Chapter 74: Destroying A Mountain To Bury The Raid Boss
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The Ancient King of the Neburias Kingdom glared at the ceiling as it gained countless cracks. Only a few seconds after he received the notification that Judgement had been slain, all three of the first raid bosses were killed, but there were more to come later anyways, so he was rather positive he could overwhelm the vampires over time.
RUMBLE!
Yet, all that patience he had ended when the entire mountain came falling down over his own head, destroying his entire castle and crushing him below thousands of tons of weight, all while every other Neburian suffered the same fate.
“W-What’s happening?! How is this…! Possible?! They broke down a whole mountain… to stop us?!”
As the King screamed in frustration and anger, his claws attempted to pierce through the boulders, barely managing to gain some space for himself before…
BAAAM!
Even more boulders fell from the ceiling, sealing away his escape routes and instantly crushing him below the ground yet again.
“T-This is not fucking fair…! Who did this?! WHO DID THISSSSS?!”
As the mountain continued coming down, the King could only scream in frustration, unable to move and crushed by thousands of tons of weight; he had been completely defeated.
Vlad glanced at the scene with a smile, nodding with a rather pleased expression on his eyes. Chris and Argentia, however, had opened their jaws wide, unable to comprehend just how they made a whole mountain come down.
“It was a small mountain, but this is still ridiculous!” Chris said.
“I-I can’t believe it…” Argentia muttered.
BOOOM!
As the mountain finally came down and they all flew away over Argentia’s back, a huge wave of ashes came rushing towards them.
Thankfully the mountain was more like a huge hill, and it wasn’t an active volcano or something, nor inactive either.
Perhaps that was also why it came down so easily.
“I think with this they’ll be delayed at worst,” said Vlad, sighing, as his Heavenly Demon powers went away. “Phew…”
“Delayed? I would be surprised that guy isn’t dead right now!” said Chris. “The worst part is that we won’t be able to get their bodies though!”
"Yeah, but it’s much better than having the city raided by three of those super bosses every single damn day, don’t you think? It would be too hopeless,” sighed Vlad. “It feels like the game specifically wants Elderbridge to fall all the time. I guess it was designed in the story for it to be one of the shittiest cities that gets blown out first to create tension or something.”
“Hah, well, I wouldn’t say you’re wrong there; it almost feels intentional,” sighed Chris. “But well, we won, and that’s what matters at the end! Right Argentia?”
“Yeah!” he roared. “With this we can—Ugh?!”
POOF!
However, Argentia’s transformation finally ran out, as he suddenly returned to his previous appearance. Indeed, this “evolution” was nothing but a temporary transformation.
Without wings, Argentia fell from the skies with Chris and Vlad on his back.
"Argentia, you idiot! You can’t fly yet?!”
“I have no wings on my normal form, master!”
“Didn’t you say you evolved?!”
“I-it seems that it wasn’t enough?! I think it is something that is only triggered with your powers!”
“What?! So you’re like a Digimon at the end!”
“W-What in the world is a Digimon, Priestess?!”
“Haaah…”
As Paul sighed, he quickly released all the Arcana he had left, generating a spiraling sphere of emerald winds.
“{Geomancy}: {Emerald Wind Sphere}!”
Combining the Float and Soar Spells together through Geomancy, he was able to save everyone by making them float within a sphere of winds.
“Barely made it…”
Slowly, Argentia hit the ground with Chris and Paul over his head.
BAAAM!
“Phew! I thought I would end up with a bone or two broken…”
Argentia rested over the floor and then sat down, glancing at the burnt forest and the immense disaster that the surrounding landscape was put through.
"Thankfully, the city is safe,” said Vlad. “Although everything else seems to have become even worse. Let’s go back now, Chris.”
“Yeah,” nodded Chris as he started flying back to the city. "Argentia, make sure to rest.”
“Ah, okay, Priestess…” Argentia yawned, although he followed them and ended up sitting down in front of the gates of Elderbridge before resting.
As they made their way back to the city, the two saw how the Players gathered inside of the plaza to discuss how everything went. They were mostly focused on the amount of Raid Points they earned, but they also looted a lot of the monster corpses to sell.
Although Vlad would have wished that he could have harvested all the spoils for himself, it was ultimately impossible. The help of the Players was vital for their survival of this Raid.
Thankfully, at the very least, he shouldn’t have to deal with surprise raids for a couple of days.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have completed the [World-Wide Event]: {Awakening of the Ancient King of Neburias: Part 1}
[Not only have you managed to fend off the Neburians invading the City of Elderbridge, but you’ve managed to defeat all three Raid Bosses and ultimately, even destroy the way where the Neburians came from, managing to delay their invasion by several days.]
[With the Ancient King of Neburias buried below a mountain and all his subjects equally crushed, he’ll take several days to finally dig out of the living grave you’ve left him.]
[However, the Ancient King is mighty and powerful, and he will not be defeated so easily!]
[After 5 Days, the World-Wide Event will resume, unless something else is done to the King and his army within that timeframe.]
[Unless the Ancient King is slain, his invasion will never stop, and it will only be delayed.]
[Nonetheless, congratulations for your great achievement! Elderbridge would have been destroyed if it wasn’t for the help of all participants.]
[Because of achieving so many unique results, all Participants in the Raid had been given a guaranteed 10.000 Raid Points!]
[Additionally, all Participants will receive Raid Points based on the number of foes they have defeated and the amount of damage they have dealt to the three Raid Bosses.]
[The Raid Shop for the World-Wide Event has opened for all participants! Unique items to the Raid have become available for purchase with a limited supply per participant.]
[Make sure to not save for too long! The Raid Shop will only last the 5 Days the King is resting before awakening once more.]
“Interesting, so we managed to fend it off for five whole days?!” asked Chris. “I wish the guy just died, but this is fine with me!”
"Yeah, I guess it’s fine for now,” nodded Paul. “With this, we’ll have the rest of the week to prepare for them. Now that Teressa approved the whole Territory System thing, I’ll be able to properly prepare using that, I believe.”
“So what are we going to do now though? Are we addressing the elephant in the room?” Chris wondered.
He pointed down below at all the Players who were already calling for them from below.
“If we ignore them, that might give us a bad reputation, but it’s not like we’re some celebrity either; this is embarrassing,” sighed Paul.
“Let’s just go say hi! It won’t hurt you to be friendlier with these people, right?” asked Chris. “Let’s go, dude!”
“I have to check on Camilla and Teressa first, then see how many soldiers survived,” said Paul. “I don’t have time, but I’ll see if I can do something after I’m done.”
“Ah, wait! Are you leaving me alone with them?!” Chris complained as he had already gone to the plaza and was now surrounded by other Players.
Paul ignored his pleas for help as he reached the walls, finding the large amount of plants and a small ravine where Camilla was still intact.
“Thank god.”
He ordered the plants to open up to reveal the sleeping sister of Vlad, which, after drinking some arcana potions, he grabbed and flew back to his house.
In the way there, he looked for Vlad’s mother, finding that Teressa had fallen over the roof of a house.
“She just stayed there?!”
He quickly went to retrieve her, bringing her and his sister to their house after feeling that they were alright and healthy.
“You two worked way too hard today as well… Please rest for now.”
Gently leaving his mother inside of her coffin and Camilla on her bed, Vlad sighed in relief; he was finally done.
And also…
Ding!
[The amount of Raid Points you’ve earned has been successfully calculated.]
[You earned 512.000 Raid Points.]
"Oh, that’s a lot… Hmm, damn. And I haven’t even spent the other Raid Points either, fucking hell.”
Paul felt slightly desperate with all these points he wanted to desperately spend; after seeing the numbers, he quickly moved to the previous Raid Shop menu and the points of that previous Raid Shop.
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<Raid Shop: {Unending Crimson} Raid>
[Available Raid Score Points]: [360.000]
<Unending, Crimson-Themed Items>
[Random Unending Crimson Raid-Themed Skill Grimoire (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [25.000] [Limit]: [3/3]
[Random Unending Crimson Raid-Themed Equipment Treasure Chest (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [25.000] [Limit]: [3/3]
<Material Items>
[Random High Quality Material Treasure Chest For Crafting and Alchemy (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [20.000] [Limit]: [10/10]
<Consumable Items>
[Elixir of Growth (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [20.000] [Limit]: [10/10]
[Elixir of Skill Evolution (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [20.000] [Limit]: [10/10]
<Useful Items>
[Guild Creation Certificate (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [40.000] [Limit]: [3/3]
[Territory Ownership Flag (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [40.000] [Limit]: [10/10]
[Random Territory Guardian Egg (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [30.000] [Limit]: [3/3]
[Random Territory Hero Summoning Stone (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [30.000] [Limit]: [3/3]
[Random Territory Facility Creation Marble (S Grade)] [Cost]: [20.000] [Limit]: [10/10]
[Random Territory Bounty Resource Bag (A Grade)] [Cost]: [10.000] [Limit]: [20/20]
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“There it is… Well, now that everything is over and I got her approval, there’s no point in waiting any longer…” He sighed in relief. “Hm, how many corpses did I secure though?”
He took a look at his own inventory, finding he had gathered almost 150 corpses from the Neburians; if he absorbed their blood and ate their bodies through Gluttony he would definitely grow stronger.
“Let’s ignore all those elixirs and things and go directly to the meat and potatoes of it all…” he thought. “Guilt Creation Certificate, Territory Ownership Flag first and foremost. Then… The Guardian Egg, the Hero Summoning Stone, Facility Creation Marble—okay, let’s buy some of all of that.”
He knew everything would be useful; he didn’t care much about his personal growth due to his damned stat debuffs, so he wanted more than anything—to gain external force and strengthen his territory above all else.
Ding!
[You have exchanged 40.000 Raid Points.]
[You purchased the [Guild Creation Certificate (S+ Grade)] x1 Item from the Raid Shop.]
[You have exchanged 40.000 Raid Points.]
[You purchased the [Territory Ownership Flag (S+ Grade)] x1 Item from the Raid Shop.]
[You have exchanged 90.000 Raid Points.]
[You purchased the [Random Territory Guardian Egg (S+ Grade)] x3 Item from the Raid Shop.]
[You have exchanged 90.000 Raid Points.]
[You purchased the [Random Territory Hero Summoning Stone (S+ Grade)] x3 Item from the Raid Shop.]
[You have exchanged 60.000 Raid Points.]
[You purchased the [Random Territory Facility Creation Marble (S Grade)] x5 Item from the Raid Shop.]
[Available Raid Score Points]: [0]
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
As he purchased, several items appeared in front of him, resting gently over the large wooden table he had set up. Three brightly colored eggs as big as one-meter, mysterious-looking diamond-like stones with inscribed runes he couldn’t understand, marbles glowing with the images of buildings inside, a large paper with written words glowing with magical energy, and a bright red-colored flag the size of a fist.
“Excellent, let’s begin with this first.”
He took the guild certificate and instantly signed it using his own blood after biting his thumb and marking the signature area with his blood and thumb.
FLASH!
[You have used the [Guild Creation Certificate (S+ Grade)] x1!]
[You have created a Guild! Please input a Guild Name and the Players you wish to invite.]
[Character Privilege: Because your Avatar is within a certain range of Privilege as someone of importance, you’ve given the option to also invite NPC to your Guild.]
“Name it… Crimson Moon Empire.”
Ding!
[You have named your Guild {Crimson Moon Empire}!]
[Your Guild is currently Level 1; you can only have a maximum of 5 Members.]
[Once at least one member has been added to your Guild, you’ll be able to unlock the ability to Take Over Territories and Improve the Skill Skills by choosing a building as a Guild Headquarters.]
[Which NPC or Player do you wish to invite? Invitations cannot forcefully make someone join.]
Then, a list of NPCs and Players appeared in front of him.
“Hmm…”
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