HBWnovel Chapter 40 False God: The Symbiotic Trick
Chapter 40 False God: The Symbiotic Trick
Lu Yan straightened up from the stone steps, his gaze fixed on the two health bars floating in mid-air.
Fingertips swipe rapidly across the semi-transparent interface.
Adam, 60%.
Eve, 95%.
Before he could utter a sound, Eve on the platform made her move. The woman had her eyes closed, yet her hand movements were extremely precise.
Above the palace's pure white dome, dozens of dazzling white spears of light materialized out of thin air. The next instant, the spears, accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound, directly covered the area where the first squad stood.
The destructive power of this thing is on a completely different level compared to the previous rain of arrows.
Zhao Lei shouted, "Wall of Earth!" and charged forward. The light spear slammed into the rock surface, sending shards of rock flying. The immense impact forced his boots to leave two shallow dents on the stone slab.
Several cunning spears of light bypassed the main defensive surface and struck Shen Xinglin's warhorse hard on the hindquarters.
The warhorse let out a mournful neigh, its health bar instantly reduced by half, and its forelegs buckled, about to collapse.
The white healing beam descended just in time. Su Yunqing's "Gift of Yao Guang" had come into play, increasing the maximum number of targets healed by one, allowing the beam to simultaneously envelop Zhao Leiguang and Shen Xinglin, one person and one horse.
The shield was cracked by the light spear and then forcibly repaired without even a half-second window of opportunity.
Taking advantage of a break in the treatment, Shen Xinglin tightly gripped the reins with one hand and poured a bottle of red medicine down the horse's throat.
Wen Yue, in the back row, began to retaliate. The crossbow clicked crisply, and several high-explosive grenades flew towards Eve in a fan shape. The explosions lit up the high platform.
Lu Yan's eyes never left the BOSS's health bar.
He stared at the point in time when Adam's health bar stopped—right at the point where the difference between the two exceeded 30%.
"Stop! Don't touch Adam!" Lu Yan's voice cut into the tactics channel, crisp and decisive. "Switch to Eve! Lower her health to match Adam's!"
Xiao Qianyu didn't hesitate at all. She turned the Crimson Lotus Goddess Spear around and instantly locked onto Eve.
The spear tip pierced Eve's shoulder, and the bright red damage numbers reappeared.
Eve winced in pain, letting out a muffled groan and taking half a step back. Lin Chuxue's magic followed. Shen Xinglin spurred his warhorse up the steps, using the momentum to thrust his spear three times in quick succession.
Eve's health bar began to drop.
90%.
85%.
80%.
When Eve's health dropped below 70%, Lu Yan's eyelids twitched as he stared intently at the panel.
Adam's health bar moved. Not slowly regenerating, but surging upwards at an unreasonable speed. At the same time, Eve's health, which had been decreasing, stopped and then began to rise in sync with Adam's. An invisible tube connected the two health bars, linking their lifelines.
ten seconds.
In just ten seconds, Adam was fully healed, and Eve was fully healed as well.
All the hard work and damage output we all put in was for nothing.
Zhao Leiguang's shield-wielding hand fell limp; the Earth Wall dissipated. He panted heavily, shaking his aching arm. Wen Yue had just pulled out two grenades to load, her fingers freezing in mid-air, her knuckles white from clenching them. Lin Chuxue retreated to the pillar, her staff tapping the ground.
No one spoke. Wasting effort is far more demoralizing than being defeated.
Xiao Qianyu held the spear upside down, retreated to a safe distance, turned to look at Lu Yan, and waited for him to make a decision.
Lu Yan's expression remained unchanged; he simply displayed the entire battle log from the previous engagement on the light screen. The data—locked health, stretching, and rebound—was clearly displayed.
"Look here." He pointed to two intersecting zigzag lines and drew a circle on them. "When the difference in health between the two exceeds a certain threshold, the one with less health will be locked out of damage. When the one with more health is singled out and pushed to the bottom, their life link will be activated, forcibly synchronizing and restoring them to full health."
He reached out and pushed the light screen into the air to make sure everyone could see it.
"These aren't two separate entities; they're symbiotic!" Lu Yan concluded, breaking down the tactics: "We can't just go after one and beat them to death. Both sides must be pressured in sync, with an error margin of no more than 10%. If it exceeds that, we lock their health; if it deviates too much, all our previous efforts will be wasted."
This mechanism is quite disgusting, but if you find the right thread, it's not a dead end.
Xiao Qianyu and Lin Chuxue were separated, each focusing on a primary target. Wen Yue used a large-area AOE attack to simultaneously reduce the health of both sides. Shen Xinglin became a free agent, riding his horse to roam and finish off enemies. Zhao Leiguang took on the main aggro.
The core control center fell to Lu Yan. He became the metronome of the team.
"Adam 85%, Eve 87%, Wen Yue will finish with an area-of-effect attack." Lu Yan began to count.
The grenade exploded.
"It's even. Keep the rhythm."
"Eve is falling too fast, First Snow stop, switch to Starfall and finish off Adam with two shots."
Warhorses charge, spear tips strike repeatedly.
The entire team's output frequency perfectly matched the rhythm of Lu Yan's commands. The health bars of the two bosses steadily and in parallel decreased.
There was no more invincibility or forced recovery. It felt like walking a tightrope, but Lu Yan had the tightrope under his feet perfectly under his control.
50%.
The instant both health bars simultaneously dropped below half health, the entire palace, along with the rock beneath its feet, trembled violently. Stone chips fell down in a shower.
Adam and Eve, who had kept their eyes closed, simultaneously opened their mouths and let out a long howl that pierced through their eardrums. Visible, translucent sound waves rippled outwards from the high platform.
The NPC civilians who had been sleeping peacefully on the steps began to twitch erratically. The light beams connecting their heads suddenly thickened, and the amount of light extracted tripled.
The villagers' already gaunt faces shrank visibly. The muscles on Adam and Eve began to bulge, and a blinding red glow emanated from beneath their skin.
Phase Two is here.
The attack frequency had completely changed. The light spears were no longer area-of-effect attacks, but had become a rapid-fire mechanism targeting single targets. Adam even jumped down from the platform and slammed his bare hands into Zhao Leiguang's defenses. Each punch resounded heavily.
"Click."
The once rock-solid wall of earth was smashed open, developing a deep crack.
Sweat beaded on Su Yunqing's forehead. The white light of "Gift of Yao Guang" stretched out in a continuous barrage, and she kept casting spells while keeping the cooldowns on, not daring to stop at all.
"Stay calm, the health bar is still under control. 40%." Lu Yan spoke faster and more clearly.
35%.
30%.
The battle became increasingly stalemate. Zhao Leiguang's double shields were riddled with holes, and pieces of one edge had been smashed off. Shen Xinglin's warhorse was hit twice more, and its movements became sluggish. Xiao Qianyu weaved through the dense web of attacks, the Red Lotus Luoshen Spear sparking brightly.
25%.
20%.
Lu Yan stared intently at the two health bars that were about to hit rock bottom. Having experienced countless high-difficulty dungeons in his past life, his muscle memory was now screaming in alarm.
This health threshold is typically reached during the final, desperate frenzy phase of a monster's fight. The game mechanics inherently push the monster's stats to an extremely dangerous critical point.
"Everyone, get ready!" Lu Yan pulled the Eternal Scepter from the ground with one hand and issued a strong command in the team channel, "The BOSS may be about to go berserk! Everyone retreat and create a safe distance!"
He turned his head, his gaze sweeping across the chaotic battlefield and locking onto Su Yunqing.
"Su Yunqing, prioritize healing Old Zhao and Xing Lin at the front! Ignore the backline's health loss, keep them alive!"