Guild Wars

Essence was first to go, in that he activated his enormous power. Green light filled the horizon as Essence's might filled the world, and condensed into a giant ball of energy.

"Go." Essence commanded simply while pointing a finger, causing the ball to rush forward and appear before the Kraken.

The ball hovered in place for a few seconds before doing something scary; it opened its mouth and bit a chunk of the Kraken's body away!

Like Kuromaru, an eye appeared on its body that was filled with joy as it made crunching and chewing sounds with the parts it bit off the Kraken, transforming those parts into pure Aurora Energy that increased the energy ball's overall size.

It then took another hefty bite and repeated the same process while Essence looked on with anticipation, wondering how much Aurora Energy he could harvest this time?

Ghostpro was still in the simulated Super Warrior 2 form that he copied from Kiran. He looked down lazily and wondered whether to switch off the transformation and use Orochi's natural power, but thought against it.

Just like Kiran, the Super Warrior form was a combination of bloodline and game power. It was arguably a peak state form, far stronger than if he used his raw bloodline to use any of Orochi's skills.

Besides all of Orochi's powers were available to him in this form anyway. He just liked using Ki and playing along with Kiran's nonsense because he felt sorry for the guy.

It was clear under that silent exterior of coldness was a little boy who wants to play but never really had friends to play with. So Ghost, understanding some of what that was like, decided to be his playmate.

Tsk, tsk, no wonder nowadays Kiran was filled with energy and happiness! He got a best friend!

Seeing that Kiran used a full power blast, Ghost shrugged and did the same, this time injecting more bloodline energy than Ki into it, After all, there was only so much Ki he could gather when he was in this form.

He only had these abilities when he used his Provisional Class skill and that lasted 3 hours. Even if he used the entire 3 hours to use the Martial Artist class 'cultivate' skill to gather Internal Force, all of it would dissipate when the Provisional Class skill elapsed.

He would then have to start again from scratch, which was obviously a waste of time.

As such, Ghost sighed and stretched a hand out. He placed his thumb into his palm while his four fingers were upright and his pose was domineering and majestic.

"Big Bang Blast!" He shouted lowly, as a giant purple ball of energy that looked like a universe was contained within formed at the front of his outstretched palm and then was fired downward.

When the blast connected with the Kraken's remaining body, which was only left with about 60% of its body mass, it destroyed another 10% and turned it into ash, leaving nothing behind.

By this point, there was only about 59% of the Kraken's total HP remaining. This bombardment alone had taken it down to almost half!

Hades was more direct than the others. His clothes warped into a dark mist that surrounded him, causing only a pair of red-colored eyes to be visible. A faint roar rang out that caused all energy-potent beings to tremble, especially Essence.

It felt like their natural predator was here!

Hades laughed cruelly as he flew downwards and entered the body of the Kraken through the holes created. Immediately, the core members were shocked to see the Kraken withering rapidly, its HP draining by 0.1% every minute!

The Showman looked at the crazed Hades and shook his head. He wondered how to deal with this foe when Eden poked his back.

"I know we could submerge the Kraken in a neverending illusion, but Money Lover, Bella, and Deployed have already controlled it firmly. We'd just be the icing on the cake." John Smith, The Showman, complained.

Eden rolled its eyes. "Let's use our new technique then."

The usually chill and inconspicuous John suddenly flashed with energy. His eyes gleamed with intrigue and his lips curled up to the side.

"Well then, let's put on a show! I hadn't thought of doing this today, but now is just as good a time as any!"

The Showman flung his black cape beside him and removed his magician's hat. He stuck his hand inside and rummaged around as if searching for something.

"Now tell me, Brother Eden, what do you think we'll pull out this time?" John asked with playfulness.

Eden was too excited about unleashing their new power to bother complaining and even played along.

"Hmm, Magician John, I think you'll pull out… a nuclear warhead!"

John smiled. "Ding, ding, ding, you my handsome serpent brother, are correct!"

He pulled out a live warhead that glowed with a noxious blue-yellow color. With a dramatic spin, john tossed the warhead down and squatted while covering his ears.

"TIMBERRR!!"

The core members who were physically close to the Kraken as well as the close-range attackers received a warning mentally from The Showman through Yui's mental network.

Those like Hades who could turn partially intangible didn't care, but those like Noble Soul and Slim Fatty who were close-range attackers without much in the way of defenses fled frantically.

BOOOOMMM!!!

John stood up in mid-air and did a bow to an invisible crowd while wiping a fake tear from his eye.

"If only my darling brothers Misery and AP were here to see this. Not to mention Boss Shadowheart too. They would be so happy!"

Krona Lord glanced askance at the Showman and rolled his eyes. The sea had been terribly ruptured from the continuous fill power attacks but this warhead directly evaporated most of it and caused a chasm.

Krona stood majestically and waved a hand. Immediately, the water churned and return to its previous place, also allowing the ruined body of the Kraken to float once more as if nothing happened.

He then folded his arms and refrained from attacking, glancing over at Omega who also did not make a move. The two shared a glance and smiled knowingly, watching the core members unleash their powers.

Xela also did not make any offensive moves. As the Inheritor of Nuwa, she was more of a healer, creator, and support. Not to mention her own predilection evolved towards helping others rather than harming.

She, like Hikari, was a clean slate pure soul who contributed 50% of the 'good' side of Umbra's moral compass.

Everyone else was either on the neutral or evil side.

Xela stood on standby ready to heal or save anyone who got hurt, though with these core members using so much power, it was unlikely.

This left the usually stoic Austin who spent most of his time since being rescued researching and developing things with Armonia. He hadn't even had time to pursue a Divine or otherwise class, still using the basic class provided to him by the game.

He simply shook his head and pointed upwards, releasing a huge gout of blood from his body that sprayed into the sky. The blood merged together and coalesced to form red mist-like clouds that hovered over the battlefield.

Immediately, the sound of thunder brewed and red-colored lightning crackled from the red clouds, snaking its way all over the mist. When the lighting became plentiful and profuse, it then condensed in the middle of the cloud before striking downwards with full force.

The beam struck the Kraken below and lanced off another chunk of its body, turning that into ash. Red Lightning wasn't called the Blood Burning Lighting for nothing.

It was the ultimate counter to all tanks or defensive entities that relied on organic-based defenses. If you had high HP regen, then say goodbye to that and your flesh, because Blood Burning Lightning took all of that away!

At this point, the Kraken had lost just about 50% of its HP. Another salvo by the core members should be able to take it down, but how could it be so easy?

To push a Rank 7 being this far, the core members could wank about it for generations to come, but this was the end of the show, especially since this particular Rank 7 was a World Boss!

If one remembered Draco's Avatar from the Inter-Player Tournament, they would understand why a World Boss was troublesome.

｢Vault of the Deep Unique Quest Announcement

Sub-Event: World Boss Raid

Raid Target: The Kraken

Raid Target Power: 50%

Raid Target Introduction: This is a powerful Sea Monster that was once the Divine General of the Leviathan. When Poseidon ruled the seas, he captured it as a war prisoner and forced it to defend his treasury, hoping that those who would inherit his riches would end its dog life after being imprisoned for many years.

Raid Difficulty: Hard.  (Easy - Normal - Hard - Nightmare - Hell - Impossible)

Raid Stage 1 - Tentacle Flurry (100% - 50% HP)

Description: Raid Target fights using only their tentacles for offense and defense.

Raid Stage 2 - Sea Monster's Fury (50% - 0% HP)

Description: Raid Target fights using its tentacles for defense only while using its water control abilities for offense and defense.｣

Unfortunately for the core members, and one thing all MMORPG gamers hated, whenever a world boss or a boss with stages changed stages, it would reset all its debuffs and return to normal.

The same was true for the Kraken as it shattered the Petrification of Money lover, and the various mind control from Bella and Deployed at once. It then roared and spread out a shockwave that sent all close combat players flying, even expelling the semi-tangible Hades who was feasting within.

Essence collected his Aurora Energy ball and harvested the energy, but his expression was ugly.

This was because the Kraken recovered 5% of its HP on the spot due to the delayed regeneration that both RamButt and Joker had cursed away using their power, causing the two fellows to spit blood from the backlash.

The core members began their salvo again, but it was not as fruitful as before, as the Kraken used its Sea Control Arts to block the various attacks. After all, the water here was infinite, so it would never run out of it to use, and its power at Rank 7 meant it could tank all their attacks.

At this point, Essence turned to Omega and Krona with a questioning glance. While fighting, he noticed these two had not made a move and had hidden their power. As it for a moment like this?

However, omega and krona shook their heads and pointed at Draco. When Essence looked over, his heart skipped a beat because the three had condensed their energy to perfection and opened their eyes, glancing down at the Kraken coldly.

They were ready to end its dog life!