Second World

”How did you stop their Unstoppable Stab?” Regim asked with unease.

”If you want to learn, you can come to our guild and register as a student, but you have to let go of your violent way of life,” Domon replied while storing his axe.

”Old man, from the way you fight. I say you are as violent as any of us,” Regim said and resumed shooting.

Domon never let his guard down. Once he noticed Regimʼs finger started squeezing the trigger, he moved.

Joe followed Regimʼs lead and shot as well. The two of them had separated and positioned themselves opposite each other. At the same time, two hounds appeared and dashed at Domon. Both Regim and Joe used to be Archers, so they have the Tame Pet skill.

These hounds were their choice of pets which they bought from the league faction they joined. These soldiers felt more comfortable with these hounds compared to the other fantastical beasts they could tame for their pets. Their peculiarity was also what prevented them from using these summons right from the start. They felt these pets were a bit unrealistic. But with their current situation, they needed every edge they have.

Dodging attacks from two opposite directions was much harder, added with the houndsʼ harassments, any other opponents would have been pressed into desperation. But with Domonʼs perfect grasp of mana sense, he could detect any movements even when he did not see them directly. The unnatural density of mana in this world further enhanced this ability. Domon used his glaive to parry the bullets that came from the front while evading the bullets that came from behind, all the while his legs sent out shadows that kicked the hounds away.

”Shadowless kicks?” Regim muttered when he saw Domonʼs kicks.

Domon was advancing to Joe who he thought was the weaker of the two.

Regim and Joe both used Rapid Shot, Gunnerʼs level 35 skill. There was no machine gun weapon, but this rapid shot skill allowed a brief imitation of the weapon. At the first level, the skill shot two bullets in rapid successions, like a double-tap.

Every five levels increased added another bullet to the skill. When Regim and Joe used the skill, Regim shot out four bullets while Joe shot three, indicating Regimʼs skill level was higher.

The shot was too fast that Domon failed to dodge all the bullets, he parried some but three of the combined bullets cleanly hit his body. He had been receiving small damages from all the parry before this, with these additional clean hits, his HP dropped further. Luckily, a Weapon Master had high HP and decent defense, Domon still had more than half his life.

Once the skill ended, Domon took advantage of the brief pause when his opponentsʼ skill ended to use Charge at Joe, leaving the hounds behind. The guy was startled by Domonʼs aggressiveness but not flustered. He used Roll to move away. Domon followed closely while dodging and parrying Regimʼs shots.

Joe, seeing Domon was still hot on his heels after his roll, slightly panicked after another of his shot missed. His shotgunʼs rate of fire was slow, so he threw a grenade, Gunnerʼs level 45 skill. He realized his mistake once the grenade was out, Domon was too close when he did the reflexive threw. A grenade could be mentally detonated by its thrower or after three seconds had passed.

Joe couldnʼt detonate the grenade since Domon was too close to him, the blast hit all within an area of a three-meter radius. He tried to move away as best as he could before detonating the grenade. Yet, before that happened, he saw his grenade fly away in another direction. Domon had used his glaive to bat the grenade away, at the two hounds who were coming from the back.

The grenade exploded and blasted the hounds away.

Domon caught up to Joe, who made another shot with one hand while his other hand took out a dagger and stabbed. Domon tapped Joeʼs shotgun before it fired, making the shot go off course before ducking away from Joeʼs stab.

The maneuver brought their bodies close to each other. They were practically touching, with Domonʼs left hand on Joeʼs belly. Joe heard the old manʼs whisper, ”Penetrating wave palm,” before he suddenly felt as if a bomb had detonated inside his stomach.

He doubled over as he watched his HP bar going down. He could still feel his innards shaking inside. What the hell did this old man just do? He was still wondering when Domonʼs glaive came down upon his neck. Then his vision went black.

Regim watched another of his comrades fall. He made a quick decision and sent a message to his team here, ”Retreat!”

The others looked over with surprise when they received the message. They were even more shocked when they saw four bodies of their comrades on the ground.

Bowler had come to the othersʼ aid, but he didnʼt help much. He managed to keep the others alive though with his healing spells. With many of Jackal Crewsʼ players going to fight Domon, their already small number reduced further, allowing the surviving players here to cope against these skilled opponents.

Regim had made the right choice, if he insisted on continuing, they will be the ones that got routed. He and his comrades retreated orderly. With the backline free from harassment, Everlasting Heavenly Legendsʼ players could resume their tactical withdrawal.

Once Regim and his people left, Bowler asked Domon the same question Regim had asked, ”How did you stop their unstoppable stabs?” Although Bowler was healing the others some distance away, he also observed Domonʼs fight. He knew about this Assassinʼs skill, it was indeed supposed to be unstoppable.

”Remember what I thought you people about mana manipulation?” Domon asked back.

”You use that technique?”

Domon nodded. ”I can sense those attacked couldnʼt be blocked by normal means. But if I disrupt the mana surrounding their attacks. I can cancel those attacks.”

”So cool…” Bowler uttered. ”You have to teach us that technique!”

”If you cannot yet master mana sensing, forget about learning mana manipulation!” Domon chided.

*

At the other chokepoint spots, what happened were roughly the same. With the experts from core members coming to aid, Everlasting Heavenly Legendsʼ members could resume withdrawing. For the ones that were not so skillful, Jeanny sent more reinforcements, at least nine in number. This was so that they could utilize Nine Stars Formation in case they met powerful opponents.

Some spots still suffer many casualties during retreating, Jeanny tried to organize as best as she could.

However, with the withdrawals, some gaps occurred in the defense. A portion of the coalition army, both players and natives, took advantage of these gaps and punched through. They rushed over to the wall gate. Intent on being the first to break through the gate and infiltrate Heavenly Citadel.

When the wall gate came into view. They saw a single armored man with a savage visage standing in their way.

ʼOnly one man? How brazen!ʼ The heated invaders thought. ”Trample through him!” One of them even shouted.

The lone man lifted his two-handed club and slammed it onto the ground when the coalition troops were almost upon him. The slam resulted in a shockwave that lifted everyone into the air. The man then rushed in and hit one by one those who were still helpless and unbalanced. Each of the manʼs blows resulted in huge damage. Some who were unlucky enough to suffer critical hits were even getting killed outright.

The savage man then swung his club as he continued to advance, creating a powerful whirlwind. Those that just got to their feet were swept off the ground again. The savage man continued batting everyone unhindered.

Those at the back saw many bodies getting tossed away from the front line, some already had zero HP when their bodies were still in the air.

Everyone was shocked by the display. They hurriedly used Inspect to find out about this man. The man was a native, naturally. No player was that powerful, yet. The man was a level 50 Rare Elite hero with the name of Uruk. This news was soon transmitted to the coalition leaders.

”What the shit! How did they manage to recruit a hero? A level 50 rare elite nonetheless!” Queen Magenta uttered. She had parted with Nova. Nova continued leading her members in advancing while Queen Magenta came to where the other coalition leaders were gathering. The place where Manager Steelhand was using the platform to control his native troops.

”Any of you have gotten a hero yet?” Scarface asked those that had got their Guild Headquarters. They all shook their head.

After their guild reached level 3, they could also build Heroʼs Altar. However, they were confused as to how to use that structure. After further research in the library, they finally learned the way to recruit a hero and its benefit. Yet, none had managed to do so. No one had yet to get their hands on a hero token. Those that owned a companion, was not willing to let go.

The last method should be the most feasible, by capturing a boss. But finding another bandit outpost or gang hideout was already rare, not to mention they had to destroy the core without killing the boss, before then challenging the boss in single combat. No one was willing to waste their one hero slot for a weakling boss. But capturing a boss too strong, they still wonʼt be able to recruit it.

Thatʼs why they were very surprised when they heard Everlasting Heavenly Legends having a level 50 rare elite hero. Who the heck could go on single combat with that kind of boss.

When they were still having the thought, they concurrently thought of one person. But they then shook their heads. Even he couldnʼt be able to win against a level 50 rare elite, could he? If he could… Everyone took a gulp.

Of course, they were not privy to the knowledge that a hero after being recruited, could be boosted five levels using mana cores. Uruk was actually subdued when he was level 45, around their top playerʼs level. Even so, none of their experts could still contend against a rare elite of the same level.

They wondered how the guy in their mind was faring at Saint Edgeʼs headquarters.

They suddenly took pity on Saint Edge.

😉