The great little devil Shadyna is preparing her contract~

…Why am I being called this even though I give great power to others with little reward…?

Looks like Hessy is overworked as always. On the contrary, the atmosphere in our house is quite relaxed.

_ Nerin: So… what's your term…?

Except for Nerin. She looks like she's being sold into slavery!

Well, there's the nice shiny equipment to look forward to, but she's definitely worried about my upcoming demands.

I haven't done anything to you, why are you treating me like ?! And your chest is not competing against Hessy or Mera to begin with!!!

_ Mera (Party): Ju~st for reference, she was using us as she pleased yesterday~

_ Hessy (Party): Don't make me go there and sew your damn mouth shut right now! The town is falling apart here!

_ Choruse (Party): Mera is technically correct though…

_ Mera (Party): My specialty after all~

_ Melodyn (Party): Four of us, at the same time. was something else~

Nerin turns pale. the hammer waitress has a curious look. The red-headed Magni is astounded. Cenny, mermaid, is blushing.

What a variety of reactions…

_ Shadyna (Party): I'll charge extra for the slandering~

_ Mera (Party): No~

_ Hessy (Party): Can I leave the party…?

_ Elri (Party): Trust me, I would have if it wasn't for her LDR bonus.

_ Nerin: Uhm… can we just pay with money instead?

_ Shadyna: Sure~ I didn't know you were so rich.

_ Nerin: …Eh?

_ Mera: Are you su~re about that, Nerin? Your debt will be so~ high even your body won't be enough to pay it off~

_ Nerin: …What.

I have a pretty good idea about the market price for my items, thanks to Hessy. Fortunately I made them before knowing, otherwise I might have fainted from shock!

_ Mera: Have you seen 's scepter? Do you think you can buy one? It was 5000 gold coins if you didn't remember~

_ Nerin: …If I use all my savings and sell my storage, maybe…?

…That long rod was such a luxury huh. And had two…

And a single piece of my work is ten times that.

It's safe to say Nerin won't be able to pay even after working tirelessly for the next few years. And that's not taking interest into consideration.

_ Shadyna: I don't mind~ But are you sure you want to sell your body like that?

_ Nerin: …Please just state your demand…

She has the look of a person who has given up, similar to Hessy and Elri.

Again, I have done nothing but benefiting you. Please don't treat me like that!

_ Shadyna: I just have one request for you all.

Business smile, on~

Why are you stiffening up like that, Nerin?! , that "doki doki" is uncalled for!!!

_ Shadyna: That is not fighting each other with my equipment.

I am aware of my equipment's power. Each set can potentially win against even big guild's leaders. I don't care if each of the people here make a guild on their own and mark their name in the game's history.

However, the moment they have a power struggle, I am not going to let it be.

Enough of that in the real world already, so no thanks!

_ Nerin: …Eh? That's it?

_ Mera: Nerin was so~ looking forward to the humiliation~

_ Nerin: I WAS NOT!

_ Shadyna: Should I add more demands then~?

_ Nerin: Please don't… Just to clarify, we are not to fight players who uses your equipment, yes?

_ Shadyna: That is the gist of it~ I want everyone to get along~

Not just for my pacifism goals, but I also don't want to having to take sides if conflicts occur. It will leave a bitter taste even if one side is objectively right.

_ Nerin: …And the punishment for violating is…?

_ Shadyna: I'm not going to do anything. It may affect what I am willing to make for you later on though~

_ Nerin: Ah, good old embargo… Are you going to make these things for anyone else?

She's already thinking about who she can beat up…? I didn't know Nerin was such an aggressive person!

_ Shadyna: Just for my friends for the foreseeable future. If you don't like them, you can give the items back to me. No hard feelings~

_ Nerin: …Give me a second. I need to discuss with everyone.

Guess world peace needs a lot of work huh… Oh well, I am not going to pressure them into anything. Let's dismantle the variants and boss while they are sorting things out on their own.

_ Shadyna: Mera, can you make me a [Butcher House Special]? I'll leave the party so you can talk in peace.

LDR bonus is nice, but it's not essential to everyone's survival. I need to equip my LCK set to dismantle anyway~

_ Shadyna: [Refinery]!

____________

_ Hessy (Party): Why did leave party?

_ Mera (Party): Nerin was too nervous about selling her body so she would like to consult with you first~

_ Nerin (Party): Sateri-chan should give you a title to deal mental damage whenever you speak…

_ Melodyn (Party): Well, after the first time you'll get used to it?

_ Nerin (Party): Don't compete with her!!!

_ Hessy (Party): Did she ask for something unreasonable?

_ Nerin (Party): Rather than unreasonable, I have no idea what she wanted at all! What does "not fighting each other" even mean!!!

_ Miel (Party): I think she explained it clearly? Don't fight among ourselves.

_ Hessy (Party): Business as usual then.

_ Nerin (Party): Isn't that weird?! What if she gives those items to too?!

_ Hessy (Party): Can't be worse than my current situation. I am indebted to both him and , thanks to someone.

_ Mera (Party): You really are holding a grudge~

_ Nerin (Party): I don't know about this… It's like fake friendship and all…

_ Mera (Party): Nerin still has that childish ideal dream of true companionship after all those years~

_ Nerin (Party): It's not even one year including the closed beta!!!

_ Miel (Party): Gap moe, is it?

_ Mera (Party): Gap moe, indeed~

_ Nerin (Party): I HATE YOU ALL!!!

_ Hessy (Party): If that's the case, why don't you ask her about it?

_ Mera (Party): Aw, Hessy, that would be too reasonable and anti-climactic~

_ Choruse (Party): Yes, internal conflicts for the most annoying and trivial reasons are required for character development.

_ Nerin (Party): With friends like you people who the heck need enemies?!

____________

After some more discussion and crafting, the new equipment for the waitresses are done!

_ Shadyna: I can't use [Enhance] and [Enchant] like the dark elven sisters though. Please tell them to redo it later~

_ Nerin: It's not even the final form?!

_ Mera: It's not~ Here's my apron's stats~

_ Nerin: WHY IS THIS EVEN A THING!!!

_ Shadyna (Party): Hessy, Elri, it seems like Nerin has snapped~

_ Hessy (Party): She's one of the saner members in the corps. I would be surprised if she hadn't.

_ Elri (Party): Though she will get corrupted like the rest of us in no time.

_ Shadyna (Party): I am not corrupting anyone~!

It's materialism at fault, not me!

_ Mera (Party): Should we depart then?

_ Nerin (Party): Right… How are we going to do this?

_ Hessy (Party): Roam the streets and close any breach you see. Do your best to protect the buildings.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

_ Shadyna (Party): Good luck, everyone~ I'm going to gather some more materials.

_ Nerin (Party): Right now?! Actually, do what you want. I don't even want to know anymore.

_ Mera (Party): Nerin has fallen to darkness~

_ Melodyn (Party): Welcome to the adult world~

_ Miel (Party): May I accompany instead?

_ Shadyna (Party): Eh? Why?

_ Miel (Party): After all she has done, someone has to pay with their body, right?

_ Everyone (Party): EH~?!

____________

Without the waitress corps leading the defense, 's walls quickly fell into disarray after the first breach.

The horde swarmed the residential areas, despite valiant efforts of the minor guilds. They could only at most protect some important buildings, mainly their guild bases. Individual shops and houses are devastated as the defenders lose their ground.

With variants, the number of "boss" fights multiplied, so few parties are capable of holding against the overwhelming odds.

_ Melodyn: [Elemental Blast]!

And worst of all, a gigantic rat boss got through.

The street has been cleared, but this single monster remains. It is twice as big as an average human avatar, with appearance of the level 1 [Giant rat], but dyed black and its eyes are glowing purple.

_ Melodyn: And I was hoping for a boss that would be a nice mount like 's too…

---

[Character Information]

[Name]: Pesimus

[Race]: Dark Plagued Rat

[Level]: 19

[Status]

- HP: =========.

- MP: ==========

[History]:

A rat consumed by darkness. The plague it had was also consumed then strengthened it into a monstrosity filled with desire for destruction.

When it appears, diseases and deaths follow.

---

_ Melodyn: It has a name, so definitely a boss…

During earlier fights, it was confirmed that variants do not have names, similar to their normal counterparts. Bosses on the other hand are always named.

For players with [Inspect], it's the easiest way to differentiate between the two.

_ Melodyn: We really don't need this right now…

's skill scraped off a chunk of its HP, but it's obvious she's not going to kill it in one or two attacks.

Unlike the absurd elven cavalry, she's just a normal mage. Her forte is attacking from afar, out from harm's way, not fighting bosses face-to-face!

Her stats are definitely not normal anymore, thanks to a certain girl, but she didn't spec into defense or CON. All her equipment is adding to her FOC for attributes, so it's mostly the PDF and MDF from armor that help a bit in survival.

That "a bit" makes her about as tough as a level-capped tank build right now. However, she's not well-versed in current meta like her seniors, and part of her is refusing to believe that she's already beyond normal.

_ Spearman: Protect our lady!!!

_ Warrior: [Focused Defense]! Come, you bastard!

A bunch of courageous melee players charge toward the boss with great enthusiasm. Totally the type that dies off-screen or five minutes after the intro.

She's not sure how they will fare against an almost-capped boss, but grateful for the distraction nevertheless.

_ Melodyn: [Cooking].

With 's portable furniture, there's no longer a need for [Field Cooking] as [Cooking] can be used without any penalty. It's really convenient, these multi-category items…

[Heroic Inspiration Course] is a powerful meal for a full party that increases all your attributes by 200%. It could be considered the best you can have against bosses. However, it's not the strongest by any means, and way outdated ever since the waitresses got their power-up.

Given a little bit of time and lots of expensive materials during emergencies, cooks can create miracles.

Min: Number of affected attributes, duration, expiration time.

Max: Effect strength, ingredients.

And by burning 5 gold coins in material cost, created a "meal" that expires in 1 minute if not consumed, with effect duration of 15 seconds, barely enough for a few skills at most.

If only she had 's crafting gear right now, the effect would be much greater, but hey, can't have everything. And even without it, the meal's FOC bonus is enough to melt everything anyway!

*SPLASH*

_ Spearman: MY EYES!!!

The rat spits a blob of poison at the engaging players. The poor spearman couldn't avoid it, being at point blank range.

*GNAW*

Before he can retreat, the rat pounces on him. As the teeth sink into him, the player… bites the dust.

_ Spearman: Res pls!

_ Warrior: I will avenge you, brother-in-arm!

_ Knight: It's too strong! We can't fight if it kills tanks in 2 hits!

Even with a few magi supporting from behind, it's obvious the players around the waitress cannot win. Not without her.

_ Melodyn: [Life Conversion], [Overcharge], [Delayed Cast].

Reducing own HP to increase MP, spending more MP and time casting to empower the next spell, gets ready.

And last but not least, the [Alchemy] hybrid item that is her ribbon to ram her MAT. did not have capped [Alchemy], so it "only" grants a 15-second 250% bonus.

_ Melodyn: Let's go. [Azure Wine], [ Extermination Light Ribbon (Masterwork)].

The 15 seconds countdown begins.

Not that it's urgent or anything. She just needs to get into melee range.

In theory, even her [Elemental Bolt] will pulverize that boss. However, she's spent a good amount of money for this moment, might as well break the damage record.

For balance reason, of course the spells with shortest range have highest power. That's why she is going to get close and personal.

Her weapon shines brightly as she casts her spell. There's [Delayed Cast], so it will be ready when she's in reach.

Stepping on the dead spear-wielding corpse, she leaps toward the boss rat that is gnawing a swordsman to death.

_ Melodyn: In honor of ! [Elemental Burst]!

With total raw MAT of over 130k, it was already higher than 's damage.

The boss's MDF is not even considered. The only way for it to have a chance is having so much MDF that normal players have no chance of taking even 1 HP from it.

*Boom*

A small colorful explosion blasts the rat away. It rolls over a few times as it hits the ground before stopping completely.

, level 18 mage, has just dealt over 500k damage with a single spell. That's a few times more than the known -theoretically- possible damage among the player base.

Others couldn't see it. If they had, the board would probably explode later. Instead, they are utterly confused by the mention of !

____________

_ Vladina: [Fire Bolt]! [Water Bolt]! [Earth Bolt]! Damn it , we are not numerous like you perverts! At least be good fodders!

On the east side of Tyrel, roughly two dozen little girls are in charge of defending this part of town.

Back in beta, they would be the only defenders. Since release, there are a few more guilds building their halls here, so their fighting force is much larger now.

…So is the horde, however.

Nevertheless, thanks to the advice of , these girls have been holding on without much problem. Their number is few, so coordination between members is the best out of the big guilds.

A party of three is fighting on the streets, while the battle at the walls is still raging on.

It is the border between and , where the defense is weakest due to difference in tactics and… ideologies.

The overzealous players on 's side out-damaged 's members, allowing variants to jump past the walls. The master lolicon wiped the corpse mountain with multiple AoE spells to stop the breach, but at least some variants have entered the town and are engaging defenders in urban combat.

Thanks to and using [World Voice] non-stop to manage the inexperienced merchants, there are no new breaches, but the enemies in town must be dealt with.

A big wolf just rampages in the middle of the merchant players. The biggest variant of the escapees… And didn't intend to fight it.

They were fighting the ostrich-like variant a few steps away, then this wolf just had to jump in from out of nowhere! Well, not exactly nowhere. It decimated the parties fighting it and went here.

Merchants are not even good at buying time for the main damage dealers…

_ Vladina: [Light Barrage]!

Several light projectiles appear and quickly head towards the wolf.

_ Mage: From behind!

Another ostrich appeared behind the mage line. A variant, no less.

_ Vladina: Retreat!

Seeing the players, the newly arrived ostrich charges towards them. It's heading straight for the little girl in schoolgirl uniform who is the closest.

_ Vladina: Damn it.

Being the ally of all little girls, this biggest pervert in the area refuses to let one gets harmed when she's still around. She should have become a shield user instead of mage, but there's just this problem with the image of a gothic Lolita wielding a kite shield…

_ Vladina: [Focused Defense]!

Jumping in between her member and the variant, the guildmaster raises her sword to block the charge.

Even if she's a mage, it's not like she's min-maxing. She can probably tank a hit or two even if the opponent is a boss.

The wolf wiped the tanking merchants with little effort, using its AoE shockwave-causing howl. Now it's charging the magi from the opposite direction.

There's nowhere to run for the magi.

As expected of the worst lolicon in the game, indeed.

_ ???: [Slam]!

*WHAM*

The ostrich could not reach .

A player in waitress outfit crashed into it from the side, knocking it to the adjacent wall with a loud *THUD*.

Before anyone understands what was going on, said player proceeds to swing her morning star onto the variant's head.

_ Waitress: [Pierce]!

And again.

_ Waitress: [Charged Slam]!

And again.

_ Waitress: [Rapid Assault]!

The ostrich got stunned by the first [Slam] attack and couldn't fight back. Variants should not get stunned that easily, unless the player has abnormal amount of PAT.

Regardless, the scene of her smacking the poor thing without stopping needs to be censored, badly. It's like she's the boss, not the other way round!

Not paying any attention to the atmosphere, the wolf and ostrich pair reaches the still astounded players.

_ Waitress: [Mass Taunt]!

All three variants are now switching target to the dark elven girl alone. The monsters that were ganged upon earlier, currently have to gang on a single player.

That single player is tanking them without the slightest hesitation, like a true protagonist rescuing the damsel in distress.

_ Vladina: Everyone, fire support, now! I wish was the one rescuing me though…

_ Waitress: Sorry, is spending quality lovey-dovey time with her so…

_ Vladina: …Excuse me?!

The one-sided semi-boss fight would rage on for a little longer, but they are no longer in serious danger. They already have a boss-like anomaly on their side as reinforcement, after all.

< you Sateri-damned thieving jerk!!!>

A particular pervert was pissed enough to use [World Voice] for the most trivial reason as usual…

____________

There were many breaches in the northern part of the town, where main force is located.

"Were", specifically.

's party came to lead the defense on the walls. One by one, the leaks in their lines were patched up nicely. Who could have thought his ruthless trash-talk would be so effective in commanding others? That and him shooting anyone disobeying order in the head. He's a min-maxed PvP specialist, so he has the firepower to back his words!

On the other hand, it can be said that his party had no problem fixing the defense because there was no worry about the invaded enemies attacking them from behind.

_ Olkan: What. The. Heck?!

was amazed to see his favorite waitress becoming an eight-grader, then he became confused, and utterly horrified to see single-handedly decimating everything on the street.

She was literally glowing with tattoos all over her body in addition to her new "eye". With runes now dropping from monsters, it's not strange to see them. It is strange, however, to have so many pieces without crafting.

Worse still, her [Dark Bolt] has become a killing machine. A level capped mob took a few hits to kill back then, now dies after the first bolt. Variants drop like flies as she throws bolt after bolt continuously until they succumb.

The terror was walking casually along the streets, killing everything in sight. Her damage was 5-digit per bolt, so there're few monsters that can survive for long.

, without being able to see the exact damage, still knows that her firepower surpassed his scepter many times over.

Just like his [Equipment Manufacturer Origin] title, whatever gave those runes completely broke the game's balance. And here he thought the x3 multiplier on his equipment was overpowered…

His equipment was indeed powerful, but it was outdated due to not having dedicated cook and more importantly, attribute and skill stacking mechanics (abuse).

It was a miracle for to acquire the crafters she needed in such a short notice, all thanks to the murderous young waitress that is .

_ Olkan: Where did you get those… things, ?

_ Hessenria: *Sighs* Have a guess. And was sacrificed for it.

The head waitress herself has given up her common sense in exchange for great power. A true pact with a devil, she would say.

It can be said that the situation is under control enough that one can rant about irrelevant matters.

____________

To the south of Tyrel, where merchants of and small guilds band together, there is no breach.

There can be no breach, because the defense has already been shattered!

The horde of darkness is swarming the residential area. Multiple buildings including some guild halls have been destroyed despite everyone's best effort. Outnumbered by the mobs and outmatched by the variants, there was no hope for the struggling players.

Then "THAT FREAKING THING" arrived!

_ Fuelri: Beginning charge!

Instead of the enemies, the players, her own side, frantically scatter the moment she announces her arrival at the end of the street.

The path is not that narrow per se, but her mounted salamander (she insisted it was a drake, but no one listened) is way too big for human standards! If players do not hug the walls, collision is inevitable.

_ Fuelri: Ren, !

Even if it can use a breath attack, it will always be a salamander in everyone's eyes.

The monsters at the front are melted by the black breath. For the sturdier ones, they still die as the mount proceeds to headbutt, trample then tail slap the heck out of them for good measures. If they are unlucky enough to get tossed up into the air by the headbutt, will destroy them as she swings her halberd from side to side.

Variants from time to time would appear in their path, a few of them would be lucky enough to survive the first charge. When that happens, the elven cavalry turns around at the nearest corner where there's enough space to maneuver without having to stop moving. And then, the two come crushing their enemies again until they drop dead.

The players here have witnessed 's prowess back then, but to do so again in such close distance and a very real chance of becoming collateral damage really changes their perspective.

_ Fuelri: Charge! We can't let 's body be sacrificed in vain!!!

's image has evolved from "A very strong player" to "Incomprehensible unstoppable weapon of mass destruction".

On top of that, none of the variants' corpses was spared.

Not destroyed, but all picked up by that elven girl. Where the heck was she storing them?!

____________

The damage this raid was substantial. Many buildings were destroyed in the urban battle. A large part of the outer walls is in ruins, and the rest heavily damaged.

Items are not destroyed, but the cost of rebuilding, repair and overall cleanup will become a big dent in everyone's wallets.

Players didn't even manage to worry about the future when the next system message arrived.

[Warning: An has appeared. Caution is advised.]