CHAPTER 153: WEAK TO FIRE

The tree part of the Blightbloom let out a groaning sound, letting out waves of shockwave pulsing through its body. Ning, who had just hit a Critical Spot, quickly stepped back, seeing the change in the boss.

"It’s changing phases!" Lucille shouted. "Be careful and move out of the way."

Suddenly, the creature began to change dramatically. The tree trunk that had formed its main body started to wither and collapse. As it collapsed, the fungal growth, that was the main body from the start, began expanding rapidly, growing to become nearly as large as it was initially.

It took over as the primary monster.

The parasitic organism began pulsating with soft light while its surface was covered in toxic spores. The tree portion was mostly gone, but a few of the thick roots remained embedded in the grassland, still capable of movement and attack.

"Be careful!" Lucille warned. "Its attack pattern has likely changed completely. We need to watch out for the roots too, and there’s probably more poison involved now too."

Ning circled the transformed boss, his spear ready attack again, but his expression grew frustrated. "I can’t see any stationary critical spots anymore," he called out. "They’re moving around like they would on a slime."

He studied the creature more with an annoyed look on his face, watching the way the fungal mass shifted and flowed. He would need area-of-effect attacks with enough firepower to damage those moving spots. Those were the ways to hit those Critical spots.

Sadly, he didn’t have any of those.

"I’ll stick to defending Roman this phase," Ning decided, stepping away from the immediate combat zone.

The moment the boss had fully changed, Jax ran to attack, charging forward with his axe raised.

He brought his weapon down in a powerful slash, accompanied by a ghostly image of the axe that followed it, striking across the fungal mass. The blade cut deep enough to gouge out a portion of the fungus, but within moments, the fungus simply grew back together, sealing the wound as if it had never happened.

"Slashing attack isn’t working!" Jax reported, stepping back. "It just regenerates instantly."

"Let me try," Melayne said, moving in with her flaming sword.

Her blade struck the creature, and this time the fire caused visible damage. The fungal tissue sizzled and burned, leaving charred areas that tried to heal, but couldn’t.

"Fire is still working!" she called out, her eyes shining at the sight. "Actually, fire is working much better than last time. The fungus is more vulnerable to it than the tree was. Lucille, your spell from earlier please."

"Okay," Lucille nodded. "Fight carefully, everyone. It’ll be a short while before my spell is usable again."

She observed the boss’s new form and noticed something important. "Melayne, try and see if you can get the boss to move around."

Melayne did as asked, running around the boss, slashing into its body with her runic sword. The fungus appears to be immobile without the tree structure. It could move around like before.

"Great observation, Lucy. It can’t move around like before."

"Good. Stick to the sidelines." Lucille raised her staff toward the sky. "Lightning bolt incoming... in a bit."

Melayne fought from the side, waiting for the lightning bolt to strike down. To her surprise, it came down just 2 seconds later. Sometimes, the delay was not there at all.

The bolt struck the fungal mass directly, causing it to convulse and emit a cloud of spores. The remaining wood around the body of the fungus also caught on fire at the same time.

Melayne was finally free to attack the boss.

Roman used Holy Touch on Melayne. She was dealing the most damage with her fire attacks, so it was good to let her do more damage.

The additional Light elemental damage, however little, was important.

Jax was helping her too, constantly slashing, striking at its body. Any damage was welcomed after all.

Melayne pressed her assault, her rune-enhanced blade burning through the fungal mass with devastating effect.

Suddenly, Jax’s voice cut through the battle sounds. "Everyone fall back! Now!"

The party immediately obeyed without question, retreating from the boss’s immediate vicinity. They turned to Jax for explanation once they were far away.

"What’s wrong?" Lucille asked urgently.

Jax was already running toward Roman, his face somewhat pale beneath his helmet. "I’ve been poisoned," he said, his voice slightly strained.

Roman’s eyes widened and he reached out to use his spell.

"Wait!" Jax said, putting up his hand to stop him from using his spell. "Use Heal instead, not cleanse."

"What? Why?" Roman asked, confused. "You’re poisoned. You need cleansing."

Jax shook his head. "There’s a poison cloud around the boss. Anyone who stays in close range for too long gets poisoned. Melayne is dealing the most damage, so she needs to be there the most. She’ll definitely get poisoned too."

He gestured toward the fungal creature, and now they could see the faint green miasma that surrounded it. "I can handle the poison with healing. Save the cleanse for if something happens to Melayne."

"Do as he says," Lucille ordered.

Roman cast his healing spell on Jax, returning life to him. Although, he still could read the ’poisoned’ notification on his status. He didn’t know if it would go away on its own, but he was fine for now, so he didn’t need to do anything.

"I’ll help from a distance," Jax said, moving back from the creature.

He activated his Divine Threads spell, this time adding no element to them. They cost less Navi that way. The threads materialized around the fungal boss, constricting it. There were many rounds of threads, covering more and more of the boss.

"You’re wasting Navi, Jax. You don’t need to constrict it," Lucille said from the back.

"It’s not a waste," Jax said, looking toward the boss. "Melayne, cut next to the threads."

Melayne did as asked, the swords cutting close to the threads, leaving behind a trail of fire. While the boss was hit, the strings also caught onto the fire, suddenly spreading all throughout it. With so much string, the damage was high.