The number of Void Monsters killed by the members of the Four Guilds had crossed the hundreds after five minutes of intense non-stop combat, and the members were greatly benefiting from it.
Even the basic members of each of the four guilds had reached level 25. Meanwhile, those of the higher ranks were closing in on Draco and Riveting Night's level.
It was inevitable that they would be surpassed - for now - as the Evil Duo were busy placing all their gained experience into their growth items.
Riveting Night had only one, so she was making great strides to upgrade the Eye of Heaven, compared to Draco who put a little in Pair Dadeni and a little into Mjolnir.
Why did Draco do something that seemed so counterintuitive? Shouldn't it be common sense to focus on one and send it to the next level before starting with another?
What was up with this brainless act of spreading the experience around?
The issue was that if either Pair Dadeni or Mjolnir reached the Legendary Rank, Draco would be unable to use either one of them.
What a joke!
The first passive of each item automatically upgraded the reagents to the corresponding rank of the item. It didn't matter whether Draco liked it or not, the items would be upgraded if used in conjunction with them.
While people would usually kill for the opportunity to have free access to Legendary items, without the necessary skill they would be as useful as gold was to a thirsty man in a desert.
Just look at the hullabaloo he went through in making the Chaotic Blades.
He literally destroyed his arm with every swing of the hammer, and if not for someone of Hikari's caliber healing him, it would have taken him ages to forge even one item.
Furthermore, if it wasn't for his pain tolerance, as well as his Control's ability to allow one to turn off pain receptors, he wouldn't have been able to work on Epic items yet.
As for Alchemy, the fellow was really fortunate that his State of Being allowed him to manipulate Worldly Energy in great amounts. He could even directly control Aetheric Energy, but only in little amounts.
Still, if he messed up, the cauldron would directly explode, which would kill him for sure, and what's worse, lower Pair Dadeni's durability.
Why hadn't Draco brought out the Hawkeye bow and the Phoenix Cry arrow to bombard the multitudes of Void Monsters? After all, the arrow was practically built for large-scale battles, especially with that Sonic Cry passive skill.
It was because the durability had already been damaged by Riveting Night. Even though it was just 100,000 out of 1,000,000, it was still too dangerous. Draco could not repair Epic or Legendary items.
Repairing was a cursed new mechanic introduced in Update 1, and it worked very differently from how it did in other FIVR games. As such, he stuck to Dragorugio and Fragarach for the fight.
Draco was like the advent of the True Sword God. His blades moved so fast and so gracefully that the rays they left behind were beautiful. Watching him fight really made the spectating players feel awe and excitement.
Draco wasn't a typical swordsman who fought using the western style, which emphasized footwork and blade work. He mixed both the eastern style - which relied on technique, prediction, and acrobatics - with the former school of swordsmanship.
(Author's Note: Sword nerds please stop there. Have mercy upon my ignorant soul. The martial arts in 2065 is very different from the modern era due to increased fitness under NuSmoothies, so their styles have evolved slightly. Please bear with me.)
He also used Control to move in inhumane ways to supplement his swordsmanship, whereas Riveting Night - and most Control users - used it defensively most often to evade.
Ambidexterity was a basic fundamental for anyone who had unlocked the Body of Godliness, so it wasn't surprising that Draco could use both swords as if they were on his dominant hand.
Riveting Night kited three Void Destroyers while Draco also kited the exact number. Their level of skill was - relatively speaking - on an even level, so they both displayed the same prowess, which shocked the onlookers.
-40,000! -120,000!
Draco dealt 4,000 damage with his blades now that he was going all out. His usual damage was 3000 to 3500, but he was using his Control to maximize his every attack.
In Essence, he was using the base version of his Swordsman Technique, which was still unnamed.
With the Sword of Promised Victory passive skill, his one-handed sword damage was boosted by ten times!
As such, his base damage with Dragorugio reached 40,000 per hit! This was a mind-boggling amount compared to Riveting Night, who was getting less than 5,000 damage with a single attack.
Not to mention Fragarach which was even more demonic. With it, the 40,000 damage benefited from the King of Wind passive which dealt 300% wind damage.
The Void Destroyers had already lost 10,000,000 HP from the attack of the Eye of Heaven, leaving them with only 5,000,000 HP overall. If Draco continued like this, he would slaughter a single injured Void Destroyer in 32 hits.
With his attack speed that was buffed by his Control, his Avenger class itself, his Avenger class passives, his other passives, and his stats, Draco was like a tornado.
However, the Void Destroyers were Captain Rank monsters that were feared for good reason. Putting aside their various immunities, their base stats were one whole Rank above what they should be and felt more like Major Rank entities.
In essence, Draco felt like he was fighting miniature Metal Dragons, only that they thankfully did not have the ability to use skills nor did they show any real intelligence.
Else, he would be extremely pressured. He would be lying if he called the current situation easy.
The difference between the Metal Dragon then and these Void Monsters now, was that he didn't have to worry too much about the hits from the Metal Dragon because they were of the same element.
However, no item - aside from the Abyss Key and the Tome of Healing - or State of Being - aside from the Divine - would be able to remain unscathed in the face of Abyssal Energy.
As such, he had to remain untouched, especially now that everything had gained a durability rating. Even Dragorugio had a durability rating, and if it was ruined, that would that unless he became a Grandmaster Blacksmith.
The Void Monsters were fast and relied on their instincts to fight. This forced Draco to push himself in order to deal with three of them at once. Even worse, more Void Monsters kept coming out of the portal.
While more than 40% were Void Fodder, 30% were Void Monsters and 20% were Void Killers, the final 10% were more Void Destroyers. The amount of them was mind-boggling and broke the balance of the game!
But did it?
What did you expect from an apocalypse class quest? If there were one or two Void Destroyers, why would the Rank 7 powers need to be worried? Couldn't they just land in the Ruined Plains of Deriam and smash them to paste?
The threat to the world from the Void Monsters lay not in their invulnerability within the next two ranks from most attacks, but their ability to corrupt matter as well as their numbers.
The Abyss Realm was chockful of Void Monsters and the ones who arrived were just their weakest members. They were almost endless in number, and they kept squeezing out of the hole Draco had made in the Ruined Plains of Deriam.
The new Void Destroyers almost unilaterally went for Draco because he presented the highest threat.
Riveting Night was managing her battlefront well enough, but her damage dealing was within reason. It would take her quite a few minutes to kill one Void Destroyer, unlike Draco who was already on the verge of killing one.
"Sword Skill 265: Lotus!"
Draco moved both his swords in a complex and swift pattern, maximizing his speed in a split second as he made dozens of swipes from absurd angles that looked senseless.
However, when the sheer wind from the force of his rapid movements died down, one could see the shape of a beautiful lotus carved onto the body of the Void Destroyer that was on the verge of death.
Its eyes bulged unable to understand what happened, even as it turned to pixels and faded away.
Draco panted lightly as he had consumed a lot of stamina from that. His Sword Skills above 200 were extremely intense on the body, as they had been created when he was at the higher Ranks, with more power and more endurance.
He could perform them now because of his rebuilt body and his Horned Demon Inheritance which gave him inhuman stamina - both in bed and out of bed – but also partially due to his Serpent God Inheritance.
Draco received a mind-boggling 3,645% experience from killing one Void Destroyer, which was basically 36 levels. Why was it so high?
Firstly, he was at a lower level. He only dealt so much damage to the Void Destroyers - despite the level suppression - due to his State of Being, items and his skill.
Secondly, the Void Destroyers were at the Captain Rank, but had the firepower of a weakened Major Rank monster. As always, the golden rule of higher effort = higher reward was being upheld by the system.
Thirdly, this was an enemy boss monster that was supposed to be hunted down by a party of 100 men at Rank 1, level 50 who were at least, pros.
These pros would also have to be fully equipped with all items being Uncommon or more powerful and not to mention everything had to be imbued by Aether.
Fourthly - and most importantly - this monster's experience was presumed to be shared across a party of hundred people. 3,645% spread evenly across 100 people would be only 36.45% experience per person.
However, in the hands of one man, it naturally became extremely insane.
This was the issue with reincarnators. In fact, it was the issue with any talented person really.
They could do things that went above the mark, and hog the rewards that were meant for 'the many' as one individual.
Draco placed 1,000% of that sweet experience into Mjolnir, bringing it to 3,000% of 50,000%. The remaining 2,645% was sent into Pair Dadeni, bringing it to 4,200% of 50,000%.
The remaining Void Destroyers roared and increased the intensity of their attacks on him, and their increased numbers really made him start to sweat. Riveting Night was tied down in a stable battle, so she could not help him.
However, this was Riveting Night we were talking about. This woman was skillful, beautiful and very deadly at all times, but when one messed with Draco, she reverted to her natural yandere state.
"HOW DARE YOU!!"
She screamed with madness, as a vortex appeared in the area before her eyes. Her Abyssal Eye shared the same name with the monsters, but they were two different things.
The Abyss - in Boundless - was a place of nihility and anti-matter.
The Abyss - in Riveting Night's bloodline - was essentially endless darkness, the kind of place one imagined when they thought of an abyss.
Izanagi!
A wormhole appeared in the area surrounding the Void Destroyers that were assaulting Draco. Its suction had usually been weak when Riveting Night had used it before, but now that her bloodline had improved, it exerted a much greater force.
This disruption forced the Void Destroyers to stand in one place and concentrate their might on staying still, rather than hinder Draco. This allowed him to deal with the other two that had less than 5,000,000 health remaining, his attacks rapidly bringing them closer to death.
However, were the Void Destroyers that Riveting Night was battling props on a stage? They naturally capitalized on this opening she created to actually land a hit on her, and Riveting Night coughed blood.
Most of their attacks kept coming up as 'miss!' due to her high evasion rate as an assassin and the Abyssal Ring. However, the few that landed really pushed her to the limit.
She had to simultaneously cast a light barrier around her while maintaining Izanagi, and this swallowed her bloodline energy and focus so quickly like water going down the drain.
A bloodline purity of 90% was incomparable to her former 80%. With her extreme training and great skill in her bloodline, she was able to utilize this boost to increase her prowess while decreasing her wastefulness.
Izanagi which had formerly taken 250 BP - Bloodline Points - now devoured only 200 BP per cast and drained steadily for a continuous use. However, using the Light Barrier on top of that would naturally make her concentration shaky, leading to higher wastefulness.
She took 7,000 damage from each hit and the effect of the anti-matter made her cells begin to degrade. Even though she used Instant healing to recover 15,000 of her 16,000 HP after two hits, she still went to the red soon after from other hits.
"Eva, STOP!" Draco roared.
He knew he was in a tough spot, but he would rather die first than let Riveting Night suffer because of him. First of all, he had ways to alleviate the danger slightly, so her reaction was a bit irrational.
Riveting Night shivered when Draco shouted out and her madness was suppressed as she withdrew Izanagi, using Short Blink to create a little distance before taking an Angel's Kiss potion.
They had less than 10 of them remaining after the battle with the Metal Dragon. Draco hadn't gotten down to making any more due to the time constraints. He initially planned to after Update 1, but Qiong Qi had whacked away Pair Dadeni in a display of dominance.
Then, the two almost fought in a fake wrestling ring before everything shifted about due to the Abyss Event. Afterward, he was busy with other things and postponed because he had frankly underestimated the threat of the Guild War when manipulated by Rank 7 entities.
Riveting Night's health and bloodline energy were restored to the maximum. She couldn't receive healing or the buffs from Rambunctious because they were far away from that group, in order to prevent interference.
The same thing went for Draco.
Riveting Night took a deep breath and used Void Slash and Chrono Slash together.
(Author's Note: Henceforth, the active skills of both weapons have been changed from 'Void Blade' and 'Chrono Blade' to 'Void Slash' and 'Chrono Slash'.)
｢Active 1 – Void Slash: Send out a condensed wave of void energy in the form of a slice which deals 100% void damage. Cooldown: 1 minute.｣
｢Active 1 – Chrono Slash: Send out a condensed wave of chrono energy in the form of a slice which deals 100% chrono damage. Cooldown: 1 minute.｣
She hadn't used them individually yet because they functioned better together, and because she was testing out the usefulness of the two blades with her fighting style.
They worked extremely well, and now that she was sure these Epic blades were perfect, she could begin to unleash hell upon these Void Destroyers.
The Void and Chrono Slashes joined together in mid-air to form a new wave that was colorless and seemingly formless. Every human being in the area shivered when they felt that Chaos Energy, and their genes began to roil.
The Void Destroyer that got hit by the Chaos Wave was shocked to find that half of its body had turned into water. This was startling because it had been turned from an entity that was anti-matter to actual matter due to the nature of chaos.
Chaos Energy was naturally higher than Abyssal Energy, so their native element couldn't protect them. The Void Destroyer screamed as the anti-matter half of its body eroded the now turned matter half of its body and vice-versa.
- 1000! -3000! -5000! -10000! -50000! -100000! -300000! -1000000! -3000000!
The damage kept piling up as both halves of its body ate each other up. Everyone, from player to NPC and even the Void Monsters were chilled by this sight.
It didn't matter who you were, watching an entity die by consuming itself was a traumatic sight.
Riveting Night gained 3,645% experience which she placed into the Eye of Heaven, bringing it to 5,195% of 30,000%.
It was very likely that she could evolve it to the Legendary Rank through this Emergency Quest, so Riveting Night rushed into battle with the other two Void Destroyers that were now a bit more hesitant to actually fight her.
While they were beastly, they still felt like she was a tough prey to fight. Nevertheless, they did not shrink back, rather choosing to fight her head-on.
Riveting Night also no longer held back. She imbued her blades with her light energy and used it to augment her damage against the remaining Void Destroyers.
After a minute passed, the cooldown of both active skills was up. She then sent out another well-timed Chaos Wave that connected with another Void Destroyer.
Only that…
It became bigger on one side, while the other half was the same size. The effects of chaos were random, as that was the nature of the concept. It was like opening a mystery box each time and the earlier time had just been a coincidence.
The misshapen Void Destroyer struggled to fight, and was targeted by Riveting Night easily.
While Riveting Night abused her two active skills to create a Chaos Wave with every strike, Draco was currently facing off against 9 Void Destroyers. He was extremely stressed out and pushed his limit, nevertheless, he enjoyed this.
Once the 10th Void Destroyer chose to attack him over Riveting Night, he smiled. Even though he was being suppressed brutally at this point, Draco was truly happy.
Why?
Because he could now use one of the skills he had been dying to debut ever since his bloodline purity had increased to 99%.
He originally planned to use it to decimate the Allied Guilds as a lesson and while it might have looked grand, using the Void Destroyer as his stepping stones would work infinitely better.
Draco burned every single bit of his increased BP to cast this absolutely powerful technique.
He stretched his arms to the extremes of each side, smiling like the angels were bestowing blessings upon him from heaven.
However, this holy scene was ruined by a giant black portal that appeared above his head. This portal was the size of a large house and what lay beyond it seemed impalpable.
However, every eye bulged out of their sockets when they saw what came through.
The head of a giant Black Dragon emerged slowly from the portal, its red eye gleaming with pride and superiority. It came out to the mid-point of its neck, and opened its jaws wide.
The Worldly Energy of the whole Fleeting Forest was dragged into the area before its mouth, forming into a small black orb that seemed almost harmless at first glance.
When the Orb of Destruction was fired onto the Void Destroyers, the players of Boundless unanimously agreed that they would never be able to match Draco in their lives.