In the first minute, the huge cocoon-like Abyss creature didn't move from its position at all. As a result, it received the bombardment of spells and skills from seven elite acolytes in its entirety. Even so, it still didn't seem to have any intention of making a move.
These seven elite acolytes might not be as strong as the acolytes Emery had been fighting against recently, but they were still considered to be in the top echelon of the greatest acolytes in the universe.
All of them possessed the cultivation of middle stage rank 9 with four to six pillars having already been formed. Hence they were able to cast Rank 5 spells and have an average battle power of above 100.
Swish
A bald acolyte appeared in front of the Abyss creature and the Tier 5 sword in his hand swung downwards, making a huge cut on the creature's body. Meanwhile, three other acolytes cast their Tier 5 spells before launching it at the creature all at once.
Lightning crackled, fire blazed, and wind ragged as the spells struck the Abyss creature. It managed to create some burns and cuts, however, not enough to really hurt the creature as its body swiftly glowed and returned to its original state.
A moment after, the cocoon-like creature finally made its move. It turned its body slightly, and from the distance where he was, Emery could see the creature shooting dozens of thin, shiny white threads.
He watched as the elite acolytes who were close to the creature fled, returning to where their other allies were. At the same time, Micah and another female acolyte cast their defensive spells.
A crystal-like wall of ice instantly appeared in front of them, before being covered by a thick layer of pitch-black metal that slightly gleamed. Just as the spells were fully formed, the threads arrived.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Crisp, metallic sound resounded through the air as the threads continued to barrage the covered ice wall. Micah's [Ice Crystal Barrier] and the female acolyte's [Dark Metal Shield] were able to withstand the torrent-like threads.
However, some time had passed and the barrage of threads was still not over. It seemed that the Abyss creature was capable of firing an infinite number of them. Pressured by the overwhelming attack, the elite acolytes had a difficult time trying to attack the creature again.
It was at this moment that Lodos cast his [Gravitational Pressure]. The spell took effect on the area in front of the ice wall, and the threads that arrived were swiftly pulled downwards to the ground, as if being held down by an invisible hand.
At this instance, Arcana shouted.
"NOW!!"
Without a second thought, the group of elite acolytes jumped out from behind the wall protecting them and rushed towards the Abyss creature. Multicolored lights flew around and explosions occurred everywhere as the elite acolytes attacked with all their might.
A few minutes later, Lodos called the others to retreat back to the wall's safety, as he needed to take a break for a minute before casting his spell again.
Apparently, this was the tactic they had been doing to deal with the cocoon-like Abyss creature. It was clear that this method was effective, but at the same time also relied heavily on Lodos' [Gravitational Pressure] spell. Since he had a limited Spirit Pool, the group could do nothing but whittle the creature bit by bit.
Now that Emery had seen what they were doing, Arcana quickly said, "This may not look that effective, but my special eyes can see that we have managed to drain quite a bit of its stamina."
Remembering the things Arcana had done, Emery certainly wouldn't fully believe what the guy said. However, he also couldn't just watch. Therefore, he decided to personally give the creature a test to find out for himself.
The device on his hand displayed that the cocoon-like Abyss creature name Chrysalis had 310 battle power. But it didn't show the creature's magical capability, which was strange because from what it had shown so far, it was certainly brimming with it.
There was also the fact that despite its high battle power, the Abyss creature had disgustingly low mobility. That led Emery to believe that it has extremely high stats in the other two; strength and endurance. From a simple glance, the creature was a lump of endurance that would certainly be hard to break.
With this analysis, a prolonged fight of magic would put Emery in a disadvantage due to his currently restricted Spirit Pool. Therefore, he decided to use his sword to attack instead.
Pulling out his Savage Sword, Emery activated his skills.
[Immortal Gate - stage 6]
[Battle power increased by 64 points]
[Battle power 245 (309)]
With the enhancement [Immortal Gate] granted, Emery should have enough battle power to safely test the Abyss creature.
When Lodos cast [Gravitational Pressure] once more and the elite acolytes started another round of attack, Emery also followed suit. He jumped along with the sword-wielding bald acolyte and the two of them attacked the Abyss creature from two different sides.
Spalttt!! Splaaat!! Splaattt
For obvious reason, Emery's attack was able to deal more severe wounds to the Abyss creature than the other elite acolytes. But after only a few slashes, Lodos was already shouting for them to back off.
Knowing that going too far would result in more harm than good, Emery went back to Micah's ice wall, albeit reluctantly. A minute later, he looked towards the Abyss creature and saw that the wound he had inflicted on its body had disappeared as if it had never happened in the first place.
Even though Emery didn't have abilities like Arcana's magical eye and Chumo's Eye of the Raven, he could tell that this method of rinse and repeat did not just give time for Lodos to recover, but also for the Abyss creature to regain his stamina.
If his guess was right, it meant that this fight could go on for hours without seeing a winner.
Emery turned to the kid-looking acolyte and believed that the latter realized this fact as well. From the looks of it, he was probably trying to tire everyone out, and in doing so, guaranteed his chance to deal the final blow to earn the points.
"Retreat!"
It was the next call by Arcana, and Lodos' [Gravitational Pressure] quickly disappeared. Immediately after, the torrent-like threads returned to rain upon the group.
As if that wasn't intense enough, even more, flew out of its mouth and headed toward them.
This time, however, Emery did not retreat into the barrier.
He activated his bloodline skill and silver fur started to grow in his arms and feet.
[Fey Transformation]
[Battle power increased by 30 points]
[Battle power 245 (339)]
Emery chose to use his first transformation because it enhanced his agility tremendously, allowing him to dodge some of the incoming sharp threads and swiftly cut the rest with his sword.
He also diversified his assault by casting [Blink] as he attacked the Abyss creature from all kinds of angles, generously bestowing wound after wound on its pale white body. He believed that as long as there was room for him to move, adding to the monster's low mobility, soon or later the Abyss creature would drop dead.
Arcana did not want to admit it, but Emery's action did speed up their progress significantly. The other elite acolytes were also cheering when they saw the Abyss creature could do nothing but receive a beating from Emery.
A few minutes later, finally, the Abyss creature lost its aloof demeanor. It seemed to realize that its life was in danger, and it started to move around trying to escape. Alas, with nowhere to go, it gave out a loud shrieking sound and finally plopped to the ground.
However, just as everyone thought it was the creature's end, it suddenly shone in golden light before shooting dozens more threads all over the place.
It happened so suddenly that everyone was caught off guard. The bald acolyte was unlucky and his stomach was pierced. Even Lodos who was exhausted due to the continuous use of [Gravitational Pressure] was attacked.
Micah quickly used his protection towards Lodos and everyone else, while Emery had only enough time to respond with his [Jade Skin].
Clankk! Clankk! Spalltt!!
The threads that swept over were able to make a few cuts and even pierce Emery's combat gear and the [Jade Skin] underneath. Fortunately, the protection given by the two was enough for Emery to blink close to the creature where the threads were at a minimum.
But then, he quickly realized that the thread was purposely aimed toward the ceiling of the place and the ceiling of the chamber they were in was shaking violently.
Apparently, the Abyss creature used its connected threads to pull the entire earth above the chamber down. Tons of rocks swiftly fell down like rain, crashing into everyone present in the chamber.