The Lava Giant’s Final Stand

When the BOSS’s health plummeted to 40%, it predictably unleashed its third skill.

With a furious roar, the BOSS stomped its foot heavily, sending an invisible shockwave rippling outwards. Simultaneously, it summoned two elite minions once more.

“Ding! You have been affected by the Lava Giant’s Shockwave skill and are stunned for 3 seconds.”

Not only Lin Shenyue, but all four other players were inevitably affected by the stun.

However, Lin Shenyue, having prepared in advance, had already cast a Holy Light Blessing on herself. Though it couldn’t completely negate the shockwave’s effect, it significantly weakened it, reducing her stun duration to only two seconds.

Moreover, the BOSS’s aggro typically became chaotic during skill activation. If it were to attack Lin Shenyue in these few crucial seconds, the party would undoubtedly face a wipe.

The healer’s role in a team was undeniably paramount. As soon as Lin Shenyue recovered from her stun, she fought down a wave of nausea and swiftly cast an Area Heal on everyone. Concurrently, she applied a single-target Heal and a Healing Touch to Xu Linglong, who bore the brunt of the BOSS’s attacks.

Once all her skills entered cooldown, Lin Shenyue began to chant on the spot, activating Prayer.

Though Prayer’s single-target healing wasn’t as potent as other skills, and its area-of-effect healing didn’t instantly restore as much health as Area Heal, its strength lay in its continuous health regeneration. This skill proved invaluable during a healing skill cooldown vacuum.

In fact, Lin Shenyue still had seven skill points unspent. In contrast, Ye Jue had decisively invested all his skill points into Block.

Each skill point reduced the Block cooldown by one second. When the Block skill reached Level 10, its cooldown would become a terrifying one second.

Of course, Ye Jue hadn’t reached Level 10 yet. Even so, he could achieve a full damage block every four seconds. Ye Jue knew this was due to the game company’s initial oversight, perhaps not fully grasping the impact of a short-cooldown Block on players.

With a short-cooldown Block, Lin Shenyue could heal with relative ease, maintaining a healthy mana pool and preventing any subsequent shortages.

With all of Lin Shenyue’s healing skills active, even Divine Wind, who was tanking one of the elite monsters, maintained healthy HP. As for Xu Linglong’s health, though it dipped dangerously, it never reached a fatal level.

The other elite monster randomly targeted Ye Jue. Given his defensive capabilities, he could sustain his health simply by receiving some area-of-effect healing skills.

After successfully navigating the BOSS’s 40% health phase, Ye Jue instructed Lin Shenyue to relax. There was no need to remain constantly tense, even if a mistake occurred.

When the BOSS’s health reached 20%, it directly summoned four elite minions. Fortunately, the only one enduring attacks from two monsters was Ye Jue, and he barely managed to hold on with his formidable abilities.

The BOSS, meanwhile, shifted its focus to attack Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze, and Lin Shenyue also found herself under assault from one of the minions. However, Lin Shenyue had already cast Holy Light Blessing on herself, and the party prioritized focusing fire on the minion attacking her.

Even with Lin Shenyue’s healing output far surpassing others, she nearly failed to keep everyone alive at this critical juncture. After all, she needed to heal Ye Jue, as well as Divine Wind and Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze. Moreover, she had to prioritize healing Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze.

Thankfully, Divine Wind’s positioning was excellent; his high agility meant he took fewer hits. Even so, after the first minion was slain, Ye Jue’s health had dropped to half, and Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze’s health fluctuated wildly, constantly on the verge of death.

Divine Wind kited one minion away, while Embracing the Moon, Clear Breeze, ensuring careful positioning, also began to maximize his damage output on the other two minions. The BOSS’s aggro remained chaotic until the elite minions were cleared.

After a grueling ten minutes spent clearing the minions, the party finally refocused their efforts on the BOSS.

As the BOSS’s health continued to fall, Ye Jue’s expression grew increasingly solemn. He understood the BOSS’s final burst phase intimately, which was why he had instructed Lin Shenyue to save her Invincibility skill.

When the BOSS’s health dropped to its final 5%, or 17,500 HP, it erupted in a direct burst of power. Its attacks now carried additional fire damage, and its attack speed drastically increased, from once every three seconds to once every two seconds.

Under such relentless assault, even Ye Jue’s health plummeted uncontrollably. After Lin Shenyue expended her first round of healing skills, her abilities entered a cooldown vacuum. Although Ye Jue could block 15% of the damage with each successful block, the additional fire damage caused his health to drop relentlessly.

If his Block skill hadn’t been leveled to 7, allowing him to completely block physical damage every four seconds, he would have collapsed long ago. The other damage dealers desperately poured out their attacks, as the BOSS’s aggro was now fully concentrated on Ye Jue.

With all of Lin Shenyue’s skills on cooldown, and after Ye Jue used Block once more, she precisely timed her Invincibility skill just before the BOSS’s next attack.

After the Invincibility skill ended, Lin Shenyue used her continuous recovery skills during those few seconds to bring Ye Jue’s health back up, allowing him to barely endure another ten seconds.

The BOSS’s health dwindled to 10,000, and once again, Ye Jue’s health entered a critical state. Lin Shenyue had no choice but to use an equipment skill she had only activated once before: Sanctuary. Of course, when using this skill, Lin Shenyue moved a few steps closer to the party’s center to ensure Ye Jue was within its protective radius.

Sanctuary successfully blocked two of the BOSS’s attacks. Between these two attacks, Ye Jue also perfectly timed another Block, deflecting one BOSS attack before it even hit the barrier. This allowed Lin Shenyue’s two skills to recover, granting Ye Jue another ten seconds against the BOSS.

When the BOSS’s health dropped to 5,000, Ye Jue’s health again plunged into crisis, but Lin Shenyue was now powerless to help him. Ye Jue could only reluctantly activate his Divine Realm mode.

By the time Ye Jue was forcibly ejected from Divine Realm due to prolonged usage, the BOSS’s health had fallen to 1,000 points. However, with Ye Jue’s empowered state gone, he was quickly reduced to critical health. Fortunately, Lin Shenyue’s Holy Light Barrier cooled down at the crucial moment, saving Ye Jue’s life.

Everyone held their breath as they watched the BOSS shatter the Holy Light Barrier and strike Ye Jue, instantly reducing his health to a mere 87 points. Yet, just as the BOSS prepared its next punch, the team collaboratively brought its health down to zero.

With a deafening crash, the Lava Giant disintegrated, crumbling into a pile of stones. Thankfully, Ye Jue had anticipated this, using a Charge to dash away from the epicenter. Had he been crushed by falling rocks instead of being killed by the BOSS, Divine Wind and the others would surely have teased him for the rest of his life.