As Hollow was healed, Kaiden's countenance didn't relax one bit and instead tensed slightly. When Hollow was retreating, his ears picked up on the sound of multiple latches resetting in the walls.
This was synonymous with confirmation that the mechanism was a continuously reset one and it would not be solved by him activating the whole mechanism as he did at the beginning of the game.
"Crap...it's a reset one guys."
Frowning Kaiden looked at the walls and pondered…
'I can easily make it through and so can Despotic Shadow, however the others…'
Kaiden began running a series of simulations in his head based upon the movement speeds of the team members and the firing speed of the mechanism.
'The supporters can't clear this at all.'
Turning towards Gentle Whisper, Kaiden inspected the other 2 females to her side. Surprisingly they looked similar but not the same, one was slightly taller than the other but they had similar body types. Slight curves with a pretty face. However, their looks were far from mature and carried a childish tint. The taller one's name was FoxyEyes and the shorter one BowingPrayer.
"Twins?" asked Kaiden.
"No just sisters, one year apart." replied FoxyEyes.
"Ah...well, you three...won't be able to make it at all. So I'll be personally taking you through."
Kneeling down, Kaiden presented his back to Gentle Whisper.
"Get on."
Blushing, Gentle Whisper nodded and looked around momentarily as she straddled his back, her face buried into the back of his Kaiden's neck.
Taking advantage of this perfect chance, MagicsSlave began to cackle as he antagonized Gentle Whisper.
"Haha!! Look how happy she is. She couldn't wait to straddle the guild leader's back. Hehahahah! 'Cough' 'Cough'' mid laughter, MagicsSlave fell into a coughing fit as he was enjoying this far too much.
Usually, Gentle Whisper would rebut however, being in such an embarrassing position—she remained quiet as a mouse just hugging Kaiden's neck.
"You two come also."
"Phew phew! I didn't know you were such a ladies man Key." this time it was Hollow who chimed in.
Hugging the guild leader's neck also, Kaiden grabbed them around the torso as any lower he could mistakenly grip their assets. Mwhahaha...mistakenly.
"Hold on tight, if you fall...well, you may just die."
Kaiden's words made the group chuckle and then choke.
For reassurance, Kaiden activated Sword Steps. Standing before the mechanism's perimeter, Kaiden crouched ever so slightly—storing force into his legs. Particularly his toes, hips and calves. That was where he generated the most explosive power.
Shooting forward with stampeding steps, Kaiden minutely passed the firing short spears as they grazed the back of Gentle Whispers head which made her yelp.
Passing the quarter mark, the firing quickened in pace. As a result, Kaiden began having to activate Second Drive with each step—providing small gaps in advance where the projectiles hit nothing but air.
What's more, after the half-mark the projectile began shadowing each other and firing two at a time. Frowning, Kaiden tightened his grip around the torso of the sisters as Gentle Whisper clung tightly to him.
Lowering his stance so the weight focused more so on his legs—Kaiden accelerated slightly passing this block by the skin of his teeth. Unfortunately, his hands weren't free so this made the endeavor that much harder.
Here came the treachery. The last block of the mechanism once again hastened in firing speed. But that wasn't all, they now fired in staggered stages out of rhythm which made Kaiden's eyes widen in shock.
'Damn...this is scandalous!'
"Girls….from this point on I'm going to need you to invest in slightly more Agility."
The gripping trio showed bitter smiles as Gentle Whisper nodded meekly.
"Brace yourselves this might be...rough."
Inhaling, Kaiden's chest expanded as his eyes steeled. Either he stopped for a moment, or time stopped. However, during that pause, the moment stilled as Kaiden quads and calves swelled.
2 steps and then an anomaly happened.
'Boom' 'Boom'
Taking 2 steps it was as if Kaiden's body wasn't real—the spears passed through it. It was his afterimage. In the time it took to blink, Kaiden propelled himself forward at breakneck speeds.
For a few moments, he was airborne and when he landed, he skidded across the ground as he exhaled a sigh of relief placing the girls on their feet.
Before the mechanism could reset, Kaiden dashed back through the mechanism.
"Now it's time for you all to pass. Watch your steps. And only continuously advance—there is no need for retreat." instructed Kaiden as he stood behind the rest of the members.
"3...2...1...GO!!"
Following Kaiden's roar, everyone remaining on this side of the mechanism sprinted for dear life as Kaiden leisurely followed behind. He understood the firing rate and reload as he had already passed through. Therefore, he wasn't hard-pressed like the others who performed mad dashes.
Of course, Kaiden wouldn't let unneeded harm present itself to his party members. Statically activating Sword Force, it remained on his two swords as he paced himself. When a team member was in danger of being struck by a fired spear Kaiden would gently brandish his swords, the sword force neutralizing the path of the sword.
The team members' advance became less strenuous as they were reassured by their reliable Guild Leader. Continuing, the party made it to the last block of the mechanism and became hard-pressed as they had to advance meticulously. One wrong step and they would offset Kaiden's assistance.
"RUN!"
However, opposite to their thoughts, Kaiden had them all sprint as he executed Sword Wave -Dispersion. But, instead of firing forward. He manipulated the individual paths of the sword lights by twisting his wrists—directing them at the walls.
As a result, Kaiden obliterated the spears that were being fired from the wall before they could make any significant progress.
Finally, everyone made it through the mechanism.
"You are our saving grace. I really do love your innovative thinking. Switch brains with me." nudged MagicsSlave.
Shaking his head, Kaiden chuckled, "Trust me, you wouldn't want mine. Haha."
Well, that was one way to get through the obstacles before them.
As they advanced slowly, eliminating the wraiths that popped up along the way the team collected the loot which consisted mostly of coins and materials.
Inside the crypt, the team arrived before a chamber where the murky fog cleared on its own. Within the chamber, spacious enough to fit a football field—6 monsters resided. And judging from the aura they exuded, Kaiden inferred they must be the boss. Or so he thought.
Lv.48 [Josephine, Dwelling Vengeful Spirit] (Chieftain Mini-boss)
Health: 5,864,000/5,864,000 (100%)
In the middle of the 6 floated a spirit that looked different from the rest. They kept their previous facial features—having long black hair with drooping, hate-filled amber eyes.
The other monsters were the same type.
Lv.45 [Vengeful Spirit] (Special Elite)
Health: 2,105,000/2,105,000 (100%)
The team sucked in a team of cold air.
"Wow...just wow." said Hollow.
"So this is what Elite Mode does...I have never seen a monster with over 1.5 million health." mumbled Gentle Whisper.
However, Kaiden shrugged as he was becoming used to the fact that the health of monsters was becoming ridiculous. Additionally, he wasn't alone nor did he feel like it. He was abandoning the thoughts influenced by the previous solo self.
'I have a team. I have a foundation of the empire I'm building. Therefore, these are just steps on our journey. Summon Kriishna and Latahhya.'
The space rumbled as two figures appeared above Kaiden and dropped through a portal.
'Bang!' 'Thud'
Compared to Kriishna's loud descent, Latahhya's was more mellow. As they just left the Forgotten Anomaly Realm, they felt more than refreshed.
"My Lord, are these the heathens we shall slay? I will immediately eradicate them." said Kriishna with his usual solemn expression.
"Hi Hun! Guess what! I succeeded in forming a construct through Energy Manipulation!"
'Oh? I guess NPCs have it easier? Well...no...not necessarily. She has been in the Forgotten Anomaly Realm this whole time.'
"Awesome, tell me more about it later.", said Kaiden as he caressed Latahhya's hair. Who then smiled.
However, Kaiden shivered as he felt a tinge of feral animosity behind him.
'Eh?'
Turning, he realized Gentle Whisper was glaring at him with eyes that could pierce his soul and devour him whole.
'Jealou...sy?'
"Mm? Oh, why is that girl glaring like that?" questioned Latahhya as she turned around inspecting with curious eyes.
However, Kaiden responded by placing a finger over his lips and shaking his head. Unfortunately, MagicsSlave could never read the atmosphere or rather never cared to.
"Hahah! Look Gentle, Guild Leader has a lady already! Bwahah! E-eek!"
Stopping his laughter, MagicsSlave realized Kaiden was glaring at him with eyes that said 'Do you think I won't kill you and reduce your level to ours?'
"Kriishna, Latahhya hold off the spirit in the middle as we clear the others."
'Roger, my lord.'
'Okay Hun.'
Kaiden instructed them to reply telepathically to avoid a headache that would come later. However, the rest of the members only stared at these two curiously until finally, SymbolicSoul spoke up.
"Unsheathed, are those Personal Combat Aides?"
"Yes, sort of but not exactly. They don't have the same limitations."
"Does that mean you're already a Baron?"
"Viscount to be precise." corrected Kaiden.
The party looked in horror. Their eyes saying "WHAT?! A Viscount in slightly over 10 days in game? WHAT THE FUCK!"
"You're a monster." replied Symbolic Soul which made Kaiden chuckle.
"You guys, split up and deal with each monster one by one. I will take care of one."
"Wait...you mean solo little bro?" asked Intact as he was shocked.
"Yup. Let's go!"
As he dashed off, some looked at Intact as they now realized the resemblance between Kaiden and Ezekiel even though they modified their appearances.
"OH you guys are really brothers? Huh, no wonder." chuckled MagicsSlave.
Dashing up to a Vengeful Spirit, Kaiden grabbed its face as he dragged it away from the other.
This action once again bewildered the party as they all experienced the same thoughts...'WHAT A BEAST!'
Throwing the Wraith, it slammed into a boulder in the distance. Drawing his swords, Kaiden ground them across each other creating a screeching noise as he then dragged them across the floor creating lines in the ground.
With this battle, he initiated it with Charging Slash from the distance. However, Charging Slash was no longer the same. Instead of a charging posture, Kaiden accumulated aura into the sword and waved it horizontally creating a silver line that traveled forward.
[Charging Slash] (Rare) Lv.4/10. Charges the sword with aura and fires it in a horizontal slash. Deals 280% of your Attack Power.
Cooldown: 15 seconds. Skill Proficiency: (378/4,000).
Because he was aware that in a dungeon, he would need damage per second above burst damage—Kaiden used the passive effect of Sword Force. That caused his swords to be continuously bathed in it, all sword attacks experiencing a 50% increase. In this state, Kaiden consumed 60 Inner Energy per minute. Well worth the cost.
Gazing starkly, Kaiden began treating the Vengeful Spirit as a wood carving, "I don't have much time to waste on you, therefore, disappear."
Slashing in multiple directions, each basic slash shaved off over 8,000 damage each.
That damage became so because this was a spirit type monster, they were weaker to magic-based attacks rather than physical. Energy was categorized above Mana in the magic category so not much needed to be said about it. Bathed in Energy, Kaiden's attacks now carried mixed damage which caused the spirits 100% extra damage.
Kaiden avoided using his two epic skills. With nearly an hour cooldown each, it wasn't optimal to waste them on special elites. As a result, Kaiden instead increased his battle tempo as he delivered 8 strikes per second.
This meant his DPS was over 60,000. With that being said, the recovery rate of the spirit was only 21,000. Therefore, if he relied solely upon basic attacks it would only take him approximately 50 seconds or so to kill this monster. But, even then Kaiden felt it was slow.
Executing Sonic Thrust on the Spirit's chest, he dealt slightly over 12,000 damage. Using his left foot as a pivot, Kaiden spun executing 2nd Tempest Style - Revolving Phantom. However, the second strike, Kaiden followed with both deals—instantly over 80,000 health vanished.
Within 31 seconds, Kaiden slew his first Vengeful Spirit dashing to the next one.
As a result, the team shook their heads with bitter smiles. Here they are, 19 players attacking in sync yet they still had 30% left on their first monster. But looking the Guild Leader, his level was the lowest, yet his damage was fucking ridiculous.
"Oi.. we might as well become numb to the Guild Leader's surprises." declared Hollow Stance.
However, Intact had a bright expression with eyes full of pride and brotherly love.