'They are not much of a threat at their current speed.'
Izroth observed the movements of the Bikrosh and realized that even a cloth-type user with poor agility would be able to outrun them. However, if they were anything like the merman he faced in the Sea Palace Graveyard dungeon, then their speed once the submerged underwater could not be looked down on. This was more so considering the unique set-up of their raid group.
Unlike Blue Oasis, who went with 2 tanks, 17 damage dealers, and 5 supporters, Izroth chose to go with 4 tanks, 12 damage dealers, and 8 supporters.
Usually, this type of line-up would be frowned upon; however, Izroth found this to be necessary to overcome the Sprite Dwellings—at least for the present members of Sleeping Gardenia.
Sleeping Gardenia's main force, the Lotus Guard led by Valkyria, had not accompanied Mariposa. Therefore, although the players she brought with her could be considered elites, they were not on the same level as the core members.
Not to mention, Mariposa journeyed to the raid with the intention of scouting. The safest method to scout dungeons and raids alike were with minimal damage dealers and an excess of tanks, as well as supporters. This was also the core reason behind Valkyria and the Lotus Guard's absence.
"Zi Yi, I will leave command of this battle in your hands." Izroth stated as he stayed unmoved from his position.
Zi Yi and the rest of the raid group were surprised by Izroth's sudden decision to hand over command. Did something unexpected happen?
"Alright, leave it to me. Do you have any requests?" Zi Yi responded. Even though she was surprised, it was only because Izroth's decision came out of seemingly nowhere.
"Nothing in particular. Just surviving until they are all out is good enough." Izroth answered.
Zi Yi gave a small nod as she quickly began to organize the raid group to face off against the Bikrosh.
"Everyone split into four groups! One tank, three damage dealers, and two supports per group! Each group will have to manage two gates! Tanks, your main goal will be safely grouping the monsters together. Once they are together, we will unleash every AOE skill at our disposal and try to take them out in one go!" Zi Yi commanded. She was aware that this would temporarily spread their forces thin; however, what choice did they have? The lack of overall damage dealers, along with the excess tanks and supporters, left this was their best course of action.
Of course, the absolute best course of action would be for Izroth to personally act with the skill he used to take down Ooudamu. If he used that, then these Bikrosh would become mere fodder mobs! But, she knew that there must have been some reason as to why Izroth chose not to do so.
The raid group followed Zi Yi's orders and paired up in groups of six. However, there was one group that only had five players and lacked a damage dealer. Zi Yi made up for this by putting two of the most reliable damage dealers together—Guan Yu and Mariposa. As for why this group lacked six players, it was due to the fact that Izroth had not moved from where he stood.
In truth, it would go much faster if Izroth joined in on the fight. However, there was a time limit to the Third State: Heavenly Arms. Although it was in a dormant state at the moment, the instant Izroth entered combat; it would become active.
Who knew what sort of dangers lay ahead? If possible, Izroth wanted to reserve his Third State: Heavenly Arms until they faced off against real threat. But, this did not mean that he planned to sit back and watch as the raid group fought.
With Zi Yi in command, the raid group engaged in an intense battle with the Bikrosh. At first, it was easy to manipulate the movement of the Bikrosh and overwhelm them with attacks due to their slow speed. But, as time passed and the water level in the colosseum rose half 0.5 meters, the raid group found their overall speed reduced. As for the Bikrosh, their movement had improved significantly! This made it increasingly challenging to maneuver as freely as before.
Furthermore, the raid group's inexperience started to become apparent as various mistakes were constantly being made. Zi Yi tried her best to give out commands and correct for the slip-ups that occurred, however, no matter how good her orders were, it was useless if those involved were incapable of carrying them out.
Zi Yi frowned at the clumsy actions of some of the raid members from Sleeping Gardenia. It was not as apparent in the fight against Ooudamu since that fight was set up to be well within their favor. But now, the lack of experience in a high stakes situation showed among the majority of the Sleeping Gardenia players. However, Zi Yi did not let this deter her.
"Luna, cover some of the healing for the party next to yours! Gege..." As Zi Yi gave out new orders, Izroth observed the gates closely—or to be more precise, the gemstones located above the gates.
'Every ten seconds, one of the gemstones loses its luster, and a fresh wave of Bikrosh exits the gates. This pattern seems unlikely to change. As for the two unique gemstones, could they have something to do with those two flames I sensed earlier?'
Back when Izroth his Energy Vision Sense after he first entered the colosseum, there were two flames that were much stronger than the others. But, what stood out was that while all the other red flames were identical in every way, the two unique flames were green and silver. The gemstones being the same exact color as the flames that showed up on his Energy Vision Sense—Izroth believed it was too much to write it off as a pure coincidence.
If those two unique flames were related to the gemstones above the eight gates, then it was likely that the final opponents that awaited them in this colosseum were not elite monsters—they were boss monsters!
One minute quickly passed by as the raid group struggled to hold off the Bikrosh, which now numbered in the fifties. They were able to kill off a few Bikrosh, but the more time passed, the stronger the sea creatures became as the water in the colosseum had risen to one meter!
Needless to say, the raid group had trouble merely staying alive—especially with the new hardcore effects that were introduced with each wave of Bikrosh.
The good news was that the tanks had succeeded in gathering the Bikrosh into a single area.
"Now, unleash all of your AOE skills! Don't hold back!" Zi Yi stated as she fired off an arrow into the air that split into two, then four, and then eight. In the end, hundreds of arrows rained down on the Bikrosh.
At the same time, every member of the raid group who possessed an AOE damage skill made their move.
"Blazing Tornado!"
"Dance of a Thousand Knives!"
"Raining Fists of Destruction!"
The raid group threw wave after wave of AOE skills at the grouped up Bikrosh. A blazing tornado swept through the sea monsters along with a storm of throwing knives and a barrage of countless fists. The individual damage was not great, but together, the raid group was able to kill off four of the Bikrosh and severely damage many of the others.
"That's it! Keep it up, everyone!" Zi Yi said in an encouraging tone. If they continued at this rate, then the Bikrosh would be wiped out after a few more waves of AOE skills!
But, just when things were going smoothly, the raid group received an alert that nearly made them curse the system.
〈System Alert: All Bikrosh will enter into an enraged state in 15 seconds!〉
"Fifteen seconds is not enough time." Zi Yi muttered to herself with furrowed brows. Taking everyone's cooldowns into account, it was impossible for them to deal with all the Bikrosh before they entered into an enraged state. Facing so many elite monsters that were enraged—Zi Yi understood that they could not allow this to happen!
Zi Yi glanced over in Izroth's direction. It had been a little over one minute and still had not made his move. He spoke of them surviving until "they" were all out. Yet, another ten seconds had just passed, and nothing left the eight gates. The green and silver gemstones were still lit up; however, all the red gemstones had long since gone dim. So, if Izroth was going to make his move, now should be the time to do so.
'It looks like they won't make a move until these things are out of the way. Though I suppose this works out in our favor.'
When Izroth saw that the green and silver gemstones remained unchanged after ten seconds had passed, without moving from where he stood, a great surge of mystical energy radiated from his location. At the same time, an overwhelming pressure descended upon the entire colosseum.
The members of the raid group could not help this pressure, but the Bikrosh, whose speed had reached new heights, was suddenly overwhelmed and forced back.
The sound of high-pitched pulsed clicks and whistles echoed throughout the colosseum. The noise resembled that of a colossal whale! It echoed twice before it came to an abrupt halt. By the time it ended, the Bikrosh, who initially numbered in the fifties, had their numbers to cut less than ten!
The raid group had yet to wrap their heads around what transpired since the attack came out of nowhere. In their eyes, the Bikrosh had poofed as their bodies were instantly shattered into countless particles. Was this supposed to happen? Since when did monsters with over 100,000 HP just turn to dust?!
It was not until they took a look at the battle logs that they comprehended the fate of the Bikrosh. But, it did not make any sense! In the battle logs, it said that the attack had come from Izroth; however, he had not taken one step from the spot he stood in!
Even more outrageous was the amount of damage it showed in the battle logs.
-100,000
-100,000
...
-100,000
A perfect 100,000 damage! How did he manage to do so much damage without lifting a single finger in the process?
Mariposa and the members of Sleeping Gardenia stared at Izroth as if he were a freak! Just how many more secrets and trump card level skills did this person have hidden? It was like peeling back one layer only to see two more undiscovered things!