to their level.

At least… that was the theory.

As the Demonic Lamb’s health inched down, it suddenly flashed red at the fifty percent mark, before it greyed out. That, was the only warning they got, before the second stage of the fight, began.

Despite their levels. Despite their skills. Despite all of their preparation. They were… wool-fully unprepared for what the Demonic Lamb did next.