"ROAR!"
As Gu Jiuji closed within 150 yards of the Ice Ape Overlord, the creature's eyes snapped open, and a furious roar erupted from its throat, echoing through the grand hall of the underground third floor. The whole floor seemed to tremble.
Before Gu Jiuji could even close the distance, the Ice Ape Overlord took a single step forward, vanishing from where it stood and transforming into a howling gale that swept straight toward him.
In the blink of an eye, the overlord reappeared right in front of Gu Jiuji, the gleaming blade in its hand crashing down with devastating force.
Gu Jiuji's reactions were razor-sharp. He tilted his shield just enough to deflect the incoming sword, sending it slamming into the ground instead. Then he raised the single-handed axe in his other hand, its blade blazing with silvery-white divine runes, and swung it straight at the Ice Ape Overlord.
Second-tier skill — Rage Strike!
The axe punched through the overlord's defensive net and struck it squarely, drawing a pained shriek from the beast.
-51,854!
Staring at that damage number, everyone was dumbfounded. It was absurdly high. Before, when fighting the primordial Ice Ape Overlord, Gu Jiuji's skills had only dealt a little over twenty thousand damage. Now it had doubled in an instant.
After that hit, the Ice Ape Overlord flew into a rage. It swung both arms at Gu Jiuji, who was still airborne, cleaving down with furious power. Gu Jiuji twisted midair, his shield erupting with a blinding glow that yanked the incoming blades toward it as if by force.
Second-tier defensive skill — Attack Deflection!
This rare defensive technique redirected all of a single target's attacks onto the shield while simultaneously boosting the user's own defense by 100% and halving all damage received.
The two swords hammered into the shield. Gu Jiuji's head only popped up with two damage numbers of around six thousand each — completely negligible for someone at level 55 with over sixty-five thousand HP. A single heal from the back line could patch him right up.
Seizing the opening, Gu Jiuji swung his axe again at the overlord, whose center was now wide open.
-49,431!
That hit was the final straw. It locked the Ice Ape Overlord's aggro firmly onto Gu Jiuji alone, and from that moment on the beast's eyes held nothing but murderous intent toward him as it launched a frenzied assault.
"Good! Everyone else, move in!" Shi Feng saw that the aggro was well and truly secured, and gave the order.
The moment his command went out, the entire party surged forward.
Jing Wuming took the lead. His third-tier magic spear blazed with silver-white divine runes, and he drove a powerful thrust straight into the Ice Ape Overlord's joint, staggering its movements. A damage figure of over ninety thousand popped up instantly.
Mu Xiaoxiao, Yan Ya, and the other second-tier class users, activating their magic weapons' burst capabilities, easily dealt seventy to eighty thousand damage each — far exceeding even the main tanks Gu Jiuji and Anye Kuangxiang. Even without the burst, they could still put out thirty to forty thousand.
As for the first-tier experts wielding second-tier magic weapons, a single activation could produce around thirty thousand damage, and even a normal attack dealt over ten thousand.
This made the whole fight feel far easier than their previous encounters with the standard-mode Ice Ape Overlord.
The overlord's HP plummeted in a frenzy. Before long it dropped to ninety percent, and the beast activated two passive abilities. The attack speed of the top twenty damage dealers plummeted, while the overlord's own attack and defense began to climb.
"Everyone, pay attention — only use your weapon skills when you're certain you'll land the hit. If you can't guarantee it one hundred percent, stick to normal attacks. Anye Kuangxiang, you and Gu Jiuji take turns drawing the boss's attention, and prioritize killing any adds that spawn!" Shi Feng called out over team chat the moment the boss's two passive skills kicked in.
Their attack speed had plummeted, but that didn't mean their damage had dropped. As long as the hits connected, the damage would remain the same.