Hakkar’s landing spot was devastating. He bypassed the frontline completely, appearing directly in the backline and bringing his greatsword down on the stunned Kael.

  A thick, crimson number bled into the air above Kael’s head.

  -4109 (Critical Hit!)

  Kael’s health bar instantly emptied, leaving only a sliver. Hakkar raised his sword again, preparing for the finishing blow.

  Panic seized the party. Hazel was still over twenty yards away, too far to intervene in time.

  Just as the greatsword was about to fall, Hakkar suddenly spun around and swung at the empty space beside Kael—where a shambling zombie had just appeared.

  It was the summoned zombie from Kael's set, which had a one-minute cooldown. In the split second before the killing blow, Kael had mashed the hotkey and activated its skill: Taunt.

  [Taunt]: Forces an enemy unit to perform its next attack against you.

  While Hakkar was occupied with the zombie, Kael scrambled backward, desperately putting distance between himself and the boss. Lila and the other two women immediately formed a protective wall in front of him, though they didn't dare attack and draw aggro.

  By the time the zombie fell apart, Hazel had finally reached the boss. She immediately used two of her threat-generating abilities.

  [Challenging Roar]: Grants 1,000 Armor and forces all enemies within 10 yards to attack you for 5 seconds.

  [Shield Bash]: Slams the target for damage equal to your Armor value, generating a massive amount of threat.

  Forced to attack Hazel, Hakkar’s onslaught began.

  -1

  -1

  -1

  Even with his 1,510 base attack, Hakkar couldn’t get through the combined 2,300 armor Hazel now possessed.

  After the five seconds wore off, Hakkar didn’t attack right away. Instead, he raised his greatsword to the sky. A bolt of lightning arced down from the glass dome above, striking the blade. The gleaming steel was suddenly wreathed in crackling blue energy.

  He swung again, and two numbers appeared over Hazel’s head: one red, one blue.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  -522 (Physical)

  -330 (Magic)

  Hakkar was now a hybrid damage dealer. Hazel was in trouble. She was taking nearly 900 damage a second. Even with a new epic item she had equipped, Rena’s healing-per-second was only around 400. She couldn't keep up.

  “Starbloom, Curse of Weakness!” Kael yelled while loosing an arrow.

  “On it!” Starbloom had been hesitant after her debuffs failed against the robots, but on an organic target like the boss, they worked perfectly.

  [Curse of Weakness]: Target’s physical attack is reduced by 15%.

  [Mind Wrack]: Target’s magic attack is reduced by 15%.

  The boss’s physical damage dropped by 225, and its magic damage by 150. Hazel’s incoming damage was now a more manageable 500 per second. It was still more than Rena could heal, but with potions, Hazel could just barely stay alive—as long as the boss didn't use any other skills.

  Kael and Lila, of course, were not idle. Kael’s normal hits were landing for over 900, with crits exploding for nearly 5,000. His average DPS hovered above 2,000. Lila’s output, however, was less impressive against the boss's heavy armor. Her attacks only dealt five or six hundred damage, and even with skills like Whirlwind and Sundering Strike, her DPS barely reached 900.

  Against Hakkar’s 500,000 health pool, it would take them at least ten minutes to burn him down—and that was assuming he did nothing but basic attacks.

  Which, of course, was impossible.

  The moment the boss’s health hit 90%, the lightning on his sword vanished. Hakkar took a massive leap backward, landing ten yards away. He then coiled his legs and launched himself high into the air, sailing over the party’s heads.

  He’s doing it again! Kael thought.

  Sure enough, Hakkar landed in the backline, unleashing another party-wide stun. This time, however, Kael was ready.

  The moment Hakkar was airborne, Kael had already repositioned himself to the center of the group, leaving his freshly summoned zombie standing alone at the rear. When Hakkar landed, only the tiny zombie was there to greet him. The boss raised his greatsword high and brought it down with furious force.

  -1

  The little zombie had absorbed the blow. It was weak, its damage negligible, but its unique damage mitigation mechanic was the perfect counter.

  Having learned from the first time, the rest of the party quickly repositioned and focused their fire. Hakkar repeated his backline dive at 80% and 70% health, but each time they countered it with ease.

  Just as the boss's health was steadily dropping, Rena’s voice rang out in a panic. “Oh no, I’m almost OOM! My mana pots are still on cooldown!”

  “Starbloom, Life Tap!” Kael commanded instantly.

  “Right, I know!” Starbloom replied.

  Warlocks had two signature abilities: Life Drain, which siphoned health from an enemy, and Life Tap, which converted the caster’s own health into mana.

  Crucially, Starbloom could use Transfer Mana on an ally. This was the exact reason Kael had insisted on bringing a Warlock instead of a Mage.

  With a steady stream of mana flowing from Starbloom, Rena’s blue bar slowly began to recover.

  Twenty grueling minutes later, they finally pushed the boss to 10% health.

  Hakkar let out a final, furious roar and leaped into the air. Kael reflexively dropped a zombie and started to run forward. But this time, the boss didn't land. He simply hovered in mid-air.

  A gale force wind whipped through the dome. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked. Bolts of energy coursed through Hakkar’s body as he began to chant.

  “Master Van Tassel, grant me your power! Hakkar… TRANSFORM!”

  A blinding light erupted from the boss, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. When the light faded, a giant mecha floated where Hakkar had been. The transformed boss raised its right arm, which was now a missile launcher, and fired a projectile straight at Kael.

  “Son of a bitch,” Kael grumbled. “Why is it always me? Goddammit!”