New Elves
The blade, empowered by double buffs, felt even better than I'd imagined. It slid in without any resistance, like stabbing into tofu or jelly. I gripped the hilt of the embedded sword and twisted my wrist. Channeling Mana Reinforcement, I dashed across the beast's body while holding on.
-Kagagagagagak!
As I ran, scales sheared off and blood sprayed. The thing was huge with a massive health pool, but its defense wasn't that high. Even in a raid of fifty-plus people, if damage didn't stick, clearing it would be impossible. That's why it was designed so challengers at Floor 9 level could still deal some damage.
Perfect for me. I wasn't as strong as a hundred Floor 9 challengers combined. But since I could solo each floor's boss, I was more than a match for twenty of them.
-Kwagak!
The others who'd landed on the serpent dragon's body with me swung their weapons mercilessly, carving wounds. Mercedes, nearly as strong as me; Kingdom Army Commander Reinhardt; and even Elenoir. Each stripped away scales and tore into flesh in their own way.
If things kept going like this, we'd drop it soon enough. But it wouldn't be that easy.
-Wriggle.
The chained serpent dragon thrashed violently. To us riding its body, it was like a full-on earthquake. And that wasn't all. Even immobilized, it could still cast magic.
A jet-black magic circle floated in the air. From it, countless black branches that had been draining the high elves' life force burst out, lunging at us.
-Kakang!
The branch attacks themselves weren't much different from the small fry swarming nearby. Each one was weak enough to deflect. But the problem was the sheer numbers, the added effects—and if even one slipped past your guard, you were done.
-Kagang! Kang! Kaang!
As the branch assaults ramped up, most of the team focused on defense. Only a few could keep up the offense now. Me and Mercedes, with our Mana Reinforcement holding strong against the branches, and a handful of others.
Luckily, a few of the kingdom army's elite knights—lower level but capable of Mana Reinforcement—were managing too.
-Kurrung!
Knights wrapped in mana glow launched themselves, snapping branches like twigs. I pressed the attack the same way. We had to maximize damage while the bindings held. This prime DPS window wouldn't come again.
A few minutes of shredding the serpent dragon's body later, the straining chains finally shattered—
And it rose up.
The World-Devouring Serpent rages!
The alert popped up right on cue, just like the community warned. The enrage pattern came with a precursor.
"Enrage! Recall!"
I bellowed from the depths of my gut. Nearby knights echoed my roar, relaying the order. I activated the magic tool on my wrist. Moments later, teleport magic recalled us.
Melee DPS phase over. Next up—the siege weapons, reloaded.
-Kwagwang! Kwang!
Countless mana shells slammed into the enraged serpent dragon. The gunners' boast of "This could shatter a mountain" flashed through my mind. The beast had no real counter; it just took the barrage.
World bosses had insane specs and scale, but no complex patterns—or so they said. True enough.
-Aaaaaaaaahhh!!
It screamed under the mountain-shattering barrage, but it wasn't hurting much.
"Looks like it has base damage reduction."
Mana cannon fire and ballista bolts alike weren't landing properly. From this distance, the wounds we'd scratched in looked like ballpoint pen scribbles.
Sure enough, without hitting the community-discovered weak point, taking it down would be tough.
[Title: Guys, I think I found the world boss weak point]
Jinhyuk's third post had this pic—zoom in and check this spot (photo). See how just that one scale is reversed? Gotta be the reverse scale. Boss name's something serpent dragon, so if there's a weak spot, bet it's this.
Raid plans were set, everyone waiting on the event—and bam, this post drops. In one of my screenshots, someone spotted a reversed scale and guessed it was the weak point. Vets who'd done world raids agreed, if it wasn't a missee.
Hit it, and crits guaranteed. That was our strike team's primary goal.
If the community had found it sooner, we could've pinpointed it pre-fight. As is, we'd have to ride the body, compare to the screenshot, and hunt it manually.
-Graaaahhh!!
As the barrage wound down, the serpent dragon screamed, enrage fading. Strike team time again.
Enrage lifts after enough damage. We'd burned it fast thanks to the opening burst DPS. Future ones wouldn't be so easy—and neither would our chances to shine.
"This is the last shot. If we don't find it now, we're screwed."
We nodded and triggered our recall tools, teleporting back onto the serpent dragon. But instead of defenseless scales—
"What the hell is that."
-A horde of grotesque giants with four arms each.
Monsters rising from the serpent's scales, molded like clay into bizarre shapes. Even from afar, their size was intimidating. The mana pouring off them was no joke.
"My god... how far have they fallen."
Mercedes muttered as she landed nearby. Not just her—the elite forces minus the kingdom army, dark elves and high elves alike, scowled at the sight.
I dropped fast, slashing one giant clean in half. Not that tough.
"Yo, what're these things?"
I kicked the bisected corpse. A nearby high elf grimaced.
Humans wouldn't get it.
"I don't know... but somehow I do. Those giants are kin to us."
More giants swarmed me. Now I saw it: their twisted black heads had one distinctive feature.
"Swallowing the World Tree lets it pull this shit."
Their ear areas spiked up like elves'.
Kin, huh. Monstrous forms, but created via the World Tree. After forest elves and night elves, these were—
The new elf species.
"Don't think about it. Not the time."
I snapped at the nameless high elf and charged the twisted elf giants. Big, but not strong. Eyes scanning every scale for the reverse one as I ran.
But even weak, diverting eyes mid-fight was a bad move.
-Whoosh, thud!
Something huge like a harpoon grazed my side. Blood sprayed. What? Not branches—ranged attack from the giant?
I glanced: all four black arms gripped weapons.
"Ah, so 'cause they're elves too."
Enormous bows pulsing with World Tree energy.
Each giant wielded swords, bows—weapons. Glancing at my torn side, the outlines looked familiar. Black clay blobs, but mimicking other elves' gear. And that stance—I'd seen it when elves begged for archery lessons.
Proper elf archery. Mystical trajectories that never missed.
Elf archery was busted, but not invincible. Technique made it special, not the bow or arrows. You could parry or block.
But these four-armed bows were massive, arrows harpoon-sized for whales. Plus World Tree aura—special effects obvious.
Dozens, maybe hundreds, eyeballing it.
"Goddamn it."
Insane elf archery from those? No conscience at all.
Fight them and find the one reverse scale? Possible?
"Gotta be, fuck it."
Like I ever did shit that was feasible.