"Hehehe."
"Big Brother, is there something funny?"
"Yes, but I'm not going to tell you."
"Booo!"
Lux chuckled as he patted the adorable little Dwarf, who decided to stick with him while they helped with the defense of Whitebridge City. Matty and the others were also nearby Lux, since they had requested for this beforehand from Aina.
For them, it felt a lot safer when they were around their Big Brother, and the latter was more than happy to have his friends around him.
"They're here," Aina said. "Everyone, prepare yourselves!"
The first wave of the Beast Tide were merely cannon fodders. There were plenty of Rank 1 and Rank 2 Alpha Beasts mixed in the first wave, but they were not really such a big deal against those who had already stepped on the Apostle Ranks.
The only troublesome thing about them so far was their huge numbers. A Beast Tide was not like a simple monster outbreak. The number of monsters within it numbered in the millions.
If they were lucky, there would only be only a little over a million, but if they weren't, and the Beast Tide was severe, the numbers could reach up to ten million, which would be enough to destroy an entire city if the defenders were overwhelmed.
Colette and her friends turned serious as their grip on their weapons became firmer. Lux smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest. He was not worried about the monsters breaking through Eternal's defenses, especially with Diablo holding the frontlines.
If only Aina could see Diablo's current stats. She would definitely think that going out on a date with Lux once a week would be worth it.
—---
Numbers of enemy slain: 28,458
Diablo's Bonus Attack: 142,290
Diablo's Bonus Defense: 142,290
—--
Right now, Lux was confident that even if a group consisting of the Carbuncle, Red-Eyed Terror Mantis, and Ghoul Beast appeared in front of Diablo, a single slap from the Skeleton Rider would be enough to instantly kill them.
As for the Mutated Thunder Wolf King?
Perhaps Diablo would need to slash it six to eight times before the powerful Mutated Monster died in his hands. The current Skeletal Rider also wouldn't have any trouble standing toe-to-toe with Rank 5 Alpha Monsters of similar strength.
Just as Lux expected, the moment the second wave of monsters reached their defensive line, Diablo massacred them without fail.
—--
< Merit Point Rankings >
Eternal - 785,600
Twisted Destiny - 225,845
Thunder Oath - 223,842
Arcadian Lords - 218,357
Crescent Vanguard - 216,568
Blood Legion - 157,854
Jade Skulls - 146,782
—--
Aina and the officers of Eternal were quite happy, seeing the lead they currently had over the other guilds. Even those who held grudges about Aina's decision to let Lux join their guild in this important event had completely changed their views and were even secretly happy that the Half-Elf was on their side.
If he joined another guild aside from them, wouldn't that be a pity?
Just as the officers of the guild were feeling smug about their current lead, a fireball flew from behind their ranks and hit Diablo's back, which made him stagger, allowing the Rank 3 Alpha Monster, Monkey Kong, to smash his chest, and send him flying off Airon's back.
"Who did that?" Aina asked as she turned around to look at her subordinates.
It was quite obvious that the attack came from her own people, infuriating the doll-like beauty. Although her face was calm and expressionless like usual, her eyes stared daggers at the Guild Member who had cast the Fireball while Diablo was in the midst of fighting a strong Alpha Monster.
"G-Guild Master, it was a mistake," a mage stuttered as he looked apologetically at Aina, as well as the officers who were glaring at him. "I didn't mean to hit the Skeleton. I was just trying to help him kill that Monkey Kong."
"Does he look like he needs your help?" Aina asked in a voice that was colder than ice, making the mage shudder.
"I-It won't happen again, Guild Master!" the mage promised. "I-I will look for other targets to attack."
"There's no need for you to do anything," Aina replied. "Leave the formation and return to the city. You will be punished according to our Guild's Laws after the Beast Tide is over. Valerie, escort him to the city gates."
Aina's voice was filled with authority and wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Yes, Guild Master!" Valerie replied as she walked towards the mage who had lowered his head out of shame, and dragged him away from the formation.
The doll-like beauty then scanned the faces of her guild members before making an announcement.
"The next person who attacks Diablo will be expelled from the guild," Aina declared. "I don't care if it's an accident, or you aimed poorly. I will not listen to any excuses. Do I make myself clear?"
""Yes, Guild Master!""
Lux nodded his head in satisfaction. Aina did the right thing. There was a saying that you need to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. This was a great way of setting an example to deter or threaten others from committing the same mistake.
Aina knew that the other guilds had planted spies inside Eternal, but there was nothing she could do about it. Even though their process for recruitment was strict, there would always be a possibility that one of the rival guilds' moles had infiltrated her organization despite the safeguards that they had set in place.
Her threat to expel any member who attacked the Skeletal Rider, who was currently amassing a great number of merit points for them, was the only thing she could do in order to deter them from doing it.
Unfortunately, a dozen more of her guild members attempted to sneak attack the Skeleton Rider, whose back was facing them, using skills that were near impossible to detect.
Unfortunately for them, they were messing with the wrong Half-Elf. The moment someone attacked Diablo from behind, they would immediately turn red on Lux's map, labeling them as hostile forces.
The Half-Elf would then tell Aina who attacked Diablo, and she in turn would summon her Guild's Roster from her Soul Book and expel that member instantly.
The moment they were expelled from the Guild, the officers took custody of them and dragged them back to the city. Their names were also reported to the General of the Army of Gweliven, preventing them from returning to the front lines.
"I'm ashamed," Aina said. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect that there were this many spies planted inside Eternal. I will make sure to become stricter in our selection of guild members in the future."
Lux chuckled after he heard Aina's apology. He knew that managing a big organization was difficult and it would be near impossible not to have spies infiltrate her guild. Even Twilight Rain and the Kingdom of Gweliven had planted spies on each other's sides, allowing them to gather information on the other side's movements.
If a Kingdom managed by the Dwarves were suffering from this problem, it was only natural for a guild like Aina's to encounter the same.
"It's fine," Lux replied. "It will take more than killing Diablo to kill him."
In truth, the attacks dealt by the guild members of Eternal, in addition to those of the Monsters in the current wave were laughable.
Diablo's current Physical and Magical Defense had already surpassed 150,000. So, even if he was attacked by a dozen fireballs, it would not deal any significant damage to him. Even the attack of the Alpha Monster, Monkey Kong, couldn't damage the Skeleton Rider, who was just pretending to be hurt.
The damage that was being dealt to Diablo was only a series of 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1.
Blood Moon had a passive skill that was called lifesteal, which allowed Diablo to regenerate his health, based on his attack damage.
—--
< Life Steal >
– Each attack heals the user with 10% of the damage they deal to their enemies.
—--
A single slash would instantly allow Diablo to recover over 10,000 health points. With such a high-regeneration rate, no one in the current wave of monsters could possibly threaten his life.
Right now, the Skeleton Rider was the personification of the Lord of Destruction, who instantly obliterated everything and anything, that stood in his way.
'I think only Deimos Ranked Monsters can threaten Diablo at this point,' Lux thought. 'Still, I wonder if it would be possible for Diablo to fight against one after more Monsters die on the battlefield.'
While Lux was pondering these things, he wasn't aware that somewhere in the distance, a Dwarf Sniper was aiming for his head.
The Half-Elf was so preoccupied with what was happening in front of him, that he was completely unaware that a hidden threat was about to bare its fangs at him from his blindspot.
'If I kill him, I will become the next Slayer Candidate,' a Reaper from Twilight Rain thought. 'I don't care if the mission was given to Sid and Scarlet. It's their fault for being slow.'
This particular Reaper was tasked to Assassinate Aina during the Beast Tide. The Eternal Guild was an eyesore in Twilight Rain's eyes. After seeing that Eternal was leading the rankings, the Reaper thought that it would be a good idea to Assassinate the Warrior Princess, in order to reduce the morale of her Guild Members.
However, after using his sniping skills, he discovered Lux, who was standing not far from his target. After a brief internal struggle, the Reaper decided to change his target and kill the Half-Elf, who had a higher bounty on his head than the Guild Master of Eternal.
'Why would I settle for leftovers, when I can eat the main dish?' the Reaper mused as he channeled his strongest attack into the tip of his arrow.
In his eyes, the allure of becoming the Slayer Candidate and stealing the glory from Sid's and Scarlet's hands, was worth the risk of stealing their prey.
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