When the Starved Ruler arrived, Hera rushed towards the Plains Sheep's drops. Her first idea was to distract the creature with some food. If the name was anything to go by, it would surely be more interested in meat than fighting them. Blue didn't understand why her friend seemed to follow the dwarves, but she trusted her enough not to worry. Hera wouldn’t flee, leaving her to fight the monster alone.

Triggering her shoulder guards, Blue circled the monster. She had no idea what it was capable of, and rushing towards it was a dangerous move. For now, the Starved Ruler was still staring at everyone, trying to find what seemed to be the weakest prey. It first looked at the dwarves, but snarled and turned to Blue, who was the closest. Then it turned to Hera, who saw a notification appearing to her side.

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Your information was revealed.

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She waved the notification off, but made a mental note to ask around what it meant. The Starved Ruler jumped towards Hera, who dodged, reaching the sheep meat. She grabbed the 5kg piece of tenderloin with a quick motion and chucked it to the side with all her strength. While the meat was still in the air, she flung a fire arrow at it, hoping that the smell of cooked food would be too enticing for the creature to pass. Her plan worked perfectly. The Starved Ruler started smelling the air and chased the half-burnt steak.

"Totrak, Pyrrick. Use your spells and keep running," Hera yelled, hoping they would hear. By the look of the creature, it should be a boss or something similar. No monster inside a dungeon would have such an extravagant entrance for no reason. If that was the case, she wanted all the help she could get while fighting it.

The dwarves understood her request and cast their spells while they ran. This time, Pyrrick cast not just Hera and Blue's buff but also placed the debuff on the monster, while Totrak created the strongest version he could of the Solid Air while still affecting a large area.

The humans felt their attributes soar, while the Starved Ruler felt its strength leave its body, the solid air making it tumble while it ran. The griffon got so close to the meat before the spell hit that it was almost mean. It cried and struggled to get closer to its meal. Before it could reach it, Blue jumped to its side and sent off another lightning punch. She had charged the spell for half an hour, but, during the last 10 minutes, about half of the energy dissipated since she wasn't moving around so much anymore. The attack was powerful enough to burn the griffon's side and singe a few feathers. It was a considerable amount damage, but not enough to defeat it.

Hera followed the attack and used her chakram to cut its wings. Those things were too big. If the Starved Ruler did a simple swipe with them, it should be enough to hurt them, even with all the buff and debuffs in effect. Hera knew that something so big would require a lot of strength and energy, and she didn't want anything to do with that.

Despite all the attacks, the monster still chased its meal. Its hunger was so strong that it even overwhelmed its survival instincts. Or maybe it was that instinct that pushed it forward. This was Hera's train of thought while she was carving out one wing from the monster's body. Despite the attacks, the creature didn't stop chasing the meat, that is, until the wing was ripped from its torso. That proved to be the final straw. With a twist, the monster cried once more, and the lightning that was on the clouds above came crashing down around the area.

"It really didn't like that!" Blue yelled.

"Would you?" Hera pulled back her chakram, tossing it once more.

The Starved Ruler flapped its remaining wing, and a torrent of arrow-like feathers went towards Hera and Blue. In response, Hera jumped in front of Blue and slammed her handaxe on the ground, creating a stone wall in front of the two.

"I forgot you could do that. Thanks," Blue ducked behind the barrier.

"There were very few opportunities to use this since we got here, and…" before Hera finished her sentence, the Starved Ruler howled and rushed towards its assailants. They jumped away and took the chance to hit the monster's side in quick succession. Hera flung a couple of poison needles at it, using the mana from her mana stone, and triggered her [Observe] to check if the poison took hold.

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Starved Ruler – Level 8 – 16% – Poisoned (Cloud affinity)

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"That's good enough," she mumbled to herself before activating the Pinpoint Weak spot spell. Three red bullseyes appeared on the monster, one on its head, one on the wound from its missing wing, and the last was in its chest, right under the griffon's heart, "Hit those places, you'll get a boost."

“I know how they work!" Blue jumped and landed a punch where the missing wing once connected to the rest of its body. The ruler cried and tried to move away, but the controller didn't allow it to run. She chased the monster, hitting it again whenever she had the chance.

Hera activated a flaming poison rain in front of the Starved Ruler. She wanted to stop the monster so they could deal some damage to it without having to run around. The spell hit the monster’s head, making it tumble on its back. Blue took advantage of the situation, slamming her fist repeatedly into the griffon’s throat. Hera jumped over and hacked away at the creature with her handaxe. The monster thrashed around, trying to get back up, but some of its feathers were still burning, causing it to recoil in pain.

With the fight going so well, Hera got excited. Maybe the buffs would be enough to carry them through the hard mode. Suddenly, the clouds from the sky fell towards the Starved Ruler. They enveloped the monster, lifting it up, and covered it like a set of armor. Hera and Blue tried to keep up their attacks, but the clouds didn’t allow them to hit the creature. After a few seconds, the previously bony and malnourished griffon regained a regal form. It was mostly made of smoke and air, but the wind seemed to move to hold its shape. Even the wing that the Starved Ruler had lost was now present in its form, being made of clouds like the rest of its armor.

"This is bad, isn't it?" Blue stared at the monster.

"Yeah… Run or fight?" Hera asked.

"Do you even have to ask? Fight, always," Blue replied with a smile.

"Crazy battle freak," Hera chuckled, but she shared the same feeling. This was the first really dangerous fight she had had in a long time. She knew it was a bad thing, but the rush she felt when risking her life was something she couldn't get enough of.

The Starved Ruler roared, making the wind pick up as a thin fog came out of its body. Hera and Blue split up and flanked the monster. The best option they had was to make the creature focus on only one of them, leaving the other to deal some damage. That's how they always fought and the strategy they were most comfortable using.

Blue yelled at the monster, trying to taunt it. It didn't take long for it to attack the controller. She dodged the claws and ducked under most spells. However, a couple of cloud feathers that the griffon created hit her armor and make her lose her footing. Thankfully, her years of training grappling techniques taught her how to roll without losing momentum. The smoke coming from her shoulder guards seemed to be strengthened by the fog covering the ground, turning Blue into a moving cloud.

That confused the griffon, and Hera took advantage of the situation to activate her [Hide] before sending a few poison needles towards pieces of the monster's body that were exposed. The last thing she wanted was to waste mana hitting the creature's new armor. Hera already knew it was poisoned, and right now, she could feel the poison that was already in the griffon getting stronger, thanks to her recent attacks. Instead of trying to go for an explosive approach, she went for something more basic. Her poison became three times stronger thanks to her poison control skill. A creature that size would be able to keep moving for a while, but her goal wasn't to kill. She wanted to hinder the monster to study its attack patterns in a less dangerous situation. After doing that, she started using her paralyze spell. It took eight shots for the green claw-like projectile to grasp the monster and freeze it for a few moments.

"Blue, hit my spell with lightning!"

"Where?"

"Right side, behind the back leg," Hera yelled, and Blue dove to the side, "Your right, not mine! Turn around."

"Now I'm already on this side. I'll go around it."

Hera got worried that the spell wouldn't last long enough for her to reach it, but she underestimated her own magic. The Sky Ruler stayed paralyzed while Blue moved around, even after the controller tripped over a rock hidden by the fog and took a few moments to get up.

Blue reached the green claw and punched it, letting her static electricity loose. The impact made the Starved Ruler break free from the paralysis. But now, streaks of blue lightning covered its body. Every now and then, these streaks would crackle, making the monster spasm for just a moment. It was a small window, but that would allow them to evade most attacks.

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Starved Ruler – Level 8 – 16% – Poisoned – Shocked (Cloud affinity)

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The humans started their assault once more, Blue punching the monster through its cloud armor while Hera hacked away its exposed parts with her handaxe. They continued their dance around the griffon for some time. Each side only making superficial cuts and bruises to the other side. After five minutes, both Hera and Blue were bleeding a lot due to the small cuts made by the wind and glancing blows from the griffon's claws. The Starved Ruler didn't fare much better. One of its front legs was bleeding profusely while the other was swollen from the number of hits Blue delivered. The griffon turned to Hera and dove at her with its mouth open, but it missed by a long shot and attacked the ground. Even after she was long gone from that position, the monster kept attacking the ground as if it saw something. Unsure of what was going on, Hera used her [Observe] one more time.

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Starved Ruler – Level 8 – 18% – Poisoned – Shocked – Hallucinating (Cloud affinity)

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Hera had even forgotten that this was a possibility. Thanks to the strap on her handaxe, the monster had a psychic-based affliction. This would make things even better since they could now just stop fighting and watch as the creature struggled to hit the air. Hera tried to pull Blue away to study the griffon, but the monster didn't allow them to leave. Despite the hallucination, it was still aware of the two. When Hera tried to move out, the creature flapped its wings, and several cloud feathers went flying towards them.

They dodged most of the projectiles, but some hit and cut their faces and arms. Trying to make the griffon leave them alone, Hera waited for it to be staring directly at her and used her fear spell.

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Skill Acquired: Ailment Mastery

Ailment Mastery

Increases the effect of your ailments based on the number of unique conditions that you applied to your target.

When three or more different ailments are present, their effects will receive a bonus.

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Ailment Mastery triggered

Starved Ruler ailment bonus effects x 3

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As the notifications appeared, the griffon roared and started moving back. It flailed around uncontrollably, and blood began to come out of its mouth and eyes. Before Hera could even explain to Blue what was going on, the Starved Ruler fell to the ground, motionless.

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You have completed a hidden dungeon quest inside the Wooly Plains.

You have defeated the Starved Ruler, who was forced to come down after losing its food source and its children.

Rewards:

Access to Woolly Plains Hard mode

Griffon Whistle

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