Several minutes after Karon had left, a few dozen creatures burrowed out of the ground and took to the skies. The insect monsters that guarded this crown looked more akin to flies than ants. They had compounded eyes and hovered from one place to another, seemingly unimpeded by their size and weight. Their backs were fuzzy and their insect legs had large hooks protruding from their skeleton in several places. From the way they were staring at , I knew they considered as their next dinner.
They were a little more threatening than the ants had been, thanks to their mobility, but their defenses were lacking. As they ramd into my maelstrom, they were torn limb from limb before they even got past the outside barrier. I knew flying creatures were more brittle, but damn.
Once again, the hive mind controlling them ordered them to keep their distance from , but this seemingly went against their instincts. Before long, they would revert to their previous pattern of behavior: rush to their deaths. The few stragglers that were either smart or obedient enough to stay away were quickly cut down by my overloaded sword.
Like this, my attackers were wiped out, before being replaced by another group of reinforcents, which died in similar ways.
Ti passed, and wave after wave of bugs put under siege, as hordes of flying monsters dotted the sky, ready to defend their territory. The corpses piled up around my maelstrom and the green blood pooled around my feet. This thod of hunting was convenient, at least. All I had to do was concentrate and keep my skill up.
After what felt like an hour, I noticed the number of insects start to thin again. I stood up and readied my sword, expecting another tier 3 monster to appear. Sure enough, after I killed the last normal bug, another rose to the skies to et .
Of similar size as the centipede had been, the dragonfly kept its eyes on as its wings beat so quickly it nearly hurled off of my feet. The sheer size of those wings, paired with their wingbeat which was too fast to see with the naked eye, was enough to tear shrubbery straight from the earth, roots and all. Its front wings and back wings moved opposite from one another, which I supposed allowed it to hover in place.
At least I was finally getting so use out of my armor, since its weight helped keep my feet on the ground.
Our battle began without any exchange of words, obviously. The dragonfly zipped from my left to my right, quickly approaching as if I were prey. Its wings beca more synchronized, now moving simultaneously as it hod in on . I used my [Dark blade maelstrom] to interrupt its chase in an attempt to catch it off guard, but it dodged out of the way of my erupting cyclone right at the last second, and flew higher into the sky.
A mont later, I saw it hovering a few ters away from the outer part of my maelstrom, sizing up. We stared at one another for a few monts, until I decided that I was wasting ti and let my maelstrom go. The predatory dragonfly flew right at with a glint in its eye, having found an opportunity to strike. This straightforward style of hunting was to its detrint, however. Right before it reached , I used [Overloaded sword] and sent a sword arc in between its two compounded eyes. The creature didnt even have the ti to shriek as its body was split into two halves, which parted ways before my eyes, splattering with bug blood. The two halves of its body fell to my sides.
I breathed out in relief.
Well, that was easy. Thank Helios for dumb monsters that charge straight ahead. Did its intelligence not rise at all from when it was an actual dragonfly? That thing just followed its instincts, I think I muttered.
The dragonfly's moronic tactics also proved that the hive mind couldnt comnce tier 3 creatures, like it could tier 2 ones. At least, that was if there was a hive mind at all. For all I knew, the tournant organizers control all of these bugs themselves.
Event notification: The tier 3 King monster in charge of this crown has been defeated. The crown will now disappear and no longer reward points to those within the area. For clearing a crown, you and your alliance have been awarded points.
As the notification rang, I saw the golden mark in the sky slowly fade away, and the golden circle that designated this crown turned to dust in the wind. That was another one down, making my total amount of conquered crowns two. If I was right and there were only 26 to start with, I would have gotten a large percentage of the total available points to myself. Still, this wasnt the ti to get arrogant. There were more crowns to conquer and more points to gain.
I repeated this mantra to myself as I shot into the sky, jumping from aura-foothold to foothold, in search of any nearby golden light.
~scene transition~
Ten minutes later, I still hadnt co across any crowns. Many must have been conquered by now, because I felt like I was wasting my ti at this point. Why didnt the organizers introduce another chanic to spice things up, like they had done in the doubles category?
My question was soon answered by the flashing lights on the horizon. A myriad of colors and shapes were erupting constantly, swallowing one another. I dropped down to the ground and stealthily approached, curious to see what was going on before making my presence known.
As I got nearer and nearer to the lights, I heard voices shout, scream and moan, but not in a good way. These people were fighting, and the flashing lights were actually a battlefield. This wasnt entirely unexpected, but still a little disappointing. I had hoped for a new way to gain points, but the lack of a crown or any event notification ant that a group of people had just randomly decided to start fighting.
I stepped onto a boulder and crouched, looking over the edge of another rock to see who was fighting who.
I took in the sights of so twenty-odd classers duking it out. Two separate factions had gathered and were fighting as if they had grudges to settle. A lot of cursing and excessive brutality made this skirmish seem like it had been in the works for a few decades, rather than a few hours.
One of the faction's apparent leaders spoke up, and I listened intently, curious to know the situation.
Dont you think youve gone far enough, John?! Look at all this carnage! Youre tearing the alliance apart! a man with a scraggly beard said.
Dont gi that, Rictas! Di you tell Iralo the sa thing when you threw im to the bugs?! I seem ta rember you promising that youd keep him safe as long as I sacrificed myself to beat that tier 3!
As the two argued, they were stuck in a close battle. Both sides were struggling to finish the other sides tanks. The leaders were now clashing weapons, Johns halberd grinding against Rictas tal spiked club.
How many tis do I have to fucking tell you that Iralo just died by accident?!
Yet half the alliance testifies to seeing you murder im! Clearly, youre not fit to remain a part of this here group! I kill you while this internal conflict is still on, the system kicks you out o the alliance, simple. Go conquer a crown and make a new one, you bloody bastard!
Their battle continued and they started to use more active skills, sending different elental attacks at each other. Johns galeforce winds won out against Rictas fire, sending him sprawling on the floor. John walked up to his opponent nacingly, while Rictas struggled to rise to his feet.
Youre just not willing to do what it takes, John! This is just a tournant, and Iralo doesnt even lose any points for being sent out! If we all took turns sacrificing ourselves, we could get way more points artificially! Dont you want to go to the finals, idiot?!
Go fuck yourself, Rictas. I dont betray my friends for nothin. Especially not for your sorry behind. John whispered in righteous fury, bringing his halberd down in a vertical swing. It wouldve cracked Rictas skull, if he hadnt been teleported away in ti.
As John was now victorious, he took a mont to read a system notification, before lifting his arms to the sky and speaking to the rest of his alliance.
Youve now seen what our difference in opinion led ta, and Ive proven that Im stronger than old Rictas. For all you who agreed with him, Ive but one thing to say. he announced loudly.
Fuck off, would you kindly.
Hearing that, I broke out in a quiet chuckle. If anything, it served its purpose, because Rictas crew scampered off into the woods, sore about their loss. When they were all gone and Johns side had started to bandage their wounded, I decided to reveal myself to their leader.
Quite a performance. was my opening statent. If John was at all surprised by my presence, he didnt show it. Thankfully, he sated my curiosity rather quickly.
Ah. our hidden spectator sees fit to reveal imself. What do ya want, stranger? he asked skeptically.
I grinned at his brash greeting.
Nothing at all, nothing at all. John, is it? I just heard the commotion and ca over to take a look. Say, you wouldnt have seen any crowns anywhere, would you? Im still looking for more, but all the golden lights have disappeared from the sky.
His skepticism abated sowhat at my reply.
Well, I havent seen any crowns for a while now, but I havent exactly been looking, what with this internal conflict business. The last I saw in the sky was a few miles from here, in that direction. he said, as he pointed in the direction that I had just co from. Clearly, he couldnt help further.
Lacking any concrete goals, I decided to just ask a few more questions.
So how does that internal conflict work, exactly? Is it an event phase or sothing?
No, dont think so, self. Rictas and I got into an argunt, and he was our alliance leader. During the argunt, an event notification popped up and told all of us about a possible internal conflict. Accept, and the loser will not be part of the alliance anymore and lose a buncha points as well. Say, who are you, anyway? Wheres your alliance, stranger? Not too many lone players left, at this point
His caution had now reappeared in full force, since he couldnt be certain if I was a bad egg that had gotten kicked out of his own alliance, after all.
No reason to lie, I decided to tell him the truth.
I cleared two crowns on my own, so Im the sole mber of alliance R. I spoke with a light chuckle, seeing his face warp in surprise.
As he recovered from his shock, he straightened his posture and stared dead in the eyes.
Bollocks. he said dryly.
Not bollocks. I replied with a smile.
One of Johns thugs had approached us during the conversation and pulled John to the side to whisper into his ear. When John returned, he looked a lot more cautious than before.
So my friend here tells youre so kinda big shot. So lets say I believe you for now. That leaves the question of why youre still even here in the first place. Looking for a fight?
Not at all. Im looking for points, but I can't find any. All of the crowns are gone from the sky. Nothing to see for miles and miles.
John took my asure for a mont, before surprising with a proposal.
Well, since thats the case, why dont you run with us for a while. You dont need to join the alliance, mind you. We could use the extra muscle, is all. We lost a lot of good people to Rictas dumb ideology. Get a few people to the next round and fuck the rest, right? My belief is that everyone of us should get a fair shot. If we dont make it, thats on us being too weak. Whats the point of getting into the last round when youre just gonna get knocked out in the first fight anyway?
I nodded along to Johns explanation. I couldnt relate, to be honest, but I could see how that ideology might be preferable to a larger group.
Well, alright. Ill stick with you guys for a while. The mont I see any points, however, Im gone.
John laughed. It was the kind of laugh that was easy to laugh along to, one that made you trust the other person instinctively.
Ill keep tha in mind, fella.
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