"Heh!"
Earthquake scoffed at the bird. His huge sword slammed into the hawk's head. A tremor ran through the world boss's body. Fissures spread on the ground, dealing even more damage.
Anger clouded the world boss's mind. It opened its beak and snapped violently at another player. And another and another.
The melee fighters felt the pressure. They followed the hawk's movement with their eyes, trying to anticipate its attacks.
The tight encirclement couldn't help but loosen somewhat.
Suddenly the corrupted hawk raised its head, a violet energy brewing in its moth.
The players reacted calmly. Orders were relayed. The tanks worked together to build a solid frontline.
In front of Earthquake stood a mountain of an orc. He had almost completely black skin which could barely be seen under the armor protecting his body. This was Immortal Boulder, a close friend of Earthquake and hailed as one of the best tanks on Falva Star.
He even had some fame in the federation. Many experts agreed that he could fight for number one if his temper grew steadier.
However, Earthquake didn't pressure his friend to change. He was certain that there would be no better fit for their guild.
A grin was on the orc's face as he heard Boulder's excited shout.
"Come, you stupid chicken! See if you can pass me!"
The corrupted hawk felt challenged by the pesky flies around it. Destructive spheres of violet void energy were released from its beak.
A few players secretly breathed in relief when they saw the hawk aiming away from them.
Be it coincidence or not Immortal Boulder stood directly in front of the hawk.
"Hahaha! Come!"
The tank laughed happily as the first sphere shot towards him. He stabilized his body, digging his heels into the floor.
His upper body leaned forward slightly, his knees bent. A tall shield hid most of his body.
It was obvious that Boulder was extremely experienced, his movements almost second nature.
Boom!
The void sphere crashed into the orc's shield. At the last second, he tensed his body, slanting his shield slightly to divert the force.
[Stance -44!]
"Haha! Is this all you got?!"
Other tanks would be surprised to see the number popping up. Obviously, Boulder's skilled movements were rewarded by the game.
The world boss didn't seem to particularly care about him. It quickly continued spewing spheres.
1, 3, 5…
Suddenly something unforeseen happened. One of the spheres didn't fly in a straight line. It magically circled the hawk's body before shooting in a random direction.
The targeted player wasn't prepared at all. He barely managed to raise his shield before the attack crashed into him.
His stance was broken in an instant. The void energy struck fiercely, taking away a huge amount of HP.
[-1560!]
The warrior could only watch in horror as his HP bar emptied out.
As soon as the player dropped to the ground someone came forth to take his place. They smirked as a thought came to their mind.
The boss surely won't attack the same spot twice.
However, a couple seconds later they were also sent back to the graveyard.
Others observed the situation and didn't dare to step forward. An opening formed in the encirclement.
The same situation happened at a few other spots. Now, no one believed that the skill chose its targets at random.
Callida observed the situation form the back with a frown.
Our defense stands but the same can't be said for those casual players. It remains impossible to unite such a motley crew.
She glanced at Knight of Honor who tried his best to coordinate everyone. It was already impressive that under his leadership a few of the holes were actually filled up.
While the close-ranged fighters were struggling to defend against the world boss, the ranged classes were unperturbed. They continuously fired everything they got, not daring to take a break.
Phoenix Feather stood at the back of her guild among a few other mages.
She swung a heavy wooden staff above her head, watching the progress bar before her eyes.
Finally, a flame began to burn on the tip of her staff. A huge amount of mana was sucked towards it.
The temperature in the surroundings increased together with the flame's intensity.
Finally, the spell was ready. Phoenix Feather focused her mind, targeting the ground below the world boss.
With a loud rumble a fierce flame suddenly erupted below the hawk. It held on for a second before fading. Severe damage was inflicted on the hawk.
The flame on top of Phoenix Feather's staff shrunk but it didn't get extinguished.
With another thought from the white-haired woman two more eruptions appeared.
"Icespike!"
A joyful voice could be heard from one of the mages.
"Cherry, how often do I have to tell you that you shouldn't shout when casting spells?!"
"Sorry big sister…"
"Hah, just try to remember it next time."
Phoenix Feather wore an exasperated expression. Her younger sister showed great talent, but she found it difficult to take the game serious enough.
At seventeen years Cherry didn't have the necessary maturity yet.
If Fate of Crunaboul could've come out in two or three years…
Phoenix Feather felt somewhat regretful. As a player she wasn't especially outstanding. Her fame came from her leveling speed. To achieve this, she had to invest a lot of time and effort, buy information, devise strategies.
Although it was definitely impressive to be the highest-level player several times, ultimately this was worth less than outstanding combat skill to the public eye.
However, when Cherry asked Phoenix Feather to play together, she quickly proved astounding talent. She had the potential to be the star player their guild needed to finally get widespread recognition.
Such a pity…
Phoenix Feather shook her head. But a second later she scolded herself. It was wrong to put such high expectations on her sister. If the guild wanted to advance, everyone had to step up.
When her thoughts reached such a state Phoenix Feather scanned her mages, urging them sternly:
"Don't let up! We need more damage! Save your ultimate skills for the kill! Scale, don't interrupt your casting! The skill won't hit you!"
The mages took the orders calmly, pushing themselves. They didn't think their leader was too cold. Everyone was working towards the same goal.
Different scenes played out while the hawk finally stopped its skill. The tanks audible let out a collective sigh of relief. They stepped aside, letting the damage dealers through.
The speed at which the hawk lost HP quickly increased again.
Standing still for a couple of seconds the world boss screeched angrily. A glint flashed past its eyes.
"Don't look into its eyes!"
A few observant players recognized the hawk's posture. With their warning not many fell for its skills this time.
Even the subsequent claw attacks didn't contain much danger.
Meanwhile not far from the valley a group of about 30 people were gathered.
They observed the fight leisurely, joking amongst each other.
"Ha, this job is really too easy."
"Right. Have you seen them running with their tails between their legs?"
"Hahaha, number one party? My a*s!"
"I don' think they are much stronger than us. Our guild leaders worry for nothing."
The players discussed in mocking voices, their chests almost exploding from pride. However, despite their arrogant words they didn't notice an invisible shadow sticking to a tree not far away.
[Bloody Edge: F*ck! I can't stand it! Let me go and kill a few of those arrogant idiots.]
[Bleary Mirage: Calm down, don't get discovered.]
[Balm: @Mirage, will this really work?]
[Bleary Mirage: Of course. As long as they underestimate us this much…]
[Radiant Shield: I still don't like it. Being chased away feels terrible.]
[Cyclone: +1]
[Silent Acacia: You'll get used to it. I have seen all kinds of dirty strategies.]
[Quickstep: Life of a pro player…]
Liam and his friends stopped at a safe distance, looking in the direction of the world boss with indignant minds.
[Bleary Mirage: Let's stop the idle talk and focus. @Edge, how much HP does the world boss have left.]
[Bloody Edge: About half.]
[Bleary Mirage: How many players died?]
[Bloody Edge: Close to three hundred, I guess. But those left standing seem to have found their rhythm. Casualties are reducing noticeably.]
[Bleary Mirage: Alright, keep us informed.]
Even if others guessed that Liam and his party stayed in the vicinity, they obviously didn't care. With so many players around the world boss there was no way for them to come close.
In the minds of the guild leaders only other guilds posed a threat. Although Knight of Honor also had a considerable following, they lacked the coordination to steal the last kill.
Star Gazer glanced at the heroic man gathering the disorganized players. He looked down at him and his futile efforts.
How could commoners compete with large families and companies? As early as a few dozen years ago when the federation began constructing the game's servers did those wealthy organizations begin to train loyal fighters.
Information indicating the game's enormous potential was everywhere in the ancient ruins. This potential had to be realized in his, Brayan Colville's, hands.