The transition from the sweltering heat of the boss room back to the gloomy Dead Man's Gorge was jarring. The grey mist felt freezing against their skin.
Sebastian and Valerie materialized at the dungeon entrance.
Before their vision even cleared, the sound of steel being drawn echoed around them.
"There he is! Surround him!"
Sebastian opened his eyes.
Surrounded. A semi-circle of fifty players stood between them and the exit of the gorge. They wore the golden tabards of the [Golden Lion Guild].
In the center stood Baron_K. Wearing a new set of shining armor. Likely bought with real money. He held a greatsword that looked too heavy for him.
"Well, well," Baron_K sneered. His face twisted in a triumphant grin. "The rat comes out of his hole."
Valerie gripped her new staff. Her knuckles white. "Baron. This is Blue Rose territory. You are violating the treaty."
"Treaty?" Baron_K laughed. "The Blue Rose is weak, Valerie. You? You're just a little girl playing with fire."
He pointed his sword at Sebastian.
"And you... Zero. You humiliated me at the auction house. Made me look weak. Do you think 10,000 gold makes you powerful? Here, in the wild, numbers make you powerful."
Baron_K gestured to his fifty men.
"I have fifty Level 10 elites here. Tanks, healers, DPS. You are one man in rags and a mage girl. Drop the loot you got from the dungeon. Drop your gear. Delete your character. Maybe then I'll let you leave."
Sebastian looked at the army. Looked at the healers standing in the back. The tanks with their shields raised. The archers with arrows nocked. It was a proper raid formation. Against any normal player, this was checkmate.
Sebastian sighed. A sound of genuine disappointment.
"Is this it?" Sebastian asked.
Baron_K blinked. "What?"
"I expected more," Sebastian said. Taking a step forward. "Fifty? I killed a hundred elites five minutes ago."
"Bluffing trash!" Baron_K roared. "Kill him! Focus fire!"
"Arrows loose!" a commander shouted.
Twenty arrows flew through the air. Aimed directly at Sebastian's heart.
"Gravity," Sebastian whispered.
He didn't move. Didn't cast a shield.
He stomped his foot on the ground.
[Skill: Earth Bind] -> [Gravity Press] -> [Gravity Well (Forbidden Tier)].
VROOOOM.
The air in the gorge suddenly became heavy. Terrifyingly heavy.
The arrows froze in mid-air. Ten meters from Sebastian. Then they snapped. The wooden shafts splintered as if an invisible hand had crushed them. They fell straight down. Embedding themselves into the rock.
"What?" The archers stared at their bows. Which were suddenly pulled down by a massive force.
"Kneel," Sebastian commanded.
He extended the range of the [Gravity Well].
The effect was instantaneous. Brutal.
CRACK. SNAP. THUD.
Fifty players simultaneously collapsed.
It wasn't a gentle fall. It was as if the gravity in the area had increased by fifty times.
The tanks in heavy armor suffered the worst. Their metal plates crumpled inward. Crushing their ribs. They screamed. The air was squeezed out of their lungs though. Turning their screams into wet gurgles.
The mages and healers, wearing cloth, were flattened against the ground. Faces pressed into the dirt. Bones snapped audibly.
Baron_K fell to his hands and knees. His expensive, shining armor groaned under the pressure. He tried to look up. His neck wouldn't obey. He felt like a mountain was resting on his shoulders.
"System... System Error!" Baron_K wheezed. Blood trickling from his nose. "I can't move! What is this hack?!"
Sebastian walked forward. Under the effect of his own spell, he was immune to the gravitational distortion. He walked among the groaning, crushed players like a god walking through a garden of statues.
He stopped in front of Baron_K.
"You brought numbers," Sebastian said. Looking down at the guild master. "But you forgot physics. Mass is irrelevant under sufficient pressure."
He placed his boot on Baron_K's helmeted head.
"Please..." Baron_K choked out. Tears mixing with the blood. "I'll pay! I'll give you anything!"
"I don't want your money," Sebastian said softly. "I have infinite money."
He pressed down.
CRUNCH.
Baron_K's avatar exploded into blue pixels.
[Ding! You have killed Player 'Baron_K'.]
[Karma Value Increased (Evil).]
Sebastian turned to the remaining forty-nine players. Terrified. Watching their leader get crushed like a bug.
"Does anyone else want my loot?" Sebastian asked.
"No! Mercy! We were just following orders!" a healer cried out.
"Leave your gear," Sebastian ordered. "Crawl away."
He deactivated the [Gravity Well].
The pressure vanished. The survivors gasped. Sucking in air. They didn't hesitate. Stripped off their weapons. Their armor. Their potions—dropping everything in a pile at Sebastian's feet. Then they ran. Ran naked and terrified back toward the village. Scrambling over each other to escape the monster in rags.
Valerie stood by the dungeon entrance. Her mouth agape. She looked at the pile of loot—worth thousands of gold—then at Sebastian. Who was calmly sorting through it.
"Who are you?" she whispered. "Really?"
Sebastian picked up a [Golden Lion Shield]. Tossed it into his infinite inventory.
"I told you," he said. Turning back to the path. "I'm the guy who's going to clear this game."
He looked up at the sky. A system announcement was flashing across the world. Red and urgent.
[World Announcement: The First World Boss has spawned: The Doom-Howl Wolf.]
Sebastian smiled.
"Right on schedule. Let's go, Valerie. We have a Guild Token to steal."