Chapter Twenty-Three, Frost Crystal Dragon Beast

Chapter 23: The Frost Crystal Dragon-Beast

On the fourth floor of the Frost Crystal Cave, passing this level meant facing the final mission boss. Following the usual routine, Yang Qi went ahead to scout. This time, she didn't get ambushed, and once she cleared the passage, she called out to Lin Zheng and the others. As they stepped out, they were all stunned by the sight of the monsters in the cavern. They were massive!

The Frost Crystal Giants were level 45. While their attack power wasn't particularly high, they had an immense amount of health. Fortunately, despite their high physical defense, their magical defense was extremely low. Being heavy-armored monsters, they took massive damage from spells. In the end, with Lin Zheng and Yang Qi tanking and Youxi providing full-force magical damage, they cleared the entire floor in less than half an hour. The group leveled up again; Yang Qi hit level 35 just in time to equip the Frost Crystal Ring for the final boss fight.

"I have a bad feeling about this. Damn, my hair is standing on end!" Yang Qi said, looking at the passage leading to the final boss.

"Pfft! Don't be a harbinger of doom! We haven't even gone in yet! What is the penalty for demoralizing the troops?" Lin Zheng retorted.

"I was just trying to lighten the mood since you all looked so tense!"

"You only ever make things worse, you idiot! Enough talk! Get in there and scout!"

"Looking at the size of this boss room, I bet it’s just the boss alone. Why scout?" Yang Qi grumbled, though she still drew her Jiaotu Sword and carefully entered the passage.

"I’m in. It’s just the boss, nothing else!" she shouted in the party channel. Hearing this, the group entered the final boss room. As soon as Lin Zheng saw the boss, he was floored. It was monstrously huge!

Before him was a creature resembling a divine dragon, though it was bulkier, with a build more akin to a Western dragon. More strangely, it possessed two pairs of wings: one pair of blue feathers and one pair made of pure frost. The most shocking part, however, was its sheer size—it stood as tall as a building even while crouching. Lin Zheng doubted this could be the sub-level 50 boss Yang Qi had described, so he quickly inspected its data.

Frost Crystal Dragon-Beast: Level 49 Dark Gold Boss. Physical Attack 1640-2460, Magic Attack 1640-2460, Physical Defense 900, Magic Defense 750, HP 610,000. Skills: Pouncing Claws, Frost Breath. Originally an ordinary ore-eating beast, it mutated after accidentally consuming a Dragon Soul Grass formed from a divine dragon's essence. It inherited some of a dragon's abilities but could not control them, leading to a violent and ferocious temper. It is the tyrant ruling the Frost Crystal Cave.

"It’s a Dark Gold boss! We’re in big trouble!" Yang Qi’s face turned pale. Everyone knew it—even without the level-based suppression of a level 50 monster, a level 49 Dark Gold boss was enough to terrify any player. An attack cap of 2460? With Lin Zheng’s health, two hits would send him straight back to Tianshuang City.

"Rogue, how do we fight this?" Lin Zheng asked seriously. Yang Qi bit her nails, cycling through ideas only to discard them. The room was empty with no terrain to exploit, and the boss had magic attacks, making kiting impossible. What to do?

"Let’s risk it!" Yang Qi gritted her teeth. "Xiaomeng, lend me your Frost Crystal Sword Soul Armor. Everyone, keep five Nectar Pills each and give the rest to me!"

"Can you handle it?" Lin Zheng asked, deeply worried.

"We have to try! There's no other way; we just have to tank this thing!" Lin Zheng nodded and handed over his pills, as did Xiaomeng, along with the armor. Holding dozens of pills, Yang Qi felt uneasy. This was a monster meant for an entire guild's elite team, yet she had to tank it alone. She felt a massive headache coming on.

Shaking off the tension, Yang Qi yelled and charged at the boss with her Jiaotu Sword. "Anger Slash!" The sword struck the boss's neck, dealing 2110 damage. "ROAR!" The boss awoke, furious at the tiny human daring to offend it. "Vile human! How dare you strike the great dragon!"

"Shut up! You’re no dragon, just a big lizard with wings!" Yang Qi retorted, hacking at it again for 1200 damage. The boss swiped a claw, and because it was too large to dodge, Yang Qi took the hit head-on. A terrifying 2180 damage floated above her head! Lilith’s healing light immediately restored 700 HP, and Yang Qi quickly consumed pills and bread, slashing again for 1340 damage.

"It’s doable!" Yang Qi’s eyes gleamed. With nearly 6000 HP, a healer, and plenty of supplies, she could outlast it if she wasn't one-shot.

"Attack! I have its aggro!" Yang Qi shouted. She used a Great Sword Thrust, forcing the boss to stumble. Armor-shredding effects triggered, lowering the boss’s defense by 75%. Lin Zheng seized the opportunity, using Low Kick and Stomp to shave off 2000 HP, then jumped back to unleash Flying Swallow Shot. Xiaomeng dashed in with an Ice Sword Aura, dealing a massive two-stage hit of 4500 and 3670 damage.

"Xiaomeng, back off! You’re drawing aggro!" Lin Zheng warned. But it was too late—the boss erupted. "Vile humans, suffer!" It roared, unleashing a fan-shaped blast of freezing white mist. The party’s health bars plummeted.

"Damn it!" Yang Qi cursed. She had to interrupt the breath attack. "Shadow Dash!" She lunged at the boss, staggering it and cutting off the Frost Breath. "Golden Crow Slash!" She held her sword high, and the Jiaotu Sword erupted with scorching solar flames. A shrill cry echoed as a giant three-legged Golden Crow materialized and dove at the boss. "BOOM!" 183,000 damage appeared above the boss, and the solar fire began to burn it, dealing 1% of its max HP every second.

"Get lost!" As the boss swiped at Yang Qi, Lin Zheng used "Explosion" to kick it in the gut. "BANG!" The boss was sent reeling, taking 8650 damage—a critical hit!

"ROAR!" The boss clawed its way out of the ice, its claws glowing with a sinister blue light. It lunged at Yang Qi.

Realizing she couldn't dodge, Yang Qi gritted her teeth and thrust her sword to deflect, but the boss's skill was too powerful. The claw shattered her guard and slammed into her, instantly vaporizing her into white light. The impact didn't stop there; five blue shockwaves shot out, instantly killing Xiaomeng and Lilith as well.

"Damn it! Damn it all!" Lin Zheng roared in shock. That skill was too overpowered—it had one-shot Yang Qi despite her 6000 HP!

"Youxi, run! Don't throw your life away!" Lin Zheng shouted, firing his weapon. He turned to find Youxi standing calmly nearby. He grabbed her hand, "I told you to go! If even the Rogue got one-shot, how are we supposed to win?"

"No need to run," Youxi said softly.

"Don't give me that! You think we can kill this freak alone?" Just as he tried to pull her away, Youxi slowly raised her staff. In an instant, the entire boss room turned gray and white.