BRAND NEW WORLD

Chapter 83: The New Greatest Raid Begins (Part 4)

As we closed in on the city square, silhouettes gradually emerged through the raging sandstorm.

The swirling sand obscured our vision, making it impossible to see them clearly.

However, as we drew nearer...

A half-serpent woman came into view.

She wore magnificent golden armor, a regal crown adorned with a crimson ruby at its center, and held a radiant Sun Staff in her hand.

The wind suddenly ceased.

The sandstorm spiraled silently around her.

An eerie stillness descended over the battlefield.

"ISIS?! And... OSIRIS?!"

Everyone gasped in unison.

• •

"So my guess was right..." Ringga muttered.

"What do you mean?" Mang Pedo asked.

"While we were resting earlier, I sent several of my summons to scout the entire city," Ringga replied. "And do you know what they found? Every monster left here was one we’ve already encountered."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Kardol asked.

"When I came here two hundred years ago, this place was crawling with boss monsters. But this time, we’ve only encountered the Orc Hero, the Orc General, and the Orc King."

He narrowed his eyes at the figures in the distance.

"When my summons finished scouting the city, they found that there were no bosses left... except Osiris."

Silence fell.

"Then... where are all the other bosses?" Mang Pedo asked.

"I believe they’re all dead," Ringga answered calmly.

"...Dead?"

Mang Pedo stared at him.

"Who killed them? This place has been sealed all this time, hasn’t it?"

Ringga remained silent.

His gaze never left the distant throne.

"The culprit..."

"...is standing right in front of us."

Everyone instinctively turned toward Osiris.

"...You mean Osiris killed them?" Rhadyt asked in disbelief.

"Use Analyze on him," Ringga said.

Hearing his words, I immediately activated my Analyze skill.

"...Huh?"

Level 423?

"What’s so strange about that?" Kardol murmured.

Everyone fell into deep thought.

...

A few moments later—

"Wait...!"

Mang Pedo suddenly cried out.

"His level increased!"

"...Level 423?!"

Rhadyt’s eyes widened.

The realization struck everyone almost simultaneously.

"Are you saying Osiris defeated all the other boss monsters?" Mbah Dukun asked.

"That’s my assumption."

Ringga nodded.

One of the players laughed.

"So what if Osiris killed the other bosses? Isn’t that a good thing? That means less work for us."

Axxel sighed.

"So that you know..."

"Osiris used to be a Level 350 raid boss."

"After surviving for two hundred years..."

"...and defeating every other boss monster here..."

"...he’s now Level 423."

"...Do you understand what that means?"

The smiles on everyone’s faces gradually disappeared.

"..."

"...Wait..."

Key swallowed hard.

"Are you saying..."

"...Osiris can gain EXP and grow stronger?"

Axxel nodded.

"When this was still a game, boss monsters never cooperated."

"They never attacked other monsters."

"They couldn’t gain EXP from killing players either."

"But now..."

"...this world has become reality."

"So naturally..."

"...Osiris can gain experience."

"And continue becoming stronger."

"Isn’t that right, Ga?"

Ringga silently nodded.

The players who had been laughing at Osiris only moments ago now found themselves swallowing nervously.

"So..."

"What do we do now, Ga?" Kardol asked.

Ringga grinned.

"What else?"

"We fight."

"Even if he’s gotten stronger..."

"...we’re still stronger."

"Hahaha."

His confident laugh immediately eased the tension.

Far in the distance...

Osiris slowly raised one hand.

The mummies standing before him instantly dissolved into countless black particles of light.

Three enormous black magic circles appeared upon the ground.

From within them...

Three massive stone coffins slowly emerged.

The lids slid open by themselves.

Three Anubises stepped out.

"Another Anubis?"

One of the players chuckled.

"This’ll be easy."

"...Wait."

"I don’t think he’s finished."

The three Anubises lined up side by side.

Osiris waved his hand once more.

A gigantic black magic circle spread beneath their feet.

Pitch-black shadows erupted from the ground.

They wrapped around all three guardians.

The moment the shadows completely engulfed them...

Their bodies began melting like liquid.

Three masses of black fluid slowly flowed together.

Merged.

Then...

They began taking shape once more.

Silence.

Standing before us...

...was an enormous three-headed Anubis, over eight meters tall.

Six muscular arms extended from its massive body.

Two wielded Ankh Staffs.

Two held Khopesh swords.

One gripped a Crook.

The last held a Flail.

RRRRAAAAGHHHH!!

"What the hell is THAT?!"

"...A three-headed Anubis?!"

Even Axxel’s voice trembled.

Shock spread across everyone’s faces.

Some had already gone pale.

"Hey..."

"Have any of you ever seen that monster before?"

Axxel asked.

"No."

Mbah Dukun slowly shook his head.

"I’ve never fought anything like it."

"I didn’t even know such a monster existed."

"Because it didn’t."

Kardol answered immediately.

"That monster never existed in TNWO."

Mang Pedo turned toward Ringga.

"Ga... what’s the plan?"

Ringga didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he quietly studied the creature before us.

The Anubis that had once been Level 300 had risen to Level 350 after fusing.

The difficulty had increased dramatically.

Not to mention—

Isis was now Level 396.

And...

Osiris had reached Level 444.

After a long silence, Ringga finally spoke.

"Here’s the plan..."

He calmly explained his strategy.

"..."

"..."

When he finished, he looked around at everyone.

"Can you handle it?"

Rhadyt smiled confidently.

"Of course."

"Even if its level has increased, we’ve got plenty of high-level players."

"And there are so many of us."

"With Luna’s buffs, I think we’ll manage."

He paused before asking,

"But what about you two?"

"Are you sure you’ll be alright?"

A trace of concern appeared on his face.

It wasn’t just Rhadyt.

Kardol...

Mang Pedo...

Even the other players couldn’t hide the worry in their expressions.

Kardol suddenly laughed.

"You guys worry too much."

"This is Ringga we’re talking about."

"Right, Ga?"

"Hahaha."

Mang Pedo nodded.

"Kardol’s right."

"We don’t need to worry about those two."

"They’ve still got plenty of trump cards they haven’t shown us."

"...Big Sis Luna."

Shana tugged gently on my sleeve.

"Please... be careful."

"I will."

"You be careful too, alright?"

She threw her arms around me.

I gently returned the embrace.

After a few moments...

She reluctantly let go.

"But how are we supposed to separate them?" someone asked.

"I’ll lure Anubis from a distance."

Mbah Dukun stepped forward.

"Once it comes after me, the tanks will take over."

Several people nodded.

"Sounds good."

"We’ll go with that plan," Kardol agreed.

"And the moment Anubis is drawn away..."

Ringga smiled.

"Luna and I will move."

Everyone immediately drew their weapons.

Meanwhile, I cast every enhancement spell I had.

Warm streams of light enveloped the players one after another.

Their weapons glowed faintly.

Their bodies felt lighter.

Their mana flowed more smoothly.

"..."

"Alright, Kun."

"Go."

Mang Pedo gave the signal.

Mbah Dukun snapped his fingers.

A gigantic fireball—nearly the size of a compact car—materialized above his palm.

With a forward swing of his hand—

The blazing sphere shot straight toward Anubis.

Seeing the incoming attack—

Anubis slammed one of his staffs against the ground.

A towering wall of flames erupted before him.

BOOOOOM!!

The fireball collided with the blazing barrier.

An explosion echoed across the battlefield.

RRRRAAAAGHHH!!

Anubis let out a furious roar.

Then he struck the ground once again.

Several black magic circles spread across the earth.

From each of them—

Seth warriors began emerging one after another.

Anubis extended one of his six arms.

The Seths immediately charged toward us.

Anubis followed close behind.

Ringga grinned.

"The plan worked."

He casually raised two fingers.

"Try not to die."

Without waiting for anyone’s reply—

He snapped his fingers.

Snap.

The scenery around us instantly twisted.

The battlefield disappeared.

Axxel clicked his tongue.

"That guy..."

"He’s still insufferable..."

"...even at a time like this."

He shook his head helplessly.

• •

When the distorted scenery finally stabilized—

I realized Ringga and I were standing only a few meters away from...

Osiris.

And Isis.

Meanwhile...

The moment Luna and Ringga vanished—

The horde of Seths rushed forward.

The DPS players immediately intercepted them.

At the same time—

The three-headed Anubis charged straight toward Mbah Dukun, the one who had provoked him.

With a tremendous leap—

The colossal guardian descended from above.

Its twin Khopesh swords came crashing downward.

Yet...

Mbah Dukun never moved.

Instead...

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

CLANG!!

WHOOOOOSH!!

The impact unleashed a violent shockwave.

But Anubis’s blades stopped...

Exactly one meter away from Mbah Dukun.

An invisible barrier blocked the attack.

Almost simultaneously—

A crimson energy slash swept in from the side.

BAAAM!!

The attack struck Anubis squarely.

The giant guardian was blasted several meters backward.

"Damn..."

"It blocked my attack."

Rhadyt clicked his tongue as he emerged from the side.

Because of its six arms—

Anubis had crossed multiple weapons together, successfully intercepting part of the strike.

RRRRAAAAGHHH!!

The guardian roared.

Several green magic circles immediately formed overhead.

Gigantic lightning spheres—

Each roughly the size of an old television—

Appeared in the air.

With a swing of his staff—

Anubis launched them toward the players.

"The mages!"

Earthen walls rose one after another.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The lightning orbs exploded upon impact, failing to break through the barriers.

Meanwhile—

Kardol and several agile DPS fighters dashed in from the flank.

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

RRRAAAAGHH!!

Anubis screamed in pain.

Enraged—

He slammed his staff into the ground once more.

A circular wall of blazing fire erupted around him, stretching one meter in every direction.

The charging DPS players immediately skidded to a halt.

"Whoa!"

"That was close!"

one of them exclaimed.

"Dukun!"

Kardol shouted.

"Mages!"

"With me!"

Mbah Dukun raised his staff.

Dozens of Fire and Light spells surged toward the towering guardian.

AAARRGGHHH!!

"Don’t give it any breathing room!"

"Keep attacking!"

Rhadyt roared.

The assault continued without pause.

(To be continued in Part 3...)

Anubis swung one of his staffs and blasted several DPS fighters backward.

"Kardol!" someone shouted.

"You guys alright?"

"Yeah... we’re fine!"

The injured players quickly got back on their feet.

But Anubis wasn’t finished.

He raised one of his staffs again.

Several black magic circles appeared in front of him.

Dark oval-shaped projectiles shot out and flew straight toward the mages.

"Barrier!" Mbah Dukun shouted.

A translucent shield formed just in time, blocking most of the attack.

However, a few mages failed to react quickly enough.

The dark projectiles struck them directly.

"AAARGH!!"

The victims collapsed, clutching their heads as if something were burning inside their minds.

"Tanks! DPS! Draw Anubis’s attention away from the mages!" Mang Pedo roared.

"Healers!" Mbah Dukun called.

The healers immediately rushed to the injured mages and began treating them.

Mbah Dukun narrowed his eyes.

So it really attacks the mind...

Back in the game, this skill merely reduced HP like any other attack.

But now that everything has become real...

The victims’ bodies are unharmed, yet they’re suffering as if their minds are being torn apart.

"Is he alright?" Mbah Dukun asked.

"Yeah, he’s getting better," one of the healers replied.

"Good. If he can’t fight yet, move him to the rear first."

The healer nodded.

"Now what, Dol?" Mbah Dukun asked.

"How’s your mana?"

"Still plenty left."

Kardol grinned.

"Good. Then let’s keep bombarding it with Fire and Light magic."

Mbah Dukun nodded.

Kardol immediately dashed toward Anubis once more.

[Earlier at Luna and Ringga]

Seeing them up close, I realized they were much larger than I remembered.

Osiris was roughly two meters tall.

Isis was closer to two and a half.

Were they always this big?

Or is this another effect of their growing power?

Isis struck her Sun Staff against the ground.

"INTRUDERS! WHO ARE YOU TO DARE ENTER THE DOMAIN OF THE GREAT OSIRIS?!"

Her voice was soft...

Yet it carried an undeniable authority.

Osiris and Isis remained seated upon their throne.

Osiris’s left eye glowed crimson.

Part of his face was hidden beneath a tattered dark-purple cloth.

For a brief moment, neither side spoke.

Then—

"AH... YOU’RE THE ONE WHO CAME TO SAVE THE PEOPLE OF THIS CITY BACK THEN."

Osiris’s voice was hoarse, calm, deep, and dignified.

Ringga stepped forward with a smile.

"Oh? You remember me?"

"I’m touched."