--- Driving away some pests

*Whistles!* *Bam!* -38,520,000, 91% +750,000,000...+750,000,000...

*Huff!* *Huff!* *Huff!*

[God's Grace(SSS): Passive Ability.

Adds 999,999,999 Pdef/Mdef, 99% Damage Reduction and Regenerates 10,000,000 HP per second. If surrounded by more than 1,000,000,000 hostiles, the regeneration is multiplied by 100. Immune to any type of defense reducing and damage taking debuffs and does not take any damage from any hostiles below level 90. (Hidden: After death, immediately resurrects with full health multiplied by 10.).]

'What a troublesome passive. If not for a regeneration debuff and my talent, which is of higher rank, its HP might not even go down to 91%. Its hidden effect is even more troubling too.'

*Sigh...*

It has been nearly an hour since Chris started his assault on the World Boss. He already managed to see five out of six of its skill descriptions and their hidden effects. He's now only waiting for it to use its first skill so he can truly go all out and see if he can kill it.

'Tsk! It's these greedy buffons! The moment they came here, they purposely sent more people to surround it. They're definitely planning something.'

Nearly 10 minutes after he started his attacks on the World Boss, the "reinforcements" from different empires started pouring towards it to attack.

At first, it was all well and good, but the moment the player count exceeded one billion, everything became harder. The player count even kept increasing as time passed, making him pissed about it.

Even a billion players would not be enough to completely surround the boss. It's already insane that an empire can support more than a billion players without becoming overcrowded.

On the other hand, the boss in front of him can fit the entire empire and still have room to spare. Looking at it on top of the wall is quite a sight. It's like ants are trying to bring down an anthill, but the anthill itself is as big as a mountain. If he didn't have a very high perception attribute, he wouldn't be able to see such an amazing sight.

If all the current players of Gaia attack it simultaneously, it can be killed within a minute. It's just that you need to be at least level 90 to actually deal at least 1 damage to it. Leveling up is not that easy, and more than 95% of the players are either gold farming slaves or lifestyle players.

It's one of the reasons for very slow progress as those with potential who should have been leading the way became stuck as servants. They couldn't do anything about it either, as their lives might be forfeit at any moment.

*Shwoosh!* *Whistles!* *Bam!* -38,520,000, 90%

[Reboxed]! +50,000,000,000,000

"Finally..."

[Reboxed(SS): Active Spell.

Fully heals HP, Removes all the debuffs, Doubles the over all HP and Armor, and becomes immune to any debuff for 1 hour. Cooldown: 8 Hours (Hidden: Halves if surrounded by more than a billion hostiles and reduces by 10 minutes per every billion hostiles in the vicinity.).]

And the moment that he has been waiting for has finally arrived. The last spell that he hasn't seen before has finally been used by the World Boss. His face turned ashen the moment he read its description.

'Damn! What an insane spell... How nice would it be if it actually drops skillbooks...'

*Exhales!*

'So at least I have an hour to kill it, huh...?'

His confidence never wavers at all because he has a lot of trump cards hidden in his inventory. And such a non-moving sandbag is a good target to test all of his current overall power, so he will never let it pass.

'Okay, let's see here...'

He then started to browse his inventory to look for the potions he needed for his next assault. But just as he was in the middle of it, someone with an authoritative voice called him from behind.

"Mr. Despair, we need to have a conversation about taking down this World Boss..."

"Hmmm?"

Looking behind him, he saw hundreds of players. Each one of them was equipped with epic to legendary-ranked items, indicating that they must have been very important figures. His face had a frown upon seeing them, as he knew who they were.

'This guy is a Cardinal? And these people with him are some of the leaders of the top 1,000 guilds in the game...'

"For the "Esteemed Leaders" of each of the top powerhouses to come to me is kind of flattering. Do you guys need something from me?"

"""..."""

The man, as well as the other people who came with him, were taken aback by his sarcasm.

'''This man doesn't have an ounce of respect for us authorities at all.''' They thought.

But who is Chris? For him, respect is something to earn, not something given. The very fact that these people had bad motives towards him doesn't bode well for him at all. He can also feel some killing intents nearby and was ready to teleport if he felt any slight movement.

Then the man with the authoritative voice started to introduce himself.

"I am one of the Twelve Cardinals o-!"

But just as the man was in the middle of his introduction, Chris cut him off because he felt that this type of guy was someone who threw his status around to intimidate people. He was actually spot on.

"I know who you are, Mister Cardinal. There's no need to introduce yourself to me."

"T-that's good then..."

The cardinal's frown was now visible on his face.

'''This man really has no respect at all. The very fact that we are being streamed live right now isn't helping. Does he really want to appear like a villain to the whole world?''' They thought.

"Hmmm... about 500 assassins, huh?"

"""!!!"""

Chris was looking around, murmuring how many invisible units are surrounding him. They were startled at it, and I gestured for them to fall back. They can feel the confidence in him through his nonchalant words. So they didn't push it, or they might suffer great consequences.

"Sorry about that. They were used to that skill s-!"

"There's no need for excuses. What do you want?"

"This... there's a private place that w-!"

"Tch! I don't have time for any of your games, sir Cardinal, so please say it here now."

Chris continuously cut off the Cardinal's words, making the latter's face turn dark. He doesn't like dealing with these kinds of hypocrites, so his tone was already laced with impatience. He was also annoyed that this Cardinal was trying to prolong the conversation.

Meanwhile, the Cardinal's anger towards Chris is at an all-time high, as not even once has someone disrespected him like this before. Their continent was the most powerful in the world, and his authority was only second to the Pope. And yet, a no-name bastard was talking to him like this.

It's not that Chris was being disrespectful or anything. It's just that he felt something evil from this cardinal. And the people with him had similar evil vibes. Add to the fact that there were invisible assassins lurking around before, which made him even more uncomfortable.

The Cardinal then forced a smile and started to speak again.

"Well, as you can see, this world boss battle is not going anywhere at this point, so why don't we cooperate?"

'Cooperate, he says? What a shameless fox! If I didn't notice those red player dots on my map, I would've been bombarded by attacks right now...'

"I can see that. And if you want to cooperate, why don't you pull back some of your forces that attack the World Boss? I'm sure you know the effect of its ultimate ability, no?"

"""..."""

"I don't know what the hell you people are planning, nor do I care. Just pull out some of your people, and the problem is solved."

"Well, you see, everyone needs a damage quota for the rankings. You can't just let others pull back, you know?"

The cardinal replied with a smirk as if what he said were a fact. Chris looked at him as if he were looking at an idiot. Good thing he was wearing a mask.

'I wonder if he actually hears what he was saying right now...'

"I don't understand. Why don't you go back to your own respective base empires? There are phantoms on each empire, and you can earn your own "quota" there, right?"

"That... makes sense, but... I believe everyone has the freedom to do what they want, right?"

Chris was dumbfounded by the Cardinal's answer. His mouth was now twitching non-stop, and he was already on the verge of pulling his bowstring to shoot. He couldn't fathom how a person like this held so much power in the real world.

Even most of the people, especially the oppressed ones, who are watching the livestream were speechless when the Cardinal talked about freedom.

'Seriously? Did he just say freedom?'

"Oh? Freedom, eh? To think that I will hear that from someone who has millions of gold-farming slaves..."

It's the Cardinal's, and the people with him turn to be speechless. They can't refute anything. Everyone knows that these top guilds, owned by the powerhouses in Gilona, have slaves who farm gold. After all, they needed it to keep up with the huge upkeep of the guild. That also includes the church, which actually had the most.

Chris then started to speak once again. And this time, it was a threatening one that will make everyone's blood run cold.

"How about this? I will turn my PK mode on and unleash some heavenly spells on the World Boss, hmmm?"

"""!!!"""

It was an unconcealed threat that will make anyone frightened. The cardinal and the people around him panicked and started to curse at him non-stop. They knew how terrifying those heavenly-ranked spells were after all. 

"You bastard!"

"You're too arrogant!"

"You know the whole world is watching right now! Are you not afraid they will see your true colors?"

'Truer colors, eh? I wonder if they have ever actually seen themselves...'

"I'd like to see your face right now and see if you have the guts to act arrogant in front of me! Trust me, I will definitely cut you down to the roots if I ever find you in real life."

He was smirking at their remarks, but his face darkened when he heard a threat. He immediately shoots.

*Wooosh!* *Pak!* -2,568,000

[You killed Verdant Light!]

[PK point +1(x1,000 for doing it on a non-PK zone.).]

[You obtained 150,000,000 Gold Coins, 12,000 Platinum Coins, 228 Spirit Stones.....]

***Gulp!***

An arrow was fired. One of the guild leaders who threatened him just now instantly turned into a mote of light, making everyone silent. Out of all things, what he hates the most are threats, so he instantly snaps.

"I was here doing my own business, and you fools came to make trouble once you didn't get what you wanted? And to think that a spoiled brat in the form of a grown-up man would dare to threaten me. Ridiculous!"

Everyone was startled and readied themselves to run away. They became scared shitless now as he was emitting a thick killing intent. Someone even revived the one who just died. But they became even more scared once the revived screamed like a pig.

"AHHH!!! IT'S ALL GONE!!! MY EQUIPMENTS, MY INVENTORY, GONE!!! ALL GONE!!!"

"Y-You! Give it ba-!"

*Wooosh!* *Pak!* -2,568,000

[You killed Verdant Light!]

[PK point +1(x1,000 for doing it on a non-PK zone.).]

"So noisy..."

"""..."""

They immediately became silent, afraid to get insta-killed. Even the other top powerhouses who were watching from afar frowned at what they saw. Some of them scoffed and still think that they have a chance against him in a one-on-one battle or a surprise ambush with their army. Their pride won't let them be below anyone.

"So...? What is it going to be? There was a simple solution, and yet, you fools are trying to make the situation complicated."

"""..."""

In the end, they just stayed silent and immediately fell back while gritting their teeth. They seriously wanted to talk back to him but were afraid to get shot, getting themselves killed instantly and all their equipment and inventory dropping afterwards.

'Phew...! Now that these pests are gone, let's get back to business.'

*Gulp!* *Gulp!* *Gulp!*.....

Chris then drank all the potions that he took out of his inventory. He was now ready for the main event.