Zyrus paid close attention to the last two scarecrows. While his knights had yet to reach the targets, the other scarecrow had already reaped the lives of hundreds.
‘It’s good that there are ambitious ones as well,’
Who didn’t want to be in a leading position like Kyle and the rest? This was their chance to earn that spot. They could either let the strongest players do all the work or step up to earn better treatment later on.
The strong would become stronger and the weak would become weaker. It was a simple yet harsh truth of the sanctuary.
And the ones who understood this better than anyone were the beasts and monsters.
*Hoowwl*
*Rooar*
16 beast leaders roared and growled at their subordinates. They were the ones who took this opportunity to stand on the same level as the leading figures. 12 of them were subdued from Aiden’s troop after the crown hunt, whereas the remaining four were leaders of the subdued monsters on the islands.
What was the differing factor between a beast and a monster? The former had some intelligence and ability to develop, whereas the latter was just a brainless husk that acted on instinct. Every monster that joined any leader would automatically become a beast, becoming similar to players.
‘They’re smarter than one may expect,’
Zyrus praised the beast leaders in his heart as he observed their tactics. There were all sorts of species jumbled in the beast squads. It was too difficult to form clear groups and command structures. Thus, the beasts were doing what they were best at– hunting.
Bugs were using wave tactics? They’ll do the same. Not to mention that they were even better at it.
*ROOOOOAAR*
*AWOOOOOO*
The 16 leaders surrounded the scarecrow boss and deployed kiting tactics. It was but a matter of time before the fight reached its conclusion.
[Dragonification]
On the other side, 400 Aydahar Cavaler used their skills at the same time. Curved horns jutted out from their heads along with a whip-like tail at the back. But more so than the external changes, the biggest transformation was within their bones and internal organs.
[Arcane Lance]
[Spear Aura]
“Hahaha look at ‘em go!”
“Done already? Now I really want to see your status,” Zyrus looked away from the knights who were spamming the weak versions of his skills and stared at Franken.
He was the first one who had killed the boss monster.
“By all means, you should be able to. Who knows what the administrators are thinking?”
“Forget it then.” Zyrus shrugged his shoulders and focused on the knights. His skills like the eye of annihilation and Avatar were useless for them due to their special nature. On the other hand, aoe skills like arcane lance, fear, and spear aura were performing better than his own.
‘Hmm…for the next class upgrade, I should focus on passing down my skills to the summons,’
This was an unexpected stroke of inspiration. Zyus was quite shocked by the amplification of his ‘Fear’ skill. With 400 of them using it at 10% effectiveness, his knights had scared away all of the bugs on the island! What if his thousands of summons’ could do the same? Forget at 10% effectiveness, just 1% was enough to change the tides.
[Raid objective has been achieved!]
[Additional rewards will be given to participants after the raid succeeds]
[Caution! Pugalo will now descend upon the Scarecrow Island]
“Everyone, encircle the central farm and activate all combat-related formations.”
“On it.”
“Do we head over to the dragon of war?”
Ria and Jacob asked one after another. Although they were injured, they had enough energy to gather the ships and aid him later on.
“No need. You’ll be one shotted once you step on the farm,” Zyrus replied while swimming towards the centermost area. Even Franken didn’t dare to fly at this time.
Bitter memories surfaced in his eyes as he looked at the hexagonal farm shrouded in a brownish aura. This place was called the ‘Commander’s Graveyard’ before his regression.
Not because the commanders died in that place, but because any commander who took on this field raid would be scarred for life.
6 kings and their armies were wiped out on the first try. Instead of scaring away the others, this only fueled the players' desire as the rewards corresponded with difficulty.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
11 kings participated in the second wave– 8 of which lost their armies and 3 died. The results this time had shocked the entire continent.
Finally, this drew the attention of the top rulers. 5 of them came in the third wave, 4 of whom retreated while the remaining one cleared the area once and for all.
Zyrus was among the ones who retreated. Because anyone who won this battle would lose their right to be called a leader.
There were two reasons for this disaster. The thing that caused the annihilation of the first two waves was the 10 field bosses. Not every leader had the ability to command their players without a moment’s delay. Even if they did, would the players carve out their flesh within seconds? Even after both of these, was everyone rich enough to use potions and healing medicines on the entire army?
The answer was no. This caused internal disputes and thus led to total etermination.
The 5 who participated in the last wave had the power to go through this. But even so, 4 retreated before Pugalo.
Zyrus stood alone on the farm and watched the descending field boss with cold eyes. A 100-feet-tall scarecrow wearing a tattered black cloak. Dried-up grass and red mana surged to create a vessel for Pugalo, and at the same time, a pitch-black scythe appeared in its hand.
Just the mana it released was enough to make the players tremble. Regardless of their level or fighting prowess, every one of them was under a spine-chilling coldness.
It was an instinctual fear one felt when facing a higher level of existence. This place wasn’t even supposed to be accessible in the second ring. The area between the Kyros continent and the land of Farnakht was akin to a middle zone.
Monsters ranging from lv 21 to 100+ existed on the ocean and the islands. Unlike on the mainland where living areas below and above lv 50 were separated via a mist zone, there was no such thing on the ocean.
Zyrus himself didn’t know how that'd work out for him. According to his guess, since the system wouldn’t allow the players to be massacred by the high-level monsters, it had simply ‘hidden’ them.
The moment the third ring was unlocked, the mist would lift and merge the whole continent. At the same time, these hidden monsters would reappear on the islands and the ocean.
Leaving the future troubles aside, there was one thing the system couldn’t just hide– the Field bosses.
‘It’s at lv 50, but it has retained its core powers of lv 100.’
A lv 50 field boss should be the final target of the flag march. Hack, there were many who cleared the second ring by avoiding strong monsters altogether. There was more than one method to become a powerful ruler.
[Pugalo has awakened]
Two spheres of crimson fire lit up on the scarecrow’s head- glaring back at Zyrus’s cold yellow eyes.
“There’ll be some monsters coming from the back, so deal with them. Under no circumstances are you to fire in this direction.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the players replied in tandem and changed the weapons' directions.
*Rustle*
Zyrus stepped on the dry grass and walked towards the towering field boss. Neither did anything except stare at one another.
Because that’s the only thing they could do.
[Hollow Heart]
That was the authority of Pugalo. The system’s arrangement had nerfed it, but it was still extremely powerful–much more than any single of Zyrus’s abilities.
*Thrust*
Zyrus attacked Pugalo’s ankle and stumbled back while throwing up blood. Two damage values were still visible in his eyesight.
-4.5
-4500
‘Keuk-’
He swept his spear again and killed the bug that had just spawned. The whole action took no more than 3 seconds.
‘Huh...I didn’t expect to learn more about celestial vitality via this,’
He thought about the sensation he felt when he lost 90% of HP and repeated the same action. With his celestial vitality and recovery rate…he needed no more the 5 seconds to heal back up.
He did the same thing over and over again.
“…”
“…”
Every player was left speechless. Time passed by and their emotions changed from confusion to awe and deep respect. No one who survived thus far was stupid.
Just like in their fight against Nuckelavee, there were some monsters who had special skills. One had to fulfill certain conditions in order to deal damage. The one in front of them was one such example–and it was more vicious than anything they had faced so far.
Zyrus stabbed the scarecrow and kneeled over while spewing out blood. A bug spawned at that exact moment and attacked him. He stood back up, killed that bug with a single swipe, and repeated the same action.
10 times…50 times…100 times…
Every player could see the pattern. What would be the outcome if thousands of them attacked at once? They saw the damage numbers floating up, and they knew that none of them had enough HP to take the backlash– much less recover and deal with the various bugs that spawned.
This was something only Zyrus could do. Just like the field boss Pugalo, he too was being restricted by the system. The sanctuary maintained balance, but the prerequisite was that both sides had to be on the same league of existence.
There was no balance between an ant being stepped on by a giant.
“You…should use your summons.”
“Hahahaha….” Zyrus laughed with his bloody mouth as he heard Ria’s voice. Indeed, he could use his summons to deal with the annoying boss.
‘Hollow Heart’ gave Pugalo immunity against the first 10,000 attacks. At the same time, the attackers would receive 1000 times the damage. Only attacks that dealt damage to Pugalo counted–that was 1000 damage at minimum.
And as if this wasn’t enough, it'd also summon a random insect near the attacker’s location. 10,000 lives were required before one could even begin the first phase of the fight.
‘I lost 1368 players that day,’
He made a pathetic retreat after losing his comrades. Back then, he was much more emotional and attached to his subordinates. The Zyrus Wymar of that time wasn’t a cold-blooded monarch.
-4.5
-4500
.
.
He kept on repeating the same moves hundreds and thousands of times. Just as Ria had said, he could use his summons in batches to fight in a less painful and efficient manner.
“Do you guys think what I’m doing is stupid?”
No one answered his question. The bloodlust emitted by Zyrus had far surpassed the suppression formed by Pugalo’s league of existence. Even breathing was difficult for the players–replaying to him was a luxury that couldn’t afford.
Zyrus didn’t care about any of that. He was lost in his own world. He relished in the effect of the celestial vitality and went out all his built-up frustrations.
“Maybe what I’m doing is pointless..”
-4500
“...Stupid, and downright pathetic,”
-4500
“Nothing I do will change the past,”
-4500
The players heard him muttering as he stood up again and again. They didn’t understand what he was talking about, but they could feel it. Even Zyrus didn’t know that the sheer rage and madness were conveyed through his willpower.
“But even so,”
-4500
“Even if it’s pointless and stupid,”
-4500
“I’ll do whatever the hell I want. Why? Because I’m fucking strong.”
[Hollow heart has been lifted]
These weren’t some motivational or wise words the players were expecting. These were just the ravings of a madman. Maybe it was for this reason that the words struck the heart of every creature.
The scarecrow lifted its sickle and screamed at the orange skies above.
[Caution! Pugalo is calling summoned every monster within a 100km area]
The fight…had just begun.