2 days passed by and the amount of worms left on the Sphere of Worms and Leeches has finally toned down quite a lot. It's no longer in sphere shape anymore as well, more like a half circle now. Still, for a half circle, the amount of worms on it is still quite large amount and the mountain of dead worms is already scattered all over the swamp if not for the regular explosions done to eliminate the worms and leeches in batches, the number of worms littered all over will be too much to be called a mountain.
Despite the efforts of the players suppressing the boss, the boss has little change and all the players who are suppressing it are showing signs of fatigue. No one knows if there is a surefire way to defeat it in one go since they already tried some of the strongest spells they could find and use to it and even some items that can deal strong AOE damage do not even help much in defeating all the worms.
The players shouldn't have complained since they get experience for killing the worms and they get money as well, but only if it was worth it struggles. Every worm that is killed by a player will net that player 10 experience points and 1 bronze coin
Still, even if the players are all complaining about it, they continue to fight, They didn't stop until it dies and with the rankers rallying them as well, the players continue to defeat it with all their efforts.
Sigma is huffing and puffing as she smashes one of the leeches to a mush. She no longer counts how many she has killed. She forgot, or more precisely, she lost count already. Looking at her companions, none of them are showing a confident look on their faces. The looks of exhaustion and fatigue are already wearing them down. They might have already rested multiple times but the monster just never stops moving and never stops producing more of the worms. At this point, everyone is already desensitized from the constant worm and leech killing,
"Are you guys still fine?" Sigma asked everyone who seemed all drained with energy.
"Barely hanging there, but we are still fine," Dolly wipes off her sweat.
"We can still fight. Don't worry about us too much," Harmless Sparrow shakes her hand for a bit, perhaps due to how she has been gripping the sword for too long.
"Still, we are just hacking and stomping these enemies, why are we always exhausted when it comes to these long battles all of a sudden? We are not like this before?" Hagane shooks his head. Even though he is not actively fighting the enemies and are just shielding them from incoming leeches and worms, he also felt the same way as everyone else.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThat's when Sigma suddenly got the answer she was looking for. The main reason why they keep getting exhausted after several attempts a day in fighting. Compared to the time they were fighting in the Frozen Region in Sandurk where the enemies are constantly appearing here and there for them to fight with almost little to no sleep, they still feel energetic in the battles.
And yet, a mere battle of worms and leeches with a minimum of 3 hours, they already felt spent. Hagane's words might have just been a passive quote from him since he has the habit of saying crucial info about something that everyone seems to not notice in the first place out loud.
Just now is something that they didn't think about but might be something that they have neglected. After all, who would have thought that they would feel drained after killing monsters for that long?
Now that she finally has an idea of why they get so exhausted so fast, she opened her inventory and grabs one of the drinks that have the ability to give the one who drank the item the passive buff, [Energized]
[Energized]
Type: Buff
Info: Once applied to the user, they will regain stamina at an increased rate. Prevents debuffs that decrease stamina. Useful during long expedition missions.
Sigma drank the whole bottle in one go and gained the passive buff. The moment she got it, all of the fatigue she felt suddenly disappeared, and her prior vigor before they fought returned as well.
"I knew it!" Sigma grinned seeing her theory indeed worked. She then alerted everyone about it.
"Guys, grab a Lemon Juice and drink it, this will solve our problem of getting too tired to fight!"
Seeing that Sigma is back to her energetic self, everyone grabbed a Lemon Juice in their inventory. Lemon Juice is a normal drink sold in every store that sells potions and is considered a stamina recovery potion. It's a necessary item, especially in raiding dungeons or fighting enemies that make you run around multiple times to fight. They clearly don't need Lemon Juice right now since they are not running around and they are only fighting the enemy in short outbursts but now, it seems that wasn't the case as they still needed it.
The moment everyone drank the Lemon Juice, their prior vigor that has disappeared, and are back to their usual killing rampage.
"Hehehe! Holy crap! Thanks, Sigma-chan! Now that we are back on business, it's time to unleash hell on these wriggly bastards, yeah?" Dolly then starts releasing flames on her hands.
"Looks like it's too effective. Alright, guys, there's no need to hold back! Until the buff ends, let's get this f*cker die!"
Seeing Sigma's group, the other players did the same and just like the former, everyone else also regained their vigor and started fighting the worms and leeches with revitalized energy. As a result, everyone regained their hostile tendencies against enemies and started to slaughter all of the worms and leeches that are broken off from the main body every time a stun grenade or flashbang is used.
And with the addition of some new players joining the fray, the battle continued, the cycle continued and the boss continuously lost its shape as well. Then, it happened.
The final attempt of the boss to fight back against the players.
Instead of rebuilding itself from scratch or returning to where it came from, it explodes and spreads out all of the worms and leeches that are still on its body. After the explosion, the worms and leeches suddenly grow in large size. Around the same size as a trunk of a normal tree growing in parks for decorating the streets. It might not be that bad but imagine having those sizes around a hundred or a thousand times in numbers all around. Perhaps anyone would change their mind.
But for these players, they just wanted the worms to die. The raid should have ended sooner and so, even though they are faced with these fat and giant worms and leeches, ready to attack and try to devour them, the players didn't back down and with the lead of Sigma, she pointed her sword to the horde of worms.
"SQUASH THEM ALL!"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe players screamed in response, rallying themselves to the enemies with weapons in their hands, their reinvigorated will to fight seeped through them as they hacked, slashed, smashed, shot, and any kind of way to kill something to the worms. And despite the best final efforts of the boss to kill everyone and finish their only task, the players tended to be a bigger threat than them.
-You have gained the qualifications to earn a new title!
-gained the title [Worm Slayer]
Although the title isn't a unique title, seeing a new shiny nickname for the players tends to give them more satisfaction than ever.
And so, the final boss revealed its final form after the endless assault of worms came to an end.
[The Sphere] Boss
HP: 100/100
Type: Construct
Sigma who is the first one to notice it from the players who are celebrating the defeat of the boss picked up the remains of the previous monstrosity, now as big as the palm of Sigma's hands.
Seeing it wriggled a few times, Sigma didn't spare a single glance at it after seeing it still remains functional and released one of her golden chains and pierced the thing, effectively destroying the item as well.
And with the destruction of the true core, also ended the second wave as well. The players have finally recovered from all the days they were fighting nothing but worms and leeches all day. Due to that, the players are now happy that the boss was defeated and returned to the city to go and meet up with the king and queen to get their rewards based on their contributions.
As for Sigma's group, everyone is satisfied but tired from all the battles. Despite regaining their lost energies back, Sigma decided that some things should be done moderately.
"Well done guys. Let's go back and rest. After all, we deserved it."