Genius Chapter 131: Universal Salvation

Chapter 131: Universal Salvation

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

The hurried footsteps of the teammates had stopped, and the sounds of the boss’s movements seemed to be right next to them.

Because of the way he was pulled back, when he fell onto the bed, Su Mo found himself almost lying against Yu Zhen’s back. As the bedding was pulled over them, Su Mo realized that he was completely enclosed in Yu Zhen’s arms. The sensation was both unfamiliar and intriguing. Especially in such a situation, it inexplicably made his heartbeat quicken. He held his breath and listened to the sounds outside. Once the boss moved further away, the team’s chat suddenly became lively again.

“What are you afraid of? She can’t hear us when we talk in voice chat.”

“We’re scared, of course. Who would have thought both bosses would start with this?”

“Did everyone hide?”

“Yes, we did. She walked right past me without noticing.”

“Where did you hide?”

“ScarletFruit, where did you go?”

“Bitter Melon is gone.”

In just a short while, under ScarletFruit’s quick thinking, everyone had managed to find hiding spots except for Bitter Melon. On one hand, Bitter Melon was dealing with the male boss, and on the other hand, his speed wasn’t enough to outrun the boss. While the others were safely hiding, Bitter Melon had already ended up on the cold floor. The ninth floor was not large, but it was filled with numerous decorations. There were two cabinets, two tables, and even screens and curtains…

Among the remaining nine people, some were hiding in cabinets, while others were under tables…

ClearWind said, “There were three of us crammed into this cabinet. If it weren’t for Little Firework being small enough to crouch, we might have ended up together in trouble.”

ScarletFruit added, “I saw where Bitter Melon died. I’ll go and retrieve him later.”

Apple asked, “Watermelon, where did you hide?”

Cantaloupe replied, “I’m hiding in this wardrobe. ZenSlasher seems to be under a table.”

He continued, “But I didn’t see where Watermelon went.”

At this moment, a voice came from the team. Watermelon said quietly, “I quickly hid under the bed, but it seems like there’s someone on top of the bed. The boss wouldn’t be up there, would it?”

ScarletFruit exclaimed, “From this angle, there does seem to be some movement on the bed.”

ClearWind, who was hiding in a cabinet, said, “No way, in broad daylight…”

While everyone was discussing, a commanding voice sounded, “The person on the bed is me.”

Everyone was stunned, “……!”

ScarletFruit said, “Bro, that’s really bold. You even went up on the boss’s bed?”

ClearWind asked, “Where’s Brother Wanderer? He seems to be silent.”

Yu Zhen replied, “I’m here.”

He reported his location, “I’m also on the bed.”

The team fell into silence. Su Mo asked, “What’s going on?”

ScarletFruit suddenly said, “Nothing, it’s just that our strategy might be too limited.”

Su Mo waited until the boss’s movements faded into the distance before slightly lifting a corner of the blanket to look outside.

This ninth floor appeared to be the room of the male and female bosses. At this moment, the bed they were on was situated in the middle of the boss’s room. Although it was indeed peculiar to have a room in such an open and exposed area, the seemingly obstructive decorations had their own unique uses. From his vantage point, he could faintly see tables and cabinets ahead, with a screen partially blocking the view. Bitter Melon’s death location happened to be near the screen, and ScarletFruit was hiding not far under a nearby table.

Based on the teammates’ descriptions and his analysis of the position, Su Mo concluded that the staircase leading to the tenth floor should be near the cabinet where ClearWind was hiding. They needed to find a way to get their teammates to the tenth floor to figure out the completion method. Additionally, they had to illuminate the murals on the ninth floor.

At this moment, the patrolling boss quietly approached. Su Mo saw the male boss with his back turned, walking forward, and suddenly noticed the boss’s health bar—99%, and it was above average. The boss was capable of being attacked, and given the situation, it seemed possible to defeat this boss.

Su Mo hesitated slightly, feeling that something was off.

“According to the previous team distribution,” Su Mo said, “the people closer to the staircase should try to get to the tenth floor first. ClearWind, FireworksAndLanterns, and ScarletFruit, you three go to the tenth floor. The rest should focus on positioning. We’ll center ourselves around the bed and everyone should stay in the same direction if possible.”

He didn’t dwell on his unease but focused on the information at hand, adding, “Remember, those going upstairs need to confirm the situation on the tenth floor, while those staying on the ninth floor should find the boss’s mechanism. Our goal is to illuminate the murals, so prioritize that.”

After the team confirmed the plan, ScarletFruit asked, “Should I pull Boss Bitter Melon?”

“After pulling him, act immediately and have everyone move toward Bitter Melon’s position,” Su Mo directed. “Fruit, go!”

ScarletFruit promptly locked onto Bitter Melon’s location, who was hiding under a table. As he began to cast the spell to pull Bitter Melon, all the teammates immediately took action. The two patrolling bosses were alerted, especially the male boss, who was in the vicinity of Bitter Melon’s position. As soon as Bitter Melon was revived, the male boss charged straight at him.

“Bitter Melon, get the boss to face away from us!” Su Mo summoned several minions and, as the female boss approached, placed a bear behind them to immediately draw the female boss’s aggro.

The bear’s large figure blocked the path between the team and the female boss, separating the teammates from her. Su Mo took on the role of the secondary tank, managing the female boss, while Bitter Melon handled the male boss at the front. All the teammates were in the middle, within Cantaloupe’s healing range.

“Healer, focus on healing the main tank and the bear. Bitter Melon is handling the male boss. Pay attention to your positioning: ranged DPS should stand behind the bear, and melee DPS should look for opportunities to attack, with a focus on the female boss,” Su Mo instructed. As soon as he finished, everyone immediately took action, quickly adjusting their positions according to the terrain and the bosses’ locations, and began their attacks.

The male boss dealt high damage and had a single pushback ability, but the wind from the female boss was a significant problem. They first needed to control the female boss, who had area-of-effect damage. Sure enough, shortly after the attack began, the sound of jewels clashing emanated from the female boss, followed by a strong gust of wind that pushed the bear back half a step.

The team was prepared for this; having faced the Spring Realm boss before, they knew that the bear had a useful ability to resist the wind. So, when Momo positioned the bear at the front, the team immediately understood what to do next without further instruction.

“Assassins, listen for the sounds. As soon as you hear the sound, move,” Su Mo directed. He placed a Black Tortoise on Bitter Melon and kept an eye on the female boss while also monitoring the male boss. This was a double boss fight, and according to the teammates, dealing with double bosses required attention to their combined skills. The best strategy was to prevent the two bosses from coming together.

While the male boss’s skills remained unchanged, the female boss began to exhibit a second mechanism skill as her health decreased.

The new skill was an area-of-effect damage that also applied a 5-second debuff causing continuous damage. Without hesitation, Su Mo summoned the Flower Spirit and immediately cast a group heal into the crowd, countering the 5-second negative damage buff while applying a single-target heal from the Flower Spirit on the bear. “Monitor the threat list during the attack. Don’t let your threat exceed the bear’s. Wait for the taunt cooldown,” he instructed.

The bear, being a summoner’s pet, had limited skills and low attack power compared to a warrior, which had multiple skills to maintain threat. The bear could only stabilize the threat through taunt stacking, making the risk of over-threat (OT) very high. Especially since all four DPS players on his side were high-damage types: the assassin had a high attack speed, the array master could stack arrays, and the magical swordsman was renowned as a top performer in spellcasting. The higher the DPS output, the greater the risk of OT.

At this time, the three from ScarletFruit who had gone to the 10th floor reached the top of the stairs and suddenly discovered that the stairs were locked, and they couldn’t proceed without a key.

“Brother, we need to find a key to go to the 10th floor!” ScarletFruit called out.

Su Mo frowned and instructed, “Come back to search for the key. FireworksAndLanterns, summon the bear for cover. ClearWind, focus on protecting ScarletFruit. Make sure the healer stays safe.”

The cabinet had drawers and even some vases that seemed useless. The search area was vast, and the lighting conditions were poor, making it difficult to find the key. The team could only start searching from the first piece of decor as they moved up the stairs. ScarletFruit initially wanted to monitor his teammates’ health, but seeing that Cantaloupe was maintaining it well, he focused on buffing his teammates and restoring their mana.

Cantaloupe, renowned on the leaderboards as a healer, demonstrated excellent operational awareness. After directing Momo to create a very safe environment for him, Cantaloupe ensured that his continuous healing buffs never faltered, maintaining a steady state of healing for all six teammates.

The difference between a healer and a cleric was evident here, showcasing the profession’s advantages. The stability of a well-operating healer’s healing was unparalleled.

At this point, the main team had reduced the female boss’s health to 90%, triggering the boss’s third skill.

The third skill was a targeted ability; she removed a bracelet from her hand and placed it on a player, instantly controlling that player. A ‘chain lock’ status appeared on the player, requiring other teammates to remove this status to free the player.

The lock came unexpectedly, with the first target being ZenSlasher.

The teammates quickly went to help ZenSlasher remove the lock, but it took 5 to 6 seconds to clear.

Such locks couldn’t appear on the tank or healer, as they could easily lead to a collapse of the tanking or healing.

“Remove the lock as soon as it appears,” Su Mo instructed, “Aside from the main and off tanks and the healer, the four DPS should be ready to handle the lock at all times.” He then added, “ScarletFruit, keep an eye on the team’s health.”

ScarletFruit acknowledged and responded, “We’ve searched everywhere here and didn’t find the key.”

ClearWind added, “The key wouldn’t be on the boss, would it?”

This suggestion immediately sparked a wave of complaints in the team.

“Damn, how would we even get it off the boss?”

“Is it even possible? If we have to kill them to get the key, that doesn’t make sense. Aren’t we supposed to complete the task on level 9 to proceed to level 10? If we kill the boss, we won’t even need to go to level 10.”

“It’s not impossible to take it, but we need to know where it is!”

Su Mo frowned slightly and said, “If it’s hidden on them, we’d only be able to find it by searching their bodies after defeating them. But I doubt the main brain would set it up that way, as it would mean requiring us to kill both bosses, which seems counterintuitive. If it is on the boss, it should be in a noticeable place.”

Bitter Melon had been fighting the male boss for a long time and said, “The male boss doesn’t have anything on him. Check the female boss.”

“The boss has a pouch,” ZenSlasher suddenly mentioned. “I noticed it when I went around and used a skill. Could there be a key inside?”

“Damn, a pouch! Is it one of those pouches for holding things? It could hide the key!”

ScarletFruit was almost convinced. With nothing found elsewhere, the key must be on the boss.

ZenSlasher tried to pull the pouch from the female boss’s waist, but the female boss immediately retaliated with a powerful attack, reducing ZenSlasher’s health to 10%. ZenSlasher had to retreat, saying, “The pouch is tied very tightly. As soon as you try to take it, she attacks you.”

ScarletFruit said, “That must be it. We need to find a way to get it off her.”

The difficulty of the double-boss setup on level 9 was already bizarre, but finding the key to level 10 on the boss was even more frustrating. The main brain had set up such a tricky mechanism on levels 9 and 10, leaving no room for shortcuts and clearly indicating that to get to level 10, players would first need to defeat the bosses and steal the key.

“Pull a few more times, and it should come off,” ScarletFruit said. “ZenSlasher, you go for it. I’ll heal you.”

Su Mo instructed, “Everyone else keep attacking to give ZenSlasher a chance.”

Stealing from the boss was a delicate task, and a single mistake could lead to a counterattack that might be fatal.

The team focused all their efforts on attacking the boss, which caused the boss’s primary target to shift back to the bear. The boss’s health gradually dropped to 85%. ZenSlasher made several attempts, and the pouch gradually loosened until it was finally pulled off.

As soon as the pouch fell, the female boss’s expression changed, and she suddenly shouted, “My things are missing!”

At that moment, the candlestick on the table suddenly lit up, casting a faint light over the otherwise dark area and making the surroundings more visible. The female boss’s attack power surged dramatically, and with one strike, she took half of the bear’s health. Su Mo urgently instructed, “Fall back, hide behind the bear!”

This time, the wind from the female boss became extremely violent, pushing the bear back by two steps, rivaling the intensity of the Spring Realm boss’s attacks. ZenSlasher, now hiding in the back, opened the pouch and found a key inside.

ZenSlasher handed the key to ScarletFruit, saying, “Got the key.”

Su Mo surveyed the surroundings and confirmed, “You three go ahead. Everyone else, stay behind. Remember, don’t trigger any switches.”

The group immediately set off without wasting any time.

Halfway through, ScarletFruit suddenly hesitated and said, “Brother, shouldn’t I stay behind?”

After the boss’s attacks grew stronger, Cantaloupe’s healing proved limited. Everyone’s health remained around 70%, and with only Cantaloupe to rely on, it seemed still a bit dangerous.

“Go, we can’t leave two healers on one floor.”

Su Mo looked at him and said, “Even if we wipe, as long as you’re alive, there’s still a chance.”

The changes in the last two floors were too significant. They couldn’t risk leaving all the healers on this floor. Preserving one healer was crucial, and they needed to wait for their teammates to get up and see what the situation was like on the 10th floor. Leaving one healer behind meant they wouldn’t wipe.

After ScarletFruit and the others left, everyone on this floor started to focus all their output. In the end, only three people from Team 2 made it up, leaving two DPS to stay behind and help.

Su Mo kept a close eye on the boss’s health and sensed something was very wrong. Their battle with the boss had been going on for a long time, but the mural on the 9th floor showed no signs of lighting up. Without the mural lighting up, they couldn’t proceed with the quest. Even if ScarletFruit and the others saw the mural on the 10th floor, they wouldn’t be able to complete it.

Apple said, “It’s a good thing this boss uses skills based on health percentage. Otherwise, if the male boss had three more skills, we wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

Cantaloupe agreed, “Yes, our positioning is indeed safe now, but if the male boss also used skills, we’d be in a bit of danger.”

Health percentage…

Su Mo suddenly had his pupils contract as he realized something—yes, health percentage.

This boss followed a standard pattern of using skills based on health percentage. For example, a new skill would appear at 95% health, another at 90%, and so on. The skills had a predictable pattern and were unlikely to cause instant death. For instance, before using wind-based skills, the boss would produce a sound like jewels colliding, and the ring lock could be removed by teammates. The mechanisms were less complex compared to other bosses, and with two healers, they could almost stand and output damage without moving.

Yet, the simpler the boss seemed, the more complicated it actually was.

According to conventional thinking, the 80% health mark would be very dangerous… It was likely to bring something unexpected.

“Adjust your positions. Everyone, wait for defensive skills to come off cooldown,” Su Mo said, glancing at the boss’s health. “Be ready at 80%. As soon as the boss shows any signs of change, use your defensive abilities.”

With these instructions, everyone immediately became vigilant.

At first, the boss was challenging, but once stabilized, it seemed easier. However, this was the ninth floor, and no matter how simple it seemed, it was still a five-star quest. The boss’s health continued to drop slowly, and everyone watched as the female boss’s health approached the 80% mark.

Su Mo was outputting while deep in thought, but he had another question…

Why were there two bosses? If there were to be a linked skill between the two, why hadn’t it appeared yet? In past quest designs, linked skills were common, and setting up two bosses was usually a way to trigger such skills. According to the usual patterns of quest challenges, this linked skill was bound to show up.

…Was it that the linked skill only appeared when the male and female bosses joined forces?

No, that didn’t make sense. Preventing their meeting should have been too simple unless their mechanism had never involved coming together.

“Everyone, be careful! We’re almost at 80%!”Apple called out.

Suddenly, Su Mo had a realization and shouted, “Stop attacking!”

It was already too late. As soon as the boss’s health hit 80%, its stance changed.

Su Mo quickly scanned the skills of the Flower Spirit and glanced at the healing marks on himself.

He hesitated for a moment, then made another decision, saying, “Save the group heal. Healers, apply buffs to me. Don’t worry about anything else.”

The others responded with confusion, “???????”

Wait!! Were they really going to cut off healing? Were they about to drop the group heal in the face of an ultimate skill?

Even though they had been on many raids with Su Mo, they couldn’t understand this sudden change of strategy. It was the first time they had seen a commander instructing the healers to forgo group healing in favor of applying buffs—buffs couldn’t save lives directly!

Cantaloupe was momentarily stunned but quickly followed orders, focusing on applying the healing buff to Su Mo.

The moment arrived, and suddenly, two of the surrounding murals lit up. The female boss erupted, taking down the summoned bear in one blow. After the bear’s death, the boss’s aggro shifted to Momo, who was then hit by an ultimate skill that smashed through the Array Master’s four-layer defense array, causing cracks to appear. Not only that, but the male boss, who had been holding aggro with Bitter Melon, also changed his behavior. He flashed in front of the crowd and, following the female boss, unleashed his own ultimate skill, delivering a series of brutal strikes to the group.

The simultaneous release of the two ultimate skills shattered the Array Master’s four-layer defense array and also broke through the Magical Swordsman’s great sword array. As the female boss’s health dropped to 80%, both bosses directed their linked attacks at Momo, the primary target. The combined effect of the two ultimate skills left five people in the crowd with extremely low health, with all defense skills depleted. The Flower Spirit cast a group heal among the survivors.

Su Mo glanced at the bosses’ stances, his expression darkening.

It wasn’t over yet…

Watermelon cried out, “Help!”

Watermelon and ZenSlasher had died. Apple also fell.

ScarletFruit, who had reached the 10th floor, was stunned, exclaiming, “Oh my god, what happened to you guys!”

Cantaloupe tried to switch targets to save the Array Master, but the commander continued, “Don’t stop! It’s only safe once they’re dead!”

The others lying on the ground were bewildered, “???????”

The Array Master quickly used a red potion and applied two layers of array defenses while the Summoner’s Black Tortoise changed its target. At the last moment, it continued to hold onto the Array Master. Bitter Melon rushed over, deploying a Giant Mountain Shield, and the second layer of defense was soon activated, but the bosses’ charged attacks were still ongoing.

Cantaloupe paused briefly. After seeing the three fall, he realized the bosses were about to unleash several consecutive attacks. It became clear to him that even if he had used his group heal earlier, it wouldn’t have saved the teammates.

With such relentless attacks, they simply couldn’t hold on. The female boss’s ultimate skill at 80% health was effectively a team wipe skill.

As the ultimate skill ended, the male boss charged toward Bitter Melon while the female boss launched a fierce assault on Momo. With the two primary targets already at low health, they were in no condition to withstand it!

FireworksAndLanterns reached the top of the stairs and released the bear, shouting, “It’s too late!”

ClearWind looked down from the stairs and said, “It’s over, it’s a wipe.”

ScarletFruit anxiously urged, “Cantaloupe, heal Brother Wanderer quickly!”

At the moment the Array Master fell, a battle prompt suddenly appeared before Cantaloupe, causing his expression to shift in shock:

[Compassionate Healer, Benefactor of All, would you like to use the Master Skill [Universal Salvation]? (10-second countdown)]

In the team channel, Momo suddenly asked, “Are we at the 50th floor?”