บท 88: Battle of Sunflower Valley (1)

The Sunflower Valley was a map near Ember filled with… well, Sunflowers. This is actually one of the few maps where the monsters were passive. The only monsters one could find in this map were Sunflower Butterflies.

Some players had tried to use those butterflies to XP easily, but the butterflies didn't give any XP once killed. Instead, the players would be hunted by the guards and sent to rot in a cell for a week. This was a terrible punishment, especially for killing mere butterflies, but that was the law, and so no one dared to attack them anymore.

In the middle of this map, there was a flat terrain, where an army of a thousand players were waiting for their opponent.

Some distance from them, many players gathered, some hidden, other not. Most of them were simple spectators, but one could also see important people from time to time, there were even a few elders from First Tier Guilds.

Be it Blue Cemetery or the spectators, they all were waiting to see whether Valiant Heart would actually come or not. In their eyes it was suicide, but since he had said he would come online, there was a chance for him to come, thus the number of people who came.

Tarkhu, the Guild Leader of Blue Cemetery, who was standing at the front of the 1000-men army, had a radiant smile on his face. Actually, he was quite scared of Valiant Heart, the latter had killed him with a single slap, and he was bound to have become stronger since that happened.

This had left quite the trauma, and that's why even though he had challenged the man with 1000 men, he had taken special measures just in case something went wrong. Next to him, a person dressed in a black robe, that blocked his status from others, said "I really don't understand why you were ready to go so far for a single player. He doesn't stand a chance against you."

Tarkhu looked around, at the audience, and said "There are literally tens of thousands of people watching us right now, be it those present here are those watching the live streams. Losing here would be a disgrace, and could be the end of my guild. I won't take any chance."

The black figure shrugged and said "I'm not complaining, you offered something great to my guild, I'm just wondering whether it was worth it to exchange such a treasure just to be sure. Well, anyway, you can be sure we will follow the agreement."

Tarkhu nodded with a passive face "That's all that matters."

As the minutes passed, the time for the battle neared, and suddenly someone from the crowd cried out "He really came!"

Everyone turned their head toward the lonely figure in the distance. As he approached, his status was revealed to every, confirming who the figure was.

[Valiant Heart] (Bronze, Level 26)

HP: 28896/28896

"What is that monstrous HP! Isn't he a Berserker? Even a Monk or a Knight wouldn't have so much HP! Just what kind of equipment does he have?!"

Countless reactions appeared, both in the live streams and on place. The average players, or even those of Tarkhu's caliber, they only expressed their astonishment. However, the real experts, those from First Tier Guilds or higher, they weren't just astonished, they were shocked.

The man in black standing next to Tarkhu was one such person, and his face was grave. All of them understood what this HP meant. Even the best equipment at his level wouldn't allow him to reach such a value, only opening the Third Gate and multiplying by five one's stat would one be able to have so much HP at this level.

He approached Tarkhu and whispered to him "Immediately use everything against him!"

Tarkhu looked at the man in shock, he had never seen him so agitated, he always acted like he was out of this world, as if he was above everyone else, but this time, he could hear panic in his voice. And this only served to worry him more, what kind of monster was Valiant Heart?

The man in black hurried him "Didn't you hear me? He will destroy your army in a matter of seconds! Send everyone against him if you want to win!"

Tarkhu said "You're kidding, no one is that strong…" However, he didn't even get to finish his sentence as a loud roar echoed through the whole valley "COME AT ME COWARDS!"

Tarkhu felt like the world became very cold in an instant, and he saw a lion like beast look down him from the sky, which forced him to step back. The same thing happened to the whole army, creating the ridiculous scene of a thousand men army moving back at the same time.

Adam showed a toothy grin upon seeing this, they really were weak, they couldn't even stand his [Barbarous Roar]. That was understandable though, Adam usually fought against much stronger enemies, and even they would be intimidated by his roar.

Here, he was only facing a majority of Iron and some Bronze, none of which was above A Class, and his [Barbarous Roar], a Tier B Skill, was maxed out. Although it didn't deal any damage to them, the Aura present in the roar was what created the illusion of the lion looking down at them, which was simply a manifestation of Adam's Aura in their mind.

Tarkhu was one of the first to regain his mind as he yelled in his guild's chat 'Attack! I want everyone to attack! The entire guild!'

This helped the ones behind him wake up, and although they were scared by that roar, they reassured themselves by telling themselves it was only a single player. They yelled on their own, trying to boost their spirits, and they began advancing, as an army.

At the same time, thousands more of them appeared from the sides, they had been hiding in the crowd of players watching, and now they had been called, they gathered. Quickly, an army of 10 000 appeared in front of Adam, all marching toward him.

Feeling their numbers, their earlier fear disappeared, replaced by a slight bravery. But it still wasn't enough for Tarkhu, who said to the man in black next to him "Deploy your troops too! I want everyone on this fucker!"

The man in black replied "Take that tone with me again and I'll make sure no ever hears of Blue Cemetery again." This calmed down Tarkhu, but he wasn't finished "I will send my own troops if your players aren't enough to deal with him."

Tarkhu nodded, but he didn't like it. That roar had seriously messed with him, a single man had suppressed his whole guild with a single roar, how powerful was he. He didn't even dare to go to the front of his army anymore, but was in the middle of it, the place where he had the best protection.

As for Adam, he stood in front of the army, blade in hand. He asked "Is that all you got?" This stunned everyone who heard him, wasn't this already enough for him?

But Adam used his [Barbarous Roar] once again "IF YOU ARE DONE, THEN LET ME SHOW YOU THE MIGHT OF MY OWN GUILD!!"

This scared everyone present, did he join a guild? With how strong he was, he could only have joined a First Tier Guild, or even a Super Guild!

But contrary to their expectations, it wasn't either choices. Rather, they saw NPCs appear around the army. There were eight groups of them, there was about thirty NPCs in each group, and all of them were between Level 20 and 30.

All they did though was encircle the great army, they did not take action. Adam tapped on the ground, and the earth next to him shifted as Neith appeared from within the ground. Once again, her appearance shocked everyone, but Adam didn't care about their reaction.

Adam pointed his sword toward the great army, and using [Barbarous Roar], he commanded "ATTAAAAAAAACK!!!"