Stabbed overlooked the battle, it looked like the rest of his army would perish. He rubbed his brow, while he expected his first plan to fail he never expected it to fail like this. Stabbed had originally thought that the small squad would eventually pull back, it was then his backup plan would come into play.
He turned to Rosadell, "Start preparing plan B, the moment these players die or decide to retreat then execute the plan."
Rosadell nodded and exited the scene. Stabbed looked towards his enemies and patted his chest with confidence. He wondered how they would try to win against the next stage.
~ ~ ~
Akiol cut down another player. The pressure on him and Wrock had significantly lessened. They no longer cared for attacking the leaders, they could end the battle by finishing off the foot soldiers!
The two split off, everywhere the went a player fell. The few remaining healers couldn't do anything. Eventually they fell too. With Jarvis' tamed creatures wreaking havoc it didn't take long before they halved the remaining players.
A player saw this and stuttered, "M-monsters..!"
The same player began to flee, no one would send themselves to their death. Once one began to flee many others followed. The scarred battlefield began to calm, only Stabbed and Shot stood remaining.
The party regrouped and made their way towards Stabbed. As they approached Stabbed began to clap slowly.
"Well done! You have honestly surpassed my expectations. To think you actually defeated five-hundred enemies! Truly an admirable feat." He praised.
"You don't seem to be concerned much, tell me what else do you have planned?" Akiol pointed out.
"Looks like no secrets are to be kept here. Very well then! I won't tell you. . . I'll show you!" Stabbed snapped his fingers and five individuals appeared behind him.
There was a red haired warrior, their sword resting on their shoulder. They had a stubble and looked a tad rough. The next person was a pink dressed girl who was a sorcerer or priest, Akiol couldn't discern their class. The next was an old man, dressed like they were in a Wuxia novel. Their hands were behind their back like some grand master. There was a black dressed dual wielding class, Akiol assumes they were a thief but their weapons seemed like Short-swords instead of daggers.
The final person was Rosadell who smirked, "These are our guilds top experts. If pure numbers cannot defeat you how about incredibly skilled individuals?"
Kan'na remarked, "You wouldn't happen to be one of this 'top skilled individuals' would you?"
Rosadell responded calmly, "Of course."
"I don't know a top skilled sorcerer dying from a fall."
Rosadell's eye twitched violently, "Hmph! I will deal with her." she told the others.
Akiol tilted his head slightly and asked, "The numbers seem off, are we going to be outnumbered in battle again?"
Stabbed laughed, "As if we need numbers to defeat you! I won't be partaking in this battle, but Shot will. They have their own pride as experts after all."
Akiol shrugged, "Pride is it. . . ? Alright.
The red haired warrior pointed his sword at Akiol, "Shall we exchange pointers then?"
Akiol readied his sword, the grandmaster-like individual chose Wrock to fight, Rosadell would of course fight Kan'na. The thief like person chose to fight Tilia. Shot decided to fight Jarvis.
It turned out the pink dressed girl was, infact, a priest. She asked, "We are allowed to heal right?"
There was no disagreement. So a battle between healing would happen between the priests.
Everyone spaced out appropriately, the ones who didn't choose someone to fight chose to watch.
Akiol didn't agree with the reason, pride was something he tossed away a while ago. He wouldn't hesitate to flee if things were dire, he wouldn't hesitate to team up on a stronger opponent. When you lived a life full of danger, things like pride get thrown aside.
However currently they were outnumbered again. If the enemy wished to fight them 1 v 1 he would take it. It made the upcoming battle easier.
~ ~ ~
The small crowd of developers watched as the remaining players ran. One even said in disbelief, "They won. . . ?"
Another chain reaction spiked into the crowd.
"What did we just witness?!"
"This is truly a fantastic break."
"I can't believe it. . ."
The female coworker from before was also in shock. She asked Desk Guy, "So this is who you were keeping an eye on?"
Desk Guy remained silent, it wasn't a true question that needed an answer.
He wanted to shout with glee, they had won! Somehow they won, he couldn't fully believe it. Stuff like this only happened in manga, anime, and novels!
Desk Guy noticed the chattering slowly quieting. As he looked back towards the screen he realized that some new folk had arrived.
When he heard what the Warfare Magician said he was fully silent. Something Desk Guy didn't know for sure was the skill level of his favorite squad. He knew they were definitely skilled, but were they professional level? It didn't help that they weren't in top shape fighting against such players.
He would silently cheer them on from here.
~ ~ ~
Wrock faced his opponent, one thing he noticed was the type of air they carried. Like a master of an art. He couldn't tell if it was fake or not.
They spoke, "The name is Charitable Sun, I had noticed your proficiency in martial arts. I do hope I could exchange some pointers."
Charitable Sun took a stance, Wrock noticed it was definitely someone trained he was facing. It wasn't some mimicked stance he was seeing, but rather one they had built.
Wrock's clan didn't teach complicated fighting stances. Their beliefs had to do with the heat of battle, standing around and finding an opening did not burn the fighting spirit they were given. So he simply raised his arms in a basic stance.
Charitable Sun furrowed his brows, he had hoped he had come across another master, but it looked like it was just a beginner. He wouldn't back out the fight so he said, "I sure hope I can teach this Junior something!"
"Always willing to learn." Wrock responded.
"It's good to have such passion still remaining. This game has truly allowed such professions to thrive!"
"Then I hope you don't mind me wanting to start already!"
Wrock dashed forward, letting out a basic punch. Charitable Sun easily blocked and returned with an attack.
Wrock twisted his body to dodge the blow and used his free hand to grab the attacking arm. Charitable Sun used this moment to grab the arm he just blocked and attempt to throw Wrock to the ground.
Once Wrock was in the air he twisted his body awkwardly and landed on his feet once he was pulled downwards.
The two let go and slightly distanced themselves. Not even a second passed before they went straight back to combat.
Charitable Sun sent a kick flying towards Wrock's head. Wrock ducked and used a sweep kick to knock Charitable Sun down. Charitable Sun was tripped, but they back flipped mid-air and landed solidly. Before Wrock could rise to his feet Charitable Sun kicked towards Wrock's face.
Wrock flattened himself further, to his dismay the kick turned mid flight and continue to head towards him. Changing his plans Wrock grabbed the foot. Attempting another sweep kick.
Charitable Sun fell backwards but caught themselves with their hands. He kicked the arm holding his leg, causing Wrock to let go. He flipped himself upwards, just as he was about to compliment his enemies skills he found that Wrock's fist was inches away from his stomach. There was no way to dodge this attack.
<-100 hp>
Charitable Sun leaned forward in pain, a natural response to being punched in the stomach. Wrock wouldn't let such an opportunity go. Kicking Charitable Sun's face, causing them to start bending backwards, he once again used a sweep kick. This time it succeeded and Charitable Sun was on the ground. Wrock went to axe kick their throat but Charitable Sun had recovered from the first few blows and blocked the kick with his hands.
Charitable Sun pushed the leg away violently, sending his own sweep kick towards Wrock as he lifted himself up. Wrock easily evaded this and backed off.
Charitable Sun stood up and praised, "You truly are incredibly skilled. It has been a while since this I've had such a fun match."
Wrock was breathing a bit heavy, he hadn't recovered the fatigue from before and was slowly growing weaker. This didn't dampen his spirits however. He hadn't faced a skilled pugilist player yet, he wasn't going to let something like fatigue to ruin it.
Wrock equally praised, "Those on your level are few and far between!"
Charitable Sun noticed Wrock's heavy breathing. He nodded, "It's a shame that I have to finish it this soon. I truly wish I could have fought you at your best."
Wrock replied with a faint grin, "Not so sure about that one."
"Oh?" Charitable sun found his interest being peaked.
"You'll have to see."