Chaos, utter chaos. That is, might be the only word to describe this mess. Your comrades dying as time passes and without even us having a chance to retaliate, a type of mental torture where you can only wait to be slaughtered with no way out to survive. But maybe what tortured us more is not the fact that we are gonna die, instead it's our pride being The Best Raid Party in Travikha.
"So, what do you think we should do!?" A middle-aged man in his 40s hiding in one of the boulder near a twelve-headed lion sculpture shouted.
"Fuck! Do you think we will be in our current predicament if we know what to do!? Can we just not think and straight away cut that motherfucking lion or lioness whatever that is now instead of hiding and taking cover from boulder to boulder? No, this is not even a boulder, its as thin as paper! You old uncle with your muscle brain!" another shout came in almost instantaneously as soon as the middle-aged man finished his sentence.
"... You know that your beauty is really wasted with that kind of tongue? Sometimes I feel that I'm talking to my over hundred years old grandma in Masan whenever those cursed words come out from your mouth. And yeah, feel free to go ahead alone, I don't want to accompany you to death and lose my experience points when I am already over level 500. Try to do some strip dance in front of it, maybe its a lion not a lioness. That way we might have a chance to survive if that Lion decide to play with you instead." a delicate looking teenage guy hiding in the shadows caused by the exploding boulders joked. Despite his joke, his legs can be seen trembling and face twitches as more wound appears in his face due to the sharp wind causes by the Lion roar.
Right when Clara was about to burst out of anger, a sudden twist in space occurs right behind her and a pale hand hold her down. Clara calmed down almost instantly without looking back as she knows who this hand belongs to. Removing his cracked glasses off his face and threw it to the ground, he muttered softly "This raid is impossible, we totally underestimate Baraka levels and capabilities. The information that we had received from Plaragia did not mention its capabilities to grow and level up everytime it consumed a grimoire. Based on its current state, mid-level 800 is definitely not an exaggeration. The only way to weaken it is if we possess the Grimoire of Stars and that is only if I still have enough Mana to do a spatial freeze to it's lightning domain that we stood a low chance of slaying it. Unfortunately, the Grimoire of Stars whereabout is unknown even after 5 years since Travikha opening. We only know its basic properties by chance when one of the staffs leak the information."
Clara gritted her teeth and respond "So we just have abandon this raid that we have been preparing for almost a year? After all the resources we invested and hellish training we've gone through? We are Verhent! The best team ever in Travikha and we also have you, Rain, the best player and Wizard in the server, the only player who has reached their 4th advancement, The ArchWizard Rain!"
Bang! Another loud explosion occur and the middle-aged man, James, flew out from the dust resulted from the explosion and crash straight to the cave walls. Blood spurt out from his mouth. The once shiny shield he held is now full of cracks and lack the luster it once had. James, the number 1 in Holy Guardian ranking laughed bitterly as more blood gushed out from his mouth.
"Damn... it! This guy really make me his punching bag ain't he? Its punch... really pack a ton. If this keep going, we are going to be his ragdoll haa... Keughkk. Not just that, I think... not even Hertyr The Dust Dragon is this tough, Clara Magic Imbued Sword... didn't even cause a scratch to its skin, haaa..." James commented as he struggles to hold back the blood that was gonna come out from his mouth.
Rain stay silent for a moment in the midst of Baraka roar and rampage as it destroys nearby pillars. Dozens of lightning strikes, and numerous sharp object from the cave ceiling started to freeze as the temperature dropped and fell down. As the hail of ice and lightning strikes, the cave started to shake even more vigorously and panic scream started to enter Rain ears.
Not long after, the delicate looking youth emerges from the shadow. This youth, Dae-Joon, the one known as the Assassin Emperor, actually show signs of panic. This cheerful guy who does not fit an Assassin is known to be an easy-going guy that have no fear. But if the masses and other players get to see his current expression and state, they would be definitely think there is no way this guy is Dae-Joon.
"Heh, to think that I can feel like this after so long. I almost lost my left arm just now, seems like this bitch of a lion is not satisfied after chewing my right. Hey nerd, you gotta do something fast or else, this bitch is definitely gonna eat us like some fresh kimchi"
"...."
"We don't have time boy, make a decision" James added.
After taking a deep sigh, a look of resolve flicker in Rain eyes.
"We are retreating, I will activate Mass Teleportation right away with my remaining mana. You know the drill. Dae-Joon, buy me some time, James is not in a condition to tank that monster attack. Clara will protect me and James while I am preparing the circles..."
"Moonlight Avatar!" Before Rain can finish his sentences, Dae-Joon, understood immediately and hundreds of figure similar to Dae-Joon appeared. They immediately filled up the space in the cave and started rushing to Baraka.
Rain started chanting and lines started to appear in the grounds of the cave. Crackled sound can be heard as more lines started to connect and form a large circle filled with unknown patterns in the middle. Mass Teleportation, a high-rank magic exclusive to ArchWizard.
"Haaah... The one that feared to lose his level the most actually acted as a bait and risking his life to protect us. That kid Dae-Joon... really..."
"Save your thanks for later, old man. He might be a pervert but I must admit his guts sometimes" Clara sighed.
"Dae-Joon, enough! Come back here now! The portal is activating!" Rain shouted urgently as the light emanating from the magic circles get brighter.
"Keukkkk.... Why do you have to take so long!?" Dae-Joon jumped using his last few clones as stepping stones to fly straight to the portal.
"I swear this is not the end!" Clara burst out her thoughts and regrets at the last moment. As the bright light covering their eyes shine ever brightly, the sense of relief and disappointment emerged in each of these Best Players in Travikha. Relief that they can escape this safely eventhough the loss are significant, and disappointment as they will lose the streak they held proudly so far, the team known as the Unbeatable, the myth that no monsters in Travikha can escape their onslaught.
But, at that last moment, an even louder explosion than the previous explosion caused by Baraka rampage rang out in their ears. They started to cover their eyes and ears as the ground shook fiercely and even more dust and ice burst out everywhere. After what that feels like a minute has passed. Rain, the first one to open his eyes despite the difficulty, started to frown deeply. When Clara, Dae-Joon, and James recovered their five senses, they saw Rain frowning while looking at the magic circle he created. Another circle filled with Aura of the Stars can be seen covering the lines made of Rain Mana. The lines started to disappear and shining particles emerges from the circles. It does not take a genius to know what's going on. The teleportation.... has been cancelled.
"It's outrageous! This is a scam! How did Baraka have a Star Element now? Did it ate the Grimoire of the Stars too? To think that he cancelled Mass Teleportation on a whim!"
"What a joke, the developer must be toying with us. Baraka just can't be raided with its current growth potential. What is this? A Final Boss or something? Is Travikha closing down soon? Haah!"
"I've seen many games with outrageous difficulties, especially in Korea where all those developers just don't think of the game balance, but this... is definitely another level of scam."
"That's not the issue... If Baraka really stopped Mass Teleportation and based on how he casted his spell without me noticing, we all... should have been dead. I don't understand..." Rain muttered.
Only then that the rest of them realized that they are still alive. The sound of beatings can be heard from a far where a large hole at the size of Baraka body 200m in front of them can be seen. It took them few dozen seconds to woke up from their daydream. Darkness is the only thing they can see from that hole in the butt-sitted position they are in.
Rain stood up with Clara holding James at her shoulder and Dae-Joon crawling over to a nearby pillar, struggling to get up.
"What... is happening?" Clara asked with a confused look. Shouts of an angry person which sounded like a man can be heard from inside that hole. It made Clara even more confused when she heard a whimper mixed together melodiously with slaps and the man angry shouts.
"Should we take a look?" Rain asked. His curiosity as a Wizard that comes as a second instinct started to kick in, forgetting the life threatening situation that he and his team experiencesd as they faced Baraka a moment ago.
"Would it be safe? I have enough playing with that damn cat! He scratched all over my precious body. My handsome face is really no more. Sob..." Dae-Joon pretended crying only to stop after Clara glare at him.
"We will find out if we go in, I guess? It should be safe since if Baraka wanted to kill us we will be dead a long time ago anyway." James replied.
"Fine, we have nothing to lose now. Let's just go in and see what is going on." Clara nodded.
"Illuminus." Rain chanted and a small glowing fire at the size of half a candle emerges from his slender finger. He started walking to the hole followed by the other three. As they walked further in through the darkness, the shouts started to get louder and they perk their ears even further as their curiosity grow. By the time they reached around 300m inside the hole, the shouts started to become clearer.
"You stupid cat! Where in the world can you find a cat that eat books? Do you know how precious those things that you ate!?? Huh? HUHHH!?? Where is your owner!? Don't they give you enough fish or those food in pet store? They must be really poor that you had to eat something inedible!" SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! "ARGHH, I really don't know what to do with you since it's not like I can skin you alive and eat you when you are so skinny. Aigoo, my poor life... Aigooo, what do I have to say to Aldebrun now that you ate a book I borrowed from him. I am so fucked, I am so ducked fucked because of you!" SLAP! SLAP! SNAPPPEDDDD!
"Meoooowww, MEEOOOWW!" *whimper* sounds echoed further. By the time the Almighty Verhent, reached the end of the destroyed path, a young messy haired guy whose face can't be seen with a bit of slouched shoulder can be seen hitting a humongous cat with a wooden stick. No, to be exact it's not a cat, but a lion, a big large humongous lion with 12 heads.
"Isn't that... Baraka?" Dae-Joon rubbed his eyes real hard a few times that it's not a wonder if his eyeballs fall down to the ground. Clara mouth opened so wide that her jaw can touch the ground, so much that her beauty can't be seen anymore.
"What is this? Am I dreaming? Somebody explain to me what is going on!" James who is struggling to stand and had to hold on Clara, jumped and stand straight slapping his face a few times before he slapped his face more due to this unbelievable spectacle in front of him.
Only Rain, out of the 4, looked surprised but managed to calmed down quickly and activated one of his observation magic "Insight". It's a basic skill that every Wizard in Travikha learned once they reached their 1st class advancement. But as the only person and Wizard who has reached 4th class advancement, Rain Insight can look through more details than the majority of Wizard in Travikha can figured. But despite that, this unknown person... Only his level can be seen. The rest of his status are full of "???". Is he a player, or NPC? Rain started to look carefully once more and find a small bronze shield on top of level of the mysterious man. "So he is level 282 and part of a guild. So he is a player... His skills and controls must be pretty good to be able to reach this place considering his very low level. Either that or luck play a part." Rain thought.
Rain was amused only for a second before his eyes opened wide.
"Wait a second...Impossible.... His level.... 282... but how can it be negative!? How!? Who are you!?"
The messy haired guy turn his head around while still beating the cat, no, Baraka and asked "You talking to me? Can just call me Edan or anything you want, I'm fine, not that it matters anyway. Hold on, can we talk again in a minute after I finish beating up this stupid prawn brained cat? This bitch need a lesson."
Silent filled the area and again, only the sound of Edan shout, Baraka whimper, and the wooden stick slaps can be heard. Unable to understand the expression in Rain face, Clara asked "282? He is a newbie? Negative?What is it? It's like you just seen a ghost. Are you okay?".
After a long moment of silence, Rain murmured absent-mindedly "His level... Level Minus..."
-End of Prologue