Slowly the news about Dream Avenue's fight against a world boss spread through the world. Many opportunistic forces set into motion. Some guilds contacted their spies in Dream Avenue, asking for the location of the fight.
But thanks to Liam's preparations they only learned of the Dutchy of Saint Erven, but not of the way to get there. When the guild members glanced at their maps they only found a valley surrounded by nearly infinite black.
When Star Gazer learned of the information, he pondered for a while before coming to a surprising decision. Galaxy would not pursue Dream Avenue. He only sent out a small team to scout the world boss's location.
The young man would rather focus on developing his own guild. He spent his money generously, attracting many talented players. The member limit made it impossible for a single guild to snatch all the players, evening the playing field.
Apart from Dream Avenue everyone still faced a major problem, though. Right now, they could only found their guilds unofficially, their potential recruits bound by promises as no one had discovered how to receive a land lease yet.
This led to a situation where Liam was suddenly met with friend requests from various guild leaders. He even had to turn of the notifications to concentrate on the boss fight.
Just as he landed another rotation of his skills, Vren stopped moving, jerking his head left and right. His eyes stared at the guild members as if he wanted to brand every face in his mind. A quick check showed that his HP had just dropped below 300.000 points.
"You are more resilient than I thought, Lephrin. Just as well. I have also grown more powerful after you backstabbed me. Perhaps this is what people mean when they say after each disaster follows a blessing."
While the world boss spoke, a black energy rose from his body, moving like fog spreading over the ocean, obscuring Vren. The energy spread slowly, thinning out. When it completely dispersed Vren remained nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly a red spark lit up. Liam seemed to feel something, his eyes looking at the mages in the distance.
The skills range increased!
Liam was surprised but he didn't panic, urging everyone to flee the area.
The mages standing close to the red spark felt an ominous sensation as if a vicious beast had locked onto them. They didn't need Liam's warning, instantly trying to get away.
A few of them looked back, realizing that a red dagger had appeared at some point, surrounded by a red circle on the floor.
"Quick, leave!"
"Why does the boss target us?"
"I thought he can't reach here?!"
The mages were panicked yet still didn't try to shove each other away. Liam felt gratified, inwardly praising the responsible team leaders, one of whom was Fortune.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much space on the path, making it impossible for everyone to escape.
Suddenly the red dagger spun in the air, moving at high speed. Images resembling the dagger shot precisely at every player in range, impossible to dodge.
The frail mages were sliced by daggers, not one of them receiving damage below 2000 points, some unlucky ones dying from the single hit.
But even those who survived weren't out of danger yet as the symbol of a blood red dagger appeared above their heads, generating an ominous mark.
"What's that?"
"Can we get rid of this?"
"Quick, drink some potions!"
The mages were confused and warry as Liam hastily gave out orders.
[Bleary Mirage: If someone has a dispel, use it! Tanks, bring out your barrier skills. Assist those mages!]
Among the healers only a single one waved his wand. A sphere of green magic shot at one of the marked mages, colliding with the image of a red dagger and shattering it directly.
Balm was surprised, memorizing the man's name. He might be a good choice for their future dungeon teams.
Liam was glad to see the guild members following his orders even though they only knew each other for a short time.
Meanwhile another red dagger appeared on the battlefield among the crowd of melee fighters. They had learned from their earlier mistakes, positioning less tightly, with some room to evade.
Yet the dagger moved too fast, hitting four of the players and marking them as well.
"Ah!"
"What?!"
While everyone was focused on the crowd at the bottom of the valley, startled shouts suddenly came from the direction of the mages. A second red dagger had appeared, flying freely through the air, targeting the marked players.
It moved at incredible speeds, making it impossible to dodge. The mages could only watch as the dagger stabbed into their bodies. None of the marked players could escape, helplessly suffering massive damage.
[-1881!]
Some of the barriers cast by others proved too frail, shattering on impact. Unwilling shouts rang out as three of the guild members succumbed under the bloody red blade.
Down below the newly marked players looked at their perished brothers, their hearts freezing. They felt as if marked by the grim reaper with death being their predestined fate.
"No! I won't die!"
One of the warriors adjusted his mood, hastily sorting through his inventory to look for anything which might be of help. Others turned towards the supportive classes, asking for boosts or barrier, but many of those skills were still on cooldown.
A moment later Liam felt something. A chill ran down his back as he noticed the outline of a red circle before his eyes. He instantly realized that the red dagger must have appeared behind his back.
Liam's body acted almost on its own. He moved smoothly like a fish in water, running into the crowd. He had just left the area when the red daggers shot out, stabbing several unlucky players.
Watchful Eye let out a sigh. He had instinctively tried to help others, which impacted his speed.
[-1066!]
[Watchful Eye: I have been hit...]
[Final Fend: I will miss you.]
Watchful Eye blinked his eyes, not knowing how to react. As a servant of the Colville family, he couldn't quarrel with the young master even if Final Fend only made a joke.
[Silver Blade: Final Fend...]
[Final Fend: Ok ok, sorry Watchful Eye.]
[Watchful Eye: No offence taken, young master.]
While those three quarreled, the skill repeated at another location. Watchful Eye saw the red shooting star coming towards him, knowing it was futile to dodge. A stabbing pain assaulted his chest as the dagger passed through.
[-1244!]
Watchful Eye didn't die that easily but loosing almost half his HP from a single skill definitely let him be cautious.
Fortunately, Vren reappeared shortly after, standing on a large boulder towards the side of the valley, overlooking Dream Avenue with an arrogant expression.
He flicked his wrist, shooting red daggers at the remaining marked players, claiming two more lives.
"So brutal..."
Balm couldn't help but comment quietly. The other healers surrounding her nodded in agreement, feeling lucky that they hadn't been chosen by the skill.
Vren seemingly indulged in everyone's emotions, but Liam quickly shattered his facade.
[Bleary Mirage: He's in a weakened state! Attack with all you got!]
Liam's order sent a ripple through the guild. Suddenly everyone surged towards the boss. Silent Acacia in the distance used his ultimate [Mark of Death], sending three arrows the boss's way.
"Haha, now he will feel what it's like to be marked!", said an archer standing close to Silent Acacia. His voice was extremely resentful since his girlfriend was among the mages who had been sent to the graveyard.
Silent Acacia threw him a glance before checking the damage dealt by his arrows.
[-734!!!]
[-441!]x2
Unfortunately, only the hunter's normal attack landed a critical hit, but he was still satisfied dealing more than 1500 points of damage.
And Silent Acacia wasn't the only one pulling out the big guns. Before anyone could reach Vren, a massive explosion suddenly shook the valley. Smoke rose and rocks shattered.
"You!"
Vren exclaimed angrily as the boulder below his feet broke into pieces, sending him to the floor. His black eyes roamed the surroundings, focusing on Braag above his head.
"Ha! What are you looking at?!", questioned the dwarf fearlessly, hiding the pain of once more exchanging money for damage.
Looking at the few gold coins he had left the dwarf involuntarily thought that it was time to find a way to earn money.
Apart from his close friends no one guessed what was going on in Braag's mind, praising him happily.
"Haha, well done! Wiped away that arrogant smile from the boss's face!"
Braag's attack had another favourable effect as it allowed the melee classes to reach Vren more easily.
Attacks drowned the boss like a terrifying tsunami. Vren, however, was a tall cliff, enduring the corrosion, blocking the waves with minimal losses.
But the ocean never grew tired, decreasing his HP little by little. When Vren managed to shake off his weakened status Dream Avenue afflicted another 20.000 points.