BRAND NEW WORLD

Chapter 80: The New Greatest Raid Begins (Part 1)

After reaching an agreement, we all walked along the path. Five hundred meters from our meeting point, our footsteps came to a halt.

"Stop!" Ringga shouted.

Everyone stopped and turned to look at Ringga.

"Huh? Why are we stopping?" asked Uncle Pedo.

Ringga walked to the front and looked up slightly. Before long, two figures appeared. The first was a draconian man, three meters tall, with dark blue skin and four arms, emerging from a distorted space near Ringga. The second was a ’valkyrie’ with black wings, descending from the sky and landing beside the draconian.

"Master!" both of them greeted, then knelt before Ringga.

"Oi, oi, oi! You’ve got to be kidding!" someone exclaimed.

"That’s just how Ringga is! If he weren’t like that, he wouldn’t be Ringga. Hahaha," another replied.

"Please open the seal slightly so we can enter. And don’t open it for anyone else," Ringga said.

"Understood!" both answered.

The draconian and the Valkyrie then turned around.

They both stretched out their arms.

Not far from them, space suddenly distorted and opened.

Ringga turned to look behind him.

"Everyone, let’s go!" Ringga called out.

Everyone gripped their weapons tightly before stepping into the distorted space.

• •

As I crossed through the spatial distortion, I felt a strange sensation for a moment before our surroundings changed. I was genuinely shocked by what I saw.

"This is..." I murmured.

Where once there had been vast green grasslands and dense forests, the ground was now dry and barren, brown. No plants grew here. In the distance, a city could be seen. Or rather, the remains of one.

Everyone else was equally shocked.

"Don’t let your guard down! Ready your weapons!" Ringga shouted.

Hearing Ringga’s voice, everyone snapped back to attention and gripped their weapons tightly.

• •

I immediately took out my crescent moon artifact, which amplified my magical power. Then, I cast my support magic—buffs that boosted stats and provided various other effects. Everyone’s bodies were enveloped in a faint white light.

"Whoa! What the heck! A 50% stat boost? That’s just cheating!" someone exclaimed.

"That’s a Tower Guardian for you."

"I’m a Tower Guardian too, but my support magic isn’t as strong as Luna’s," Grandpa Shaman said.

"Isn’t that cheating?" someone muttered.

"Alright, alright. Now’s not the time for that," Kardol said.

Just as we had walked a few dozen meters, two figures suddenly leaped toward us from the left and right. Both were about five meters tall with green skin. One wore Viking-style clothing and carried a massive axe. The other wore full armor with patterns reminiscent of Mayan carvings and wielded a sword and shield. Several underlings accompanied both.

"The Orc Hero and the Orc General, huh... not bad for a warm-up," someone said.

"Don’t get too excited. If both of them appear together, there’s usually an extra," Rhadyt said.

Sure enough... another figure came leaping in. As it landed, the ground trembled slightly, and cracks formed where it touched down. As the figure stood upright...

"The Orc King!" someone shouted.

The Orc King stood about seven to eight meters tall, with green skin, and carried a massive sword on his back. He wore leather armor, a golden crown on his head, and a red cape on his back.

"See! Your wish came true!" Kardol said.

"This is going to be a hot warm-up," Grandpa Shaman added.

"Someone needs to hold off the Orc King while the others deal with the other two Orc bosses," Rhadyt said.

"Let me handle the Orc King. You all take care of the Orc General and the Orc Hero," Ringga said.

"I’ll take the Orc Hero," Rhadyt said, stepping forward with a massive axe resting on his shoulder.

"Then I’ll take the Orc General," Kardol said, twirling a long spear in his hands.

"Luna provides full support. Grandpa Shaman, Shana, and the other mages will be ranged damage dealers. The melee DPS will focus on taking out the underlings so they don’t interfere with the mages and supports. The rest of you, follow Rhadyt and Kardol," Ringga added.

"YEAH!!" everyone shouted.

Ringga, now clad in gleaming platinum armor with a shield and sword in hand, leaped directly toward the Orc King.

The battle was inevitable.

• •

Rhadyt leaped forward, swinging his massive axe toward the Orc Hero.

"Feel this! Earth-Splitting Axe!" Rhadyt roared.

CRASH!!

The Orc Hero blocked Rhadyt’s powerful axe strike, but the shockwave from the point of impact sent the Orc Knights flying in all directions—cracks formed in the ground where the Orc Hero stood.

The Orc Hero then swung its sword. Seeing this, Rhadyt quickly retreated toward the others.

"Hey, don’t be selfish! I want to hit it too!" someone said.

"Yeah, my hands are itching too," another added.

---

[Meanwhile, on the other side...]

Kardol shot forward, thrusting his spear ahead. At the same time, the Orc General swung its massive axe. The clash was inevitable.

CLANG!

The impact created a shockwave that obliterated everything near the point of collision.

"Heh... Not bad," Kardol grinned as he was pushed back several meters.

The Orc General also staggered back a few meters.

"Now it’s my turn," someone said.

"How about we bet on who’ll land the final blow?" another replied.

"Deal!" a third exclaimed.

• •

Since the others had already received buffs, I was confident they’d be fine. Now, what’s left— I thought, turning my gaze toward Ringga.

Ringga shot toward the Orc King and threw a punch. Seeing this, the Orc King responded with a punch of its own.

BOOM!

A blast of wind erupted from the point of impact, sending nearby High Orcs flying several meters.

After the exchange, both combatants were also knocked back a few meters.

"Lun, take care of the High Orcs, will you? Leave the Orc King to me," Ringga said with a faint smile.

Without waiting for an answer, Ringga shot forward again. This time, he launched a kick. Caught off guard, the Orc King could only cross its arms in defense. Struck by Ringga’s kick, the Orc King was sent flying even further, closer to the city.

"Battle junkie," I muttered.

SUMMON ELEMENTALS!

I snapped my fingers, and six large magic circles appeared on the ground. Each circle glowed with a color representing one of TNWO’s six elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Ice, and Lightning.

The Ice and Earth Elementals both took the form of golems composed of their respective elements. The Earth Elemental was formed from earth and boulders. The Ice Elemental resembled a bright blue crystal golem.

Unlike Earth and Ice, the Fire, Wind, Water, and Lightning Elementals lacked physical bodies, instead taking forms matching their elements. The Wind Elemental appeared as a miniature tornado shaped like the upper half of a human body. The Water, Fire, and Lightning Elementals were similar, all shaped like the upper halves of human bodies.

"Elementals! Attack!" I commanded.

At my order, the elementals began attacking the High Orcs one by one.

Hm... these elementals understand such vague commands.

The High Orcs tried to fight back against the elementals, but their attacks had little effect... or rather, no effect at all.

"...of course it wouldn’t work. Elementals are immune to physical attacks and can only be defeated by magic or enchanted weapons that exploit their elemental weaknesses."

---

[Five Minutes Later...]

Since their attacks were ineffective, the elementals easily defeated the High Orcs. And because this was no longer a game, boss monsters couldn’t summon more underlings.

"Hm... even though the Earth and Ice Elementals have strong physical defenses, the High Orcs were surprisingly persistent."

I ran my hand over the scratches on the Earth Elemental’s body.

"Lun!" someone called out.

I turned. Everyone had finished their fights and regrouped.

"What about Ringga?" Axxel asked.

"Just a madman fighting a raid boss solo," Uncle Pedo said.

"Despite his personality, he truly is a great player," Rhadyt added.

"Unfortunately, I have to agree. As awful as his personality is, he’s one of the best players in TNWO," Axxel added.

"..."

Everyone then stood and watched Ringga, who was still fighting the Orc King alone in the distance.

"Mm... aren’t we going to help him?" Ryda asked.

"Hm? No need," Kardol replied.

The others nodded in agreement.

It seems everyone still holds a bit of a grudge against Ringga.

Meanwhile, Ringga and the Orc King continued exchanging blows.

SLASH!

CLANG!

BOOM!

"..."

The Orc King gripped its massive sword with both hands and slammed it downward vertically. Seeing this, Ringga took a stance. His sword began to glow, emitting a pale blue-white light. Just as the Orc King’s sword was halfway down, Ringga swung his sword diagonally upward.

An energy slash shot from Ringga’s blade soared through the air and collided with the Orc King’s massive sword. The King’s downward swing halted momentarily before...

CRACK!

The Orc King’s sword split in two.

The energy slash continued onward, slicing through the Orc King’s head.

THUD! CRASH!

The Orc King’s body finally collapsed to the ground.

"..."

Sensing that he was being watched, Ringga turned around.

"Hey! Were you all going to stand there and watch?" Ringga said.

"If you can take on a raid boss solo, surely you can handle everything else solo, right?" Uncle Pedo said.

A few people laughed at Ringga’s question as they walked toward him.

HAHAHAHA

"In that case, you won’t be getting your skill scroll rewards," Ringga added.

"Wait, forget it, we’ll help," someone replied.

I could only shake my head at their antics.

• •

After regrouping with Ringga, we rested briefly before continuing our journey. This time, we gathered not far from the city gate... or rather, what remained of it.

"From a distance, it wasn’t too clear, but up close... this doesn’t even look like a city anymore," someone said.

"Right... It’s more like ruins," another added.

"Alright, everyone, get ready! We’ll be moving out soon!" Ringga called out.

After a few moments...

"Everyone! Take your positions!" Ringga shouted.

"YEAH!!" everyone roared.

Finally, we arrived at the gates of Parahyangan City. We didn’t know how many monsters lurked within or what kind we would face, but one thing was certain: we had to win.

Inside the city, a red eye glowed in the darkness after noticing Luna’s group’s arrival.