Chapter 51 -51-Ambush! Rudy Takes Action!

Chapter 51: Chapter51-Ambush! Rudy Takes Action!

White_Bear looked thoughtful.

"So war quests can be triggered this way too."

Horus immediately warned him,

"Don’t copy him."

"Why not?"

"I don’t want to have to bail you out of prison tomorrow."

White_Bear reluctantly abandoned his plan to trigger a quest by deliberately committing a crime.

Now that they had encountered John, Horus quickly remembered something else.

"Mr. Endbringer."

"I have a request."

"Go ahead."

Horus shared his quest information.

[S-Rank Class Advancement Quest: Battle-Hardened Berserker Soul!]

[Quest Objective: Participate in killing 20 Thousand-Player-Tier Bosses!]

[Current Progress: 2/20.]

[Requirement: Deal at least 5% of the target’s total damage during each battle.]

[Quest Reward: Hidden Class · War Maniac.]

John glanced over the requirements.

Twenty Thousand-Player-Tier Bosses.

At the current stage, ordinary players would struggle to encounter even one.

Even if Luna Wolf could organize large groups to surround and kill them, completing twenty valid participations would still take an extremely long time.

"You want me to help you find Bosses?"

"To be precise, I want your help killing them."

Horus’s expression was serious.

"Large numbers of high-ranking targets should appear on the front lines."

"As long as you’re willing to create an opportunity for me to deal damage whenever we encounter a Thousand-Player-Tier Boss, the guild is willing to pay you one million dollars."

Worried that John might refuse, Horus immediately offered the highest price he was authorized to give.

John’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

"One million dollars?"

"That’s right."

"Your military budget is pretty generous."

Horus’s expression did not change.

He neither confirmed nor denied it.

"These are guild operational funds."

John looked at him.

Horus calmly met his gaze.

White_Bear, meanwhile, raised his head and studied the sky as though he had suddenly developed a deep interest in the clouds.

John did not continue asking.

After all, some of that money might have come from taxes he had once paid.

He already needed to hunt Bosses every day to trigger [Reality Merge].

Helping Horus complete his quest would barely require any extra effort.

He could even earn another thousand gold coins.

"I’ll accept."

Delight appeared in Horus’s eyes.

"Really?"

"When a Thousand-Player-Tier Boss appears, I’ll leave you enough room to deal damage."

"But whether you can reach five percent will depend on you."

"Of course."

Horus extended his right hand.

"Thank you."

The two briefly shook hands.

[Player "Luna Wolf" has issued you a commission!]

[Commission Objective: Assist in completing the Class Advancement Quest "Battle-Hardened Berserker Soul"!]

[Commission Reward: 1,000 gold coins!]

[Payment Method: Settled upon quest completion.]

John selected accept.

The three continued talking as they walked.

By the time they paid attention to their surroundings again, the expeditionary force had already entered a long, narrow canyon.

[You have discovered a new area: Sunkenlight Canyon!]

[Title "Forerunner" activated!]

[Until you complete the exploration of this area, all damage you deal is increased by 20%!]

The mountains on both sides of the canyon rose several hundred meters into the air.

Not a single blade of grass grew across their surfaces.

Every rock was pitch-black, resembling solidified magma.

Veins of dark-purple crystal were embedded deep within the cliffs, gradually absorbing the surrounding light.

Although it was still daytime, the canyon appeared extremely dim.

White_Bear raised his head and looked at the slopes on either side.

"This place looks like a volcano just erupted here."

Horus’s expression gradually became serious.

He spent a moment examining the surrounding terrain.

"Everyone is packed together at the bottom of the canyon."

"If enemies charge down both slopes at the same time while blocking the roads ahead and behind us, the entire force will be divided into several sections."

"The recruits in the middle won’t be able to shift into a defensive formation quickly enough."

John glanced at him.

"Could you say something a little more auspicious?"

Horus had only just opened his mouth when—

Woo—!

A piercing horn suddenly sounded from the front of the formation.

A scout on higher ground frantically waved a red flag and shouted with all his strength,

"Movement!"

"Enemy attack—!"

White_Bear silently turned toward Horus.

"You’ve got quite the accurate mouth."

Horus: "..."

The sound of countless rocks tumbling down echoed from both sides of the canyon.

Black creatures emerged from behind the mountain ridges one after another.

Their appearances were completely different from magical beasts of the Human Realm.

Their bodies were composed of gray-black muscle and dark-purple crystalline armor.

They possessed none of the horns, fleshy wings, or flames commonly associated with demons.

Their heads were flat, and their eyes had degenerated into several glowing cracks.

Their limbs were long and thin, while their joints could bend in the opposite direction.

Whenever they moved, the dark substance covering their bodies rapidly devoured the nearby light, leaving behind only vague black silhouettes.

[Shadowblight Beast Hunter]

[Level: Lv12.]

[Rank: Common.]

[HP: 1,800/1,800.]

[Trait: Dark-Matter Physique.]

[Dark-Matter Physique: Receives 30% additional damage from light-element attacks.]

[Description: A low-ranking predatory creature from the Dark Realm. It survives by devouring the light energy within living beings and is frequently used by Dark Realm armies to scout and exhaust enemy forces.]

More Dark Realm creatures gathered across the slopes.

Their numbers surpassed several thousand in the blink of an eye.

With all four limbs pressed against the ground, they charged down the nearly vertical cliffs toward the canyon floor.

"Form ranks!"

Rudy’s roar instantly echoed throughout the canyon.

The regular soldiers who had been dispersed throughout the expeditionary force moved simultaneously.

The troops on both sides rapidly stepped out of formation.

The outermost heavy infantry slammed their enormous shields into the ground.

Bang!

Two walls of shields unfolded along both sides of the expeditionary force.

The spearmen on the inner layer immediately followed.

Shafts several meters long rested atop the shields, their sharp spearheads angled toward the slopes.

The entire formation was completed within a dozen seconds.

Shield walls.

Spear formations.

Archers.

Mages.

Every branch occupied a clearly defined layer, without the slightest hint of disorder.

Meanwhile, the players and NPC recruits in the center of the force had already erupted into chaos.

"Which side are the monsters coming from?"

"Both sides!"

"Archers, stop blocking me!"

"Who stepped on my foot?"

"Shield warriors, get to the front!"

The calm discipline of the professional soldiers formed a stark contrast with the recruits’ panic.

Rudy ignored the commotion behind him.

He raised a hand and removed an enormous bow from his back.

The bow was nearly two meters long.

Its entire body was crimson, with golden cracks resembling flowing magma spread across its surface.

The moment the weapon appeared, the surrounding temperature abruptly rose.

[Mountainburner Greatbow]

[Rank: Unable to Appraise.]

[Attributes: ???]

Rudy planted his feet apart.

He slowly drew the enormous bow to its limit.

An arrow formed entirely from fire appeared upon the bowstring.

He did not release it immediately.

The thousands of Shadowblight Beast Hunters continued charging downward.

Eight hundred meters.

Five hundred meters.

Three hundred meters.

When the Dark Realm creatures at the front reached the middle of the slopes, Rudy released his fingers.

"Loose!"

Boom!

The flaming arrow shot into the sky.

The instant it reached midair, it split into more than a hundred streaks of crimson light.

Then came the second arrow.

The third.

Rudy drew and released so quickly that only afterimages remained.

A dense storm of flaming arrows covered the entire mountainside, firing with the speed of a heavy machine gun.

[-18,260!]

[-17,980!]

[-18,540!]

Every arrow pierced through several Shadowblight Beast Hunters.

Flames erupted violently across their dark-matter shells.

Large numbers of monsters were reduced to ashes before they could even approach the shield walls.

In little more than ten seconds, most of the Dark Realm creatures on both slopes had been wiped out.

The remaining Beast Hunters crashed into the shield formation.

The heavy infantry lowered their shoulders simultaneously.

Boom!

The shield walls shook violently but did not retreat even half a step.

Rows of spears thrust through the gaps between the shields.

Every monster that managed to reach the canyon floor was swiftly killed.

The battle ended with ruthless efficiency.

The players at the rear fell completely silent.