Chapter 124: Frenzy

Lin Jia, who had been waiting in anticipation for ages, finally saw the long-awaited Woma Cult Leader emerge. At first glance, the Cult Leader looked much like a Flame Woma, but it was significantly larger. While the Flame Woma was fiery red, the Cult Leader was a slate gray. Both possessed a pair of massive wings, but while the Flame Woma’s wings resembled chicken wings, the Cult Leader’s were a pair of menacing dragon wings.

The Cult Leader was incredibly fast. Two Taoists who had lured it over were shrieking as they were pummeled by the violent electrical discharges from the creature's palms. One Taoist was struck twice and dropped dead; the other, terrified, didn't even dare to use his spirit talismans and scrambled back behind the human wall to turn invisible, screaming, "Mages, blast it!"

The fallen Taoist cursed from the ground, "Damn it! One-shotted! It drained my health in one hit and finished me in two! Everyone, be careful! The Cult Leader’s attack power is way too high!"

They didn't need the reminder. All four mages, including Lin Jia, had already begun unleashing Lightning spells the moment they saw the boss. The Cult Leader, crackling with electricity, slowly approached the human wall in the corner, leaving the warrior meat shields terrified.

The deadly part was that as soon as the Taoists' group invisibility faded, the warriors were exposed. The enraged Cult Leader would instantly lock onto one and pummel them with electrical orbs, causing their health to plummet. Even the Taoists' healing spells couldn't keep up; the warriors had to chug gold-label health potions just to barely hang on.

The Cult Leader had massive health, high defense, and high magic resistance. Although the mages' Lightning spells were powerful, they had been blasting it for over two minutes, yet it still paced back and forth in front of them, roaring as if nothing had happened. The Taoists’ red and green poisons turned it back and forth like a chameleon. Lin Jia finally realized that only a small fraction of the mages' lightning was actually hitting the target; most missed due to the boss's rapid, small-scale movements.

In desperation, Lin Jia let go of his mouse to type, "Damn! It’s moving too fast! We can't hit it! Tell the Taoists to summon skeletons to drag it down!" But the remaining skeletons were currently serving as a defensive fence; it was impossible to dismantle the fortifications in such a dangerous situation.

"Little Shrimp" (Xiao Xia Mi) grew anxious and roared, "Screw it! I’ll go hold it still so it doesn't move! Mages, keep blasting! Taoists, focus all your heals on me!!!" With that, the only Level 28 warrior charged out. Just as he reached the boss, he unleashed a Slaying Sword Technique. He then stood his ground, hacking wildly with his massive "Purgatory" battle-axe. The Cult Leader, which had been shifting targets and moving erratically due to the four mages behind the wall, stopped in its tracks, roaring as it locked onto the warrior who dared to face it head-on. Once it stopped moving, the mages' accuracy improved significantly. The spectacle of four consecutive lightning bolts striking down looked like a continuous pillar of light descending into the dark underground palace, slamming relentlessly into the Cult Leader.

The healing light orb above Little Shrimp’s head looked like a bagel hovering over an angel, spinning non-stop. His health bar was likely struggling like a tug-of-war rope.

The mages' rapid-fire attacks provided enough hit-stun to give Little Shrimp a moment of relief; otherwise, even with all the Taoists healing him, he wouldn't have survived. However, the mages' attacks would occasionally draw the boss's attention away. It would abandon Little Shrimp and charge toward the skeleton fence, attempting to slaughter the squishy mages who were dealing the most damage.

In "Legend," monster aggro seemed to be calculated based on the players' damage output. Naturally, the four mages had the highest damage, but because they were hidden behind the skeleton fence, the Cult Leader couldn't reach them. It would frantically pace around, finding the closest target to pummel in frustration. With its constant, rapid movement, the mages struggled to aim again.

The warriors forming the human wall saw this and, with blood boiling, roared as they surged forward. One warrior shouted, "Brothers, let's charge together! Surround it! If there are enough of us, it won't know who to hit! Drink your potions and hold the line!!!"

And so, a spectacular scene unfolded in the corner of the hall. Eight warriors in heavy armor tightly surrounded the massive monster, hacking and slashing with their weapons. The trapped Cult Leader scrambled, hitting one person then another, completely disoriented by the players. Because the attacks weren't concentrated on one target, the Cult Leader struggled to kill anyone instantly. As long as they didn't die in one blow, the warriors could recover using their gold-label potions and the Taoists' healing, holding the Cult Leader captive in their human cage.

The surrounding Taoists weren't idle either. While their spirit talismans weren't as strong as the mages' lightning, they were still significant. Some were tasked with casting invisibility on the warriors to prevent pulling nearby mobs; others were dedicated to healing whoever the boss was attacking, while some took turns "beautifying" the boss with status-effect poisons.

The funniest was a female Taoist named "Bala Bala Guai Guai," who, while dodging and throwing talismans, found time to type, "If it's tough, think of Qiu Shaoyun; if it's painful, think of Dong Cunrui! Brothers, grit your teeth and hold on!"

Lin Jia almost burst out laughing. Seeing the Cult Leader losing its footing and sensing it was near death, he tightened his grip on the F1 hotkey for Lightning. On a whim, he dropped a Fire Wall at the boss's feet. It was weak, but every bit of damage counted!

However, to Lin Jia's surprise, the Cult Leader—which had been pinned by the warriors—anxiously paced twice after the fire appeared, roared, and suddenly "whooshed" and vanished!

Teleportation?

The players stared in confusion at the spot where the boss had disappeared. Could the Cult Leader use the Mages' Teleportation skill?

Just then, the vanished boss suddenly reappeared right in front of the mages' skeleton fence, frantically smashing the motionless skeletons!

Since the Taoists had joined the fray, no one had time to refresh the mages' invisibility. The Cult Leader, having teleported directly in front of the mages, naturally targeted the insidious players who had been sniping it from behind the white bone fence!

Level 0 skeletons were far too fragile. Before the players could react to the boss's sudden disappearance, the Cult Leader had already shattered one skeleton with a lightning strike and was beginning to wedge itself into the fence. The mages were terrified. The system prevented the use of Random Teleport Scrolls in the Woma Temple, the skeletons blocked their escape route, and the only exit was now plugged by the menacing Woma Cult Leader!

A moment ago, the players had been ganging up on the boss. Now, the boss was giving them a taste of their own medicine, trapping them like turtles in a jar! The mages were all blocked inside their own fortifications. The sudden turn of events threw the players into a panic. The warriors and Taoists outside rushed over in horror to help. But the Cult Leader, having found a target to vent its rage upon, ignored the players attacking it from behind and roared as it slaughtered the fragile mages inside the skeleton fence!

Lin Jia was lucky; he was positioned toward the back, with two mages in front of him. In the panic, none of the Taoists thought to release their skeletons to let the mages out. Lin Jia bellowed, "Boss! Release the skeletons!!!" Only then did the leader snap out of it, scrambling to press Ctrl+A to release his held skeletons. But to Lin Jia’s despair, the skeletons the leader released were not the ones in his corner.

Lin Jia could only watch as the mage in the opposite corner escaped through the gap. Lin Jia would have bet his life that the mage was trembling with excitement at his keyboard. His own hands were shaking so hard they barely obeyed his commands—whether from excitement or fear, his fingers were stiff, frantically mashing the keyboard. He chugged potions mindlessly, unable to even check if his health was dropping.

In desperation, Lin Jia smashed F8, trying to use "Repulsion" to push away the skeletons blocking him, but in the group-attack mode, his spells didn't affect his teammates' skeletons. He had to rush to press Ctrl+H to change his attack mode. In that split second of delay, the Cult Leader casually struck him. With a scream, Lin Jia’s health bar instantly bottomed out.

For that moment, Lin Jia felt his whole body go cold. The only thought in his mind was, "It's over!" But after hitting Lin Jia once, the Cult Leader actually turned to attack another mage beside him. Miraculously, Lin Jia still had a sliver of health left, nearly invisible. Having fallen from heaven to hell and crawled back out, he shivered, frantically popped two Sun Potions he had picked up from an earlier fight, hit Repulsion to clear the three skeletons blocking him, and bolted!

In the blink of an eye, two of the four mages, including Lin Jia, had been killed by the boss. Only the lucky mage and the escaped Lin Jia survived. The scene was chaotic; no one cared about forming a human wall anymore. Everyone seemed to have lost their minds, charging toward the Cult Leader. Even the Taoists forgot their roles, hacking at the boss with their "Demon-Slaying" swords.

The survivor, Lin Jia, was drenched in sweat, his hands and feet cold, his body stiff, and his ears ringing. He couldn't hear the shouting of his friends anymore. He only knew to dodge the nearby respawning Woma mobs and cast Lightning spells as fast as he could. At that moment, Lin Jia felt his reflexes reach their peak, as if he had—just like in the novels—reached a new level of enlightenment.

Amidst the players' frenzied attack, the Cult Leader suddenly roared, its speed surging. It began swinging its electrical discharges with the frantic pace of a fast-forwarded video, flashing toward the players surrounding it. The boss’s sudden mutation caught the players off guard, and in a blink, five or six of the remaining dozen players fell to the boss.

At this moment, Lin Jia, in that strange state of hyper-focus, nimbly steered his mouse, weaving through the Woma mobs around him, dashed toward the boss, and pressed the final Lightning spell! Then, Lin Jia saw his screen go black; he had fallen in the mob of monsters. Simultaneously, the Cult Leader in front of him let out one last long howl, collapsed, and exploded in a massive shower of loot. The chat box displayed a blood-red experience notification: 2500 experience points!