Kaizen’s stamina and mana were totally zeroed out. After he had exhausted himself running to the Centaur Druid and spent his entire MP bar on a crazy plan, he was panting.

Kaizen gasped as his mind spun, and an incessant whistle agonized his ears.

*Wiiiii*

The lightning fell very close to him, resembling the explosion of a bomb when it struck the mythical creature.

Gradually, Kaizen opened his eyes, and as he shifted his eyes to the far upper left corner of his vision, he saw there were several icons next to his HP.

‘Dizziness, nausea, paralysis, and weakness. Hmm… that’s nothing. Not really that bad.’

No matter how long it had been since Kaizen had last played an MMORPG game, he still knew how players of these types of games acted. Therefore, Kaizen knew that the approaching crowd would not worship him as the hero of the battle, but rather try to steal the Boss’s drops or, worse, kill him.

Walking weakly to the fallen Druid Centaur on the ground, Kaizen used <Analyzing Eye> and tried to check how much HP was left for this creature.

Kaizen wanted to know how much life remained of the Druid Centaur to decide whether to try to trade last-hit with the other players or not. If the creature was low on life, he knew that he would not be able to apply enough damage to kill it quickly, considering that the Centaur Druid was Mythic Rank, so it would pay to trade. However, should the creature be low on life, Kaizen would not shudder at sticking a blade into its head.

As before, the level difference blocked everything from the creature’s attribute screen except its name, attribute, and nature. Still, Kaizen could see that there were more negative effects generated by the lightning afflicting the Centaur Druid in this creature, which was great news.

‘Then it’ll be down to luck… Bleeding, paralysis, exposed wound… Urghh! That’s too realistic even…’ Kaizen thought as he approached.

The mythical creature’s innards were oozing out of its horse underside, staining the rocky ground with its blood. The unique and beautiful glow that illuminated its animal legs gradually grew dimmer.

As soon as the Centaur Druid realized that Kaizen was approaching, he tried to stand up with his human arms, but he was already too weak and then fell.

Kaizen’s fingers slid across the game interface, and he equipped the Butterfly Bear Sword. Removing the sword’s sheath gently with his left hand, Kaizen looked at the mythical creature without feeling regret. There was no reason to fear or feel sorry for the Centaur Druid, this was just another monster like any other.

The tip of the slightly crooked blade of the Butterfly Bear Sword poked out of its sheath and reflected in the monster’s black pupils.

Kaizen struck against the Druid Centaur’s neck once, and his sword caught on the surface of the creature’s firm skin. He pulled the blade back and struck again.

*Shaaacck*

The sword was struck several times against the tough skin of the Druid Centaur’s neck, but soon a huge wound began to open. A lot of blood splattered against Kaizen’s face, which quickly began to be bathed in this red, viscous liquid.

Before, the creature was trying to stay strong and trembled with each blow from the Psyker, but soon it stopped moving and Kaizen heard the system’s voice in his mind.

*Ping*

[You killed the Centaur Druid Boss and gained +100,000 XP].

[You just got the ‘Beast Druid mount.’]

[You just got the ‘Peacemaker’s Orb’.]

[You just got the ‘Guardian’s Helmet’.]

[Congratulations! You have just ascended to level 18!]

[Congratulations! You have just ascended to level 19!]

[Congratulations! You have just…]

The notifications only stopped popping up when Kaizen reached level 22.

He would love to have time to check the huge jump his Attribute Points had made, however, there was a horde of people running toward him. So first Kaizen would need to pay a little attention to them, so they wouldn’t feel slighted.

Although a gigantic ‘Congratulation’ screen was hovering over the abyss, lighting up the area vividly, no one except Kaizen was happy. In reality, all the players were enraged. Generally, everyone who started the Raid against the Boss would receive the XP points and the items received would be distributed randomly, but if a single person, who was not present at the start of the Raid get into the battle and manage to rip off at least 51% of the HP, the system will understand that it fair for the person who interfered to get all the rewards for doing most of the work. This was a decision unique to Rise Online.

However, it was almost impossible for a single person to apply enough damage to activate this system condition, even more so for a Mythic-ranked creature. Therefore, no one even considered that this might occur. Not to mention that the battle against the Boss was not being broadcast online, nor could the information about the Boss’s location have been leaked. There was also the fact that the Howling Cliff was a region that few crazy people would risk facing. In fact, only crazy people would risk so much.

When some of the players who had set off ahead were about to reach Kaizen, Salles looked up at the sky and, again looking at the congratulatory notice, rethought what he was doing. He pulled Jeewok by the arm, stopping his run.

“The fight is over. It doesn’t pay to go.” Salles said.

Jeewok was confused and pulled his arm hard, throwing out Salles’ grip. “What are you talking about!? That guy stole our Boss!”

“That’s not the Metal Dragons’ fight anymore.” Salles pointed back with his chin, making Jeewok realize that no one from his guild was running to Kaizen and that all ten members mobilized for this Raid were around Korgrak, their leader.𝒐𝑣𝑙xt.𝔠𝑶𝑚

“What are you doing, Korgrak? Leaving the battlefield after this dishonor?” Blood Lily asked angrily, but she did not externalize her anger.

She stood with her arms crossed, watching from afar the momentum of the group led by Taznaar. She then moved her eyes to the left, while turning her neck slightly in Korgrak’s direction.

“This fight is no longer from the Metal Dragons.” Korgrak repeated what Salles said and stood still, waiting for the return of the two remaining members of his Guild.

…

Edited by: DrHitsuji

If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa treon.com/NandoFalske

More character images in:

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