Chapter 536 - The Core Members Strike

However, what could these powers do aside from bowing with gratitude and paying the price. The entire time, they were gritting their teeth with hatred, wishing they could ignore the threat of the War Maniac Pavilion and the Church of Light to descend upon the player guild like locusts. 

Of course, they still didn't fear Umbra even now. They had scores of Rank 5 and above forces in their factions, while Umbra was only Rank 3 at best. So what if Draco had cleared that sea route? 

If they paid a certain price, they could too, but no one had the time and resources to bother with marine expansion. Of course, this sentiment would most likely change when Draco returned from the Tower of Babylon for various reasons. 

Soon, the auction came to an end, and the various parties left with their spoils. Umbra had made around 33 billion platinum in total, an amount far surpassing anything they had earned before thanks to the materials near the end. 

Slowly but surely, Umbra was forcing those powers to cough up the funds that they had locked away. As the guild planned to invest most of it in the Rank 7 Bank's Fixed Deposit, this would eventually be distributed around the world in the form of loans or investments. 

After the event, the players of Umbra quickly got their game faces on as they mobilized. They rushed outward, heading to the location of the Kingdom War which was in the Unity Area Zone, the location where Fafrifa and co were situated. 

As they were fighting four enemies at once, they were split up into four regiments to meet each force on the battlefield. Vita only fielded 25,000 of its own 100,000 strong internal army on each battlefield, while the members of the guild were free to choose where they wanted to fight. 

Unsurprisingly, most chose the strongest enemy, which was Purita. As for the external players, they were also shared between the battlefields, making Umbra's size possess slightly more numbers in each battlefront. 

Deployed Soldier stayed at the back and watched the deploying armies calmly. The Rank 7 barracks had a feature that allowed him to spectate each battlefield he deployed troops to and pass orders down in real-time. 

Sublime also stayed with him to watch the initial progress of the war. She didn't expect Vita to lose, she just wanted to see some losers cry in despair as their heads were separated from their bodies. 

It couldn't be helped. After being forced by Riveting Night to watch hours of happy endings and good things, she had been traumatized. As such, watching suffering and anguish would help cleanse her mind and help her recover. 

Interestingly, the troops of Vita all deployed using transport airsh.i.p.s. Battle airsh.i.p.s were higher ranked like the Morningstar Clan's Airforce One and harder to make as well. However, the strategic benefit of transport airsh.i.p.s was insane. 

By the time the troops reached the battlefield, the armies of the respective kingdoms hadn't even marched far. Their faces were filled with horror as they watched the airsh.i.p.s land out of their attacking range and deployed the troops of their enemy. 

They looked back and saw that their home, their kingdom, was still within eyesight. Normally, it would take a few months and many desperate battles for an army to get this close, yet here they were by their first engagement. 

As the enemy formed up, they were also shocked to notice that their numbers were slightly larger. From the moment those airsh.i.p.s had arrived, it was one terrible revelation after another and the battle hadn't even started yet! 

This was especially true for those players who had been sent here by their corporations. Their faces changed as they felt horror, because their bosses repeatedly assured them that they would have the numerical advantage over a guild that had just formed without any history to it. 

This arrogance and lack of understanding of how Boundless worked was why these companies had been unable to take a firm foothold in the previous timeline for a long time. In fact, it had been this same Draco who had allowed them to gain traction as he had been in dire need of their funds to build Hellscape up. 

Naturally, the battle began without further ado. They weren't here to size each other up and roar insults from a vast chasm, but to fight to the death to claim the right to decide the fate of the loser! 

As each side charged at the other, the earth trembled and shook with thunderous sounds. All monsters and other forms of wildlife quickly fled the area upon feeling the tremors feeling that something titanic was about to occur here. 

BAM! 

Eventually, the two sides clashed and the meat grinder began churning. 

Umbra had assured their players that even death would grant 5 points, so the external players at the forefront were not worried about their possible demise. 

With 5 points, they could actually purchase a powerful Rare Item or even a Pseudo-Epic one if they weren't quickly snatched up. Why wouldn't the players rush forward like barbarians, their eyes red and filled with infernal malice? 

The players on the other side had naturally not been promised any such thing, so their fighting style was focused far more on defense, just as most players would do during Kingdom Wars. The reason Umbra had chosen to take this route was because they knew the nature of players and how to incentivize them while these NPC kingdoms did not. 

Immediately, white lights shone all over the front of the battle, as hundreds of players on either side were sent to the graveyard. The difference was becoming clear with each second that those on the other kingdom's sides were disappearing faster than those on Umbra's side. 

The already slight numerical advantage became bigger and bigger by the minute. One had to wonder just how the kingdoms behind them were watching the proceedings, because they were within eyesight. 

Farfrifa, Fortitudo, and Megane were shocked and beginning to entertaining the idea of retreating. They couldn't afford to lose so many forces in just the first engagement. However, if they retreated, they would be opening themselves up for a siege given how close the enemy army was. 

Only Purita remained calm as they fielded more troops. While the battle on all other fronts was going smoothly for Umbra, this one was quite even. Puritans had fielded more NPCs than players, and their soldiers were fierce as well as motivated. 

Of course, while this was true, one had to remember that the large majority of Umbra's forces were located right here. The core members stepped forth, their might radiating across the entire battlefield and shaking things up. 

The players on Umbra's side cheered when they saw their 'titans' get ready to join the action, remembering how majestic they had been during the Abyss Event. 

On the battlefield against Farfrifa, Happy Saint, Silent Walker, Loving Aunt, and Lucia stepped forth. After becoming Rank 3, they had gained new skills while their old ones also metamorphosed. 

｢Ferromancer - Legendary Class (Rank 3) 

Exp gain rate: 80% 

Rank up difficulty: 60% 

Class weapons: Any metal 

Class skills: Any metal｣ 

｢Enchantress - Legendary Class (Rank 3) 

Skills: Beauty Trap (Passive), Poison Potency (Passive). 

Exp gain rate: 80% 

Rank up difficulty: 70% 

Class weapons: Any magical 

｢Lord of Shadows - Legendary Class (Rank 3) 

Skills: Shadowgaurd (Passive), Noctis (Passive). 

Exp gain rate: 70% 

Rank up difficulty: 90% 

Class weapons: None 

Class skills: Any darkness｣ 

(Author's Note: I decided to skip Lucia's class and I will do so for Hera and Keira too. I'll need to go through them from the ground up and as you've noticed after the hiatus, I absolutely despise it when there are too many menus unlike before. Some things cannot be skipped though.) 

｢Absolute Defense – Passive skill 

Effect: Your prowess and affinity with metal had reached a point of utmost perfection. As such, there is a permanent existence of formless liquid metal that acts as a shield around you at all times. 

｢Mind Metal – Passive skill 

Effect: Imbue any piece of metal with pseudo-sentience, allowing it to become a true metallic lifeform regarding you as its master and creator. 

Note: The success of this depends on the size of the metal and its quality.｣ 

｢Beauty Trap – Passive skill 

Effect: You are able to mark those who have been affected by your pheromones and possess carnal d.e.s.i.r.e towards you. Such targets suffer 20% more damage from you while you suffer 20% less damage from them.｣ 

｢Poison Potency – Passive skill 

Effect: Your toxins have been refined, stepping above the limits of gas, liquid and solid, as well as the limits of organic and inorganic. All poison damage is increased by 50%.｣ 

｢Shadowguard – Passive skill 

Effect: Summon a squad of shadow warriors to form an elite guard to protect yourself. Depending on how much power you designate each one of them, you will be able to spawn between 1 to 10 at a time. ｣ 

Effect: The night is no longer something you have to wait for, for you are the night. Wherever you tread, shall be treated as a night/darkness zone no matter the time of day and weather, increasing darkness related skills by 50%.｣ 

With their power, they were easily able to lead the charge. Happy Saint used his Summon Metal Golems skills to spawn almost 50 of them which slowly charged at the opposite side of the battle. 

Like oversized blenders, they cut through the ranks of the opposing players and NPCs, either leaving behind mangled corpses or sparkling white lights that disappeared from the field. 

His newly gained Absolute Defense allowed Happy Saint to rush into battle himself, transforming his arms into swords as if he was the T-1000, dismembering his foes with easy hits. 

The majority of players were either at the late stages of Rank 1 or the early stages of Rank 2 for those top players. Unless they were monsters like Draco, in which case they would currently be fighting on Umbra's side, it was impossible for them to make up for the Level and Rank Suppression, even if it was just a single tier. 

Loving Aunt sat on the back of a Rank 4 Swampigator, a toxic monster with a huge body and powerful defense. She rushed into the midst of the enemies, far away from her allies before she activated all her skills, which were simultaneously D-O-T and AOEs. 

Toxic Cloud! 

Acid Rain! 

Poison Ivy! 

Soon, the area of 3 miles around Loving Aunt turned into a no man's land as various skills overlaid with her own Toxic Supremacy passive to rob all those in the way of their life in mere seconds. 

What was worse was that these skills formed a sort of active domain that followed her wherever she went. When it came to large-scale battles like this, she was no different from using chemical warfare. 

The woman herself only folded her arms under her huge bosom which was largely revealed thanks to her default class attire. Even if she wore other equipment over it, she still looked like this because it was required for her other passive to work, which was Extreme Attraction. 

Her callous smirk made many of those who looked at her display hearts in their eyes, despite being literally choked to death by her fumes. Her Swampigator also chomped and stomped, killing anyone within range who did not immediately die from Loving Aunt's insane barrage. 

Silent Walker stood before Lucia, who was focused on casting onto the battlefield. As a healer class, she was similar to Sublime and Warm Spring, yet unique in her own way as well. 

Silent Walker though, was like a maestro of the battlefield. Nothing seemed to escape his grasp or his senses, what's more, nothing escaped his tendrils. He looked strange as he stood there in his classic black gentleman's suit, with his hands always moving. 

With every movement, a shadow would pop up somewhere and lock someone's feet together, stopping their attempts from escaping a fatal attack, or tripping them over so their well-timed sneak attack or counterattack would miss its target. 

His fingers swiped like a programmer furiously typing on their keyboard or a pianist who was engrossed in his play, yet his face displayed utter calmness. If anything, he wore his trademark wide smile but refrained from speaking, giving him a mysterious vibe. 

Realizing he was a key element to this battle, a group of thousand players blitzed into the area where he stood, trying to take both him and Lucia out. While this made many external players panic, the members of Umbra displayed mocking smiles. 

It was good if you stayed away from that fellow, but going near? Oh well, it was your funeral. 

Lucia also looked on with interest and tittered with her palm covering her mouth, as the elegant noblewoman she was. 

"Oh dear, it seems these cretins think to slay us! Why don't you show them your power, Christian?" 

Silent Walker smiled. Since his woman had asked him to, how could he not show off for her? Immediately, he watched the incoming fellows with a pointed smile and raised a hand. 

The moment they were within range, he grinned and snapped his finger. 

Darkness Devour! 

Immediately, a wave of black light erupted from Silent Walker as the center, washing over all the allies and enemies near him. While his allies were fine and unharmed, his enemies fell to their knees and clutched their throats in agony. The players were not exempt from this, as instead of turning into white lights, they crumbled into motes of darkness. 

It was worse for the NPCs who screamed in agony and begged for salvation, but were also degraded to death! 

From those remains, 20 shadow forms froze, their bodies made of dark miasma that was like a burning fire while their eyes were a deep shade of purple. Soon, their forms condensed, and they looked no different from elemental lifeforms, only of the darkness element. 

They manifested the same weapons and fighting styles as those they copied, and Silent Walker calmly sent them back into the battle to wreak havoc. 

On the battlefield over at the Fortitudo Kingdom, the core members fielded here were Warm Spring, Rambunctious Buttlover, Dreary Traveler, and Hera. 

｢Demi-Angel - Legendary Class (Rank 3) 

Skills: Recovery Aura (Passive), Cleansing Aura (Active). 

Exp gain rate: 300% 

Rank up difficulty: 20% 

Class weapons: None 

Class skills: Any healing or support｣ 

｢Orator - Legendary Class (Rank 3) 

Skills: Soothing Voice (Passive), Crescendo A-major (Passive). 

Exp gain rate: 120% 

Rank up difficulty: 50% 

Class weapons: None 

Class skills: Any bard｣ 

｢Lich - Legendary Class (Rank 3) 

Skills: Lich's Aura (Passive), Body of Ice (Passive). 

Exp gain rate: 70% 

Rank up difficulty: 70% 

Class weapons: None 

Class skills: Any undead｣ 

｢Recovery Aura – Passive skill 

Effect: The User emits an aura of wellness and convalesce, giving all allies within the range of 10 kilometers +5% HP, Mana, Stamina, Focus, and Concentration recovery while unlocking their ability to regenerate HP during battle.｣ 

｢Cleansing Aura – Passive skill 

Effect: The User emits an aura of cleanliness and fortitude, giving all allies within the range of 10 kilometers +30% extra chance to resist any and all status effects cast upon them. Allies hit with status effects have a 50% chance to overcome them every second.｣ 

｢Soothing Voice – Passive skill 

Effect: Your voice is now a weapon of mA.S.S destruction, able to either calm, persuade or agitate allies and enemies with ease. When used in a song, or talk, it increases the success rate of all checks by 30% and boosts damage by 20%.｣ 

｢Crescendo A-major – Passive skill 

Effect: Control the volume of your speech or song, able to increase it to broadcast over large areas with a weaker effect, or condense it into a smaller area for devastating concentrated effects.｣ 

｢Lich's Aura – Passive skill 

Effect: The User gains the ability to fortify and empower undead minions. All minions within the range of the Lich will benefit from a 70% increase to their HP, Stamina, and Mana, as well as a 150% increase in Damage, Defense, and Resistances. However, they now take three times damage from fire, light, or lightning-based attacks.｣ 

｢Body of Ice – Passive skill 

Effect: The User has gained the true body of a Lich, able to muster both the Death element and the Ice element to which the ultimate lord of the undead is known for. You can now learn ice-based skills and techniques, as well as possess a 70% resistance to ice-element attacks.｣ 

Warm Spring had become even more of a passive healer, her various auras coming together to make the army on the side of Umbra almost unkillable. What was outrageous was that these benefits even worked for Dreary Traveler's undead, creating a bizarre scene where the undead warriors were covered with an aura of light. 

As she had no attacking capabilities, she only made sure to stay at an optimal place for her aura to work on the most people. After all, with her Damage Immunity passive, it would be tough for these fellows to kill her. 

Hera had a Legendary mage class, and she was currently chanting spells as she bombarded their enemies with AOE attacks. Like Sublime, she was given free rein to use any element with her newly acquired Legendary class, however, her style was different. 

She actually had to chant spells like a normal mage, and draw hand signals as well. However, the power of her casts was utterly absurd. Unlike Jada who was a single-target mage or Rina who was mixed, Hera was purely AOE. 

Her every attack was designed to land amongst a group of enemies and destroy them from within thoroughly ending their menace forever! 

Looking at this shorty who wore an indifferent expression, all the lolicons in the crowd with nefarious intentions were cowed. Especially when they saw the ominous Dreary Traveler walk up and smack her b.u.t.t with a lascivious smile, then gaze at them provocatively.