Aside from a massive boost to its level and base attributes, Norlun’s skill kit had also undergone a complete overhaul.
[Devour]: When attacking targets below the Leader tier, there is a chance to swallow them whole. Digestion Time: 10 seconds.
[Summon Ant Servants]: Summons four random Leader-tier or Chieftain-tier ants (guarantees at least two Chieftains). Cooldown: 1 hour.
[Tongue Lash]: Lashes out to ensnare two enemy targets within 60 yards for 3 seconds, dealing Physical Attack x2 as damage. Cooldown: 12 seconds.
[Swarm Rush]: Commands a horde of ants to charge a 35-yard frontal cone. Deals Physical Attack x1.5 per second. Cooldown: 20 seconds.
[Enrage]: Can be manually activated when HP drops below 250,000,000 and 100,000,000. The two enrage buffs can stack. Cooldown: 1 hour.
The appearance of [Strengthened Norlun] acted as an instant tranquilizer for the panicking raid.
Lila, who had been frantically trying to draft a viable strategy to deal with the boss, took one look at the bear's stat block and stood up straight. Screw playing fair. I’ve got a raid boss in my pocket. She could probably just let Norlun solo Hornsnapper. But there was no point in letting a perfectly good summoning skill go to waste.
Lila activated [Summon Ant Servants].
In a flash of light, four colossal insects materialized—two Chieftains and two Captains.
[Enslaved Rock Ant Chieftain]
Level: 45
HP: 300,000,000
[Enslaved Fire Ant Chieftain]
Level: 45
HP: 280,000,000
[Enslaved Leafcutter Chieftain]
Level: 45
HP: 150,000,000
[Enslaved Worker Ant Captain]
Level: 45
HP: 180,000,000
All of them were Level 45.
Lila stared at the massive health pools, her brain momentarily short-circuiting. It felt like she had entered a cheat code.
"Guild Leader? Do something, Guild Leader!" the girls shouted, snapping her out of her daze.
Lila shook her head and quickly blocked an incoming attack from a Satyr Brute. There were too many summons on the field; she couldn't micromanage them all. Her mechanical skill was high enough to pilot one or two pets, but playing her highly-demanding Dragonbane class while controlling a small army was impossible.
She needed to delegate.
"Glytter! Forget your bear. If it dies, it dies. You're driving the giant white bear now."
"Huh? Oh, got it!" Glytter quickly accepted the transferred control of Norlun.
"Starbloom, leave your mech. It's a construct, it'll survive. Take control of the big red ant."
"You got it, Lila." Starbloom took the reins of the Fire Ant Chieftain.
"Hazel, take the rock ant. And don't zone out like last time!"
"Don't worry, Lila!" Hazel chirped, immediately freezing in place as her consciousness synced with the Rock Ant Chieftain.
"Grace, Peppa—since the healing debuff is crippling your output anyway, don't sweat it. You two get a pet."
"Hehe, leave it to us, Guild Leader." Grace took the Leafcutter, while Peppa excitedly claimed the Worker Ant.
The injection of five boss-level units instantly flipped the battlefield.
Hazel finally figured out the Rock Ant's skill panel and activated an AoE buff, granting the entire raid a massive 10,000 Physical Defense boost. Starbloom piloted the Fire Ant Chieftain to drop a massive meteor on the Satyr Brutes, chunking them for 60,000 damage, with crits spiking over 100,000. Peppa’s Worker Ant Captain hoisted a colossal, heavy-duty shovel and swung it like a baseball bat, sending a cluster of mobs flying across the cavern.
Meanwhile, Glytter aimed Norlun at Hornsnapper, who was standing over a hundred yards away.
With a deafening roar, the massive bear closed the distance in a blur. Norlun reared up and brought a heavy paw crashing down on the Satyr.
-67,458 (Critical Hit!)
Level 45 versus Level 38. The severe level suppression drastically inflated the critical strike chance.
Infuriated, Hornsnapper swung his giant staff down on Norlun’s head.
-1
It didn't even break the bear's base defense.
But as a centuries-old named boss, Hornsnapper wasn't entirely helpless. After a brief physical exchange, the Satyr raised his staff, gathering crackling tendrils of lightning. With a violent downward sweep, he called down a massive thunder strike right on Norlun’s head.
A dense blue dome of lightning engulfed a thirty-yard radius around the bear.
-14,762
The spell managed to pierce Norlun's magic defense, but because the bear had charged so far ahead, the splash damage completely missed the raid. If that spell had landed in the backline, it would have been a massacre. Players could resurrect, but if the VIP NPC Morren got fried, the quest would fail instantly.
Once the final Satyr Brute fell, the raid finally let out a collective breath. Standard MMORPG etiquette dictated that the entire raid should now focus the boss. But after witnessing the sheer scale of Hornsnapper’s AoE magic, the girls hesitated.
They looked at the four giant ants standing next to them. Exchanging wicked grins, they immediately sent the bugs charging in to join the gang-up.
The pet buffs stacked rapidly:
Rock Ant: +10,000 Physical Defense aura.
Fire Ant: +15% Magic Damage aura (and a self-buff for +15% Fire Damage).
Worker Ant: +20% Attack Speed aura.
Leafcutter: +8,000 Magic Defense aura.
Norlun simply lowered his head and tore into the Satyr.
Every basic attack from the five boss-tier summons carved off 10,000 to 20,000 of Hornsnapper’s health. Thanks to the level advantage, crits flowed like water—basic attacks spiked to 40,000, while spell damage hit 80,000.
A single rotation from the pets wiped out 300,000 HP. And that was just raw summon damage.
The raid wasn't going to just sit back and watch. The support players went to work. The Shaman dropped a [Mana Tide Totem] to boost magical output by 5%. Rena cast [Mass Inner Fire], padding everyone's stats with an extra 6,000 attack and defense. Starbloom stacked layers of agonizing curses on the Satyr, shredding his resistances and amplifying the pets' damage by a further 30%.
Combined with the ranged DPS volleying spells from safety, Hornsnapper was hemorrhaging over 700,000 HP per second.
The tragic boss, designed to be an overwhelming one-versus-many raid wiper, was being thoroughly bullied by five higher-leveled bosses.
He soon hit his HP threshold and triggered his enrage mechanic. However, going berserk only increased the frequency of his AoE spells, which posed zero lethal threat to Norlun and the ants, all of whom boasted health pools in the hundreds of millions. They didn't even flinch at taking 15,000 damage ticks.
Hornsnapper’s only real achievement during the entire fight was catching seven poorly-positioned players in an AoE blast and instantly sending them to the graveyard. The five pets remained practically unscathed.
Finally, Starbloom’s Fire Ant unleashed a [Fireball Barrage], landing a string of devastating critical hits. Hornsnapper let out a final, agonizing shriek and collapsed.
Unlike the field bosses outside, he didn't leave a corpse. His body dissolved into a blinding sphere of light that scattered into the air.
However, his loot dropped just fine.
System: You have slain [Hornsnapper]. +10,000,000 EXP.
Over sixty items erupted from the glowing light, scattering across the stone floor. Bypassing the standard crafting materials and generic gear, Lila zeroed in on two highly unusual items:
[Glazed Pagoda (Common Relic)]
Level: 1
Effect: Increases EXP gained by all guild members by 1%.
(Must be placed within Guild Territory to activate).
[Satyr's Head (Tribute)]
Effect: Grants 1,000,000 Offering Points to a Divine Relic.
Lila traced her fingers over the miniature, translucent pagoda, a huge grin spreading across her face. "Now this is the good stuff."