MMORPG: The Elementalist

Yowl!

Yowl!

Beyond the endless rows of Undead Horde…

Not very far away from the front line, a wailing, intermittent cry that belonged only to the nether world began to echo across the entire warzone.

The undead creatures, as if frightened by their worst nightmare, started to distance themselves away from the source of the wails. They squeezed hard in the opposite direction even after they stumbled upon other Specters.

The situation in the air was equally hectic.

Not a single creature dared to fly above the sound source, be it Skeletal Dragon, Vampire, or the prestigious Lich. These flying monsters either changed direction immediately or directly halted and turned away as soon as they heard the cry or saw the numerous skulls “fizzling” from the ground.

This was the reason behind the mysterious appearance of a hundred-meter wide empty area deep within the Undead Horde.

Not a single soul was found in it as if a giant invisible bubble had sealed off the area from all dimensions. But that changed when the thundering rumble, which eradicated all the Undead it crossed paths with, came closer and closer.

At the center of the vacant zone, the ominous giant skull made up by numerous smaller sized white skulls ascended abruptly from the ground and hovered at half a meter height above the land. Its two empty eye sockets fluoresced with green beams, signifying the monster had been woken.

Gasp!

A series of heavy breathing was heard coming out from the newly arrived troops.

The party that had advanced relentlessly before this finally slowed down and eventually stopped moving after they saw the odd giant skeleton hidden within the Undead Horde.

Judge, Majestic Hero, Homme Fatale, Violet Orchid, Violetmoon Devilite, Netherclaw, Black God, Scarlet Bauhinia, Qin Ruo, and Slayer’s Heart—All ten renowned players from the Angel Faction were stunned and speechless. They either subconsciously inhaled sharply, licked their lips, or swallowed hard.

‘So this “thing” is the Divine Specter that we came to face?’

Everyone, including Qin Ruo, were drown by an unknown fear at the very moment they saw this humongous skull.

According to Yeager and Edgars’ descriptions, Qin Ruo was initially expecting a human-scaled Boss. ‘This thing is freakishly huge! How do you beat a skull with so many heads?’

Slayer’s Heart and Judge were also stunned by it.

‘We have never encountered a monster in such form before. F*ck, how are we going to fight this?’

Qin Ruo paced forward and was equally perplexed. He looked straight at the bizarrely powerful monster and gritted his teeth. He then waved both of his hands sideways. “Clear the area!”

The loud order brought the stupefied members of Fallen Angels back to reality. They regained momentum and moved as planned. The large party split into two troops and advanced along the edge of the empty area created in front of the Divine Specter. Spells and skills were soon fired from both sides to wipe out the Specters still lingering nearby.

Led by multiple Champions, the cleansing was carried out smoothly. However, the mood among the troop members had just gotten heavier.

The occurrence of the seemingly invincible Divine Specter had deeply traumatized every living witness.

***

“It’s still not too late to back off now.”

As Qin Ruo frowned looking at the Divine Specter from roughly one hundred meters away, an unexpected voice suddenly rang near his ear.

‘Yeager!’ Qin Ruo was motivated. ‘Has he followed us here?’

“Why did you leave the camp and come here? I thought you said that the Divine Specter has never stopped pursuing you guys for over forty years? Won’t it go mad once the Specter senses your presence?”

As soon as he finished the sentence, Yeager quickly replied, self-mockingly, “If that thing over there could sense my presence, the three of us would have already died multiple times by now.” As a Demigod Bandit, Yeager, after all, was still capable of at least keep himself safe.

Qin Ruo was relieved and questioned him, “What’s wrong with this skull? It doesn’t look like Divine Specter’s true form.”

“Of course this is not its true form,” Yeager said casually, “What creature could give birth to such a monstrous being?”

“…”

Qin Ruo could hardly appreciate the lame joke by the NPC at such a moment. Before he proceeded with the next question, Yeager opened his mouth again. “This will be my last time persuading you. If you insist on challenging the Divine Specter, then allow me to give you some details about the Grand Reaper.”

“Okay.” Qin Ruo got nervous instinctively and paid full attention to Yeager’s words.

“The thing you see over there is not the Divine Specter itself, but rather a Defensive Magic cast by Grand Reaper. It is known as the Skull Barrier.”

“Barrier?” Qin Ruo was dumbfounded. Then a realization struck him.

“That’s right.” Yeager’s kept going. “You will get to see Grand Reaper’s true form only after you have destroyed the barrier. Under Edgar’s lead, we had once achieved that forty years ago. But that was also when two of my comrades succumbed to Grand Reaper’s true power.”

“…” Qin Ruo swallowed silently.

‘Five Demigod Champions against a Divine Specter, yet two were killed? That’s absurd…’

However, on the bright side, Qin Ruo felt that taking down a barrier is completely doable. After all, Slayer’s Heart’s Magic Penetration and Poochie’s Shadow Razor were both highly effective skills against a defensive barrier.

Nevertheless, Yeager immediately crushed Qin Ruo budding confidence. “Hmph, don’t you underestimate the Grand Reaper.” Yeager sneered. “This barrier is nothing like the Elemental Barrier you all have become accustomed to in the upper world. Not a single Tier 4 defensive spell or skill could match its tenacity…”

“This is a Tier 7 defensive spell invented by Divine Specter. Not only is the defense strong, the barrier is also capable of damage trespasser like a Tier 6 offensive spell. Unless you have a Divine Bandit with you, or else, don’t even think about seeing the true form of Grand Reaper anytime soon.”

“The spell is formed by extracting the souls of one hundred and eight Demigod Champions. Each soul is equivalent to a hundred points of Endurance. So one zero eight means more than 10,000 Endurance.”

Qin Ruo was staggered by the numbers. His heart sank deeper and deeper after hearing Yeager out.

‘10,800 Endurance is equivalent to 3,000,000 HP! This is insane!’

***

“Little Qin? Little Qin!”

Majestic Hero looked at the puzzled Qin Ruo. The latter woke after he was gently nudged. Seeing his pale face, the few League Commanders looked at him with concern.

“What’s wrong? Why did you zone out?”

“We are still waiting for your order.”

Black God’s words surprised Qin Ruo. He subconsciously scanned the surroundings and asked, “Order? What order?” He realized more than 10,000 of his League members had already completed a circle of two-hundred-meter radius around the area to isolate them and the Divine Specter from the Undead Horde rushing in from all directions.

“…” Others rolled their eyes seeing Qin Ruo’s sluggish response.

“Damn!”

“Are you even listening to what I had said just now? I thought you were busy making up a plan in your mind after listening to my opinion.” Black God’s annoyance was all written on his face.

Qin Ruo finally understood after Violet Orchid repeated what Black God had just pointed out when he was not paying attention.

Apparently, when he was having a private conversation with Yeager, the others had also analyzed the giant skull and agreed unanimously that the weird skull must be some sort of protective barrier.

They were discussing whom they should send in first to try and tear down the barrier.

Black God had asked Qin Ruo to think of a way whereby they could shatter the barrier without having too many sacrifices. They still need to conserve their strength to face the actual enemy hidden behind the giant skull.

That was when Yeager said his final reminder. “That’s all I can tell you. I wish you the best of luck.”

After that, he did not hear another word from the NPC.

***

Qin Ruo turned to look at his team with an unsettled mind. He relayed the information from Yeager to them with a heavy heart. The bad news was met with silence.

Ten minutes later, the Grand Reaper was still floating at the same height. The one hundred and eight skulls drifted up and down rhythmically. Meanwhile, one hundred meters away, silence still shrouded the few human Champions.

The information delivered by Yeager had no doubt crushed the group of veteran Champions’ faith to a historic low point. Their eyes on the Grand Reaper were now filled with fear and timidity.

Many seconds passed by.

The human fence held its position firmly. The Fallen Angels members, despite not being informed, could tell that something was not right from the feeble looks on the veteran Champions.

‘They must be held back by some unforeseen complication…’

Finally, someone stepped up.

“Qin Ruo,” Judge’s determined voice was heard through the party channel. “Let me go. Though I am not even sure whether I can take out a single Demigod Soul at the barrier, I think I can at least attempt to get near it.”

“Give me more time to consider,” Qin Ruo answered to Judge’s request while rubbing his temples. He was trying to sort out other more plausible approaches.

“Not necessary.” Judge took another step forward. He proclaimed firmly, “A League is built up by a coordinated strength. Everyone has the right to contribute. Besides, we will never know what’s the true strength of Grand Reaper by just sitting around and doing nothing. Please don’t hesitate anymore. Send me in. What could be worse than being killed? I only need any two random Radiant Priests to go with me.” With two Priests backing him, Judge believed he had at least 80% chance to stay alive for five seconds. He would like to use the time to probe the attacking and defensive stat of the Skull Barrier on behalf of his comrades.

“…” Qin Ruo said nothing.

‘What could be worse than being killed?’

Judge was right.

There was no time for hesitation at this stage.

‘We have expected sacrifice the moment we decided to come here.’

At long last, Qin Ruo made up his mind.

To the others’ surprise, he ascended into the air and growled with dissatisfaction, “The battle ring is still too small. Those at the back, go over the line and stretch the zone further outward.”

The troop that was on standby behind the barricade immediately responded to the call. They gushed into the existing defense line and gradually stretched the circle.

Qin Ruo’s once lofty spirit seemed to be rejuvenated with the broader space underneath him. He turned to Judge, who gripped tight onto his war blade, and announced, “Let’s go together. We will fight it side by side.”