...…

Shin rushed towards the location where the deafening roar came from, afraid that the monster would die before he could even arrive. And when he finally reached his destination, what he saw was a huge Gorilla Monster that was battling with a group of players; or to be more precise, battling with two groups of players.

At first, Shin ignored the groups and used his 'True Sight' skill to look at the basic details of the monster. After all, it was an obvious Monster Boss that could undoubtedly give him a lot of experience points.

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Monster Name: Blue Demon Kong

Life Rating: Special Overlord

Level: 155

HP: 10,023,412 / 60,000,000

Attack Damage: 30,551

Physical Defense: 15,551

Magic Resist: 20,661

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Whistle~♪

Shin couldn't help but whistle when he saw the basic details of the monster. One look at it was more than enough to inform him that it was not a normal monster boss of this place; especially that this monster was not listed at the information displayed on the online forums.

After that, he turned his attention at the two groups that were fighting against the Demon Kong while also battling with each other.

The first group was composed of 50 players with different classes. And from the looks of it, they were from this same force since Shin was able to see that they were quite a coordinated group that usually could only find in some guild forces or an organized adventurer team.

The other group, on the other hand, was short in numbers. But Shin could tell that the battle prowess of each of them were quite high. In fact, they were able to hold themselves against the former group despite having a few numbers of members.

They only had 7 members in total. But even if that was the case, the opposing group was having a hard time taking them down. Actually, the ones that were in disadvantage were the guys of the opposing group.

"Oh~! This is a rather interesting show. But unfortunately, I don't have enough time to enjoy the drama between them. I need to steal the last hit of the boss since I am quite in a hurry," muttered Shin as he tried to get near the ongoing battle.

As Shin got nearer at the battlefield, he could finally see the faces of members of each group. And to much of his surprise, some of them were quite familiar to him.

"Well, well, talking about the timing. I originally didn't want to be a busybody and mind my own business, but it looks like I need to lend them a little helping hand," mumbled Shin as he sneaked a little nearer on them so that he could hear the little drama that the two groups had.

...…

"You god d*mn b*st*rd! I will make sure that you are going to pay for this betrayal, Bover!" shouted by the Human Guardian of the group with a lesser number of members.

"Hahaha… Are you threatening me now, Mason? Do you still understand your current predicament and my current standing? I am currently a leader of this Squad from Minotaur Guild." sneered by the WolfKin Master Berserker of the opposing side.

From the looks of it, he was the leader of the group and the man called 'Bover' that the Human Guardian was talking about.

The Human Guardian became agitated when he heard those words. He was planning to leave the formation of his team and disregard anything just to slam his shield at Bover's face.

But before he was able to do it, he was immediately stopped by the Shield Warrior beside him. "Stay on your post, Mason. That guy is just provoking you on purpose so that our formation will collapse."

Then he immediately stopped talking to push the opposing playing in front of him. Then he quickly raised his huge shield over his head to block the magic arrows that were raining down at him.

After that, he swiftly slammed his shield in the ground in front of him to create a large energy dome that surrounded him and his other 3 teammates near him.

When he was sure that his energy dome was enough to them some time, he turned his head at Mason and said. "For now, we need to do our best to hold our grounds until Nicole, Allan and Faye can kill the monster boss."

Then he trailed his words to look at the Female Human Spirit Dancer behind him before continuing. "Or until Camille was done recovering her MP to summon her Spirit Snake."

Mason clicked his tongue when he heard that and replied. "Tch! Of course, I am aware of that. You don't have to remind me about it, Hodgson. I just can't take this b*st*rd's face after what he has done to us after everything that we endure so far."

The Human Shield Warrior named Hodgson, shook his head the moment he heard that and said. "Don't worry about that. You are not the only one that wants to smash his head. Let's just focus on our priority for now, before teaching him a lesson later."

His energy dome lasted for a few more seconds before it finally shattered due to the attacks of their opponents. And when that happened, he and Mason, together with the Female Dark Elf Master Archer beside Camille, resumed repelling their opponents.

Shin continued to watch as the battle lasted for a few more minutes before the favor of the battle turned to the people of the Minotaur Guild. And from the looks of it, Shin could tell that the other side was not able to buy more time anymore for the thing that they were waiting for.

He released a helpless sigh before muttering. "I guess those guys are waiting for that summoner girl to call out that Big Snake from that skill, but from the looks of it, they are not able to delay their opponents anymore."

After that, he stood up and walked out from his hiding spot while mumbling. "Looks like it is time to pay up some unpaid debt."

He paused for a moment to purse his lips before adding. "Though, it is not actually a debt since I bartered those skills with some skills with 'the same' value. I just feel a little guilty for getting such overpowered skills in exchange for some skills that are not actually powerful aside from that spirit summoning skill."

...…

At the same time, Mason and Hodgson were starting to feel the pressure from the opposing side and made them unable to completely hold their line anymore.

"Camille! Are you still not done hastening the cooldown of your Summoning skill? We are not able to hold it anymore!" yelled Mason as he used his final 'Shield Wall' to hold the front.

And the reply was immediately given to him by Camille. "I still need two more minutes before I can use the 'Rakkan's Recall'."

Hearing that, Hodgson shook his head and said to them. "I guess that was it. We already did our best but I think this is it, we should give up on this boss now."

He trailed his words a little as the look at his face suddenly became determined and said. "Mason, go with Camille and Danielle and get out of this place together with the other three. I will cover your retreat with my sacrificing skill."

"No, Big Brother! You are going to be in a weakened state for a week if you do that! You need to maintain your grinding speed to prepare for the Shadow Ranking Cup," said by Danielle when she heard that.

"D*mn! If only we are not weakened by that b*st*rd's double curse scroll, then killing these guys are just a piece of cake," said Mason with a tone that was full of frustration.

"Enough with the chit-chat and start moving. This is just a game, stop acting as if I am going to die for real. Start moving now before these guys go all-out!" yelled Hodgson seeing that they were still not willing to escape.

And after saying those words, he immediately slammed the bottom of his shield on the ground in a very powerful manner and summoned a great wall that was completely blocking the path of their opponents. For each second that passed, it was noticeable that the HP Bar of Hodgson was decreasing with a great speed.

'Special Skill (Tier 2): Sacrificial Wall of Courage'

"Now, go!" shouted my Hodgson as their opponents couldn't breach the 'Great Wall' in front of them.

The other three gritted their teeth and braced themselves for leaving the Shield Warrior. At the same time, Mason looked at the three players that were busy dealing with the 'Blue Demon Kong' and shouted. "Nicole, Allan, Faye! Forget about the boss now, we are retreating!"

And without further ado, the three immediately disengaged with their battle the moment they heard the order of retreat.

The entire event was too fast for the other side to respond. Camille and the others moved almost instantly the moment they were done at bracing themselves.

Unfortunately, a huge dome of dark energy suddenly enclosed the whole area before they could even get away from the battle.

Camille and the others immediately halted their tracks the moment they saw that. The expression on their faces suddenly turned ugly as they knew that they were trapped in this place now.

At the same time, the 'Blue Demon Kong' was suddenly locked inside an energy pyramid made with the same dark elemental mana.

They simultaneously turned their heads at the opposing side and saw Bover laughing hard at them. "Hahaha… Do you honestly believe that I am not aware of your hidden cards? Do you take me for a fool? Of course, I am not that naïve to not have a hidden card of my own."

After that, he started walking forward while continuing. "And right now, it is time to end all of this."

Then he raised his greatsword in the air while focusing a bunch of blood-colored mana in it. And when the accumulation of mana reached its peak, he suddenly swung the greatsword downwards in a powerful manner, while saying. "First, let's break this wall that you're so proud of!"

Swoosh!

But before he was able to completely swing his greatsword downwards, he suddenly felt an intense threat coming from the right side of his group.

Feeling that, he quickly changed the trajectory of his sword swing and threw it towards the incoming threat. And with that, a blood-colored sword was released from his attack and flew straight to whatever was coming from that side.

Boom!

A loud explosion was created when the blood-colored Sword Wave collided with another sword wave in silver color that came from the other side. And together with that, a cloud of smoke and dust was formed in the spot of collision when the explosion was created.

Everyone that was present in the place suddenly stopped their tracks due to the unexpected devolvement. They all turned their heads at the cloud of dust and smoke to see what just happened.

A moment later, they saw a silhouette of a person walking inside that cloud accompanied with a confident voice that was saying in sarcastic tone. "Not bad blocking that surprise attack. I guess you have some skills under you sleeve despite being a backstabbing coward."

When those words were completed by that voice, a hooded person was already revealed in the eyes of everyone as he completely walked out of the cloud of smoke and dust.

Then he raised his head a little to take a good look at the faces of players from the Minotaur Guild while saying. "Unfortunately, I am quite in a hurry so I don't have much time to waste for you. How about you leave now and I will spare your lives."

The moment those words left his mouth, the opposing side suddenly felt an intense chill that ran through their backs as they could tell that this guy was not joking with them.

...…