Chapter 243

Chapter 243

Leading the group through the cave, the surroundings transformed instantly from a forest into an endless expanse of black soil and rivers. The Druid halted his team briefly outside the cave. He was already aware of the sacrifice made by the rearguard player, and the lack of pursuing monsters indicated that their final tactic had worked.

Surveying the panting Perfect Humans, who didn't resemble players with their digitized bodies that hardly felt fatigue unless their health or willpower were too low, he knew they needed rest after the battle.

Before Bernie could suggest it, the Druid already ordered the Perfect Humans to rest on the spot and take a headcount.

There was still some distance between them and the Pantheon Forest. They would use this time for the Perfect Humans to recover their stamina and assess their losses.

Fortunately, after the players counted, no Perfect Humans were missing or dead. One had gone mad, and another was severely injured, but both had significantly improved after being treated with magic potions.

John, who had been at the back of the group, supported Burton, whose mind had partially regained clarity after consuming the potion. Hobbled, they approached the Druid. "P-Please wait, can we go back?"

The Druid couldn't help but look at him. He initially assumed that the two had been traumatized by the experience, only to hear John crying, "A man in the rear guard saved us. He's still behind. He got left behind. Can we save him?"

The Druid fell silent for a moment and glanced at the live stream where the sacrificed player was joyfully sharing in the channel how many monsters he had blown up with his final explosion. "There's no saving him."

He was already a deceased straggler, requiring a reload. And the player himself seemed quite content.

"Could you, at least, reveal his name to us?"

"Druid: @Money Over Life, should I tell them?"

"Money Over Life: Sigh, I can't bear this kind of scene, and players don't really care... Let's call him Norbert. Let them proceed, without looking back."

"Druid: OK"

"He was Norbert," the Druid told the two perfect beings, unable to resist adding, "Don't grieve for him. He sacrificed himself for his ideals and was prepared for it... If you can't let go, move forward, don't look back, don't waste his sacrifice."

The journey ahead wouldn't be any easier, likely another path paved with blood.

John nodded, tears streaming down his face.

After a five-minute rest, a player from the front reported hearing the sound of footsteps. The Druid initially feared that more monsters were approaching, but then sighed in relief upon realizing who was coming.

The perfect beings also looked up curiously, and many of them widened their eyes in surprise.

It was a cat.

Countless colossal felines.

On Earth, the largest breeds like Maine Coons were the norm, but here, even the smallest of these cats measured over a meter in length, swishing their tails as they approached the NPCs and players alike.

These must be the "vehicles" Bestia had mentioned, though it was unexpected that they were actual cats.

"Woah, woah, woah! Big kitty! My big kitty!"

"How adorable! I wish I could participate in this event too. Why isn't the game open for public testing yet? Why aren't there any spots available?"

"Just imagining players riding on cats...it's both bizarre and amusing, hahaha."

"Let me have a go! The big kitty will become Mommy's meal!"

A flood of comments poured in as soon as the giant cats appeared. The NPCs, still frightened from the previous monsters, instinctively retreated when the cats arrived. They only calmed down after the players explained the situation.

Once everyone was seated on the cats, the Druids hurried towards the Pantheon Forest. With the cats running at full speed, the surroundings blurred, and the wind whistled past their ears.

Perhaps they would reach their destination sooner than expected!

All present were invigorated by this thought, but the players remained cautious, frequently scanning their surroundings.

The stretch from the cave to the forest was marked by dark earth, occasionally interrupted by hills and small slopes. Despite the absence of any apparent obstacles, they maintained their vigilance.

As the large cat ran on without incident, even the players began to relax.

If only they could reach the end like this, they couldn't help but wish.

It was then that the Druid, gripping the cat's fur, noticed something odd.

The cat he was riding seemed... agitated?

The Druid didn't have a cat at home, but his friend, the Black Cat, did. They had a good relationship offline, living close by and often visiting each other's homes. Thus, he knew that cats typically didn't fluff up their fur unless they sensed danger or were provoked.

...Danger?

"Evade: Failed"

The Druid sensed an immense force striking him from the side, as an invisible force brutally slammed into his abdomen, sending him crashing off the feline's back.

"Druid!?"

"What... What happened?"

"Enemy attack—"

Upon the Druid's fall, the players immediately sounded the alarm. The great cats came to a halt, their fur standing on end as they sniffed the air for any hint of danger.

One of the big cats suddenly let out a shrill cry as players witnessed something piercing through its tail.

"It's an invisible enemy! They can turn invisible!" yelled the player named "Salty Fish Thrust," instantly realizing the situation. He rolled on the ground and threw a handful of dirt towards the cat.

The dirt didn't hit the cat but revealed a faint outline in mid-air, resembling a fierce beast standing upright on two legs.

Upon realizing it had been exposed, the invisible creature turned around, opening its mouth wide, revealing sharp fangs as it lunged at Salty Fish Thrust. The player rolled on the ground, barely managing to evade the attack.

"Focus on revealing their shapes first, don't rush to shoot. We must avoid friendly fire!"

Other players instantly lowered their guns in panic, imitating the salted fish stab they had just witnessed, stirring up dust to try and discern the shapes of the invisible beasts, only to repeatedly fail.

It was as though... those invisible creatures were aware of the players' intentions and were deliberately evading them.

The Druid observed this on the ground, her heart sinking.

...

The attack wasn't exclusive to the Druid's group; other players and Whole Man's squad were also under assault.

Insane took a deep breath but didn't rush to the front line. Instead, she stood beside Whole Man, technically within his protective circle, yet her battle was far from effortless.

She aimed her gun at the monster grappling with the players, her sights wavering between teammates and target.

Then, she fired.

"Shooting: Critical Success!"

A player on the verge of collapse narrowly avoided having his heart pierced by the creature. The attack seemed suspended in mid-air. He lifted his head in astonishment to find two holes now puncturing the monster's chest.

Thud! Thud!

Two monster corpses fell, and the players realized there had been one behind them all along. If they hadn't been eliminated by the monsters in front, they would have still perished from not noticing the one behind. They patted their chests in relief and gave a thumbs up in the direction of Not Crazy.

However, Not Crazy frantically gestured to him, signaling not to lose focus; more were coming!

New monsters trampled over their fallen comrades, seemingly fearless of death, rushing frenziedly towards Perfect Man and the players.

...

"Spectacular," Black Cat sighed, observing the scene before them. Compared to other zones, their progress was much more arduous. The reason was simple: the monsters attacking them could fly!

"Too difficult, Black Cat."

"What kind of luck is this? Among all the regions with monster attacks, yours can fly. That's just unlucky, isn't it?"

"It's over. Your side is the farthest from the teleportation point, and you've only just left the city gates."

"Only eight hundred meters, and already five players are down. At this point, we need to be cautious of Perfect Man escaping. It might trigger a herd mentality."

"What can we do? If we don't find a chance to break through, this will be the outcome, and our team will be finished."

Indeed, they had to find an opportunity to escape.

Black Cat took a deep breath and handed his gun to Fig next to him. "Cover me for a moment, it'll be quick."

Fig: ?

Black Cat didn't have time to explain. He glanced behind him and saw Matcha Milk Green swiftly tending to the wounded soldiers retreating from the front lines. Her actions were swift and skilled, marking her as an accomplished battlefield medic, oblivious to the dangers around her.

The task of breaking through had to be left to high-level players.

Black Cat looked up at the sky. "It's a moonlit night. I hope we can spot the Morning Star."

He muttered an obscure incantation, one of the most destructive spells taught to them by Professor Alders.

"Intelligence: Success"

"Willpower: Success"

"Rational Appraisal (with two additional failure dice due to the unique environment of the Dream World). Cast upon completion."

The black cat shuddered but its incantation remained lucid. Immediately after, a storm erupted in the land out of thin air.

"Crouch down, everyone! Tornado incoming!"

Flying creatures, resembling crows yet armored with beetle-like shells, were swept up by the tempest. They were torn apart before they could even let out a scream, scattering feathers and blood. The players and NPCs all obediently lay on the ground, dumbfounded. Matcha Latte Green watched the scene in awe. The monsters that had just been menacing them from the skies were swiftly eradicated.

"Wow, you've got quite the trick up your sleeve! No wonder you're a professional Wizard!"

Matcha Latte looked at the black cat with excitement, but her expression changed in the next moment. She saw the cat turn its head, and beneath its skin, there were worm-like, unidentified objects bulging, along with bloodshot eyes.

"Rational Assessment: Failed"

"San-20"

"Temporary Frenzy: Contamination"

......

Players from both teams shielded the Unawakened with unwavering determination, their mission being to safely escort them into the Pantheon Forest. The Unawakened, unaware of the players' task, instinctively sought to avoid danger after living peacefully in the town for centuries. They watched helplessly as players fell before them.

"I should have never come out," someone muttered.

"Shut up!" a young man barked at the speaker. "Can't you see they're protecting us? Do you have no sense of honor?"

"I...," the man's face flushed red, but he found himself speechless. The young man, indifferent, released his mother's hand and, clutching the potion in his arms, dashed forward from the group.

"Wait, Korey! What are you doing?!" A woman's desperate scream echoed from behind. The youth, head down, continued running towards a fallen player ahead.

The Druid, having been thrown off the big cat's back by a monster, had struggled to regain his footing. The cat's speed was comparable to a speeding motorbike, and he felt as if his left leg were broken; it was a disastrous situation.

Just as the Druid pondered ending his own life to log back in, an unknown young man suddenly appeared by his side, pouring a healing potion onto his injured limb while the Druid stared in bewilderment. "Hang on a bit longer."

"?? Why are you here? You all should stay inside."

"Shut up, you're not our babysitter!" the Unawakened youth sobbed.

Druid: ...But you're the ones we're supposed to protect.

Players can die; after all, they can always respawn. But once an impeccable character perishes, they're truly gone.

The Druid paused for a moment, but ultimately withheld his words as he surveyed the surroundings. He noted that ten players had already perished, with only a few left desperately clinging to survival. The invisible creatures proved too deadly, one of which had even charged into the group of Paragons, wreaking havoc.

Each team's mission will be deemed failed if more than seven out of ten members are either killed or injured.

The druid fixated on the invisible beast as it slaughtered its way through the perfected beings, clenching the gun in their hand.

Are we nearing the end of our journey?

The Old Ones watched in silence, none of Them deigning to intervene, for They all knew.

This was the first tempest that the Consummate One must weather.