Chapter 166 - 166)The Competency Of A Leader.

"Haa...this is getting a little too much...."

The group was currently fighting off the monsters with just a small group of soldiers assisting them. The main goal was to reduce the number and not completely finish off the wave, of course, if they could then it would be amazing, however, eliminating such a large number would prove to be nearly impossible, especially because of how widespread the battle was.

While killing the monsters in a few swings was easy, repetition of such a task would start to affect anyone. Especially because nobody was used to training with huge kite shields and wooden staffs while being dressed in thick robes and armor.

'We haven't even finished off half the army....'

Fortunately, the monsters didn't leave them and attack the walls, though there were a few that tried to do so, and they were instantly slaughtered by the hundreds of arrows raining down upon them. The entire battle went on for more than two whole hours, which may not seem like a lot of gaming, but throughout the time, they haven't gotten a single second to take rest. The only feeling of rest they received was after killing a monster around them, although that feeling lasted for about a fraction of a second as they were flooding in.

It was obvious that Nate and Eve had the highest kills, they were mages that could kill nearly a hundred mobs in a single blow. While Mocha and Shade weren't as effective as the other two, mainly due to their skills being directive and targetted. Davinky and Noxx were the tanks, although this didn't mean that they would simply stop everyone from getting injured. That was amateur thinking, in a situation where they could kill a mob in one second, the risk their teammates had was nearly zero, therefore to support Layla's rather rash approach, both of them focused on dragging all the mobs to one spot, which in turn allowed the mass slaughter, this was the only suitable method considering Layla's attacks had a very small zone.

Nate's main focus was to protect the NPC soldiers that aided them and the biggest asset they had for that was Mocha. He belonged to the hidden-primary class, 'Saint', which gave him access to a wide range of party buffs as well as healing spells. Just before the actual fight had started, Nate made sure that Mocha wouldn't overuse his mana, he was always to save a little to use it on the NPC's that supported them.

"This is frustrating....we're probably on TV right now. Oh, there's a drone, do I shoot it down?" Eve asked as she looked up to see a drone capturing the feed.

Streamers were a huge asset to the media, especially because of their access to drones. However, because of how versatile and annoying drones are, the game made sure to lock away or restrict the usage of drones. They were only allowed to be used in the case of a world event or a raid or such circumstances. Even then there were restrictions, drones could only be used in locations that ATHENA deemed as a part of the event. Otherwise, the usage of such instruments would simply be too much in a world setting like Genesis.

"No, don't bother, it's free publicity so who cares. Don't even worry about Mocha, his outfit is completely different from the tournament so there's no way they would recognize him."

It seems that Nate really put a lot of effort into every aspect of this event. If the public were to see Mocha with the others, naturally, they would connect two and two and come to the conclusion that Valerian was the character named Mocha.

Drones were invisible to NPC's, however, at the same time they could be destroyed by any attack, although it was rare, the probability of that happening wasn't so low. Players on the other hand could actively destroy drones and nobody would blame them, of course, this was assuming the streamer was crossing a line.

-Is this real? Is this actually happening? It seems the footage we've received was somewhat late but it's still fascinating to see such an event. Look at the widespread destruction! Would anyone believe that this was caused by only a single group???!! 

-You're absolutely right, I understand how you feel. We have The Prodigy himself on the field. Does that mean Aurora Cirillo and the others have joined The Primordials?? Wait a second, this is the first time Valerian Milo has shown himself in-game! Although....his face...is covered...

-I see that as well.....however, I have to say this, the control and skill Player NotYourTypicalMage is exhibiting is absolutely world-class. It is still a mystery as to what those blue blades are but one thing is for sure, it is the fact that he somehow can use all the basic elements.

It was slightly vague to see reporters and Genesis enthusiasts comment on the entire situation live, thankfully, the dynamics of the entire situation didn't allow Nate to think too much about the drones and whatnot. After all, it was now the time he dreaded the most. It was the time to face the Guardians. While Nate was strong and had the capabilities of taking on a Guardian alone, there were multiple disadvantages he had which Night didn't. For example, movement speed, even if he was to enhance his speed with magic, he couldn't move as smoothly as Night.

At the same time the tricks he used in PvP, that is slowing down the enemy by using wind and earth magic, wouldn't work. Unlike Shade, these Guardians were huge, a little too big, and the worst part was that Shade was not allowed to use his shadows because of the drones. According to Nate, it wasn't the time for that yet. 

"Uhhh...we need Layla for this...." Nate said as he sent Layla a message, the Guardians were annoyingly huge, they were even trampling their own underlings which was probably one of the few plus points of the entire situation. "A fireball would look like a fly in front of these fcks urgh."

"FALL BACK! I REPEAT DO NOT ENGAGE!" he yelled as he turned back to face the pale soldiers. "Listen to my voice and my voice only! I need you guys to retreat, we have this under control, but it is important all of you head back!"

Though the soldiers looked like they were witnessing their entire life flash through their eyes, they were slightly reluctant to leave Nate, especially after how competent of a leader he was. However, after his seeing how desperately he wanted them to be safe, the soldiers couldn't refuse.

There were a total of three Guardians, although the surrounding monsters weren't exactly an issue, they still had to be taken into the equation. Shade was more capable of taking on one of the Guardians, especially after the changes he went through. Layla, Davink, and Noxx could hold on long enough, the only issue was with Eve and Nate, since Mocha had a supporting role in this battle, he could adapt depending on the situation.

"Fcking hell Luke.....how do you kill these alone?"

The difficulty of killing such a monster was only just hitting Nate and the others, though previously they witnessed Night slaughter a Guardian. He made it look awfully easy, at least compared to how much effort it actually needed. However, the Guardian Night fought wasn't as big as the ones they were facing but the overall combat power was similar.

"Screw it.." Nate muttered before he sent another message. "Val, I just sent Noxx a message, I need you to support Layla and Davinky, Noxx will tank for me and Eve. Does that sound okay?"

"....Hmmm, alright, let's go with that," Mocha said as he rushed towards his sister.

In Nate's mind, this was the best and probably the safest option for the entire group. Noxx could tank for Nate and Eve, although not for too long, he could still buy them more time, and more time meant more damage. Shade was more than happy to take on the Guardian alone, and Mocha, Layla, and Davinky were the most balanced team at the moment which meant that they had a good chance of killing the Guardian.

Eve's fire damage was close to Nate's normal damage, although some of her spells were quite lethal and Nate didn't find the need to use his Bloodline skills in this situation. Especially with all the drones, he was planning on saving it for the next International Genesis event. The monster wasn't yet close enough for Nate to use his eyes on, although it wouldn't be an overstatement to say that his entire plan rests on the monster not being fire resistant. It would be amazing if the Guardian was weak to fire but that was hoping for too much, perhaps if Night was on the enemy team then it would've worked out.

"This should work right?...."