[Spectral Claw]

A ghastly white pair of claws appeared and stroke the Ape King, taking away a patch of fur.

"Roar!"

Instantly, the Ape King roared loudly in pain. For the first time, while fighting the Banshee Queen, he was really hurt. Unfortunately, the Banshee Queen was staying at a good distance from him. She was playing it safe and that angered the Ape King.

Whenever he would jump to grab her, she would simply float away quickly and avoid the attack. The Ape King was angered but he still failed to grab her.

An idea suddenly crossed his mind as he bent down and grabbed the corpse of Anken. Without a warning, he suddenly threw the body straight at the Banshee Queen, followed by the ax of the living corpse.

The Ape King was powerful and empowered by his anger, the projectiles flew so fast that the Banshee Queen did not have time to dodge. Instead, she activated her skill [Misty Body], turning herself into a patch of mist.

As a result, the body and the ax harmlessly flew through her and went straight to the sky. The [Misty Body] allowed Lyra to be immune to any physical damage for 1 second. It was a life-saving skill.

But as her body was returning to normal, Lyra saw the Ape King grab Krishaw's body, ready to throw it. Lyra focused, judging from the Ape King's position, he was aiming just above her head, expecting her to dodge by going upwards.

She quickly flew towards the ground and as she expected, a few moments later, the corpse of Krishaw was thrown just a few inches above her head. Thanks to her preemptive movement, the Banshee Queen was able to avoid the attack but at that moment, she heard Dreidus' voice.

"Lyra!! Careful!!"

She was alarmed and was about to turn around but before she could, she suddenly felt an intense pain on her back as her body was being pushed towards the ground. Lyra wanted to scream but before she could, an intense pain emerged from her throat, preventing her from speaking.

"Nooo!" Dreidus screamed as he was desperately rus.h.i.+ng towards Lyra to help her. But he was too far!

Although she was critically injured, Lyra was still alive. The Forest Tiger King was 9 levels above her but despite the huge gap in power, the Beast King was not able to one-shot her. It was thanks to her naturally high vitality and the fact that the Ape King had not been able to hit her even once since the start of the battle.

However, Lyra now barely had 50 HP, a simple attack from the Forest Tiger King would end her life. She could feel the paws of the Forest Tiger King, pressing her against the ground. She tried to move but failed. The situation was desperate, Lyra knew very well that it was over for her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the final strike. Even if she died, she knew she would still revive in a day if they managed to survive the trial.

She nervously waited for the final attack but to her surprise, it never happened. Instead, she suddenly felt that the weight pressing her body down disappeared. Moments later, she heard 3 loud "Woosh" above her head.

...

Sensing danger, the Forest Tiger King abruptly jumped to the side, just in time to avoid 3 wind blades coming his way.

"Roar!"

He angrily turned to see the 3 harpies staring at him. They were visibly the one who tried to sneak attack him. He was confused; he had long detected the harpies but weren't they busy with dealing with the other beasts?

He lowered his sight only to see the remains of the carnage that occurred. Of all the beasts that accompanied him, only 2 Forest Tigers were still alive and they were already surrounded by 4 Death Knights.

He was enraged seeing his kin being killed but he did not have time to daydream as 3 other Death Knights were charging at him. Of the 25 Death Knights, only 7 were still alive; they were all severely injured while 2 of them even lost their mounts.

"F*ck..."

...

Meanwhile, Dreidus rushed toward the Forest Tiger King from the side. 'How dare he sneak attack Lyra like that!'

Dreidus' long sword was s.h.i.+ning red as he was charging but suddenly, a shadow appeared, blocking the Forest Tiger King from his view. It was the Ape King who angrily raised its fists at him.

[Crus.h.i.+ng Boulder Fist]

Without hesitation, the Ape King used its skill and violently attacked Dreidus. The latter could only raise his s.h.i.+eld to protect himself. As much as he wanted to protect Lyra, that Ape King was not allowing him to pa.s.s through.

"Boom!"

The s.h.i.+eld violently shook as it blocked the attack. Compared to the Forest Tiger King who prioritized speed, the Ape King specialized in strength. Although the attack was blocked, Dreidus still ended up losing 5% of his HP.

"D*mn... This is bad..." thought Dreidus. Time was running out! His battle form would soon expire! The fight among the bosses went on extremely quickly! Just slightly over 1 minute went by since Dreidus used his battle form. After leveling up, he naturally became stronger and was able to maintain that form for a longer period of time but its duration was still limited.

To make the most out of the few seconds he had left, Dreidus raised his blazing sword and pierced the Ape King's right foot. Dreidus' sword was sharp, allowing him to even cut through the Beast's hard flesh.

Dreidus felt some satisfaction at first but when he raised his head to look at the Ape King, the latter seemed amused. An expression of ridicule was being displayed on its face.

The Ape King had a sharp instinct. Deep inside, he knew that Dreidus' current form was only temporary. If he could stall just a bit longer, then Dreidus would return to its weaker form. All his senses were screaming at him that it was about to wear off! The second the skeleton returned to its normal form would be the perfect time to attack; it was when it would be the most vulnerable.

As such, the Ape King did not hesitate to allow Dreidus to hit him. Even as he felt the pain on his right leg, his eyes shone as he raised his right hand, "Now!!!"

Already, he could see the orange flames dimming, the skull of the skeleton already lost its glow while the originally burning hot blade was clearly becoming colder.

The Ape King let out a large grin; he had won! He mercilessly raised his right fist and activated his skill, [Iron Smash]

However, the second the Ape King used his skill, he suddenly felt a sense of crisis! Wind started to blow all over the gra.s.sy plain. All his instincts warned him to immediately stop the attack and to jump on the ground.

The Ape King trusted his instinct and did not hesitate to stop his fist but as he tried to move his legs, he failed. Dreidus' sword was still pinning him to the ground! Although Dreidus' was no longer ablaze, his armor was already disappearing, revealing the skeletal body, he was still firmly holding his sword, determined to stop the Ape King.

...

As the 3 Death Knights charged towards the Forest Tiger King, he quietly sneered. He jumped backward before using [Iron Claws].

His claws shone brightly as he cut through the Death Knights' armor like b.u.t.ter. None of the Death Knight could survive very long under the Beat King's attack; even the mounts were mercilessly killed.

But at the same time, the 3 harpies moved closer to each other.

"Let's do it! Do you still have enough mana?" asked Ariel.

"mmm" Angela nodded with a determined expression while Alice did not even wait to start casting the skill.

The other 2 harpies quickly followed up and they all put their right hand together. Immediately, the atmosphere turned solemn. The 3 harpies intensely focused; after practicing for more than 1 week, they only succeeded in using the skill correctly once.

In fact, it was not even a real skill but more an imitation of one. It was meant to be a powerful level 50 wind mage's skill but when they joined hand together, the 3 harpies managed to replicate a weaker version of the skill.

A sphere of wind formed between the 3 harpies' hand as more and more wind started to rotate in the sphere. The center of the sphere looked just like the eye of a cyclone with condensed air circling around it.

"I cannot hold longer... We send it now!" said Alice and immediately, the harpies coordinated with each other and threw the ball of wind towards the Forest Tiger Wind.

[Aeroblast]

The Forest Tiger King naturally noticed the change. He internally laughed as he jumped to the side to avoid the sphere. Although the sphere was fast, to the Forest Tiger King, it was just a normal speed; He easily avoided it but as soon as he jumped, the Forest Tiger King suddenly realized something. He roared but it was too late.

The [Aeroblast]'s target was originally him but as he jumped away, the sphere of wind continued on its trajectory in a straight line. However, at the end of the trajectory was the Ape King who was raising his fist to strike Dreidus.

The alignment of the harpies, the Forest Tiger King and the Ape King was not a coincidence! After they dealt with the regular beast, Ariel asked the Death Knights to precisely charge at the Forest Tiger King to lure him in this particular spot!

The Beast King did not realize anything until it was too late! He could only watch as the sphere of wind rushed towards the Ape King.

As soon as the sphere came into contact with the Ape King's fur, the wind around it started to viciously shred anything it touched. At the moment, the wind looked more like a series of sharp blades constantly circling around the center of the sphere!

The harpies watched as the skill ravaged the Ape King, "We did it!" exclaimed Alice. All three harpies were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with joy. After a whole week of training, their efforts were finally paying off.

"Roar!!!"

The Ape King roared in pain as his skin was being shredded. He never felt that much pain before, even when he was clawed to death by the Forest Tiger King.

He screamed loudly as his HP dwindled but in the end, the Ape King managed to survive. He almost stumbled on the ground but managed to remain standing. The Ape King had an excellent const.i.tution and a good amount of vitality. Furthermore, the harpies were still young and did not have much experience with wind magic.

As such, even as he took the full blow of [Aeroblast], the Ape King managed to survive with barely 50 HP left. But the pain was real, the Ape King felt like his entire back had been cut by thousands of blades.

He just wanted to run away as his HP was already dangerously low but as he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a skeletal hand. His eyes followed down the arm only to see the skeleton that he was ridiculing a few moments ago.

Already, a green glow was surrounding the skeleton hand. As much as the Ape King wanted to continue to fight, it suddenly felt tired. In the end, they underestimated their opponent. He closed his eyes as the green glow became even brighter. He did not need to see to know what was about to happen.

[Mortal Coil]