ShatteredCrown was instantly torn apart, reduced to a mangled heap of meat.
At that moment, a cross-shaped light descended from the heavens. BlackStockings cast Resurrection and stabilized ShatteredCrown's shattered soul. For the next three minutes, she could decide whether he would be revived.
ShatteredCrown screamed in his team channel: "Help me! Save me…!"
"Hold on, don't resurrect him yet. Let's delay a bit longer," Orson raised his hand, signaling for BlackStockings to wait.
A Greed Value decay bar appeared in the boss's status window. Clearly, once the Greed Value hit zero, the boss would regain its sanity.
Orson gave a command to Crimson Lizard King to land, his eyes sharp as chaotic energy surged around him.
Multiple effects triggered!
Three Flame Dragons from Orson's side smashed toward the Gluttonous Devourer.
But even with three Flame Dragons landing simultaneous knockback effects, they only managed to push the boss back a mere two meters. The sheer size of the boss meant that negative effects like knockback or stun were drastically reduced.
Orson raised his hand and cast Explosive Fireball, struggling to maintain the boss's airborne state.
Empress shouted, swinging her massive Heroic Shield to strike the ground. Waves of dirt erupted as the earth shook.
Empress leaped into the air with the shockwave, her body surrounded by radiant light. She unleashed a series of mighty shield strikes, sending The Flame Dragon flying ten meters away.
"If you're talking about single-target control, Holy Knight Earth is even fiercer than Earth magic." Orson muttered to himself.
Orson prepared to strike, activating Whisper of the Wind for a burst of damage, launching multiple Chaos Magic Balls at the boss.
The Chaos Chain triggered, doubling true damage, further ramping up their output.
Together, the three dealt consecutive blows, causing the boss to thrash violently.
In just two minutes, their combined efforts dealt over 30,000 damage per second, reducing the boss's health by over 3 million.
The Flame Dragon Gluttonous Devourer let out a roar, activating its crimson body armor and forcibly breaking free from the control effects. At the same time, the Greed Value dropped to its lowest point.
"Dragon Curse: Meteor Flame Explosion!"
The Flame Dragon Gluttonous Devourer spread its wings and raised its head high, locking onto the group.
Lightning cracked across the sky, and a massive six-pointed star tore open the heavens.
Empress: "I don't think I can take this skill..."
Everyone felt a chill as they realized they had been toying with the Greedy Hoarder up until now, but they had never seen The Flame Dragon display its true power.
The sky and the earth seemed to change color, and the overwhelming might of the Sky King descended!
Gluttonous Devourer was far stronger than the Greedy Hoarder. The meteoric flames illuminated the entire sky, transforming into elemental fire dragons that rushed indiscriminately toward Orson and the others.
"Priest, Divine Shield, give Empress a shield!"
Orson smirked, still calm and collected.
He intended to squeeze out the last bit of output before the inevitable hit. He continued to shout: "Earth Knight, use Angel's Counter to reflect the skill. Angle it toward me!"
Empress froze for a moment, not understanding Orson's strategic intention. "What do you mean? This will kill you!"
"Trust me. Try to absorb as many skills as possible, and then use it to hit me," Orson's gaze was firm and resolute, his calm voice leaving no room for doubt.
The Holy Knight Earth's exclusive skill, Angel's Counter, could forcibly absorb incoming ranged skills. After charging, the skill would reflect a portion of the damage back at the enemy, even stronger than typical counterattack skills.
However, this skill required the Holy Knight Earth's equipment and health to be very strong, as absorbing too many attacks could break both their health bar and equipment. Furthermore, when reflecting, the skill had a noticeable charging time, giving the enemy a chance to dodge.
Empress, her shield glowing with a powerful aura, leapt high into the air. With a fierce shout, she proclaimed:
In the face of the terrifying number of meteor flames, she resolutely raised her Dragon-Patterned Giant Shield. The holy light enveloped her, and she looked like a warrior goddess descending to the earth.
A beam of divine light spread across the sky, dispelling the dark clouds. Her graceful figure caused ShatteredCrown, still dead, to rage in his chat: "6666!"
The Dragon Curse magic covering a radius of several hundred meters slowed down, and the space seemed to momentarily freeze.
The Dragon-Patterned Earth Shield before Empress suddenly generated a powerful pull, rapidly drawing in the incoming meteor flames.
More than ten meteor flames gathered into a single, massive sphere—an explosive ball over 100 meters in diameter, pulsating with terrifying magical energy!
"This is the true power of the dragons... This is Dragon Curse magic."
In the next moment, Empress whispered, a crack appearing in her shield. Her arm swelled as the Heroic Gauntlet exploded.
Counterattack overcharge -3000!
Counterattack overcharge...
Within two seconds, BlackStockings' Awakening Shield burst open. Despite BlackStockings' healing efforts, Empress' health, over 20,000 points, still dropped rapidly.
"I can't hold on much longer... It's about to exceed the counterattack limit!"
Empress's face turned pale as she felt the immense pressure crushing her nerves. She even had an impulse to force herself offline.
As the massive explosive ball neared the breaking point, Orson extended his hand and pointed at Empress. Nine Sun Shields gathered around her Dragon-Patterned Shield, stabilizing the shield and allowing her to hold on for a few more seconds.
With one final effort, she managed to absorb over thirty meteor flames.
Meanwhile, Gluttonous Devourer wasn't idle. Seeing that the Dragon Curse magic had been temporarily halted, it let out a roar from above, its throat charged with destruction.
This would be the final strike for anyone who dared insult the might of the dragon!
Orson's eyes turned sharp. He calmly said, "Empress, throw it to me."
With a yell, the Dragon-Patterned Earth Shield turned toward Orson, who appeared fragile but unyielding.
Empress, with no time to hesitate, could only trust her teammate.
The super explosive ball, with a force that could tear everything apart, rushed toward Orson.
Standing still, Orson was like an immovable fortress, impervious to the coming force.
Orson's voice rang out as his Magic Eye expanded to its maximum.
"How dare you not activate your Body Armor and use Dragon Breath in front of me... Your temper needs to be taught a lesson."
Orson's words were like a death sentence. The explosive ball rushed into the spatial web.
In the next instant, Orson appeared behind the Gluttonous Devourer, who was preparing to unleash Dragon Breath.
With Mirror of Folding accelerated five times, the explosive ball slammed into the Flame Dragon at high speed.
As a man who threw bombs and never looked back, Orson completed the maneuver, adjusted the positions of his two magic mirrors, and then, without missing a beat, grabbed both BlackStockings and Empress.
He quickly navigated through the spatial web and appeared five kilometers away.
A glorious mushroom cloud erupted on the horizon, its power reverberating through the world!
"Dragon Breath Recoil! Boss health drops by 2 million!"
"Fatal Strike triggered, boss health drops by another 6 million!"
"The Flame Dragon·Gluttonous Devourer crippled!"
"The Flame Dragon·Gluttonous Devourer lost its flying ability!"
"The Flame Dragon·Gluttonous Devourer is critically injured, losing 5000 health per second!"
A series of system messages appeared, but it wasn't the damage that stunned Empress and BlackStockings. They were left in awe of Orson's absolute mastery over his skills, his opponent's abilities, and the boss mechanics!
"Ten seconds until revival countdown. Help him up, and let's keep moving," Orson's cruel smile spread as he commanded.
BlackStockings, completely intimidated by Orson's aura, nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
However, Empress still stared at Orson, her gaze filled with both bitterness and relief. More than anything, it was a sense of gratitude for their partnership.
Now, she understood why Usher had kept his distance from him.
Orson turned toward her, his smile playful despite his gear being damaged and showing signs of wear. "Oh? Why's that?"
Empress took a deep breath to calm herself, her voice steady but thoughtful. "For someone like him, who wants to dominate Infinite Dimensions, being in the same realm as you... that's a tragic fate."