Zyrus's instincts became sharper and sharper as the fight went on. Cyan blood flowed through his veins, making his every move filled with explosive power.
The outcome of this battle was set in stone.
Although there existed a balance in this game, this didn’t mean that one couldn’t overpower others on the same level.
*FUUUUUU*
“aargh-”
“Move out”
-200,-200,-200,-200
-200,-200,-200,-200-200,-200
Exp +4000
Zyrus’s poison breath was a living example of that.
[Poison breath]
By evaporating your blood with mana, you can unleash a breath filled with deadly toxins. The range and corrosion power will scale with user's level.
Effects: Release a breath filled with poison in a 15m radius.
Duration: 3 sec
Cost: Mana -5, HP - 500
CD: 5 minutes
Although the effects were great, it also had its downsides. It was useless against monsters with high defense, not to mention the HP penalty.
‘But it’s perfect against humanoid creatures,’ Zyrus realized and charged towards the male leader.
He had lost almost half of his HP by now. Despite that, he ignored the barrage of attacks and plunged into the heart of the formation.
Sensing the threat to his life, the leader ran backwards while being protected by his loyal subordinates.
He wasn’t weak by any means, but as a leader, it would be foolish of him to fight head-on.
As for his talk about the duel? It was all bullshit. If not for the fact that the woman’s skills weren’t combat oriented, he wouldn't have made such a proposal.
*Sweep*
-200,-200-200
Exp +1200
‘Tch… how annoying,’
Zyrus grumbled despite killing three players with a single blow. He wasn’t a psychopath who enjoyed killing for no reason.
From the start, his goal had been to instill fear amongst the group of humans. As a monster, it was the only way for him to earn their loyalty.
“You can either hand over that coward, or die alongside him.”
Seeing that less than a third of the players were still attaching him, Zyrus decided to push further.
“Kneel or Die, the choice is yours.”
This was a complete façade, but Zyrus was confident in his success.
And proving him right, the remaining players also stopped moving. They weren't stupid. Their enemy had shown no sign of exhaustion even after killing dozens of them. Why would they risk their lives to test the waters when others had already given up? For their leader? What a joke. It was the leader who abandoned them at the first sign of trouble.
A pin-drop silence descended upon the clamoring campsite.
‘This is pathetic.’ Instead of being happy, Zyrus was disgusted by their hesitant expressions.
He was all too familiar with such scenarios. It would be a pain in the ass to lead this bunch of spineless players.
If they were willing to fight for ten more minutes, Zyrus was sure that he would die. Although he had killed about 50 of them and had penetrated their core formation, it came with the cost of 70% of his HP.
Even in the worst-case scenario, he could use the poison breath once more and bring some of them with him in the afterlife.
‘But even that would be a better outcome than kneeling against a monster,’ Zyrus frowned as he made his way towards the leader. The winner wasn't decided based on the strength alone. One needed the courage to fight before anything. Zyrus knew that one of the reason behind the player's cowardice was their leader's character.
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*Thud*
Much to the leader's dismay, his trusted followers knelt on the ground in a synchronized movement as well.
“Bastards! How do you expect to survive with such mentality?”
Zyrus had conflicting emotions as he saw the situation unfold in his favor. He felt a tinge of pity towards the floundering leader as he had been in the same situation as him in his past life. But even when his subordinates had conspired with his enemies to kill him, he had walked out alive and wiped them out after recovering.
He was fundamentally different from the moron in front of him who could do nothing but curse hysterically.
‘This is more uncomfortable than just killing them.’
Zyrus couldn’t suppress his anger as he looked at the humans kneeling in front of a monster, even if the monster in question was him.
‘Was I always such a hypocrite?’
He had a lot of self-reflecting thoughts as his values in his past and current lives were vastly different. Was he the monarch who led the humanity or a monster seeking revenge against the Eternals?
Despite that though, one thing remained the same.
*Stab*
“Guhh”
-200
Exp +400
It was his thirst for power.
“You’ve made a wise decision, but remember this,”
With the tip of his spear, Zyrus lifted the body of their former leader and glared at the kneeling players.
Not one of them dared to meet his golden eyes.
“If you ever dare to betray me,”
With measured footsteps, he walked to the middle of the group.
“Your end will be far, far, worse than death.”
With a swift motion, Zyrus flung the headless body away.
‘Hypocrite? So what?’
Mocking his own thoughts, Zyrus pulled out the bloody crown from the fallen leader.
This wasn’t a place where one could live with their morals.
Only strength mattered in the sanctuary. What good are noble goals and lofty dreams when one isn’t strong enough to keep them? He had learned this the hard way.
Despite all his efforts in the previous life, only a million humans managed to survive past the third ring.
‘It would be the same this time.’
“Do you pledge your loyalty to me?”
With the bronze crown on his head, Zyrus asked the kneeling players in front of him.
He didn’t promise them anything as he knew that it was useless. He can either save thousands of humans or kill them to level up, but in any case, the final outcome will remain the same.
‘Unless I kill those bastards.’
It was a dark and cruel truth. Even if he knew about the future, he wasn't strong enough to change it. Zyrus's bloodlust was ignited as he thought about the Eternals who played with the life and death of other species as if it were a game.
None of the players hesitated as the system message popped in front of them.
Was there even a choice? Looking at the seven feet tall monster that wore a bloody crown, all 100 players pressed “Yes” at the same time.
[Congratulations! You have obtained “Bronze Crown”]
Zyrus could’ve obtained the crown by killing the leader, but he chose to settle it this way.
Despite the same result, the underlying meaning behind them was different. In the future, He would not go with such bothersome procedure and just kill the leader.
But this time, his main goal wasn’t to fulfill the criteria.
Zyrus clicked on the words ‘bronze crown’ and headed towards the woman who stood a distance away.
[Bronze Crown]
Type: head accessory, quest item
Effect: When fighting with your subordinates, Stats +10%
Since it was only the first tier, the effects were rather lackluster.
Compared to Zyrus who was leisurely walking ahead while clicking his tongue, the woman wasn’t having a good time.
Her heart trembled in trepidation as the blue monster approached her team.
A lot of people argued that they should run away while the two tigers were fighting. But unlike them, she was able to predict the fight's outcome even before it had started.
Though her clairvoyance passive gave her future visions whenever her life was in danger, it didn’t give her the power to change her fate.
“Have you made your decision?” Zyrus asked as he looked at the fidgeting woman in front of him.
She had black hair and tanned skin with a height that barely reached his shoulders. He keenly observed her followers as he awaited her reply.
‘They’re much better when it comes to loyalty and teamwork, but their strength leaves much to be desired’
He had an accurate judgment of the players in front of him.
“Yes,” the woman replied after a bit of hesitation.
“You can glimpse into the future right?”
“Y-yes?” She stumbled out a reply as she was caught off guard.
“Well, don’t rely on it too much. Treat it as an advanced analysis instead of something like Words from a god,”
A red flush crept up her cheek as Zyrus read her like an open book.
“What’s your name?” Zyrus asked after sensing the awkward atmosphere.
‘I wish those two were here,’ A subtle smile formed on his face as he thought about Kyle and Lauren.
He knew that it would be difficult for him to communicate with the other party. However, he needed a command structure in order to control 10,000 people. Besides, neither of them had the talent to manage that many players.
“I’m Ria.” The woman replied with an uncertain look.
Zyrus gave her an understanding nod and replied,
“You may address me as your majesty”
“…”
“…?”
“Uh.. Y-Yes your majesty” Ria replied in an awkward tone.
“Mhm, now gather all players and divide them according to their fighting style and weapons.”
Ria nodded and left without further ado.
Zyrus knew that it was important to have a cohesive mindset at the start of the crown hunt. Since those with bronze crowns had no means to control their subordinates’ actions, the battles were chaotic in the first few days.
It didn’t take long for Ria to sort out people according to his instructions.
‘Most of them are melee attackers.’
Zyrus observed as he walked to the front. His presence became ever more ominous as shadows cast by the campfires hovered around him, making him look like a demon from hell.
“I don’t care what you think about me as a leader, but I must remind you of something.”
Zyrus swept his gaze over the group of people. There were around 50 swordsmen and the same number of knife users.
“Although I have no means to control you, things will change after I obtain the silver crown.”
The despondent expressions of players became curious as they snuck a glance towards Zyrus.
“I won’t beat around the bush, so listen carefully from now on,” Zyrus commanded in a serious tone and gestured Ria to come over.