Chapter 22: All Out Battle! — Part Two

Chapter 22: All Out Battle! — Part Two

"Zaphro's POV"

The five-minute countdown ended in a flash.

Just like GM Kaizen said, online players began appearing out of thin air—teleported from all over the server. Different races and classes gathered in one place. Even Flick's group was here. This was going to be huge.

"Whoa! Look at how many of us there are now!" Slicer exclaimed, his eyes scanning the rapidly growing crowd.

"Yo, check out that chick, bro!" Jin whispered, nudging me. His eyes were fixed on a sexy-looking Angel-type player across the field.

It was Andromeda19—a name I'd seen listed among the top players in our village's ranking board. Her outfit looked more like an enchanted dress than proper armor, made of sleek violet and pink silk, flowing gently with her every step. Instead of a sword or staff, she wielded a razor-edged fan with blades hidden within its elegant curves.

A Warrior Angel… but with no visible armor? Was she really that powerful—so much so that she could forgo defense in exchange for speed?

"Hey, you're zoning out," Slicer said, elbowing me.

"H-Huh? It's nothing!" I replied quickly.

"Don't give me that. You're crushing on Andromeda, aren't you?" he teased with a wicked grin.

"Tch. Whatever," I muttered and turned my attention back to the surroundings.

The clearing was now packed with players—easily more than 500. It was still fewer than the actual number of registered players in the game, but many were probably offline. Even so, this was more than enough for a full-scale event.

Then a booming voice echoed across the field.

"All right, listen up!" GM Kaizen's voice projected like a megaphone. "This is a System Event! All necessary information has been added to your HUD. Open your virtual screen and read it carefully. I hate dealing with people who don't follow instructions."

We all made the familiar swipe motion in the air to open our HUDs and navigated to the event info. It was long—but the key rules were clear:

Defeat the Epic Boss at any cost.

No Player Killing.

Solo play is prohibited. All players must form or join a party.

GM Rowan followed up with more details. "Once the event starts, teamwork is critical. Help each other—not just your party, but other teams as well. This is not the time for petty rivalries. If you're defeated by the boss, you'll be locked out of the event zone until it's over."

"One-hit kills are real," added GM Aero. "So don't get cocky."

A moment of silence fell over the field.

Then—chaos.

Cheers, roars, battle cries—players surged toward the boss like a tide of warriors charging into a legendary war. It felt like a scene from an ancient epic… except instead of knights and kings, we were all avatars fighting a nine-headed hydra the size of a mountain.

Our party, however, remained still.

"Hold your ground," Verillion ordered. "It's suicidal to charge in without understanding the boss's attack patterns."

Other parties had the same idea. While several reckless teams rushed into battle, others like us held back, watching and analyzing.

"Looks like we're not the only ones with brains," Ayana remarked.

"Exactly. Those who waited are likely the strong ones," Verillion nodded.

"Looks like your crush is strong too, Zaphro!" Shion chimed in with a mischievous grin.

"Crush? What crush?" I gave Slicer a warning glare, but he just laughed like an idiot.

Only seven parties remained after the first assault. The rest had been wiped out.

Among the survivors were Flick's party… and Andromeda's.

The teams that rushed in first had been nothing more than sacrificial pawns. They gave us valuable data, but at the cost of their lives.

Then, Andromeda approached us.

"Hi!" she greeted with a bright smile. "Looks like it's just us now. We'll need to coordinate if we want to win this thing. Oh, and—nice to meet you all!"

She was… actually really cute.

Before I could respond, GM Kaizen raised his voice one last time. "GMs, take your positions."

With that, all the GMs vanished—faster than roaches avoiding light.

---

Strategy Phase

"Okay, we've finalized the formation," Erenir announced after conferring with the other long-range players. "We'll handle the ranged damage output."

Jin, Aryus, Shion, Slicer, and I would be the frontline—our job was to hold the boss's attention and absorb as much damage as possible.

Verillion and Ayana formed the midfield team, managing buffs, debuffs, and additional damage support. Ayana also had summoning skills, which would prove vital.

Andromeda joined our team on the frontlines—thankfully.

"Alright! Let the battle begin!" I shouted, and without further hesitation, we rushed forward.

"Armor Shift: Draconian Set!" Shion's body transformed, his equipment morphing into a sleek black-and-red plate armor. Dual blades flashed in his hands. His ultimate class gave him the ability to swap armor sets mid-battle.

"Strengthen!" Andromeda cast a buff, her body glowing with a rainbow aura.

Slicer activated his own—"Holy Aura!" A radiant light spread from his body, strengthening nearby allies.

"Zaphro, Slicer," Andromeda called out. "We're attacking from above!"

Her wings unfurled, and she soared into the air like a goddess of war.

"Let's go, bro!" I shouted and activated Burning Essence, launching myself into the sky.

Andromeda was already in motion—her speed incredible. "Animal Rage!" she cried, slashing at one of the hydra's heads with her bladed fans. She zipped away just before another head lunged at her.

"She's fast," Slicer said, impressed.

"You guys just gonna float there?" Andromeda smirked mid-air.

"Of course not," Slicer grinned. "In fact, I've got something new."

He charged power into his right hand. "Regolus Impact!" The energy condensed into a single strike—and when he punched, the force blasted straight through one of the hydra's heads.

"Not bad!" Andromeda praised.

It was my turn.

Two of the hydra's heads turned toward me and launched elemental skills—one fire, the other poison.

"Hex!" I activated my invulnerability skill, charging through the attacks unscathed.

"Cold Fire!" I launched an icy flame at one head, freezing it solid.

"Burning Stab!" I followed with a piercing flame strike to another, igniting it in blue fire.

My pet joined the assault—firing Ice Spikes and Lightning Bolts into the boss's massive body.

But it wasn't enough.

Players were dropping fast. The hydra's skills had one-hit-kill mechanics, and its regeneration was absurd. It was down to 87% HP—and even the heads we destroyed began regenerating in mere seconds.

Erenir's group flanked the boss from the rear, unleashing devastating AoE spells. Their efforts knocked off another 3% of the boss's HP.

"We can do this! Just keep pushing!" I shouted, rallying the others.

Then Ayana stepped forward.

"Grand Summon: Isis!"

She raised her staff and summoned a majestic goddess clad in silver armor. Isis descended upon the hydra, driving a divine spear into its core. Explosions rippled across the beast's body as an aura of light shimmered around her.

The hydra shrieked—and its movements grew more erratic, more violent.

It had entered Enrage Mode.

Whole parties were wiped out in seconds by a single shockwave from its tail. Thankfully, our support team had cast barriers just in time to keep us alive.

Still, we were losing people fast.

The boss regenerated all the heads we destroyed in less than three seconds.

We were back to square one.

Panting, my body drenched in virtual sweat, I stared at the HP bar.

Still 84% left.

"Can we really beat this thing?" I muttered under my breath.

The battle had only just begun…

And the real nightmare was still to come.