"Shadow Claw Guild?" Kalis frowned slightly.
He had long heard of this guild, as one of the top ten elite gaming guilds in the Asgard Empire, Shadow Claw boasted enormous wealth and over fifty thousand permanent members.
They controlled core resource points in numerous popular games and were notorious for their arrogant and domineering ways.
Among the forty-odd players advancing deep into the cave, the leader was a man clad in a scarlet cloak, wielding a staff inlaid with rubies. His ID was "Shadow Claw・Vaelen", none other than the Vice President of Shadow Claw Guild.
His gaze swept over the Gilded Lion King Augustus's corpse on the ground, then landed on Kalis, his pupils contracting sharply: "The Boss has already been killed? Could this be the drop from the Mythic Boss mentioned in the announcement?"
Augustus's massive body hadn't yet dissipated. The golden blood on his gilded mane still exuded a divine aura, and the piles of gold coins and glowing equipment beside the corpse made the Shadow Claw players' breath quicken.
The most dazzling of them all was a pair of battle boots radiating intense red light, their glow even outshone the surrounding gold coins, clearly of Mythic quality.
"It's a Mythic item!" A Knight player behind Vaelen exclaimed, his ID "Shadow Claw・Gareth". Staring fixedly at the boots, his eyes brimmed with greed: "Vice President, this must be the exclusive reward for defeating a Mythic Boss!"
Vaelen nodded slowly, his gaze turning to Kalis with unquestionable arrogance: "Kid, our guild has long marked this cave's Boss.
You merely stumbled upon a lucky break. Know your place, drop all the loot at once and leave voluntarily, and we'll spare you the trouble of holding you accountable for seizing our resources."
Kalis chuckled softly, a hint of mockery flashing in his blue eyes beneath his blue-gray gradient short hair.
At this moment, the ownership of the Boss's loot still belonged to him, per the game's mechanics; only the killer could loot it.
Even if these players swarmed him, it would be pointless. Glancing at the blocked cave passage, he said calmly: "You've blocked the way. Even if I wanted to leave, I can't."
"Make way for him!" Gareth immediately ordered the players beside him, his tone arrogant and overbearing. "Get out of here while you still can, don't force us to take action!"
"Such obedient little lapdogs." Kalis laughed loudly. Instead of leaving, he turned toward the Boss's corpse, his fingertips brushing over the pile of gold coins.
System notifications flooded his screen instantly, and a full 12,000 gold coins were automatically added to his backpack. In the early stages of the server launch, this was wealth enough to spark a guild war.
The Shadow Claw players' faces darkened instantly. Gareth, in particular, flew into a rage: "Refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! Brothers, attack! Kill him, and the loot will automatically refresh its ownership!"
Over forty players launched their attacks simultaneously. Melee Knights charged forward with shields raised, Assassins sneaked to the side, ready to ambush, and ranged Mages and Archers condensed their skills; all kinds of lights poured down on Kalis.
-1! MISS! -2! -1!
A series of insignificant damage numbers popped up above Kalis's head. The highest attack barely dealt 3 points of damage.
The 58 Physical Defense and 115 Spell Defense provided by the [Godslayer Robe] were like an impenetrable iron wall against these players, none of whom had reached Level 10. Their attacks couldn't even break his defense, let alone inflict substantial damage.
Completely ignoring the skill effects surrounding him, Kalis bent down to pick up the Mythic battle boots.
A playful smile tugged at his lips as he deliberately read out their attributes: "[Gilded Lion King Battle Boots (Mythic)], Level 30, Knight-exclusive. Max HP + 3200, Movement Speed + 55%, Immune to all slowing and control effects. Tsk tsk, truly the perfect gear for a Knight."
"That's mine!" Gareth's eyes turned crimson with jealousy. As a Knight, the attributes of these boots would allow him to crush all other players in the early game. "Kill him! Even if we have to grind him down bit by bit!"
The skill attacks grew denser, but Kalis's HP only dropped by less than 280 points, a mere drop in the bucket compared to his total 4156 HP.
He continued looting the loot. A skill book glowing with orange light caught his eye.
Picking it up casually, he read aloud: "[Furious Roar (Legendary)], Warrior-exclusive skill book. Upon use, increases Attack and Defense by 220% for 35 seconds.
Cannot cast other skills during the duration. Triples normal attack damage, perfect for brutes."
"That's my skill book!" The Shadow Claw Warrior player "Shadow Claw・Bjorn" roared and charged forward, only to be blocked by the skill lights surrounding Kalis, unable to get close at all.
Kalis then picked up a Tome glowing with green light, his tone teasing: "[Divine Grace Tome (Legendary)], Level 50, Priest-exclusive.
Healing Effect + 35%. Active skill 'Holy Aegis', Grants the target 25% Physical Damage Reduction for 12 seconds. I'm afraid the Priests in your guild will cry their eyes out in the toilet."
The several Priest players from Shadow Claw turned pale, their eyes filled with longing and helplessness.
The equipment on their bodies was still the common gear rewarded from starting village quests; this Legendary Tome was just as tempting as a Mythic item to them.
Vaelen's face darkened to the point of being livid. Staring fixedly at Kalis, his voice icy cold: "Kalis, don't push your luck! The power of the Shadow Claw Guild is beyond your imagination. If you don't hand over the loot today, you'll have no place to hide in the Eternal Realm from now on!"
Kalis turned to look at him, chuckling softly: "Vice President Vaelen, let's get one thing straight. I'm currently Level 35 with 4156 HP. Your attacks can't even break my defense; threats are useless against me.
If you really want the equipment, make a reasonable offer. Maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll sell you a few pieces. But threatening me? That'll only make me want to 'entertain' you even more."
Vaelen was lost for words. He had been dazzled by the Mythic equipment earlier, but now it suddenly dawned on him.
The Mage in front of him far surpassed them in both level and defense. A head-on fight was completely hopeless. However, as the Vice President of a top-tier guild, being humiliated like this by a solo player was a blow to his pride he couldn't swallow.
"Even if you lose only 1 HP per second, we'll grind you down eventually!" Vaelen said coldly.
"Shadow Claw has tens of thousands of members. Even if you can defeat us, there will be an endless stream of people coming to hunt you down. Can you afford to keep this up?"
The forty-odd players' attacks grew more intense, and Kalis's HP slowly decreased. But with 60 MP regenerated per second, he felt no pressure; he even had time to check the remaining loot. Just then, a skill book glowing with pale blue light caught his attention:
[Thunder Chain (Rare)]
Level Requirement: 10
Class Requirement: Mage
Skill Effect: Unleashes a bolt of thunderous energy, dealing 260% Spell Damage to the target, 50% chance to bounce to other targets within 3 meters, up to 12 bounces. Damage decreases by 15% per bounce.
Mana Cost: 25
Cooldown: 8 seconds
"A crowd-clearing skill? Perfect timing." A flash of excitement crossed Kalis's eyes as he learned the skill without hesitation.
At Level 35, he hadn't yet allocated his free attribute points, but his base Spell Attack was already 45 points.
With the [Ultimate Amplification] talent, the skill's damage would be multiplied by 10,000 times, and the talent's passive effect would turn the "50% bounce chance" into a "guaranteed bounce".
"Thunder Chain!"
Kalis raised his Oak Staff and waved it. A thick bolt of blue thunder shot from the staff tip, accurately hitting Gareth, who was charging at the forefront.
-1,867,542!
Gareth's HP instantly dropped to zero, dissolving into a streak of white light. The thunderous energy didn't stop, like a living thing, it bounced to Bjorn beside him.
-1,601,453!
-1,361,237!
-1,157,051! ...
A series of terrifying seven-digit damage numbers popped up above the Shadow Claw players' heads.
The blue thunder spread like a net, instantly engulfing the twelve frontline players.
Before they could even react, they were consumed by the thunderous energy, all dissolving into white light and returning to the city.
One of the Assassin players even dropped a Level 5 dagger.
"System Notification: You have killed player 'Shadow Claw・Gareth'. No sin value added in self-defense."
"System Notification: You have killed player 'Shadow Claw・Bjorn'. No sin value added in self-defense."...
System notifications flooded the screen, and the cave fell silent instantly. The remaining Shadow Claw players stared at Kalis in stunned disbelief, their eyes filled with unimaginable fear.
"O-one hundred and eighty-six thousand damage?" Vaelen's eyes widened, his voice trembling. "That's impossible! Even a max-level Mage couldn't deal that much damage! You must be cheating! I'm going to report you!"
"Cheating?" Kalis scoffed, raising his hand to condense a Magic Missile. The pale blue projectile flickered in his palm. "Want to test it again? See if I'm really cheating?"
The remaining players took a step back instinctively, their faces filled with dread. The sight of twelve companions being instantly killed was too shocking; they didn't dare to approach at all. The Mage in front of them was simply not an opponent they could contend with.
Vaelen's face turned ashen. His pride had been trampled underfoot, but he knew well that continuing to fight would only result in more casualties.
Staring fixedly at Kalis, he gritted his teeth: "You wait! Shadow Claw won't let you get away with this!"
"Ding～ Player 'Shadow Claw・Vaelen' has launched a malicious attack against you!"
As the system notification sounded, Vaelen's Magic Missile shot forth, hitting Kalis square in the chest.
-15!
Although it dealt much more damage than the other players, it was still negligible to Kalis.
Vaelen was secretly shocked. The [Flame Staff] in his hand was an Epic item given out in a lottery, with +18 Spell Attack.
Yet it could only deal 15 points of damage; this Mage's defense was terrifyingly absurd!
Kalis grinned, a hint of coldness flashing in his blue eyes: "Since you're so eager to die, I'll send you on your way."