“I have given you a chance to retreat, but you guys just triggered my limit.”
Before Evie could know what Ren was talking about, a thick cloud of smoke enveloped the area.
“W-what is this?” Evie was baffled at the sudden grey smog that came out of nowhere. It was odorless and tasteless, but she felt the cold seeping into every pore in her body.
“Don’t worry,” muttered Ren in a soft voice that was a sheer contrast to his tone a few moments ago. “Everything . . . will end now.”
He said his last sentence in a whisper but Evie still heard a bit of it.
Something tugged at her heart. The softness and gentleness in Ren’s tone made her uncomfortable. Like there were butterflies in her stomach. Even more, the protection and safety he gave off was getting into her.
She cut it before she got used to it.
She was about to open her mouth to ask what he was planning, but the fog made it difficult for her to see, and the terror-stricken screams and cries that soon followed made her forget about her questions.
What’s going on?!
What happened?!
That was everyone’s exact thoughts before they all burst into particles, eyes wide, and didn’t know how they died.
Rewinding to the time that they still could see, before the screams and cries exploded in the wilds, some recalled that they were attacking Ren and Evie before a cloud of fog settled in. They glimpsed a strange silhouette of a creature, and when it attacked them, they counter back.
Its attacks were weak and didn’t need concern. They pried its face amidst the haze to see what it looked like but failed. Thinking that it was just another beast roaming in the area, some attacked it until its HP bar glowed to one.
In the thick fog that they could not see their own hands or breathe, a bright light blinded everyone. And the next thing they knew, a loud RoOaArR shook the ground while the fine hairs on their skin stood from the powerful statics in the air.
Amidst the blurs, they saw a silhouette of a large beast towering over the sky. It looked like a giant fox with fluffy ears and bushy tails, and . . . it had wings?
Most merely thought that it was just a beast in the area. The beasts and monsters located near the encampment were monstrous in frame but nothing to be concerned about if they were in a group of five or more.
But when a burst of electrifying light screeched through its mouth, they froze on the spot. And the next thing they knew was their Health Bar flashing red in alarm and quickly went zero.
Some managed to scream, while some didn’t have the chance to utter even a single syllable before they perished.
It was chaos!
Everyone was going hysterical, mostly brought by the crowds’ terror-stricken reaction at their HP Bar turning zero.
And then silence.
Heavy silence.
The fog cleared, and when everything went back to normal, only ten players were left, including Ren and Evie.
The others gaped. Confused. Didn’t know what was happening, and the only clues left were the shining particles of the dead players.
Buzzing noises killed the silence within seconds, and some took to the World Chat of what happened.
Some players who died went ranting into the chat room. Their items were gone while some who loved to gossip said that it was a Hidden Boss. They were too stunned when it suddenly appeared out of nowhere that they forgot to use a [Monocle].
However, how could they even use a [Monocle] if they perished within seconds? They couldn’t even blink when that happened, much less use an item.
The chat room exploded, and everyone clamored over what the players said. Some even uploaded the video, and all saw what happened –– in blurred, of course.
But they still saw the giant silhouette, and everyone believed it was indeed a Hidden Boss or even possibly a World Boss. The guilds and players panicked and immediately sent their men to investigate what happened.
Until one person pointed it out.
“But you didn’t suffer any EXP penalty, right? If it’s a World Boss or even a Hidden Boss, then why you only suffered item loss? Shouldn’t you suffer enormous EXP loss instead?
. . .
. . .
There was silence on the other end, and everyone stopped to take a second to think.
While the remaining players left in the area all looked at Ren and Evie.
There was no one who could explain what really happened and neither did Evie. She looked over at Ren, but the guy replied with an innocent smile.
“Looks like we got lucky that a pe– . . . I mean a beast passed by,” he said.
“. . .” Evie was too confused to react. She couldn’t see amidst the thick fog and only heard the screams and cries while a silhouette of a monstrous fluffy monster loomed over the horizon.
“Let’s go,” Ren said and added, “Don’t forget to pick up the drop items.”
Evie was in a daze but still followed Ren. She would ask him later about what happened when her brain was already in sound mind.
While Ren and Evie were picking up items on the ground, the other players simply stood frozen on their spot with gaping mouths. Their brain was in a mess, and they couldn’t wrap their minds at what they saw. They didn’t know what to do first. Chase and search for the beast that killed those many players. Pick up the items on the ground before Ren and Evie could. Or investigate what happened?
No one suspected Ren did it since they couldn’t believe that a single player was powerful enough to defeat those many players all at once. They made themselves believe that it was some kind of a special Boss. Rather than face the truth that there’s a Godly player who could defeat all of them in a single swipe.
But some still suspected that maybe it was one of Ren’s mysterious spells that came with his rare class. The only thing that hindered them from expounding in that line of thought was the fact that Ren was just a regular player with a rare class.
He defeated Scar and Black Lion, true. They could accept that. But killing those dozens of players in full health with a single blow? Within seconds?
That’s beyond unbelievable.
They would rather believe that it was indeed a mysterious Boss than anything else.