Chapter 45 Suspicious

Chapter 45: Chapter 45 Suspicious

10 minutes before...

Ping! Ping! Ting!

The situation inside the throne room had descended into chaos as nearly twenty hunters inside were being pushed back. The King had summoned monsters through his magic, and they were relentlessly attacking the hunters.

At the front line, Otto, Quinn, Benn Strong, and the other tankers stood firm, shielding the group from the continuous attacks. At that moment, none of them were able to use their class skills.

For the tankers, although their defensive abilities were unavailable, they still had their shields and heavy armor. As a result, they were not affected as much.

The same was true for the frontline melee fighters, such as Max, Riana and Aleph, who could still rely on their physical combat abilities.

The three of them led the assault against the Queen, who, besides being a powerful spellcaster, was surprisingly skilled in close-quarters combat.

Meanwhile, almost every other class role had become nearly useless, especially mage-type classes.

"Benn Strong! Can you do your job properly? The monsters keep getting past your side!" Oscar shouted as he and Denis swung their staffs at the incoming monsters that resembled tigers.

"Shut up! Do you think it’s easy to tank without any skills?" Benn Strong shouted back. At that moment, he was bracing both hands against his shield as another monster slammed into him.

At the rear, several hunters were desperately trying to force the massive doors open. However, the doors remained tightly sealed without the slightest sign of moving.

"This situation doesn’t look good, Zane. What’s your plan?" Iris asked as she stood beside her.

Zane remained silent, carefully observing the battlefield. Right now, the Queen appeared to be the stronger of the two, but Max and the others were still managing to hold her back.

The real problem was the King. He continued summoning monsters without end. For now, the hunters were barely keeping the situation under control. But if they couldn’t regain the use of their skills soon, it would become very bad news.

On the other side, Max was leading the assault against the Queen. Although he couldn’t use any of his skills, the stat boosts granted by his class were still in effect.

His movements were agile as he continuously darted in and out, repeatedly poking at the Queen and causing her constant trouble. Aleph and Riana, who were fighting beside him, were amazed by his movements.

’Who is this guy? Is he an S-Rank hunter? Why have I never seen him before?’ Riana wondered.

’I never knew he was this good. What kind of class does he have?’ Lucien thought.

Riana swung her dagger toward the Queen, who used her staff like a weapon and blocked the attack. Aleph immediately seized the opportunity and thrust his rapier forward.

The Queen raised her free hand and cast a burst of flames to intercept the attack, forcing Aleph to leap backward to evade it. At that very moment, Max appeared behind the Queen and unleashed a series of swift strikes that visibly irritating her.

The Queen immediately jumped backward and landed beside the King. Then, the two of them raised their staffs high into the air at the same time. The atmosphere inside the throne room suddenly grew heavier.

A massive magical array appeared between the hunters and the royal pair. From within it, a blazing lion slowly crawled out.

Its mane was made of blazing blue flames, and its pitch-black eyes stared directly at the hunters.

"This isn’t looking good," Otto muttered.

He and the other tankers were already beginning to tire from defending against the endless waves of monsters. Most of the hunters instinctively stepped back as they felt the intense heat radiating from the blazing lion.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling echoed from above. Zane instinctively looked up and saw cracks beginning to spread across the ceiling.

The cracks widened in an instant before the entire section collapsed. Chunks of stone rained down onto the blazing lion. Then, a gigantic frog monster crashed through the roof and slammed into the throne room.

Moments later, everyone saw a group of people falling together on top of the giant frog.

"What?!" Max’s eyes widened in shock as he recognized Lars and Justin among the people who had fallen from above.

"Hey, boss! Are you alright?" Ryuken shouted as he waved toward his group.

Vega jumped down from the giant frog’s body and calmly walked toward them.

"I have so many questions for the two of you," Aleph said, still stunned by what had just happened.

"Lucien?! How did you get here?" Iris and Riana asked at the same time, both surprised by his sudden appearance. Even more surprising was the fact that he had arrived together with Vega, his longtime rival.

"I don’t want to talk about it," Lucien replied as he walked over to join Otto and the other tankers. He had no intention of telling them everything they had gone through.

"Why are there so many hunters here?" Lars muttered as he scanned the throne room. His gaze soon landed on Max, who raised his hand and gestured for him to come over.

Lars and Justin quickly walked over to Max. As they did that, Lars’s eyes briefly glanced at the massive red crystal and the two figures standing a short distance away.

"Lars! What are you doing here?" Max asked immediately.

"Huh? Why do you sound like you’re unhappy that I came?" Lars asked, confused.

"It’s not like that. But this isn’t the right time for you to show up," Max replied. He then looked at Justin, who seemed as though his soul had already left his body.

"What happened to him?"

"Oh... his Mobile Server was destroyed to kill that giant frog monster," Lars explained casually.

"What? Forget about that. The most important thing right now is that I need you to listen carefully. Among the hunters here is the Mazeltov Company." Max lowered his voice.

Lars’s eyes widened the moment he heard the name. Of course he remembered the group that had kidnapped Max before.

"The woman with green hair... she’s their leader. And the two guys you came here with are also members of Mazeltov."

"Ryuken and Vega are part of Mazeltov too?" Lars asked in surprise.

Lars had never expected that the two people he had worked so well with were actually members of Mazeltov. However, after fighting alongside them, he believed they weren’t bad people.

"Alright. That’s one thing. Then who are those two?" Lars asked as he pointed toward the King and Queen.

Max quickly explained everything that had happened since they entered the throne room, including the trap they had fallen into and the strange abilities of the two enemies.

At the same time, Vega, Ryuken, and Lucien were also briefed by their teammates about everything they had experienced.

Lars then tried activating one of his skills. It worked. Vega and the others did the same, and their skills also activated without any problem.

"It seems only you guys can use your skills," Max said.

Lars and Max then joined the group of hunters.

"Lars, it looks like we’re the only ones who can defeat those two," Ryuken said.

"And find a way to undo this trap," Vega continued.

Lars nodded. Then, his gaze slowly wandered across the room before meeting Zane’s eyes. She was staring directly at him. Lars immediately looked away.

"Max! That woman is looking at me!" he whispered.

"I told you not to do that!"

Lars ignored Zane’s gaze and focused on the enemies before him. Suddenly, the pile of rubble beneath the giant frog began to move as the blazing lion slowly emerged from the debris.

It was still alive. The monster glared furiously at Lars and the others before charging straight toward the group of hunters.

Lars immediately lowered his spear and rushed forward. He then activated Impulse Dash. Kinetic Edge, the passive ability of the Impulse Lancer class, increased the damage of Lars’s next attack, whether a basic attack or a skill, every time he used a movement skill.

Because of that, the class was designed to keep him moving constantly throughout the battle.

Vega and Ryuken charged in right behind him. Lucien, however, remained with his own group to protect his leader and the group.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Lars’s attacks were rapid and powerful. Each strike became stronger as he continuously used Impulse Dash to evade the monster’s attacks. Then, Ryuken descended from above and unleashed his signature drill kick.

Thump!

His kick landed directly on the monster’s body, causing it to stagger to one side.

Vega immediately appeared beside it and unleashed Shadow Burst, gravely injuring the monster, which had already suffered critical damage from the collapsing rubble.

After a few minutes, the blazing lion was finally defeated. But Lars and the others didn’t stop. They immediately continued their charge toward the King and Queen.

All the hunters were captivated by the chemistry between the three of them. The ones most shocked, however, were the members of Mazeltov.

’That man... why do his movements seem so familiar?’ Oscar wondered.

He then glanced to his side and saw Justin, who was sitting on a pile of rubble with a lifeless expression. Oscar’s eyes suddenly widened.

"Justin? Are you Justin from the channel Justin Roger n Out?" Oscar asked.

Justin slowly looked up at him.

"I always watch your channel! So if you’re here... does that mean that guy is actually the one you always livestream with?" Oscar asked.