With the second toll of the Sunfire Bell, the players on the battlefield roared back to life. It wasn't just the players; the Crown-aligned NPCs also quickened their pace, fanning out from the main group and integrating themselves into the player squads, leaving only the Archon's retinue behind.

  Bolstered by these powerful NPCs, even smaller teams of ten or fifteen players were now eagerly taking on the ten-man bandit squadrons. The truly elite teams, however, had already set their sights on the twenty-man mobs.

  Magnus's guild, [Sovereign], was undoubtedly one of them.

  His five-man core team had been the first to enter the [Hidden Realm of Van Tassel], a full two or three hours before Kael's group.

  Although Kael had wiped them twice, causing them to lose a few pieces of epic gear, each of them was still decked out in three or four epics from the instance.

  In all of Crescent City, only two other teams could match their power—one was [Gorgon], their current allies.

  The other was [Crimson Bloom], spectating from the fortress walls above.

  "Still pissed, Magnus?" Gorgon_Viper walked over, clapping him on the back and casting a [Inner Fire] buff.

  [System]: You gain [Inner Fire]. Armor +10%, Strength +10%.

  Magnus shrugged him off. "God damn it, Viper. Where were my heals back in the Hidden Realm?"

  Viper didn't seem bothered by the accusation, answering calmly, "In that situation, what difference would another second of you standing have made?"

  "What do you mean, no difference!" Magnus shot him a venomous glare. "I would've blasted that son of a bitch Dawnbreaker to hell!"

  "Think before you speak," Viper retorted. "Sure, you could one-shot some random archer. But against a freak like Dawnbreaker? You really think one more fireball would have done anything?"

  Magnus knew he was right, but he was too proud to admit it. He jabbed a finger at Viper. "You're one to talk about thinking. You got on your knees and begged them to take you, and did they spare you? 'I'll just be a healer, I won't take any gear.' Pathetic! It makes me sick."

  Viper's face flushed crimson. Magnus had hit a nerve. "It was a gambit! If they'd actually taken me, I'd have had a shot at the loot from the final boss! You saw it, didn't you? Dawnbreaker got an Ascendant weapon! [Galeharrow]! The name alone sounds legendary."

  He took a breath to cool down. "Besides, that bitch Lila was actually considering it. Then that bastard Dawnbreaker shot it down. Damn him!"

  The mention of the name made Magnus's jaw clench. "Dawnbreaker," he spat. "One day, I'm going to make him pay. Speaking of which, where is that coward? You seen him? Probably hiding in some corner, farming points."

  Viper shook his head. "He's not on the leaderboard. He was probably red-named from all the PKing, so he can't get the event quest in town."

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  "He got lucky," Magnus growled. "Next time I see him, it's on sight."

  As they were trash-talking, Roland came over to report. "Boss, the raid's formed up. Thirty-two members, fully buffed and ready for your command."

  Magnus nodded. He raised his hand, about to give the order to advance on a nearby twenty-man mob, when he saw two NPCs approaching—a level 25 Priest and a level 25 Knight.

  Without a word, the two NPCs walked up to their group and began casting buffs on Roland.

  [System]: Roland gains [Divine Fortitude]. Constitution +50.

  [System]: Roland gains [Sacred Shield]. Absorbs 3000 damage.

  [System]: Roland gains [Holy Word]. Your attacks deal an additional 100 Holy Damage.

  A wide grin spread across Magnus's face. "Haha, look at this! A couple of heavy hitters just dropped in our lap. RNG is on our side!"

  There were about a hundred of these large bandit mobs near the summit, and their team was the first to reach them. Magnus's and Viper's core teams already occupied spots in the top ten on the leaderboard, with forty or fifty points each, but the gap wasn't significant. If they could clear a few of these big mobs before anyone else, they could solidify their number one spot.

  "Let's move!" Magnus yelled to his team.

  "Yes, sir!" Roland and the others replied.

  Gorgon_Viper turned to his own people. "Stone, you're up."

  "Got it."

  Two elite five-man instance teams, plus twenty guild elites, now supported by two powerful level 25 NPCs. In Magnus's and Viper's eyes, taking on a twenty-man mob should be a cakewalk. So what if it had one extra boss?

  When they finally engaged, however, they realized it wasn't that simple.

  After tanking the initial volley from the ballista and catapult, their two main tanks, Roland and Gorgon_Stone, charged into the mob.

  "Stone, my man," Roland shouted over the din. "Same old routine. I'll take the big guy, you grab the adds."

  "Hey, we agreed to take turns," Gorgon_Stone shot back. "Boss is mine, Captain is yours… whoa, why are these trash mobs hitting so hard?"

  -273

  -1535

  The regular bandits, who previously couldn't even scratch their armor, were now hitting for two to three hundred damage. The damage from the Captain was staggering. Both tanks, with the Sunfire Bell buff, had over 1400 defense. This meant the normal mobs had over 1600 attack power. Didn't that put the Captain's attack power close to 3000?

  "What's going on?" the two tanks exchanged panicked glances.

  "Tanks, be careful! The boss is a support type!" Magnus yelled from the backline.

  Only then did Roland and Gorgon_Stone get a clear look at the boss's nameplate.

  [Blackwind Brotherhood Tactician]

  "Fuck, since when do bandits need a damn tactician!" Roland cursed.

  "A few thousand damage is nothing we can't handle. Burn them down!" Gorgon_Stone said with a dismissive grunt.

  He was right. With their stacked raid group, the two Captains, four Elites, and thirteen grunts shouldn't have been a threat.

  But a boss wouldn't be a boss if it didn't have a few tricks up its sleeve.

  As before, Roland and Gorgon_Stone expertly picked up every mob, holding all the aggro. But then the Blackwind Tactician suddenly waved its hand, and a flash of white light enveloped both tanks.

  "Heh, a dispel? Big deal," they scoffed. "Healers, get ready to rebuff us—"

  Before they could finish, the bandits attacking them suddenly stopped and turned, charging straight for the squishy backline. The two Captains leaped high into the air.

  Sundering Blow!

  Their targets: Magnus and Gorgon_Inferno.

  "HOLY SHIT, AGGRO! Get it off me! SHIELDS, NOW!" the two mages screamed, their blood running cold as they called for emergency shields from the nearby Knight and Priest.

  But it was too late.

  -1503 (Magnus Health)

  -1503 (Magnus Mana)

  -3122 (Gorgon_Inferno Health)

  Magnus's mana shield saved his life, absorbing the fatal blow at the cost of his entire mana pool.

  Gorgon_Inferno wasn't so lucky. He died instantly.

  Only then did Roland and Gorgon_Stone realize what had happened. The Tactician hadn't dispelled their buffs. It had wiped their threat.

  "Motherfucker!" Roland roared, a curse erupting in pure rage.