Infinite Realm

"Growl!!!!"

"What now?"

Anxiety ladled Sato's face as he prepared for the unknown.

*Rustle* *Rustle*

"Again?!!" Fudo yelled as he looked ahead.

Similar to before, a team of Dark Priests walked from the openings on the wall but unlike the previous ones, these group looked more terrifying. Their faces looked a bit wrinkled and aged. Their arms were thinner than an average adult's and their nails were longer than normal. Their blood-red eyes were horrifying and the growls from their mouths sounded more like those of a wild beast. They still wore the usual black cloak and looked like humans, only just more scary.

"Another group of monsters? Why the hell is a gatekepeer now a Summoner?!" Fudo complained.

"Katsuo!" Sato roared.

"On it."

Katsuo immediately diverted and headed towards the new summons. Yato followed after him as he knew that handling distractions was his and Katsuo's job.

Like a knight heading into battle, Katsuo wielded his sword and slashed at one of the approaching Dark Priests.

*Clang*

The varmint used one of its arms to block the sword using the claw-sized nails on them. Even though Katsuo's sword was a Low-tier Rare-Steel rank weapon, it was still an Upper-tier Mortal rank sword but the claw was surprisingly able to contend with it.

"These ones are much stronger than the last." Katsuo reported in the team chat.

Sato's face changed a bit but he still regained his composure as he faced the Gatekeeper.

"Take them down as quickly as possible. After that, we launch an all-out attack on the BOSS. At this point, I'm having a bad feeling about it."

Seeing that they were still left to handle the Dark Priests on their own, Katsuo, Lu Zhen and Yato didn't bother to request for aid but faced their opponents. They understood why Sato didn't send Fudo or Seiichi to help them. It was training. If the team was too dependent on each another, their individual capabilities would weaken. In VR games, not all situations were tackled as a team so the sooner they got stronger individually, the better for them. And at the same time, the overall strength of the team would also improve.

Amongst the trio, Katsuo and Yato were the weakest, even when considering the 7 in the team. Facing these monsters without much help would give them more experience points to level up with. Lu Zhen's participation in this battle, despite being level 13, was to ease the burden on the two.

While Fudo or Sato could do the same job, their influence in the fight would be too encompassing as they can attack multiple targets all at once. But since Lu Zhen was an [Assassin], which was a single-target class, he wouldn't be able to ease off the entire burden faced by the duo so he was definitely the best option. Also, his participation in the main battle was weak as it was too risky for him to approach the BOSS to attack, and since he couldn't do so, he was unable to cause any damage. Therefore, it was better for him to aid the duo.

Once again, Sato was left to confront the BOSS all by himself, with Xue Yan, Seiichi and Fudo attacking from the distance. Without someone else upfront, Sato had to receive 'special' attention from the one-eyed monster and while he was ahead of it in level, the attribute difference wasn't much. Nonetheless, Sato still held on and was able to have its aggro pinned on himself, but this wasn't forever.

Apart from Sato, the one with the next most effective attacks was Xue Yan. As a level 15 fire [Elementalist], her battle capabilities couldn't be underestimated as her damage was absurdly high even when considering her level and the target's ability. There was also the passive skill, [Overbearing Momentum], which Xue Yan has gotten after the stone statue trial at the Caventry's main hall. The s reduced the defense of her target by 5%, if it were on par with her in terms of level while boosting her Attack power by 5%. This, plus the passive from her equipment, made her a dangerous figure and a terrifying opponent.

Considering that Sato only attacked when necessary, Xue Yan was able to attract most of the BOSS' aggro on herself and if not for Sato standing in the way, it would have long gone after her.

Nonetheless, as a monster of darkness, it knew nothing about fear and had tried to attack Xue Yan more than once so far. Luckily, Sato was there to hold it off, but this time around, he felt that the monster's advance was a lot stronger than before.

"Roar!"

The cyclops suddenly brought down the axe in its arms with great power and speed, forcing Sato to block with his sword.

*Clang*

As the axe couldn't proceed any further, Sato thought he had managed to survive this hurdle when the cyclops suddenly retreated and swept at him with the axe from the side.

As Sato's arms were still in an upright posture due to his actions of blocking the previous attack, he barely had time to react when he saw a giant axe sweeping towards him from the side.

'Damn.'

Sato inwardly cursed as he hurriedly placed his sword in between the axe and his body.

*Bang*

The attack came unexpected and Sato's rushed actions weren't enough to hold out against the Gatekeeper. Due to the impeding momentum from the attack, Sato was flung away by the axe and sent back by 7 metres. The Gatekeeper then took the opportunity to glance at Xue Yan and dashed towards her.

Its goal was never Sato, but the three at the backline harassing it; specifically, Xue Yan.

"It's coming." Fudo said.

"[Fire Ray]" Xue Yan immediately chanted as she glanced at the speeding cyclops.

*Phew*

Within a second, a ray of bright red flames darted towards the Gatekeeper from Xue Yan's staff. The speed of the shot was astonishing as it crossed the 30 metres gap in less than 2 seconds.

*Boom*

The Gatekeeper brandished its axe at the beam, intending on slicing it in half. Sadly, Xue Yan's firepower was impressive and the beam didn't budge so easily. Instead, it exploded upon contact with the edge of the axe, repelling the file creature back by one step.

*Phew*

In the midst of the explosion, an arrow pierced through the air as it made its way towards the Gatekeeper.

The monster was slow to react as it never thought there was a follow-up attack like this. All this time, it had its focus on Xue Yan as only her attack had caused substantial damage to it, with the others doing little game. Due to this act of underestimation, it never would have expected for an arrow to hide behind the Fire Ray and make use of the smoke from the explosion as camouflage to get close.

*Siiikk*

An arrow penetrated the eye socket of the lone eye, lodging itself almost halfway into the eye.

"Argh!!!!"

The cyclops cried out with a loud voice as it unwittingly let go of the axe as blood profusely leaked from the injured eye.

"Don't underestimate us.." Seiichi suddenly spoke up.