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“My god…” Endless Sea rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the horizon was still filled with monsters. “It’s just a Goblin camp! Why on earth would they send this many troops!?”

Shiu’s expression darkened. “I think… I might know why.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look.” Shiu shared his map with the party. “The Dark Faction occupies the northern part of the continent, while we’re on the southern side. For them to move south, they’d have to march straight through the Valley of Luminara. And here—”

Shiu pointed at Silverglow City, located just below the Crimson Plains. “If they want to attack the Elves’ city, the Crimson Plains is their only path.”

Wanderer’s face turned pale. “So you’re saying… we’ve just intercepted the army meant to invade Silverglow City?”

“…”

No one could find the words to speak.

“We haven’t even started fighting yet, so let’s not panic. Worst case, we just run later.” Zaria tried to rally everyone’s spirits.

“She’s right,” Nangong agreed. “We haven’t tried yet… who knows, maybe the enemies aren’t that strong?”

Just as Nangong was about to continue, Starry spoke up in a low voice. “They’re here!”

A horde of Ghouls surged toward them like a tidal wave! Starry gripped the Autumn Moon Sword and dashed forward. Her blade gleamed as she unleashed Icy Moon Slash!

The surge of frost power instantly encased the Ghouls in ice, before shattering into glittering shards. The damage far exceeded the target’s remaining HP.

DumbCitrus plucked the strings of her harp, stacking Battle Hymn and Inspiring Chant buffs on the party.

Everyone else quickly followed up. Endless Sea thrust his knight’s spear through the monster horde, each strike bursting with damage numbers over 600+. The weapon was a bit slow, but the attack power made up for it.

The frontline fighters rushed in. Snowy, armed with the best gear, tanked the monsters’ siege head-on, while Zaria and Wanderer flanked her, delivering heavy follow-up attacks. With focused fire, they could drop a Ghoul in just a few seconds.

But in terms of DPS… Shiu still came out on top. His Pyrestorm and Thundercloud spells rained destruction almost nonstop, as if they didn’t even consume MP. His total damage even surpassed Starry’s by a small margin.

There was nothing Starry could do about that. Her only two AoE skills both had long cooldowns. Despite her high attack power, it simply couldn’t keep up with the absurd number of Ghouls. The value of each cast was massive, but the downtime hurt.

Zane felt a twinge of annoyance. As someone with a hidden class, he still had to save some face, didn’t he?

Starry summoned Starmew from her Pet Space. Together, they dove deep into the horde. Frost Breath, Frenzied Blade, Blade Dance, each were unleashed in turn. With lifesteal and strong physical defense, they handled the crowd just fine, cutting through enemies even faster.

Her DPS soon overtook Shiu’s.

Yoyo hid behind Endless Sea, while Lordsey and Electrobunny guarded her flanks. Both Epic-grade pets packed serious firepower, and Electrobunny even had an AoE Lightning Strike that wiped out clusters of enemies.

The battlefield split into three zones. Starry and Starmew held one section on their own. Endless Sea, Yoyo, Dukeette, and DumbCitrus secured the second. Snowy, Zaria, Seraphine, Nangong, Wanderer, and Shiu covered the third.

No matter how many they killed, the Ghouls just kept pouring in without end. It made sense, if Shiu’s theory was right, this was an army prepared for siege warfare! With this few players, how long could they possibly hold out?

And it wasn’t just Ghouls. Stronger monsters were stuck behind them, unable to advance because of the sheer number blocking the way. Even so, though the Ghouls were only Level 22 Epic-grade enemies, their kill rate was staggering. The party’s experience bars climbed visibly every second.

**Shing!**

Starry leveled up to 27! She immediately equipped her new Military Dress Cap, giving all her stats a major boost.

With over 5,000 HP, she shouldn’t be easily one-shotted anymore. The endless slaughter still went on. Several Epic-grade items were scattered all over the ground, but there was no way to pick them up amid the chaos.

About half an hour passed. Their potion supplies were nearly depleted, and the Ghouls had been almost wiped out. Everyone had gained one or two levels from the relentless fighting.

As the last of the Ghouls fell, a new wave of enemies appeared. Skeletons, each wielding a rusted sword. Zane had met these creatures before on the first floor of the Underground Passage. He quickly pulled up their stats.

A Level 25 Epic monster? The attributes looked similar to before, but its stats had risen drastically, and it now had an additional skill, Triple Strike.

“Careful! That Triple Strike could one-shot someone!” Starry shouted urgently.

Snowy was the first to clash with them. Two Skeleton Warriors raised their iron swords high, gathering energy for a Heavy Slash! But Snowy remained calm. She drove her elbow squarely into the chest of the Skeleton on the right, sending it staggering backward, its Heavy Slash was interrupted on the spot!

Meanwhile, Wanderer commanded his Lava Spider to hurl a web, binding the Skeleton on the left in place. However, between the gap of the two Skeletons, a rusted sword suddenly lunged forward, its movements blindingly fast.

Over 300 HP vanished in an instant.¹ And that wasn’t all, more attacks slipped through the cracks. Shiu accidentally took a full combo hit and was almost one-shotted!

“Clear the center first! Group up!” Endless Sea shouted.

“Got it!” Shiu nodded, launching his area attack between the two groups before pulling up his inventory, then his face went pale. “Damn… I’m out of potions.”

“Here, take mine.” Snowy tossed over every mana potion she had. As a Pugilist, her MP regenerated naturally fast enough that she could manage without them for a while.

After taking them, Shiu immediately resumed his barrage of spells.

“At this rate, we’re in trouble. My mana potions are almost gone too,” Seraphine said worriedly.

“Same here,” Dukeette added.

“This… should we fall back? The Skeleton Warriors hit way harder than the Ghouls. If we stay, our potion drain will be insane,” Nangong said hesitantly.

“You guys go first,” Starry said quietly. Starmew didn’t have any way to recover its HP through battle, so when its health dropped too low, she recalled it to her Pet Space. For now, she could only rely on her own battle instincts to keep the enemies at bay.

With over 400 physical defense, the Skeleton Warriors’ attacks barely scratched her, but what worried her most was the durability loss on her gear.

Seeing the serious look on her face, Endless Sea didn’t argue. After all, her HP hadn’t dipped even once since the start. “Alright, we’ll head back to restock. If you can’t hold, fall back immediately!”

“I know,” she nodded firmly. For now, she was holding just fine. But if enemies with magic attacks appeared, or ones capable of breaking through her defense, then this method of grinding would no longer be safe.

In Dreamscape, dealing enough damage to a target could induce a brief flinch effect, halting their actions for a moment. However, if multiple armor-breaking monsters hit her consecutively, she might get locked down entirely, like lagging in slow motion, her movements stuttering and delayed.

Still, as long as she could keep these enemies occupied, then once other cities repelled their invasions, this horde might retreat as well. That was her hope.

***

* **Silverglow City**

The Elves stood in strict formation, their defenses fully deployed. Upon hearing that the Shadow Overlord’s army was approaching, they had scrambled to make preparations. Yet…

“Why aren’t they here yet?” one player grumbled impatiently. After all, the other regions were already engaged in fierce battles by now!