Chapter 552: Full-Power Volley
In a relentless storm of thwacks and explosions, Marcus and his pets hammered Elder Eagle from every direction, catching the boss completely off guard. It was a relentless assault, but the old man was still a Level 70 Gold-tier boss.
The enormous level gap gave him a huge advantage, and if Marcus had been fighting an enemy anywhere near his own level, even a Gold-tier boss would have been crushed by now.
Even with crimson damage numbers constantly erupting above his head, Elder Eagle never lost his composure. He ignored the two Sea Demon Souls circling around him and paid little attention to the five Royal Sorcerers bombarding him from a distance. His sharp eyes remained fixed on Marcus alone: straight for the leader.
Years of battle had taught him that overwhelming the strongest summon meant nothing if the one controlling them remained alive. Kill the commander, and the rest of the formation would eventually fall apart on its own.
As a true Level 70 Boss, he understood exactly who the greatest threat was, and as long as Marcus stayed alive, the barrage would never stop.
Elder Eagle swung his sword over and over, launching razor-sharp feather blades toward Marcus while relentlessly trying to close the distance. All he needed was a single opening; once he got close enough to unleash Eagle’s Peck, the fight could end in one devastating combo.
Marcus had no intention of giving him that chance. He continued firing Mountain Fang Shot from his Twin-Winged Ice Owl Bow while guiding his mount around the swirling battlefield, always staying just out of reach. Normally, other classes couldn’t attack effectively while mounted, but Mountain Roarer was only his subclass; it never replaced the mounted combat abilities of his main Knight class, allowing him to fire his bow freely while riding. Combined with his mount’s impressive speed, he maintained a flawless hit-and-run strategy.
’Heh...’
Even though Elder Eagle was incredibly fast and agile, catching Marcus wasn’t happening anytime soon. At best, the boss could pursue him while firing Eagle Feathers, his single-target ranged attack.
Marcus was completely prepared for that: each hit only shaved off around 2,500 HP, and after drinking a Super Health Potion, his natural regeneration had climbed to 1,451 HP every second. The incoming damage barely had time to register before it was healed away.
’Ha...’ Marcus couldn’t help but grin; Elder Eagle had to be furious by now.
Still, a Level 70 Gold-tier boss wasn’t someone he could afford to underestimate. Marcus kept his mount moving without pause; the moment he slowed down, Elder Eagle would catch him, and even so, the boss was gradually shortening the distance between them. Only thirty feet remained.
After enduring the nonstop barrage, Elder Eagle’s health had finally dropped to around 250,000.
’Now.’ Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
This time, when he reached into his Diamond Quiver, he didn’t draw the usual diamond arrows. His fingers wrapped around five blazing crimson arrows instead: his Mythic Blazing Explosive Arrows, all five.
Behind Elder Eagle, Pebble quietly mirrored his movements, also preparing five Blazing Explosive Arrows.
Then Marcus did something completely unexpected: instead of continuing to retreat, he pulled sharply on the reins, bringing his mount to a sudden stop in the middle of the battlefield before turning to face Elder Eagle head-on, and there wasn’t the slightest trace of fear in his eyes.
"Oblivion!"
He activated the Blazing Explosive Arrows’ ultimate skill: Five Arrows Simultaneous.
Crimson flames burst from the arrows, surrounding Marcus in a blazing aura until he looked like a war god wrapped in fire, standing his ground against an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, and it was his first time using the skill.
The ice-blue Twin-Winged Ice Owl Bow hummed softly in his hands as its ethereal wings shimmered with a cold, brilliant glow. The icy radiance intertwined with the blazing crimson flames, creating a breathtaking contrast.
"He’s using his ultimate!"
The girls cried out in unison. Watching the blazing aura surround Marcus, they couldn’t hide the excitement and anticipation in their eyes.
Elder Eagle was only ten feet away.
"Blazing Explosive Arrow... Five Arrows Simultaneous!"
The skill reached its peak, and five blazing arrows burst from the bowstring together, streaking through the air like roaring fire dragons as they shot straight toward Elder Eagle.
BOOM! The first arrow struck, and the explosion thundered across the battlefield like a mountain collapsing, shaking the air itself.
A massive crimson damage number exploded above Elder Eagle’s head: -35,000, thirty-five thousand damage.
Every arrow fired by Five Arrows Simultaneous dealt four times its normal damage, gained an additional 800 points of fire damage, and enjoyed a 20% higher critical hit chance. Once an arrow landed as a critical hit, its destructive power became absolutely terrifying.
Before the flames from the first explosion had faded, the second, third, fourth, and fifth arrows slammed into Elder Eagle one after another, each impact accompanied by another deafening blast, and at the exact same moment, Pebble’s five arrows struck from behind, perfectly synchronized with Marcus’s attack.
Ten blazing arrows, ten violent explosions, and the battlefield disappeared beneath an endless sea of crimson fire.
The once-regal Elder Eagle, dressed in blue-and-gold robes and cloaked in dark energy, vanished inside the raging inferno, his figure swallowed completely as waves of fire roared into the sky.
His health bar plunged in enormous chunks.
Every critical hit dealt 35,000 damage. Between Marcus and Pebble, ten arrows had been fired in total, and if every one of them had landed as a critical hit, Elder Eagle’s entire 350,000 HP pool would have disappeared in a single devastating volley.
Unfortunately, reality wasn’t that generous; the huge level difference, combined with Elder Eagle’s exceptional agility, meant several arrows either failed to crit or lost part of their effectiveness. Even so, the combined volley still ripped away roughly 230,000 HP, and together with all the damage Marcus had dealt beforehand, the boss was left with barely more than 20,000 health remaining.
’Damn it.’
Marcus let out a disappointed sigh. So close, just a little more, and that single volley would have finished Elder Eagle off.