Noctis Noir

"Gaylord! Don't rush forward towards the enemy!"

"I can handle this!" He lunged his sword and used his skills one after the other.

Pio swallowed hard. Once the Lamia's health drops to 50%, it will summon a mob of water snakes. When it hits 30%, that's when it starts using the powerful area of effect skill, Poison Wave. The water property attack has a 40% chance of poison and a 20% chance of decreased movement in addition to its already highly damaging base attack. Without the proper equipment for defense, it was a sure one hit knockout.

Having fought Lamia before with Black Rose, Pio knew that the weakest point of Lamia's body was its tail end. Gaylord obviously did not know this, because he went straight for her head.

"It's no use. We have to rush in too if we want to keep Gaylord alive," said Lyngvi.

Pio frowned at the idea. "We can either split up so we can both help him and hit the tail or leave him and hope he survives on his own. All of us going front is too risky. Lamia's claws have a 50% chance of poison. I'd have to keep curing you and that will drain my mana points meant for healing."

"I'll keep Gaylord alive while you focus on the tail!" Lyria shouted.

"We'll leave it to you, Lyria!"

Pio and Lyngvi ran to the other side, situating themselves right at Lamia's tail. Pio cast Ebullience, making the ground underneath her and Lyngvi glow green. Lyngvi then activated his crusader skill, Holy Spike, striking holy damage right at the tail. The boss Lamia, which was busy fighting off Gaylord just a few seconds ago, immediately switched its attention to the crusader and the priestess attacking its tail.

"Tired of fighting me?" Gaylord flipped his hair. "Humph. I guess I'm too strong for you, huh?"

"Pio! Look out!" Lyria shouted.

Lamia used its tail like a whip, landing a direct hit at Pio. Her health dropped to a dangerously low 30 points. She was knocked unconscious.

"Pio my love!" Gaylord shouted with all his heart and soul.

"Pio!" Lyngvi cried. He braced himself for the next attack, casting Multi Defense just in case it was a hard one. He wanted to rush to Pio and heal her, but Lamia's attention was on him. If he were to go to where she was, they could both end up dead if Lamia suddenly decides to launch a powerful attack while he was in the middle of healing. He settled for the next best choice.

"Gaylord! Can you distract Lamia?" Lyngvi shouted.

"What? Me? You're the tank in this party! It's your job to keep its attention on you while we're attacking."

"I need to heal Pio."

"You? I'll do it. I shall rescue my beloved Pio and then she'll fall in love with me!"

"You don't have heal."

"I have tons of health potions in stock. Don't worry. I'll let her drink it mouth to mouth."

Lyria cringed at what Gaylord said. She prayed that he'd get knocked unconscious too, so Pio wouldn't have to be defiled by him.

By a stroke of luck, Lamia's attack meant for Lyngvi also hit Gaylord. He fell back and hit his head against a nearby pot, which rendered him unconscious. Lyria smiled at the event.

Lyngvi sighed. "Wonderful. I have two unconscious people."

"I'll run and heal Pio," Lyria said with determination.

"No, Lyria. You'll die in one hit. Just look what it did to Pio and Gaylord who are around forty levels ahead of you."

"I'll do my best not to get hit."

Lyria ran and dodged the magic attacks that rained down. Lyngvi continued to fight and distract Lamia, attempting to lead her away from where Pio was. Right when she was only a few meters away from Pio, a water bolt came flying towards her. She couldn't evade it in time.

Suddenly, the water bolt was countered by a fire bolt, which made it evaporate into thin air. Lyria stared in shock at the turn of events.

A lone mage casually walked through the large doors of the Lamia boss chamber. "I didn't think I'd bump into you here, pumpkin girl."

"Magnus!" Lyria exclaimed.

"Go heal her. I'll cover you."

Lyria nodded. "Thanks." She cast heal on Pio, restoring her to full health. "Pio, wake up."

There was still no response.

"Lyria, carry her and hurry to a safe area. Lamia's health is almost at 50%," Lyngvi warned.

Magnus stood in front of Lamia, casting the fire spell Crimson Rain. The damage was large enough to lower Lamia's health to 40%. Once the water snakes spawned, Magnus sniped every snake that tried to attack Lyria and Pio. The extent of Magnus' damage was unbelievable. Lyria was certain that he was one of the most powerful mages in Aries.

Lyria was certain that he was one of the most powerful mages in Aries

"Run all the way out of the room and stay there," said Magnus. "Even staying near the entrance is dangerous. The area of effect for Lamia's last skill is wide."

Lyria struggled to carry Pio to the doors. She was glad the unconscious priestess wasn't as heavy. "Almost there!"

Once Magnus killed every water snake in the room, he took a deep breath and prepared his strongest fire spell, Crimson Fire. He raised his staff, generating an enormous ball of flames in just a few seconds. He hurled it at Lamia, generating an explosion the moment it made contact with the boss. The shockwave almost made Lyria lose her balance, but she managed to continue running. Lamia's health was down to 5%.

"Mind if I take the last hit?" Lyngvi asked.

"Be my guest," Magnus replied.

"Thank you."

Lyngvi, too, prepared his strongest attack. He rarely used it because it used a lot of mana. He liked saving mana for healing emergencies. He activated Redemption, the crusader's ultimate attack. A giant glowing cross with white angel wings appeared right above Lamia. Once feathers started raining down from the sky, everyone standing near the area had their health points and mana replenished. Lyria thought it was beautiful. At Lyngvi's command, the giant cross plunged right into the Lamia, killing it instantly.

Once it was all over, Lyngvi dropped to the floor and laughed. "That was an interesting fight. Thanks for assisting us."

"No problem." Magnus turned to Lyria. "You ok, pumpkin girl?"

Lyria nodded as she continued to hold Pio in her arms. "Yeah. I'm fine, but Pio still isn't waking up."

Magnus noticed the fallen knight lying on the floor. He poked Gaylord using his staff. "This guy isn't waking up either, but it looks like he survived."

"You two know each other?" Lyngvi asked, surprised by their interaction.

"Lyria lives next door to my place in the real world."

"I see. So that's how it is." Lyngvi noticed some loot on the floor. "Hey. It dropped something."

Magnus picked it up and examined it. "Knight equipment. Level 60. I don't really need this."

"Me neither. I'm sure Gaylord already has better equipment than this."

Magnus waved the loot. "Want it, pumpkin girl? You can sell it."

"Is it ok for me to have it? I'll give it to my guildmate," said Lyria.

"Go ahead and take it. We don't really need this. I wish it dropped the rare crystals though." He threw the equipment to her.

She caught it with one hand. "Thank you!"

"Lyria?" Pio suddenly spoke with her eyes still closed.

Lyria immediately turned her head. "Pio! How are you feeling?"

"Did we kill it?"

"Yeah. We defeated it."

"Sorry. I wasn't able to help."

"Lyria saved you," Lyngvi said.

"You did? That must have been tough on you. Sorry for the trouble and thanks." Pio struggled to get up and stand on her own feet. Lyria tried to help her, but she shook her head. "I'm fine. I can stand on my own."

Magnus reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of red potion. He poured it on Gaylord's face to see if the fallen knight would wake up.

"What happened?" Gaylord's eyes flicked open.

"You missed all the action. Well, I did too," replied Pio.

The moment he heard his crush's voice, he immediately got up as if he never got knocked unconscious. "Pio my love! You are alright!"

"Let's end here for today. I think you should get some rest after that tough battle," Lyngvi suggested.

"Thanks for the party," Lyria said with a smile.

He smiled back. "No problem. I'm glad no one got killed."

"Me too."

Lyngvi turned to Gaylord. "Would you mind escorting Pio and Lyria out, Gaylord? Magnus and I are staying here for a bit longer."

"It's my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e!" Gaylord marched forward. "Come, ladies. I shall protect you from the monsters that dare lay a hand on you!"

The three of them followed Gaylord out of the dungeon. They managed to leave without any incident. Once out, they said their goodbyes and parted ways.