The Mages and Druids hence withdrew to fight the fire goblins nearby instead. With those creatures encircling towards them without end, things could become troublesome if they were not kept in check constantly.
But was Nie Fan’s damage alone enough for output?
Everyone in the party were doubtful.
On the other hand, Nie Fan was aware that doing that would expose his ability, but simply let it go. It was only by doing so that Phoenix Down Studios and Bloodbath Studios would value him!
Meanwhile Dancing Phoenix, Warsong and the others were retreating on every turn under the Swordtooth Nymph’s assault. They appeared to have almost reached their limit.
Bloodthirsty Vines!
In that very moment, a single red Vine grew out from the ground and bound the Swordtooth Nymph with a vice grip, while [-80] damage points appeared continuously over the creature’s head. It was also unable to move forward, which eased the pressure on Dancing Phoenix and Warsong’s group.
The Swordtooth Nymph was only able to break the Bloodthirsty Vine with three strikes from its log. On the other hand, the Bloodthirsty Vine had managed to hit it four times, dealing more than three hundred points of damage.
Was that a Vine spell?
The gamers from the two studios could not help glancing at each other—Nie Fan’s Bloodthirsty Vines had completely overturned their impression towards Vine spells, since most would only cause single digit’s worth of damage, showed not much endurance and would break in a single blow.
And right after his Bloodthirsty Vines was casted, Nie Fan unleashed a combo of Black Oil and Mini Fireball, hitting the Swordtooth Nymph five times at around sixty damage to claim another three hundred damage.
The gamers from the studios were speechless. That kid was abnormal—his attack alone was much more vicious than theirs put together!
There was a flash of bewilderment in Dancing Phoenix’s eyes as she looked at Nie Fan. His Vine spell must be a strengthened skill and had a high skill level, and it also appeared that Nie Fan majored in Plant-type. In addition, his skill levels with Black Oil and Mini Fireball must not be low either, and those two killer moves must have been forged with painstaking attention to detail.
Moreover, there was something strange about the Toxic Miasma which Dust had seen him use before. In short, Nie Fan had incredible ability, and it also seemed like he had even more trump cards he had yet to play.
Warsong also completely conceded to Nie Fan’s superiority as well. If his party had a member with such terrific output, there was no dungeon that would stand in his way—all they needed was to have the Warrior stand ahead to tank damage, and any ordinary Miniboss would be down after a few barrages of attacks. It was therefore a pity that his invites were declined by Nie Fan.
“Look at that. All of you put together wouldn’t match him.” Warsong stared at his party’s Mages and Druids unhappily.
All of them smiled bitterly.
‘Aren’t you not his match either, Boss?’ They thought, although they refrained from saying it.
Meanwhile, the Swordtooth Nymph’s HP kept dropping by the notches. Warsong and the others suddenly had the mistaken impression from that level of damage then, as if the creature was actually very weak. Nonetheless, they still understood that it was not the case: the Swordtooth Nymph wasn’t weak, but that guy in charge of damage output to the rear was insane.
Nie Fan’s attack left the Swordtooth Nymph roaring endlessly, all its focus concentrated solely on Nie Fan. Be that as it may, Dancing Phoenix and Warsong’s group were quite able to box it—they would keep switching positions so that even if the Swordtooth Nymph could move, it only moved very slowly.
Eventually the Swordtooth Nymph’s HP dropped to almost 30%.
“Watch out for its skills! Cleric, Holy Knights, keep an eye out and prepare for strengthened healing!” Nie Fan instructed in the party channel.
Hearing Nie Fan’s call, every Cleric and Holy Knight paid every focus they had, prepared to cast the finest healing spells they had.
At the same time, the Swordtooth Nymph bellowed at the skies. Its entire body became a bloody red and expanded greatly while it held its log over its head, and smashed it down heavily on the ground up front.
Dancing Phoenix and Warsong’s group quickly took a few steps back, afraid to take the blow head-on.
With a loud boom equal to a tremor, an enormous shockwave swept out.
Bang, bang, bang!
Nearby, Dancing Phoenix, Warsong and the others were almost sent flying by the shockwave, more than half their HP cut off. In fact, one of Phoenix Down’s Warriors was promptly instakilled due to her lower Defense, reduced to a streak of white light.
Soon, however, other streaks of white light fell upon everyone’s body, restoring their HP.
Meanwhile, the Swordtooth Nymph was rushing towards Nie Fan, wanting him dead very much. Dancing Phoenix, Warsong and the others tried to stand their ground to stop it, but were all sent flying.
Bloodthirsty Vines!
Nie Fan was quite calm despite seeing the oncoming beast. He had expected such a situation earlier.
A red Bloodthirsty Vine shot out from the ground and coiled tightly around the Swordtooth Nymph.
Bang, bang!
The Bloodthirsty Vine broke into pieces after the Swordtooth Nymph hit it viciously twice this time, but Nie Fan had already gotten far away.
“Stop it right now!” Warsong dashed up to meet it with Charge to intercept the Swordtooth Nymph, but before he even reached the monster, he was sent flying with a slap.
None of them could handle the Swordtooth Nymph in its Rampage mode.
“Don’t panic! Just do what you can to buy time—its Rampage last twenty seconds at best, just kill it after it goes out! Clerics, keep your distance!”
Nie Fan ran to a nearby clearing which was free from monsters, doing his best not to drag in any Clerics. They had quickly spread out at his call as well, whereas Dancing Phoenix, Warsong and the others kept charging at the Swordtooth Nymph to try holding it back, doing whatever they could as long as the monster did not come close to Nie Fan.
Time passed ever so slowly, but after twenty seconds—no more, no less, the Swordtooth Nymph’s body rapidly shrank to its original form.
Rampage over!
The party members were all delighted. Dancing Phoenix, Warsong, and the others soon managed to box in the Swordotooth Nymph once again, and Nie Fan resumed his output.
***
Faraway, Shadow Fiend and his gang saw everything happening while they cleared up the Fire Goblin hordes.
“Boss, Bloodbath Studios and Phoenix Down Studios are partying up to farm a Boss!”
Shadow Fiend frowned. Why would gamers from Bloodbath Studios and Phoenix Down Studios join up? He could not help feeling a little headache from that, since their partnership meant that Wandering Souls Studios would come under fire of two major studios.
“That Druid is so awesome. Looks like it’s the same Druid who took down Grievous Harm’s whole gang!”
At those words from his underling, Shadow Fiend took notice of Nie Fan at the center of it all then. Although there were so many players coming together to fight the Boss, only Nie Fan alone was in charge of damage output, and the sheer devastation from his attacks were only too astonishing! There’s no way he could be so powerful, even if he did have a full set of Copper-grade equipment!
He felt headache and melancholy right then, never imagining that he had provoked such a powerful top player. Nonetheless, he did not regret it since Wandering Souls earned a living through assassination missions, and crossing people was inevitable.
Anything could wait until they learned about the brat’s background. They could just give up if he proved untouchable since most players knew that Wandering Souls studios played for money and not personal connections.
In the end, it was just a mission. if Nie Fan wanted revenge, he should be looking for their client—the whole thing had nothing to do with them.
“Boss Shadow Fiend, should we head out to try stealing their loot?”
Shadow Fiend shook his head and said, “There’s no need to provoke them for now. We wouldn’t be able to handle two major studios even if we went.”