As the goblin riders had obtained the insignia of Apollo Lykaios, they didn’t face many hurdles in evolving their bloodline. Of course, their racial improvement wasn’t as drastic as the rats.

  Both had different directions for growth. The goblin raiders had devoted their time in increasing their unity. Goblins, the wolves they rode on, and the entire group of 100– all of them behaved like a single entity. It was a different type of synchronization that was unique to them.

  While it didn’t have any immediate effect, it laid out a solid foundation for their destined rise to power.

  [Wasteland Reaper]

  *Grrrooooarr*

  But it wasn’t like they didn’t obtain any offensive moves. The crossbows in their hand elongated with a shaft and emitted a curved blade. The new weapon shining in a blackish-blue aura looked like a grim reaper’s scythe– a befitting outcome for the skills' name.

  They were perhaps the first bunch of goblins who were pleasing to look at. Pointy ears and lean muscles, a cool-looking weapon, and last but not least, the black-grey wolves they were riding on.

  “Bind the chains! We don’t have much time,” Zyrus shouted from the top of his lungs and started conserving his mana. This was his first time fighting against ketos, but he believed in his battle-honed instincts.

  Just because the roaming bosses didn’t have a phase didn’t mean that they were easy to deal with. Unlike the field bosses, their skills and attack patterns weren’t predetermined.

  *Awooooo*

  The wolves howled and dived down with an iron chain in their mouth. The goblins also attacked at their signal, some plunged their scythes into ketos’ skin while others lodged the spiky chains inside

  Zyrus knew from the start that although their attacks were landing perfectly on the whale, the damage they dealt was only on the surface level. Taking ketos’ stamina into account, there was no way they could keep up the same strategy.

  [Weave]

  “Retreat.”

  Even without a translating artifact, Zyrus and the others understood what ketos was speaking. Or to be accurate, it was using an incantation.

  Whale’s singing was good to hear in a peaceful era, but now, it was akin to a lullaby of death. The deep and wrathful roar devoured every sound on the battlefield.

  “Fuck, a wide area debuff,” Zyrus retreated further away to no avail. Any boss monsters with debuffing skills were tricky to deal with. Every player had their MP, stamina, and HP regen suppressed to 30%. What was even more annoying was that it was a debuff that ignored level differences and resistances.

  *KREEEEOOOOOO*

  Thousands of filaments arose from the chaotic ocean. They were similar to Baleen in both appearance and functionality.

  “Get back on the ship, this is no longer something you can handle,” Zyrus commanded and floated in front of the dragon of war. The fortunate thing was that these threads were conjured with mana.

  [Summon]

  Hundreds of Ophidian warriors walked out from the cracks. But before they could even lift their claws, they were strangled and turned into beehives under the oceanic threads.

  ‘Ugh- there’s no getting used to this pain,’

  Zyrus curled up like a shrimp and barely managed to maintain his transformed state. He knew that unless he let out Elsid and Zirnitra, his summons would be helpless against the roaming boss.

  ‘But the thing is, the activation of a skill can be utilized with the system’s assistance,’

  Games were popular even on the arc of Noah. Pretty much every youth was familiar with the term i-frame and how they were used to gain invincibility. What Zyrus did was similar in principle.

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  The wider an attack, the more mana it would need- and at the same time, it would result in a lack of control. Zyrus didn’t have a skill that could influence mana in the range of kilometers, but what if he used the system itself? Creating a portal that connected with earth needed a lot of mana. The MP he used was nothing but a manager of sorts who started and controlled the overall process. The real workforce was the mana in the surroundings.

  “Launch the torpedoes.”

  “On it.”

  Ketos didn’t have the time to figure out why its skill was canceled. The pesky metal threads attached to its skin were about to become the gravest threat to its life.

  *Bang*

  *Crrrraccckle*

  Ketos’s screams were suppressed by the deafening explosions. It had high resistance against all elements just like every other boss monster.

  ‘But there's always a way to go around it,’

  Zyrus smirked and channeled the mana he was saving up. He had made plenty of preparations to fight against large monsters– the conductive chains being used right now were one such item.

  Boss monsters have high resistance? Just insert the chains on their skin and blast ‘em with a load of thunder torpedoes.

  The chains would prevent electric charges from dispersing. The sheer amount of shock was enough to incapacitate even a field boss.

  And that wasn’t even the worst of it.

  *BAAAAANG*

  What would happen when super-hot metal was dropped into water? The rapid evaporation and high-pressure steam would cause a violent explosion, potentially shattering the metal and blasting off its shards.

  Half of Ketos’s body was shredded apart. The severe pain activated the monster's defense mechanism and blocked all of its senses.

  It was a state far worse than berserk.

  *ROOOOAAR*

  “Use the frost cannons,” Zyrus ordered in a cold voice. Now that the whales’ insides were exposed, it was easier to just freeze its blood.

  Perhaps ketos realized it as well. It had no idea when things went wrong, but everything was pointless now. The only thing it wanted was revenge on the one that had taken its life.

  *Wuuuuuu*

  All of the whales ignored the players' attacks and rushed towards ketos. Even if the players hacked and killed them, even if they used their ships to block them, nothing seemed to stop their charge.

  Their blood-red eyes didn’t see anything except their dying leader. The leader who was swimming towards the dragon of war even though most of its body was either charred or frozen.

  “Hahahahaha….You see, this is WAR,” Zyrus laughed with his arms spread wide. The air that carried the scent of blood and the eyes that held endless resentment…this was a sight all too familiar to him.

  There was no point in using Avatar anymore. Doing so would only make him a bigger target.

  “W-we can’t stop them,” Shi kun spoke in a trembling tone as all of the whales surrounded the dragon of war. Their maximum firepower wasn’t enough to kill the stubborn monsters.

  They were used to seeing monsters flee after the field boss was killed. A mad and ruthless charge like this was something they never expected.

  “Retreat as far as you can. You too,” Zyrus waved his hand at the goblin riders and his knights. Even though they wanted to stay, they knew that it was futile.

  His words rang like thunder in the ears of Ria and the others. They had never felt so ashamed of themselves. The feeling of helplessness was worse than defeat.

  “Remember what I told you. In front of true strength, nothing else matters.”

  So what if his strategy worked against the whales? So what if he won? The 19 surviving whales were dead set on seeking their vengeance.

  War didn’t always result in a clear winner.

  The players watched with hardened faces as the whales sunk one by one. They felt no accomplishment as not a single one of them even glanced in their direction.

  958 ships retreated from the blood-red sea. Although they had total faith in their leader, they couldn’t help but be nervous.

  ‘Would others do the same for me one day?’

  Zyrus looked at the dying ketos and recalled his last moments before regression. Once upon a time, he too had followers who wouldn’t hesitate to throw their lives for him.

  ‘Well…no point thinking about it. I’ll never repeat the same mistakes.’

  As the one who once ruled the sanctuary, how could he be unfamiliar with something like this? Too many had led a suicidal charge against his armies. Those who wanted him dead at all costs were too many to count.

  But in the end, he survived. It didn’t matter who was right or wrong. History always did and always will remember the victors.

  *Wuuuuuuu*

  *Wuuuuu*

  The 7 whales and ketos cried out one after another. Their gigantic bodies were tattered with holes under the fleet’s bombardment, but still, they had the power to do one last attack.

  *BAAAAAAANG*

  The entire ocean in the 5 km region was lifted into the sky. Just how much mana was stored in their bodies? All of it was burned to claim the life of their enemy.

  Everyone was blinded by the glaring explosion– except for two. Ketos’s eyes were filled with despair as it looked at Zyrus upon its dying breath.

  “From the start, we weren’t on the same level to begin with,” Zyrus held his hands behind his back as he stood on the dying whale. The mark on his chest was glaring in defiance against the laws of nature. His scales that were burned off were regenerating at a speed visible to the eye.

  Even though his celestial vitality was restricted by the system, when it came to a life-and-death scenario, the system would favor him in the end.

  Keeping balance was fine, but you couldn’t just kill someone for being strong, right?

  Twisted or not, this was the order maintained by the system.

  “ALL HAIL HIS MAJESTY!”

  “ALL HAIL HIS MAJESTY!”

  A dying monster, Zyrus who stood above its head, and the bloodlike rain that fell from the heavens above.

  The image was seared into the players' hearts for eternity.

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