The players fell into despair.
Each Cavalry Monarch exuded even greater pressure than the Winged Dragon Monarchs, and with every charge and impact, the protective barrier trembled violently!
But Bai Qiu was currently in a weakened state—his stamina, mana, and mental strength had all been heavily drained by the previous battle.
His trump cards were also completely used up.
Until his weakened state ended, he had no way to harm the Cavalry Monarchs again.
The violent shaking of the barrier drew the attention of all nearby players, and naturally also alerted the Supporters inside the Sanctuary Black Tower.
Onipur strode out of the tower at the head of a large group.
Onipur’s gaze swept past the crowd and landed on the four Cavalry Monarchs wreaking havoc outside the barrier.
His expression changed instantly.
He took out a golden stone block covered in engraved patterns.
“Sanctuary Barrier—activate Bastion Mode!”
The moment he spoke, both the Sanctuary Barrier and the golden stone in his hand shone with brilliant gold light.
Then, the barrier began to shrink inward.
One meter… two meters…
The radius shrank inward by a full twenty meters, and a layer of horn-like tortoise shell—resembling that of a snapping turtle—formed on its surface.
The combined attacks of the four Cavalry Monarchs could no longer make the barrier tremble violently.
The players finally let out a collective sigh of relief, though the crisis was far from over.
Some players began taking action on their own, while others started planning coordinated attacks…
Onipur walked straight to Bai Qiu and asked, “Do you know why four lord-level monsters appeared here? The original barrier had a concealment effect—monsters in the area shouldn’t have even noticed this place.”
“Do you know about Dragonfang Priest Skeletons?” Bai Qiu countered.
He did not answer directly—if Onipur knew about Priest Skeletons, then there was no need for a long explanation.
Onipur’s face darkened. “Don’t tell me these lord-level monsters were all summoned through the sacrifices of Dragonfang Priest Skeletons? How could that be…?”
It seemed he understood the nature of Priest Skeletons.
Bai Qiu nodded and said:
“My companion was clearing monsters outside when the version update suddenly hit—the Void Passage expansion. I went to provide support and killed a large number of monsters. When I finally noticed the existence of the Priest Skeletons, I had run out of arrows. Without the ability to snipe from a distance, I had no choice but to fight the Dragonfang Monarchs they summoned. The noise from the battle attracted even more Priest Skeletons…”
“Right when I killed the Dragonfang Monarch, a large number of Priest Skeletons realized they were no match for us. So they performed a soul-sacrifice ritual from five hundred meters away. My companion killed dozens of them, but many were still outside our range.
I knew I didn’t have the strength to deal with the monsters that would appear next, so I escaped with my companion—but even then, we were chased all the way here by six lord-level monsters.”
Bai Qiu quickly explained the sequence of events.
Onipur immediately latched onto the key point and asked, “What? Then… where are the other two lord-level monsters?! Where did they go?!”
“I killed them,” Bai Qiu said.
“What?!”
Onipur’s eyes widened.
He seized Bai Qiu’s shoulders, confirming again, “You’re saying those other two lord-level monsters were killed by you? You killed three lord-level bosses in total?!”
“Sigh…” Bai Qiu sighed helplessly.
“That’s correct, but aside from the first one, which I handled alone, the second and third were only barely dealt with thanks to the Sanctuary Barrier.”
“Don’t expect anything from me right now. I’m in a weakened state—my stats are halved for two more minutes. My mana is nearly drained, my mental strength mostly spent, and…” Bai Qiu said helplessly as he removed his armor.
Both of his lower legs, all the way to each toe, were swollen red.
There were no external wounds, but activating Berserk and sprinting at full power had put an enormous strain on his body.
With such severe exhaustion, recovering wouldn’t be as simple as waiting for the weakened status to wear off.
To return to full strength would take at least fifteen minutes.
But could the barrier last that long?
…
Inside the Sanctuary Barrier, the players were as skittish as startled birds at first.
But after some time, once they confirmed that the four Cavalry Monarchs couldn’t break through the barrier, the bold ones started fighting back on their own.
Crackle—!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Spells and arrows shot continuously through the Bastion Armor layer, striking the Cavalry Monarchs—but the effects were pitiful.
Weak spells splashed against their bodies like droplets of water, not even causing a flinch.
Arrows were even worse; they either bounced off or snapped on impact, unable to deal damage or hinder their movement.
Still, the players didn’t lose heart.
From just a handful participating at first, to now hundreds and hundreds joining the fight—everyone understood that their fate was tied to the barrier.
If the barrier fell, they would die.
“Everyone listen up! Form lines! I need twenty tanks! Every fifty meters, put five people in charge of cycling Taunt skills—yes, spread the four bosses apart! Don’t let them hit the same spot together!”
Within the crowd, the “smart guys”—those who weren’t necessarily strong but had talent for battlefield command—began giving orders.
With the first strategy working, the four Cavalry Monarchs were successfully pulled fifty meters apart, each facing a different direction.
“All Casters, stand behind the tanks! Three meters of distance! Time your spells! Don’t bunch up! Short-range casters in the center, long-range to the sides!”
“I’ll take the center—I’ve got the shortest range!”
“I’ll go farthest—I can shoot across the whole field!”
“Archers, last row! Spread out! Make room for each other! FIRE!”
Under the direction of these commanders, four rectangular formations formed inside the barrier, each consisting of over two hundred people.
Every ranged combatant was attacking with everything they had.
Anyone with skills, use your skills.
Anyone with Noble Phantasms, unleash your Noble Phantasms.
Anyone with nothing—just use basic attacks.
The mindset is simple: even if it’s just scratching an itch, you MUST keep dealing damage!
The melee players weren’t idle either.
They split into groups—some acting as logistics teams to buy various buff potions from the magic-item merchants and deliver them to the front lines, where runners would then pass them on to their comrades who were desperately “scratching” the bosses to death!
Others went to the Cross-Zone channels to ask if there were any items capable of seriously injuring or even killing a Lord-rank entity.
For a time, everyone was taking part in this Sanctuary Defense Battle!
…
Bai Qiu leaned against the fountain in the plaza, watching as the crowd spontaneously organized themselves to fight the Cavalier Lords.
An unfamiliar emotion gradually welled up within his chest.
This is the strength of unity—a convergence of everyone’s wisdom and abilities.
Not only did they spread out the boss’s damage across the barrier, they also pushed their output to the limit in every way they could.
It was a spirit he himself lacked.
He once believed he was strong enough to face all enemies alone, so he never thought about asking others to help taunt and kite monsters, nor did he know how to command people to form an effective damage-dealing formation.
These were abilities he simply did not possess.
— The end of the Chapter–
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