As the other players began recovering from the monster's sudden magic blast, what Athena saw next was so utterly unusual and peculiar that it made her stop in place. One of the Cait Sith players from her party had started attacking the boss monster's own cleaver weapon, which it had thrown away earlier. This was something that one could never expect to see outside the world of ALfheim Online - a fighter wielding a weapon that completely dwarfed their own size. Judging by the amount of HP that the player was doing entirely by themselves, what the maddeningly odd strategy lacked in elegance, it made up in brute force.

As Athena shifted the weight of her sword in preparation to resume her assault on the boss monster, she noticed that it seemed no longer interested in the tanks and DPS players converging upon it. Instead, its gaze seemed fixed upon the healers standing behind them. Why would the monster's AI suddenly shift its attention towards non-combatants? With a sense of urgency, Athena looked to the unsuspecting healers who were in imminent danger of being attacked.

[color=a187be]"The boss's aggro is shifting towards the healers! Defend them at all costs, without them, we've already lost the battle!"[/color] Athena urgently called out to the players around her as she broke into a sudden dash to position herself between the boss and the healers, knowing she had only seconds to act before the tides of the battle suddenly shifted against them. If the healers were forced to defend themselves, they would be no longer able to support the tanks with their healing magic, and without the tanks, the battle was lost.

Having reached the running speed required to activate her Sprint skill, Athena surged forward with incredible velocity, already drawing back her sword arm to intercept the boss's incoming attack. However, her sights were so focused on the healers she was trying to protect that she was caught unaware by the boss's sudden sweeping arm attack. With a sickening impact sensation, the massive arm struck her with such force that her vision had melted into a complete blur as she was thrown along with other players who were also caught by the attack. In the real world, being struck with such a force would have meant certain and instant death. As her character's body roughly landed and tumbled upon the stone floor, the HP meter in Athena's upper left corner of vision shot down with alarming speed into the yellow zone, only slowing to a stop as it dipped just past the 40% HP level. For what seemed to be an eternity, Athena lay on the floor, her mind left completely stunned by the unexpected brute-force attack.

It was the boss's second attack that sent shuddering shockwaves through the ground that shook Athena out of her stunned state, forcefully reminding her that her character had not yet been killed, although the three Remain Lights that stood floating by her sides warned her that she had narrowly missed an untimely end. By the time she had recovered enough to force herself up to her feet, Athena realized that she was already far too late to prevent the boss's attack on the healers. Despite an unrelenting assault by the tanks and DPS players, the boss monster completely ignored their attacks and was already beginning its attacks on the healers through some kind of dark magic portal. Two of the healers were immediately killed by the monster's initial attack.

[i][color=a187be]No... no... no, I'm too late![/color][/i] Athena cried out in horror in her thoughts as she could only stand in shock at the horrific sight, the sword in her hand almost falling out of her grasp as she realized just how imminent their defeat was. She had completely failed in defending the healers, and because of her lack of battle awareness, she had just cost the lives of two healers. The three surviving healers were now disabled from a blindness status ailment. With only three or four surviving healers to support the tanks, the battle had no longer become a battle between two opposing sides - it had now become a slaughter waiting to happen.

Glancing once again at the yellow HP bar fixed at 40% in her field of vision, Athena knew that her character was only one or two hits away from certain death, even with her shield to protect her. With no HP potions at her disposal and the surviving healers completely focused on maintaining the tanks' HP levels, she only had one choice left - to defeat the monster at whatever the cost, whatever the outcome. She wasn't going to stand idly by while the monster continued picking off the players one-by-one.

Extending her index and middle finger together, Athena called up her character's Inventory menu, swiping through the Equipment interface with hurried speed. A finger tapped on the Rose Shield in her character's shield item slot, then swiped it to the Inventory menu, causing the shield on her left arm to vanish into fragments of light, melting away into nothingness. With her HP at such a low level, a shield wasn't going to protect her any further and she no longer had a use for it. Hastily withdrawing the last Mana Potion she had stored in her potion pouch, Athena gulped down the last of the blue liquid contained within the bottle, restoring her Mana levels to maximum.

"[color=a187be]It's now or never. We have to end this with one final push, don't let launch another strike. Do it now, [i]attack![/i][/color]" Athena shouted out to everyone within hearing distance of her position, already breaking into a dash directly towards the boss monster, which had not yet focused its attention on her. As she began closing the distance, Athena took in a deep breath, her mind already recalling the incantations that she was about to cast.

[color=a187be]"[i]Ek heimta kraptr berserkr drengr.[/i]."[/color] Athena spoke, her voice unusually smooth and calm despite the maddening urgent thoughts rushing through her mind. With those words, the burning flame aura of the [i]Berserk[/i] spell returned to envelope her character's body, further empowering her speed as her legs propelled her towards the boss. Immediately after finishing her incantation, Athena prepared to call on her second incantation, drawing her sword arm back in preparation for a powerful thrusting attack, her focused eyes already marking her target.

[color=a187be]"[i]Ek hemta brenna aldrnari seiðr, hata allr órr andskoti![/i]"[/color] With the Words of Power to the [i]Flame Weapon[/i] spell spoken, a new aura grew and extended down the length of her longsword, completely enveloping the metal blade with a brightly-glowing magical flame, forcefully blown back by the sheer speed at which she bolted towards the boss.

[color=a187be]"This... ends... [i]now![/i]"[/color] Athena shouted with all the might in her voice, as she lifted up the sword with both hands, combining the speed and momentum of her body with the thrusting action of her sword into one singular attack on the boss, sending the flaming blade of her sword deep into the monster's body, skewering all of the corpses that it passed through. Upon contact with the blade's magical burning flame, the surrounding corpses of immediately burst into a conflagration that spread like wildfire through the rest of its body. In response to the sudden impalement, the boss monster roared out in pain and anguish, sending it into a wild frenzy that shook the entire room with a force resembling a devastating earthquake.