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DING-!
With a chime that had become extremely familiar,
=====
[Worldwide Ranking]
==
([Overall]) [Monsters Hunted] [Individual Contribution]
(AN: Overall is bracketed because it is currently being displayed)
==
1. Black Rain Order
2. The Veil
3. Miracle Confederacy
4. Red Moon Republic
5. False Prophet Association
6. The Freaks
7. Honour-bound Federation
8. The Abominations
9. Forsaken Alliance
10. The Gifted
11. ...
12. ...
...
....
And so on, the list continued up to a hundred, but because Samuel wasn't interested in it anymore, the Black Rain Order gaited out of the safe zone with a strong presence emitting from them, which pushed aside those who stood in their path.
Though Samuel didn't like what they were doing, he didn't have a choice because if he appeared to be too weak, then he and his group would become pushovers, and that wasn't something he would let happen just because he didn't "like" something.
And everything about him outwardly displayed how he was and how strong his group was, so he couldn't be weak, since the belief was that "hurting the unknown is always better than hurting the trusted," so he lived up to his belief and acted like a tyrant towards the unknown and like a sovereign when amongst those who trusted him.
"How much time will it take for us to arrive at the undead gate?" Samuel inquired.
"If we rush without using our teleportation scrolls, then around 15 minutes, half an hour if he walked at our pace, and around five minutes, at maximum, if we ran." Bert replied.
"Let's use a wider-area teleportation scroll." Samuel commanded.
"Yes, sir!" Bert exclaimed as Garrick took out a teleportation scroll from his inventory and ripped it before any players gathered in the scroll's AOE, area of effect.
WHOOOOMMM-!!
And all five of them disappeared in a blur, as those around them turned green in envy, because a teleportation scroll cost a fortune—1000 achievement points—and it was a normal scroll's price, not a wide area scroll's, which cost twice as much.
*
By the next instant,
The five appeared in front of a gate that had formed in an abandoned area that was in ruins, like everything around the world. Though a year had passed, the survivors didn't have the leisure to create everything from scratch while also learning to protect themselves. Everything that was razed to the ground and left in ruins continued to stay the same, while a few built themselves houses, which were later morphed into a safe zone with the system's acknowledgement.
Resisting the urge to puke, all five stood their ground as they stared at fifty or more people standing in front of an ominous gate with small smiles on their faces, which reflected anticipation.
Of course, it was only natural because they were informed that those five would go to the safe zone in their group's premises to check on the rankings, and there was only one way to blow out the flame of curiosity ignited in them, and that was by answering them.
"We are ranked first." Samuel stated with a smile on his face, showing small hints of vulnerability and openings in his stance and defence, showing them how much he trusted them, those in his group, which warmed their hearts as they began to roar loudly and cheerfully.
Though the results were as they expected, it didn't mean that they couldn't get excited upon hearing the news from Samuel, who was a literal angel and a star that shone in their pitiful, dark-dyed world, leading them in a right, righteous way.
A few minutes later, the cheers gradually died down, and Samuel announced that it was time to enter the undead gate after ordering them to gear up. The current group was more proficient in the arrowhead formation, which was the most basic yet efficient formation. Their formation contained tanks as the vanguard, an effective amount of damage dealers behind them, spear users, and sword users, with spearmen as the primary damage dealers since they could thrust their spears through whichever gap they could find to assist the tanks, but this didn't mean that the sword users were useless because they were to protect both the tanks and the spearmen when enemies cornered them.
Behind the damage dealers were only three healers, geared up with defensive and protective armours, mana usage reduction tinkering, and artefacts, with long-range damage dealers, archers and mages behind them, launching strong attacks from behind and keeping a keen eye out for all variables that could appear in their surroundings, and finally, at the rear-guard, a few tanks and damage dealers protected, defended, and fought against everything hostile that came from behind.
[#;?!/ Undead Dungeon]
Was what was displayed on top of the gate that oozed ominousness, and for whatever reason the strange marks were only visible to Samuel, and he was also the only one that felt an eerie feeling while in the presence of that gate.
And no, he didn't think that he was seeing or imagining things and other dumbsh*t along those lines; he discussed that with the others, and they have made preparations for the extreme outcome; whatever was going to happen inside the gate was left upon them after this, and "things inside the dungeons are ALWAYS unpredictable," which is a fact that is to be kept in mind at all times.
"March!" Samuel roared as he stood vanguard for the vanguard.
"Rah!!!" With a loud roar of unison, the Black Rain Order stomped their feet before beginning to match into the dungeon.
As soon as they all disappeared into the dungeon,
[The Black Rain Order is attempting to clear Anubis's Undead Dungeon!]
[Affiliated God, Anubis, is notified!]
*
With solemn gaits, the group of fifty-four analysed the terrain, and before long
"Monsters found in a 500-metre radius: None. Atmosphere: Damp. Terrain: Seemingly dead, rotten, and barren. Assessment is hard!" Bert reported his findings, Samuel thanked him, placed his left battle axe behind his back, and used his senses to detect even the slightest of abnormalities. It wasn't because he didn't trust Bert, but because he was far more sensitive when it came to detecting danger, and since everybody knew about that fact, none retorted.
"Northwest, 370 metres!" Samuel roared, and understanding his command, the long-range damage dealers casted spells and nocked their arrows before firing them as tanks stomped their shields on the ground, securing their Northwest defence.
"Bert! Use your ability; I think it's stealth!" Samuel commanded; he was only roaring because the undead didn't have hearing perception, and even if they did, their fight against them was only going to get accelerated; that was it.
"16 stealth undead at Northwest!" Bert was now able to get a proper glimpse of the dangers lurking closely.
A small number of thick streaks of bright green and orange lights flitted across the sky before
BOOM-!
THUCK-!
CHICK-!
.....
....
Arrows and fireballs soon annihilated the threat. Bert apologised for taking it easy in the gate and was once again reminded that a gate was unpredictable and it was better to be safe than sorry. Of course, since it was the first time they were in an undead gate, a few who thought that undead were nothing but ignitable bones began to think twice after learning that they were using stealth, so they put up their guard, but none blamed Bert, and a few even apologised for taking it easy like Bert.
[Thanks for that, Bert; thanks to you, we'll be able to be more alert now.] Samuel thanked Bert telepathically. Bert always had an astute mind, which had always been helpful when dealing with their enemies or allies, and the "miss" just now too was a gig played by Bert to alert those he observed and analysed to be taking it easy. If Samuel didn't know about Bert, then he too would have fallen for Bert's gig.
'The excluded killing intent was too strong for Bert to not notice....' Samuel thought inwardly, and when he glanced back and found Bert smiling while shaking his head, Samuel concluded that his thoughts were true and he had intentionally not warned about the stealthy undead since he trusted Samuel enough to take these minute risks.
[No biggie] Bert responded back telepathically.
Samuel began to analyse the terrain more closely, because when he had sensed the stealthy undead just now, an eerie feeling crept up his heart for an instant before disappearing. Though it was only an instant, it was enough to make Samuel get alerted, as he was responsible for approximately fifty lives, and it sure wasn't a small burden bearing down on him.
The sky was dark, while on the outside it was still afternoon, and the atmosphere felt sticky, sticky enough for them to want to create distance between each other. The ground, their footing, was hard yet squishy at times, as if it were waiting for a certain moment to devour them whole. This sensation was felt by many, and since their senses seemed to have dulled, they couldn't figure out what was reality and what was their imagination.
"!!!!" Samuel's eyes dilated at the realisation!
'The moisture in the air is poison!'
It was from then on, the real raid began.
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