Chapter 1899 - World Boss
"They're all Tier 2?!" Illusory Words spun towards the approaching Zero Wing members after hearing Dawnmaster's statement. In a low tone, she asked, "There are...600 people here. Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
Although she could tell that the approaching players were powerful experts, she found it a little frightening that all 600 were Tier 2.
All of the various superpowers had an increasingly large number of players that had already completed their Tier 2 Promotion Quests, but even the weaker superpowers were still some time from amassing a 500-man, Tier 2 team, let alone a 600-man team.
The Tier 2 Promotion Quests weren't easy challenges to overcome. The quest had heavy requirements of both technique and equipment standards.
Of course, some players, such as independent players with good equipment and techniques, would challenge the lowest difficulty Promotion Quests. The advantage a Tier 2 class had over a Tier 1 was simply too massive. Not only would players gain a huge boost to their Basic Attributes once they reached Tier 2, but their physique would also improve significantly. With these improvements, players would have a much easier time questing and grinding monsters.
However, players that selected a low-difficulty Promotion Quest would face severe consequences. Their Tier 3 Promotion Quest would be far more difficult than normal.
The majority of independent players chose to acquire their Tier 2 class as soon as possible to secure better resources now, but large Guild experts were a different story. As these experts had their Guild's support, they didn't lack resources. Naturally, to ensure that they had an easier time with their Tier 3 Promotion Quests, these experts would challenge the harder Tier 2 Promotion Quests. They invested a lot of time in improving their levels, equipment, and techniques to complete the higher difficulty Promotion Quests, establishing a sturdy foundation so they could walk a smoother path in the future.
Meanwhile, Zero Wing was a Guild with abundant resources due to its goldmines like Zero Wing City and Silverwing Town. There was no doubt that Zero Wing had prepared its experts to challenge high-difficulty Promotion Quests.
However, just how many members did Zero Wing possess? How many experts had the Guild nurtured?
Comparing Zero Wing to a superpower was akin to comparing a firefly to the moon. The two were on entirely different levels.
Yet, the Guild had just revealed 600 Tier 2 players, already surpassing many superpowers.
"Vice Guild Leader, I wish I were wrong, but players can't fake the Tier 2 Class Insignias. Every one of those players has a Tier 2 Class Insignia equipped..." Dawnmaster said, smiling bitterly.
He had inspected Zero Wing's members multiple times, but the Tier 2 Class Insignia beneath their Black Cloaks was conspicuous to his eyes. There was no way he would mistake those insignias. Moreover, he hadn't told Illusory Words everything; among the 600 Zero Wing members, four were Level 60 and more than 50 were Level 59. He also couldn't identify Shi Feng's level.
The highest-level player in the Dark Night Empire was only Level 58. According to Crimson Emperor's investigation, this fact included the players that habitually hid their levels. Once players reached such a high level, they'd require a massive amount of EXP to level up, and although players could grind more efficiently and gain EXP more quickly once they had reached Tier 2, they'd still need a lot of time to grind to the next level.
Yet, Zero Wing had over 50 Tier 2 players at Level 59. There were even four Level 60 players. If the Guild wished it, it could easily monopolize the top 50 spots on the Dark Night Empire's Ranking List...
One or two levels higher might not mean much to ordinary players, but once players reached Level 50 and gained their Tier 2 class, their natural Attribute growth would increase significantly, exceeding the Free Attribute Points each leve卜up awarded. A gap of two levels could mean a difference of 30 points in one's main Attribute. Taking into account the Free Attribute Points, the gap would become even larger.
If the level gap increased to five levels, the difference in Attributes would be so massive that it would be akin to equipping an additional piece of top-tier equipment This was the frightening aspect of level differences. This was also why many independent players had opted to complete their Tier 2 Promotion Quests as soon as possible, leveling up more quickly.
"Zero Wing has already developed to such an extent?" When Illusory Words thought about Zero Wing openly declaring war against Blackwater in the Ore Empire, she realized the source of Zero Wing's confidence.
It was no wonder why Zero Wing dared to provoke Blackwater with so many Tier 2 experts.
When he saw Zero Wing's members, Unyielding Heart was similarly surprised. Unyielding Soul also had players with high- ranked Identification Skills, after all, but compared to Illusory Words, Unyielding Heart was stupefied by the discovery.
Unyielding Heart had raided the Eclipse Throne alongside Zero Wing's members, so he had known how many Tier 2 players the Guild had. While it was possible that Zero Wing had hidden some of its Tier 2 players, it shouldn't have been able to hide so many.
Despite the short time that had passed since the Eclipse Throne raid, Zero Wing now had at least 600 Tier 2 players. The Guild's development speed was disturbing...
"Since everyone's here, let's set out," Shi Feng said once he stood before Unyielding Heart and Illusory Words. "If we linger, I'm afraid that we'll attract even more attention."
The two Vice Guild Leaders exchanged a glance before nodding to Shi Feng's statement
They had already attracted a lot of attention. If they stayed, they would likely attract the various major powers' notice. Raiding a Field Boss was a dangerous task, especially if it was a Mythic Boss. If God's Domain's other powers discovered their operation, they could be ambushed during the raid.
Immediately, the two merged their respective 200-man teams with Shi Feng's. The team of 1,000 then moved to the tower's teleportation array.
Once Shi Feng had input the coordinates, the entire team vanished. Although some curious players had tried to follow the team, Shi Feng had instructed the NPC soldier to erase the team's destination coordinates before he had left, replacing it with a random location.
Players' figures began to appear, one after another, before a large waterfall within a dense forest. The lake at the base of the waterfall radiated a chilly air, making the new arrivals shiver. These new arrivals were none other than Shi Feng and his companions.
"Isn't this the Frost Jade Waterfall?" Illusory Words, who had memorized the various landmarks in the Witch's Hill, muttered. Turning toward Shi Feng, she asked, "Aren't we raiding the Emerald Dryad in the Million Woodland?"
The Frost Jade Waterfall was nowhere near the Million Woodland. In fact, the two locations were on opposite ends of the map. Although a dense forest surrounded the Frost Jade Waterfall, this area didn't have any monsters or resources. No player would grind in such a deserted location. Needless to say, this area didn't have any Field Bosses.
Unyielding Heart nodded in agreement. Based on Unyielding Soul's research, the Emerald Dryad should be the only Mythic Boss in the Witch's Hill. Moreover, the forest the Emerald Dryad resided in was rich with herbs. If Zero Wing killed the Emerald Dryad, it would significantly lower the danger players faced while exploring the Million Forest, making it easier to harvest rare herbs. Logically, Zero Wing should target the Emerald Dryad.
"No, I'm aiming for a different Boss," Shi Feng said, shaking his head. "The Boss is inside this lake. If anyone's Ice Resistance is lower than 20 points, see me for an Ice Resistance Potion."
The lake bed was entirely composed of Frost Jade, and the cold air the jade emitted was extremely powerful. Players would freeze to death in less than 30 seconds without any Ice Resistance, only surviving long-term if they had 20 points or more.
Fortunately, fulfilling that requirement wasn't any trouble to the Tier 2 players present. As experts, they all had some equipment or ornament that granted Magic Resistance, which would also serve as a sort of Universal Resistance. Even without such items, they still had Passive Skills that granted some Magic Resistance. Furthermore, their respective Guilds would have prepared some Ice and Fire Resistance equipment to cater to unexpected situations. Hence, only a small number of players on the team failed to meet the requirement
After Shi Feng distributed Ice Resistance Potions to the 100-plus players who didn't meet the requirement, he instructed the team to jump into the water without offering an explanation.
A small cave hid under the Frost Jade Waterfall, large enough for five people to swim through at the same time. This cave was the entrance to the Void Serpent's underground temple.
After swimming through the cave for around three minutes, the first group discovered an exit.
As players emerged from the tunnel, they arrived in a dark cavern. Ancient murals covered the cavern walls, depicting the history of the Witch's Hill. When these players broke through the water's surface, they were amazed by the scene. They had never expected to find such a place hidden beneath the Frost Jade Waterfall.
Unfortunately, the players who lacked understanding of divine runes failed to comprehend the murals on the walls.
The players who were familiar with divine runes, however, quickly realized that the murals depicted the Otherworld Gate and the method of activating it.
Once the team had finished admiring the murals, they proceeded into another long, dark tunnel. When they left the tunnel, the team arrived in another cavern. This time, the team found a temple within, and unlike the previous cavern, this one was as large as a town and brightly illuminated. Lifting their heads, the team discovered a gigantic, glowing crystal embedded in the cavern's ceiling. This crystal lit the cavern until it was as bright as day.
While everyone admired the glowing crystal, they discovered something that caused their stomachs to churn and a frown to pull at their lips.
Coiled around the crystal was a snake that was over a hundred meters long. The serpent's body was made entirely of translucent crystal. At the moment, the serpent's eyes were shut, and if not for the occasional twitch, the players would have treated it as a part of the shining crystal.
The serpent's head was easily the size of a three-story building, and its eyes alone were easily larger than a human. As they gazed up at the monster, an instinctive fear gripped their hearts.
After a closer look at the serpent's statistics, many of the players felt their knees go weak.
[Void Serpent (Wakanet)] (Realm Lord, Void Creature, Mythic)
Level 60
HP 560,000,000/560,000,000
"A World Boss?!" Illusory Words and Unyielding Heart gasped in shock.
When they saw the Void Serpent's HP bars, they felt an unprecedented pressure bear down as terror overwhelmed them.
There was no definitive indication of whether a Field Boss was a World Boss or not in God's Domain. However, one thing differentiated the two: how many HP bars the Boss possessed.
Normal Grand Lord ranked Field Bosses had around three to five HP bars, while Mythic ranked Field Bosses had five to seven HP bars. Meanwhile, based on the various large Guilds' understanding of World Bosses, such a monster should have eight or more HP bars. While more HP bars didn't necessarily increase a Boss's total HP, depleting each bar would alter the Boss's combat method, increasing the raid's difficulty.
The Void Serpent before them had a total of nine HP bars...