[Yumeko] [Level: 94] [Class: Blade Bard] [Affiliation: Black Moon Assassins]
The solo player whistled upon seeing the status of the woman, "I take it you're the leader of this band of goons?"
"I am, yes," Yumeko responded with a smile devoid of fear.
"You know, this isn't going to go the way you're thinking it will," Zero said with an exhale as he stretched, doing a few quick squats to prepare himself.
Yumeko's grin endured as she held her hand up as a gathering of glowing, verdant butterflies gathered, revealing a thin, black-handled longsword into the grip of her lithe fingers. At the end of it, in place of a pommel, was a silver microphone.
She wore short, black gloves that stopped short of her palms, running her covered fingertips along the rose-designed blade, "The world is watching us. Victory is only a secondary goal of mine in this case."
"Oh, yeah?" Zero raised an eyebrow.
Yumeko soothingly drug her fingertip to the end of the blade, tapping its tip before pulling away as she flipped it masterfully as the mic-end of the sword was held near her lips, looking at the surrounded player, "You understand, don't you? If this competition is being shown to the world, who else would the focus be on but the "Final Boss" himself?"
"Oh, I gotcha. So, you're trying to leech off of my fame, then?" Zero said with a shrug, knowing full well what he meant.
"You–" One of the players said angrily, holding his flail up.
"Watch your mouth!" Another chimed in–a bearded, rugged player with two daggers.
Yumeko held her arm up, stopping her guild subordinates from recklessly jumping in, "He's not wrong. I don't care if you call it "leeching"--I'll do whatever it takes to become successful."
"Yeah! Miss Yumeko is an amazing singer!" One of the guild members chimed in enthusiastically.
"The best! She's my idol!" Another player chimed in.
The picture started to be painted for the lonesome player, who noticed one particular detail: every member of the guild except the leader was a man, all seemingly middle-aged, as well.
'I'm starting to get the picture here, I think,' he thought.
Glancing around, he looked at the hostile players who looked like snarling dogs, ready to defend their master with any signal.
Zero looked at the guild leader, "Is this some sort of idol fan club?"
The question seemed to stun the guild. It seemed to be on the mark from the stunned silence of the guild members.
Yumeko seemed angered, still holding her smile as she raised her sword, "My Moons, it's time to claim that grand prize for ourselves!"
"Let's do this!"
"For Miss Yumeko!"
"Yeah! For Miss Yumeko!"
'Here we go,' Zero thought as he flicked his wrist, causing black sparks to coalesce into his abyssal weapon.
The guild leader stepped forward, pressing her heel into the illustrious marble as she held her unique sword in a reverse grip, bringing the microphone to her sable lips, "Fight for me and make my dream a reality, my Moons!"
"I'll do whatever you wish, Miss Yumeko!"
"My sword is yours!"
"Let's do this!"
It seemed that the motivational words weren't just to light a fire under the guild members; the words from the guild leader echoed with a mystical power, flourishing into an emerald light that gathered around each member.
["Ultimate Sleuth"]
Through his deducement skill, he witnessed the [ATTACK] and [AGILITY] rise enormously throughout the guild. The avatars of the plentiful players shined with a luminescent, verdant shine, empowering them as they rushed forward with a total burst of speed.
'...As I expected, she's a bard, after all. It could actually be troublesome if I let myself get swarmed. So, I won't,' Zero thought.
The tidal wave of hostile players swept in, prompting a response from the sole resistor as he raised his hand as abyssal winds swirled around his glove:
["Nether Howl"]
A brief manifestation of a hellish beast appeared around the player in black armor, parting its foul maw before unleashing a piercing howl. The force of the beast's call swept outward, stunning and pushing the rushing attackers back.
"Gah–!"
"Ngh!"
"My head…! It feels like it's splitting apart!" One of the guild members groaned in pain, clutching his head with both hands.
It was a cruel spell that wasn't one that was often used against players. Not that it was disallowed, but it was an unspoken rule due to its brutal nature.
"Dammit…! My head is gonna explode! It's gonna explode!" Another member anguished.
"Aeeeugh! Make it stop!"
"…He used it?!" One screamed, dropping to his knees as he clutched his head in agony.
Zero sighed, rubbing his own wrist as he looked at the downed players, who writhed and cried out from the pain striking their heads internally.
"I didn't want to use that one, but you're the ones ambushing me, ya know?" He said.
'It's the only skill in the game that inflicts actual pain. Well, before the recent change they seemed to make,' he thought.
Yumeko bit her lip in frustration, curling her eyebrows as she shouted into the pommel microphone, "Get up! Let your dedication clear your minds and move forward!"
From what he could gather, the numerous members of the enemy guild were imbued with another buff, this time one that certainly posed a problem: ["Debuff Immunity"].
"I'll show you how a solo player handles themselves," Zero breathed out as a proclamation.
In response to the rush of players, Zero flipped his sword around as he took the opportunity to prepare himself in turn with invocations leaving his lips.
[Sinful Strengthening] [Sinful Quickening] [Abyssal Senses] [Explosion Counter] [Skin of The Magi Tyrant EX] [Regeneration EX]
The onslaught of personal enchantments flourished with changing auras that imbued their statuses into the appointed final boss, who readied himself just as the first pair of players rushed him wildly.
"Die!"
"Die for Miss Yumeko!"
Both of the reckless players rushed in, one wielding a shield and hammer, leaping up as he prepared a heavy skill which gathered gravitational force around his weapon. The other member beside the tank, wore light leather, dual-wielding daggers before rapidly spinning at an impossibly quick rate, like a bladed tornado.
The brightened eyes of the solo player effortlessly tracked both of the players, switching left-and-right before deciding on a target: the spinning, dagger-wielding thief-class.
Zero lifted his boot before slamming it down with thunderous force, unleashing a shock wave that erupted outward.
["World Stomp"]
The violent shock wave knocked the leaping tank back and jolted the spinning thief, who stopped in the midst of his swing, stumbling back as he seemed dizzy.
"Uegh…!" The heavily-armored tank player groaned as he was knocked back.
"Ngh…" The thief shook his head, coming back to.
It momentarily stopped the other guild members, though it was only a split-second pause at most–but that was enough.
Zero dashed in with his sword in hand, rushing straight past the dual-dagger thief with a single stroke of his nefarious blade. It cleaved through the side of the thief, splashing crimson blood into the air.
The arterial fluid quickly dissolved into particles before descending from the air, bringing the thief to a complete freeze, like a statue as utter disbelief was written on his face, along the others.
"I–I…What?" The player uttered out in shock, having not even perceived how quickly the attack had been done before noticing his own health bar plummeting to–
Zero finished the job, whispering an invocation to his own sword, "Activate and consume: Gluttony."
From the source of the wound inflicted on the frozen thief, a black-and-purple energy, malevolent and eerie in its nature, shaped itself into thin limbs that wrapped around the unfortunate figure.
In a single squeeze of the abyssal tendrils, the thief was consumed, reduced to particles as the player's journey within Abyss Online was brought to an immediate end.
Zero flipped his sword around as his cape fluttered as a violet shine ran over his avatar with the results of ["Gluttony"].
[HP Restored.] [MP Restored.] [ATK Temporarily Increased.]
'One down,' Zero thought.