BOOM!!
A massive explosion occurred wherever the Blackfire landed, expanding in size and volume as it clashed with the ones within its target range.
Draco and Riveting Night could only watch helplessly as this happened, unable to save anyone else due to their positioning and the suddenness of the attack. They were certainly almost omnipotent, but they were far from Gods within Boundless.
As the area began to clear, Draco and Riveting Night saw the Knights of Camelot first. What they saw made their hearts sink as the 6 Knights of Camelot looked badly beaten.
Arthur had taken the brunt of the attack for his men with Excalibur in hand, while the other five had supported him in different ways. The result was that they lost almost 20% HP each and had varying wounds on their bodies.
This sounded like it wasn't much of a problem, but the Knights of Camelot were the strongest fighting force here, even more than the Army of Camelot or the Evil Duo themselves.
For them to be so severely beaten after just one attack meant that the chances of the other groups surviving were much lower.
Draco cast his eye to the Army of Camelot and almost fell to his knees. The 100,000-man corps had been reduced to less than 10,000. More than 90% of this Army died in just one hit, which made Draco feel depressed.
He had underestimated the enemy!
He almost didn't want to look at the remaining players, but his eyes couldn't help but swing over. When he saw that the thousands of players that formed the Four Guilds had been reduced to a mere hundred or less, he realized that this battle was almost lost.
Even his Personal Command Center seemed to agree, as the new success rate for this battle was 20%. The remaining players contributed 0.2 %, 5% by the Army of Camelot, 7% by the Knights of Camelot, and 7.2% by the Evil Duo.
At this point, Draco might as well solo the Dragon himself. Since the Army of Camelot was his summon, this was also technically the truth.
Draco and Riveting Night blinked back to the players, their expression grim as they saw the battered men and women who were stunned by the losses they suffered and the pain they endured.
Draco was silent for a second before he spoke to them.
"We are the only ones left. The plan will have to change from now on, as we are too few to carry out my previous formation. All of you will stick close to us and support us in every way. We'll use the Knights of Camelot as our tanks and the Army of Camelot as our main damage dealers."
Out of the notable players remaining from the guilds, Gentle Flower, Noble Soul, and Yui had survived. Their vice-guildmasters and most of their core members had been slain in that attack.
With pale faces, they gave their consent, to which Draco nodded with gratitude.
Draco turned to Umbra and felt his heart clench. Out of the notable members, only Kiran, Rambunctious Buttlover, Slim Fatty, Warm Spring, and Fitter Cleric survived. The rest had all been slain as well, with most of Umbra's core members sent for respawn too.
Umbra was supposed to be dauntless and unbeatable, but lord knew they had taken a beating this time.
What made Draco the most depressed though, was the fact that the Metal Dragon utilized destruction energy, meaning that if these players who died didn't lose their accounts, they would face harsher punishments like lengthened respawn time, higher experience loss, loss of item durability - which was voided since items didn't have this stat in the launch version - and higher loot drop.
Draco faced Roma and her Witch Slaves, who had survived due to protection from Qiong Qi.
"Roma, have your servants gather up all the dropped loot. You will join me at the front lines."
Roma bowed with respect, her eyes still glowing green, and her hair thrashing about like snakes trying to bite prey. She was still chanting under her breath, so she did not speak to Draco.
Worldly Energy rushed towards her in volumes, an act which even the Metal Dragon noticed but could not disrupt because the angered Knights of Camelot and the Army of Camelot besieged it.
Draco knew that whatever spell or curse she was casting, it would be a game-changer as long she wasn't interrupted. If Roma died due to it, it wouldn't be a problem for Draco as she had an Immortal Spirit too.
Any costs she had to pay for respawn came out of Draco's pocket, and Draco had the Seal of Camelot, which negated the costs and effects of death regardless of the source.
Draco turned to the three guild leaders and nodded. "After the battle, send me a bill for the monetary cost of restoring your losses. I can easily pay for them."
They shared a look and nodded, not refusing his offer since they would direly need it if they wanted to keep their guilds from falling apart.
Draco only offered to do this because of the potential of these guilds, and because they had chosen to fight alongside him twice. The first time when the Metal Dragon appeared, as everyone ran away and the second time right now, after suffering such heavy losses.
As for the external guilds that had been spectating, some had directly left. After seeing what had just happened, they refused to believe the almighty Umbra would win.
Instead of aimlessly watching, it would be better to use this time to try and catch up to Umbra while they were set back so heavily.
A few stayed out of curiosity and desire, believing that Umbra should be able to do just enough to allow them to capitalize on their weakness.
Draco ignored them and led the remaining players onto one of the hills that were near the Metal Dragon's spot. He stood there with the wind blowing his white hair about and his cape trailing in the breeze.
Whether male or female, the various players had to admit that Draco radiated a certain energy that uplifted them and drew away their despair, replacing it with hope.
This was an extremely watered-down version of draining their negativity directly, but it was enough to give Draco the idea to try something risky.
"Are you ready?" Draco asked his Black Dragon, or technically, himself.
The Black Dragon grunted with solemnity and focus.
Riveting Night silently took out five bottles of the Angel's Kiss potion. Loving Aunt came to stand beside him and placed her hand on his back while whispering to him lightly.
"Follow my instructions."
The players were clueless as to what was going on, but they didn't dawdle. The melee players took on the role of tanks as they defended the ranged players, while the ranged players sent out volleys of attacks sparingly in order to avoid attracting aggro.
The Metal Dragon battled against the Army of Camelot ferociously, resorting to physical attacks since it had burned a lot of Worldly Energy to shoot out those orbs of destruction earlier.
If it could fire out such an attack continuously, why would the AI even bother to add players to this event? It would make this an NPC-only event in this case.
BAM!
BOOM!
Arthur waved Excalibur about wildly as he floated in the air, defending against direct strikes from those claws that were coated in destruction energy.
His golden armor had many cracks in it and looked like it was decaying, while Excalibur remained unsullied, but Arthur himself suffered a bit. The destruction energy had little effect on him due to the enchantments Merlin bestowed on him as well as the protection of the Lady of the Lake.
His blonde hair was matted with sweat as he continued to fight madly, channeling all his hate for Guinevere onto one of her racial kin, this filthy and vile Dragon.
"Die, beast!" Arthur roared with madness.
"NWOAAAHHHHH!!!" The Metal Dragon similarly roared back with similar insanity, assailing Arthur in a frenzy of claw attacks.
The other Knights hovered around Arthur, simultaneously protecting him and dishing out their own attacks, which was the main reason Arthur had largely come out unscathed.
Galahad's eyes had brightened and were filled with a similar mania to Arthur, as he hated Dragonkind. If it hadn't been for that s.l.u.t of a queen who seduced his father, how could his life become so miserable?
Unfortunately, it was the other way round, but Galahad chose to believe in his father over the queen. Otherwise, he might just go mad, ending his own life there and then.
The Army of Camelot stuck to the ground and mixed melee attacks with their own ranged attacks, all of which dealt impressive amounts of damage when they landed.
Due to the level difference and the destruction energy surrounding the Metal Dragon, most of their attacks were either nullified or repelled. Their earlier volley, which reached almost 1200 damage each from 1/4th of their numbers, had been able to do more damage overall, but most of that was just ruined by this destruction aura as well.
The way it worked was that the attacks would land, and a damage indicator would be shown, but the effect on the Dragon's HP wouldn't show 3 times out of 10.
This made it very hard for them to take it down as it was so goddamn resilient and blessed by the heavens.
The Metal Dragon roared, and the soundwave knocked back the Army of Camelot as well as the Knights of Camelot. Before they could rush back into the fight after gathering their wits together, they noticed that the Metal Dragon had thrust its claws into the earth as Worldly Energy rushed into the ground.
What happened next stunned everyone.
Out of the earth came hundreds of humanoid warriors that were shaped like suits of armor but had no occupants within them. Each of these suits of armor resembled the enemy Draco had fought in the streets of Cario City before he went to the Divine Auction.
They held greatswords or poleaxes, or even lances, their bright green eyes gleaming within their helms as they stared down the Army of Camelot and the players on the hill.
With a shout from the Metal Dragon, these hundreds of forces rushed out towards the assailants of the Metal Dragon, with almost 99% rushing to the soldiers of Camelot while the remainder rushed towards the players.
With eyes glowing with malevolence, the Metal Dragon assaulted the Knights of Camelot with increased fervor, putting them in an incredibly rough spot as they fought like madmen.
The Soldiers of Camelot were no longer able to devote any time to fighting the Metal Dragon as they had to deal with these spawns.
｢Name: Poor Metal Golem – Private Rank monster
Level: 18
HP: 1500/1500｣
｢Name: Basic Metal Golem – Specialist Rank monster
Level: 20
HP: 7500/7500｣
｢Name: Advanced Metal Golem – Sergeant Rank monster
Level: 22
HP: 10,500/10,500｣
｢Name: Superior Metal Golem – Captain Rank monster
Level: 24
HP: 100,500/100,500｣
The adds the Regional Boss had spawned were of each Rank below Major, from Private to Captain Rank. There were over 400 Private Rank Golems, 250 Specialist Ranks, 175 Sergeant Ranks, and 55 Captain Ranks.
Each Rank had much more health and power than monsters of their level or Rank, which further buttressed how dire the situation was.
Typically, the adds a boss spawned were only strong enough to harass players so that the boss could regain health or dish out severe damage.
Here, the adds the Metal Dragon spawned were only slightly worse than what Draco would get if he used the Heart of the Woods' Nature's Call skill.
The Army of Camelot had lost many numbers, and their strength was just about on par with the Sergeant Rank monsters, while the Specialist and Private Ranks were pieces of cake.
The Capitan Rank Golems though, gave them so much pressure that some soldiers begun to lose their lives in battle, further reducing the battle power of the Army of Camelot.
"Vile Beast! You are but a knave underneath the might of Camelot!" Arthur shouted out.
With a beat of his chest, the alternate Seal of Camelot was brought - the one that existed within the timeline Arthur was summoned from, as the one Draco possessed was given to him by a future version of Arthur who died in battle - and shone its light on the Army of Camelot.
As if they had taken drugs, the Army entered a frenzy as their prowess was boosted by almost 100%! What used to daunt them now became a level playing field, and the Metal Golems began to fall quickly.
As a consequence, Arthur's brilliance began to fade as the Metal Dragon began to overpower him. The Seal of Camelot he held was a true Divine item, not the weaker Legendary version Draco had.
Using its second active skill, which bolstered the Army of Camelot, weakened it a bit, and Arthur as well.
It was just like Draco using the Omega skill, where he would be rendered immobile for one minute with 1% health.
If it weren't for Arthur's various blessings and enchantments from magical and divine sources, he would have suffered a fate just as unfortunate as Draco, instead of only being weakened significantly.
The Metal Dragon saw this weakness and capitalized on it with fury. Its attacks became fast and wild, as it no longer held back due to reservations. It had to do everything in its power to finish these six men!
That way, its showdown with Draco would be secured!
Arthur and the Knights of Camelot were beaten back heavily and so bad that within 10 minutes, Sir Kay died and was sent back to Camelot.
Following him was Sir Tristan, then Sir Percival. This left three of the four most legendary Knights of the Round Table left, Bedivere the loyalist, Galahad the talent, and Gawain the finder of the Holy Grail.
However, they were also on their last legs, but the damage they had dealt to the metal Dragon since their showdown began was not to be scoffed at.
｢Name: Metal Dragon (Dark Knight) – Major Rank Adventurer
Level: 23
HP: 3,426,109/8,000,000｣
They had reduced the Metal Dragon to less than 50% health, which was why it had decided to stop holding back. If it kept fighting them at the same level, its health would fall to the point where Draco could muster a meaningful counter-attack.
Bedivere soon felt himself reach his limit as he smiled weakly. "Stay strong, My King. We will meet again in Avalon."
After another cacophony of blows, Galahad only silently and hatefully glared at the Metal Dragon as his body faded away and returned to Camelot.
Gawain was unable to last after just another three minutes as he lowered his head. "I will wait for you, Arthur."
Arthur was left alone, battling a Dragon and losing terribly. His armor was barely able to maintain cohesiveness, and even Excalibur's bright light had dulled a bit.
Arthur's scabbard was able to prevent him from taking any damage whatsoever, which was how he had been undefeated in all his battles. Its healing abilities put even an Origin God to shame.
However, Arthur did not possess his scabbard currently, as it was lost during the previous battle within the timeline of old Britain. This was how Mordred was able to wound him greatly during this battle, leaving him to bleed on the Isle of Avalon.
It was only thanks to the holy light of Excalibur that he had survived so long, but even that was not able to keep him from death.
With one final vicious blow from the Metal Dragon, Arthur could only smile bitterly as he began to fade away.
"It seems that Dragons will always be my curse despite being named after them. I leave it all to you, Swordsman Draco."
...............
A while before this moment, the players on the hill were locked in a ferocious battle like nothing ever before. They faced 5 Specialist Rank Metal Golems, 2 Sergeant Ranks, and one Captain Rank.
The 90+ players of the different guilds fought like madmen, somewhat quickly taking down the Specialist Rank Golems. They then pitched together to kill the Sergeant Rank Golems, but they lost more than 10 of their numbers doing so.
It was the remaining Captain Rank monster that really pushed them to their limits, as it was a humanoid with exemplary skills.
The myriad attacks that landed upon it were either blocked or ignored, meaning that these players were unable to deal too much damage per second compared to typical Captain Rank monsters.
Meanwhile, the Golem did not idle around. It used its long lance to pierce and rip apart the players, targeting most of the cloth armor and light armor players.
It was a brutal and unforgiving massacre, reducing the remaining players from over 80 to less than 40.
Rambunctious Buttlover gnashed his teeth and cast the Rare skill he had acquired, which qualified him to become a core member of Umbra.
Lyrical Lines!
Immediately, he took out his lute and began to sing a stimulating piece that set the fires of the player's hearts ablaze.
He had withheld on this skill earlier because it bottomed out his stamina and was a continuous cast. It meant that he would continue singing for at least a minute without being able to stop or move.
However, the tradeoff was that the benefits it gave were amazing!
｢Guild Local Area Announcement
Player Rambunctious Buttlover has boosted the party's morale through music! The enemy is cowed by his lyrical might!
All players:
Attack +50%
Defense +70%
Speed +20%
All enemies:
Attack -50%
Defense -70%
Speed -20%｣
The players of Umbra became like maddened beasts, much in the same manner as the soldiers of Camelot, their prowess increasing so greatly that the Captain Rank monster that had been suppressing them was instantly suppressed horribly.
At this moment, Arthur suddenly died, and the Metal Dragon turned to face the player guilds with malevolence in its eyes.
However, when it saw what Draco was doing, it almost lost its mind.
Draco had opened his eyes and was staring at it with seriousness, his arms stretched out to each side of his body. Above him was a black portal so large that it almost reached the size of the Metal Dragon itself.
With a smile, Draco pointed forward as the head of a Dragon slowly emerged from the portal.
The Black Dragon was entering the fray!