Chapter 720 Underground Dungeon (Part 6): Manipulating The Team's Morale
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The guards in the underground dungeon were getting slaughtered by Arthur and the others as they advanced forward.
With the composition of their team, this kind of raid was bound to be a walk in the park. Forget about the three top gods within their group, the skill level of other members accompanying them was high enough to be ranked at the top of any Ranker\'s List.
The group slaughtered their way towards the deepest part of the dungeon where the boss was located.
That floor was filled with guards that were looking out for any intruder that might dare to enter the huge metal gate behind them. And based on the auras that each of the guards were emitting, it was pretty obvious that this place was one of the locations that could buff the guards.
Shiella looked at the group of guards guarding the gate and tried to estimate their current battle prowess. Given that they killed quite a lot of guards just to get here, it was not a surprise for them if these guards reached the combat level of a powerful \'Royal Guards\'.
Not long after, Shiella clicked her tongue before informing the others. "Their current strength is almost comparable to Royal Guards."
"But it shouldn\'t be that much of a problem for us. After all, it is only comparable and not the real deal yet. Moreover, their current level is quite low, so we will not get suppressed by a \'Suppressing Aura\'," she added while turning her gaze to everyone.
The current level of those guards was only 160 at most. And since most of the members of their group were already approaching the level 150 mark, their average level shouldn\'t be that bad.
"What I am concerned about is the boss behind that metal door. We killed quite a lot of guards already, so its current strength should be at least double of its original," she said with a slight frown.
This time, Tinker nodded his head and quickly added. "Based on our analysis, this dungeon should be at least in Nightmare Difficulty. Or it may even be in Hell Difficulty. And if we go with how the system arranges things, the boss of this dungeon should be at least in General Rank."
The corner of Black Hammer\'s mouth suddenly twitched while commenting. "It is comparable to Emperor Rank Monster Boss."
"But its level shouldn\'t be that high," added Arthur with full confidence. And after a brief moment of pause, he turned to Shiella. "Its level should be around 175 at most based on the average level of the guards here."
Shiella nodded at him but quickly added. "But that is the original strength of the dungeon boss if we haven\'t killed a single guard. And now that we have slaughtered quite a lot of them and are about to slaughter more, its strength will obviously go higher."
"Worst case scenario, we are going to meet a boss that is comparable to a Level 200 Emperor Rank Monster Boss from the get-go," her tone was quite heavy this time as she could already imagine how troublesome this raid was going to be.
"Should we ask for more backup then?" asked Arthur as he frowned his eyebrows quite deeply.
But Shiella shook her head. "We can\'t do that. My business rivals are always keeping an eye on our firm\'s movements. Recalling these experts already attracted their attention, so if I summon more of them, those sly foxes will immediately notice our operation."
She then turned to Arthur with a sharp glare while asking. "Where are the other rascal and your other members?"
Arthur suddenly trembled when he heard that before replying stutteringly. "Ahm… they are currently doing another mission."
"Can they pause it for a moment and come over here?" asked Shiella with an even sharper tone.
Arthur gulped his saliva before answering. "I\'m afraid they can\'t. From what I\'ve heard, it is also somewhat related to our main quest."
"Tsk! We don\'t have a choice then!" said Shiella as her tone became solemn. "You better go all-out right off the bat when we enter that gate. Or else we are going to get wiped out in an instant."
"There is only a single Emperor Rank Monster Boss that is recorded in the official bestiary of the game. And it is taken down by the Titan Guild and Dragon Pavilion during their joint operation."
"It is a level 250 boss and it almost wiped out their 200-man elite expedition group. And they barely killed it after exhausting a lot of high-level scrolls that had a de-buffing effect."
The corner of everyone\'s mouth suddenly twitched when they heard those words. All of them had a single thought. – "That was definitely not good news." –
Then Shiella continued. "I already watched the battler recording and got a good grasp of how strong an Emperor Rank Monster boss is."
"When we enter, listen carefully to my words and follow them without any hesitation. A momentary lapse is definitely unforgivable, so I need your full concentration during the raid."
Her words were pretty heavy and put a lot of pressure on the other members that were going to join her at the raid. They knew that they couldn\'t afford to make even the tiniest of mistakes, or else they were going to risk the safety of everyone.
Well, aside from two people, Arthur and Leonard.
These two were smiling excitedly as they couldn\'t wait for the raid to start. Their eyes were burning with passion while their bodies seemed to be undergoing an adrenaline rush.
It had been a long time since they felt this feeling, this excitement for facing the unknown, and this pleasure of having the chance to fight to their heart\'s content.
These two gods could clearly feel their hunger for feeling this exhilaration again. This was the familiar feeling that they had when they first set their feet in this unfamiliar world!
This was what a real adventure truly meant!
Shiella would naturally sense the change from them given her current level. She was no way weaker than them, and since she was also on the same level as them, she definitely understood how they currently felt.
In fact, she purposely mentioned the information that she said earlier to arouse the sleeping battle spirit that these two had.
If she wanted to take down the dungeon boss waiting for them behind that door, then she really needed these two to unleash their full potential. And with these two \'beasts\' on her side, she at least had some insurance in this raid.
\'Too bad, one of my \'pets\' is missing,\' she thought to herself while thinking about the other guy who was not present.
If Arthur and Leonard heard those words from her, they were most likely going to cough out some blood due to anger.
Now that she had at least two power pieces on the board, Shiella didn\'t wait any longer and quickly ordered. "We are advancing but maintain the formation."
She paused for a moment and looked at the two and seemed to become disappointed at her words. Seeing that, she couldn\'t help but sigh a little and thought to herself. \'Tsk! This is really a double-edged sword.\'
\'But I can still use it to our advantage,\' she added inside her head before closing her eyes and acting to release a sigh once again. Then she waved her hand at them while saying as if she was being forced. "Fine, you do your own thing and heat up your engines."
Boom!
The two didn\'t even reply to her as they quickly kicked the ground and charged ahead, separating themselves from the group.
They were charging ahead as if they were a pair of wild beasts that were released from their cage.
First, Arthur shouted loudly, attracting all of the guards in front of them. And when he saw them charging at him, he quickly accelerated without any hesitation while also using one of his most powerful skills.
\'Class Fighting Style: Breaking Through of the Divine Dragon\'
Roar!
Arthur released a golden aura while charging forward before transforming it into a golden dragon. And the moment when he collided with the guards running towards him, the golden dragon already opened its mouth and devoured everyone on its path.
Hu~!
Arthur exhaled softly when his charge stopped before quickly spinning around while also swinging his spear at the same time.
Swoosh!
Right after he did that, the residual mana that was left from his previous attack quickly gathered together before revolving around him and creating a small tornado.
Roar!
Then they suddenly transformed into multiple dragons that seemed to be the smaller version of the one from the earlier attack. They coiled around Arthur and ground all of the guards surrounding him.
\'Class Fighting Style: Dance of the Nine Great Dragons\'
But despite the powerful attacks that Arthur did consecutively, there were still a lot of guards that survived the attack. They charged at him with their weapons in hand and seemed to be planning to gang up at him.
Unfortunately for them, their target suddenly leaped high up in the air, making them helpless in their current situation.
But that was not the end.
The moment they raised their heads to look at him, what they saw was a figure with a glowing crimson aura and was currently falling towards them like a meteor descending from the sky.
\'Class Fighting Style: Tyrant Destruction\'
Swoosh!
Boom!
The impact was so powerful that it created a lot of cracks on the ground and even sent a shockwave that sent all of the guards standing on it to float in the air for a brief moment.
They might suspend in the air for a very brief moment but it was more than enough for Leonard to execute his next move.
Right after he landed on the ground, he tightly gripped the battle-axe with both of his hands before swinging it in a very powerful manner.
Swoosh!
Then a very strong gust of wind suddenly appeared and circled around him before creating a cyclone that swept all of the guards that were currently floating in the air.
\'Class Fighting Style: Calamity Annihilation\'
Aside from Shiella and the two chiefs of the Hand of Midas, the other members of the group couldn\'t help but stare at the scene agape.
Even the other three members of the Empyrean Talons also had a hard time closing their mouths as this was their first time seeing the real strengths of these two peak gods of the game.
The first one to react was naturally Shiella.
She casually waved her hand and summoned a large group of spears made of ice above the group before sending all of them forward.
Each and every spear found a target and finished all of the guards that were still able to survive the attacks of the two.
And when the group saw how good her control and precision were, they couldn\'t help but gulp a mouthful of saliva as they suddenly regained some confidence about this rain.
Unknown to them, it was actually all according to Shiella\'s plan.
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