Chapter 26

The guild system was introduced 3 months before the first Andartha Cup. Three months before I stopped playing. Our four members of the Paragon team have already been practicing with each other at that time so we decided to form our own guild when the feature was first introduced in the latest patch. That guild quickly became well known mostly due to our individual strength that dominated the guild wars. 

There were few players in the guild back then since 30 is the maximum member slot for a new guild. This girl is one of those initial 30, and if I remember correctly, she was an acquaintance of the Chronomancer of team Paragon, my very own partner in team matches, Celeste. Celeste knows her personally and I had somewhat of a favor I owe her back then. I repaid her by helping this girl improve her PvP skills and constantly sparring with her. You could say that she is, in technical terms, my first apprentice.

So she became the vice leader, huh. I'm genuinely happy for her. She had come a long way from being a regular member, not even an officer back then. She's probably extremely skilled now since she had always been a fast learner back then. She's a little taller than I remember though. I guess that's only natural since you can do a regular body scan in CoA and if you so wish, you could customize the height or body proportions of your character according to your most recent body scan. That only works for the body shape and facial features though, not the hairstyle, hair color, and other aesthetics. There are paid methods to change those... but I digress.

"I heard reports from one of our branch guilds that a ranker is hogging all the loot and experience in this leveling spot." 

Branch guild!? My former guild has those now?! But in hindsight, it's a good way to bypass the 100-member limit of max-level guilds. I guess she came to aid her branch guild to foster camaraderie and also as a show of strength. They also probably want to preserve their reputation since sending many strong members of their main guild just to stop a single ranker and her 2 under-leveled teammates will be frowned upon especially if it got recorded by us and went viral, not that were that type to do that though, except for Liz of course. 

I guess the best move is to send a single strong individual, but not many can confidently take on a ranker so she decided to go herself. Is she that confident she can take on all of us by herself if this results in PK territory? I don't want it to escalate to that though. I might not be currently her guildmate now but that doesn't mean I want to get on bad terms with her.

Clarissa hid at my back, more intimidated than usual by the newcomer's confident demeanor while Liz stepped forward seamlessly as if she was used to this kind of thing, which I'm sure she is, to be our negotiator.

"Oh, sorry bout that! We didn't think we were bothering other players that much." Liz stated with a placating smile.

"Many players grind materials and XP today since it's a weekend and some even treat it as their part-time job. It is only natural that you would inconvenience many players if you, a ranker, is in a place far below your level and skills. You seem reasonable, so I will let you off lightly if you leave the grinding spot for the others to have their turn," she stated with authority.

"Sorry, no can do! We gravely need the experience for the qualifiers. Can you pleeeaaase let us off? Just this once?" Liz pleaded cutely.

I didn't expect Liz to be this willful, but it kind of made sense. One thing I know about her is her sense of responsibility she probably feels that she has a duty to boost me as her teammate and friend.

"So you are also joining the tournament," she murmured in a low voice that I almost didn't hear.

She seemed a little taken aback by what Liz said. It was the most reaction we got from her so far. I also didn't miss her wording 'also'. Is she joining too then? Or a friend of hers?

She quickly composed herself and then adopted a more understanding tone.

"Forgive me, I understand where you are coming from, but I cannot grant your request. My priority lies in helping my branch guildmates, so I insist that you leave now."

"Well, I'm sorry too. Just because you're one of the top guilds and Yuusha's guildmate doesn't mean we will easily give in."

Her demeanor instantly changed at the mention of my sister's account.

"Don't you associate our guild with that coward," she growled.

Liz was taken aback by the insult to her idol, Clarissa flinched at the sudden increase in volume, and my hands trembled in shock and realization. I probably did look like a coward to her since I just abandoned the guild without any forewarning. I know what I did was unfair to them but I also thought that I'd already come to terms with it. But facing the remnants of my past sins, the full consequences of my actions, and hearing directly from the people I let down still leaves me heartbroken. I know I should do something to de-escalate the situation, but I can't think straight with my emotions in complete turmoil.

"Last warning, If you won't comply, then I have no choice but to wipe out your entire party," she threatened with a low menacing voice.

As I was preparing for the inevitable, suddenly the earth shook. A massive, horned demon appeared before us. It is tall, with its broad, muscled arms making it look more imposing. Its skin glows a bright red in a molten rough texture, as do the sharp, pointy claws that protrude from its fingers.

*ROAAARRR

It lets out a deep, menacing growl as if we were facing a wild beast.

A field boss. 

Field bosses appear every once in a while whenever a certain amount of mobs in a given area is killed by the players. Considering we had a mass genocide of elven mobs for the past three hours, I'm almost amazed that it didn't happen anytime soon.

"Can we prioritize killing the field boss first?" I pleaded.

As I did, she looked me in the eye for the very first time since she arrived, evaluating me.

I reciprocated with a solemn stare.

I don't want to fight her. After what I did to Celeste's guild, I don't want to add killing her vice leader to the list. I want to resolve this as peacefully as possible.

She sighed and gave in to my earnest request

"Fine, we will settle this later, but for now, don't get in my way," she declared as she turned to charge at the monster.

Usually, field bosses stay for a while since they outmatch the level of the field they are set in. It will take a whole lot of sacrifice from the same-level players before they can chip a field boss' health bar down to zero. That usually takes a lot of time and seldom happens because someone always gets wind of the field boss and spreads the news so other higher-level players will form a party to hunt for the boss's materials. Though luckily for us we already have two max leveled rankers here so it wouldn't take that much time.

Ariadne charged at the boss after warning us to not get in the way.

The demon for its part, identified her as a threat when she got near. As Ariadne got closer, the demon lunged towards her, the ground shaking under its weight. She darted to the side, her small stature was a stark contrast to the demon's immense size, but she used it to her advantage, staying light on her feet, her movements quick and precise.

The demon swung its massive arm, aiming to crush her, but Ariadne was faster. She leaped high and landed on the demon's arm. She ran up its thick hide, her boots barely making a sound, and plunged her dagger into its eye.

*ROAAAARRR

The demon roared in pain, thrashing about, trying to throw her off, but Ariadne held on. She pulled her dagger free and jumped off, landing gracefully on the ground. The demon, now blinded in one eye, was disoriented, its movements clumsy. She perfectly hit one of the boss's weak spots resulting in a blind and distortion debuff for the field boss monster.

What a skillful maneuver. She used the arm of the giant demon as a stepping stone to land a critical hit. She made it look cool and effortless too. She really had gone a long way from back then.

Mephisto

Hp: 77%

The heck! What is that damage!? How much did she put in her dex stats for that high of a damage on a critical hit? Is that guy even a field boss? Though considering she's over-leveled for the enemy and her stats are incredibly high it's probably the norm. I guess I shouldn't be even surprised as she has the strongest possible gear due to her position in a top guild.

Liz, for her part, didn't let the opportunity go. She was never one to stay in the background like me. She used her shadow step to instantly close the gap and made a precise strike at its main weakness, the tiny glowing gem found in the center of its heart which is almost impossible to hit due to it being well protected by the boss. But having a ranker like Liz give it a shot especially when the said boss is debuffed is another matter.

*kachak

Mephisto

HP: 48%

The critical hit to its weakest spot did immense damage. 

The towering field boss demon entered its enraged state due to missing half its HP. Its body became a grotesque fusion of muscle and shadow, eyes glowed a sinister red as it readied its stance for a charge. He seems to have stat boost powerup in his enraged state.

Then, as the demon charged, Ariadne and Liz sprang into action. Ariadne darted forward, her movements a blur, while Liz held her ground, her rapier gleaming in the faint light of the moon.

Ariadne was the first to strike, her dagger slicing through the air towards the demon's leg. The demon roared in pain, but its attention was quickly drawn to Liz, who stepped forward, her rapier poised to strike. With a swift, powerful thrust, she struck the demon's other leg, forcing it to kneel.

*ROAAAARRRR

Mephisto

HP: 39%

The demon roared again, swiping its massive arm at Liz. But it was too slow for Liz. She rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack, and swung her rapier at the demon's arm.

Meanwhile, Ariadne had climbed onto the kneeling demon's back, her dagger poised for a strike. With a swift thrust, she plunged her weapon into the back of the demon's head. The demon howled, thrashing wildly, but Ariadne held on, her grip unyielding.

Mephisto

HP: 21%

Liz seized her chance. With the demon distracted, she ran forward, her rapier aimed for its main weakness again. With a final, mighty thrust, she drove her weapon deep. The demon's roar echoed through the night.

Mephisto

HP: 0%

Congratulations! Your party just defeated Field Boss [Mephisto]!

Experience, gold, and materials will be distributed to the members according to their contribution.

Ariadne jumped off the demon's back just before the demon vanished into red motes of light. She landed next to Liz, both giving each other a nod of approval. They stood side by side, victorious. 

On the other hand, Clarissa and I... did absolutely nothing. 

Sure I guess we could've helped but looking at the two, they got it completely under control. Clarissa can't keep up with Ariadne's movement since it's their first time fighting together and might cause a friendly fire so she made the right decision of holding her spells there. Her damage is too minuscule to be of help and she might hit her if she's not careful by the AoE nature of her fire spells. I on the other hand am waiting with my heal ready. A heal that is not needed by the looks of it since they both didn't even take a single point of damage.

"Whoahh, those girls are something!"

"Right! Right? They looked so cool!"

"What do you expect? Those two are rankers!"

"Hey look, That girl is the Vice Guild master of Paragon guild! I've always dreamt of joining that guild!"

One look at the surroundings also proves my point, there are about ten people (probably here to grind) looking at the scene in awe. They didn't even offer a single assistance with how the two basically radiate an aura of protagonist halo. Also, I am most definitely not envious that I didn't get to make a cool pose as the boss died or anything!

As I was debating in my head on how I absolutely and undoubtedly did the right thing by not doing anything, an abyss portal opened.

A portal to a hellish dungeon.