"Why is Kalis still alive?"
As Zevran directed the legion to maintain aggro on the BOSS, he stole a glance at the battle above the crater. Kalis's voice, calling out from the edge, came through clearly—he was obviously unharmed.
Hearing the guild master's questioning, Magmar's voice was filled with undeniable bitterness: "Guild Master, our Legion 4 has lost over 2,100 members."
The leader of Legion 5, Shadow Claw Wright, quickly added, his tone equally awkward: "Legion 5 has lost more than 1,100 men. Most of the remaining members have scattered."
"What? Over 3,200 casualties in a minute?"
Even the always calm Zevran couldn't help but clench his fists until his knuckles turned white. Not even the Level 108 Mythic Wraith General could slaughter so many players in a minute!
"What the hell is going on?!" Zevran's voice carried suppressed anger.
Before Magmar and Wright could explain, Vaelen shrank back and mumbled defensively: "Guild Master, it's just what I told you earlier. Kalis's ultra-large AOE skill covers 100 meters with ridiculously high damage. There's no way to defend against it."
"That's impossible!" Zevran flatly refused, his tone full of disbelief. "We all started Eternal Realm Online on the same day, leveling from zero. How can someone take on ten thousand men alone, not only escape unscathed but also kill over three thousand of us?"
"Maybe... we should spread out the formation to avoid being hit by his AOE all at once?" Vaelen cautiously suggested.
Zevran's brows furrowed sharply, and he retorted harshly: "Even with focused fire, we couldn't break his shield. Spreading out will only disperse our damage further, making it harder to threaten him!"
Vaelen was left tongue-tied by the rebuke. He could only shut his mouth in frustration, grumbling silently: Then you think of a way!
Before Zevran could come up with a plan, Kalis's figure had already charged down the crater's slope, his azure mage robe fluttering in the cold wind.
"Vaelen! Magmar! And all you Shadow Claw scumbags... I'm here to send you to meet each other!"
As he charged, he waved his staff constantly: Lightning Bolt sniped isolated ranged players with precision, Thunder Chain bounced through dense crowds to finish off targets, and Fireball, once its cooldown ended, was hurled toward the cluster of senior guild members.
During skill cooldowns, he used Magic Missile to randomly pick "lucky" targets, each dealing millions of damage and instantly stripping the victim of 20% of their experience.
These small skills weren't as efficient at killing as Stellar Wind or Meteor Shower, but by the time he charged halfway down, dozens of Shadow Claw players had fallen to his staff—easy as cutting through melons and vegetables.
Watching Kalis move through their ranks unimpeded, with players along the way offering no resistance, and seeing the Wraith General in the center of the crater continuing to slaughter frontline tanks, Zevran's calm demeanor finally crumbled, and a hint of panic crept in.
"Kalis! What do you want?" He shouted loudly through the dense crowd.
Kalis looked relaxed, continuing to harvest lives while responding casually: "Nothing much. I'm just in a good mood today and came specially to 'visit' you, old acquaintances. After all, we never settled the score for that ambush on the outskirts of Valorian last time."
"You're asking for death!"
Vaelen, who already hated Kalis with a passion, couldn't stand him disrespecting the guild master. His anger surged, and he grabbed his staff, ready to rush forward and fight to the death.
Zevran grabbed him tightly and said in a deep voice: "Calm down!"
He then turned to Kalis, his tone filled with restraint: "Talking big doesn't make you a hero! You're just ambushing us while we're raiding the BOSS. If you have the guts, wait until we take down Nethalos, then fight us fairly!"
Hearing this, Kalis couldn't help but laugh loudly: "Zevran, Zevran. Have you caught Vaelen's stupidity? I never said I was a hero. Why fight head-on like an idiot when there's a perfect chance to ambush?"
"Besides, you were the ones who ambushed first! Last time on the outskirts of Valorian, your 550-man elite team surrounded me alone. Why didn't you talk about fair play then?"
"And this 'fair fight' you're talking about—two thousand of you ganging up on one solo player? That's called swarming with numbers, not a fair duel!"
His words left Zevran tongue-tied, his face turning red and then pale.
After a moment of silence, he gritted his teeth and said, "What do you want? Name your terms!"
"That's more like it!" Kalis snapped his fingers. His voice suddenly boomed, echoing clearly across the entire crater for ten thousand players to hear: "My request is simple—wipe out all of you!"
"[Meteor Shower]!"
Before he finished speaking, Kalis had already completed his skill cast. The dark clouds above the crater were torn apart by stellar energy once again.
Countless burning meteors poured down like a torrential rain, precisely covering the area where Zevran, Vaelen, and other senior guild members stood.
In an instant, dense six-digit damage numbers flooded the screen: -298,761, -312,458... Zevran, Vaelen, and dozens of core guild members were instantly killed without any chance to react, dissolving into streaks of white light.
"Kalis!!!"
At the respawn point, Vaelen roared in anger, eager to rush back and tear Kalis to pieces.
Zevran's anger was also fully ignited. Lying at the respawn point, his voice was icy cold: "Kalis, this is a declaration of war against Shadow Claw! From this moment on, we are enemies until death!"
"So what?" Kalis sneered, swinging his staff even faster. Thunder Chain, like a silver venomous snake, weaved through the crowd, claiming several lives with each bounce.
Shadow Claw players around him poured skills at him frantically, arrows, fireballs, sword energy raining down densely.
But most only dealt double-digit or triple-digit damage. Even occasional four-digit critical hits felt like scratches, failing to pose any real threat to his Crystal Barricade.
"Good! Very good!" Zevran was completely enraged.
Since Shadow Claw was founded, he had never suffered such humiliation. Even Crimson Lotus and Oath of Sky, the other top guilds on the Solaria Continent, treated him with courtesy in negotiations. Even when conflicts arose between members, they maintained a superficial peace.
Only Kalis showed him no respect at all. He even took the initiative to attack, killing him and his core team in front of over twenty thousand members!
"Everyone, abandon the BOSS! Focus all fire on Kalis!" Zevran issued a low order in the guild channel. The word "fire" echoed in every member's ears, filled with endless anger.
"Abandon the BOSS? Focus on Kalis?"
Members of Legions 1 and 2, who were besieging the Wraith General, froze for a moment, then reacted, responding in the guild channel: "Understood!"
"For the guild's honor, take him down!"
In the next second, nearly twenty thousand players turned around in unison, swarming Kalis from all directions. The circle that had surrounded the Wraith General collapsed instantly, with all firepower concentrated on Kalis.
"Hahaha! Perfect! Let's see what a top guild on Solaria Continent is really made of!"
Kalis showed no fear. He raised his staff high, casting a new Crystal Barricade on himself. The earth-yellow shield expanded instantly, protecting him completely. Then he began chanting a skill, as star-blue energy gathered at the tip of his staff.
"[Star Wind]!"
The howling blue hurricane formed once again. Its 100-meter radius acted like a giant meat grinder, sweeping toward the dense crowd. Screams filled the air. In just one second, over a thousand players were torn apart by the hurricane, dissolving into white light.
Kalis moved his feet, leveraging the 6x movement speed boost from the Potion of Swift. He charged wildly through the crowd with the hurricane in tow.
The terrain at the bottom of the crater was narrow, unfavorable for large-scale military deployment. Coupled with Shadow Claw's players being packed like ants, there was no way to dodge.
Wherever the hurricane passed, damage numbers popped up in clusters. Players fell one after another like wheat under a harvester, even more efficiently than before.
"His skill only lasts 5 seconds! Don't be afraid! Keep charging!" Vaelen shouted in the guild channel.
He knew Kalis's skills better than anyone, having suffered at the hands of all of them. He was well aware of the opponent's weakness, if skill cooldowns could even be called a weakness.
"Kill!!!"
Countless players charged forward with bloodshot eyes. Melee players swung their weapons to attack at close range, while ranged players spammed spells from behind. Dense damage poured down on Kalis's shield like a tide, but the shield's HP only dropped slowly, remaining unshakable.
At the center of the crater, Wraith General Nethalos, originally besieged by over twenty thousand players, was now completely free. When Shadow Claw's main force had all turned to besiege Kalis, most players had left his aggro range.
Nethalos's skeletal warhorse pawed the ground with its hooves. He swung his spear, finishing off the last few players in his aggro range who hadn't had time to escape.
Then he slowly wandered back to the center of his territory. The black mist swirling around him subsided gradually, and the eerie green ghost fire in his eye sockets flickered on and off. His HP began to recover slowly.
He, Wraith General Nethalos, had finally escaped the siege and got a chance to catch his breath and recover HP, all thanks to the "rescue" from Celestial Mage Kalis.