Jonah and Shanny led the charge.
The two 1-stars struck down the enemies that were in their immediate path.
Serafina followed closely behind them.
She used Telekinesis to create flood waves of the muddy ground and pushed off the enemies pursuing from the rear.
I read telekinesis magic cost less mana than elemental spells. Good.
There was still a lot of ground to cover and Serafina needed to save her mana for more critical moments.
[Goblin Lv.3 x37]
[Goblin Archer Lv.3 x33]
[Direwolf Lv.4 x23]
[Harpy Lv.4 x20]
My heroes reached the end of the fire trail. More enemies were waiting for them beyond.
Serafina set to cast her fire spell and extend the burning path further.
But then she stopped.
Jonah instead threw his exploding throwing spear toward the enemies beyond the fire trail.
Boom!
He and Shanny suddenly leapt out of the burning path and charged into the dark battlefield ahead, engaging the monsters that survived the blast.
It was risky advancing without the cover of the firewalls.
On the other hand, Serafina would have to spend more of her depleting mana to form them.
Were the 1-stars trying to help Serafina save her mana by not making her extend the fire trail? Or was this the 4-star's instruction herself?
It was a wise decision either way.
We did not know what awaited the heroes beyond this forest patch.
Serafina had to conserve her mana even if it meant fighting more enemies.
I just hoped the 1-stars would be able to take on the added burden.
[Enchantment over.]
[Party 1's agility, strength, and stamina have returned to normal.]
The buff enchantment Serafina casted had worn off.
She should not cast them again. Not right away, at least.
It would be more difficult now for Jonah and Shanny battling the monsters.
But they simply had to pull through. Serafina needed her rest.
Crack! Boom!
The storm was turning fiercer.
Deep pools of mud began to flood the entire forest, making it harder for my heroes to advance through the battlefield.
But my heroes pressed on, anyway.
Jonah and Shanny charged side by side taking down the enemies. They were also taking small wounds back from them.
['Jonah (★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Shanny (★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. Her stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
Healing potions were certainly a necessity in boss stages.
But the dungeon where we could obtain ingredients to make them was still closed.
And I did not think Serafina's Intermediate Enchantment skill included healing magic.
According to the official forum, healing was a separate skill on its own. A terribly rare skill among the mage-class heroes.
The guides said I could purchase items such as healing potion from the game's store and give them to the heroes during the mission.
It would cost plenty of gems, however.
I did have enough gems to purchase a single vial.
But it felt like cheating to me.
That feature might be necessary later on. However, this was still the first boss stage.
My heroes were meant to survive the fifth floor without healing potions.
I had a feeling that if I bailed them out using that trick this early in the climb, they would not survive in the later boss stages that were supposed to be harder.
Indeed.
This would be a test for my heroes as well.
As much as I was fond of them, they still needed to show me their true potential.
A master would not be able to lead her army properly without knowing what her pawns were fully capable of.
My heroes eventually reached the fourth hill range. Two more forest patches for them to go through.
Kroaah!
[Ogre Lv.15 x5679]
The mud flood created by the storm fortunately also hindered the ogres' movement.
There was still quite some distance between them and my heroes.
This should give my heroes a brief time to rest.
As usual, once Serafina tore down the slope behind them to ward off pursuers, she then started creating a dimensional portal once more.
Jonah had run out of throwing spears again and the party needed them to penetrate through the enemy ranks.
However, the magic runes hovering around Serafina suddenly dissipated and her spell casting was cancelled.
It had to be the mana overflow working on her. That debuff was quite dangerous for a mage.
The guides said dimensional magic was a high level spell which required a lot of mana.
I did not think Serafina would be able to open another dimensional portal. Not soon enough, at least.
The ogres were approaching their position and my heroes could not stay longer where they were.
It would be difficult for my party now that Jonah no longer had his exploding throwing spears.
Hopefully Serafina would still be able to cast her elemental spells and created the fire trail again.
If they completely lost Serafina's elemental assaults, then it would be very dangerous for the entire party.
There were still a lot of enemies left for my heroes to face.
[Goblin Lv.3 x113]
[Goblin Archer Lv.3 x95]
[Direwolf Lv.4 x78]
[Harpy Lv.4 x63]
And yet my heroes descended from the fourth hill and set out to overcome the obstacles ahead.
The battlefield was so flooded with mud that some of the monsters were drowned within it.
Serafina proceeded to cast a spell that allowed the heroes to walk on the rushing mudflow. The enchantment enabled my heroes to tread the battlefield safely.
So it also worked on this type of liquid surface, not just water. Noted.
Boom!
The 4-star mage unleashed a large fireball which created another burning path on a portion of the fifth forest patch.
She still had enough mana for the elemental spells, thank goodness.
But the fire trail was not as long as the previous ones.
My heroes simply had to make do as usual.
The remainder of Party 1 assumed their reverse triangle formation with their three-hero composition.
Jonah and Shanny at the front, while Serafina at the back.
The 1-stars dealt with anything coming from ahead of them and secured their path forward. Anything that charged from the flanks and rear would be handled by the 4-star.
Debuffed with the mana overflow, Serafina took on the enemies by manipulating the environment with her Telekinesis skill.
Erupting the mud and scattered the enemy formation, forming a stream that swept the enemies, and other maneuvers.
Jonah and Shanny would take on every opening Serafina created to carve a path forward.
Due to their excellent teamwork, the party reached the end of the fire trail.
Serafina set out to cast her fire spell so she could extend the burning path.
But a giant boulder was falling fast toward her from the rear.
The 4-star cancelled her casting right away and immediately formed a shield on the boulder's trajectory.
Crash!
It collided against the barrier and shattered to pieces, causing my mage to be unharmed.
The fuck was that?
I shifted the map toward where the boulder came from and found myself staring at an ocean of ogres.
[Ogre Lv.15 x5679]
These bastards were already descending down the previous hill.
The flood slowed their advance heavily, but now they resorted to throwing debris at my heroes.
Boulders, tree logs, everything the ogres could lay their hands to they would throw away toward the party.
Crash! Boom! Crash!
Serafina scrambled to intercept all the deadly projectiles.
She would create force fields, slowed the debris with Telekinesis, or even sending out elemental assaults to forcefully destroy them.
The 4-star managed to protect the party from the ogres' dangerous assaults.
But she was now too occupied to extend the burning path forward.
[Goblin Lv.3 x122]
[Goblin Archer Lv.3 x110]
[Direwolf Lv.4 x89]
[Harpy Lv.4 x76]
There were more enemies emerging from the other part of the forest.
They had done it in the previous forest patch, but I did not think Jonah and Shanny could break through this many enemies on their own.
['Shanny (★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. Her stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
It might had been different if they were 3-star, or even 2-star heroes.
But their basic 1-star stats would not allow them to overcome these enemies.
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Multicasting has levelled up to level 2!]
The 4-star hero and the mud managed to keep the ogres at bay for the while.
However, my party needed to proceed east where their objective lied.
Damn!
How would my heroes get out of this situation?
[Goblin Lv.3 x57]
[Goblin Archer Lv.3 x51]
[Direwolf Lv.4 x50]
[Harpy Lv.4 x49]
More enemies. Fuck!
Jonah and Shanny had not even took out a quarter of the previous wave.
Things were definitely turning worse and worse.
This boss stage was insane!
How did they expect a single party to clear this mission?
Were the developers wanted the players to drop their game?
Why was the mission so difficult?!
['Jonah (★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
This was not looking good.
Something had to be done.
But what?!
Was there any hope left for my heroes?
['Shanny (★)'s Pain Resistance has levelled up to level 2!]
The 1-star swordswoman started charging ahead of the party.
She took on all the enemies no matter their number.
Despite taking many wounds, no enemy could stop her.
Each swing of her sword claimed two to three monsters at once.
['Shanny (★)'s Savage has levelled up twice to level 3!]
I had never seen a 1-star hero overwhelming their opponents like this.
It was as if Serafina's status buff enchantment was fully applied on her twofold.
A fierce aura suddenly burst from the 1-star hero.
['Shanny (★)'s soul is being awakened!]
['Shanny (★)' has obtained the skill, 'Berserk'!]