Chapter 447

James couldn’t help but stare up in awe at the Terminus as it stood to its full height, head raised to the sky, to let out a mighty roar. Every time he’d stood alongside the Terminus, he’d been in his own Avatar. Now though, the sheer size of the creature, the pressure of its roar, its very essence and being, bore down on him. The creature was magnificent, the details, the gears, everything about it, a masterpiece. While it was terrifying, there was another feeling welling up within James, as the fight began. Pride.

“Like we planned.” James yelled out as he rushed towards a set of cars, Rue at his side. The Terminus turned a glowing eye in his direction, but its head snapped back down quickly to Steve as the halfling called out a taunt. Something about the Terminus’s mom being an oversized chicken that screwed a toaster, or something like that. James missed part of the words, amidst all the chaos, but it was clear whatever Steve said, worked.

Meanwhile, Ifrit joined the fray, his blades ignited, molten rock flowing around him in a protective armor. James mentally pulled up the range rings for his skills, noting that as it were, he could activate Solomon’s Seal safely from where he was, and both the Terminus, and Ifrit, would be in its range.

“Here comes the seal.” James called out, not sure if anyone could hear him as the battle raged in full. A moment later, a massive glowing glyph appeared at his feet, spreading out evenly 30 feet in all directions, forming a concentric, swirling pattern of golden light. A timer appeared in his vision, showing the duration of the skill, while at the same time, small balls of fire, whips of sorts, began floating upwards from the sands, all moving in unison towards The Terminus.

Alone, those aspects of the skill, on a scale of one to awesome, made it epic. But a roar from Ifrit pulled James’s attention away from the seal and its small fiery djinn, to his own personal Djinn. Golden strings of light appeared along Ifrit’s ankles and wrists, forming, for a split second, the outline of chains. Then, they shattered, and as they did, Ifrit’s size grew even larger, his flames instantly growing in intensity, while his muscles bulged.

“I AM UNLEASHED.” Ifrit roared, and with a powerful swing his right blade cut across the Terminus, the force actually causing the boss monster to step backwards a small step. That single attack, with the empowered force from both the Seal, and Sanguine Bond, as well as Ifrit’s own buffs, ripped aggro from Steve, and placed it fully on the Djinn.

“Well I’ll be,” the Terminus exclaimed as its grenade launchers pointed directly towards Ifrit’s chest. “You sure do bring the heat good chap.” A thunk thunk thunk followed the comment, and Ifrit bellowed in surprise and rage as the clusters of grenades impacted into him. Molten armor crumbled to the ground, and this time it was Ifrit’s turn to stumble backwards. The clashing of these two giants, sent tremors across the entire arena.

“Seven more seconds.” James called out, his words lost in the roar of the two creatures. The Terminus swung its massive chainblade tail towards Ifrit, and the Djinn intercepted the attack with one of his multi-bladed scimitars. Obsidian blades fractured as the tail revved against the weapon, but at the same time, flames crawled from the fiery weapon onto the tail, eating away at gears.

“Buffs.” Rue said softly, pulling James from his stupor, and making him realize his mouth was hanging slightly open. On cue, he began channeling an attack speed buff for Ifrit, as well as a defensive buff immediately after that. He knew from there, he would cycle into a Heal over time effective for his summon, and then a dps buff. Afterwards, as a pet class player, it was merely a matter of keeping the cycle going strong on Ifrit and watching for any openings or needs to change up the cycle.

“Aren’t you supposed to be holding aggro.” Rue called out to Steve, who was dancing around the Terminus’s feet, stabbing over and over at the metallic creature. From the Terminus’s healthbar, James could see the debuffs stacking up. However, with the raw power of Ifrit, further enhanced as it was, even Steve was having time taking aggro back. It happened, sometimes in MMOs. A DPS player could, if they weren’t careful, out damage the tank’s aggro. Normally, it was a problem. But at the moment, Ifrit seemed fine. After all, the lifesteal the Djinn had gained passively thanks to Sanguine Bond, was allowing the creature to keep its health bar from dipping too dangerously.

“It’s not my fault.” Steve called back, his halfling voice climbing in octaves as he dodged an errant step from the boss. “Ifrit’s damage output is freaking fire.”

The words escaped Steve’s lips as Solomon’s seal wore off, and Ifrit’s size shrunk slightly as he lost his stat buff. As if on cue, with the decrease in dps output that came along with the loss of Seal, the Terminus’s aggro on Ifrit faded, and turned back towards Steve.

“Ah, mighty rude of me.” The boss said with a chuckle, its eyes fixated on Steve, its tongue rolling over its metallic teeth. “I forgot to finish off my appetizer.”

With lightning speed, the jaw unhinged and the Terminus’s head shot down, aiming to engulf Steve with Big head. James had seen the skill over and over, and he’d personally watched Oak get consumed at least a dozen times. Enough, in fact, that he knew if you got eaten 10 times by the Terminus, you could earn a title. However, Steve didn’t seem keen on earning that particular title, as the spanker managed to nimbly avoid the attack. With the immediate threat of being digested gone, Steve resumed his taunting and debuff efforts.

“Roar incoming.” James called out, even as he saw the Terminus’s health bar hit 80%. The boss turned towards him, raising its mechanical eyebrow in an inquisitive manner, before its head lifted into the air. Steve ducked for cover behind a car, while Ifrit, unable to take shelter due to his large size, simply continued to rain attacks down on the Terminus.

“Cleanse ready.” Rue called, and even as the roar rippled over Ifrit, sanguine light rolled from Rue, enveloping Ifrit, and washing away the debuff. As the waves of energy from King of All faded, Steve rushed back into battle, taking aggro back from Ifrit once more. From there, Steve maneuvered himself, and as such, the Terminus, into a position that had the boss’s back towards James, Rue, and Ifrit, allowing the dps to gain additional damage and crit chance. While Steve was unconventional, and definitely a troll, there was no doubt he knew what he was doing as a tank.

“Keep it up.” James yelled as he watched his cooldowns and mana, cycling into another buff for Ifrit. The Djinn’s body glowed with the buffs from James, and the massive summon had a bloodthirsty grin on its face as it continued its attacks. Their damage output wasn’t bad. Sure, if they’d hade a full-blown mage on the team, they’d be able to burn the Terminus’s healthbar down even quicker, but as it stood, James was more than a little impressed with the damage his team was doing. He’d, definitely seen parties with less DPS take on the Terminus and walk away victorious. Meaning, as long as nothing went wrong, they’d be able to take the boss down, no problem.

James winced as the thought crossed his mind, and he silently said a prayer to the goddess of luck. If there was one thing everyone knew. It was never jinx yourself, especially not in a life-or-death boss battle.