Chapter 171 - 166 : The Setup

(AN : Apologies. I discovered that the chapter I posted previously was the wrong one and the worst part was that it appeared twice. Sorry for that please. I will update the chapters with the original as fast as I can. Once again, sorry ???? . *sighs* this is all because I didn't have my laptop at the time.)

"Arhhhh. It's been 8 hours since we have been waiting!!" Fudo cried out in frustration. He still remembered to lower his voice just enough for the others to here him and the sound not to go past 5 metres.

"Stop complaining. You aren't the only one who had to wait." Yato grumbled. "Also, it's already past 8 hours."

After the small confrontation between Sato and Lu Zhen, with Lu Zhen losing, the team didn't make a move on the kobold settlement again.

With Sato's instincts warning him about approaching there, the group decided to stalk the settlement in hopes that the kobold chief might leave for a walk or something. They were however deemed to never get that chance as the kobold chief barely made any movement during this period. Whatever orders he had for the tribe was passed by the two guards. Such an eventful activity of stalking for a long period of time would eventually bore anyone, especially players, who usually tend to care about their time. The good thing though was that while they were waiting, a few kobolds would occasionally exit the settlement and head out.

Originally, they had thought that the 10th floor was probably the hideout of the kobold tribe in Black Grill's Cave. But with it being secluded, this idea sounded ridiculous. However, when a bored Lu Zhen once chased after a kobold that left the village, he discovered that it wasn't so. The 10th floor wasn't really secluded. There were other entrances and exits but they were well hidden, such that if one wasn't blessed by the goddess of luck or had an overly meticulous personality, one wouldn't even know that they were standing in front of an exit. This discovery ended up confirming their idea that the 10th floor was the home of the kobolds that wandered the lower floors(5-9). As for the path that the exits lead, they couldn't find out because a restriction prevented them from being able to go through the entrance. The team wasn't bothered much though, as their main goal still laid on this floor.

After the discovery, the team went on to explore the entire area while also sneaking up on a few kobolds, to at least relieve the boredom and stress but that didn't last long.

Without having made any progress in their 'monitoring mission', Sato proposed a new idea. That was to wait for a few more players to reach here and get them to handle the horde's aggro while they go for the boss. Morally, this didn't sound like a good idea but no one cared. The unspoken rules in every VR game, and even reality, was like that. And that was to eat or to be eaten, to kill or be killed. It was either they got the kill or another guild did. Considering this fact, none of them made a fuss about Sato's plan. And so, the team went on, assassinating kobolds that left the settlement while waiting for more players to arrive.

About 3~4 hours ago, they had gotten their first guests. This group was actually Emperor's Might's team lead by Azure Dragon. In order to prevent themselves from getting discovered, Sato's team went into hiding in one seclusive spot they had discovered while exploring the floor. Sato also used a special scroll, a [Cloaking scroll], to shield the team from being detected by a [Druid]. The scroll was quite cheap as it's effect was only useful against creature under level 10. They didn't use it to sneak into the settlement because the kobold chief would still detect them and would alert the tribe. If they were surrounded within the settlement, then they would have undoubtedly died so that plan was scraped. Now though, the [Cloaking scroll] ended up being put to good use.

Even with the arrival of Emperor's Might's team, Sato still felt that their numbers weren't enough to last against the kobold horde so the team had to wait for more players. Funny enough, Azure Dragon had made the same decision for his party and like that, two teams waited for more players with only one having the knowledge of the other.

"If you're that bored or tired, you could go ahead and dive into the kobold settlement. With your 'amazing' strength, I predict that he boss wouldn't last long against you." Seiichi said.

"The heck is wrong with you?! I know I'm amazing but why did you have to say it that way?!" Fudo retorted. If one wasn't paying proper attention to the topic of the matter, he/she might misunderstand Seiichi's words. That was exactly why Fudo got angry.

"Hehe." Seiichi nudged his glasses.

According to his 'martial way', teasing Fudo and Yato would bring peace to one's hearts. So no matter the time or scenario, he wouldn't mind doing so.

"You guys keep it quiet, would you? What would you do if we get spotted?" Sato sighed.

"The [Cloaking scroll] is still active. Anything under level 10 can't spot us through Mana sensing. Also, the place we are right now is very secluded. I doubt they would discover us even if they decided to explore this entire floor." Fudo said as he waved his hand.

"That still doesn't mean you should go shooting off your mouth anyhow." Sato retorted.

"Hehe." Fudo chuckled awkwardly.

"Hmm?" Sato suddenly turned his head to an empty spot by the side. "You're back already?"

Immediately, some changes occurred by that spot as a human figure suddenly appeared. It was Lu Zhen who had canceled his stealth skill.

"No matter what I can't sneak up on you that easily can I?" Lu Zhen bitterly smiled.

"What's up? What did you find that made you come back this early?" Sato said.

Because the team had to be in hiding to prevent their presence from being discovered, they were not able to update themselves about anything that went on outside. To solve this problem, Lu Zhen, the only [Assassin] in the group, was made into a scout. At times, he would have to go out and monitor Emperor's Might's actions. This wasn't easy as one mistake would lead to him being spotted. Sato had even lent him a few [Cloaking scrolls] to prevent being spotted by the mages. Lu Zhen usually spent 5-10 minutes watching their targets but the journey usually took him 20-25 minutes because he had to be cautious. This time however, Lu Zhen came back within 15 minutes hence Sato's surprise.

"I have news. A new group just came in." Lu Zhen replied.

"Huh? A new group? Already?" Xue Yan asked in surprise. It is quite difficult to make it from the Outer region's 1st floor till the Middle region's 10th floor but in slightly more than two days, two groups had already done so. Sato's team's advantage was the map that Xue Yan had gotten as a result of the quest so she wondered how these two teams had done so.

"You say already but I say they sure took their time." Fudo chuckled. Unlike Xue Yan who was new to gaming, Fudo already knew a bit of the prowess of the top powers. Such a task like this would be nothing for them considering the fact that the highest level mobs are level 8 with only a very few level 9 monster in the 9 floors.

"You can't judge those big guilds with your shallow logic. What might seem difficult to you is extremely easy to them." Seiichi said to Xue Yan.

Despite having her brain being called shallow, Xue Yan couldn't retort as she knew he was right.

"So what are we going to do now?" Yato asked Sato.

"How many are in the second group?" Sato asked Lu Zhen.

Lu Zhen went into thought for a while before saying "15. 3 MTs, 2 healers with the rest being damage dealers. I think 4 mages and 6 physicals."

Sato closed his eyes in meditation for a few seconds, pondering on their next course of actions.

'If I remember correctly, the first team should also be of similar numbers or so right? That should be 30 baits. It's enough.'

Sato then opened his eyes with glistening fighting spirit in them.

"Let's move."

Meanwhile...

"Captain, some new arrivals are here." A player dressed like an [Assassin] said to Azure Dragon who stood beside Chesces and Blood Tempest.

"Do you know who they are?" Azure Dragon turned to ask the [Assassin].

"Yes captain. They are from Heaven's Angels. I presume that they should be part of the God's battalion because their leader this time is the 'Blood beast Soran'." The [Assassin] reported.

"Soran..." Azure Dragon narrowed his eyes. Even Chesces had a small frown on his face when he heard that name.

"It shouldn't matter still. On the contrary, the fact that it is Soran leading them should help us the more." Chesces commented.

"True. That mad man always likes to see blood and it doesn't matter whose. They should be able to hold back the kobold horde for a while."

Azure Dragon then said to the players beside him.

"Everyone remember, once we begin the raid, give your everything to severely damage the boss in the first round. We only have 3-5 minutes to do so, else we die. Even if we are to die, we have to defeat the boos, you hear me?"

"Yes captain." Everyone responded.

Azure Dragon nodded. "Good.. Now move according to plan."