The next instant, Victor appeared beside one of the Abyssal Chain Wardens and pierced it through the chest.
"GRAAAAAHHH—!!!"
The monster let out a ferocious roar before it died.
Victor didn't waste even a fraction of a second before launching his attack on the other monsters as well, but they instantly split up in all directions.
"Keep using scrolls!" the hooded young man shouted immediately, while the two shield-bearing tanks stood firmly in place.
The four remaining Abyssal Chain Wardens roared in fury as they reacted instantly.
"RAAAAAHHH—!!!"
Chains erupted from the void in all directions, spreading across the battlefield like a net, aiming to immobilize everyone at once.
"Not happening."
"Try getting through us first."
Darius and Holt slammed their shields into the ground.
A radiant light descended upon them as they activated their provocation skills.
"[Divine Taunt: Bastion's Call]!"
"[Oath of the Unyielding Wall]!"
A powerful wave of aggro force spread outward.
Meanwhile, Victor had already butchered the second Abyssal Chain Warden by cutting its head off cleanly and slashed his sword forward in the same motion toward the third one.
Clank Clank Clank
But the moment he swung his sword, red chains appeared out of nowhere from all directions and spread like a net, the same move the other monsters were using to attack his teammates, Victor knows this skill.
"[Binding Edict]!"
"Tsk…"
Victor grew more frustrated at the way the monster stalled for time while backing off with a creepy smile on its face.
Clank Clank Clank
The other four monsters, meanwhile, completely locked their eyes onto the two shield holders as they continued blocking their attacks.
That gave a perfect opening for the rear members to take out their scrolls and launch another barrage of attacks.
"[Solar Flare Rupture]"
"[Tempest Cataclysm]"
"[Glacial Prison]"
"[Frost Spike Barrage]"
Not only attack spells this time, there were also crowd control spells mixed into the barrage, catching the four monsters off guard as the attacks landed endlessly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground shook again and again.
The attacks they used now were far stronger than before.
"GHHRAAA—?!! Krrrhhh…!"
The impact even drew the attention of the monster that was fighting Victor, creating a perfect opening.
'Now!'
With explosive force, Victor's body shot forward at the speed of an arrow. A sonic boom echoed as he closed the distance instantly, his sword piercing through the monster in one clean motion, killing it instantly.
At the same moment the monster died, the golden flames on his blade flickered and vanished.
His entire body returned to normal as he dropped to one knee, gasping heavily.
"Huff… Haaa…."
[Your team has slain Abyssal Chain Warden…]
[Gained 90 Life Essence, Reinforced Chain Core x5, Warden Armor Plate x2]
[Your team has slain Abyssal Chain Warden…]
[Gained 90 Life Essence, Void Reflection Crystal x5, Warden Armor Plate x3]
[Your team has slain Abyssal Chain Warden…]
[Gained 90 Life Essence, Reinforced Chain Core x5, Skill Scroll – Binding Edict x1]…
Victor let out a small, relaxed smile only after hearing five consecutive messages appear one after another.
Including the three he had slain himself, which were far off from the rest of the group, his teammates had also taken down the remaining four monsters, completely eliminating all the Abyssal Chain Wardens.
The Life Essence they received was divided several times based on contribution.
Even so, the portion Victor received was plenty compared to the others.
Just like Victor, Darius and Holt also fell to their knees, breathing heavily.
Sweat dripped down their faces, their arms trembling faintly from the continuous strain.
Holding back multiple elite monsters for that long had clearly taken its toll.
"We killed them all…"
Darius let out a rough breath, resting the edge of his shield against the ground.
Holt gave a tired chuckle.
"This is the fastest we've ever cleared this phase."
From the rear, a voice rang out toward the three exhausted figures.
"You three look completely drained."
The middle-aged archer who had spoken to Victor before they entered the dungeon stepped forward, a grin on his face as he looked at their worn-out states.
"Seriously… you used up all your energy without holding anything back…"
Victor glanced at him briefly before letting out a faint, satisfied smile.
Not only the archer, but the rest of the team also grinned widely as they celebrated clearing the phase.
Since the team had three healer-type professions, each of them cast their healing and restoration skills on the three frontline fighters.
Within a few seconds, color returned to their faces.
"…Everyone did their part well."
Victor's voice was calm and steady despite his heavy breathing.
"Now, we only have to deal with the boss… The rest is in your hands."
His gaze fell on the members who had relied solely on skill scrolls until now.
Unlike the three of them, the others hadn't used their own abilities throughout the fight, so they remained in perfect condition.
Everyone smiled and nodded.
"Heh, do you think we didn't know what to do?"
"Leave the rest to us."
"We'll take care of the boss."
"We'll shower it with everything we've got and kill it before the time limit."
Victor felt genuinely reassured hearing his teammates.
His gaze fixed toward the direction of the boss.
There was a reason why Victor had brought mostly mage and priest-type professionals, despite the elite monsters in this dungeon having skills that could reflect spiritual attacks back at the caster.
Up until now, the dungeon had given the impression that it heavily countered mages and long-range attackers, while favoring melee combat.
But the boss monster was completely different from the rest.
The boss had extremely high resistance against physical attacks, while possessing weak resistance against long-range spells, spiritual attacks and debuffs.
Moreover, melee fighters couldn't even get close once it began attacking.
Not only that, each of its attacks carried a passive effect that ignored physical defense entirely, forcing the team to rely on magical barriers instead.
Because of this tricky setup, many who entered this dungeon earlier lost their lives due to carelessness, believing the boss would share the same abilities as the other monsters in the dungeon certain extend.
This was also why this dungeon was considered one of the hardest Tier 2 Abyssal dungeons across the entire region.
If not for the reward of a unique item, Victor wouldn't have taken such a risk by bringing only three mages, three healers, and one archer.
"Don't let your guard down… Have you all forgotten how broken the boss is?"
Seeing the relaxed expressions on his teammates, the hooded young man spoke in a displeased tone.
"When the boss monster's health drops to ten percent or below, it becomes temporarily immune to all negative status effects… including my skill block."
The team's expressions stiffened slightly.
The hooded young man didn't stop.
He turned to look at Victor and continued,
"'Leave the rest to us?'… Are you seriously saying that, Captain?"
"Don't mess with me. I came here without hesitation because I trusted you three to protect me in critical situations."
"In the worst-case scenario, when the boss completely goes berserk… Captain, Mr. Darius, Mr. Holt… you three will have to risk your lives to protect the rear."
His tone turned cold as he looked at the rest of the team.
"And we'll put everything on the line to finish off the boss."
The moment the hooded young man finished speaking, silence fell over the entire group.
Everyone stared at him before exchanging looks with each other.
Their mouths twitched uncontrollably before everyone burst out laughing.
"…Pfft—"
"Ha…"
"Hahahaha—!!"
Some even wiped tears from their eyes as they laughed harder.
"Since when did this kid grow up?"
"Yeah, yeah, talking all serious now!"
"Responsible too… I'm impressed!"
The hooded young man's face turned bright red instantly.
"I-I'm not a kid!!" he snapped, pointing his finger at them angrily.
"And stop laughing already!! I'm being serious here!"
But that only made it worse.
"Hahaha... listen to him!"
"Look at his face!"
"YOU GUYS—!! I HATE YOU ALL…"
Victor stood up with a smile, not laughing like the others, and gently patted the young man's shoulder with a proud look before shifting his gaze toward the middle-aged archer.
"How much time do we have left?"
The archer glanced at the hand clock he took out from his inventory before replying.
"…About thirty minutes."
Victor gave a small nod.
"That's more than enough-"
"SKRRRREEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH—!!!"
But before he could finish, a deafening, monstrous scream tore through the dungeon.
The ground trembled violently as suffocating pressure descended from the depths ahead, like a storm breaking loose.
Everyone's expressions changed instantly.
The laughter disappeared as their eyes widened.
"…That roar—"
"…No way…"
Victor's gaze sharpened as he slowly turned toward the direction of the boss.
"The boss has entered its berserk state… how?!"