"Babe!"
Quickstep let out a startled cry. She turned her basilisk around and chased after Silent Acacia, actually managing to catch him.
Silent Acacia landed in Quickstep's arms, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you."
The young man looked lovingly at his girlfriend.
"Get a room!"
"Ohhh!"
"Nice catch!"
Listening to the cheers of the guild members Silent Acacia suddenly felt embarrassed, jumping out of Quickstep's arms. The valiant woman however only sneered at those around her:
"All of you are just jealous!"
Meanwhile Bloody Edge also felt someone catch him. But as he looked up, he was met with Liam's indifferent face. Looking over at Silent Acacia and Quickstep he felt as if someone punched his guts.
I really need to find a caring girlfriend!
The strange pair also received various joking comments. Even Liam couldn't remain indifferent and hastily threw Bloody Edge down.
"Ow. Why even catch me in the first place if you plan to dispose of me so unceremoniously?!"
Unfortunately, Bloody Edge's complaint was only answered with a laugh.
The players were in a great mood, joking and cheering. They had observed how Silent Acacia's last action finally brought the world boss's HP to zero.
But suddenly a conspicuous question caused everyone to halt:
"Hey, why is that guy still standing?"
Everyone turned towards Mehphre, watching his beahviour in confusion.
"It can't be that he has a second phase, right?"
"Maybe some kind of last-ditch skill?"
"Something is definitely off."
All the players looked warily at Mehphre who appeared unmoving in the centre of the battlefield. Blood ran down his black scales, hardly discernible.
No one could see the draconian's black heart beating in a profound rhythm. Black runes appeared on the heart's surface. They slowly spread through Mehphre's entire body.
Gradually the heartbeat sped up and became increasingly louder, reaching the outside. The ominous sound caused everyone's bodies to freeze.
"What's... going on?"
The players were intimidated by an invisible, oppressive might. They watched as Mehphre's eyes completely clouded with a black magic, incredibly eerie.
Suddenly the draconian unleashed a cry which vibrated through everyone's body, shaking the entire world. The ambient mana grew chaotic.
Mehphre dropped his spears. One of them fell unluckily and drew a deep wound in Mehphre's leg but the boss didn't seem to notice it at all, his mind just as clouded as his eyes.
Flapping his large wings, he engulfed himself in a surging cloud of dark air as he shot into the sky. Slowly the world darkened.
"Did we do something wrong?"
"Is the boss powering up?"
"I don't know if we can deal with that..."
The players shivered as the world gradually turned bleak. Some ran towards the battlefield's barrier, striking at the black air, trying to get out.
"It won't budge."
"Damn!"
Balm took a deep breath as she sent a message in the chat.
[Balm: @Mirage, this should be a cutscene, right?]
[Bleary Mirage: Yes. You can say so.]
[Cyclone: Great! Another show!]
Noticing the conversation Cyclone patted her chest. She sat on the ground, taking out some crispy food and eating with gusto.
The guild members understood what was going on and calmed down, watching Mehphre's movements.
High in the sky the dragon-like being was barely discernible before the black background. Suddenly he unleashed a flaming meteor, extremely conspicuous. It sailed past the battlefield, landing somewhere in the desert.
A vast stretch of sand immediately melted, creating a unique view which would become a famous attraction in the future.
But instead of creating something beautiful Mehphre was more aligned to bring destruction. The sound of his black heart increased ever more, announcing death. A brutal roar escaped his mouth with enough power to shake a normal person to death.
It echoed through the Northern Desert, reaching many tribes, causing children to cry in fear.
Mehphre began attracting mana again, preparing for an unprecedented, world-ending attack.
"So how long will he rampage? Isn't someone coming to kill him?"
"I bet he's going to explode."
"Maybe his heart won't be able to take the pressure."
"Someone from Aviar should make a move, right?"
Assured that Mehphre wouldn't attack them the players discussed leisurely, guessing what might happen next.
Liam's friends also joined in, looking for a change of expression from the expert.
"I guess some desert monster will kill him for the destruction he caused!", exclaimed Cyclone, pouting as she didn't get any reaction from Liam.
Bloody Edge also joined the fun:
"An assassin from Aviar will prove themselves by slaying the dragon!"
"Right, dragonslayers! Maybe that dryad will act!"
"Does Aviar have a guardian?"
Silver Blade also pondered before revealing her guess:
"Maybe another dragon will kill him."
Suddenly Liam turned his head showing a surprised expression.
Cyclone clicked her tongue:
"Seem like Silver Blade won."
"Damn, I just wanted to say the same.", joked Silent Acacia.
"Sure babe."
Liam and his friends chuckled while an incredible heat descended. Mehphre had formed an incredibly potent flame in his maw. He would be able to bath the world in flames any second now.
But just then the world abruptly changed. The black air shrouding the sky stopped moving. The chaotic mana calmed down, even turning into orderly streams as if to welcome its emperor.
A large rift suddenly opened above Mehphre's head. Its insides were blurry, forming a large vortex, obscuring everyone's sight.
Just then an ancient, mythical voice suddenly sounded out. It was brimming with power but perfectly controlled so that no one beyond the battlefield could hear it:
"A disgrace of the noble dragons!"
Together with the voice an arm suddenly stretched out of the spatial rift. It was dressed in invincible, red scales, each one the size of a horse. The arm radiated an intimidating majesty giving all beings the involuntary urge to prostate themselves.
Just by looking at the arm, the players found multiple debuffs appearing in their status, rendering their bodies incredibly weak. Should the arm attack them they wouldn't even be able to muster the will to resist.
They watched in awe and horror as the dragon's gigantic palm opened wide, it's five claws resembling blades of judgement.
Mehphre was completely frozen in place. The palm closed around him and squeezed seemingly gently.
"Ahh!"
With a painful roar Mehphre suddenly exploded on the spot, turning into swaths of black energy which slowly dissipated.
Countless small stars fell out of Mehphre's body, raining to the ground.
The gigantic dragon's arm returned to the rift in the sky, which quickly disappeared. The black air shrouding the world also dissolved as powerful, life-spending rays of sunlight broke through the blanket.
"Wow."
"Quite beautiful."
"So strong."
The players looked towards the sky in awe, filled with varying emotions.
Balm gulped heavily, turning stiffly, looking at Liam:
"This was a dragon?"
"Yes. A real, adult, red dragon."
"Is this something we are supposed to fight?"
"Not yet. But that day will come."
The others overheard the conversation, their imaginations running wild as they tried to play out the scene in their heads.
Meanwhile Fortune was standing a few meters away with stars in her eyes. She recorded everything which had happened, trying to describe the feeling she had when laying eyes on the dragon's arm.
Fortune was sure that just putting the word dragon in the title of her next video would bring her record views. Who can escape the charm of these mythical creatures at the top of the food chain?
After completing her commentary Fortune lowered her eyes, noticing Cyclone. The young woman excitedly jumped around in the centre of the battlefield, murmuring something to herself.
"Come, come, my treasures. My babies. Don't be shy."
Fortune was confused for a moment before glancing at the falling stars in the sky. She couldn't help but chuckle. This was typical for Cyclone. While others hadn't even made out the loot yet, Cyclone was already anticipating it eagerly.
Suddenly the blond mage grew impatient. As the glittering stars finally came close to the ground, she jumped on Spark's back and flew towards them.
Finally, her friends noticed her actions. Bloody Edge's eye twitched as he asked rhetorically:
"She still has stance left?"
Cyclone didn't care for anyone. Caught in her own world she cackled eerily:
"Hehe, mine. All mine."
Everyone watching felt quite awkward. Cyclone's friends facepalmed as they felt that her outstanding guild leader image was crumbling.
After a few seconds the stars landed on the ground. The light receded and revealed the abundant loot. Some guild members were stepping forward to pick up the items.
Cyclone, who had already landed, was about to tell everyone to stay back when she felt a pair of piercing eyes stare at her back.
She turned around and was met with Silver Blade's stern face. Cyclone smiled wryly and decided to stay silent.
At least I already gathered the most valuable loot. Let's see. Dragonslayer set. Hehe, let's keep this for the very end.
Silver Blade noticed a mischievous flash in Cyclone's eyes, but she decided not to dig deeper. Together with others she also began to gather the loot.
This time the world boss was extremely generous, gifting the guild more than one hundred items.