Infinite Realm

"He's coming."

Sato's voice alerted the others as they all took their positions and heightened their senses.

Lu Zhen didn't bring any shame to his class and title as an assassin, as not only was he able to draw the BOSS' aggro towards himself but he also managed to lead it thus far without incurring any injuries. Since the Kobold King was judged to be a monster above level 10, for a level 9 [Assassin] to have survived its pursuit for this long was really praise worthy.

However, no matter what, Lu Zhen wouldn't last much long against it as the monster was already catching up to him. One could say that it was only due to the initial gap between them as well as Lu Zhen's quick response to its glare, that kept him alive. Otherwise, the Kobold King would have caught up with him earlier on.

Seeing Lu Zhen about to get caught in a perilous situation, Sato charged towards the Kobold King with his sword held high. Among the players in his team, he was the only one capable of going toe-to-toe with the Kobold King. Their MT, Katsuo, was weaker so it would be suicide sending him forward.

The Kobold King seemed to have not noticed Sato and the others as its green eyes were dead set on seeing Lu Zhen dead. In its arm was a green short spear that had appeared out of nowhere that was made for long distance battles.

"Ha!"

Just as the Kobold King was about to toss the short spear in its arm at Lu Zhen, a roar sounded from in front and broke its focus. Before the Kobold King could even retaliate in kind, a silver flash appeared in front of it together with a dangerous sensation.

Reflexively, the Kobold King swiped the short spear before it in a bid to force the opponent back.

*Clang*

An abrupt sound echoed from the spot as the Kobold King's arm shook a bit.

"Hmph."

Sato, who had appeared on the other side at an unknown period, grunted as he barely held his stance with his sword-wielding arm trembling from the short clash. At the same time, a look of astonishment appeared in Sato's eyes.

From that collision, Sato had discover that not only was the Kobold King's [Strength] not weaker than his even one bit, but it actually higher than his by a slight but sufficient difference. Sato realised this from the collision just now. While his attack was a full on charge, the Kobold King's defence was hastily set up but it was still able to repel his strike and almost made him eat a loss.

'This will be a tough one.' Sato narrowed his eyes.

It would be a lie to say that Sato didn't feel a bit complacent after becoming level 15. He was currently the strongest player by level alone and was 4 levels ahead of the next highest rated player. Such achievements made him destined to rise to the peak of he kept it up. Having a bit of self-contentment as well as pride in his attainment was normal. Even when the idea of taking on the Kobold King was brought up, Sato believed that it wouldn't be a match for him after all, the initial speculation of its strength was level 10. Even if it was a level 10 King, it would still be no match against a level 15 player. Letting the others join him was to let them bask in the honour of slaying a world class BOSS as well as distributing the rewards between themselves, otherwise, Sato would have long left the Hall and chased after the Kobold King till it was dead.

Now that he was facing it or better yet, now that Sato had exchanged a blow with the monster, he couldn't help but change his previous thoughts about it. Everyone had made a mistake and the same went with Xue Yan's previous estimations. The Kobold King wasn't simply a level 10 or above monster; it was at least level 15 Special Elite or above. Added with the fact that it was meant to be a world class BOSS, its fighting prowess would definitely not be ordinary.

Against such a monster, if Sato were to lose the slightest bit of concentration the tempo of the battle would flee his hands and even he would possibly die.

"Formation!"

With a bellow, Sato called for the others as he realised that taking this monster lightly might cost them this battle, and that wasn't something they could risk.

The Kobold King was without a doubt, going to be the strongest opponent the team had ever faced. If they were to take it on without proper preparations and strategies, the battle would surely be a loss. There was also the fact that the other kobolds would soon head over here and Sato had no faith in being able to defeat the Kobold King before they arrived. Hence, a formation was devised for the team'victory.

The formation Sato adopted for the battle was as thus; all long-range attackers alongside himself would duke it out with the Kobold king. As for the close range combatants, they would take on the kobolds. To be specific, Sato, who would serve as both an MT and a damage dealer in the battle against the Kobold King. Fudo and Seiichi would then take on the role of the team's main damage dealers. Xue Yan, Yato, Katsuo and Lu Zhen would temporarily act as damage dealers too until the other kobolds were closing in on them after which they would depart to hold them back.

The reason for having Sato act as the MT was simply because Katsuo wouldn't be able to exchange blows with the Kobold King much less deal enough damage to have its aggro centered on himself. Due to the risk the Kobold King posed in close range, the main damage dealers had to be long-range combatants. As for why Xue Yan was part of the interception squad, she had an arsenal of AOE attacks that were extremely useful for holding back a horde of monsters. Apart from that, her great strength would also serve to reduce the load on Yato and the others and the team would be able to work more efficiently with her having their backs.

Before the others could officially join the battle, the Kobold King seemed to have noticed them but ignored their existence, only sending a glance towards Xue Yan but that was all. In its eyes, only Sato was a worthy opponent and had to be taken seriously. The others could be handled with a wave of a palm from it.

"Using chickens to face off against a dragon. How foolish." The Kobold King said with a condescending tone.

It was already a known fact that it could speak and this fact was even more clearer to Sato and the rest, after all, they were the first one to confront it face-to-face and even had the privilege of having a sentence spoken to them. This was obviously the thought pattern of the Kobold King. It felt that these humans should be privileged that it had spoken a few words to them despite their unpleasant abilities. To the Kobold King, its words were like gold and the players weren't worthy of it.

However, the most irksome thing wasn't the words it had spoken just now but the ones it said next.

"If this is all of you, then this battle is pretty much over.. It will end with your deaths if you have nothing entertaining enough."