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While in the Underground Passage – 1st Floor beneath the Grayridge Plains, Zane had encountered a Skeleton Warlord like this before. He vaguely remembered that the enemy’s information panel back then had carried the Summoned Creature status.

But this skeleton was clearly different. Not only had its attributes increased dramatically, it also seemed capable of independent thought.

‘Is this what a high-level undead conversion looks like?’ He wondered if players could ever learn a skill like this. If they could, it would easily surpass any hidden class. Just imagine commanding an undead army to overwhelm everything in its path. Nothing could possibly compete with that!

While Zane’s thoughts wandered, the atmosphere on the stage had already grown razor tense.

Windblossom stared at the Skeleton Warlord with a solemn expression. Just moments ago, her Guardbreak Arrow had been effortlessly avoided with nothing more than a slight tilt of its shoulder.

Still, that shot had only been a probing attack to begin with. She slowly retreated one step at a time, drawing her longbow into the shape of a half-moon before releasing a normal attack.

This time it wasn’t a miss. Instead, the enemy swept its spear shaft sideways, batting the arrow clean out of the air.

“…” Windblossom’s lips twitched. ‘Why could every random boss casually knock arrows away? Was the game specifically targeting archers or something?’

After deflecting the attack, the Skeleton Warlord let out a cold snort and charged forward with its spear in hand.

Although its swaying bones looked so fragile that it seemed as though it might collapse into a pile at any moment, its actual speed was even greater than before. Perhaps having nothing but bones left made it lighter.

It seemed this boss had to be fought in melee. She drew the rapier from her waist and slung her bow onto her back.

The entire sequence took only two seconds. Yet those two seconds were more than enough for the enemy to close the gap. The skeleton’s base movement speed was already nearly twice that of an ordinary person.

The spear arrived before its wielder. A point of icy light blossomed within the ranger’s eyes.

‘So fast!’

Compared to swords, spears lacked flexibility. In exchange, however, they excelled at piercing attacks. Not because they possessed any hidden armor-piercing damage. Rather, weapons of this type were notoriously difficult to parry, especially when Windblossom was wielding nothing more than a rapier.

So the best option was to dodge. The instant the attack came, her body reacted instinctively, sliding a short distance to the right.

From this position… She could evade the spear’s thrust perfectly while launching a counterattack. Sure enough, a Miss floated up where she had been standing just a moment later.

Not letting such an opening go to waste, Windblossom swung her sword.

The strike failed to leave even the slightest mark on the bones. It wasn’t enough. Without Armor Break, she simply couldn’t deal meaningful damage anymore.

“…Is… this… all you’ve got?” the skeleton rasped in a dry, hoarse voice. Instead of retracting its spear, it whipped the shaft violently to the left.

Her normal attack animation hadn’t even finished before the crushing blow landed. The tremendous impact hurled her straight into the railing, inflicting a second hit.

Nearly two-fifths of her HP disappeared in an instant. Had the spearhead struck her directly, she would likely have been killed in a single blow.

The overwhelming stat suppression of a level 40 Unique Boss was simply that terrifying. Had she not been equipped with exceptional gear, she wouldn’t even have qualified to exchange blows with it.

“It seems… this is as far as she’ll go,” Scarlet remarked with a hint of regret.

“…” She was right. Unlike the two Unique Bosses Starry had fought, this Skeleton Warlord excelled in close combat. Perhaps it had been designed to be defeated with elemental weakness and magic damage instead.

Could Windblossom use magic? Of course she could. Healing Arrow could even inflict unexpectedly explosive damage against undead creatures. But the moment she used a skill like that, the mission would be considered a failure, and every magibeast below the stage would swarm her at once.

“Where did that skeleton come from?” Zane asked in confusion. “How come I didn’t see it earlier?” He had looked around the entire area before, yet he hadn’t spotted a single Unique monster.

“He… was one of the gate guards.”
“What!?” Even the guards were this powerful?

Thinking back carefully, when they had first entered the city, there really had been two spear-wielding skeleton soldiers standing guard on either side of the gate. Those guys were actually Unique Bosses!???

Seeing the shock on Zane’s face, Scarlet explained, “Not every guard is that powerful. Most of them are only…” She glanced around, seemingly searching for an example. In the end, her gaze settled on Inkseason.

Sensing the strange stare fixed on him, Inkseason hesitated before saying, “If you keep staring at me like that, I’m going to start charging a fee.”

“Mm. About as strong as him.”
“What? Who could possibly be on my level? My handsomeness is one of a kind!”

“…” This guy was beyond saving when it came to narcissism.

“So the guards participate in the arena battles too?”
“Rarely, but it does happen.” Scarlet thought for a moment before continuing, “Perhaps those fellows simply crave battle down to their very bones.”
“Since that brutal vampire elf left, this is the first Unique-tier challenger.”
“I see…” Zane nodded. Two seconds later, realization finally hit him, and he exclaimed excitedly, “Wait, what!? A brutal vampire elf!?”

***

While the Frostcrystal dungeon was packed to the brim with players, Sanctis Ember City, Thousand Crag City, and Dusk City seemed to have coordinated beforehand. Each dispatched an NPC army led by a Legendary-ranked commander toward what had once been Flowerdance City.

Only Wynwater City remained completely still.

The elven and beastman cities also began sending out small expeditionary forces.

Such a massive military movement naturally couldn’t escape the players’ notice. The moment the first player spoke with an NPC, the skies suddenly changed, and a world announcement echoed throughout the game.

The players farming the Frostcrystal dungeon in Wynwater City were completely dumbfounded. The last monster siege had only happened three days ago and they were already launching a counteroffensive today?

“Holy crap, guys, sorry! I’ve got to head back to Sanctis Ember and march out with the NPCs!” the priest shouted before immediately activating a Return Scroll.

He left his five teammates and the boss staring at each other in disbelief.

“You son of a…!!”

The Frostcrystal Giant charged forward with unstoppable momentum and promptly wiped them out.

Incidents like this were far from rare. The impact of the world announcement was simply too great. At least one-third of the player base abandoned their dungeon runs and immediately teleported back to their main cities.

Come on, with every frontline city laying siege together, how could they possibly fail to capture Flowerdance City? In a situation like this, the earlier you arrived, the better. Once the crowd showed up, there wouldn’t even be scraps left to fight over!

Inside the Mysterious Cave, after safely defeating the Undead Boss, Shiu and the others received the same announcement.

He asked in the Adventurer Party chat, “What’s going on?”

“No clue. We’ve been buried in dungeons these past two days and haven’t really paid attention to what’s happening outside,” Nangong replied blankly.

“Why are they suddenly attacking the city? Didn’t the NPC armies get completely crushed by the monsters before?” Endless Sea asked in confusion.

“Who knows what the NPCs are thinking? Maybe it’s another suicide mission, just like Flowerdance City’s assault on the Dark Fortress,” Wanderer analyzed.

“That may be true…” Zaria thought for a moment before adding, “But wasn’t the Shadow Overlord seriously injured last time? Maybe that’s exactly why this is the best chance to reclaim Flowerdance City. Besides, I heard several powerful NPCs have arrived this time.”

“Maybe… but I still think something feels off. Zane, what do you think?” Shiu asked. “Zane? Zane!”

“Stop yelling. He never joined the party chat in the first place,” DumbCitrus reminded him.

“…”