Chapter 389 - 383 : Bizarre Escape

"What?!"

Azure Dragon was suddenly woken from his thoughts by the surprised screams of his teammates.

"What's going on?"

No one replied him as everyone behind was too stunned to speak. They all widened their eyes in shock as they stared at the unexplainable event before them.

"He survived?" Azure Dragon muttered with a hint of disbelief.

Seeing Sato standing still alongside the Kobold King, Azure Dragon was confused.

That attack could take one a level 10 BOSS and deal a handful of damage to it. It was understandable for the Kobold King after all the level difference, life order difference, and attributes difference was enough for it to offset the damage. Sato, on the other hand, was just a level 11 or 12 player(suspected). Considering that he was a [Swordsman] player and not a tank like the [Guardian] class, there was no way that he would be able to take that combined attack so easily. Yet, he actually pulled it off.

"Stop him or else the BOSS kill would be his!" though he could use this time to mock Silver Wolf for being too conceited, Azure Dragon knew what mattered most and that was taking down the Kobold King.

Seeing as Silver Wolf's team had failed, he commanded his teammates to make their move. Speaking, his team was stronger than Silver Wolf's by both quantity and quality so he had a better shot at succeeding. 

Though it seemed like Azure Dragon was helping and while it was true that they seemingly had the same goals, it wasn't exactly so. Like mentioned before, the loot of the world-class BOSS, the Kobold King, was the main goal of the raid. The second goal was the kill. Whoever killed the BOSS would have the opportunity to get their name spread all on servers, becoming popular in multiple countries for such a deed. Not only would the name announcement increase the popularity of the guild but it would also improve their recruitment efforts, increase their sponsors and also add more glory to the guild. This was something every guild treasured and some might even take it over the loot. There was also the Experience points reward which would undoubtedly be a lot and since the two teams never teamed up via the interface, they wouldn't be able to share the experience points amongst themselves so only one team could get it, or at least those who participated meaningfully[IF].

Earlier, Azure Dragon didn't make any moves on the BOSS or Sato as Silver Wolf was the one who led them here and so, could be said to be the de-facto leader. It would be despicable of him to try and steal the kill right under their noses especially since Silver Wolf was the one who led them here. It could be said that he had given them an opportunity and was willing to make peace with them. In other words, Silver Wolf currently had the moral high ground. Fighting over the BOSS with him could lead to a fuse sparking off immediately and it wouldn't be worth it in the long run especially if Silver Wolf blew the matter off in public and degraded their name. Therefore, Azure Dragon could only stand behind and leave it to them, at least till they have made the first move. Only at the crucial moment would he then participate, otherwise, he would not get a share of the loot for just standing by and watching.

Now, however, as Silver Wolf had failed in his assault, Azure Dragon could easily take part earlier than planned. If everything goes well, his team would take the kill and have their name broadcast. If Silver Wolf were to complain, he could easily say that he was aiding a comrade seeing as he(Silver Wolf) had failed with the first attack. This way he could retain the moral high ground and not be accused of not being grateful.

"Engage in a close-range battle. Long-range fighters, assist our attackers and disrupt the target's moves." Azure Dragon hurriedly yelled out his commands as he dashed to the frontlines.

"That bastard." Silver Wolf gritted his teeth. Azure Dragon's commands might seem simple but it was extremely disadvantageous to him.

If they had engaged in a ranged fight with Sato and the Kobold King, the Howling Wolf Battalion would still have a chance of making a comeback. However, a close combat fight prevented them from easily attacking from range in fear of friendly fire, and in terms of quality and quantity of close-range combatants, Emperor's Might had the upper hand. That means that by engaging in close combat, even though it was really risky, there was at least a 70% chance that the one who would slay the Kobold King would come from Emperor's Might.

"Men, move in."Silver Wolf ordered. Even though he knew that he might lose his men in the battle, it was still better than losing the first kill.

"Human…you will regret this." The Kobold King muttered in a low voice. 

(1156/10000 Kobold King's HP)

Though it had survived the explosion, it was still slightly affected by it. The Kobold King's defence was already at the state that a level 5 player could injure it much less a combined assault from 3 [Elementalists].

"I doubt that." 

Following those words, Sato abruptly kicked the Kobold King into the air. Despite the monster having a height of 3 or so metres -almost twice that of Sato- it was easily flung into the air. Before the Kobold King could land on the ground, Sato jumped up and slashed at the monster.

"Even if I'm to die, it wouldn't be like this!" The Kobold King yelled as it suddenly swiped the air with its remnant left claw.

A black claw mark formed in the air as space was slightly torn apart. The space between it and Sato was suddenly formed by these black spatial claw marks. 

As he was still in mid-air, Sato could barely dodge it and looked as if he would get caught by it. However, the torn space was closer to the Kobold King ad with its descending speed, it had managed to reach the area before Sato. The Kobold King was then swallowed up by the torn space before the 'injured' area began to heal up. 

Everything happened so quickly that by the time Sato had crossed that spot, the space had returned to normal.

"Spatial manipulation." Chesces said with a bit of dread in his eyes. He had participated in the large-scale raid at Gnorka and had managed to witness Town Head Arman in combat. He knew well how much of a danger the Kobold King would be with such a skill.

"It's gone.." Sato whispered as his feet landed back on the floor.