Game’s Dogma - Chapter 370: Force Rupture

Zealler didn’t wait for them to react. Once they were within the combat area of the dungeon, he immediately howled and sprung into action. He couldn’t speak as he was acting as a system-generated illusion. Although he was seeking vengeance, he still held onto the slight hope that he might fool the system.

The tall beastman leapt into the air and dropped like a meteor. Drako Yau’s face fell as he immediately cried, “Run!”

The boss was attacking far too quickly. Usually, dungeon bosses would put on a fierce pose before attacking once players entered its aggro zone, yet things were completely different this time.

Though they were all elites, they were players and saw the game as a game. They were used to the game’s settings and expected the same in this dungeon. But this was a life-and-death battle for Zealler; he wouldn’t stand there and greet his enemies before attacking.

Apart from Drako Yau, the four only realised the situation by the time Zealler came crashing down on them. Greenstone had the quickest reaction and dodged to the left with his nimble footwork. Danting shrieked and broke his physical limits to form the teleportation array in a split second then jumped in, leaving behind Windstrider and Idyllic Poet to face their impending doom.

Windstrider embraced Idyllic Poet and turned his back towards Zealler in hopes of defending her. He knew it was useless, but he did it regardless out of instinct.

Suddenly, a roar reached them. An orange dragon clung onto them, then reeled them away moments before Zealler smashed a crater in the ground. The resulting earthquake almost knocked them to the ground.

Windstrider’s seemingly futile action somehow saved him and Idyllic Poet. If he hadn’t held onto her, Drako Yau couldn’t have rescued them both using Dragon Capturing Hand no matter how powerful he was.

“Stay in formation!” Drako Yau shouted. His Devil King’s Cloak shot up behind him and formed a vague silhouette of a person; Descent of the Devil King—the overpowered active skill of his legendary cloak that granted a forty per cent buff to all attributes for two hours!

The strange situation sent goosebumps all over Drako Yau. The sense of crisis he felt right now was comparable to when he encountered the fire crystal master.

Windstrider had already let go of Idyllic Poet and began firing away. With his dual guns, he circled Zealler while shooting non-stop—Corner Strike! Although rangers had a large variety of skills, their cooldown was somewhat long for Windstrider, who wielded two guns. He could cast skills and attack exceptionally quickly, so he never gave up on the few Noh Firearms Marksmanship skills as they provided the best damage output.

At the same time, Danting appeared from behind Zealler through his teleportation array and slashed his Divine Martial Sword dyed in the trademark black aura of magic swordsmen.

Zealler growled in surprise. The puny humans were strong enough to threaten his life! With a buzz, his skin gave off a metallic sheen; it was the effect of the beastmen’s innate skill, Metal Hide.

Metal Hide was the reason why beastmen made the best vanguards and chargers in wars. As a royal, Zealler’s Metal Hide was even more potent and granted greater defence against physical and magical attacks than his brethren.

The volley of bullets splattered Zealler in a series of clinks. Despite activating Metal Hide, he still felt a wave of pain. A greatsword slashed towards him moments after. As Danting roared, he swiped his left hand across his blade, endowing arcane glyphs that radiated a cold blue glow.

Another metallic clash rang out. A layer of frost formed on Zealler’s arm—Frost Slash, a Magic Swordsman skill! Zealler was all the more surprised as he thought, How does he know ice is the nemesis of Metal Hide! He instantly whipped his unaffected arm at Danting and sent the swordsman flying away.

A green glow landed on Danting immediately after he was knocked away. Greenstone was displaying his extraordinary timing and technique as a cleric once again.

Drako Yau shouted, “This guy’s weak against ice!” He stabbed his spear into the ground, conjuring a blooming flower of ice beneath Zealler.

Zealler leapt just in time to evade the icy flower beneath him. Once he was in the air, five golden beams blasted him—Soaring Suns! However, Zealler seemed more delighted than worried about the incoming beams. He twisted his body mid-air and received the spell with his frozen arm. Like rocks tossed into a lake, the scorching beams induced several ripples that tore apart the ice that locked his arm in place.

“He’s fire resistant! Poet, stop dealing damage and control him instead!” Drako Yau yelled as he stomped the ground and propelled himself towards Zealler.

Zealler glared at Drako Yau with vengeful eyes and yelled without restraint, “Die!”

Drako Yau returned a cold gaze. Once he learnt about the beastman’s weakness, it was of little threat to him. He thrust his spear forwards with its sapphire end—Frozen Strike! He wasn’t particularly fond of this skill, but it was surprisingly suitable for thrusting, so he instinctively used it whenever he made a thrust. It felt as if he didn’t use the skill on purpose but only because they had the same goal.

Using the Cryoflame style, Drako Yau infused his internal forces into the thrust that contained the power of a skill and his technique. The metallic clash no longer rang out, this time replaced by a pop. He felt a major blow hammering his body as he shot backwards while grunting.

“Arghhh!” Zealler howled in agony. He could no longer hide his sentience and pretend to be a typical dungeon boss. The thrust fractured his left fist, but no blood flowed out of the wounds because his entire arm was frozen.

Beastmen royals’ Metal Hide was special. It fortified their skin into metal and dissipated the force of impact all over their body, serving as a buffer to receive more damage. However, this characteristic also came with a weakness. Once they sustained damage that broke through their Metal Hide’s defences, the injury would also spread across the body, rendering Metal Hide completely unusable.

This condition was known as force rupture.