The air in the altar chamber was so saturated with mana that sparks of static electricity crackled between Lisa’s fur and the hexagonal plates of Lohan’s [Obsidian Exoskeleton].
With every passing second, the tension rose another notch. Lohan could see, through his multi-view, that Dylan’s Players were starting to pant; the effort to resist Level 14 monsters—already a level above them—empowered by a Level 15 Elite was draining their stamina bars at an alarming rate.
"Halon, I’m losing my peripheral vision! There are too many bugs!" Samantha shouted through the mental link, her daggers barely managing to pierce the hardened chitin of a Level 14 centipede that Lohan was keeping occupied with a clone.
Lohan didn’t respond with words, but with action.
He instantly processed a Level 12 Mana Stone he carried in his reservoir, converting it into a massive pulse of pure Mana and Biomass.
Through the link of the [Spinner Mother], he not only healed the group’s superficial wounds but also "overclocked" their tendons and muscles, forcing them into a state of superior performance in exchange for massive consumption of the resources stored in the Astral Chest.
"Now this isn’t a grind to level up, folks, this has become our survival! Don’t back down!" Lohan roared mentally, sending a pulse of Holy Light through the webs connecting him to the Players, temporarily neutralizing the Boss’s aura of corruption within a five-meter radius around Lisa.
The monster, sensing that the "Repulsive Light" was strengthening the fangs, let out a screech that made the stalactites vibrate.
It leaped from the altar with agility impossible for its massive size, its mantis-like legs slicing through the air in a horizontal arc aimed at severing Dee and WyrmWood in one fell swoop.
"LISA, HELP THEM!" Lohan commanded.
Lisa activated the [Spectral Step], becoming a reddish-white blur that lunged in front of the blow. In the millisecond of contact, Lohan expanded his entire mass over the fox’s chest and flank, activating [Non-Newtonian Resilience] at maximum level, while also sharing his obsidian exoskeleton with her to form a double defense against those attacks.
The sound of the impact was like a sonic boom.
-- BAM!! --
The black plates of Lohan’s exoskeleton cracked under the brute force of the Level 15 monster, and the ground beneath Lisa’s paws gave way, creating a circular crater.
Lisa coughed up a little blood, which Lohan instantly absorbed to convert into energy, while the Slime struggled to maintain the cohesion of its core under the crushing pressure.
Fortunately, despite the small amount of blood she coughed up, no critical damage was sustained.
"The damage... is totally different!" Lisa said, her golden eyes shining with cold fury. "He’s not just strong, Halon—his mana is trying to corrode my Spiritual Energy directly!"
Lohan sensed the danger.
The monster wasn’t just attacking physically; each blow injected a kind of toxic Mana that tried to destabilize the Players’ magical cores. If he didn’t act fast, it was only a matter of time before the vanguard collapsed.
"Dylan, pull back the left flank! Alice, go all out into the breach!" Lohan coordinated, sparing no Biomass as he activated [Living Armor] on all the Players in the group, causing what was practically a black army to appear there, while using [Magical Weaving] to fire six high-resistance threads toward the Monster.
This time, Lohan aimed for the filaments the Boss used to nourish the other insects.
With precision guaranteed by [Monocular Telescopic Vision], Lohan crisscrossed her webs over the Monster’s, initiating a biological counter-drain.
"You want to nourish your children? Well, I’m going to use your energy to feed mine!" Lohan shouted angrily.
Through [Bio-Synthetic Mana Circulation], Lohan began to "hijack" the Level 15 Elite’s energy flow.
It was an agonizing process; the corrupted energy burned like acid inside his gelatinous body, but Lohan’s [Core of Holy Light] worked frantically to purify the essence before distributing it to Alice and Lisa.
The Boss sensed the interference and tried to cut Lohan’s threads with his sharp legs, but Alice emerged from beneath him.
Covered by Halon’s intimidating black armor, she unleashed a flurry of explosive punches to the Monster’s soft abdomen—the only spot where the carapace was less dense.
"BLUE WORM... YOU... DARE?!" the Boss hissed, his human voice growing higher as his rage intensified. "MY GOD, IT’S THE END! I AM THE DESTINY OF THE WEAK! SURRENDER AND ACCEPT GLORY!!!"
More insects continued to arrive, drawn by the Monster’s agony.
Lohan realized he was losing biomass at a dangerous rate to keep all the clones and webs active.
His biomass reservoir, which had been close to a thousand units at the start of the battle, was now plummeting to less than 350 units.
"Lisa, we have to finish this now! If his Level 14 reinforcements arrive en masse, we won’t be able to hold them off!" Lohan warned, the hexagonal plates on his body pulsing a desperate neon blue.
He made a risky decision.
Instead of maintaining his defensive clones, Lohan ordered all his fragments to merge around the Monster’s joints simultaneously.
Using [Selective Viscosity] at maximum level, he attempted to act as a total biological lock, sacrificing his defense to paralyze the Elite for just a few seconds.
His group’s firepower was far inferior to that of the insects swarming this monster; if they continued this battle of attrition, it would only be a matter of time before they were consumed and defeated.
"EVERYONE! ALL-OUT ATTACK ON ITS CENTRAL CORE!" Lohan roared to the entire guild.
The synergy they had trained for over the past few days was put to the test.
Justin fired arrows and bombs at the target; Tunder unleashed the most powerful electric shock Skills he had there, not caring about Mana consumption; Dee used the impact of her shield to destabilize the monster’s hind legs; WyrmWood used all the natural energy he could muster in that location... everyone gave their best to deal as much damage as possible.
Lisa leaped forward, channeling every drop of her remaining Spiritual Energy, using her [Spiritual Fire], enhanced by Lohan’s Natural Energy, transforming it into a white-gold plasma spear.
-- BOOOOM!! --
An explosion erupted immediately, fueled by the combined attack of the entire group.
However, despite being wounded, the monster still managed to contract its massive body, and the black webs surrounding it began to glow with an even more intense purple light.
It was preparing an area-of-effect explosion of corrupted mana to clear the battlefield in one fell swoop.
"DIE... IN... THE... DARKNESS!!!" the creature bellowed.
Lohan sensed the vibration of the impending detonation through [Instinctive Perception].
If he didn’t act, all the Level 13 Players in the room would be instantly wiped out by the Level 15 Elite’s shockwave.
All the work they’d put in this week would go down the drain, and those Players with a special race, like him and Lisa, might lose their biggest advantage in Elysium right then and there!
The situation was deadly serious!
With his biomass at the limit, Lohan had to decide between protecting himself or expanding into a full safety net for Astralis Requiem, while the Boss unleashed the blow that would decide whether the raid would end in glory or a massacre in the depths of the Whispering Cavern.
"Ready, Halon? Because I won’t let our Players die on my watch!" Lisa spoke without hesitation; even if it meant she would lose her Legendary race, she didn’t hesitate between protecting herself or striving to protect her subordinates.
Seeing that even Lisa wasn’t hesitant, Lohan also decided not to hold back any longer.
Using parallel thinking to scan his full list of skills, Lohan tried to devise the best execution tactic to deal with this problem, deciding to go all out!