Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Ten minutes before the second horde started, Kaizen and most of the members of the Crimson Soldiers’ Guild stood in strategic positions on the outskirts of the City Library. The members named Foelmar and Canx, the tall, bald man, remained inside the library to protect the NPCs that were on the second floor.

Kaizen, Bleeding Lily and Orkoi were responsible for watching the rooftops, meaning they were to keep an eye on the airspace and provide high-ground support for the other players.

Araxie, Dathan, Dordoi and the other members were to fight threats on the ground.

In total, they were in a group of ten players, disregarding Foelmar and Canx and among them only Orkoi was a mage, as far as Kaizen knew because there were members he couldn’t see the class because of the blocking by level of the <Analyzing Eye>. It would be easier for him to know all the classes of his momentary allies, so he could analyze scenario variables more easily, but since he didn’t want to take the lead, not knowing what each was capable of possibly would be better for him.

Their goals for the next horde were simple: keep the City Library safe, so they could receive a large cash reward from the kingdom for protecting an important building in the city, and also protect the NPCs that hid inside the library, because many of them were nobles and this would probably generate more rewards and hidden missions.

In case more people appeared to be rescued, Bleeding Lily’s instruction was to help them and ask them to take shelter inside the library.

For the rest, the combat would follow the simple formation of melee combatants and support players.

When everyone was in position and it was finally time for the second horde to begin, the whole city began to shake as before. Actually, this time it seemed even stronger than before.

*Trrrrrrrrrrrrruummmm*

Luckily, the buildings in the white house district were built with mostly great materials, so they didn’t collapse easily, but everyone in the city could hear that the earthquake was cracking and breaking in half several buildings and constructions, even the street floor itself started to break in some parts of the city.

𝒐𝓋𝐥xt.𝗇𝓔t

Soon centipedes the size of bears began to emerge from the cracks that appeared every second in the streets. These creatures were long, had a reddish armor, and their claws seemed to be so hot that they let off flames. Their appearance was disgusting, and it agonized Kaizen to see the dozens of legs moving at the same time.

One of the few things in the world that Kaizen had an aversion to was insects, any kind of insects. So he didn’t even think twice and shot an arrow at the first centipede he saw.

Impressively, his arrow hit the centipede’s head at the same time that another unknown arrow also hit it, so he didn’t hear the slaughter message. He looked to his left, which is where the second arrow came from, and saw the Bleeding Lily above the nearby building with a bow in her hand.

The red-haired woman looked at him as well and smiled, teasing him. “Try to be faster next time!” She exclaimed.

“Ah! So, you want to compete?!” asked Kaizen.

“Don’t even think about it! You are no match for me!”

Suddenly, the rapid hiss of an arrow shot by Kaizen passed beside the Bleeding Lily and hit a centipede that climbed up the building from behind her back.

“If you don’t watch out, this will be too easy!” Psyker shouted.

The Bleeding Lily had to swallow her pride, because she was amazed at what Kaizen did with a bow as old as the one he was using. Then a fierce contest between Kaizen and her began to see who could take down the most centipedes.

Since centipedes had a slender way of moving, Kaizen thanked the heavens that he had an ability that allowed him to command the direction in which his arrows went, so that he could adjust until the last second where the arrow would hit. Using this tactic guaranteed him many kills.

[You have killed a Hive Centipede, and gained +500 XP].

[You have killed a Hive Centipede, and gained +500 XP].

[You have killed a Hive Centipede, and gained +500 XP].

So did Bloody Lily, who proved in practice that the arrows she shot at the wrong times in the Howling Draughts were just part of a run of bad luck.

As Foelmar said, her aim was almost perfect. In addition, the strength in her arm was impressive and she used that to show that her arrows flew ten times faster than Kaizen’s arrows. This made him wonder how many Strength attribute points she had.

Even though Psyker’s arrows were slower, he was much faster at shooting multiple times when it proved necessary.

At one point, Araxie found herself surrounded by three Hive Centipedes while protecting a mother with a newborn baby in her arms.

,m The ground of the street they were standing on began to crumble with the earthquake, which was weaker than at first but still lingered.

Although Araxie carried a large tank shield and a sword, each in one hand, she could get out of this situation by herself without problems, but her sense of heroism did not allow her to do this, because if she invested this into one creature, the others would attack the mother and daughter.

Realizing this as she ran across the rooftops of the buildings, Kaizen took two arrows from her quiver, positioned them on the string of her bow, and shot them both at the same time.

Their hissing was like a unison.

*Zimmm*

Each of the arrows hit the head of a Hive Centipede that stood before Araxie. This allowed her to protect the citizens with her shield from a centipede attack, and then she attacked the monster with her sword, snapping it in half.

They managed to get out of the place in time before the place collapsed and exposed a part of the complex underground sewer channels of the Royal City.

This time, Araxie didn’t look angrily at Kaizen. She looked at him seriously and nodded without smiling. This was her way of showing that she was grateful.

Kaizen quickly returned to his competition with the Bleeding Lily and stated:

“I have already killed thirty-seven!”

“Then you are too slow. I’ve already killed forty… Now, forty-one!” She exclaimed and shot another arrow without even needing to aim. The arrow she shot accepted its target perfectly.

…

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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