“You’ve thoroughly enraged me.”
After his health bar plummeted past the 30% mark, Gilbert grew agitated.
An invisible surge of energy burst from his body, stirring the surrounding air and lifting him into the sky.
No one had ever expected this development.
For a moment, everyone froze, unsure of what to do.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, a calm and reliable voice always rose from the team.
“Frontline, hold your positions. Everyone who has shield-breaking skills, use them now. Those who don’t, save your strongest skills and keep pouring damage.”
Trusting Hill’s command without question, the team immediately complied.
The frontline continued pinning Gilbert in place, while most of the backline unleashed shield-piercing abilities.
Although such skills were rare at this stage, Gilbert’s arcane shield was already hanging by a thread.
With additional damage pouring in, it shattered in mere moments.
Gilbert paid no mind to his broken shield.
Instead, he drew forth another black crystal—this one far more sinister and bewitching than the last—and hurled it to the ground.
BOOM!
With a thunderous roar, dozens of monsters twisted by black light burrowed up from the earth.
Treants, flower demons, man-eating plants—every monster they had faced before was mixed in, and in far greater numbers than even the Fallen Treant Lord had summoned.
“So many monsters?!”
“Can we even hold them all?”
The frontline couldn’t help but feel shocked.
Then they saw Reese raise his shield high.
Golden light poured from it, forming a radiant wall that blocked the entire horde.
The barrier was several times thicker and wider than a normal paladin’s shield wall.
At the perfect moment, Hill’s voice rang out again.
“Let Reese take the main aggro. Everyone else, pull the monsters over there and focus on defense.”
Without hesitation, Shuiyan and the others drew some of the aggro and defended alongside Reese.
“These monsters are immortal. They’ll only vanish once Gilbert’s health is down.”
The backline was about to turn their fire on the surrounding adds, but after Hill’s explanation, they kept their focus locked on the airborne boss.
At the same time, they finally understood why Hill had them break the shield first—
Without the shield, Gilbert’s damage taken increases, but his defenses drop sharply.
So controlling the balance between his health and shield is also key, huh… Dolan silently thought.
Even with the frontline and Reese soaking most of the aggro, and Tina’s Forest Golem tanking a portion, plenty of monsters still threatened the backline.
That was when the team’s thieves—Nightwish and Evin—finally had their moment.
Neither complained.
After spending most of the run scouting traps, they rarely had a chance to shine.
They wanted to contribute.
Gilbert, floating helplessly in the air, was nothing less than a perfect sitting target despite being able to dodge frontline attacks and parries.
Under this full onslaught, his health plummeted.
Yet under Hill’s precise command, the team waited until his shield regenerated before finally dropping him below 10%.
As the arcane shield reformed, the surrounding monsters turned to ash and vanished.
The frontline’s pressure instantly vanished, but no one dared relax.
They stared fixedly at Gilbert as he descended back to the ground.
The familiar black orbs reappeared in his hands.
Without needing another word from Hill behind them, the frontline already understood.
They quickly reformed the same positioning as before.
Just like last time, they shared the six layers of Black Shackles and the lightning AoE damage.
But unlike before, the moment Shuiyan blocked the sixth orb, Hill instantly cast a group heal while simultaneously dispelling the shackle debuff from all three warriors and Reese completely.
Isn’t that a bit wasteful?
That was everyone’s first instinct.
But very quickly, they understood the purpose.
“Why… why are you doing this to me? I haven’t done anything wrong… why do all of you keep forcing me like this?!”
Gilbert violently coughed, bright red blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
He wiped it away with his hand, a decisive glint flashing in his eyes.
“I’ll drag all of you down to hell with me!”
As a long, complex incantation spilled from his lips, his body gradually turned transparent and ethereal.
At the same time, an explosive surge of energy rapidly gathered within him.
Reese and Tina’s expressions changed.
Reese immediately planted his feet, raising his great shield.
The golden light wall reappeared—even denser than before.
“Quick, everyone get behind me!”
“Listen to him. Frontline, open defensive stances and shield walls on the sides. Pile every defensive buff on Reese. Healers, keep him topped. Everyone else, full DPS on Gilbert.”
Hearing Hill say the same, no one hesitated.
They all rushed behind Reese.
The side tanks popped shield walls and defensive cooldowns.
Countless buffs stacked onto Reese as a storm of spells rained down on the distant Gilbert.
In the next instant, an explosive shockwave erupted from Gilbert’s body, continuously slamming into Reese’s defenses with terrifying destructive force.
It looked extremely dangerous.
Yet under the flood of blessings, paladin cooldowns, and priest healing, Reese’s health never dropped below two-fifths.
In stark contrast, Gilbert’s body was being torn apart under the relentless magical barrage.
“Eh… he’s dead.”
“It’s… finally over?”
The team felt a surreal haze settle over them.
This was Abyss difficulty, after all.
Even the major guilds were still struggling in Nightmare.
Yet they had just claimed the world-first Abyss clear.
Anyone would feel the same disbelief.
Only when a voice sounded beside them did they finally snap out of it.
“Haa… haa… we finally took care of that bastard.”
Reese was panting heavily.
Tina supported him from the side.
“Adventurers, I need to return and rest. It’s time we part ways here.”
“Goodbye, Mr. Reese, Miss Tina. Thank you for your help.”
Even though the dungeon was over and further dialogue held no practical reward, Hill still replied earnestly.
“No… ultimately, part of this was my responsibility too.”
Reese shook his head.
“And I was able to help Lord Alpha. Enough said. Let’s go, Tina. Farewell, adventurers.”
Only after the two figures vanished did the team finally erupt into wild cheers.