Compared to the timid and hesitant Yamaguchi Mura Chicken, Mei Magogoko's ruthlessness and decisiveness made her far more fit to lead. Although she had gathered plenty of intel ahead of time, her sheer boldness was plain for all to see.
Spurred on by her, more than seven hundred male players surged toward the dragon's lair, with over five hundred more lined up for a second assault.
Most were warriors, and even a few fanatical mages had joined the charge.
Even the female players—mainly mages who weren't especially moved by Mei Magogoko's words—still cast shields on the men charging ahead.
Faced with the swarm of humans, yelling "Awooo! Awooo!" and sweeping forward like a plague of locusts, the monsters manning the Flame Arrow Towers were momentarily stunned—like hundreds of little girls storming a defense tower, leaving the defenders utterly bewildered.
Where should they even aim?
There were people everywhere!
At this point, the U-shaped structure of the dragon's lair came into play. The players were forced together, unable to spread out, so the monsters just fired their Flame Arrows straight at the entrance.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The flaming arrows whistled into the crowd, exploding on impact. Anyone without a shield died instantly; those with shields barely managed to keep advancing.
This was the first time the players from Sakura Island No. 6 Novice Village had faced the lair's defenses head-on. The explosive power of the flame arrows left them reeling in disbelief.
"Baka! Why do these monsters have hot weapons!?"
"This is an unfair war! We're still in the cold weapons era!"
"Don't stop—keep charging!"
The momentum of the charge faltered. The lair's terrain made it easy to defend and hard to attack, and the entrance was clogged with Fireflame Rabbits and Cockatrices.
From the rear, Mei Magogoko watched all this unfold, growing more and more anxious.
When players died, they were sent straight back to the World Plaza; after respawning, they'd appear at No. 6 Novice Village—an impossible distance from the lair. There was no way to return in time.
Now, every death was one less fighter. If the flame arrow towers kept firing, she'd soon have no one left to help her slay the dragon.
With this in mind, Mei Magogoko turned to the two highest-level warrior players behind her and said:
"We're moving up. Let's see if we can take out those five arrow towers. You two, protect me."
"Don't worry, Magogoko-chan, we'll keep you safe!"
"Hehehe~"
One of the warriors, grinning, even reached out and groped her backside, his eyes full of open lust.
Mei Magogoko didn't mind—instead, she winked at them flirtatiously.
The two warriors, even more excited, took up position in front of her, protected by Archmage-level Shields, and carefully advanced toward the lair.
They were within range now.
At this moment, the flame arrow towers hadn't noticed them.
Mei Magogoko was cautious, hiding behind the warriors as she began chanting Fireball.
With her current archmage power, she could conjure up to four fireballs at once—any more and she'd lose control and accuracy.
A little closer.
She wanted to maximize her Fireball's effect.
Only when she could clearly see the firing ports on the flame arrow towers did she stop.
Locking onto the nearest tower, she launched her first fireball—then the second, third, and fourth in quick succession.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions rang out.
The smoke rose and gradually dissipated.
Mei Magogoko was disappointed to see that the flame arrow towers had barely taken any damage; aside from some scorched marks, they were completely intact.
Maybe she should try a longer-cast Frost Spell?
"Long live Magogoko-chan!"
"I love you, Miss Magogoko!"
Suddenly, cheers erupted all around.
Although Mei Magogoko hadn't destroyed the towers, the shockwaves from her fireballs had stunned the monsters inside, leaving them unable to operate the towers. For now, the flame arrow towers stopped firing.
With only one tower left firing, the Sakura players surged forward.
Many warrior players broke through the arrow tower's defenses and began fighting the monsters at the entrance.
Their levels were much higher than those from No. 1 Novice Village—after all, they'd leveled up by fighting normal monsters.
So right from the start, the monsters were under heavy pressure—they weren't the lair's main force after all.
Losses mounted quickly; only the Bird Demons circling above, occasionally dropping boulders, managed to avoid injury.
"It's strange. We've gotten this far—why hasn't the Black Dragon come out?"
"Could it have already run away?"
Mei Magogoko tensed up, quickly pulling out a Tracking Array—it still pointed to the lair.
Despite her doubts, she pressed on. She was here, time was short, and she was determined to kill that dragon, whatever it took.
She ordered the warriors to suppress the monsters, then led the rest of the players into the lair.
The dragon's lair was vast and dimly lit.
But everyone's eyes were instantly drawn to the massive creature at its center.
"How… how could it have gotten so big…?"
Mei Magogoko murmured, her eyes full of shock and fear.
The last time she'd seen this Black Dragon, it had been crouched low, about the size of a small bus. Now, just lying there, it was as big as a military truck.
At a glance, the dragon was at least ten meters long, with a wingspan of maybe fifteen.
For the players, this was a true behemoth.
"In advanced slumber… No wonder! Hahaha! Yoshi! Even the hardest quests have a weak spot—this is it!"
Using Appraisal, Mei Magogoko realized the dragon's status and was overjoyed, her whole body flushed with excitement.
This was way more thrilling than discussing magic with those players.
Why did she bother teaching them magic? Because those players were just too weak.
So she had to rely on quantity over quality.
"Get out of the dragon's lair!"
A soft, trembling yet angry and hate-filled voice rang out.
Following the sound, the players finally noticed—
Standing before the Black Dragon was a petite, doll-like Half-Elf girl. Compared to the dragon, her small figure was almost unnoticeable, so no one had paid her any mind at first.
Right now, Anna Hathaway stood angrily in front of the Black Dragon, flanked by Chicken Bro and Ji Taimei, the two monster leaders.
Waterball and Illumination orbs floated behind the little loli, swirling together—there were more than a dozen, and more were forming, ready to strike.
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