Chapter 216 Just in time
[Ding!... Warning! Severe mental exhaustion detected! For safety reasons, you will be forcibly disconnected in 5... 4 ...]
At the same time that Nangong Lei was in trouble, an announcement from the system that was his savior but also represented his defeat, humiliation, and the hatred he would receive from all over China rang in his ears.
His savior because Nangong Lei knew better than anyone that if he did not retreat or escape, the Purple Wings Baroth would end his life as soon as it came out of its stunned state. As for escaping? Nangong Lei could barely stand up properly after staggering several times and almost falling to the ground; where was he going to get the strength and speed needed to run? It was impossible.
The main problem was that there was no player present who could hold the boss for more than a few seconds without being killed. Nangong Lei knew perfectly well that even though the nearby NPCs had moved far away from the place they could still be reached by the Purple Wings Baroth considering the movement speed the boss had.
Unfortunately, there was not much he could do about it. As much as he had the will to die, often times, will was not enough to fight against the reality.
[You have been disconnected.]
The nearby players were stupefied. All they saw was Nangong Lei disappear in a flash of white light and the place where he had been just a second ago was now empty. However, none of them could understand what had happened.
No player believed that Nangong Lei had decided to run away from the battle, after all, every player knew very well that once a battle started, players could not teleport or disconnect unless they were at a certain distance from the enemy; moreover, Nangong Lei disappeared in only five seconds, while to disconnect or teleport, a player needed ten seconds.
Roar!
Purple Wings Baroth, who had been stunned after being hit by Nangong Lei, finally came back to its senses. The beast let out a roar full of fury when it saw that the enemy that had humiliated it for so long and beaten it so many times had disappeared right in front of its own eyes.
Filled with rage, the boss ran towards the players and started a massacre.
The players attacked and defended themselves. Arrows and magic spells hit the body of the beast, the sword of the warriors, and the shields of the shield guardians hit the tough skin of the monster. However, the level difference was too great.
-1... -1... -1... Miss... -1... Miss... Miss
Only the fire spells or the archers' Fire Arrow skill managed to inflict a certain amount of damage thanks to the Baroth's weakness. But even then, the damage was not enough to end the boss's life.
-20... -26... -34... -19
In a very short time, more than a thousand players were killed by the Purple Wings Baroth. But they all continued to throw their lives away as if they were worthless; because they all knew that they had the benefit of reviving again, unlike the NPCs. They all preferred to lose a level and not risk the lives of NPCs important to the progress of each other and the country as a whole.
Although just barely, the Purple Wings Baroth was a beast approaching Immortal grade; due to this, the monster possessed some reasoning ability. After fighting for about a minute, the Baroth realized that at this rate, no matter how strong it was, it would die.
Tens of thousands of players had enclosed it in a large circle and thousands of magic spells and arrows were hitting its body from time to time. The boss's health bar had already been drained to 88,733 health points by Nangong Lei; but after being hit so many times, the Purple Wings Baroth's health dropped to approximately 52,000 health points.
Suddenly, the attack pattern and behavior of the beast changed.
Instead of attacking all nearby targets without moving, the Purple Wings Baroth began to jump back and forth through the crowd of players while shaking its claws, biting, or shooting bolts of lightning from its body.
As the beast caused chaos, players could only watch helplessly as over 90% of the attacks that worked failed to hit the boss's body due to its constant movement.
After killing over 4,000 players using mass control attacks along with individual attacks, the boss broke through the blockade that held it back and began to run at full speed into the city.
The players screamed in panic and gave chase. Those with horses were few in number, but they all mounted and chased the beast in the hope of stopping it. Unfortunately, the distance between them and the Purple Wings Baroth only grew larger and larger with each passing second.
As the boss was running rampant inside the city, it suddenly saw a little girl and an old man moving away from the battle zone. Because the girl was too small and the old man was too old, the speed at which they were moving was very slow. Because of this, the boss managed to catch up with them.
Purple Wings Baroth's eyes lit up as if it had finally spotted its prey and without hesitation rushed towards them.
Seeing such a beast running with the intention of devouring them alive, the little girl's eyes were filled with terror and her movements froze. On the other hand, although the old man who accompanied her was also scared, he did not hesitate for a moment to step forward and use his body as a shield to protect the little girl who was probably his only family member.
The Purple Wing Baroth jumped up high with its mouth wide open, its eyes shining with delight as if it could feel the pleasure of biting its victims. On the other hand, the world seemed to slow down in the eyes of the old man and the girl; they could see the large fangs protruding from the beast's mouth as well as its sharp teeth.
The players chasing behind screamed in alarm when they saw the scene. They all recognized the old man; it was the owner of the potion store! Precisely because they recognized him and knew the importance of the NPC, 50,000 players were positioned near the old man's house!
That's why the players were able to react so quickly and hold Purple Wings Baroth for so long. But now, one of the most important NPCs was about to be devoured without them being able to do anything!
Wooosh!
Just when the monster's mouth was a meter away and the two NPCs were waiting for death. Just as the players were terrified, the sound of a sharp object piercing the wind and moving at bone-chilling speeds blasted in their ears.
Purple Wings Baroth felt it too and, while still in the air, glanced out of the corner of its eye towards the source of the sound. In the pupils of the beast was reflected the sharp tip of a red object rapidly approaching.
Bang!
Roar!
Purple Wings Baroth's body was pierced by the sharp object and the beast roared in pain. Its body was pulled away from the two NPCs it had almost devoured and flew several meters before hitting a house.
BOOM!
The house was almost completely destroyed and the monster's body was buried under a pile of rubble.
All the players who were still running towards the place, the old man and the girl looked wide-eyed at the cloud of dust that covered the place where the beast had fallen.
-20.008
-20.008
-20.008
Three completely identical red-damaged figures left the dust cloud covering the disaster and slowly ascended into the sky. The players' mouths opened wide.
When the dust cloud dispersed completely, everyone saw how the body of Purple Wings Baroth had been pierced by a crimson spear, and its body was nailed to a wall as if it was a home decoration.
"This..."
"That spear isn't...?"
"The triple damage..."
The players began to mutter to each other. But even then, they did not forget to surround the old man and the girl out of caution.
The sound of a horse galloping at full speed soon entered the players' ears. Looking towards the place from where the spear had been launched, they all saw a flash of red and black. The silhouette was moving so fast that in a second everyone lost track of it and, when they looked back at the dead beast, they saw a person casually picking up the crimson spear and a reddish horse beside him.
Naturally, this person was Xie Feng.
'For god's sake, one second late and things would have gotten messy...'
Although Xie Feng looked very relaxed on the surface, he was sweating bullets under the mask covering his face. At the same time that he was glad to arrive on time, he was also cursing Nangong Lei.
'Fortunately that idiot weakened the boss a lot, otherwise it would have been a problem...' Xie Feng sighed in relief.
Earlier, as he approached the place, he saw the strange tiger approaching the two NPCs and Xie Feng had no choice but to use one of the two strongest skills he possessed.
Wind Calamity.
Although Xie Feng felt that it was a shame because now he could no again use Wind Calamity against the final boss, he had no other choice. Even with his movement speed being boosted by Mu Wuying's blessing, Xie Feng could not make it in time before the beast ended the lives of the two NPCs.