The Final Cave's Secrets
Point out any errors I made in the chapters, as I'm very lazy and sometimes can't be bothered to reread them. Also give your opinions on something I should change or add.
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According to the information Feng received from Blackie, a meteorite shower had rained down on the White River City Region, then a system notification suddenly appeared in White River City, stating that the meteorite shower had destroyed the entire White Fog Canyon, a Level 20 to Level 30 grinding area.
All the monsters within White Fog Canyon have gone berserk, and based on the information Zero Wing's members checked in order to confirm their knowledge from the previous timeline, these monsters have a surprisingly high drop-rates, and the EXP they give is also significant. On top of that, a Ruined Shrine has appeared inside the White Fog Canyon which powerful monsters guarding something inside the shrine. A few Assassins had snuck in to have a look and they discovered that there was a Level 25 Great Lord ranked monster deep inside the Ruined Shrine. Currently, the various Guilds are organizing their personnel and preparing to raid the Level 25 Great Lord.
A Great Lord was an existence that surpassed a High Lord. Such monsters did not even exist in Level 50 large-scale Hell Mode Team Dungeons. At most, the Final Boss of said Dungeon might be a High Lord.
Yet, now, a Great Lord had actually appeared. Without a doubt, its appearance would draw Guilds to it.
The ironclad rule of God's Domain was that the stronger a monster was, the better its drops would be.
Blackie, according to Feng's orders from the previous timeline, had called for five hundred members of Zero Wing to gather at White Fog Canyon's entrance, two hundred of which were members who've had their memories restored, and he was just asking for confirmation on whether to increase the number, to which Feng said it was fine as is.
Five hundred would be enough for his needs, as the two hundred restored members could accomplish whatever tasks were necessary, while the rest of the three hundred or so were there to fill in numbers, as well as using the chance to train those whose memories wouldn't be restored.
Half an hour later, Feng and Violet arrived in White Fog Canyon.
The layer of fog that previously hid the canyon had dissipated. Instead, craters and flames filled the area. A dilapidated shrine loomed in White Fog Canyon's center. Plenty of monsters also patrolled the surroundings of said shrine.
After Feng arrived, he discovered that players crowded around the entrance to White Fog Canyon. There were tens of thousands of players. However, although all of the Guilds of White River City had come, the majority consisted of independent players.
As for Zero Wing, most of the members who had gone to do their Class Change Quests have already successfully promoted and returned; with only the ones whose memories were restored later still in the middle of theirs.
Feng noticed Fire standing at the front of the gathered members along with Aqua. There weren't any differences to her appearance after class changing into an Atrocity, but the aura around had changed drastically. The intense aura gave off an incredibly dark feeling that slightly reminded Feng of the Atrocities he had seen in his previous life; but oddly enough, he didn't sense any of the evil aura that was normal for Atrocities to possess from Fire, causing Feng to not be sure what to make of it.
She had also suppressed it and hid it very well, to the point it was nearly completely gone and that even those with restored memories weren't able to notice its intensity; only sensing that it was different and darker than before.
If not for his powerful senses and his strength being higher than Fire's, Feng would not have noticed it either.
Meanwhile, Violet frowned slightly upon seeing Fire. After class changing into a True Saint, her affinity with the holy element as well as her perception of dark beings had increased exponentially. On top of that, one of the True Saint's Passive skills that she got from completing the Quest was Detect Evil[1], which although could be obtained by higher tiered players later on, the one Violet received was of a much higher quality and purity.
And right now, the Detect Evil skill became activated as soon as she got near Fire. However, what truly surprised Violet was the feedback she received from Detect Evil, which was a bit abnormal. Normally, if a being is aligned with the dark forces, Detect Evil would immediately sense it and notify her, and if a person simply had some traces of evil on them, Detect Evil would give feedback about it accordingly.
Yet, for Fire, the feedback from Detect Evil was weird, as it sensed that there was a dark aura on her, and that she possessed it inside of her, but not that she was tainted with it or affiliated with the detected evil. It was an odd situation, one Violet had never heard of before.
She turned to Feng, wanting to inform and ask him about it, but seeing him glance at Fire before moving on, Violet guessed he already most likely knew about the situation, so she stayed silent and went on like usual.
"Guild Leader, from our investigations, we discovered that Overwhelming Smile has dispatched over 6,000 members to White Fog Canyon, Emperor's Light has sent over 2,000, Assassin's Alliance has sent over 2,000 players, and Ouroboros has also sent over 3,000 players. All of these players are elites who are Level 21 and above. Yet, we've only brought 500 members with us. Do we really have enough players?" Aqua Rose asked worriedly.
"It's enough. Having too many people isn't necessarily a good thing. Moreover, our goal is different," Feng stated.
Before his arrival, Feng had done his own calculations. White Fog Canyon was not particularly large. The crash sites were also limited in number. Five hundred people were just about right for the task he had in mind. Sending any more would just be a waste of manpower.
"Are we not going to the Ruined Shrine?" Aqua Rose was greatly surprised.
Had they not gathered the top combatants of the Guild to raid the Great Lord inside the Ruined Shrine?
It would not benefit Zero Wing if Overwhelming Smile managed to raid the Great Lord successfully first.
Currently, their Guild also had quite a number of Tier 1 players.
Compared to Overwhelming Smile, they would have a much easier time raiding the Great Lord. Yet, that wasn't their goal?
"We'll go to kill the Great Lord eventually, but for now, we have something else to do. The rest of the guilds can go on and get themselves killed first."
As Feng marked locations on the system map, more players continued to arrive at White Fog Canyon.
When Feng had arrived, he had changed his appearance to Black Flame. As a result, he received an extraordinary amount of attention.
"Wow! Isn't that Guild Leader Black Flame?"
"He's so powerful! Just looking at him makes my heart pound! It would be great if I could become friends with him!"
"Why don't you look in the mirror first? Guild Leader Black Flame is the number one expert in Star-Moon Kingdom. Meeting him alone is a rare chance, much less becoming friends with him."
"Sure enough, One-hit Asura is here as well. Things in the White Fog Canyon will be more interesting now."
"No duh. Overwhelming Smile's influence in White River City continues to grow. If Zero Wing fails to achieve anything in the competition over White Fog Canyon, it will become the laughingstock of White River City."
"However, Overwhelming Smile has dispatched an impressive army of players. Look; even Overwhelming Smile's Branch Leader, Lone Tyrant, has shown up. A huge war is going to break out over the canyon. I hurried here specifically to watch this war unfold."
Upon seeing Feng, many players began to discuss Zero Wing and Overwhelming Smile.
Currently, the atmosphere surrounding White River City grew increasingly tense with each passing day. Despite Overwhelming Smile's clear attempts to suppress Zero Wing, it had not acted directly. Thus far, it had only employed various plots to poach the members of Zero Wing. It was as if Overwhelming Smile was dead set on stealing every single member from Zero Wing. Meanwhile, Zero Wing showed no signs of taking action. The Guild had only declared that all members who withdrew from Zero Wing were permanently barred from joining the Guild again in the future. At the same time, Zero Wing also lowered their recruitment criteria.
Both sides appeared strangely calm as they maintained a delicate balance. No one knew what these Guilds were thinking.
There was a faint feeling of a storm brewing behind the scenes.
Now that these Guilds had gathered in the White Fog Canyon, they were both on high-alert for each other.
When Lone Tyrant saw Feng, his eyes turned bloodshot as killing intent radiated from his body. He glared at Feng as if the man was his greatest enemy.
Any expert could feel Lone Tyrant's killing intent. Naturally, Feng was no exception.
"Guild Leader, it seems that Lone Tyrant's hatred for you is quite intense. Despite the fact that you've killed him several times, he refuses to learn his lesson." Aqua Rose giggled.
"Ignore the noob. He isn't worth paying attention to." Feng dismissed the man glaring at him with complete nonchalance.
At this moment, a graceful and quiet woman standing beside Lone Tyrant softly reminded him, "Brother Tyrant, we have not come here to wage war with Zero Wing. Don't forget our goal."
Listening to this woman's words, Lone Tyrant shot Feng a glare before turning to enter the White Fog Canyon.
Youlan then looked at Feng and the others with caution in her eyes, before she followed after Lone Tyrant and led the army of over 6,000 players into the White Fog Canyon.
After Overwhelming Smile entered the canyon, the other Guilds promptly followed. Only Feng and the others lingered at the entrance.
"Guild Leader, Overwhelming Smile, Emperor's Light, and Assassin's Alliance have already entered. Are we not going in yet?" Aqua Rose asked as she watched Guild after Guild enter the White Fog Canyon.
"In a moment. I'll be done soon," Feng leisurely responded.
White Fog Canyon was a Level 20 to Level 30 grinding area. Or rather, it had been originally. However, after the meteorite shower, the monsters inside had gone Berserk and had become far more difficult to deal with. At the very least, the White Fog Canyon was no longer suitable for ordinary players around Level 20.
When in a Berserk state, monsters' damage and Attack Speed would increase by a minimum of 30%. With this increase, a Common monster would possess the combat power of an Elite monster and so on.
However, this was only the beginning.
As time passed, the monsters within White Fog Canyon would also grow stronger and more numerous. Soon, even the weakest monsters inside the canyon would become Elites, while a majority of the monsters would be Special Elites. There would also be quite a number of Chieftains and Lords.
Moreover, all these monsters would have also entered a Berserk state...
Just thinking about this gave one goosebumps.
Based on how long it had been since the meteorite shower, Feng could say with certainty that there were no longer any Common monsters inside White Fog Canyon. At the very minimum, the monsters inside the canyon would be Elites. Moreover, the monsters would move in groups and respawn very quickly. There would also be many danger spots inside the canyon.
Meanwhile, the core area of the White Fog Canyon spoke for itself. The results of rushing in unprepared were obvious.
Currently, the baseline for entering White Fog Canyon was Level 20 Tier 1 or around Level 30 Tier 0.
Although players could improve their chances by going in with larger numbers, this canyon was still significantly dangerous.
Of course, that only applied to regular players and powers. Feng and his group could naturally move through White Fog Canyon completely unhindered without any worries.
Though, Feng still sketched out a new map of the White Fog Canyon based on his memories of the past. On the new map, he had made sure to indicate locations that the regular members of Zero Wing should avoid. He had also marked a few danger spots and all of the mining spots he had found in both lives.
Although it was a time-consuming task, this new map would undeniably reduce the losses his Guild members suffered.
Naturally, however, Feng wasn't going through all this trouble to draw a map, or even bothering to go in the White Fog Canyon at all for that matter, simply to get some Starfire Ore.
After White Fog Canyon was destroyed, Starfire Ore could been found all over the area.
Starfire Ore was incredibly rare, and it could only be found around the crash sites of meteorites. Starfire Essence could be extracted from refined Starfire Ore and could increase the success rate of forging. The more Starfire Essence one used, the higher their success rate would be. Although Starfire Essence was ineffective when forging Dark-Gold ranked items and above, it could still allow forgers to produce various Secret-Silver and Fine-Gold Equipment. Hence, Starfire Essence was very valuable.
In his first life, a piece of Starfire Ore could sell for 1 Silver Coin, whereas a piece of Starfire Essence could sell for 4 Silver Coins. Even the independent players of White River City had hungered for Starfire Ore.
Despite that, Feng's goal wasn't at all the Starfire Ore, and the valuable ore was only a bonus he'd get along the way to boost the lower members of Candlelight whose memories aren't restored, as well as to make sure none of the other guilds in White River City could obtain it.
Instead, the real reasons for Feng coming to the White Fog Canyon were the potential, incredibly valuable, tool he could get from it, the secrets of the White Fog Canyon, as well as using this chance to start a war with Overwhelming Smile while crippling its current main force in White River City and getting rid of an annoyance that could make eradicating Overwhelming Smile from God's Domain a bit troublesome.
The minutes crawled by.
While Feng was busy scribbling down the White Fog Canyon, over a dozen minutes had passed since the crowd of independent players and Guilds had entered White Fog Canyon.
Suddenly, the members of Zero Wing, who had waited silently at the canyon's entrance, noticed many players exiting the canyon. These players looked pitiful. They left in parties of twos and threes; not a single complete party passed the watching Zero Wing players.
Unable to contain their curiosity, one of the Zero Wing members walked over and asked, "What happened to you guys? It's only been around 10 minutes since you went in. How did you guys end up in such sorry states so quickly?"
These players had relatively powerful equipment. They were fully geared in Bronze Equipment at the very minimum. Logically, a party of such caliber should not have any issues dealing with a Level 22 or 23 Special Elite. Yet, all of these parties had lost at least half of their members...
"What do you know? The monsters inside White Fog Canyon are all Berserk Elites. Even our Level 21 Shield Warrior could only take a dozen hits at most. Facing one was hard enough. Yet, for some reason, the monsters in there move in groups of three at least. They also have a massive aggro range, so they are easy to pull. Many had party-wiped, and we only managed to escape after much difficulty. We've decided to level elsewhere until we hit Level 25 at least.," a Level 21 veteran player replied, sighing. At this moment, his heart still trembled when he thought back to those groups of Elite monsters.
The Zero Wing members laughed when they heard these independent players.
In the end, independent players only amounted to so much. Even with a party of six, two or three Elites had been too much for them. They were truly weak.
Although some the members of Zero Wing wished to grumbled about Feng's approach, as all of the other guilds have already gone ahead and might kill the Great Lord before them, seeing that all those who are known to be experts in the guild stay completely silent and simply wait for the Guild Leader to issue orders, they chose to keep quiet as well; when suddenly, a team of several hundred players left the White Fog Canyon.
These players' equipment looked uniform, and they all wore the same Guild Emblem on their chests. They were clearly a Guild Team.
"What's up with these people?"
The unrecovered crowd from Zero Wing grew curious as they watched the members of this Guild Team, disgrace haunting these players' expressions.
Following which, another large wave of players came out of White Fog Canyon, these players also belonging to a Guild. However, the second Guild Team had far more members than the first. Moreover, instead of slowly walking out of the canyon, these players ran in a panic.
This scene thoroughly confused the Zero Wing members waiting by the canyon's entrance.
Had these people gone insane?
"Wait! There's something behind them!" one of Zero Wing's Level 22 Rangers with the Eagle Eyes skill said.
Those who could be bothered to care from Zero Wing then shifted their gazes and were immediately dumbfounded by what they saw.
Previously, they had not been able to get a clear view due to being too far away. Now that it had come to them, they could finally see it.
Behind the frantically running players, thousands of Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys stormed after them. These bloodthirsty Monkeys released frenzied roars as they charged at the escaping players like a tsunami, devouring everything in their path.
[Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys] (Elite Rank)
Level 22
HP 16,000/16,000
Although these Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys did not have a lot of HP, compared to players, their bodies were half a size larger. Not only were they nimble and powerful, but they also possessed naturally long arms. In addition, they wielded weapons and were also capable of using these weapons as proficient as players. Defeating this monsters would not be easy.
Meanwhile, among these thousands of Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys, there were also a few larger Armored Battle Monkeys squeezed in. These Armored Battle Monkeys were covered in scars, a testament to the many battles they had fought. Compared to the Elite ranked Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys, the Armored Battle Monkeys were much stronger. It was not just because of their ranks as Special Elites, but more so because of their combat techniques, which were far superior than ordinary players'.
[Armored Battle Monkeys] (Special Elite)
Level 24
HP 54,000/54,000
Moreover, whenever the tide of Battle Monkeys caught up to some of the escaping players, they would only tackle and hack said players to death in groups of three to five; not every Battle Monkey would stop to attack. Although frenzied, these Battle Monkeys fought with intelligence and organization.
More players continued to die.
"Save me! Save me, please!"
"I don't want to die!"
Many players screamed as the Battle Monkeys caught up to them. As for resisting....
Most of them had forgotten how to do that. The players of God's Domain had never experienced such horrific slaughter before, and their legs had long since gone limp with fear. At this moment, only those who possessed a strong heart managed to keep running, whereas the weaker-willed players had died under the monster tsunami.
Although some of the escaping players were also attacking as they ran, there were simply too many Battle Monkeys. Retaliation was no different than pouring a cup of water into a raging inferno.
After a short moment, over a hundred players had died.
In the end, the players who escaped the White Fog Canyon numbered less than 500. These players had even implicated the Guild Team that had escaped before them, causing the latter to suffer another loss of over a hundred players.
After seeing the massacre, the idle watching members of Zero Wing were stupefied.
These Battle Monkeys were terrifying!
"Are these really monsters?"
This question lingered in their hearts. The Battle Monkeys had behaved completely different from the monsters they had seen and fought before. Fighting these monsters was no longer "grinding." Rather, it looked more like a full-blown war.
At this moment, the Zero Wing members who had previously inwardly complained about Feng's decision fell completely silent. Now, they only admired Feng's forethought. If they had not witnessed this scene and had foolishly charged into White Fog Canyon, it was highly possible that they would have suffered a similar fate to those players.
As for the other Guild members, they looked at Feng with even greater reverence now.
Moreover, they also looked on with respect at the rest of the Zero Wing members who stayed quiet and composed the entire time, feeling that those people were truly experts for a reason.
The Zero Wing members who've had their memories restored became speechless upon noticing the gazes of respect and admiration. They've already seen this scenario before and knew it would happen way beforehand, so how could they possibly be shocked by it? Not to mention they've seen much greater and larger things and fights in their lives. It's only natural for them to remain calm through out it.
Those members suddenly thought if this was how their Guild Leader had felt like in the previous timeline upon remembering their own reactions.
While the crowd from Zero Wing continued to linger around the entrance, one Guild Team after another fled the canyon. As for the independent parties, very few had managed to escape as practically all of them had died inside the canyon.
Instead of calling the White Fog Canyon a precious grinding spot, it was more like a gigantic meat grinder.
"Alright, let's join the party," Feng said after he finished organizing his map. He then said in the team chat, "You've seen for yourselves the various Guild Teams that have escaped. Most of those Guild Teams have more members than we do. However, as you can see, only half of them made it out alive. You can imagine for yourselves just how dangerous White Fog Canyon is, so I hope that everyone will obey the commands given to you. Do not take any arbitrary actions. If anyone violates their orders, I will deal with you personally!"
The crowd involuntarily trembled upon hearing Feng's words, tensing unconsciously; including the restored members.
This had already become an instinct for them, knowing full well what kind of punishments their Leader dishes out for those who disobey and don't follow his orders to the letter.
"Since no one has any issues, stand by the groups and formations previously arranged." Feng nodded and said, "Let's head in, then."
After the meteorite shower, White Fog Canyon had ceased to be a grinding area. It was more like a super-large-scale Dungeon. Instead of grinding monsters, they were about to wage war inside the canyon. Danger lurked around every corner of the map. Inside the canyon, they did not need to look for the Battle Monkeys, as the Battle Monkeys had long since been ready to ambush them. Hence, they needed to stay vigilant inside the canyon.
The formation Feng had organized scattered the MTs around the team, whereas healers and ranged classes were safer in the center of the group. As for the Assassins, they were sent to scout ahead, reporting back any activities they discovered so as to avoid an ambush.
Under Feng's lead, the Zero Wing team quickly arrived at the inner region of the White Fog Canyon.
During this period, everyone had experienced several battles, and the Battle Monkeys they killed numbered over a thousand. Everyone's experience bars rose significantly as a result. They had also obtained plenty of Level 20 and above Bronze Equipment and materials. Most importantly, the team had suffered zero casualties throughout the journey.
This situation caused everyone's reverence towards Feng to soar once more.
Previously, some of the members had simply thought of Black Flame as someone with impressive strength. They had never expected him to be a superior leader as well.
Suddenly, Fire, who was in Stealth in a nearby tree, reported in the team chat, "Guild Leader, a group of nearly 300 Battle Monkeys currently approaches from the left side of the team. Contact in roughly 30 seconds."
"Guild Leader, a group of close to 400 Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys approaches from the rear. There are also a dozen or so Armored Battle Monkeys with them. They will reach the team's current location in roughly one minute." Flying Shadow, one of the Four Demon Generals, reported.
"Everyone, run towards the narrow gorge ahead." Feng commanded through the team chat. "Cola, your MT group will be responsible for blocking the entrance of the gorge. The other MTs, get ready to replace them at any given moment."
Thanks to his brain activity, Feng could remember the topography of the White Fog Canyon like the back of his hand.
Of course, Feng could simply have the restored members take care of the approaching Battle Monkeys, or just do it himself, but he chose to use this chance as a teaching opportunity for the three hundred or so regular members.
After all, even if Feng were to restore the memories of every Zero Wing member whose soul he had seen, that would only be a small part of the original Zero Wing. A successful guild can't run on just top combatants alone. It also needed lower ranked members to function properly and efficiently.
Thus, Feng needed to have the current members somewhat trained, and then they'll go on to train the members that join later. In fact, he had already instructed some of the restored members to help out and train the rest of the members during grinding and dungeon raiding, which served to greatly improve the overall combat standards of the current Zero Wing elites even with just simple and casual guides.
Not to mention, quite a few among those members were ones who had died in the previous timeline, and Feng had made a vow that he'd repay their sacrifices by making them stronger and help them reach greater heights than they ever managed to in their previous lives. But that would first have to start with the basics.
Though, aside from training and giving a good impression as the Guild Leader, there was another reason for why Feng chose to use exactly this move, which was the same one as in the previous timeline.
Along the way to the White Fog Canyon, Feng had inquired from Violet about what had happened in the previous timeline, and found out that the Flame Guards, which had chased their group into the Final Cave where Feng found Icarus's Heart, had appeared shortly after Feng had passed out due to overexerting himself while using Void Steps and they took care of the large group of Battle Monkeys.
There was no Final Cave from what Feng knew in the first timeline, so his group must have triggered some kind of conditions or event. So Feng was planning to mostly reenact the past situation in order to see if the Flame Guards will show up and chase them towards the Final Cave once more; which was the main goal for Feng coming to the White Fog Canyon.
A moment later, Zero Wing's team of 500 entered the gorge. Meanwhile, Cola, along with fourteen other MTs, walled off the entrance into White Fog Canyon's inner region. Anyone or anything that wanted through would have to break through these fifteen MTs first.
At first, the unrestored Zero Wing members still worried about the army of Battle Monkeys. However, after seeing Feng maneuver his troops, they sighed with relief. They had never expected that this canyon would contain such strategic terrain.
In such a narrow area, the Battle Monkeys could not take advantage of their numbers. Moreover, with this setup, they did not have to worry about a pincer attack; they only needed to focus on a single location.
Shortly after everyone prepared their defenses, the first wave of close to 300 Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys slammed into their MT wall. Like the cavalry charge on ancient battlefields, the enemy stampede shook even the land. The sound of the Monkeys' bloodthirsty roars that echoed throughout the gorge sent tremors through everyone's hearts.
Despite having already experienced over a dozen battles, Zero Wing's elites still panicked.
Compared to the previous battles, this was on an entirely different level. The Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys appeared to be more organized than the foes they had faced before. These Battle Monkeys also seemed much fiercer, resembling the Battle Monkeys they had seen back at the entrance of the White Fog Canyon.
"Guild Leader, these Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys look strange. I feel that not only have they become more organized, but they are also stronger than before." Aqua Rose frowned slightly. Inwardly, she worried that Cola and the others might not be able to hold off this wave of monsters.
"Of course. The Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys we fought before were merely washouts. Meanwhile, the ones we are about to face right now are the victors, so, naturally, they are much stronger," Feng explained as he nodded. "Moreover, these Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys have a warchief at their backs. Look over there."
As he said so, Feng pointed towards a large tree outside of the gorge. Standing in the large tree was a slightly smaller Battle Monkey covered in fine black leather armor.
[Battle Monkey Warchief] (Chieftain Rank)
Level 25
HP 140,000/140,000
The Battle Monkey Warchief possessed the Warchief's Aura, increasing the Attributes of the surrounding Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys by 10%. An ordinary MT simply could not withstand the attacks from these Elite ranked Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys. It was simply impossible for a Tier 0 MT around Level 21 to survive. Hence, the various Guilds had been massacred upon meeting such monster armies.
Watching the Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys charge towards them, Feng said, "All Clerics, cast Sacred Shields on the MTs. Oracles, use Prayer Barrier. Cola, activate Guardian Aura."
Immediately, the Guardian Knights and Shield Warriors on the frontline each received a Sacred Shield from the Clerics, the shield being capable of absorbing a large amount of damage. In addition, there were also Prayer Barriers cast in front of them. These barriers could similarly absorb a certain amount of damage from the front. Finally, Cola's Guardian Aura increased everyone's Defense. Faced with the physical attacks of the Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys, the Guardian Aura would be particularly beneficial.
Zero Wing's member's levels were, on average, higher than those in other Guilds. For this operation, the Guardian Knights and Shield Warriors dispatched were all Level 23 and above, and each one had at least 4,400 HP. Of course, that was only for those regular members. The others have all already been promoted into Tier 1 classes and each had more than 6,000 HP.
Just as the wave of Battle Monkeys arrived before Cola and the others, Cola suddenly shouted, "Aegis Protection!"
In the blink of an eye, a faint golden glow covered every MT.
[Aegis Protection]
Tier 1
Reduces damage taken for all allies within a 30-yard radius by 30% for 12 seconds.
Cooldown: 1 minute 30 seconds
Simultaneously, everyone readied their shields to defend against the Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys' attacks.
Bang... Bang... Bang...
The instant both sides collided, the Prayer Barrier shattered. Only the Sacred Shields still barely supported the MTs.
However, the Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys' charge was overwhelming, and some of the members were forced to take a few steps back.
In the next moment, the Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys, which had stopped their charge, brandished their swords and sabers at the MTs. Their Attack Speeds were incredible, preventing the players from catching their breaths. However, all of the MTs reacted promptly and defended themselves against the oncoming attacks.
"I'll leave this to you all while I deal with that Warchief." After issuing the command, Feng looked towards the Battle Monkey Warchief, before bending his legs slightly.
When one met a Battle Monkey army in the White Fog Canyon, they first needed to exterminate the Battle Monkey Warchief. Not only could the Warchief increase his subordinates' Attributes and raise their attack efficiency, but it could also call for infinite reinforcements. Hence, players needed to kill the Warchief as soon as possible.
Players would simply be asking for trouble if they dragged the fight on for too long without killing the Warchief.
However, taking it out can be troublesome.
This did not mean that the Battle Monkey Warchief was overly powerful. Rather, compared to the other Battle Monkeys, the Warchief was far more sensitive to danger. When its own life was at risk, it would flee. Moreover, the Warchief was also more agile than the other Battle Monkeys, as could be seen from its thin and lean body. Hence, players would find it difficult to kill.
Meanwhile, the Battle Monkey Warchief turned and ran the moment Feng's gaze landed on it, feeling that the tiny human was dangerous. As it jumped along the trees, the Warchief suddenly sensed incredible, fatal danger. However, before it could react and turn towards the danger's source, the wind sharply rolled as a shadow flew past it.
Feng stood in front of the Battle Monkey Warchief with his back turned towards it and a pitch-black sword dripping with blood in his hand. His Cloak danced in the wind as the aftershock of his jump spread out to the surroundings.
The Battle Monkey Warchief froze in place after Feng flew past and remained in front of it. In the next moment, the Warchief's body fell apart into pieces with its limbs and head dismembered; while its 140,000 HP had disappeared in an instant.
A golden glow surrounded Feng as he was sheathing the Pandemonium Lashblade, signaling that he had leveled up to Level 21. With the Battle Monkey Warchief being a Berserk Chieftain that was five levels higher than him, even with Feng being a Blade Saint and needing two times the EXP in order to level up, the amount the Warchief had provided was plentiful enough for him to level up.
Following which, Feng picked up the Battle Monkey Warchief's loot before heading back to the group who was exterminating the Battle Monkey army.
After Feng left to deal with the Battle Monkey Warchief, the ranged classes of Zero Wing within the gorge began to take action.
Cola and the other MTs had successfully held off the first charge. The healers in the back had also stabilized the fifteen MTs' HP. The only thing left to do was to clean up the assaulting Battle Monkeys.
Standing in the rear, Blackie had begun to chant an incantation, waving his staff.
After becoming a Tier 1 Darkness Meister, Blackie's damage had increased significantly. At the same time, he had also learned multiple new Tier 1 skills, among which was Magic Synergy.
[Magic Synergy]
Tier 1
Increases the efficiency of the caster's spells, improving spell effects by 30% and reducing cast time by 30% for 15 seconds.
The density of elemental mana surrounding Blackie skyrocketed. Blackie then cast Stars of Light.
Due to Magic Synergy's enhancement, both the effective range and power of Stars of Light had increased by 30%.
In the next moment, a dazzling ball of light descended from the sky. Noticing this, the Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys responded quickly and tried to evade the incoming attack. However, while inside the gorge, other than advancing, their only escape was to retreat backward. Natural rock walls surrounded the Battle Monkeys on both sides, and it was impossible for them to scale these walls. With Cola and the other MTs of Zero Wing creating a shield wall ahead, and their companions blocking their rear, these Battle Monkeys could only watch helplessly as the Stars of Light descended.
They also had no way to block this incoming bombardment. AOE destruction spells attacked from all angles. Unless one had magic immunity, invincibility, or countered with an AOE destruction spell of their own, there was no other way to defend against the attack.
Boom!
The instant the Stars of Light descended, a damage of over -12,000 points appeared above the heads of every Battle Monkey the spell struck. As for the monsters further away from the site of impact, they, too, received damages of over -7,000 points. Despite having increased Attributes due to the Warchief's Aura, these Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys still lost nearly two thirds of their HP.
However, this was only the beginning. Stars of Light had a duration of 15 seconds, and with each passing second, the spell's damage would scale up by 10%. After only three seconds, all of the Battle Monkeys within range had turned to ash, leaving behind a plethora of loot.
A large section of the gorge was suddenly empty. Making a rough estimate, over a hundred Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys had died.
The scattered loot on the ground and soaring EXP bar exhilarated Zero Wing's members.
The EXP from Level 22 Elites was originally quite significant. Meanwhile, after the meteorite shower, the EXP from the monsters inside the White Fog Canyon had increased by three to four times. In other words, killing a single monster here was the equivalent of killing three or four monsters of the same level and rank outside of White Fog Canyon.
Stars of Light truly shone when used in a war. Not only was it massively destructive, but it could also shock enemies.
Take the Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys caught outside the range of Stars of Light for example. Despite having received no damage, they did not barrel forward after Stars of Light ended. They stood there with stunned expressions; their previous fierce momentum had completely vanished.
Unfortunately, AOE destruction spells like Blackie's Stars of Light were rare. Moreover, these spells possessed long Cooldowns, needing a full half an hour. In a battle, such spells could be used once at most.
"Stop daydreaming! All ranged classes, attack those dazed Battle Monkeys!" Aqua Rose commanded.
Suddenly, spells and arrows bombarded the dazed monsters.
Momentarily, the Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys were at a loss of what to do. They had even forgotten to dodge or use their weapons to fend off the incoming attacks. In the blink of an eye, over a dozen more Battle Monkeys died.
However, one would be sorely mistaken if they thought they could get rid of these Crimson-eyed Battle Monkeys so easily. As soon as these monsters regained themselves, they charged at Cola and the other MTs with even greater madness.
Suddenly, as the second battle of attrition began, Feng arrived back at the gorge. After observing for a moment and seeing that everything was fine, he sat down to rest while munching on a Chocolate Stick.
Soon enough, all of the Battle Monkeys had been eliminated, but the members of Zero Wing took up residence in the gorge under Feng's instruction. They did not go anywhere else, luring and killing monsters in the gorge; as they waited to see if the Flame Guards would show up.
The monsters in White Fog Canyon were numerous. Moreover, their loot was similarly bountiful. With a strategic location like the gorge, Zero Wing's players had nothing to worry about, even if they faced an army of Battle Monkeys.
Their leveling speed here was several times faster than grinding elsewhere. Moreover, they also obtained plenty of equipment and various materials.
However, while Zero Wing peacefully leveled, White River City had exploded with commotion.
---
After the discovery of a Great Lord in the White Fog Canyon, everyone eagerly awaited news of the various Guilds raiding it successfully.
However, the results were completely unexpected.
Despite having sent so many Level 20 and above elite players, before the various Guilds found the Great Lord, they had lost over half of their players. Suddenly, everyone's view of the White Fog Canyon had changed.
Many players who had originally intended to rush towards the canyon to grind and level up dismissed their plans at this revelation.
However, although many had given up on the White Fog Canyon, it did not prevent them from discussing it.
Although most of the Guilds in White River City had given up on the White Fog Canyon, Overwhelming Smile, Emperor's Light, Assassin's Alliance, Ouroboros, and Zero Wing, the top five Guilds of White River City, still pushed forward in the White Fog Canyon even now.
Everyone had their guesses on which of these five Guilds would be the first to kill the Great Lord.
At this moment, the teleportation array inside White River City's Teleportation Hall started to flash, and six figures suddenly appeared. The instant these six appeared, they immediately attracted the attention of the players in White River City.
These six people possessed stunning levels. Each one of them was at least Level 25.
However, this was not the most shocking aspect. The equipment they wore was what truly left others in a daze.
The equipment these players wore gave off the glow effect that only a Fine-Gold Equipment possessed. They also had a few pieces of Dark-Gold Equipment in the mix. The Level 25 Guardian Knight leading this party wore four pieces of Dark-Gold Equipment. Meanwhile, the quality of the Bone Shield on his back was indiscernible. Shockingly, this Guardian Knight possessed over 5,400 HP, an amount that not even the Chief MTs of first-rate Guilds had reached.
Yet, none of these players wore a Guild Emblem on their chests. Clearly, they were independent players.
It was astonishing that independent players had acquired such equipment.
"Boss, the people here are weird. Why are they all staring at us? It's giving me goosebumps."
"The country bumpkins here are just envious after seeing our equipment."
"This place isn't that bad after all. The average players here are around Level 18 or 19. It's just slightly lower than ours."
"Alright, enough. We're here on official business. First, ask around for information on that One-hit Asura."
Having their objective, the party of six exited the Teleportation Hall.
On the street, any players who encountered this party of six would unconsciously move aside and look away in fear.
---
As Feng consumed another Chocolate Stick and stabilized the berserk Mana in his body, his ears suddenly twitched. Standing up, Feng looked towards the inner region of the canyon and saw faint silhouettes approaching their current location, a purple glow appearing in his eyes as he used the Eyes of Truth.
The scene of over a dozen fire beings with giant bodies charging towards them became much clearer to Feng.
[Flame Guard] (Lord Rank)
Level 28
HP 700,000/700,000
'Good, they're here.' A hint of relief appeared in Feng's eyes when he identified the approaching entities, before turning to the Zero Wing members currently grinding Battle Monkeys and saying in the team chat "Everyone, get ready to retreat further into the White Fog Canyon."
Their Guild Leader's order caused the members of Zero Wing to turn towards Feng in slight confusion, wondering why they were suddenly retreating, but before they could ponder for much longer, the members of Zero Wing started hearing loud, rapid footsteps approaching and growing closer.
As they turned towards the sound of the footsteps' source, the Zero Wing members quickly noticed the approaching Flame Guards that radiated malicious intent; their eyes widening in shock and fear upon the discovery of over a dozen Lords charging at them at fast speeds.
Since these Flame Guards were in a berserk state at the moment, they were far more powerful than ordinary Lord ranked monsters. A single Flame Guard could easily exterminate a 100-man team. With over a dozen gathered, even an army of several thousand elite players would be nothing more than ants to them.
Most of the unrecovered members wanted to shout out in fear, but upon noticing their Guild Leader and nearly half of the gathered members moving in an orderly fashion, they stayed quiet and retreated along with the rest.
The stone forest in White Fog Canyon's inner region was complex and chaotic. Even with a map, it was incredibly easy to get lost there. However, the paths in the stone forest were narrow, so it was the perfect location to shake off enemy pursuit.
Although the Zero Wing members moved fairly quickly through the White Fog Canyon's stone forest, the over a dozen Flame Guards were starting to catch up to them.
After running for a couple of minutes, the high-level monsters they aggroed along the way being dealt with by the restored members, the scenery around them changed slightly, as a cave entrance appeared near by; to which Feng immediately led his group.
System: You have discovered the Final Cave.
The Final Cave's interior was dark. However, the cave walls looked like the starry skies, softly illuminating the gloom.
Feng examined the cave's interior and details as soon as he rushed in, feeling glad as he noticed it was the same as he remembered. But there was still something he needed to check.
"Retreat further into the cave. Make sure those Flame Guards don't hit you with any ranged attack or envelop you in their Flame Domains." Feng commanded the Zero Wing members behind him as he headed deeper into the Final Cave.
Due to their massive bodies, the Flame Guards would not be able not fit inside the cave, so as long Zero Wing's members don't stay too close to the entrance, the over a dozen Lords won't be of any threat.
As they advanced through the Final Cave, Feng and his group [2] encountered many Earthen Puppets roaming inside. These Puppets were around the same size as a player. Though they were somewhat slow, their flesh consisted of stone; their bodies were extremely tough. Ordinary weapons would only dull, and Durability would decrease if they struck these Earthen Puppets.
[Earthen Puppet] (Special Elite)
Level 27
HP 100,000/100,000
Feng had the rest of the Zero Wing members take care of the Earthen Puppets, with the restored ones helping out and instructing the regular members on how to better fight and improve, while he paced through the Final Cave and went deeper mostly unobstructed; as he simply sent flying any Earthen Puppet that tried to attack him and left it for the others to deal with.
They quickly pushed through and entered deeper with Feng at the front as he pulled away from the rest of the group. Although the Earthen Puppet continued to try and stop him while he was alone, Feng easily disposed of them and soon reached the part with the Dark-Gold Treasure Chest.
Not minding that it was a trapped treasure chest, Feng immediately approached it and took out the Seven Luminaries Key, inserting it into the ancient magic lock.
The Seven Luminaries Key Feng had obtained from the God's Grave allowed him to unlock up to three Dark-Gold Treasure Chests. He still had two uses left.
In the next moment, a faint blue glow emerged from the Seven Luminaries Key and flowed into the lock. With a click, the chest unlocked; and Feng immediately opened it.
The instant he opened it, a blinding light escaped from the treasure chest, illuminating the cave. After the light dispersed, a grin appeared on Feng's face when he saw the contents of the treasure chest.
A lone dark-blue crystal pendant sat inside the chest.
The moment Feng picked up the pendant, a light-blue magic barrier appeared 30 yards around the treasure chest, trapping Feng within.
Afterwards, the earth began to tremble.
An Earthen Guard suddenly clawed its way out of the ground within the barrier. Similar to the Flame Guards, the Earthen Guard was a Lord ranked monster.
[Earthen Guard] (Lord Rank)
Level 28
HP 1,000,000/1,000,000
Compared to the Flame Guards, however, the Earthen Guard's Attack Power and Defense were far stronger. Although the Earthen Guard was inferior to the Flame Guards against a group of players, against a solo or a handful of players, it was significantly more devastating than the Flame Guards.
Not even bothering to glance at the approaching Lord, Feng gazed down at the deep-blue crystal pendant and used the Eyes of Truth on it, its appraisal taking less than a second to complete. Feng then clicked on the dark-blue crystal pendant, checking its Attributes.
[Icarus's Heart] (Necklace, Bronze Rank [Can be evolved])
Equipment Requirement: All Attributes 90
Level 20 - Level 50 (Currently Level 20)
All Attributes +8
Luck +5
Additional Skill -
Divine Providence: Temporarily increases player's Luck by 20 points for 30 seconds.
Cooldown: 1 hour
Evolution Condition: Absorb the souls of 100 Lord ranked monsters to evolve to Mysterious-Iron rank. (0/100)
"Now, many things will be so much easier. You really tend to forget the usefulness of some things until you lose them." Feng couldn't help his excitement as he held the Icarus's Heart. This was one of the main items through which Feng had built his foundation and that had helped him gain many items which had made it possible for him and Zero Wing to survive and reach great heights, both in his God's Domain and the Greater God's Domain.
Although currently only at Bronze rank, the possible value of the Icarus's Heart is greater than even the Lucky Charm that Feng had bought from the War God's Temple.
In his previous life, the Icarus's Heart's true value truly shone after Feng had upgraded it to Fragmented Legendary rank, which had allowed Feng to obtain many of the necessary things he desperately needed and had helped him get out of many shitty situations.
As Feng was rejoicing over managing to acquire the Icarus's Heart once more, the Earthen Guard swung its iron fist down on him. This attack would normally be a threat to Tier 1 players, but Feng simply extended a hand and grabbed the giant fist as he continued looking down at Icarus's Heart, remaining completely unaffected by the Earthen Guard's high strength as he directly blocked it and held the fist in place while the Earthen Guard attempted to retract it.
If another player were to be trapped in this place, the Earthen Guard might annihilate them.
Fortunately, Feng was no ordinary player.
With a flick of the wrist, before the Earthen Guard could swing its other fist at the tiny human, it was flung into the air with immense force which caused it to collide with the ceiling, before falling back down towards Feng; who was leisurely swapping out his current Level 15 Dark-Gold Necklace for the Icarus's Heart.
Unsheathing the Pandemonium Lashblade, the chain sword's Splitting mechanism activated as it extended to over three yards and slashed at the Earthen Guard. Although it had activated a Defensive Skill, the Earthen Guard's tough defense was instantly broken as its body was sliced apart by the Demon Sword.
The Earthen Guard's death not only provided plenty of loot due to it being a berserk Lord on top of Feng's high Luck and enough EXP to fill half of Feng's experience bar, but also a soul for Icarus's Heart. Now Feng only needed 99 more.
Thinking of the souls necessary to upgrade Icarus's Heart to Iron rank, Feng turned around and headed back the way he came towards the Final Cave's entrance. He soon ran into the Zero Wing members who were fighting the Earthen Puppet and making their way deeper into the Final Cave.
"I'll be right back. Just gotta check something real quick." As he went past the multiple fights between the players and monsters, Feng informed Aqua and quickly left towards the cave's entrance.
When Feng arrived at the Final Cave's entrance, he was greeted by the sight of 16 Flame Guards roaming around, which immediately noticed him and rushed forward, trying to get into the cave again, but failing due to their size.
Though, Feng wasn't planning on avoiding them this time as he charged out and arrived in the middle of the over a dozen Flame Guards, from whose hands issued blazing flames that transformed into a sizable flame war hammers, which they immediately swung at the ant as their Flame Domains enveloped Feng.
Of course, Feng was completely unaffected by the Flame Domains due to his extremely high Fire Resistance, while the Flame Guards' attacks were all easily dodged. A faint golden glow surrounded Feng as he activated Divine Providence, boosting his Luck by 20 points for 30 seconds, helping it reach nearly one hundred points due to his multiple pieces of equipment that gave him Luck along with the many sweets he had bought and consumed from Olivia.
A slaughter then began as Feng used his skills and swords to quickly wipe out the Flame Guards within less than five seconds. He treated it as a light punishment for making him run, as well as making it quick as a reward for helping him reach the Final Cave and obtain Icarus's Heart once more.
After the deaths of over a dozen Lords, Feng managed to reach Level 24 while a giant mountain of items formed. Ordinarily, a Lord ranked monster would only drop around half a dozen items or so when it died. However, due to the White Fog Canyon's unique environment, the drop-rates of the monsters inside the canyon had increased significantly. Coupled with Feng's high Luck, the Flame Guards dropped a mother lode.
From a simple glance, Feng could tell there were around a thousand items in the mountain of loot. Feng looked at the many drops, knowing it would take too long to pick up everything by himself, so he called for fifty of the restored members to come out and collect it for him.
Around ten minutes later, all of the loot had been collected and appraised. Among the one thousand or so items, around half were rare materials, while most of the other items were Level 25 Weapons and Equipment ranging from Iron to Fine-Gold rank, with the remaining ones being Forging Designs and Recipes along with Tier 1 and 2 Magic Scrolls as well as Treasure Hunting Scrolls.
Currently, the average players were around Level 20, whereas Guild elites were around Level 22. The Dungeons they could raid were all Level 20 Dungeons. Hence, the equipment they could obtain was limited to Level 20. It was extremely rare to come across Level 25 weapons and equipment.
In God's Domain, weapons and equipment would significantly impact a player's performance every five levels.
The Attributes of a Level 20 Fine-Gold Equipment were slightly inferior to a Level 25 Secret-Silver Equipment. In other words, a player wearing Level 25 Fine-Gold Equipment was stronger than a player wearing Level 20 Dark-Gold Equipment.
Meanwhile, there were only a few Level 20 Dark-Gold items throughout Star-Moon Kingdom, but Feng had just obtained nearly one hundred Level 20 Dark-Gold equivalents form the Flame Guards.
There was also the Warfire Set Equipment, of which Feng had managed to complete an entire Set from the 16 Lords while also having around 20 separate pieces. As for the Treasure Hunting Scroll, they were extremely useful inside the White Fog Canyon. The scroll's greatest function was searching for Starfire Ore, with it having a search radius of 1,000 yards and lasting for 30 minutes. When searching for valuable ores, it was the best tool one could have.
[Warfire Set Equipment] (Bronze Rank [Can be evolved])
Level 20 - Level 30
Can be equipped by any classes.
Set consists of seven parts: head, chest, belt, hands, wrists, legs, and feet.
Set Effect (Bronze Rank)
Two-piece effect: All Attributes +10
Four-piece effect: Ignore Levels +10. Obtain Free Will skill. Able to remove all control effects for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute.
Seven-piece effect: Main Attribute increased by 10%. Skill Cooldown decreased by 30%. Obtain Warfire Berserk skill. Damage increased by 50%, Attack Speed increased by 50%, and Movement Speed increased by 30% for 20 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
The Basic Attributes of the Warfire Set Equipment were average at best. It was referred to as a Level 30 Peak Fine-Gold Set Equipment because of its Set Effects. In particular, the Free Will skill and Warfire Berserk skill were the main reason it ranked as a Peak Fine-Gold Set Equipment.
Though, Feng didn't care much for it as it was limited to Level 30, not to mention the EXP needed to upgrade it to that rank. He planned to just store it in Zero Wing's Warehouse to show off and let players who want it exchange for the Set with Guild Contribution Points.
Afterwards, Feng and the fifty members went back into the cave and joined the others in grinding through the Earthen Puppets while going deeper.
Around an hour later, Feng's group of five hundred reached the part where the Dark-Gold Treasure Chest used to be. Along the way, they had slaughtered all of the patrolling Earthen Puppets that stood in their way, gaining a large amount of items and equipment from them. Everyone's experience bars had soared as they traveled as well, with the lowest level player among the 500 being Level 23.
The reason Feng had led them back into the depths of the Final Cave, though, was the secrets of the White Fog Canyon.
In his previous life, Feng had discovered two Level 30 Great Lords guarding a stone gate a bit further ahead, which had greatly shocked him at the time. After all, even the Great Lord in the Ruined Shrine that was inside the White Fog Canyon and was supposed to be the strongest monster in the White Fog Canyon was only a Level 25 Great Lord; yet, two Great Lords five levels higher served as gatekeepers for this place.
Feng had been greatly curious about the Final Cave's existence and what was beyond those gates, but due to his lacking strength at the time, he had been unable to explore any further and could only give up for the time.
Later on once he had become strong enough to take on the roaming Anubis's Gatekeeper from who he had stolen an Imperial Heirloom as well as the two Great Lords and came back to find out this place's secrets, Feng could find no trace of the Final Cave no matter where he searched in the White Fog Canyon.
He eventually had to give up after wasting a bunch of time finding nothing and putting this matter to the back of his mind.
Now, he could finally uncover whatever was hiding in this cave.
Once everyone had rested up from the fighting, Feng turned to them and said "Alright, the next operation will be top secret, so everyone will have to sign a Main God Contract for confidentiality purposes."
In actuality, Feng had originally planned on going solo to kill the two Great Lords and check what was behind the stone gate, but when he had approached the location, with Feng's senses, he had noticed many other auras coming from behind the stone gate and its suppression. Feng hadn't really known what to expect from the Final Cave's secrets, but after sensing the many auras and using his ability to perceive the souls of the beings behind the stone gate, he felt that he had a guess on what it was.
So Feng switched up his original plans and chose to bring along the rest of the Zero Wing members. But in order to make sure none of them disclosed any information, he first had to have them sign a contract. Of course, he wasn't one bit worried about the people whose memories have been restored leaking any info, but the rest of the regular members.
The unrecovered members' expressions changed slightly upon seeing the penalty for leaking any information about the happenings that were about to take place being making them unable to ever log into God's Domain again, but as they saw the rest immediately sign the contract without any hesitation, they followed suit and signed it.
Naturally, none of the recovered members cared about the penalty. After all, if they actually leaked any information and betrayed their Guild Leader, being barred from God's Domain would be the least of their concerns.
You have to be alive and not mentally crippled in order to play God's Domain.
After everyone signed the contract, Feng turned around and led the group through the hole that led to a large, dimly lit, hall, causing seeing far ahead to be difficult. Meanwhile, after they entered the large hall, everyone was finally able to notice the two creatures which guarded a tightly sealed stone door, as well as the two creatures turning towards them while radiating a malicious killing intent.
[Wolfstein Guard] (Great Lord)
Level 30
HP 7,0000,000/7,000,000
The Wolfstein Guards released maddening howls as they charged at the group of five hundred players with spears in their hands.
Finally getting a chance to get a clear look at the two Great Lords, Feng noticed that the Wolfstein Guards greatly resembled the Anubis's Gatekeeper and the statues of wolf-headed men that Feng had seen in the hall that the Imperial Heirloom and Anubis's Gatekeeper resided. Moreover, the name Wolfstein seemed a bit familiar to him.
While wondering what kind of connection this all had, Feng unsheathed his two swords and blocked the incoming spears that were stabbing at him.
The unrecovered Zero Wing members gaped and trembled in fear upon seeing the charging Great Lords and sensing the thick killing intent coming from them, feeling like they were about to die.
However, when those members were falling into despair, they saw their Guild Leader suddenly unsheathe his swords and slash at the incoming attacks of the two Great Lords. In the next moment, a loud sound of metal colliding sounded through out the large hall as the the Wolfstein Guards stumbled a couple of steps back while Feng remained standing in the same spot.
Naturally, the Great Lords were of no threat to Feng, who currently had strength higher than even Tier 4 players, so it was a simple thing to send them stumbling back, or even kill them for that matter.
The Wolfstein Guard whose spear Feng had blocked with the Abyssal Blade quickly recovered, and apparently identifying the biggest threat, the wolf-headed Great Lord lunged itself at Feng as it pierced with its spear once more. This time, though, the sound of howls echoed from the spear as a blood-red aura surrounded it.
Side stepping, Feng easily avoided the howling spear as he arrived before the Wolfstein Guard in the next moment. Although the Great Lord that was the size of three humans attempted to force the human away by sweeping with its leg, Feng simply leapt into the air and arrived at the Wolfstein Guard's face as he slashed at it with the Pandemonium Lashblade that was surrounded by the power of thunder and flames.
An explosion sounded as the Thunder Flame Explosion sent the Wolfstein Guard flying and embedding it into the hall's wall, while a damage of -502,894 appeared above its head. The second Wolfstein Guard had recovered by this point and released an enraged howl after seeing its comrade sent flying, as it threw its spear at Feng who was still in mid air.
The sound of air being ripped apart sounded as the spear travelled towards Feng, who suddenly became surrounded by a golden glow, splitting into five different spears along the way with each having the same power as the original. But all of them ended up hitting nothing.
As the Wolfstein Guard's eyes widened upon seeing the human disappear, it suddenly felt a scorching heat coming from behind it.
Before it could turn around, two swords that shone like miniature suns slashed ten times at its back in an instant.
Flame Burst!
Ten Extreme Slashes!
The Wolfstein Guard's full HP bars emptied in an instant as the life faded from its eyes and the Great Lord collapsed to the ground. As Feng landed, he disappeared once more, reappearing in front of the other Wolfstein Guard who had just recovered and unstuck itself from the wall, executing Ten Extreme Slashes and using up the rest of Flame Burst's attack count to take away the rest of the Wolfstein Guard's HP.
From the moment Feng had blocked the two spears to the moment the second Wolfstein Guard turned into a corpse, only around five seconds had passed.
The Zero Wing members standing to the side became dumbstruck upon seeing Feng take out two Level 30 Great Lords by himself, and even the members with their memories restored showed shocked expressions, not expecting their Guild Leader to have already reached such a level this early on.
Although they had known that he had definitely already managed to obtain incredible strength by now, it was a bit beyond their expectations that he could already solo Great Lords six levels above him with such ease.
However, a moment later, they only shook their heads, feeling this was as expected of their Guild Leader.
Meanwhile, mounds of loot appeared where the Wolfstein Guards had fallen, while everyone's EXP bars quickly started filling up as golden glows started appearing among the crowd. With the Wolftstein Guards being Great Lords six to seven levels higher than everyone else in the White Fog Canyon's unique environment, the EXP they provided was incredible. Not to mention that most of the present players were Tier 0.
Even though the rest had simply watched from the side, each of them leveled up at least once, with even the lowest level players now not being far from Level 25. As for Feng, the person who slayed the two Great Lords and grabbed most of the EXP, even though he needed double the amount of EXP compared to regular players, he still leveled up twice and was around half way to Level 27.
Feng quickly sorted out the loot from the two Great Lords, finding that they had dropped a total of 48 items, 26 of which were very rare materials, 7 were Level 30 Fine-Gold Equipment, 6 were Level 30 Dark-Gold Equipment, 2 were Forging Designs, 3 were Tier 2 Magic Scrolls, 1 was a Tier 3 Magic Scroll and 3 were Epic items.
The unrecovered members drooled upon seeing the items, especially the Epic ones, as except for Zero Wing's core members, none of them knew that there were already two in Zero Wing's Warehouse. Feng then distributed the items according to classes and those that could equip Level 30 equipment due to possessing items that decrease the level requirement, and he also used the chance to distribute the items he received from the Flame Guards.
Following which, Feng walked up to the stone gate, which had been unsealed of its chains upon the Wolfstein Guards' deaths, and pushed it upon, which surprisingly took a bit of effort even with his strength.
As the stone gate parted, the sight of a gigantic hall greeted them. Although the hall currently looked dilapidated, from the few decorations and details that remained, it could be seen that it used to be of a majestic design.
Meanwhile, as the group entered, they could see multiple patrol teams made up of wolf-headed creatures walking around while scanning their surroundings through out the giant hall. Each patrol team was made up of at least ten members, with even the weakest among them being a Special Elite while each team was lead by a Chieftain rank monster.
[Wolfstein Soldier] (Special Elite)
Level 28
HP 350,000/350,000
[Wolfstein Captain] (Chieftain)
Level 29
HP 800,000/800,000
System: You have discovered the Wolfstein Empire's Ruined Palace.
'That definitely sounds familiar.' Feng had a thoughtful expression on his face as he tried to recall any information on the Wolfstein Empire, which sounded like a familiar name, but Feng wasn't sure if he had simply forgotten or if he had just heard it in passing and never bothered to get more information, as he couldn't draw any information from his brain about it.
Sending a questioning glance at his fellow reincarnators, Feng only received shrugs, while some seemed to be trying to recall something, until someone finally informed the rest that the Wolfstein Empire used to be a great empire in their God's Domain during the Ancient Era, which had been stronger than even the Orc Empire at its peak, but ended up mysteriously disappearing.
Aside from that, not much else is known about the Wolfstein Empire.
Putting the thought to the back of his mind, Feng switched his gaze to the patrol teams who have already noticed their group by now and were charging at them.
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1. Thanks to Ren_Moduo for the suggestion for the skill's name. I was originally already planning on Violet noticing something with Fire through her senses or True Saint Legacy, but the skill is a better idea.
2. In the OG chapters, there was a line that I would have normally included around here which said: "Many mysterious runes and pictures were engraved onto the cave walls, and they gave off a similar feeling to the runes found in the Eternal Courtyard. They felt ancient and full of divine power." But I chose to leave it out, as it made zero sense for some cave in some random Level 20 to 30 map, in some random city, in some random kingdom, to possess things that gave a similar feeling to a place in one of the Ten Great Saint Legacy's Legacy Land which was nearly impossible to get to.
Absolutely zero sense!
And I get that pretty much anything can appear pretty much anywhere in a place like God's Domain, but this very important detail that should have a great amount of significance was never mentioned again, so in order to not complicate things unnecessarily when LOC clearly planned nothing for this detail, except for maybe it having some connection with the Icarus's Heart which was never explained, I'm choosing to leave it out.
(Unless I randomly decide to use it at some point)