Chapter 401 - 396 : Retreat

(AN : An error had occurred here before. Kindly go to the next chapter to the read the continuation of the previous, then return here. Format : Chapter 394, 396, 395. The arrangement was messed up.)

Just like Chesces, Azure Dragon and Han had thought, it only took 10 seconds for Sato to create a 200 metres gap between himself and his pursuers. The players finally realised that they wouldn't be able to catch up to him even if they used some special items to boost their speed. Slowly, some of them began to give up and the rest began to follow suit.

At the same time,

[[ World-wide server announcement :

Congratulations to the team, Seven Star Glory, for completing the achievement [First Kill] by slaying the world-class BOSS, the Kobold King [Angas].

Rewarding players… 

+1 World Renown Point to each player

+5 World Renown Points to the team name

1 Gold coin to each player

Title [Warrior]

+ **** Experience Points

_____________________

Achievement [First Kill] : Be the first to slay a world-class BOSS. ]]

Before Sato could even react to that, he received another system notification.

[[ System notification :

You have received 1 gold coin.

You have received the title [Warrior]

_____________________

[Warrior] :

For being the first to take down a recognized opponent, you have made your mark on the world stage and have proved worthy to dive in deeper.

+5% to Experience points gained in field hunting.

When facing BOSS level monsters : 

+10% to Experience points reward

+2% to loot

Attacking prowess increased by 3% ]]

Sato had to deviate from his original path and stopped close to a secluded area before he properly went through the notifications.

'Seven Star Glory? This is probably one of Fudo's antics.'

Sato knew that it was Fudo, Xue Yan, and the others who had defeated the Kobold King, hence, it was easy to relate the team Seven Star Glory to them after all, the team was made up of 7 players; Sato, Fudo, Xue Yan, Seiichi, Lu Zhen, Yato, and Katsuo. The 'Star' was probably his way of referring to them as experts while the origin of 'Glory' most likely came from the fact that they had made the first-ever achievement that was announced worldwide. That alone was a glorious achievement.

'Not bad though.' Sato smirked.

While the name wasn't as daunting as Battle Wolves, Tower of God, The Dark Knights or Heaven Destroyers, it was still very impressive.

'1 gold coin isn't a bad reward and would be very useful to the team. As for the title, it would be even more useful especially in field battles. With this, our levelling speed is assured and the team would have an even better future ahead of us.' Sato was satisfied.

The key value of the title lied didn't just lay in the fact that it boosted field loot but that the entire team members had it. If the title were only rewarded to one player, it wouldn't improve the levelling efficiency of the team as it would when everyone receives it. All 7 of them having this title meant that not only would their levels increase faster than other players, but they would be able to dive into unexplored regions before anyone else would. Doing so as a team would be much better and safer than moving alone.

'Too bad.' Sato thought.

He already had a similar title which was [Industrious Achiever]. However, the increase in Experience points from field hunting was 10 and there was also a dungeon raid Experience points increase of 5%. If Sato could equip both titles at the same time, he would become a levelling machine. Sadly, the system seemed to have prohibited such as only one title could be equipped in each moment. Currently, Sato had [The Precursor] activated in order to handle the players from before. 

If the others hadn't attacked him before, just by relying on the level difference as well as the boost from [The Precursor], Sato would have been able to give Han a run for his money.

"Fudo, where are you guys? Are you guys out yet?" Sato called.

Part of the plans they had made for the raid included their escape route. If Sato wasn't facing any difficulty during the process and they needed to leave in a hurry, they would join up and he would use the [Void Opening Key] to open a portal for them to leave. If Sato couldn't reach them in time, however, they were to then head to an explored tunnel that had already been marked by Lu Zhen and escape from there. The tunnel was located a bit close to the Kobold settlement as no one would expect their escape route to be within enemy lines. Also, the kobolds themselves served as a form of natural protection so the location was pretty much ideal.

"We're heading towards the designated meeting point." Fudo replied. The designated meeting point was also the explored tunnel that served as their escape route.

"The kobolds?" Sato asked. 

He recalled that there were a bunch of other kobolds and since Fudo, Yato, Katsuo, and Lu Zhen had left them, these monsters would be wandering around the floor like headless flies. However, he had yet to encounter one so far.

"They're currently in disarray. It seems like they have sensed the death of their leader and they're all going berserk. Be careful out there. Taking on a dozen wouldn't be a problem for you but if the numbers keep piling up, then it would." Fudo warned.

"Okay. I will meet you guys soon." Sato replied after which he cut the call and began heading towards the proposed direction. He was able to identify his location thanks to the rough map Lu Zhen had made earlier. With this in hand, their team had a superior mobility advantage over the other two guilds that had just arrived at the floor.

. . .

While Sato and the rest were on their way out, news about their actions began to spread. The first to react to the announcement was Emperor's might and the Howling Wolf Battalion teams, who -though might have anticipated it- were too shocked by the news. Anger, frustration, and unwillingness showed on their faces as the image of Sato flooded their minds alongside the desire to kill him. 

They had suffered their hardest to make it here but were just one step behind. The amount of frustration the two teams had couldn't be explained with words. The old-timers were okay -as they had experienced similar losses before- but the new blood, especially in the Howling Wolf Battalion, were all dejected and reluctant. They all loathed Sato to the bones and some of them even swore to attack him on sight even if it were in town.

"They needed this failure. It would help to strengthen their will to grow stronger and sharpen their spirits." Han said to Silver Wolf.

"There's no point remaining here. Let's go."

Silver Wolf then led the other players as they returned back dejectedly. They could have gone to attack the remnant Kobolds but their team didn't have enough players and due to a special rule in place, Han couldn't aid them. Therefore, remaining behind would be dumb, and attacking the other kobolds was just suicide.

"Captain, what do we do?" Chesces asked Azure Dragon.

"What do we do? We move ahead. The Kobold King is dead and the Howling Wolf battalion is leaving. No one is our match here. The kobolds had a settlement so there should be some rewards there. Without their leader's protection, I believe that they would disperse soon enough. Our numbers are still big and our forces strong. This is a good enough opportunity to reap as many rewards as possible. It might not compare to that of defeating the Kobold King but it would at least mitigate our losses as half a bread is better than none. We can't let this be a failed trip." Azure Dragon replied.

"Recall Yukino and the rest. Tell them to meet us up ahead."

"Okay." Chesces replied. He then did as Azure Dragon had said, ordering the rest to get ready before notifying Snow Goddess, Black Tempest, and others about the change in plans.

AN :

[[ god-level or god-ranked expert or Destroyer

Monster-class expert

Pinnacle or Apex expert, 

Average expert

Elites

Veterans

Noobs ]]