The Great Thief

The Boss was suspended in mid-air, and the tension silenced the battlefield. It was clear that the team would once again be annihilated.

“Oh, what’s this? I usually have to come out of my lair to scavenge for food, but it seems like this time, my food has come right to me,” Onyxia snickered in conceit.

The Princess of the Black Dragon flew up once again.

The team’s performance this time around wasn’t ideal. Most of them were dead on the ground; only a few manage to continue on.

All Lu Li needed to do was to observe the Boss. Under his command, the battle continued.

“Healers heal well. Stand together you two. Closer, closer… alright, that’s good,” Lu Li instructed.

The two players died immediately.

Lu Li felt no sense of remorse and instead nodded his head in satisfaction. After all, these two players sacrificed their lives to confirm his theory that damage dealt by the enemy could be spread amongst players.

By now, Onyxia was spitting fireballs at everyone. The fireballs revealed themselves to be another problem – each one dealt at least a thousand damage. The pressure on healers was high, but as long as they had taken care to regenerate their health, death was avoidable. The real damage done was by the spread of damage between players that stood too close to each other.

Onyxia’s damage output was consistent. If a player was hit multiple times and stood too close to another player, 2000-3000 HP would be gone instantly. It would be a miracle if they didn’t die.

“Spread out just a little more and focus on staying alive. I need to know what the Boss will do next.” Lu Li had no idea how far into the battle they would progress, but all he needed was to drag the fight out. After all, Onyxia couldn’t be flying forever.

“The mobs are coming!”

It was one problem after another, but Wandering’s warning did not come as a surprise. Lu Li had his eyes on the dragon eggs the whole time.

Above the team, the Boss was spitting fireballs, and below, the mobs were closing in. Could things get any worse?

Yes, they could. Two of Onyxia’s guards were summoned and began closing in on the players with the mobs.

“Breezy, to the left. Wandering, to the right. Contain the mobs and be mindful about keeping a safe distance between each other. Everyone else, to the sides,” Lu Li commanded.

With this number of mobs and Ruling Sword only having half of its members left, it was clear they wouldn’t be able to see the battle to the end. The good thing was, clearing out the mobs wasn’t necessary – all Lu Li needed was to observe the Boss’ actions.

Onyxia inhaled deeply.

The moment that Lu Li had been waiting for had finally arrived. It was possibly the rarest moment witnessed in the history of the battle against Onyxia.

‘Onyxia inhaled deeply’– this sentence had become the infamous quote in every Instance Dungeon guide that Lu Li had read.

Onyxia exhaled a blazing column of fire.

Before his own death, Lu Li had a glimpse of the damage he was taking – 3000 fire damage.

The attack was a critical and the already-halved number of members was instantly halved again. No players who took her attack at point-blank range survived.

Only half a day had passed, yet the team was already exhausted.

Lu Li had no choice but to let everyone rest while he and Wandering reviewed the recording of their battle and devised up with a strategy to overcome the second stage of the fight.

“Whatever this inhaling thing is, it seems to be a skill that requires some time to charge,” Wandering commented, never taking his eyes off the recording. “Is it possible for everyone who is facing her at point-blank range to run off when she tries to use that skill again?”

“That remains unclear, but we should come up with a backup plan,” Lu Li advised.

“What are you thinking?” Wandering asked.

“If this is an attack that can be dodged, then the odds are in our favour. If it’s not, then we shouldn’t run off mindlessly either.”

Lu Li reiterated the strategy guide in his head; he had to think like a player who had not experienced Rebirth when finding a tactic to win this battle.

“Why not? We should be focusing on maintaining as much manpower as we can,”

“Because the Boss doesn’t have specific targets, who knows who it’ll spit fire at? What do you think will happen when it targets a crowded area?” Lu Li responded rationally, to which everyone else nodded. It wasn’t rocket science, but those who were not cautious would have easily overlooked this point.

A skilful commander was integral to limiting the number of times the team was annihilated.

“So, what should we do?” Wandering asked, conceding his suggestion without the need for any further persuasion.

“We should spread out as much as possible. Be mindful of the direction the Dragon’s head is pointed at. Those who are about to be burned must use Fire Resistance Potions. Those with low health should either cast a Special Effect or use a potion – we can only power through it,” Lu Li replied. It was obvious that most teams who were wiped were all stuck on this stage. The first stage had its own difficulties, but with practice and experience, the team would be able to gain better control of the fight.

As the team continued to rest, Lu Li started rearranging the divisions.

A bunch of members were kicked off the team, and a new group came in. One Berserker was spared, but a Paladin was kicked off. Sakura Memories, who relied on close-combat to deal damage, was kicked off, and even Water Fairy was sent away.

Water Fairy was shocked; she didn’t expect Lu Li to ask her to leave.

“Close-combat players are not suited to fight this Boss,” Lu Li explained.

He was right – close-combat fighters were useless after the Boss started flying in the second stage. All they could do was fight off the mobs, but even then, they weren’t as efficient as the Mages nor the Warlocks.

“I’m sure there’s no need for that. Thieves are very useful during the first stage of battle after all.” Although Azure Sea Breeze always had a sharp tongue around Lu Li, he decided that he wouldn’t let Lu Li make a dumb mistake over a mere Instance Dungeon. Sure, the difficulty of the battle might increase, and so would the times that the team was wiped, but that was all there was to it. If Fairy sis became annoyed, Lu Li would be single for the rest of his life.

“Wait for me out there. We’ll have dinner together after I log off the game,” Lu Li said as he took a step forward, holding Water Fairy’s hand.

He wasn’t an idiot; his emotional intelligence had actually grown quite a bit recently. He obviously knew the consequences to kicking her out, but if he was to dismiss all the other close-combat players, and spared Water Fairy, what would the other players think of him?

With that being said, Water Fairy’s hands were so soft!

“Oh…um…yes, I will go do some quests in the meantime.”

The already speechless Water Fairy was now even more dumbfounded. They had only ever held hands in the public once, and that was on a busy street in the crowd, not like now, where everyone was looking at them.

What was with this situation?

They were still in the Instance Dungeon, surrounded by either top players of Ruling Sword or her two friends from Drizzle Court. With everyone’s eyes on their hands, even the usually carefree Water Fairy who was indifferent to the opinions of others wanted to run and hide.

How humiliating! She definitely wanted to punch him.