What are you pretending to be?

The brilliant elements of magic howled beneath the city, and the rain of arrows continued.

"Slay—"

In the distance, Brandi and Jennifer, leading two formidable legions, advanced with an unstoppable momentum.

The soldiers were all elite monsters of level 40 or 50, far surpassing the adventurers and skeletal knights defending the city. They could easily take down one with just two or three strikes, creating an overwhelmingly one-sided situation.

"This resistance is futile!"

"These NPCs are not opponents we can deal with now. Farewell!"

"Persisting further would be a waste of the hard-earned levels we've gained. Let's not bother with the event plot; log out!"

...

Players who chose to defend the city began to entertain thoughts of retreating.

The upcoming battles had minimal impact on the ranking points. In their view, there was no need to stubbornly resist.

Of course, some players persisted, holding onto a glimmer of hope for keeping the Dark City, as the city walls were still intact, and the scripted NPC battles had yet to begin.

"Old lady?"

Under the city gate, Jennifer, clad in a blue robe with a face full of wrinkles, showed a touch of anger. "The Dark Swordsman hasn't even grown up, and he's already acting so recklessly?"

"Heh!"

Jiang Han couldn't help but chuckle. "Do you need me to call you grandma to satisfy you?"

Knowing that the newcomer was hostile, he couldn't pretend to be courteous. 

"You..."

Jennifer was furious. "Sharp-tongued!"

"Go to the safe area within the city and wait for the opportunity to evacuate!" Daniel said sternly. "Listen to me this time!"

"Ding!~"

System Prompt: Do you accept the quest [Evade the Edge]?

"No!"

Without a second word, Jiang Han chose to reject.

"There will be another chance." He looked deep into Daniel's eyes. "Trust me!"

Is the outcome already decided?

Perhaps in the eyes of other players, that was indeed the case, but he could still see a glimmer of possibility.

"..."

Hearing this, Daniel hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth. "Fine, if you want to fight, a mentor can't surrender first. I'll leave the old lady to you, and I'll deal with Brandi!"

"Good!"

Jiang Han nodded.

"You..."

Jennifer, repeatedly called an old lady, had an unpleasant expression. With a few more wrinkles on her face, she said, "Brandi, this kid is yours, go kill Daniel!"

Brandi, who couldn't hold back his killing intent, didn't find anything wrong with it.

In his view, if he could firmly suppress Daniel, Jennifer dealing with the undead knight Canter and a Jiang Han wouldn't be much of a challenge. Defeat was impossible.

"Retreat into the city first!" Daniel shouted.

As defenders, they couldn't give up the sturdy city walls. Now, with the city gate open, entering would only allow the enemy legions to take advantage. It would be a loss of advantage.

Canter and Jiang Han understood and immediately retreated into the city.

"Creak..."

Seeing this, the skeletal soldiers distributed throughout the corners of the city, ready to close the city gate.

Seeing this, Jennifer and Brandi exchanged a glance and decisively rushed into the city before the gate closed.

It's not that they didn't want to stop the city gate from closing, but the Dark City was a first-level main city. Although the city gate did not close quickly, blocking it in the center would be enough to crush even Earth-tier or Heaven-tier powerhouses. Trying to block it would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

However, they didn't panic about entering the enemy's camp. After all, there was no horrifying aura within the city, indicating the absence of unknown hidden powerhouses.

Of course, if there were powerhouses of Heaven-tier or higher, they wouldn't be able to sense them. But if there were such high-level powerhouses, why hide?

MISS!

MISS!

...

As the two entered the city, many long-range players attempted to attack, but the problem was not about penetrating defenses but rather their damage being directly immune.

"Swish!"

Daniel raised his bone-white staff, summoning a pitch-black energy ball that shot out.

"Is that all you've got?" Brandi sneered, waving a fiery red staff to create a shield of fire elemental energy in front of him, perfectly blocking the attack.

Seeing Daniel and Brandi in battle, Jiang Han turned to Canter. "You engage from the front, I'll support."

The opponent was, after all, a level 50 Golden BOSS. With his current attributes, he was highly likely to be killed instantly. Canter had to attract the aggro.

"No problem!"

Canter nodded and urged the skeletal horse to charge towards Jennifer.

"Ding!~"

System Prompt: Undead Knight Canter uses the skill [Charge], increasing movement speed by 35% and knocking back the first enemy unit touched, duration: ten seconds!

"Humph!"

Jennifer didn't dare to be careless, swinging her staff to release a freezing aura and quickly creating a crystal-clear ice wall in front of her to block the charge.

"Boom!"

The skeletal horse crashed heavily into the ice wall, causing it to shatter. However, the effect of the charge was also nullified.

Evil Tread!

Jiang Han quickly approached, seizing the opportunity from the side to try a forceful kick to Jennifer's head, aiming to suppress her and create an opening for Canter.

"Snap!"

However, Jennifer casually lifted her left hand to block the incoming right foot. She remained unfazed, receiving minimal damage that was almost negligible.

"Ding!~"

System Prompt: Your skill [Evil Tread] was blocked, dealing 1 point of damage to the enemy!

"!!"

Jiang Han's pupils contracted sharply.

Could a level 50 Golden BOSS really catch an Evil Tread barehanded?

"Evil Tread is quite powerful, but... you're too weak!"

Jennifer sneered, lifting Jiang Han's leg with her hand, turning around, and with a powerful force, making him lose balance, crashing into the city wall behind like a kite with a broken string.

"Boom!"

Although Jiang Han protected his head with all his might, the heavy impact still made him see stars.

"Ding!~"

System Prompt: You were attacked by Frost Mage Jennifer, losing 22,887 points of health, and entering a 3-second stun!

A simple attack, not even using any weapons or additional magical damage, still inflicted a vivid five-digit damage on Jiang Han. Entering the city, without the substantial boost from a large number of enemy adventurers, his health was only a little over fifty thousand. A single normal attack caused him serious injuries, indicating that Jennifer's attack power was at least over two thousand even without weapon bonuses.

"It's over. Even Jiang Han can be killed instantly!"

"These two BOSSes are invincible. The defenders will undoubtedly lose!"

"Brothers, let's retreat..."

...

Witnessing Jiang Han's miserable state, the morale of the defenders plummeted, and countless players withdrew from the battle, preparing to log out.

"One Jiang Han, be careful!"

Canter hurriedly urged the skeletal horse to launch an attack, diverting Jennifer's attention to prevent her from focusing on Jiang Han.

Three seconds

 later, Jiang Han's stun state was lifted. He shook his slightly dizzy head, picked up the Cold Cloud Sword not far away, and expressionlessly faced Jennifer.

"Weaklings should look like weaklings!" Jennifer released spells to deal with Canter, mocking, "You want to distract me with Jiang Han? It's a joke, didn't expect you to take yourself so seriously?"

She threw an ice spike at Jiang Han while fighting Canter, but Canter forcefully moved to block it with the skeletal horse, then stabbed with the spear, saying, "Old lady, your opponent is me!"

"Humph!"

Jennifer coldly snorted, abandoning the attack against Jiang Han.

The battle continued fiercely. Daniel barely coped with Brandi, receiving multiple wounds, while Canter, a level 40 Golden BOSS, and Jennifer easily harvested his life.

One minute later...

Evil Tread!

"Still coming?"

Jennifer's mouth curled in contempt, full of disdain. Faced with Jiang Han's close-range attack again, she lifted her hand to block that feeble and ridiculous assault. "A mantis trying to shake a cart..."

"Boom!"

The next moment, her arm pressed against her face, and the strength of the kick was much stronger than before. Her expression twisted, body tilted, sight rapidly dropped, and finally, she intimately met the ground.

"Boom!"

The floor shattered, leaving a pit formed by the impact.

"!!"

The sudden change made Daniel and Brandi turn their heads one after another.

Players who were about to log out were frozen in place, staring blankly at this scene, unable to utter a word.

A level 50 Golden BOSS was forcibly pressed down by Jiang Han?

Stepping on Jennifer's cheek, Jiang Han's eyes were indifferent.

"Old lady, what are you... pretending for?"