"Range attackers, fire!"
Akiol heard the command and frowned, he was able to stand due to the players unable to all attack at once. However once they threw ranged attacks into the mix. . .
Wrock also came to the same conclusion. He shouted, "Give me a bit! I can clear the path!"
Akiol didn't need an explanation, standing his ground he continued parrying and counter-attacking. This injured some of the players pride, angering them. Could they not defeat one person?!
One shouted, "Why you-!" They were cut short, for their neck was already sliced through.
Wrock shouted, "Ready!"
Akiol used [Leap] and launched himself out of the way. Wrock was in a basic punch position. The kind they made you do when you started a martial art. The only difference was Wrock's punch wasn't an ordinary one.
When his fist flew forward the wind moved violently. Players were pushed back and to the sides, leaving a large path to Stabbed and his followers. The two didn't hesitate to follow the path. They made it halfway before the players had closed the rest of the path. There was still some distance between them and their enemies.
Akiol quickly looked upwards, hundreds of arrows and spells fell towards them. So closely fit together it seemed like a miracle that they hadn't hit each other.
Kan'na noticed this and clicked her tongue, if she wasn't here the two would have died. She quickly formed a magic circle and activated it. This formed a large and powerful gust of wind that smacked into the barrage of arrows and spells.
Arrows were thrown off course and into others. Spells hit the off-course arrows and activated mid-air. This caused a colorful explosion in the sky.
Akiol sent a mental thumbs up to Kan'na. She wouldn't receive it but Akiol still had some gratitude.
~ ~ ~
The developers were silent. They had no words, mainly for two reasons. First it was absolutely baffling that the battle had progressed for this long. Secondly the battle was so beautiful that they feared they would ruin it if they speak.
Desk Guy couldn't stop smiling. He was immeasurably happy that his fellow coworkers noticed the greatness of his favorite squad. He also was positive that he would gain some favorability with Reputation Management.
Someone broke the silence, "My god, what is this?!"
A chain reaction ripples through the small crowd.
"To think that people are capable of such a feat!"
"Is this battle being recorded? If so I want the recording."
"Everyone silent! Focus on the screen!"
Desk Guy's smile grew wider. Everyone will want to keep an eye on these players now, but he would be the sole individual. It would be considered a waste of man power if others watched the same team.
He was quite excited for the future.
~ ~ ~
Kan'na looked down at the battlefield. She estimated around 70 players had been defeated. She noticed that her party members were slowing getting tired. They would stop around the 150 kill mark before they fell.
This would not be a great loss. If they were going to lose they had to defeat at least half. Only then would the players realize that they had sacrificed half their force to defeat six players.
A magic circle in front of her had been completed and joined the many behind her. She had been slowly forming a powerful spell. This would not only send players in disarray, but would take care of many of them.
Her target was simple, the battle would be easier if she removed the range attackers. So that's what she was going to do.
Three more magic circles formed at her fingertips. Kan'na never believed in wands or staffs. They might boost her magic power, but she preferred to use her hands when writing the magic circles.
When the three magic circles joined the many behind her they began to glow brilliantly. The players noticed and one shouted, "She's going to cast a powerful spell!"
"Shoot her down!" Someone ordered.
Several spells made their way towards Kan'na. Arrows didn't have enough range after all. She remained unfazed, these spells would fail in front of her masterpiece.
The magic circles quickly moved into place. There was a total of eighty of them. Sixty lined up in a row, looking like a cannon. The remaining ones angled themselves to where they faced the back of the cannon-like magic circles.
Kan'na snapped her fingers and the twenty magic circles shot small beams of light towards the back of the lined magic circles. When they met their target the beams of light formed a small ball that started increasing in size. When the beams ran out the enemy spells had almost reached her.
Kan'na smiled faintly, using her fingers in the shape of a gun she pointed at the glowing ball.
Firing the finger gun she whispered, "Bang."
The ball of light fired, every time it hit a magic circle it grew larger, more powerful, and faster.
This was the greatest creation Kan'na had made as of now. By creating twenty basic light beam attacks she focused all the attacks into a magic gathering circle. This held the attacks into one and fired it. This attack then traveled through a number of size, power, and speed multipliers. The only downside was the time it took to create the magic circles. The end result? An obliteration cannon.
The beam smashed through the spells, slamming into the ground. Causing a huge explosion. This wasn't the end however, for Kan'na moved the beam slowly. It's power tore through the enemy sorcerer's defenses. Turning them into light, not even leaving a corpse.
When the beam ended Kan'na stepped down and stood next to Yielya. She had used most her MP to cast the spell and would need a long time to recover naturally.
The enemy players were dumbfounded. A single attack had near completely wiped out their range attackers!
Akiol, who had witnessed a close up view of the destruction, shuddered. He would have died from that attack. There was no ifs, he had zero confidence in being able to survive the blast. Though perhaps Mantis' Scarf would keep him alive. He never witnessed the effect of it. So he had no clue of the limits on its defense.
Stabbed was silent, he never expected that the sorcerer he had killed easily before was capable of doing something like that. Anger flowed through him, was five-hundred players not enough?! Would he have to mobilize an entire empire's army to defeat just six players?!
Feeling like he would pop a vein Stabbed calmed himself. He had a back up plan, he wasn't fully confident in defeating the six with an army. What happened the first time was still clear in his head. Even if the first plan failed, he had full confidence that his backup plan would succeed.
He wouldn't need an army...
~ ~ ~
Desk Guy's eyes lit up. He knew the others in his favorite squad weren't useless. After all the sorcerer had defended against so many attacks. To think that she was capable of this much?!
He felt a slight adrenaline rush, there was a tad of nostalgia in watching this battle. When had he felt like this before?
He remembered, it was when he watched anime as a kid. The main character rising up to defeat evil made him so excited. He always wanted to be the protagonist, the one who would never falter. He soon faced reality, he wasn't very special, there was no hidden power in him. Nothing to fill his life with adventurers and glory.
That didn't mean he wasn't couldn't create such a world. He dedicated most of his life towards developing. Having full intentions of making a fully fledged game by himself.
He was surprised when he was offered a job position at a start-up game company. He was going to decline the offer until he realized their goal. To make a fully immersive VRMMORPG.
He joined and dedicated himself to the project fully. Part of the contract stated they couldn't play until the players had completed a certain quota. So he knew he couldn't join in the action.
But to think he would find such protagonist-like individuals in-game! He was sure there were several others who had game-changing encounters. However these people he had found himself. He would cheer them on no matter what. He may never be able to help them in-game, he may never meet them personally.
But he would definitely make sure no-one in his company attempted to erase them, no matter their position.
~ ~ ~
Akiol and Wrock found it easier to progress through the players. With the attack from Kan'na their morale fell. This caused the two to make steady progress towards Stabbed.
The enemy player death count had reached 345. Akiol's party began to see hope of a complete victory. It filled them with determination.
Victory could be grasped!