Liam and his friends sprinted towards the towering tree not far away. They tried to escape through the gap opened up between the opposing players. Silver Blade and Radiant Shield did their best to hold them back.
But the guild players didn't engage, attempting to overtake Liam's party from the side and cutting of their escape route.
Suddenly a low roar entered everyone's ears. The opponents stared in surprise at the white alligator which just appeared out of nowhere.
"What is this?"
"Could it be a pet?"
[Silent Acacia: @Silver Blade, step back. Let Zorn hold them back.]
[Silver Blade: Do you want to sacrifice him?]
[Silent Acacia: It's alright. It will only drop back to level one.]
Silver Blade nodded at Silent Acacia, distancing herself from the hostile players. Zorn quickly took her place.
Silent Acacia wiped away the unwilling look on his face as he activated one of his new skills.
"Rampage!"
A red light flashed through Zorn's eyes. The alligator's face took on a murderous look. A chill ran down the opponent's spine as they stared into its cold eyes.
Opening its maw wide, a waterball brewed in the alligator's throat. It instantly shot at one of the warriors. Simultaneously the monster dashed towards the other warrior at an unexpected speed.
One might be surprised by Zorn's intelligence if they didn't know that Silent Acacia ordered it with his thoughts. For players fighting with pets for the first time this was an incredibly weird sensation.
Fortunately, Silent Acacia had experience playing VR games before. Although none were as immersive as Fate of Crunaboul, it still allowed the young man to quickly get used to controlling his pet.
On the other side Quickstep arrived next to Radiant Shield. Without talking much she immediately activated her ultimate skill [Storm of Blades].
A whirlwind appeared out of nowhere, engulfing Quickstep. Her body however remained perfectly still. The strange contradiction caused a feeling of uneasiness among the enemies.
However, it didn't even last a second. The whirlwind immediately contracted, flowing around Quickstep's sword before concentrating into a white sphere in the air.
One look at the constantly flowing sphere would make one's eyes sting from pain.
When Quickstep swung her sword, the sphere moved according to her thoughts. It only advanced for a short distance, stopping in front of the opponents.
All of this sounded long to describe but Quickstep's movements were quick and precise. She didn't give the enemies a chance to react before an enormous storm suddenly erupted from the white sphere.
Extremely sharp wind blades were mixed in, seeking to cut the enemy into little pieces.
The two players let out a startled scream as the storm engulfed them but their voices were drowned out by the roaring winds.
They only managed to hold on for a few moments before the storm grabbed them and threw them into the distance, simultaneously cutting away their HP with its sharp blades.
Radiant Shield was stunned, looking at the scene in awe. This was the first time he had seen Quickstep using her ultimate skill and the result was incredible.
But the valiant woman didn't care about his thoughts, urging him on:
"What are you standing there?! We need to leave!"
On the other side of the valley Star Gazer never stopped observing the situation. When he saw Liam's party about to escape a murderous gaze appeared in his eyes.
"This damn Earthquake! How can he keep such incompetent subordinates?! Useless! Pen! Tell everyone to stop looting and chase after Hotpot!"
"Yes, sir!"
Liam threw Quickstep and Silent Acacia an appreciative look. He never expected anyone to stand up at this moment and deal with the predicament.
Now that the immediate opponents were occupied nothing could stop them from escaping. At this moment a movement came into the crowd not far away. Players started to split of one by one.
Liam felt a heavy pressure. He glanced as Star Gazer, Phoenix Feather, and Callida who watched them from different positions.
"Guys, we need to go! Now!"
The others also noticed the change. They didn't dear to delay, immediately following behind Liam.
The area before the tree was already empty. Naturally no one came from behind it in the first place as they wouldn't have been able to attack the world boss. This was the reason why Liam chose this as their escape path.
A moment later they arrived next to the thick tree trunk. Violet void energy still lingered around the half brown, half violet bark. It was rather dense, obscuring the view at the tree.
Circling the trunk, Liam got a strange perception. It was as if the void energy didn't disappear, instead it faintly increased.
Liam didn't think much about it. However, when they reached the other side of the trunk, he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes.
At the base of the tree was an extremely dense cloud of void energy. But something stuck out of it at the trunk. It looked like a black tree branch ending in an incredibly sharp tip. Just by glancing at it one would feel an instinctive rejection.
Most players at this stage in the game might not waste too many thoughts on it. But Liam's eyes immediately showed surprise. He glanced over his shoulder before gritting his teeth and taking a few steps towards the tree trunk.
"Bleary Mirage?"
"Expert, what are you doing?"
"My friend, we need to hurry!"
"Sorry!"
Liam apologized for the delay while his hand touched the black branch. With a thought he put it into his inventory.
Instantly a quest window appeared before his eyes.
[
[Step one: Bring the strange creature you found to Therim Riverbell!]
"Come on!"
Hearing his party's anxious shouts Liam didn't dare to delay longer. With a flash step he arrived next to them, ready to escape.
At this moment the lingering void energy slowly began to dissipate. The tree trunk was revealed again.
Suddenly a pulse ran through the towering tree. A large amount of mana was attracted to it, greedily absorbed by all its branches and roots.
A vital green energy was buried deep in the tree's core. With the influx of mana, it gradually revived. A lively feeling was birthed from the tree.
With it, the void energy corrupting it was quickly pushed back. Violet leaves fell of, replaced by gorgeous green buds.
Most of the players chasing after Liam couldn't help but watch the change in surprise. Even Therim, who had already flown a distance away, looked back.
The only ones who weren't in the position to care were Liam and his friends. They didn't stop running, using the opportunity to escape the valley.
But the chasing players weren't blind.
"Idiots! Don't stand in my way and stare at a tree! Chase them!"
"Quick! Our loot escapes!"
"Move, move, move!"
Cyclone glanced over her shoulder, her scalp going numb.
"Guys, there are so many…"
"Don't get distracted! We got this!"
Funny coming from you…
Cyclone didn't say her thoughts out loud. She trusted that Liam had a reason to take the strange thing with him. But nevertheless, this delay didn't improve their situation.
A whistle could be heard. Liam and his party tensed up, recognizing the characteristic sound of arrows traveling through the air.
Luckily the distance was still too far making it close to impossible for others to aim correctly.
In the tense atmosphere and with angry shouts behind their backs Liam and his friends reached the mouth of the valley, entering the corrupted forest.
A few changes could be seen even here as the forest showed some signs of revival. But the party didn't have the luxury to care.
Sprinting through the forest all eyes were on Liam, expecting him to come up with a saving grace.
And the veteran indeed had something in mind. He led his party straight out of the forest, arriving on a plane full of large fields providing food for the nearby villages.
A few bull-like monsters roamed around, guarding the place against intruders.
However, those didn't dare to step into the fields for fear of destroying anything. Liam used this fact to his advantage, leading his party through the fields.
They could only apologize inwardly to the villagers as they trampled the wheat below their feet.
Fortunately, the villagers wouldn't suddenly die of hunger due to their actions. The game wasn't that vicious.
Thus, Liam's party could escape unhindered. A few moments later a large crowd broke out of the forest behind them.
Without thinking much, they quickly rushed after the party.
"Mooo!"
Angry sounds could be heard from the bulls. Their eyes glowed red, staring at the players coming towards them.
The next second the players' miserable shouts could be heard as the bulls rammed their horns into the crowd.
Most of the players though ran through the fields instead of the limited paths. They were surprised that nothing happened to them, gloatingly looked at others, before continuing their chase.