145 Come... Humans!

"Burning Strike: Red Flame!" A girl shouted, grudgingly.

Fortunately, in the last second, the man was able to twist his other hand and use a dagger to shield himself from the attack. His frown faded and was replaced with a smile, even after being barely able to deflect the flaming attack.

"Not bad--" The masked man chuckled as a girl with reddish hair suddenly appeared in front of Ashley. Yet, in a blink of an eye, the masked man's body split perfectly vertically into two causing his internal organs to ooze out to the ground.

"Captain Paul! You don't need to interfere!" The girl complained as she swung her sword to remove the flames on its blade. "I can handle them... At the least!"

At this moment, the ships slammed into the shore, creating a deafening noise and a cloud of sand--as if there was a sandstorm. The three gigantic ships only stopped their skid when almost one-eight, in the side length, of the middle ship, Karakoa, was embedded into the sandy shore.

The sandstorm made the support team cover their faces and, at the same time, it hid the unfortunate fate that the masked man had suffered from Guild Leader Park and the United Asian Force.

Thus, Guild Leader Park and the players from the United Asian Force could only watch and wait for the sandstorm to settle before they could continue their advance. Despite their limited vision, the figures of the three ships could still be seen, consequently increasing Guild Leader Park's excitement in obtaining the said ships.

On the other hand, Paul Solares stared daggers towards the United Asian Force from the deck of Karakoa. He stood stable and firm as his right hand rested on top of the handle of his Katana--that was sheathed on the left side of his waist, despite the shaking caused by the impact. 

"Killing fellow humans without a second thought... No wonder Captain Aron sent us here!" He whispered to himself after he saw the hundreds of people lying dead in the plains.

Then, he stole a glance at Pedro's Aunt Veronica--who was standing to his left. A frown on her face greeted Paul, thus, giving him a vibe that something was a miss. However, before he could ask Aunt Veronica about it, a strong gust suddenly blew past them that originated from the lifeless body of the masked man.

"Now what?!" Aldo grumbled as he was about to run away from the dead body of the masked man.

However, upon turning around, he caught a glimpse of Yuson--who stared blankly towards the origin of the gust. Thus, Aldo had no choice but to halt from his retreat and observe the gust, blew away the sand that clouded the shore. 

"This..." Yuson murmured, full of disbelief.

In turn, his expression had caught the attention of both Beatrice and Paul, who seemed like they also know something about this strange phenomenon. The NPCs calmness had eased the hearts of the players on the support team, despite being only a few meters away from the tornado looking phenomenon.

A Kilometer away from them, Guild Leader Park wore a sour face as her gaze was locked to the tornado as if she ate a lemon. Her men could only steal a glance towards her as sweat had started to fall from their faces.

"Sh1t!" Guild Leader Park flicked her tongue as she gritted her teeth, and thought, 'That reckless b@st@rd! I should have given the f@cking inheritance to other men, instead! Now... The Wind God's Inheritance is in jeopardy! I must act fast! Before the enemy realizes what that tornado is, and the power they could obtain from it!'

In the next second, Guild Leader Park unsheathed an elegant silver rapier from her waist and pointed it towards the three ships. Then, she shouted, "Attaaaaack!"

"Attaaack!"

Every single player from the United Asian Force erupted as they lifted their newbie swords and charged like ants towards the three gigantic ships. This time, even Guild Leader Park charged together with her men. 

This consequently made Aldo, Charlotte, Elisabeth, Ashley, and Aunt Veronica's face look pale. Thousands of enemies were charging towards them. Even if they were as strong as Pedro, it was still their first time experiencing such a scenario by themselves. 

A seemingly endless number of enemies filled with blood lust! Who, in their right mind, would not shake in fear from that?

Although Aunt Veronica was aboard Karakoa, she can't help but react the same way with the support team--who were already on the shore. Her hands trembled as beads of sweat started to fall on her face. 

Why? Because compared to VR Action Movies that had the closest similarity in terms of scenes, this time around, she is 'actually' a part of one of the participating forces in the war. On top of that, every single decision that she would make could affect the war, even in the smallest detail.

However, even as Aunt Veronica took a few steps backward, Paul Solares remained calm. He stood coldly and simply watched the ants charge towards them as if they were cubes of sugar dropped on the floor.

He was irritated... angered... annoyed by the actions of these humans--players from the United Asian Force. He thought, 'Humans should be working together! Not Fighting against each other!' 

Thus, he retained his resolve that they would not attack anyone unless they enter the vicinity of the shore. It was Paul's limit.

But... Aunt Veronica knew that the players would not stop on their attack. Hence, she had no choice but to send a message to Pedro indicating that their enemies were already charging towards them and hope that he would arrive to command the NPCs himself before things turn to their worst. 

As the air in the deck of Karakoa become tenser, tremors were suddenly felt on the ship. Everyone aboard the Karakoa could only glance towards the doors of the cargo area that was located on the deck of the ship.

Afterward, the largest door of the ship, the doors of the cargo area, was opened by a gigantic ancient-looking Tree from the inside. Then, it walked out of the cargo area to the deck and walked to the front most part where Paul was located. 

Behind it, several more gigantic ancient-looking trees came out of the cargo area and followed it. The crew on the deck ran back to the nearest entry point to the ship to avoid being squashed by the giant creatures.

That said, Paul simply stole a glance towards them and retained his cold demeanor. Then, like someone who does not want additional trouble, he asked, "Treants! What do you need?!"

"Young... Human!" Tan, the eldest treant that was under Faunia's care and the treant that had the darkest bark, grinned mischievously towards Paul. Then, he asked, "Can... we... play?!"

Paul glanced towards their crewmates and the support team on the shore. Then, he flicked his tongue in response and said, "Do as you wish! But don't go too far! I don't want to anger Captain Aron and the Little girl!"

"We... Won't!" Tan smirked as he hopped down the ship, causing the ground on the shore to shake.

The other treants followed his lead and hopped down the ship with the same mischievous grin printed on their faces. This caused minor shocks to the point that even Loren stumbled into the sand. That said, the United Asian Force did not falter nor halt in their advance.

After all, what Guild Leader Park stated was true. All players were akin to being immortal. If they die, they can just create another character and ran back to the battlefield. Hence, the players did not fear death. Besides... Unlike NPCs, it was just a 'game' for them. Their real life is not at risk.

This made Elder Treant Tan chuckle deep inside. 'Great! These... offers! We... gladly... accept... for... the... goddess!'

Elder Treant Tan and the other Treants charged forward, making the ground tremble even stronger. Along the way, some Treants had even picked up huge boulders from the shore and threw them towards the players from the United Asian Force.

"Fwooooooosh! Boom!"

The boulders were launched as if they were shot from canons or catapults. It made whistles on its flight and made the soil splatter upon impact. The players that were nearby the points of impact were covered with dirt and soil, while those who were hit directly by the boulders were crashed to the point that their bodies could not be even recognized.

Even some of the surviving players fell into the ground with their vision slightly faded--like what happens after looking up into the sun after a long period. That said, the United Asian Force only had several hundred casualties. It was only a small percentage compared to the number of their full force that was scattered all over the plain.

On the other hand, Elder Treant Tan simply smirked as he and the treants lined by his side, halted their charge, and punched their arms--their biggest pair of branches, into the ground. This consequently made the ground shook as gigantic roots ruptured the ground and traveled through the plain like a wave, flicking players along the way several meters into the sky.

Some were able to dodge the said "waves", while some were fortunate to have enough level and survive their fall from the sky. Yet, the casualties on the side of the United Asian Force were still minimal.

This made Aldo and the rest of the support team to gasp in admiration and amazement. The Treants already showed how freakish in nature they were, still... the United Asian Force remained unfazed and continued charging forward.

On the contrary, Paul Solares took a deep breath as he lifted his right hand off the handle of his Katana. Then, he gazed towards Elder Treant Tan and murmured, "I hope... that these men would start to retreat by now!"

At this moment, Elder Treant Tan pulled his hand off the ground, consequently cutting his link from the wave of roots that he made. The other treants did the same thing, causing the gigantic roots to suddenly rot and shrink in the blink of an eye.

For some reason, the roots disappeared one by one and were followed by constant quakes on the ground. Then, the soil started to collapse several meters below the ground as if it was quicksand, along the ruptured ground of the plains. Players in those areas were sucked and buried into the massive hole, consequently stopping the advance of the United Asian Force.

"Not... Enough!" Elder Treant Tan howled as he stared towards the remaining players of the United Asian Force. However, Elder Treant Tan and the other treants simply stood, seemingly watching the next moves of the players from the United Asian Force.

"Come... Humans!" Elder Treant Tan waved his hand, taunting the United Asian Force with a mischievous smile.