“Is this the BOSS?”
“This BOSS’s power... is totally overwhelming...”
From the back of the crowd, Nan Cheng watched the Kobold Chief rampaging across the battlefield, his brow tightly furrowed and his expression grave.
The BOSS's strength far surpassed ordinary kobolds; taking it down by recklessly swarming it was completely impossible.
At that thought, he took a deep breath, opened the public channel, and let his calm, authoritative voice rise above the surrounding noise:
“The BOSS is very strong! Everyone, follow my commands! Don't just attack wildly!”
“Tank players, step up and pull aggro! Don't all rush in at once!”
“Tanks, split into two squads and take turns pulling aggro! Don't cluster together, and don't let the BOSS breach the backline!”
“Mages and archers, fall back and deal damage from range! Spread out! Don't bunch up and take AOE damage!”
“Players who got Heal, keep an eye on the tanks' health! Prioritize whoever is lowest!”
“If you're critically injured, just kill yourself and respawn! Take the teleportation array back immediately! Don't drag down our DPS!”
His voice possessed a convincing cadence—unhurried, measured, and clear.
“And the most important point! Everyone with Holy Light or light-element skills, try to stay together! Focus your skills on the BOSS at the same time!”
Through his earlier observations, Nan Cheng had naturally noticed that light-element magic like Holy Light dealt far more damage to the BOSS than other elemental skills.
He surmised this had to be the raid strategy designed by the developers.
Since this was a BOSS raid, and their target was three times their level, there had to be a weakness.
If the developers dared to design the very first main quest like this, they surely intended for players to be able to beat it.
However, if Iluvia had known Nan Cheng's thoughts, she would have certainly admired his wild imagination before dryly commenting: Kid, you're overthinking it.
Upon hearing Nan Cheng's orders, the players seemed to find their backbone instantly. Their previously chaotic assault quickly tightened up, taking on a structured rhythm.
“Tanks copy that!”
“Mages copy!”
“Got it, got it! Charge, charge, charge!”
The players, who had previously been fighting individually, began forming several defensive lines according to Nan Cheng's commands.
Meanwhile, West, who was observing from the shadows, saw the God-Chosen Ones being forced back step by step and considered whether he should intervene.
Suddenly, a divine, ethereal voice echoed in his mind:
“West, there is no need to intervene. You need not help the God-Chosen Ones for now.”
It was Her Grace the Goddess!
West was startled and immediately bowed his head in homage.
Her Grace was actually watching this battle as well!
However, West felt a slight doubt when he heard the Goddess tell him not to lend a hand.
Yet, recalling his previous tendency to look down on the God-Chosen Ones, he suppressed his doubts and respectfully replied:
“Yes, Your Grace.”
...
On the other side, the battle raged on.
Under Nan Cheng's direction, the players' offensive and defensive formations were fully established.
With the players arrayed in proper formation, Black Tooth began to feel the pressure.
In the defensive line formed by the players, the tank players stood at the very front.
Individually, these front-line tanks were fragile, but they stacked shield walls and rotated to take the blows. When its claws shattered a shield and forced a player back, the next one immediately stepped up to fill the gap. Surprisingly, it could no longer swipe down entire swathes like before.
Most of the long-range skills from the backline weren't very powerful, but they pelted down like a dense rainstorm, proving thoroughly annoying as they hit its body.
What truly alarmed it, however, was that these humans seemed to have discovered its weakness to light-element spells like Holy Light, and they were beginning to unleash light magic in an organized fashion.
Black Tooth was forced to dodge, looking somewhat disheveled.
It also attempted to kill the mages casting magic in the back.
But to its frustration, whenever it tried to break through the shield wall, the front-line tanks immediately swarmed it—some blocking its path, others hacking at its legs, sticking to it like persistent flies.
All of this filled Black Tooth with rage.
Opening its bloody maw wide, dark black light coalesced inside its mouth once more—brighter and larger than before, as if it had stuffed all its pent-up rage into that single orb.
“Boom——!!!!”
The dark energy orb blasted forth again, faster and fiercer than before, slamming directly into the tank line!
“Holy crap!! That move again!!!”
“Scatter! Scatter! Scatter!!!”
Amidst the roaring explosion, three front-line tanks were sent flying backward along with their shields, disintegrating into white light and vanishing on the spot.
Yet before it could take a second step, three new tanks instantly stepped into the breach in the shield wall, holding up their shields tightly and leaving not a single gap.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry! Its skill is on cooldown! Now's our chance!”
“Hold the line, boys! The BOSS must be running out of stamina!”
Panting heavily, Black Tooth heard shouting echoing around it continuously.
It looked down at the humans surrounding it once again.
In the distant forest, a steady stream of humans was still arriving, howling with excitement as they sprinted over.
For some reason, Black Tooth felt these people looked somewhat familiar, as if it had seen them somewhere just moments ago.
Moreover, these humans seemed endless. Why were there more of them the more it killed?
And their eyes...
Those eyes did not reflect fear, awe, or hesitation—
They reflected excitement.
Greed.
Hunger.
Black Tooth had killed many humans in its lifetime, but it had never seen any like these. Most humans it killed died with unwillingness, anger, or terror in their eyes, but this group—
They were grinning right up until the second before they died.
Black Tooth suddenly felt a chill run down its spine.
At the same time, the players were pleasantly surprised to discover that the BOSS's attacks were slowing down.
“The BOSS is slowing down! It must be getting staggered!”
“Hang in there! Grind it to death!”
“I'm done! I've died twice and haven't even grazed its outfit!”
“Then go up and graze it yourself!”
“I'm afraid of getting one-shot, alright?!”
“What are you afraid of?! We have Resurrection Coins!”
“...”
Realizing that the BOSS's attack speed had slowed down, the players grew even more ecstatic.
Black Tooth trembled in fear as it watched the excited expressions of the humans before it.
For some unknown reason, a sudden wave of panic washed over it.
Then, it made a decision.
Run.
Though it was a Bronze Rank Class Holder, enough ants could still bite an elephant to death.
Thinking this, Black Tooth began backing away, attempting to burst out of the encirclement.
But how could the players possibly let it escape?
Noticing signs that the BOSS was preparing to leave the battlefield, one of the players immediately shouted at the top of his lungs:
“Holy crap?! The BOSS is trying to run away?!”
This shout instantly alerted the surrounding players.
“It wants to flee! In its dreams!”
“Block it!”
“Don't let the BOSS get away!”
“On the left, on the left! Block it!”
“Surround it quickly!”
“There are people on the right too! Don't let it slip past!”
Black Tooth: “...”
Who was that?!!
It immediately looked toward the direction of the person who had first shouted that it wanted to run, and in a single glance saw that it was one of the two humans it had been chasing earlier.
Seeing the BOSS look over, Bruce grinned widely, showing off his big teeth with a cheeky chuckle.
Standing beside him, Momozi sneered, “You chased us before, wanna chase us now?”
Black Tooth: “...”
It suddenly felt a surge of regret.
If it had known, it would never have chased those two bastards in the first place.
Rate on N.U.
