Chapter 555: Group Battle Tower - England's Power

Soon, it was time for the competition to resume as the fans re-entered the stadium. More had joined while some had left, probably to take care of real-world duties. Whatever the case, the representation was still intense as people didn't need to travel from their homes to show their support for their country. 

The stadium was filled with rising passions as the contestants who had stayed connected all this while emerged. Soon, Amber herself appeared above the crowd, wearing a revealing cowgirl outfit this time. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the second day of the First Inter-Player International Competition! On today's agenda, we have the Group Battle Tower, the Writing Battle, and the Memory Game! Without further ado, let's get into the first one!" 

She then turned to the waiting area as usual. "Will the combat team of the various countries please make themselves present on the field?" 

Immediately, the 1000 combat players, separated into groups of five numbering 200, were materialized on the field. Unlike before where they wore whatever armor they had in the individual section, they had all been given courtesy cosmetics that allowed them to change whatever they were wearing into a uniform designed by their home country. 

This rather made the crowd more vibrant, as they finally felt a kingship with their contestants, as well as a feeling of immersion. Amber noted this effect with a slight smile before going forward. 

"And now, let us have the battle tower manifest!" She called as she clapped her hands. Just like yesterday, the entire place quaked as the tower rose out of the ground and stood proudly amidst the eyes of millions of people. 

It was slightly bigger than before, but that was it. It still generally had the same design and everything, so one couldn't easily tell what the difference was or should be. 

"Well then contestants, please enter the tower and begin your climb!" Amber instructed as the various groups entered the tower in an orderly manner. 

......…. 

The English team walked into the first floor with confident expressions. After their talk yesterday, they knew that apart from the Central Country and Mexico, they had the most powerful team for group-related battles. 

The English team was made up of the Ranged Support Silent Walker, the Healer Lucia, the Tank Noble Soul, the Ranged Damage Dealer Happy Scholar, and the other Ranged Damage Dealer Sublime Notion. 

They had the most complete and skilled team among the rest, which gave them an edge. Especially since no one in their team had less than an Epic class. Even Happy Scholar and Joker had been given chances to fight for an Epic class after paying a heavy price by Sublime's standards. 

The moment they arrived on the first floor, they saw a huge behemoth walked out from a cave at the side of a mountain, with two ugly heads on one shoulder and a giant club dragging behind it. 

｢Name: Two-Headed Ogre Lord – Lieutenant Rank monster 

Level: 100 

HP: 30,000,000/30,000,000｣ 

The group gasped shocked at the amount of HP the monster had. It was almost as tanky as actual Rank 4 monsters. If this was going to be the trend for monsters going forward, then it would kind of make sense how this was a group battle. 

If it had a normal amount of HP, it would be easy for the team to clear it in seconds and move on. Now though, there was a hint of a challenge in it, but not too much. 

"Light of Heroism!" Noble Soul roared as a golden-red glow emerged from his body, coating him like an aura. He then rushed towards the monster, who roared thunderously before swinging its club down on the fellow. 

Noble Soul simply scoffed and swung his greatsword to meet the attack, not only blocking it, but also parrying it away. The Two-Headed Ogre Lord was shocked as it was quickly unbalanced, its club almost leaving its arms due to its prejudice. 

Even if Noble Soul had been alone, he could easily beat these monsters to death, only that it would take far too much time. However, he obviously wasn't alone and this was made known when two different attacks struck the Ogre Lord. 

"Thunderstrike! Flame Pillar" Sublime shouted as she cast two offensive magics of different elements at the same time using one of her staves each. 

"Word of Power: Eviscerate!" Happy Scholar mumbled gently, swiping the tome before him like it was a screen, tossing out a crystallized word that was written in English. 

The Thunderstrike hit the Ogre Lord on the top of its head while the Flame Pillar emerged from its legs and roasted it from the bottom up. Being struck by these two different abilities at the same time was a level of agony that words could not even hope to describe. 

The Two-Headed Ogre Lord screamed in anguish as it tried to escape the attack, however Silent Walker raised his hand and commanded the shadows to rise up and bind the monster from head to toe, wrapping it up like a presn- hold on… that rather looked like a BDSM style binding… 

Silent Walker's expression froze as he realized he had acted without thinking, and all eyes fell on him. Then the same eyes went on Lucia who was blushing with her head lowered, and the other three's lips couldn't help but twitch. 

It was always the noble and gentle ones, huh! 

The world of power that was hurtling towards the Ogre Lord turned into sharp blades that slashed it all over, cutting deep into its bones and spraying its blood all over the place. 

-2,340,980! 

-3,452,000! 

-7,122,055! 

In just one salvo, the group had taken away more than 30% of the Ogre Lord's health, and they weren't even using powerful or useful skills in their arsenal, just the ones with a reasonable damage percentage and a manageable cooldown. 

It was still bound up too, unable to break free due to the power of Silent Walker. As such, Sublime and Happy Scholar continued to rain down attacks upon it until it turned into ash in a few seconds. 

Upon clearing this floor, the team climbed up to the next one to see what kind of enemy they would be facing off against this time. They were naturally left speechless when they saw that it was a cute little rabbit with a golden horn on its forehead. 

However, Noble Soul put on q severe expression as he inched towards the thing. Left between laughter and tears, Lucia could only ask. "Why the caution?" 

It was her partner, Silent Walker, who answered with a grave tone. "Monty Python." 

Lucia did not get the reference unfortunately, but Sublime and Happy Scholar did. Once they remembered, their faces changed as they gave the battlefield a good berth and made sure they were at the limit of their attacking range before beginning their salvos. 

Lucia was still confused, but she cast a buff on Noble Soul anyway. 

Ordinance! 

Lucia's class was a special one, a Legendary healer class called the Divine Bishop. Her class was similar to Warm Spring in the sense that they were healer-heavy, but unlike Warm Spring, Lucia did have some attacking spells of the Light Element. 

｢Holy Bishop - Legendary Class (Rank 3) 

Skills: Divine Word (Passive), Aura of Recovery (Passive), Ordinance (Active), Holy Light (Active), Blade of Purification (Active), Shield of Light (Active), Light's Ward (Passive), Light's Flow (Passive). 

Starting Stats: Str 10, Dex 10, End 30, Int 50, Spr 30, Cha 20, Lck 10 

Exp gain rate: 180% 

Rank up difficulty: 15% 

Class weapons: Any staff. 

Class skills: Any Healing, Light.｣ 

｢Divine Word – Passive skill 

Effect: The Blessing of the Divinities had been spoken unto you. All healing skills and techniques are boosted by 250%.｣ 

｢Aura of Recovery – Passive skill 

Effect: An area of 5 kilometers around your body will automatically recover 5% of all allies' health every 30 seconds, and fully restore health, mana, and stamina every 5 minutes they remain alive and within range.｣ 

｢Ordinance – Active skill 

Effect: Bless an ally with the divine ordinance, allowing them to increase their damage, defense by 150%, attack and movement speed by 30%, and 2-second invulnerability status. 

Duration: 5 minutes 

Cooldown: 10 minutes.｣ 

｢Holy Light – Active skill 

Effect: Condense the light of holiness onto any ally, restoring 75% of the Health immediately and 25% over a duration of 5 seconds. Mana and Stamina also regenerate 45% faster. 

Duration 1 minute. 

Cooldown: 15 seconds.｣ 

｢Blade of Purification – Active skill 

Effect: Summon a holy blade made of Light Energy to slice apart your foes and bring divine justice upon them. This deals 90% Light damage to a single target. 

Cooldown: 5 minutes.｣ 

｢Shield of Light – Active skill 

Effect: Grant an ally a shield of Light energy that repels 30% of all physical and magical damage, and can be spread to up to 5 allies with the percentage of protection reduced accordingly. 

Duration: 10 minutes 

Cooldown: 2 minutes.｣ 

｢Light's Ward – Passive skill 

Effect: You, the Divine Bishop, are an important facet of holiness on the land. As such, you have a natural divine barrier around you that repels 70% of all damages types, regardless of source.｣ 

｢Light's Flow – Passive skill 

Effect: As the one blessed by the divinities to lead the land, you have an incomparable closeness to the element of Light. All Light-based skills and techniques are boosted by 120%.｣ 

Her class perfectly manifested what one expected to see from a Legendary healer. Unlike Eva,. Who walked the path of Light's edification and disintegration, Lucia walked the path of Light's illumination and restoration. 

They were sort of two extremes within the same fold. Behind her, Silent Walker cast out his shadows to try and entrap the rabbit. With its small size, it would not take much to capture it, yet Silent Walker sent a huge host of them. 

The rabbit itself sat there in confusion for a few seconds, wondering why the humans were rushing over. When it detected killing intent from them, its eyes suddenly became red as it blasted towards Noble Soul with its teeth bared. 

｢Name: Cwute Wittle Wabbit – Lieutenant Rank monster 

Level: 105 

HP: 24,000,000/24,000,000｣ 

Noble Soul was not able to follow its movement as the monster's speed was off the charts. What saved him was not only Lucia's Ordinance, but the fact that he had assumed that this monster would be a speed type. 

As such, he waited for its horn to collide with his body and pierce him. Gritting his teeth in pain, Noble Soul gripped the damned beast tightly, as if he was its master giving it a hug. 

The monster panicked at being captured like this, thrashing within Noble Soul's embrace, biting and clawing him in any way it could. However, its attempts were futile as hundreds of elemental attacks rained down upon Noble Soul, which so happened to rain down upon the monster as well. 

Luckily, Tier 2 Realism only made it such that a player could be hurt by their own attack, not that a player could hurt teammates in their own party. Friendly fire wasn't yet a thing, so the group could take advantage of this loophole to deal with a small, speedy monster like this. 

In truth, it should not be so easy to deal with a monster like this, but the simple fact was that four out of the five contestants recognized the monster to be similar to another from an old movie which became a pop culture reference for many MMO devs in the earlier days. 

Since they functioned with the assumption that it was a speed-type monster, they had lucked out once their assumption proved to be right, and naturally, the actions they had already taken would see them deal with this monster at once. 

After all, the monster itself did not expect its secret to be seen through at a glance due to some obscure reference. Usually, by the time it even moved, its enemies were long dead, or unable to ever catch up to it. 

The poor rabbit monster could only be beaten to death in such a manner, making the fans of England on the outside feel sympathy for it. However, they cared more about their team winning, so they continued to cheer them on as they climbed to the third floor. 

Floor 3 was much more ominous, as they appear3ed in an underground mineshaft with a tunnel that was wide enough for the five to walk side by side comfortably. It led to a small cavern where piles of rocks were accumulated, their use and value obscure as they were only props to the map. 

The group got into a ready position once they heard a rhythmic clang occur rapidly, until the small body of a dwarf rose up from a hole and gazed at them with whitish-red eyes that Had no pupils. 

｢Name: Digger Digger – Lieutenant Rank monster 

Level: 110 

HP: 45,000,000/45,000,000｣ 

"Ye bastards wanta steal me minin' spot?! OVER ME DEAD BODY!" The fellow roared and charged at them without even bothering to hear their side of the story. Fortunately, none in the England team were soft enough to consider negotiation. 

They were on a timer, so the same time that could be spent convincing this fellow that they were harmless - if such an inane idea would even work - could be spent gutting him alive like a fish. 

The dwarf wielded a pickaxe like a hammer, swinging it about to strike Noble Soul at shocking speeds. Not only that, the fellow's already buff body had grown by two sizes, making him look like some meathead that had been shrunk by half. 

Noble Souls' greatsword was a perfect weapon to use as a defense against the pick, as even the rapid and skillful swings of the dwarf would mostly strike the blade of the weapon. 

The clanging sounds the strikes would make irritated listeners, but they were drawn into the high-speed battle. Many had not known much about Noble Soul, seeing him as a mere vassal of Umbra and someone who would forever live in the shadow of those better, but his techniques on display right now showed why he too was a FIVR E-sports legend. 

Noble Soul still lost in a contest of strength though, so he was taking a bit of damage with every strike. Here, Lucia had to step up and heal him intermittently to keep him afloat, while Silent Walker coiled the dwarf with more and more bindings. 

His high strength made him break a few, but every 3 shadow tendrils he broke would pave the wave for 5 more. In no time, he was bound to one spot, struggling to break free as more and more tentacles appeared that held him down even as he broke them. 

All this while, Sublime Notion, and Happy Scholar were not farting about. Sublime cast one Ice Spear to pierce the target while her other staff cast Small Tornado. Happy Scholar was still using his Words of Power as he did not see the need to use his stronger skills. 

As such, he used the word 'Immolate' this time, which entered the body of the dwarf and set his innards of fire, making the fellow roar in agony that was chilling to the bone. Even when Sublime Ice Spear and wind Sword sliced and pierced through the fellow, they were soon extinguished by the sheer heat within his body. 

Bound in such a manner, the Digger Digger was cooked to death from the inside, tortured, and agonized from beginning to end. 

The English team advanced to the fourth floor, which was another underground map, but this time a catacomb filled with webs. From the shadows, a giant spider the size of a small house scuttled over, its chelicerae dripping with acid as it gazed hungrily at the five morsels that entered its lair. 

｢Name: Acid Arachnid – Lieutenant Rank monster 

Level: 115 

HP: 14,000,000/14,000,000｣ 

While it might have less HP than those that came before, the group was not comforted. After all, monsters like this were the crowd control type. They did not do battle themselves, but spawned endless adds that would occupy your attention while it lowered the party's number with precise ranged attacks and traps. 

Case in point, the monster screeched loudly and aimed its spinneret towards the group. Instead of shooting web, countless black balls were shot froth like rain, the balls coated in a sticky and stinky fluid that melted the floor. 

Once the balls landed and settle, they unveiled themselves to be spiderlings that were about the size of a small dog. They mashed their mandibles together in confusion, then received the spiritual command from their mother to attack the foes before them. 

As such, they swarmed towards the party in a sea of skittering limbs that would give anyone the chills. In this regard, there was little Noble Soul could do in terms of taking at they would have to fight the monster from a distance. 

Rather, it came down to Sublime and Happy Scholar to wear the monster itself down while Silent Walker controlled the adds using his shadows. He began to sweat though, as the sheer number of them was hard to deal with even with his prowess. 

The mana drain was also astronomical as the amount he had to kill in the second was truly too much. This was a situation where wide-area attacks would make all the difference, but none of the group wanted to waste their AOE skills on just the fourth floor. 

After all, they aimed to beat the Individual Battle Tower records and reach the 30th floor and beyond using the power of their group. For that to happen, they had to win the earlier fights in a blitz-like manner while conserving their skills that had long cooldowns and great effects for later. 

At this time, Happy Scholar sighed as he lifted a single rune from his tome and thrust it forward at the spiderlings. 

What happened next shocked the entire group.