The moment the Supreme-Ranked Metal Dragon roared out Draco's name, the timer came to an end. Whatever protection existed for players was over, and it showed when the Metal Dragon stomped the earth with a maddened bellow.
Hundreds of lower class players instantly met their demise. Anybody below level 15 was sent to the graveyard to experience a mini-reincarnation, which was never a pleasant occurrence.
Draco blinked to the Supreme-Ranked Metal Dragon, which was a ballsy move that had everyone's heart thumping. While they had been thinking of how to escape, this fellow directly rushed into the fray!
Riveting Night had frozen when she heard the voice of the Metal Dragon, and her heart began to thump as her bloodline curdled. It was like taking a hot piece of charcoal and directly injecting it into one's bloodstream.
When she saw Draco blink to the Metal Dragon, she managed to regain some semblance of calm as she roared to the various guildmasters and players here.
"What are you waiting for? Enter formation and attack!"
However, apart from the members of Umbra, no one heeded her call. Their energy and courage had long dissipated under the magnificence of a True Dragon.
Riveting Night's aura began to envelop everyone here, causing them to feel like they were trying to breathe through a sack. It felt like being thrust into a forest of snow without any clothes on, making them shiver strongly.
"You asked us to lead you and now you balk? No problem! Umbra alone will eat this cake."
Riveting Night turned her back to the various guilds here, but her words became so heavy that some crouched due to distress.
"But if I see any of you try to eat this cake with us, we will destroy you until you cannot rise ever again."
With that said, Riveting Night marched forward with the members of Umbra behind her, who gazed at the other guilds with contempt and disgust. They naturally had reservations and felt fear, but so what?
This was a game. Sure they might lose levels and all, but would they truly die?
The answer was no!
If so, then what was there to fear? It was simply one of two things; first was that they would win and reap magnificent rewards and the second was that they would lose, but retain a chance to regain all they lost through effort.
At this moment, Umbra truly showed what the basic mentality of a Divine-tier Guild was.
Yui turned to her guild members and spoke solemnly. "Members of Meiren, are you willing to fight with me?"
She didn't try and give any long or rousing speech. She plainly asked them if they would fight with her, which placed pressure on them.
They weren't like members of Umbra who were almost dauntless and had limitless self-confidence. They had their fears and worries, but they didn't want to disappoint their guild leader, leaving them stuck in a well of indecision.
Yui was greatly disappointed by this, but she didn't talk too much. She just walked along the path Umbra took, her form looking bereft and abandoned.
Even with this sight plaguing their conscience, her guildmates were still unable to take that one step forward. This was the great divide between a Legendary guild and a Divine guild, though many of these players didn't recognize this yet.
Gentle Flower and Noble Soul paused and shared a look. Their hearts were pumping vigorously, but not just with fear, but excitement too. They relished the idea of the battle and the rewards, but were unsure as to whether it was wise to take the risk.
"I'm not going to waste my time on this one. I'm out!" Joker stated with a wave, as he directly turned around and left.
"A wise man knows when to retreat." Happy Scholar stated with his trademark happy smile.
Those two created a cascading effect as many of the guilds began to leave. It wasn't just that they didn't want to get caught in the crossfire, but they were scared that if they stuck around and Umbra were about to win, they might lose to their greed and offend them.
Once that happened, there would be no coming back for them.
Most of the Sturgehaven Kingdom guilds directly left and returned to the cities, leaving the various guilds that came from outside. These guilds were even less inclined to fight since this wasn't their territory, but they wanted to at least spectate the battle.
Another thing was that they hoped to be able to capitalize on Umbra's hard work. Unlike the local Sturgehaven guilds, they believed that even the almighty Umbra would be far too pressed to destroy them with only 3000 members when they existed in different kingdoms.
Even if they might take some losses, whatever they gained from this event would make up for it as long as they didn't try for the last hit or any of the first places.
They were quite shrewd, as the minimum Rank among the external guilds was Rare-tier. They wouldn't make such a foolish mistake and cross Umbra's bottom line. If Umbra decided to focus on one of them alone, they would be finished!
Gentle Flower and Noble Soul gritted their teeth as they walked forward, their guild members trailing behind them with reluctance, but brimming excitement. It was like those few moments in the roller coaster as it climbed up that steep incline.
One could not help but feel a mixture of trepidation and excitement as they knew they were going to experience craziness.
This left the various members of Meiren alone, with the pressure on them so high that they almost couldn't breathe. The other guilds and guild members looked at them with contempt for abandoning their guild leader, which was a painful thing to endure for these beauties that were fawned upon wherever they went.
With a vicious expression, one of the vice-guildmasters of Meiren took a step forward and began to walk into battle. The faces of her guildmates changed when they saw her go, but they also began to move forward.
Slowly at first, but with more confidence as they went. They didn't try to hype each other up with meaningless words, but rather resolved to act this time.
Many players looking on were surprised, but unmoved.
However, if they knew the things Draco and Riveting Night were aware of, they would truly understand and appreciate the significance of this event.
.........….
Draco had entered battle with the Metal Dragon.
With a shout, Draco directly burned his bloodline energy crazily as he cast out the giant draconic claw that he had sent out to fight the boss of the Underwater Wreckage dungeon before.
A large portal opened up in mid-air, with a giant draconic claw rushing out of it with blackish energy gleaming around it. This was the aura of destruction that made the Black Dragon the apex of Dragonkind.
The Metal Dragon replied with a roar of its own and swung its own claw to meet the one Draco summoned. Gleaming around its claws was a similar blackish energy, which was slightly more potent than Draco's.
When the two appendages collided, the ensuing shockwave was so great that the earth itself began to crack a bit and the top soil was pushed back greatly.
Riveting Night, who was rushing forward, stopped and grounded herself as she conjured a barrier of light energy from her bloodline. Thanks to the Eye of Heaven, it was 30% stronger than whatever she could create in the real world, which allowed her to whether the shockwave from such a close distance.
Unfortunately, the Bloodline Energy cost was extremely prohibitive, as even with her training and efficiency, she consumed more than 50% of her BPs.
"Tanks, Forward!"
With that shout, the Tanks of Umbra, Kamisuo, Desecrators and Meiren rushed forward to handle the shockwave from the collision.
"Druids, H-O-T!"
The Druids of the guilds cast their various heal-over-time skills, which were nowhere near as strong as what the Dryads of Draco's Wood Monster Army could conjure, but still more than enough for the situation.
"Clerics, Buff!"
The reason Clerics were popular wasn't due to their ability to insta-heal alone, but due to the versatile and comprehensive buffs they could bestow on allies. As such, these Clerics cast various buffing skills that either reduced damage, increased resistance or strengthened defense.
As such, when the shockwave finally hit, the tanks were pushed back by a 100 meters, but maintained their defensive form.
Their damage was shared since many Clerics cast the Life-Link spell, which facilitated the transfer. Coupled with the heal-over-time spells and the various buffs, they each lost about 55% HP.
The players behind them were throughly protected, but their hearts all sank. Even the members of Umbra felt their breathing go still slowly.
The various guilds, who had been observing on the sideline, felt that the defensive maneuver of the tanks was pretty epic to look at and would have been great in a movie.
However, they were stunned when they saw the shockwave reach them. Shockwaves had distance limits, where the further they traveled, the weaker the force.
As such, the external guilds that had been near the fringe had thought they would go scot-free, but their miscalculation cost them dearly.
Before they could mount a defense, the shockwave hit them, sending many players flying about like ragdolls. Some were directly blown to bits and sent for respawn at their various home bases, as area respawn was disabled during events.
More than 60% of the external guilds were wiped out, leaving most of the Epic-tier and a few Rare-tier guilds fine. They could only lie on the floor like dead dogs as they finally came to terms with the impossibility of this event.
There was no chance!
This was an impossible event!
Kill a Dragon?
Ha!
Go and kill your sister!
How was anyone supposed to handle this? If even the collision between two parties could create such a strong shockwave, then how were the players supposed to fight it head on?
The only way would be to abuse the one advantage of being a player and kamikaze it to death.
However, only the guilds of Sturgehaven could pull something like that off. Not to mention the prohibitive cost alone, would such an act really guarantee a 100% success rate?
Wait a minute…
Speaking of the player that collided with the Dragon…
Everyone stared at the epicenter of the collision as the dust settled, but what they saw made their hearts tremble with fear and despair.
The Metal Dragon had some cracks on the claw that had collided with the one summoned by Draco, a mercury like liquid leaking from the scales. The Dragon itself had been blown back a few feet, but remained standing nonetheless as it shock off its daze.
However Draco…
The fellow had been blown into the earth, a clear gorge marking how disastrous the rebound on him must've been. The line went on for almost a kilometer, and at the end was Draco's broken and battered body that continually coughed up blood.
His armor, the evolvable and Bloodline bound Dragorugio armor, was cracked in many places, looking like it was one inch from breaking into pieces. His white hair was matted with dirt and blood, his right arm totally blown off his body.
It was gruesome and horrifying.
Players were terrified because they saw what Draco had done. He had used a skill that seemed similar to the Metal Dragon's in power, which should've resulted in a tie of some sort, or one power having a slight advantage over the other.
Yet the result defied expectations!
Not to mention that… it was Draco! He was the number one player in all of Boundless currently, whose power was veiled in mystery and was thought to be omnipotent by even some NPCs.
"DRACO!"
Riveting Night screamed as she rushed to his position, ignoring the Metal Dragon that watched her with a pensive expression.
It raised its claw to swipe at her initially, but failed to find the motivation to do so, eventually lowering the claw down.
This act was missed by many who were far too lost in their terror of the Dragon or worry for Draco, except for quite a few others like Slim Fatty, Dreary Traveler, Kiran, Cobra and Silent Walker.
Their eyes flashed with suspicion as they instinctively shared a look, all of them realizing that they had similar thoughts.
Apart from Riveting Night, Roma, Rina and Loving Aunt rushed to Draco's side, all of them ignoring the danger of the Metal Dragon due to fear or worry.
Riveting Night reached him first and pulled his body up, her mind beginning to crumble and lose coherence as she saw the extent of the damage he received.
It was honestly a miracle as to how Draco was even alive. His eyes were a bit unfocused at the moment, but he seemed to have a steady breath and strong vitals despite his damage.
This caused Riveting Night to calm down slightly, as the other three arrived beside him.
"Is he alright?!" Loving Aunt questioned with a worried tone.
Riveting Night took a deep breath. "He should be fine. He could probably recover from this with the abilities he has, but he seems to be doing something else."
The three of them sighed as they felt their worry bleed away.
However, in exchange came pure unbridled rage. They turned to face the Supreme-Rank Metal Dragon, which met their gaze with its own intense brand of hatred and slight insanity.
Roma summoned her Witch Slaves, allowing the undead to rise from the earth with their trademark malevolent grins and c.o.c.ky demeanors. Her now white hair began to rise, like each strand was alive while her face contorted greatly.
This time, there was no Draco to drain away her anger, so her pent-up emotions from her brother's death as well as the dissolution of her home and people finally broke free.
Her purple eyes began to glow menacingly as she started chanting deeply, her voice echoing on itself as if three of her were speaking at the same time.
Rina's hand's tightened around her staff, as she felt the flames of her heart burn brightly. She was in two parts scared and angered, but she was more rational than the other three because her feelings for Draco were biased towards l.u.s.t rather than love.
She realized that it would be a daunting task to succeed where even he failed, but her anger did not allow her to step back, only step forward.
Loving Aunt was the worst of the bunch. She was directly panting like a cheetah that had run for miles, her body trembling so hard it seemed like she was having a seizure.
She had taken on the Poisonmancer class, which was a PVP focused class that was actually a hidden class of sorts. Loving Aunt had the advantage in battles against fellow players, but against monsters, she would face difficulties.
Against a True Dragon, even her Serpent God Inheritance was strongly suppressed. Although bloodline suppression between reptilian entities was of the adorative/strengthening effect instead of the terror-inducing/weakening effect, it could still be used to cause harm.
Still, despite her suffering, Loving Aunt felt so much hatred that she was unable to back down. What she wanted to do was rip the Metal Dragon to shreds, then boil medicinal soup for Draco with its scales.
Riveting Night stood up from beside Draco as the various guild members of the four guilds arrived, along with Yui, Noble Soul and Gentle Flower.
Standing diametrically opposite to the Metal Dragon, they put up a defense as they got into formation once again, mimicking the lineup Draco told them to use before he attacked.
"What is the plan now, Madame Night?" Gentle Flower asked solemnly.
Riveting Night went silent for a bit. "Have you all inspected the Metal Dragon yet?"
This question startled everyone as they hadn't thought to scan the Metal Dragon with all that had happened. They had been stuck in continuous action for so long that they forgot to do something so simple and basic.
｢Name: Metal Dragon (Dark Knight) – Major Rank Adventurer
Level: 23
HP: 8,000,000/8,000,000｣
Everyone took an extremely deep breath as their hearts began to shiver with dread.
Even Captain Rank monsters that had HP in the hundreds of thousands were extremely daunting tasks for them, how much more a Major Rank monster with eight million HP?
If it were a common breed of monster, that would be fine. However, it just so happened that this monster was a Supreme-Rank Dragon.
These players just couldn't see how they were supposed to defeat an enemy like this.
"Hm? Do you guys see that? It says 'Major Rank Adventurer' instead of 'Major Rank monster'."
"Ah? It's true! Not only that, but there also seems to be a second name in brackets!"
"Dark Knight…? Why do I feel like I have seen this name before…?"
At this point, everyone was extremely unsure of how to proceed, specially since this new information they had gleaned didn't clear up any cobwebs. It only added to the aura of might and mysticism the Metal Dragon possessed.
"You've seen this name before because it belongs to a player, one who is extremely skilled at that."
A certain powerful and enchanting male voice resounded, filling the hearts of the listeners with a kind of strength that charged their blood with vitality and got their hearts pumping.
Everyone turned to see Draco rise to his feet, tossing aside a potion bottle that had a golden liquid within. His beaten and broken body seemed as good as new and even his armor seemed like it was fresh from the forge.
Draco stepped forward under the reverent, shocked and ecstatic gazes of his friends, family and allies, right to the front of the army.
"This is not a monster, it is not an NPC and it is not a player."
Draco looked up, right into the green eyes of the Metal Dragon.
"This, is a clone."