Zero stood his ground, waiting for the monster to come running. General Liam had his whole army split up into three different formations. The first was the main bulk of the army that stood ready in the open. Most were knight-class soldiers fighting on the front lines, becoming the bait for the monsters to come.
The second group consisted of scouts who would then go in and attack in a blitzkrieg method to draw away the monsters that become too much to handle, while the third party was magicians that broke into smaller pods to back up the first and the second. Finally, the Adventurers held up their battle formation, leaving them in their small groups to fight in the way they felt best.
Most Adventurers would split up into guilds or parties as they merged with the other groups. Some even surrounded Zero, knowing full well that the boss fights would be happening around him.
"Hey, Dragon Prince." One of the Troll players strutted towards Zero; his large blade hoisted over his shoulder as if he was using his whole body to hold it up. His bearded chin came down to his belly as his ugly tusks emerged out of his mouth, making him look dangerous. Grayish-green muscles bulged out of every angle possible; even his armor was made with animal pelts. He smirked with the usual Troll-like smile that every Troll seems to have, a grimacing, sloppy, glare-like smile.
"Please stop with the Dragon Prince and call me Zero." Zero snorted in disapproval at the words that the Troll had said.
The Troll burst into laughter. "Well, my name is Jorge with a J."
"Well, Jorge, what is it that you want?"
"I was thinking about joining in on the game of a boss hunt." Zero thought it over for a moment. There was nothing wrong in hunting together, plus he could always spirit the loot away by eating it and storing it up in his stomach later to regulate.
"Do whatever you want."
"Really? You aren't going to scare me away with your scary teeth and flames?" He chuckled.
"Why would I do that?" Zero leaned forward, his head coming down towards Jorge with his teeth sparkling with mischief.
Jorge jumped back, his eyes wide in fright; even his calloused hand reached behind him, ready to pull out his sword on instinct.
Zero chuckled and blew black smoke out of his mouth, covering Jorge's face. Jorge coughed, fanning his face.
"Well, I should've kept my mouth shut." Jorge finally settled down and gazed up. "You're not like the rumors are you?"
"That is?"
"Evil incarnate," Jorge replied with a straight face, "but I believe your friend over there behind you would fit that category quite well."
Zero swiveled, his head turned towards where Jorge had pointed; he looked at where Jorge was pointing. His golden eyes caught Valiant blowing black and green smoke evilly, leaving anyone in his vicinity unease. There were even a few low-level boar skeletons surrounding him like perfect guards he had summoned from the last battle. Each one had glowing green eyes, and ghastly smoke surrounded their body. Their bones clattered as they paced around Valiant as if they were nothing wrong. Unfortunately, these were the few that remained still alive until now.
Zero knew that until the skeletons were killed off, it wouldn't go back into the ground, so it continually followed its summoner unless personally dismissed.
Valiant, fitting perfectly into the role of a budding black dragon, the evil aura around him was a lot stronger than before; his black scales shimmered pitch black, and even his eyes had a hint of green that glowed eerily. Compared to Zero, Valiant's dragon was more devious and evil-looking than him, making Valiant a perfect candidate for an evil boss type of dragon. In addition, the walking boar skeleton amplified the scare factor around him.
"That is to be expected," Zero replied, knowing that black dragons leaned heavily into the darker elements of magic and power.
"And why does your other friend over there look like a Dragonic Jesus that came down from the heavens?" Jorge chuckled. He brought his large sword down with a loud smash, digging up a piece of the soil.
Zero understood what he meant about Sekka. Sekka was blooming into a majestic gold dragon; her scales were a mixture of a feather and snakeskin. She had the same tuft of feathers near her head, just like Zero, but it merged with the flow of her neck. Her horns became like antlers, while Valiant's were more jagged and sharp. Everything about Sekka was the natural beauty of light.
People, elves, and beasts naturally flocked towards her; her calm energy put people at ease and wondered at her presence. The word messiah was starting to fit Sekka without trying, but Zero knew better. Sekka was a whole different beast when she fought, and when she changed, enemies were bewitched by her presence while she ruthlessly killed them like the god of death.
"So, your point?" Zero tilted his head, not sure where this was going.
"You're smack in the middle between the two," Jorge replied with a chuckle. "She could be your angel that sits on your shoulder, while he could be the devil."
"I am a hybrid of gold and black, after all," Zero replied. "There isn't much difference between them to me."
"You're wrong."
"How so?"
"You feel more…. how should I put it… lawful good?" Jorge tapped the hilt of his sword several times, trying to think about what to say. "You get what I mean?"
"I think so?" Zero needed clarification. Those two words didn't even fit, and Jorge smashed them together as if they were supposed to be together like first-time lovers: awkward and strange.
"Good." Jorge grinned from ear to ear. "Well then, I'll stay near you as much as possible and enjoy every little bit of this exciting war to come."
"I see?" Zero wasn't sure what to say; he was just so eccentric and strange. He had never met and talked to a Troll player before. The majority of the elven population and the human population had very low numbers of Trolls in their city. Seeing a few of them walking in the town was just as rare as seeing dragons until now.
He knew that Trolls were quite aggressive: they raided, killed, and massacred monsters and sometimes even small villages if they were angered. Most of them weren't considered nice. Instead, they were quite ruthless, obnoxious, and loud. Those were the majority of NPC, while the players were three times worse than Zero had heard.
"Well then, let's see who will hunt the boss faster. You on?" Jorge grinned from ear to ear. "Or are you not a man enough to do it?"
"I'm a dragon." Zero coldly replied, "and the bet is on."
"Hahahahahahahahahaha!" Jorge burst out laughing. "Let the game begin." He reached over from behind and pulled out his large sword in front of him.
Both Zero and Jorge stood ready for the monster to come. The first monster that burst out of the thick bush was a deer-like monster. It had a brown tail, a large body that was twice the size of a normal deer, and antlers that were jagged and sharp were lowered as it charged. Half of its body was covered in a greenish silver scale that shimmered brightly underneath the sunlight.
Brown Tailed Kilin
Level 170
These deer are known for their speed and fierce territory fights. Its jagged horns are known to skewer monsters, and its heavy hooves have killed many foes. Watch out for their fire magic that they unsuspectingly like to pull off when their prey least expects it.
Jorge snorted, "Boring. Is this the best these monsters can do?" Then, with a swing of his sword, he rushed up and cut through the monster like butter, decapitating it without difficulty.
Zero watched with amusement at the rampaging green Troll that slaughtered the Brown-Tailed Kilin effortlessly.
Streams of Brown-Tailed Kilin stampede towards the army, with the other half veering towards
Zero. General Liam stiffened when he saw the monstrous Kilin that came running towards them at full speed.
"Fire!" General Liam commanded.
A burst of magic and arrows started to run on both sides, causing many Kilins to fall onto the ground dead. The remaining Kilin raced forward, not worried about the raining arrows and magic. Others pushed forward without a second thought, hoping, dodging out of harm's way.
With a loud bellow, thundering footsteps came in droves. Powerful waves of fire magic formed in their mouths and fired toward the army. A blast of hot heat flashed forward as the main force raised its shield, bracing from impact. Their shield glowed white as a surge of magic energy clashed against the fire magic, dissipating the energy upon impact.
"Hold the line!" General Liam shouted. His heavy sword was brought out, pointing towards the Brown-Tailed Kilins. "Get ready!"
The army tensed, their spears lowered. Then, finally, the thundering footsteps of the Brown-Tailed Kilin came close until they finally clashed.
Battles between the two forces clashed together with fierce force; they pushed back the
streaming force of Kilin that seemed to rush headfirst without much thought. Even when some jumped over the first defense, the soldiers behind them shot the Kilin down with their spears and swords.
When most of the Brown-Tailed Kilin started to head towards Zero, the army moved fluidly to accommodate the changing flow of the battle, pushing the Kilin back towards the main army. General Liam was doing a perfect job of directing his troops effortlessly. It was quite an eye-opening scene to witness how an experienced general moved his army through different battle tactics.