Chapter 549: Elder Eagle’s Counterattack
Marcus glanced toward the places where the undead sailors had fallen. None of them had respawned yet, though he had no intention of waiting around to find out when they would. The first group he had cleared would probably be back soon enough.
"Here we go." In an excellent mood, Marcus took off like the wind.
He first positioned the girls near the entrance to the Whirlpool Hall, close enough to receive experience but far enough away to stay out of danger. After that, he activated Wanderlust and placed a teleport point nearby.
Now that he had reached Level 50, Wanderlust allowed him to maintain five teleport locations at once. One was already permanently set at the Five-Leaf Goldgrass and Crystal-Tear Berry gathering site, while another remained inside the First Emperor’s Tomb. He still had unused teleport points, giving him more than enough flexibility.
"Heh..." Marcus flashed the girls a confident grin before leading Pebble, the two Sea Demon Souls, and all five Royal Sorcerers toward Elder Eagle.
He had learned his lesson during the fight with the Level 70 Gold-tier Blue-Eyed Sea Lion King. Back then, only he and Pebble had fought, and he had nearly been forced to consume his precious Ring of Resurrection. This time, he wasn’t taking unnecessary risks; every summon capable of contributing would be joining the battle. Besides, Elder Eagle was the key to reaching the treasure hidden within the Whirlpool Hall, so there was no reason to hold anything back.
When they were about fifty yards away, Marcus ordered the Sea Demon Souls and Royal Sorcerers to stop. He and Pebble refreshed every available buff, layers of enhancement magic flowing over their bodies as shimmering light wrapped around them. The Wraith Cloak’s Drifting Loiter effect lifted them about a yard above the ground, making them seem as though they were silently floating toward their prey.
Then they advanced, neither of them attacking immediately.
"Wraith Shadow." Marcus and Pebble swept their Wraith Cloaks through the air, and wisps of ghostly energy spiraled around them before both figures quietly disappeared, their bodies blending seamlessly into the surroundings as they drifted toward Elder Eagle and the undead guarding him.
They slipped past the wandering undead sailors without attracting a single glance, closing the distance until they were barely twenty yards from the boss.
Only then did they feel the invisible pressure of Mask of Fear, and a heavy chill settled over Marcus as every one of his attributes dropped by ten percent. Even so, Elder Eagle continued pacing among his followers, completely unaware that two invisible enemies had already entered his territory.
’Perfect.’ Marcus couldn’t hide his excitement. The plan was working exactly as he had hoped. As intimidating as Elder Eagle looked, his perception wasn’t nearly sharp enough to pierce the Wraith Cloak’s Mythic-grade stealth.
Even so, Marcus remained patient. He quietly waited for an entire minute until Wraith Shadow came off cooldown, and only after the skill became available again did he finally make his move.
"Now! Mountain Fang Shot!" Marcus and Pebble released three arrows each in rapid succession.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The six arrows shot straight toward Elder Eagle. Marcus deliberately held back his Blazing Explosive Arrows, wanting to test the boss first before committing one of his strongest attacks.
The instant they fired, Wraith Shadow ended, and their cloaks flickered back into view as the ghostly concealment dissolved.
Only then did Elder Eagle finally notice them. Unfortunately for him, it was already too late to dodge.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The diamond arrows struck his body one after another.
-1,500. -3,000. MISS. -1,500...
Marcus frowned; the damage was lower than expected. Only one arrow had landed a critical hit, and one had missed completely, which for someone with his accuracy was almost shocking.
’Damn.’ Elder Eagle truly lived up to his reputation.
Marcus wasn’t even fighting at full strength yet. He hadn’t activated powerful abilities like Corpse Demon Wraith, Dragon Soul Aegis, or The Ascendant’s Domain. Even so, the Twin-Winged Ice Owl Bow was still a Mythic weapon, and against most enemies, it should have produced far better results.
Before Marcus could launch another volley, Elder Eagle had already retaliated.
"Flying Eagle Sword!"
With a furious roar, the undead commander slashed his sword through the air, and a wide fan of blue sword energy burst outward, each blade resembling a sharpened eagle feather as it raced toward Marcus and Pebble. At the same time, Elder Eagle leaped effortlessly into the sky, demonstrating that aerial combat posed no difficulty for him whatsoever.
Fwish! The feather-like sword energy struck both of them.
-3,500.
-3,600.
Marcus grimaced as water-elemental energy wrapped around his body, reducing his movement speed by another ten percent.
This boss hit incredibly hard; the attack combined the cutting force of a swordsman’s blade with the destructive power of elemental magic. It was a fighting style Marcus had never encountered before.
What alarmed him even more was Elder Eagle’s speed: the boss crossed the battlefield in an instant, closing to within ten yards almost like a ghost.
At the same time, the surrounding undead sailors finally locked onto Marcus’s position, and several undead archers raised their bows, arrows already drawn and ready to fire.
Marcus had seen enough; without activating the Adamant Shield, there was no way he could trade blows with Elder Eagle head-on.
Time for the next phase. "Wraith Shadow!" Ghostly mist surged from the Wraith Cloaks, and Marcus and Pebble disappeared once more.
The surrounding undead immediately lost sight of them, looking around in confusion as their targets vanished.
Now came the real test: Marcus and Pebble deliberately split apart, circling in opposite directions while carefully watching Elder Eagle’s reaction.
’If he loses track of us, this fight is practically over.’ A smile crept across Marcus’s face. ’We’ll reveal ourselves just long enough to attack, disappear before he can retaliate, then repeat the process until he dies.’
It was an elegant strategy. Unfortunately, the system wasn’t that easy to fool.
Although Marcus had vanished from sight, Elder Eagle never truly lost track of him. The boss seemed to have locked onto his presence the moment combat began, and ignoring Pebble completely, he flew straight toward Marcus as though the stealth skill didn’t exist.
"Eagle Feathers!"
A razor-sharp feather of sword energy shot through the air and slammed into Marcus’s back.
Critical hit! -4,100! "Ugh!" Marcus staggered forward.
If several more attacks like that landed, he would be in real danger. Fortunately, he had already prepared for exactly this situation, and he called out, "Pebble! Keep him busy!"
Pebble immediately pursued Elder Eagle, firing Mountain Fang Shot again and again in an attempt to pull the boss’s attention away.
Marcus endured one more attack while waiting for the perfect opportunity. The instant Elder Eagle raised his sword for another strike, "Run for Your Life!"
The skill instantly forced him out of combat. Almost at the same moment, "Wanderlust!" A flash of light enveloped Marcus, the scenery blurred, and an instant later, he reappeared beside the teleport point outside the Whirlpool Hall.
Lily and FreshwindElara hurried over immediately, healing spells already forming in their hands as they restored his rapidly falling HP.
Marcus let out a slow breath. His first attempt had ended in failure, and Lily looked at him with concern.
"Marcus... it didn’t work?"
"Yeah." Marcus shook his head with a helpless smile. "Looks like the system already accounted for tricks like that. Once Elder Eagle enters combat, stealth alone isn’t enough to shake him off. If I want to beat him, I’ll have to bring out the Adamant Shield and fight him head-on."
Still, he wasn’t disappointed. He hadn’t tried that strategy because he feared fighting Elder Eagle directly; he had been experimenting.
Before reaching Level 50, he had gained an entirely new subclass, Mountain Roarer, along with new equipment and new skills. Before relying on them in life-or-death situations, he wanted to understand exactly how everything worked together and where the strongest synergies lay.
There was no better opponent to test against than a Level 70 Gold-tier boss that was almost certainly bound to the captain’s coffin and unable to pursue him beyond its territory. So Marcus had tested every possibility he could think of, searching for clever combinations and unconventional ways to gain the upper hand rather than relying solely on brute force.
After all, victory wasn’t decided by strength alone; the smartest fighter often walked away alive.