"Die!"
"Take them down!"
"That's our best chance!"
Liam stood together with Silver Blade, Quickstep, and Watchful Eye at the frontline. The friends were shocked, staring at the dark elves who seemed to have gone crazy, disregarding their lives as they rushed towards them.
"What's going on? Do we have targets on our backs?"
Silver Blade was baffled. Even Liam needed a second to come up with an answer:
"They might target us because of our relationship with the Tibe of the Dark Mother. NPC organizations can hand out quests to kill certain players after the relationship deteriorates to 'hatred'."
"Oh…"
However, even as ten dark elves dashed at them the friends didn't panic. They were surrounded by the army, and a few players were already coming for help. The dark elves didn't stand much of a chance. The latter probably knew this as well, but considering that they might die here anyways they decided to risk it all.
And the dark elves even had a surprise prepared. One of them suddenly took out a scroll and a force enveloped the entire team, granting them all temporary stealth. This move indeed surprised the nearby order faction players for a moment.
Unfortunately, the dark elves were facing Liam. How could he be confused with such a little trick? He instantly called upon the nearby players to stand close together and cast some simple AOE skills. A sword wave shot out, a shield caused the earth to tremor, a flame crept along the floor. As such skills were cast repeatedly the dark elves had nowhere to hide. They were fished out of their stealth and appeared in front of their enemies like fish on the chopping block. There was no further surprise as these dark elf players were attacked from two sides. Seven fell and three escaped.
Meanwhile the overall battle was also nearing its end. The last two cannon beasts had just died, and the chaos faction players had no reason to stay. Luckily the chaos faction's commander showed some sympathy. A magic circle mysteriously appeared in the air and transported the players away. Only the order faction remained.
"Did we win?"
"What a pity, the chaos faction escaped…"
"We're the best! We're the best!"
The order faction players laughed brightly, celebrating their victory. However, it was not as flawless as some people thought. The cannon beasts managed to fire three barrages, spreading foggy void energy among the army, producing more than a hundred casualties. The progress bars also showed that the order faction's advancement had slowed down a little while their resources took a hit. Of course, this was the result as the first battles erupted on a total of eleven battlefields.
However, this showed that the chaos faction didn't go down without a fight. And the order faction players also realised this after taking a look at their tasks.
"Completion rate A-??"
"The evaluation can have a minus?"
"Is that the point now? Why didn't we get an S?"
"We were already rather quick. What do they expect form us? Do we need to kill these beasts before they can fire a single shot to get an S?"
"40 points. That's barely at the level of solving a major quest…"
"It seems these points are not so easily earned."
While the players complained, Bloody Edge glanced at the 75 points he received for the earlier task and decided that it was better not to reveal them.
After the task ended there was no reason for the players to stay. They returned to the army, where they received a new command to fall into formation, slowly accumulating points this way. A few dozen seconds later the other group of players returned as well. Because they were even slower, their evaluation dropped by a notch, falling to B rank.
The comparison suddenly made the first group feel a little better. For the next half minute, the players didn't have much to do. They watched in awe as the monstrous warships were like flying flamethrowers, wearing down the fortress's barrier.
But suddenly there was a change. A thundering explosion sounded in the distance, tremors caused the rocky ground to crack as a huge dust cloud erupted. Therim's eyes narrowed. He stared in the direction of the river and spoke solemnly:
"They destroyed the bridge…"
Of course, this didn't come as a surprise. It was a logical thing to do especially considering it was done by the chaos faction. The army had means to deal with it. Thus, Therim didn't pay much attention for now and instead turned his eyes back towards the barrier. The dome was already on the brink of collapse, flickering weakly. It would disappear any second now, opening the path for the army.
Yet, at this moment Therim felt a foreboding feeling in his heart. The words of the scouts came to his mind. Why exactly did the chaos faction evacuate the fortress? Staring at the weakened barrier Therim could see that a about a hundred soldiers were left behind. A few adventurers were busying themselves with a strange platform. Something was wrong!
Therim instantly made a decision. He ordered the warships to stop their attacks.
"Retreat! All retreat! Leave the battering rams behind!"
The soldiers were startled by the sudden command, but their discipline pushed them to comply. The entire army retreated hundreds of steps. Only a few overeager players remained. Not able to comprehend why their commander would suddenly give such a cowardly order.
"Whatever. Brothers, now it's on us to tear down this barrier! This will be the start of our journey as heroes!"
"Chaaarge! Tear down the…"
They didn't come further. Suddenly all voices were drowned out by a thundering noise. The barrier collapsed inwards. All the soldiers it touched let out screams before turning to dust, the energy in their bodies assimilated by the barrier. It surged towards the centre of the fortress. Once there, it formed a small core which boiled with dark energy.
A few chaos faction players were standing nearby. Watching the scene, they weren't intimidated. Something like sacrificing soldiers was a basic procedure in the chaos faction. The players were only following their task. Seeing that the core had formed they retrieved some dark crystals from their inventories and threw them into the core before instantly escaping.
No sooner had the players crossed the gate than the dark core behind them exploded. Black flames covered the entire fortress and its surroundings, surging towards the sky. If the warships hadn't retreated beforehand, they would have suffered heavy losses. The flames spread, approaching the army and sending chills down the spines of the veteran soldiers. The players who stuck around the fortress didn't have time to scream before they were sent to the graveyard.
While everyone stared at the fierce flames with shivering bodies, a roar suddenly came from their centre. It shook the surroundings, snuffing out the flames and a giant monster was revealed. It was a black-skinned demon fifty meters tall with flames burning all over its body and a single, red eye staring down on the army. The players instantly checked its information.
[Devil Servant, Reygorv the Black Flame
Rank: World boss
Level: 70
HP: 1.800.000/1.800.000]
Therim slowly landed on the ground with an ugly face. The human general Blood Axe appeared next to him, staring at the monster with a strong battle intent, saying:
"They actually summoned a devil servant here? Haha, great! Great! Commander, please let me deal with that beast."
"Don't underestimate a devil servant…", warned Therim sternly.
"Hmpf. If we were in Hell, I naturally wouldn't dare to face a devil servant alone. But this is the Southern Wasteland. Although it might not look like it, this land is also blessed by the gods. The devil servant can't bring out all its strength. Appearing here before us is simply foolish!"
"They are buying time for something. You and Phey will fight together. The adventurers will attack as well."
"… Yes, Sir."
The battleaxe-wielding warrior reluctantly complied. Immediately Therim's orders spread. The wood elf general with the nickname Phey readied herself and the players received a new task. Instantly they were filled with excitement.
"We can fight the world boss?"
"Awesome! Let's see how that giant monster deals with thousands of players!"
"Brothers, follow me into battle!"
Laughing and shouting the players instantly advanced. However, one person was even faster. Blood Axe pushed off the ground and rushed towards the devil servant. In a flash he reached the location of the former fortress. The heavy axe in his hands enlarged by multiple times as he brought it down on the enemy's foot.
"AHH!"
A pained cry came from the devil servant as the blade cut through its skin. Black blood gushed out from the wound and its HP reduced by more than 5000 points at once.
Phey didn't stay idle as well. Her hands moved in erratic patterns and magic circles covered the floor reaching from the front of her feet all the way to the giant monster. A few seconds later she finished. A forest of dense, towering trees suddenly erupted from the ground, covering the vast area.