Chapter 149: Victory

After battling the skeletal dragon for two hours...

"This thing is ridiculously divine."

"Its defense is hard as nails."

"My hands are completely numb from hitting it..."

"How is its hide even thicker than my scales?!"

At this moment, the skeletal dragon clung to the wall, its hollow, socket-like eyes looking down at us. A rattling, chuckling sound came from its throat, as if it were mocking us. This boss was truly monstrous; after being mobbed by us for two hours, it wasn't even phased, while the rest of us were practically being dragged down to exhaustion.

Just then, the skeletal dragon climbed even higher. Suddenly, its tail whipped up, and with a speed so indescribable that none of us could react in time, the tail elongated and instantly coiled around Xi.

"Xi!" I cried out in horror. Sensing my intent, Dragon Warrior let out an explosive roar and unleashed a breath of dragon fire, but the skeletal dragon darted away with blinding speed.

"Big Brother Dragon—!" Xi cried out in distress, trapped within the dragon's tail. Then, the skeletal dragon loosened its grip, and the next moment, Xi dropped. Dragon Warrior tried to rush forward to save him instantly, but the skeletal dragon moved even faster. In a flash, it clamped its jaws around Xi's head and upper body, followed by a loud gulp. Xi had been swallowed whole.

After devouring Xi, the skeletal dragon opened its jaws once more, spitting out a black sphere. Dragon Warrior's chest was instantly caved in with a heavy indentation, and its mountain-like body crashed heavily onto the ground. Its head swayed as it looked around us, evidently searching for its next target. I immediately recalled Dragon Warrior.

"I am so sorry, Master!"

I said, "Rest for a moment. I'll call you back later."

At this point, Xi began to shout in the team channel: "Big Brother Dragon, you have to wipe that thing out! The gloves you gave me dropped, remember to help me pick them up later. Sob, sob, I finally hit level 45 and got dropped right back down..."

"Uh, take a rest. Hurry back over, maybe you'll still get a share of the experience later."

"How can I be that fast? I'm hanging out with the Weakness debuff in the city, and it lasts a full half-hour. By the time I manage to fight my way back in, it'll be hours from now."

"Uh, that's true..."

"Everyone, do your best! You must avenge me!"

***

"Understood."

Our lost health points had recovered by now. The boss had been clinging to the wall, watching us for a long time without making a single move. With a fierce roar, the skeletal dragon suddenly leaped down from the wall, once again opening its cavernous maw to lunge, colliding straight into me in an instant.

The skeletal dragon let out a muffled grunt and recoiled, while I let out a miserable scream, tumbling backward. My chest was bleeding profusely; a chunk of flesh along with my chest armor had actually been ripped right off.

"Big Brother Dragon!" Tianzhao cried out in shock. "You monster, how dare you hurt my Big Brother Dragon? Go to hell!" With that, a flurry of flying darts rained down, yet each strike only chipped away a few hundred health points from the skeletal dragon.

"Awaken! In the name of the contract, unleash the power of the Wind King!" Huanyue shouted sternly. The holy sword in her hand emitted waves of cyan light, and as she swung it, gale-force tornadoes erupted, sweeping crazily toward the skeletal dragon.

Feng Xiaoyue raised her Soul-Eater Sword and forcefully stabbed it into the ground. Cracks instantly spread across the earth, forming shockwaves that launched toward the skeletal dragon. I didn't hold back either; my Ruyi Staff grew longer and thicker, and I brought it down upon the skeletal dragon's head, instantly stacking it with Shattering Strike, Energy Blast, and Assault.

Suddenly, the three of us launched simultaneous attacks against the skeletal dragon. It opened its gaping maw to let out a muffled draconic roar, shook its four limbs, and bolted forward with peerless speed.

Not only did it dodge my attack, but it also locked onto one of us in the middle. I realized it was targeting Feng Xiaoyue, having seemingly discerned that among the four attacking enemies, she was the weakest. It intended to eliminate her first.

The speed was too fast. I wanted to step in and rescue her, but it was already too late. I watched as the skeletal dragon lunged, about to sink its teeth into Feng Xiaoyue.

Suddenly, Feng Xiaoyue let out a sharp cry: "Blade Array!" With her sharp shout, I saw numerous spikes suddenly sprout around her body. Her entire person was surrounded by a ring of upright blades, making her look like a hedgehog.

The skeletal dragon opened its giant jaws, and this bite squarely swallowed the "hedgehog"-formed Feng Xiaoyue whole. Even as resilient as a dragon, it couldn't help but let out a miserable howl. Caught entirely off guard, it had bitten right into a mass of blades, getting pricked so severely that it shrieked in agony before violently thrashing its head to fling Feng Xiaoyue away.

"Roar!" Roaring in fury, the skeletal dragon curled its body inward, and then shot forward like an arrow released from a string. I immediately activated Feint and Wind Guardian.

With a "snap," the skeletal dragon's tail swept across. I let out a muffled groan as the shields generated by Feint and Wind Guardian instantly shattered, and my entire body was sent flying and tumbling far away.

Following that, the holy sword in Huanyue's hand suddenly emitted a dazzling golden light. "Contract—Excalibur!" Huanyue shouted loudly, and countless sword phantoms tore through the air, converging into a stream of golden light that destroyed everything in its path. This flood of light, composed of innumerable sword phantoms, was more dazzling than any lightning; before it, there was nothing that could not be severed. It was the strongest ultimate move I had ever seen Huanyue use.

However, the skeletal dragon opened its massive jaws and spewed out black flames, clashing evenly with Huanyue's Excalibur. A tremendous explosion followed. I immediately used Cloud-Leaping Assault to close the distance, thrusting my left hand forward to unleash the Grab Cannon.

Yet the skeletal dragon was too fast; it raised a front paw and swiped me away. Its tail curved backward and struck Huanyue heavily. Huanyue spat out a mouthful of blood, and a damage figure of -3954 popped up above her head.

***

Feng Xiaoyue and Tianzhao rushed forward at that moment, but the skeletal dragon roared like thunder, leaped high into the air, and slammed down. Feng Xiaoyue and Tianzhao were instantly blasted away by the shockwave, leaving our group utterly routed and in a pathetic state.

"Damn it! Full release, Wind King's Power! By the name of the contract, grant me invincibility!" Following Huanyue's stern cry, a powerful storm descended from the void, carrying streaks of lightning within it. It instantly swallowed the skeletal dragon. We heard a series of roars erupting from within the storm; the skeletal dragon's health bar flashed with an 8000-damage figure, followed by an endless stream of damage numbers in the five hundreds. Amidst the thousands of fierce thunderbolts and terrifying wind blades, the skeletal dragon's tough hide began to tear, its muscle fibers snapping piece by piece, drawing out a spine-chilling, agonizing howl filled with utter despair.

Just as we thought we were seeing the dawn of victory, another deafening roar echoed from the storm. The skeletal dragon frantically clawed its way out of the storm summoned by Huanyue, its expression vicious and terrifying to the extreme as it lunged at Huanyue.

Acting like a rabid beast, the skeletal dragon lunged toward Huanyue. She was half-kneeling on the ground, panting continuously, clearly having entered a state of exhaustion—much like being unable to do anything else for a long time after sprinting ten thousand meters. With the skeletal dragon charging frantically toward her, Huanyue's face turned deathly pale, powerless to defend herself. She could only watch helplessly as the roaring dragon closed in.

I immediately activated Thousand-Mile Wings to surge my speed crazily, switched to the Cold Light Sword, and triggered Ice Armor. With a loud crash, both the skeletal dragon and I charged forward at extreme speed, slamming fiercely into each other.

Faced with absolute, formidable strength, the Ice Armor instantly shattered, and my health plummeted to rock bottom. I was sent flying far away, crashing heavily onto the ground with a "bang." I immediately scrambled back up, though my body was battered and swaying. The world spun around me; the skeletal dragon's charge had been halted momentarily, and though it seemed largely unfazed, this brief pause gave me my opening.

I switched back to the Ruyi Staff, brandished it, and triggered the attached skill, "Havoc in Heaven!" As I spun the Ruyi Staff in place, a flat 7000 damage figure popped up over the skeletal dragon's head as it was knocked airborne. When it crashed back to the ground, a continuous stream of 300 to 600 damage numbers popped up repeatedly. Once Havoc in Heaven ended, I felt the world spinning even more violently—the aftereffects of this move were truly no joke. The skeletal dragon lashed out with a claw, but I immediately activated Fakeout to dodge it.

Huanyue had not yet recovered from her exhausted state, and I was dizzy and disoriented until my head bumped against a wall, helping me regain a shred of focus. Feng Xiaoyue and Tianzhao charged back in to engage the skeletal dragon. Then, with a roar, Dragon Warrior descended once more, instantly closing in on the skeletal dragon. The skeletal dragon whipped its tail around to strike Dragon Warrior, but Dragon Warrior sheathed its black sword, reached out with both hands, and actually caught the tail in its grip.

Letting out a deafening, prolonged roar, Dragon Warrior grabbed the skeletal dragon's tail and flung the creature high into the air before spinning and violently hurling it away.

With a ground-shaking roar like an earthquake, the skeletal dragon slammed hard against the wall, causing a section of it to collapse. Roaring, Dragon Warrior drew its black sword from the ground once more and brought it down in a ferocious slash across the skeletal dragon's back.

With a resounding "bang," countless bones in the skeletal dragon's steel-hard spine snapped in an instant. Dragon Warrior delivered another thrust, plunging the sword deep into its body. The skeletal dragon's body suddenly went limp and collapsed, its mouth continuing to twitch with roars, but it had completely lost all strength.

As I recovered from my dizziness and Huanyue regained her strength, Feng Xiaoyue and Tianzhao charged back in. Pinned to the ground by Dragon Warrior, the skeletal dragon became completely at our mercy. Realizing the boss was now susceptible to physical attacks, my younger sister and Sister Wang immediately unleashed their assaults. As long as it was purely physical attacks, my sister and I could take turns tanking without the slightest issue. The boss roared incessantly but could do nothing. After we wailed on it for a while, the skeletal dragon let out a mournful cry, lifted its head high, and then let it drop.

Following that, the skeletal dragon's body dissolved into countless white light spheres and vanished. Amidst those countless light spheres, a cylindrical object caught my eye.