"I know this isn't the best choice in this situation, but I can't just go ahead and start taking out all the monsters. I might be a Cultivator, but there's a limit to my stamina. Although my physique can easily cover up for that, I can't expose myself to them. After all, we just met today."
"Although Michael hasn't gotten the chance to ask me yet, I'm sure he won't let this slide with just a simple excuse like a miraculous encounter. When the time comes, I'll have to come up with something believable. A player at Level 4 and already this strong—if I act too tyrannical, I might expose myself too quickly."
Malik concluded his thoughts as he ducked beneath the claws of a Crawler and launched a straight kick toward its stomach. The moment the kick connected, the Crawler was sent crashing against the claws of another, causing it to lose more than half its HP. Malik spread his senses and confirmed that his team had safely retreated beyond the monsters' perception.
"It's time I retreat too," he muttered, eyeing the enraged monster charging at him with a bleeding stomach. Without hesitation, Malik explosively retreated toward his team.
"What's the Party Leader doing?" Big Nurse was the first to speak.
"He seemed to have the advantage. Why is he retreating?" Slicer asked, a confused expression on his face.
"Party Leader should have no problem sweeping through all these monsters even without our support. I wonder if he saw something... or maybe he's just testing something," Taiwo said, her eyes distant, lost in thought.
"He's coming this way!" someone shouted, and everyone quickly drew their weapons as Malik approached, the monster hot on his heels.
"We should help him out!" Taiwo said, turning to Angel Michael, who nodded without hesitation. The two Elementalists stepped forward, weaving their staffs and chanting loudly.
[Inferno Burst!]
[Lightning Spear!]
Fire and lightning burst forth from their staves. The fire shaped itself into a massive orb, nearly three meters in diameter, while the lightning took the form of a spear about four meters thick. The twin attacks launched toward the monster, who was entirely focused on Malik.
The Crawler leapt high into the air, its twin claws slashing at Malik—only for the fireball and lightning spear to crash into its body from both sides.
Its form twisted, writhing as it turned into a searing blend of fire and lightning. Its HP plummeted, and with a final burst of energy, it exploded into fragments—leaving behind nothing but a few common coins.
"Tch... Just common coins. I thought it would drop something useful for the group," Malik muttered to himself as he scooped up the loot and returned to the team.
"Thank you, guys... I really appreciate it," Malik said with a short bow, his expression sincere. This, however, only confused the team even more.
He was never at an advantage... Was he mocking them for being too weak or what?
"Team Leader, you shouldn't—"
"Aarh! Brother, you're too polite!" Angel Michael cut in, grabbing Taiwo's hand with a grin. "We're a team, after all—we have to have each other's backs, right, Taiwo?"
She smiled softly and nodded. Taiwo wasn't the talkative type, but she felt a strange comfort around Angel Michael. Maybe it was because they were in the same class and level.
"Those monsters have high defense and are shockingly fast. Their speed doubles with rage. There's no doubt—with our current team DPS, we can't win against them," Malik said, shaking his head slowly. The team nodded solemnly. They knew they were outclassed. Deep down, they had all placed their hopes on Malik, thinking he would carry them through the second floor.
"If we're this helpless on the second floor... what about the third? Are we still going to rely on him?" Kenny mused, her eyes locked on the Level 4 player. She never imagined a day would come when she'd have to depend on someone at his level. Though she only recently began playing God's Realm, she'd seen a lot of shocking things—but Malik was just too heaven-defying and mysterious.
"So what are we going to do, Party Leader? With your strength, we should be able to sweep through these monsters," Young Star said. Aside from Malik, he was the lowest-level player in the team. He felt the weight of that, but after witnessing Malik's strength and commanding presence, he believed—Malik could definitely pull off something big.
"It's simple... I'm going to raise the overall DPS of the team, and we're going to sweep through these floors unhindered." Malik spread his arms with a confident smile, but the team stared at him like he was a street magician claiming to summon dragons.
They believed in his power, sure—but raising their strength? Was he the son of the game's creator or something?
"You don't believe me?" Malik paused, reading their expressions before calling on his system interface.
"White Emperor."
A Level 6 player stepped forward, holding a shield. Malik told him to discard it. There was hesitation—brief, but there. Still, he chose to trust Malik and threw his shield to the ground.
Then, Malik brought out a large white shield from his inventory.
The moment they saw it, their eyes lit up.
A chilling aura radiated from the shield, and they instinctively trembled on the spot.
"This aura... this shield is without a doubt gold rank. Maybe even fine gold... or dark gold," Tipa muttered, her voice tinged with awe. She was more familiar with weapons than most—and her words stunned the team.
A gold-rank item? That was heaven-defying. Just where had their Party Leader gotten it?
"White Emperor, I'm giving this to you—for now," Malik said, handing over the shield. "Although you can't bring out its full power at your current level, it's still far better than what you had."
White Emperor collapsed to his knees the moment the shield touched his hands, tears streaming down his face.
"Party Leader... I don't deserve this!" he cried out, lowering his body in Malik's direction.
A twitch formed at the corner of Malik's mouth.
'What a dramatic fellow...' he thought.