The Plains of Despair lived up to their name.
A vast, desolate expanse of cracked earth and grey grass. Stretching out to the horizon under a sky that looked like a bruised plum. Usually, this area was populated by wandering skeletons and wild dogs.
Today it was populated by an ocean of players.
From a ridge overlooking the plains, the sight was breathtaking. Terrifying. At least twenty thousand players had gathered in the hour since the announcement. A sea of iron armor, leather tunics, colorful mage robes. Shifting and murmuring like a restless beast.
The chaotic ocean had a structure though.
At the very center of the plains, where a massive, swirling red rune marked the boss spawn point, a perimeter had been established.
Not a system barrier. A wall of bodies.
Three massive guilds had formed a temporary, uneasy alliance to monopolize the boss.
To the North, the [Crimson Skull] guild. Their players wore red and black. Forming a shield wall three ranks deep.
To the East, the remnants of the [Golden Lion]. Reinforced by their main force from the city. They looked angry. Humiliated. Eager for blood.
To the West, the [Iron Covenant]. A paramilitary guild known for their discipline.
They'd cordoned off a one-kilometer "Kill Zone" around the spawn point.
"BACK OFF!" a Crimson Skull commander roared. Pointing a spear at the crowd of independent players pushing against the line. "This area is restricted! Anyone who crosses the line gets killed!"
"You can't own the map!" a solo warrior shouted back. "This is a World Boss! It belongs to everyone!"
"It belongs to the strong!" the commander sneered. "Fire a warning volley!"
Whoosh-Whoosh-Whoosh!
A rain of arrows struck the ground. Just inches from the feet of the front-row players. The crowd surged back in fear. The threat was real. The big guilds were willing to PK to secure the token.
On the Southern edge of the perimeter, the situation was different.
Here, a smaller guild was trying to hold a position. They wore elegant blue and silver tabards with a rose emblem.
The [Blue Rose Guild].
"Hold the line!" a vice-captain shouted. "Don't let the Iron Covenant push us back!"
They were losing though. The Iron Covenant players were pushing forward with tower shields. Physically shoving the Blue Rose members away from the prime spot.
"Move it, princesses," an Iron Covenant officer laughed. "Go back to the garden. This is a battlefield."
In the backline of the Blue Rose formation, players were panicking.
"Where is Lady Valerie? We need a commander!"
"The Guild Master is stuck in a dungeon raid! We're on our own!"
Suddenly a ripple went through the crowd at the back of the Blue Rose formation.
"Make way!"
Two figures walked through the parting sea of players.
One was a woman in a torn but expensive mage robe. Her face set in a grim mask of determination. Holding a [Staff of the Dead] that radiated a sickly green aura.
The other was a man in beggar's rags. Walking with his hands in his pockets. Looking as if he were taking a stroll through a park rather than walking into a warzone.
"Lady Valerie!"
"She's here!"
The Blue Rose players cheered. Morale spiked instantly.
Valerie walked to the front of her guild's line. Right where the Iron Covenant was pushing. She looked at the Covenant officer—a burly man named "Bastion."
"Bastion," Valerie said. Her voice cold. "Tell your men to step back. This is our sector."
Bastion looked at her. Then at the ragged man beside her. He smirked.
"Or what, little girl? You going to cry to your daddy? And who is this? Did you hire a hobo for moral support?"
Bastion reached out to shove Sebastian away. "Get lost, trash."
Sebastian didn't move. Didn't blink.
He simply looked at the hand reaching for him.
"Touch me," Sebastian said softly, "and you lose the hand."
Bastion paused. There was something in the Drifter's voice. A lack of fear that was unnatural. Bastion was a high-ranking officer of a top guild though. He couldn't back down in front of thousands of people.
"You think you're tough?" Bastion growled. He activated [Iron Skin]. Swung a heavy gauntleted fist at Sebastian's face.
The crowd gasped.
Sebastian sighed.
[Skill: Sky Walk]
He didn't dodge. He simply stepped up.
He walked onto the air. Rising two meters off the ground. Bastion's fist passed harmlessly beneath his feet.
Sebastian stood in the air. Looking down at the tank.
"Gravity."
He pointed a finger down.
[Skill: Gravity Press (Single Target)]
BOOM.
Not a spell. An execution. An invisible column of force slammed into Bastion.
The tank didn't even have time to scream. He was driven into the ground like a nail. His armor crunched. His knees shattered. He was flattened into the dirt. Leaving a Bastion-shaped crater.
[-3,500 HP (True Damage)]
[Ding! You have killed Player 'Bastion'.]
Silence.
Absolute silence spread from the Blue Rose sector like a shockwave. Twenty thousand players turned to look.
A man floating in the air. Wearing rags. Had just one-shot a main tank of the Iron Covenant.
Valerie stepped forward. Her staff glowing. She addressed the terrified Iron Covenant soldiers who were staring at their flattened commander.
"I said," Valerie repeated. Her voice ringing clear, "step back."
The Iron Covenant line collapsed. They scrambled backward. Terrified of the floating demon.
Sebastian descended slowly. Landing beside Valerie.
"Showy," Valerie whispered. Though she was smiling.
"Necessary," Sebastian replied. He looked toward the center of the plains.
The swirling red rune was pulsating faster. The ground was cracking.
[System Alert: The Doom-Howl Wolf is spawning in 10 seconds.]
"They are all focused on me," Sebastian noted. Seeing the commanders of the Crimson Skull and Golden Lion turning their armies toward him. "Good."
"Good?" Valerie asked. "They are going to target us!"
"No," Sebastian said. Equipping the [Shadowfang] dagger. "They are going to try. In ten seconds though, their problems won't be me."
He pointed at the rune.
"The King is coming."
CRACK!
The earth split open. A roar that shattered eardrums and shook the UI of every player erupted from the fissure.
The boss wasn't just spawning. It was climbing out of hell.
"Get your guild back," Sebastian warned Valerie. "Range 500 meters. Anything closer is death."
"What about you?"
Sebastian turned to face the spawning monster. His ragged cloak fluttering in the rising mana storm.
"I have a meeting with the boss."