Golden Experience

The third event is finally starting.

However, Wayne and the others don’t plan to do anything special, just challenging the Bone Dragon of Erntal using experience point bonuses and reduced death penalties.

Although they are only a level 2 threat, they wanted to confirm their combat power against the angels, who have the means of flight and whose impact on battles is uncertain. So, they waited in the nearby town they’ve been using as a base in Erntal.

This town serves as a bridgehead for conquering the surrounding dungeons, almost like a frontline base, and many players try to protect it from the angels. There are definitely more players here than there were in Erfahren at the start of the open beta. Wayne and his group don’t need to protect it, and once the confirmation is done, they plan to go to Erntal.

“Hey, look over there! Something is flying towards us.”

Gil pointed in the direction where a group of birds-like creatures was approaching.

Wayne, aiming to be an all-rounder, has taken [Visual Enhancement], but due to the distance, they still appear quite small.

“No, it’s different… They were originally small. Are those really angels?”

“I was checking on social media, and it seems they are indeed angels. Oh, I can see them now. It’s definitely confusing. But in other towns, it looks like they are already under attack, and they are the target of this event.”

“… Is that a child? Is this okay? Has it passed the ethical review? Is it an enemy we can attack?”

“In a way, it looks like the image of an angel. Wasn’t that the trademark of a candy maker called Something-something? More like mayonnaise…”

“Gil! Here they come!”

Even if the players were confused, it didn’t matter to the angels. The lovely angels had grotesque expressions that couldn’t be imagined from their silhouettes, attacking people in the area.

Since this town has more players than NPCs, currently only players are under attack, but if the number increases, NPCs will likely be affected too.

“Alright, if they are attacking, we have to fight back! [Thunderbolt]!”

Wayne’s arrow of lightning pierced one of the angels and brought it down. It was the most basic attack magic among the [Lightning Magic]. It didn’t take it down in one hit, but it dealt substantial damage, interrupting its flight and causing it to fall to the ground.

“This is tricky! Here!”

Gil stabbed the fallen angel with his sword. It wasn’t his intention, but he ended up with an unpleasant role for Gil. They should have aimed for a single strike instead of attacking halfway. With Wayne’s current strength, they could easily accomplish that.

“Oh? It disappeared… but there’s something left, an item. They disappear, leaving drops, huh. Well, that’s a relief. It’s probably too high a level to dismantle… “

“[Blaze Lance]! If the body disappears, there shouldn’t be much psychological resistance after the initial impact.”

“Yeah, it feels the same on social media. If they allowed dismantling, there might be regulatory issues.”

“Stop looking at social media and fight, Mayonnaise!”

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll do it now.”

While flying and attacking, their appearance and difficult-to-hit nature make angels troublesome, but in terms of strength, they are not a match for Wayne and his group. With some effort, they can observe their surroundings during the battle.

Other players in the vicinity gradually adapted to the situation and became able to handle the angels.

Since the surrounding dungeons have difficulty levels ranging from ☆1 to ☆5, players of various levels enter this town. For players other than rookies earning experience in ☆1 dungeons, this level of enemy is not a problem.

Moreover, they only use normal attacks, making them easy targets for players with long-range capabilities.

However, without special attacks, their basic stats seem to be higher. Even players with similar strength to Wayne’s group would receive considerable damage if hit directly. Despite that, with Wayne’s armor, he wouldn’t take much damage even if he got hit.

“But their attacks are monotonous. It might hurt if you get hit but avoiding them is easy. If your player skill is high enough, even a beginner’s stats might allow you to dodge.”

“Isn’t that obvious? If you raise AGI, your dynamic vision improves, so if you haven’t raised it much, it might be impossible.”

As a dodge-focused style, Wayne hasn’t been hit once. It might be a good idea to take a hit for combat power assessment, but with limited healing options in this party, avoiding unnecessary damage is crucial. Even if Wayne doesn’t take much damage thanks to his armor, it will eventually wear out, and repairing this armor will likely cost a considerable amount of money.

“It’s about time; the number of enemies has decreased a lot.”

“Yeah, it seems like the first wave is over.”

The angels attacking from the sky decrease in number as players defeat them, and eventually, they all disappear.

Normally, creatures retreat before their entire group is wiped out. However, the fact that they don’t retreat indicates that their behavior routine is not that of ordinary creatures. It’s likely that they were ordered to fight until they are completely annihilated by a higher-ranking entity, just as the Prime Minister of Hiers mentioned.

Suddenly, MentaList picks up a red gem that fell to the ground.

It seems to be an item dropped when they defeated the angels.

There are quite a few of them scattered around the town, and if this invasion occurs periodically in the continent, their monetary value might be low, but they are not as clear as regular gems.

“I wonder what kind of item this is.”

“For now, let’s pick up what we defeated. Maybe the number of these items determines our ranking or something.”

“That makes sense.”

Last time, the rankings were based on data such as defense points or invasion points. It’s reasonable to assume that this time it is also a point system. However, considering their concerns about anonymity, it wouldn’t be surprising if they changed to a visible point system. The players who want to remain inconspicuous can choose not to pick up the items even if they defeat the angels.

But players who wish to remain anonymous are likely to indicate their intention within the game. Whether there is a need for a physical change in the game until anonymity is changed is unknown.

Even if it does, if they don’t announce it, it’s no different from the masked data.

“Items that can perform identification are also sold, right? Based on the previous pattern, probably after the maintenance following this event. If we had it now, we could figure out what it is.”

I can’t shake the feeling that the timing of the sale is to prevent that.

Anyway, it seems they were able to weather the first wave of enemy invasion without much damage.

Looking around the sky, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of the second wave coming anytime soon.

It seems that they won’t be constantly under attack.

If that were the case, these towns without knight orders would always have to be guarded by players and mercenaries, making it impractical for events. In a way, it can be considered a natural specification.

“We don’t know when the next wave will come, so let’s go to Erntal now. With this feeling, as long as we’re vigilant, we can handle combat interruptions, and, well, even if we make a mistake, there’s no death penalty right now.”

“Let’s do that. Alright, let’s depart once we pick up the items.”

*

Near Erntal, it seems there are few players, and a few angels are still flying around the city.

Since it’s daytime, the zombies in Erntal’s city are holed up in their homes. That’s probably why there are no players taking down angels.

From outside the city, it’s unclear if angels are taking hostile actions against Erntal’s zombies.

In other words, it remains unknown if disasters are in conflict with each other.

“Let’s try entering the city. Even if the zombies are holed up at home, we might not know if zombies and angels are hostile when we enter the city.”

“If we leave the doors of the houses open, won’t the angels go in that direction?”

“You shouldn’t need to do that. Can’t we just break into the houses? I wonder.”

Such questions were resolved upon entering the city.

While a few angels were flying around the outskirts of the city, there were none within the city. There were only those murky gems scattered around.

In other words, the angels that invaded the city have already been defeated by someone.

Considering that the Bone Dragon probably rules this city, it would likely be him or one of his subordinates who did this.

“If that’s the case, we can at least consider that the Bone Dragon and the angels are in conflict.”

“Undead and angels, huh. That’s more convincing than saying they get along. And if it was the Seventh Calamity… that created the Bone Dragon, that means the seventh and the Archangel are also in conflict.”

“So, is the seventh disaster leaning towards undead after all? The theory of angels turning into undead is also plausible. Just like how humans don’t get along with zombies, it’s a story that can happen.”

Whether the true identity of the seventh disaster encountered in the Hiers Royal Capital at that time was undead or not, it seemed too overflowing with vitality to be classified as undead. Even in the twilight darkness, its entire body shone white, emitting an overwhelming presence.

Although the first time they managed to defeat it didn’t leave a strong impression, the way the second time they were defeated without any means to resist was particularly impressive.

When it opened its closed eyes and attacked with some kind of attack, with magical circles shining in its red eyes, it seemed as if it would be absorbed into those eyes and disappear.

However, whether the true identity of the seventh disaster was undead or not, the fact remains that it seems to be in conflict with the forces of the Archangel.

If that’s the case, as long as Wayne and the others play in this dungeon that’s under the command of the seventh, it should inevitably become a three-way battle. As long as they are careful with positioning, they should not be at a special disadvantage.

“A three-way battle… is it like that again? Considering this dungeon has already been defeated, it’s not really different from usual.”

“Well, that’s true. The problem is who and how they defeated it.”

“… Oh. You guys. If that’s the case, probably the answer is that way. Look, around the city…”

Looking in the direction Gil was pointing, the Bone Dragon was flying slowly, scattering a pitch-black aura around.

It was flying so gracefully with wings made only of bones, and it was unclear how it gained lift, but it looked as if it were flying like an ordinary creature. Although its elegance was only in its posture and attitude, the atmosphere it exuded was the worst.

It might be something visible only from a distance, but that pitch-black aura was probably that infamous slip damage.

Even though the Bone Dragon was just flying, nearby angels were turning into murky gems one after another and disappearing.

It’s not as if they die the moment they enter the slip damage area. The angels seem to have designated the Bone Dragon as their primary target, launching reckless and seemingly futile attacks against it.

However, it appears that no damage is being dealt to the Bone Dragon at all. With the repeated futile attacks, their LP seems to run out due to slip damage, resulting in their death.

“That’s right, it’s really just flying.”

“Or rather, it can fly, huh…”

“Yeah… If it chased us in the sky like that, we’d definitely have no chance of winning. How are we supposed to defeat it?”

Even during the event, the decision to challenge Erntal was made with the idea of confronting the Bone Dragon, finding its weaknesses and effective attack methods even if it meant repeatedly facing zombie attacks, and using that information in the future.

However, if it constantly stays out of range of their attacks, that plan won’t work.

“Well, the event period is long, so if it seems hopeless, let’s go somewhere else, like the royal capital or La Colinne. Let’s wait for a while for it to come down.”