Do You All Play Like This in Private?

"Qin, are you ready?"

"Of course!"

Faust and Irithea stood shoulder to shoulder. They did not need much communication; a single brief sentence and a meeting of eyes were enough for them to understand each other's intent.

That was to parry the rain of arrows.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang—"

Parry! Parry! Keep parrying! Parry like crazy!

Facing the dense rain of arrows, Faust and Irithea used blades wreathed in thunder and flame to defend themselves. Their movements were so swift that they distorted the space before them, leaving only blurred, illusory afterimages. Amidst the dizzying storm of counterattacks, the energy from the deflected arrows erupted into a solid halo of light around Faust.

Hundreds, thousands... Faust could no longer count how many times he had swung his straight sword or how many arrows he had parried.

The two of them moved toward the center of the sword-mounds, struggling as they continued to parry.

They only stopped within the gaps of the arrow rain once they were nearly at the high ground; that was close enough.

They did not intend to engage the enemy at point-blank range, but rather to force the Giant King to focus its attention on them, thereby creating an opening for Artedinis to unleash her damage.

Looking up at the giant on the high ground, Faust could finally see clearly just how colossal this Giant King was.

The heaven-defying behemoth stood before them like a mountain, towering and majestic.

The pressure from such a giant was suffocating, as if it could crush their throats at any moment.

"This is... this is simply magnificent!"

Irithea sighed with satisfaction: "Even among the beasts I have hunted, there has never been such a massive prey, a being I could not hunt on my own."

"But we are the storm that topples the great tree!"

Faust was not as poetic as the wolf-girl, but facing the oppressive presence of the Giant King, he could not help but tremble with excitement.

Subjugating an ancient Giant King was undoubtedly in line with the 【Path of Subjugation】 within the 【Path of the Overlord】. The sensation of practicing his path made the Prince of Qingxi shiver all over.

Well... not to exaggerate, but I'm fully aroused.

"Not bad at all."

Irithea and Faust stood before the Imperial Princess, taking on the duties expected of them, while Artedinis braced her greatbow vertically against the ground, aiming at the giant.

Engaging in a long-range shootout was disadvantageous; the Imperial Princess did not have the giant's ability to snipe from thousands of meters away at will. However, at this distance, Artedinis was confident she could go head-to-head with the Giant King.

Come! Sniper duel at the gates!

"Boom—"

The light-arrows bursting from the radiant greatbow were in no way inferior to the Giant King's sniping. They were entities seemingly condensed from gold and jewels, nothing but pure magic power poured out.

One shot after another, Artedinis fired with extreme speed. Each explosive light-arrow sent the giant stumbling, forcibly altering its movement trajectory.

Conversely, the giant's occasional hand-fired shots were blocked by Irithea at any cost, preventing them from posing an effective threat to the Imperial Princess.

What's more, the Imperial Princess felt that standing in the back wasn't satisfying enough. She actually crossed the defensive line of Faust and Irithea and pressed her greatbow directly against the giant...

Point-blank fire! Point-blank fire! Point-blank fire again!

"Bang, bang, bang—"

This, my friends, is riding-in-the-face damage.

It was obvious that Artedinis didn't actually need protection at all; her stats alone were enough to rival the ancient Giant King.

If the latter were in its prime, perhaps they would be evenly matched, but a beast weakened to a crippled state could only be kicked to death by the Imperial Princess.

The already dilapidated armor on the Giant King shattered completely, and one corner of its pale mask was smashed, exposing a twisted, pitch-black face.

Artedinis shook her head as she looked at it:

"Such an ugly monster has no reason to exist in this world. The only use for this head is to show off military achievements."

"Awoooo—"

The giant let out a shrill howl, the sound waves vibrating so intensely that ripples were visible to the naked eye.

It set down the greatbow in its hand and pulled a spear and a hunting knife from the numerous weapons stuck in the sword-mounds.

Subsequently, purple-black pillars of light erupted from the ground one after another, like the roar and clamor of surging subterranean fire after being buried for long ages.

"Hum, hum, hum, hum—"

The twilight mist around the Giant King became even more solid, nearly enveloping its entire body. When it emerged from the mist again, the rusted weapons in its hands were flowing with an ominous, cruel luster.

"Has it entered phase two?"

Faust took a step back at the sight. Although the Giant King started out with a bow, he wouldn't be naive enough to think the opponent could only use one type of weapon.

These days, who doesn't know a hundred martial arts? Even the purest warlock would make their staff into the form of a short sword or long spear, let alone heroes.

Seeing that the giant intended to start melee combat, Faust planned to retreat. He didn't think his stats could wrestle with an ancient Giant King.

"Hmm? Are you planning to retreat?"

Artedinis noticed the movements of Faust and his companion, tilted her head, and said:

"Although I don't mind a solo fight, I don't think you are the type to play it safe."

Faust flatly denied it: "I'm just more inclined to let Irithea enjoy this hunt; you could say it's her area of expertise."

The White Wolf raised her beautiful face from beneath her bright red hood:

"Ah, leave the rest to me. With the merit of hunting this beast, can I ask you for my first night now?"

Upon hearing this, Artedinis widened her indigo eyes:

"What? There's such a thing? Do you all play like this in private? Does this count as bribery or a reward? Since that's the case, can I make a request too?"

"Uh, uh, uh, what does this have to do with you?"

The Imperial Princess raised her snow-white chin:

"Look at the damage output; I contributed the most."

The damage-checkers are here! Why don't you look at who took the hits?

Who did their best? Who committed crimes? Whose playstyle isn't team-oriented? Who has no human warmth!

"Hahaha, Imperial Princess, there is no need, for the rest is my home field!"

The White Wolf laughed aloud and raised her silver sword.

"Sss—"

Irithea gripped the sharp blade with one hand, using the wound in her palm to smear fresh blood onto the steel. Her blood ignited instantly, and the black and white 【Flame of the Wolf-Hour】 erupted in an instant.

With a light flick from the hunter, the luminous flame covered the giant's body.

"Awoooo—"

A howl of pain from the beast followed. The giant's mountain-like colossal body was scorched by the blazing black and white flames, and the attack it was about to land was immediately withdrawn.

Since it had been classified as a beast, the 【Flame of the Wolf-Hour】, a fire that repels beasts, naturally had an immediate effect.

True damage burn! Slow and hard crowd control!

These were the special effects inherent to the 【Flame of the Wolf-Hour】.

Irithea flicked the flowing flames from her blade one after another, turning them into crescent-shaped fire blades that branded themselves onto the Giant King's body. Each blade of fire added new cracks to its massive frame.

Every time it was scorched by the Flame of the Wolf-Hour, the giant would let out an angry howl, and its originally swift momentum would immediately slow down. Charging and stopping like this, it was unable to launch a single complete offensive.