The Lich's Master

Chapter 19: To Taunt a Boss

The boss kept wailing on Igna. His scythe moved quickly and decisively, forcing her to either back off constantly, or block his attacks and take chip damage every time.

If she had the chance to go on the offensive, Kyle was more than sure that she would deplete the boss’ health bar very quickly, but as things stood, she simply didn’t have that opportunity. Not while the boss was solely focused on her.

He glanced towards the entrance of the crater, could he leave at all? No, there it was, the rippling, misty effect in the air all around them. As usual, the boss arena would become sealed off once all players had entered, and it wouldn’t let anyone leave until either the boss, or the players were defeated.

Kyle gulped. He did not want to be left alone here with the boss. He needed to help her, and then hopefully get her to believe him.

Grasping the hilt of his blade tightly, he dashed to the armoured boss, and hit his back with all his strength. A ‘clang’ sounded as his blade bounced off, dealing not a smidge of damage. Yet, before he could even feel disappointed, the boss turned around with a swing of his scythe.

Kyle just barely ducked under the sharp, curved blade of the scythe.

“What the hell are you doing?” Igna asked wide eyed as the boss furiously attacked Kyle.

“Keeping it busy!” he replied in between blocking the scythe strikes. “Kill it before it kills me, then we’ll talk!” With every strike he blocked, he had to retreat a step or two. Every time their blades hit each other, the force of the boss’ strike hurt his arms.

Seeing Igna’s surprised expression turn into fiery confidence, Kyle felt just a tad bit better. He saw a sliver of hope of getting out of here alive.

Igna raised her blade over her head and whispered something inaudible. The white blade etched with flaming glyphs began to shine golden. As it glowed brighter and brighter, Kyle began to fear her attack. What if she intended to kill him and the boss at the same time?

His heart raced as he tried to keep an eye on her while also blocking the boss’ attacks. His arms began to feel heavy like lead, and he noticed himself dragging his feet a bit more. He felt tired. It wasn’t surprising, especially after running up the whole mountain, but now was one of the worst times to be exhausted!

“Light of the Sun God!” Igna’s shout startled both him, and the boss. The light radiating from her sword brightened so much that it looked like she was holding a ray of golden sunlight. Kyle’s eyes widened as she brought down her blade upon the boss. He drew a sharp breath, ignoring the approaching scythe and threw himself aside, out of her blade’s path.

He felt a sharp pain on his shoulder and heard his clothes tear as the scythe dug itself into his skin. A scream escaped his lips as the shock of actually feeling pain and the pain itself numbed his mind. Time seemed to slow for a while as he watched Igna’s blade of fiery light hit the boss’ back, draining nearly all of its health bar.

His vision blurred, then focused again. He felt another sharp pain as the scythe was pulled out of his wound. His gaze fixed on the health bar of the boss, and his name.

‘Orelon, Lord of the Beasts and Mountain, Summoner King of the Old World’

The Boss’ health bar depleted rather quickly under the seemingly unstoppable assault of Igna, but once about a quarter of his health was left, he leapt back, away from both her and Kyle.

“You are a skilled warrior!” His voice echoed as he raised his hand. “I shall show you the respect you deserve!”

While the line itself was somewhat cheesy, what it indicated was quite terrifying for Kyle.

“It has a second phase?!” Igna cried out. “Oh, come on!” She whined with annoyance in her voice. The boss raised his hand, and a loud shriek sounded in the distance.

“Kyle, get up!” Igna’s voice sounded. It rang in his ears, making the throbbing pain even worse. “I’ll need you to hold it-“ her voice was cut off by a sharp breath. “What the fuck?! You’re actually bleeding!” She exclaimed. “No way – you’re…” Her voice died down as she stepped back wide eyed. “He was right – you’re not a p-“

Kyle could hardly follow her words. Everything was happening too fast for his numbed mind.

“What?” He asked as he pushed himself up.

He then noticed why she had suddenly stopped speaking. She was locked in combat with a large eagle that the boss had summoned. She pushed the beast off of herself, then cut it in half in one quick strike.

“Sorry about this, I still need your help to kill this guy,” She pointed at the boss before running towards Kyle and pressing the flat side of her searing hot blade against his wound.

Another scream escaped Kyle’s lips as he felt his mind blur. “There, no more blood!” Igna forced a smile before turning to face the boss again. “Now get up,” She caught his arm and pulled him up on his feet. “Focus!” She shouted, realising his mind was still foggy.

The searing pain soon subsided, and Kyle regained his ability to think at normal speed. He grabbed his sword off the ground and gulped. His arms were shaking, and his entire body felt heavy and sluggish. “Keep his attention on yourself for like…” Igna hesitated. “Fifteen seconds?” She finally said as she cut another large eagle in half. “Can you do that?”

Kyle gulped. “I can try,” Was all he could say. He dragged his feet towards the boss, who was once again summoning something. “Hey!” he shouted. “Too scared to fight on your own that you call your pets?”

To be perfectly honest, Kyle didn’t expect the boss to even understand his words, let alone react to them. What he expected even less was for the boss to become enraged.

“You will pay for your insolence!” The boss shouted. “To me!” He called, then dashed at Kyle, his scythe in hand. Several shrieks sounded in the distance.