A couple more casual players entered this map less than an hour later. The ruins of Alexander the Great’s empire stretched across the entire map, so anyone from the north who wished to travel south and vice versa must pass through this canyon no matter what. I could already foresee the great conflict that was sure to occur at this place.

Crack!

I chopped off an undead soldier’s head and picked up the card it dropped. It was one that increased Strength by 30%, or 18% or so Attack in more practical terms. After all, Strength wasn’t factored into a weapon’s Attack boost. That being said it was still incredibly powerful, especially considering the fighter classes could learn Ultimate Strength Break after they got their eight promotion. A 30% increase in Strength would make it even deadlier than it already was.

However, the card had a Level Requirement of 225, and even I was only Level 220, not to mention that I didn’t have Ultimate Strength Break. I tossed it into my bag and planned to sell them after Sky City reopened. Buying that BMW for Beiming Xue had made me almost as poor as a beggar, so I could definitely use the extra cash.

I looked up. There was a huge, decrepit structure 200 yards in front of me that looked a bit like the Colosseum of Ancient Rome, and at the center of it sat a mighty-looking general from a much older time. He wore metal armor and wielded a heavy-looking sword, and floating above his head was the image of a scroll. This meant that the Ancient Divine Skill Scroll could only be obtained if the boss was killed. I had thought that an SS Rank skill scroll would be harder to obtain than an S Rank one, and it looked like my prediction was spot-on.

……

The number of players on this map had grown before I realized it. I counted over 20 players inside this canyon alone. Not including me, there were 4 Cyan Earth City players, 5 Elephant City players, 5 Purple Grape City players, 3 Hero City players, and 4 Chaotic 27 players. Currently, everyone was making their way toward the boss from different directions. They were also just one step away from the boss now.

Cyan Earth City and Elephant City’s players naturally met up and formed a group of 9. Their tactical commander was a woman and the vice leader of Nation Guardian, Moe God. She was also a Level 212 ice knight, which was the same class as Red Maple’s right-hand woman, Cyan Frost. However, Moe God’s skill was far, far shittier than Cyan Frost’s, and she was dead real early during the previous Nation War. In fact, I think it was Du Thirteen and Yamete who took her out.

The monsters died one by one under the players’ cooperation. Eventually, the only one left was the undead general at the center of the colosseum-like structure. All 20+ players stood together in one group, but I didn’t join them. Everyone here was part of that massive invasion that almost defeated Sky City—which made them my sworn enemies—and I was but a single Chinese player. There was every chance they would gang up on me instantly if I showed my face.

……

I glanced at the boss and, to my surprise, I could actually read his stats. It was still horrifyingly powerful though—

Thunderblade the General of Fate (Ancient Immortal Rank Boss)

Level: 280

Attack: 41200~55000

Defense: 44000

HP: 70000000

Skills: Thunder Crack Slash, Ultimate Strength Break, Warblade Revolution, Earth-shattering Storm

Introduction: Thunderblade is an undead war god and the culmination of all the warrior souls of the empire. They had defended the ruins of the empire for tens of thousands of years and killed countless thieves and adventurers who sought to steal the empire’s treasure. Over time, all the slaughter transformed Thunderblade the General of Fate into a violent god of death.

……

To say that I was stunned would be an understatement. It was 60 levels above me with an upper Attack of 55k. If I factored in the natural advantages and level penalties, then its effective Attack was at least five times higher than what its stats reflected, or 270k. My 100k+ Defense was definitely not good enough to withstand its attacks. And don’t even get me started on obvious killer moves such as Ultimate Strength Break and Warblade Revolution. This was going to be "fun”...

I didn’t try to fight the boss even though I was among the first to have reached it. For starters, I didn’t see any terrain that I could use to dodge a skill or block the boss. Two, there was no chance in hell even I could beat this super boss solo. To put into perspective just how strong it was, assuming that my guild’s elites bum-rushed it with zero tactic whatsoever, it would probably kill a couple hundred thousand of us before we finally defeated it...

So yeah, it wasn’t an option. I pursed my lips, remained hidden underground and waited for the situation to unfold.

……

On the ground, Moe God waved her spear in greeting at Purple Grape City’s Shogunate, who was standing a good distance away from her as a matter of course. "Hello, Shogunate. I am the vice leader of Nation Guardian and a player of Cyan Earth City, Moe God. We’ve fought side by side during the Nation War. You remember me, don’t you?"

Shogunate smiled politely as he replied, "Of course!"

He shot the slumbering boss at the center of the colosseum before cracking a joke. "This boss is quite something, ain’t it? How about you engage it first while we cheer for you from the back? Haha…"

Moe God pouted cutely and said, "Aiyo, stop teasing us already, Brother Shogunate. This boss is ridiculously powerful, and there’s only a couple of us. We would’ve fought it already if it was that easy. Why don’t we work together? It’s our only hope to kill it. I’m sure you noticed that the Ancient Divine Skill Scroll is on the boss. Don’t you want to become the second person to enter the Heavenly River Realm?"

Shogunate shrugged. "No seriously, your levels are super high. I don’t see how we can help you at all."

"Nonsense…" Moe God stuck out her tongue. "Haven’t you noticed our party composition? We have range, we have melee, but we don’t have a single priest with us. You, though, have exactly what we need. So again, why don’t we work together? It certainly makes the boss fight a lot more doable…"

Shogunate smiled. It was obvious that Moe God really wanted the Level 211 male priest—the only support out of everyone present, by the way—in his group only, but she wasn’t stupid enough to not extend the offer to his entire party. It was true that their chances of beating the boss were better if they had a priest in their party, even though I personally thought that it was still a low chance.

"So? Have you decided, Brother Shogunate?" Moe God said while swaying her butt.

In the end, Shogunate nodded. "Alright. The boss is of the metal armor type, so I doubt a melee player will be able to penetrate its Defense. Therefore, I’ll be the main damage dealer, and your group, the aggro holders. Use Barrier Break as often as you are able, it is one of the best at drawing aggro. Our priest will do our best to keep you all healthy. Also, everyone should change their attack mode from Nation War to Ally now!"

……

It wasn’t long before Cyan Earth City, Elephant City and Purple Grape City joined into a 14-man group. Then, something unexpected happened. After Moe God and Shogunate whispered a little something to each other, three of their magic knights abruptly tossed their Trapping Nets at the three Hero City players, catching them completely by surprise and immobilizing them.

"Kill!"

Moe God dropped her moe act and dished out a merciless Barrier Break + Triple Slash combo at a Hero City mage, killing him instantly. On the other side, Shogunate dropped Touch of the Dragonkiss + God Devil Break on a different player and killed them as well.

All three Hero City players were killed before they could even blink. I couldn’t help but sigh at their utter lack of caution. The world was a treacherous place, and these USA kids obviously had no idea how dark the world was beyond their borders.

Shocked but not stunned, the four Chaotic 27 players immediately backed away from the Indian and Japanese players. A magic knight growled out while backing away, "Watch out! The Indians and Japanese have joined forces! Back out of their attack range now! We’ll get them when the boss is about to die!"

Shogunate sneered, "Hmph. At least these ones aren’t complete fools. I wonder if they were serious when they said they wanted to KS our boss though. With their equipment? Hah!"

He was right. The Chaotic 27 players were leveling maniacs, but the best equipment I spotted on their person was A5 at best. It was utterly incomparable to the Immortal-grade equipment Moe God and Shogunate were wearing. In a fight, Shogunate could probably kill all of them alone.

……

"Should we start now?" Moe God looked at Shogunate and asked.

"Yeah. Go for it!"

Moe God raised her hand, and gathered the energy of Trapping Net on her palm. Her idea to use a ranged skill to dispel the boss's standby state was a good one. It reduced the chance of her getting one-shot by some bullshit spell or something.

"Cast Health Recovery on Moe God, priest!" Shogunate ordered.

"Got it…"

The male priest raised his scepter and cast the spell on Moe God as commanded. It was a spell that healed a certain percentage per second; basically a must-have spell for any priest.

Right after he cast the spell, I leaped out of my hiding spot, twisted my wrist and tossed my sword at him with one mighty swing. One moment there was a draconic roar, and the next a spinning vortex had torn a giant hole in the priest’s chest and dealt 400k+ damage to him. He never stood a chance.

Pop!

While the male priest dropped to his knees, I caught the returning blade and slipped back into the underground once more. I acted so fast that no one had a chance to react until it was already over.

……

"W… what the fuck just happened?" Shogunate felt like he was dreaming.

Moe God checked the combat logs before exclaiming in anger, "Fuck! It was Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand! The ambusher is Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand! Why is he even here? What should we do?"

Shogunate clenched his teeth. "We’re still going to fight the boss, but have your archer keep Clear As Flame on at all times and be ready to break the bastard’s stealth. Dammit!"

Moe God nodded, and the Nation Guardian archer activated Clear As Flame as Shogunate suggested. Now I had to play it safe. No matter how powerful I was, Shock Arrow + Trapping Net was a combo no one wanted to face if possible.

……

The group waited instead of engaging the boss immediately. A short while later, another seven Cyan Earth City players and Purple Grape City casual players reached the area. Although they belonged to different guilds, they had joined Moe God’s and Shogunate’s groups without hesitation. Now, their party was 21 men strong. As mentioned before, no party could be formed in the Ruins of the Gods, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t unite their strength.

"There should be enough of us now. Begin!" Shogunate uttered through clenched teeth.

Moe God nodded and tossed the Trapping Net she had been withholding all this time. The net hit the boss's head and resulted in a huge MISS. At the same time, Thunderblade awoke from his slumber, opened his blood-red eyes, and grasped his vicious-looking blade. He rose to his feet and let out a furious roar. "Are you ants still vying for the great emperor’s secret scroll? Come! I, Thunderblade, shall end your avaricious lives!"

His steel boots shattered the rotten bricks beneath his feet as he ran. The very first attack he used on Moe God was Ultimate Strength Break!

Bang!

568120!

Moe God’s HP dropped to 15% immediately. The boss had almost one-shot her! She exclaimed in shock and disbelief, "What the hell is this boss!? I’m using a 70% HP increase card!"