The battle was tricky, even professional players like Des' teammates found it difficult to deal with. After the first field boss went down by random attacks of 20,000 players, casualties on the defender side occurred.

Once one of the black slimes invaded the soul mind of Reeman, the latter was killed a few seconds later by a stray sword wave of a kobold.

After Reeman's avatar was dead, the monster soul, who had possessed Reeman earlier, jumped toward another player nearby and froze the latter's activities, forcing him to fight the slime in his mind s.p.a.ce.

The players were not defenseless vegetables. As they witnessed that these bosses were not invincible against their joint attacks, the players formed teams without anyone commanding them. Each side designated its target and focused their strikes on it.

*BOOM*

Soon, many field bosses' HP depleted in succession. These dying kobold howled in pain, but they ejected more black slimes to attack the nearest players.

This time, a few of the dead kobolds hosted more than one black slime. Each of them scattered and possessed more players.

These field bosses were also as smart as the players. When they noticed that their comrades invaded the mind s.p.a.ces and stopped all movements of the possessed, a dozen kobolds leapt onto the wall where the possessed located and killed these players on the spot.

A chain reaction followed as black slimes ejected from the dead players and jumped into the other defenders' bodies nearby.

The same dozen kobolds pinpointed the frozen players and sent them back to the resp.a.w.n point. Then, the same black slimes continued to jump.

The never-ending circle of events expanded to other sections of the wall as more kobolds died.

Still, the players counter-attacked well. For every 20 players dead, one of the kobolds was defeated.

The battle of attrition became disadvantageous for the players as the siege battle went on. After 5 minutes, 3,000 players were sent to their resp.a.w.n points, but only 100 kobolds were dead. Moreover, over 200 black slimes were possessing players in secret, sabotaging their battle potential.

.

.

[Boss, we need your help on the frontline. The players are dying left and right.]

One of Misha's guild members, a player from Natalie's server, requested Misha and Natalie for help.

"Okay. I'll be right there in a moment."

Misha entrusted the NPCs to Natalie and the mercenary kobolds. As for herself and all other guild members, they rushed toward the frontline to a.s.sist the defense line.

.

.

"CHAIN LIGHTNING!!"

Electricity branches connected all kobolds together, stunning 20 of them at once.

Sasha turned away from the paralyzed kobolds, looking distressed as she was observing the battlefield.

Players kept getting killed left and right because of the combination between kobolds and the jumping black slimes. Whenever a black slime changed its target, the defenders would lose one person. Even if the players managed to solo against the invading souls, they would usually die a few moments later as kobolds always targeted the stunned victims.

Sasha, too, was possessed a few times. Fortunately, mind s.p.a.ce battles were not a threat to her as she killed all black slimes in one hit. As a result, no kobold could harm her.

But still, these field bosses possessed intelligence. They marked Sasha as a difficult opponent and avoided fighting her head-on. Whenever a black slime possessed her, it was mostly an evasive maneuver to distract her while the other kobolds murdered the weaker players.

30 Minutes into the fight, half of the players were gone. Many rushed back to the scene, but kobolds, who managed to gain a foothold on the battlements, dispatched these players instantly. 

*VHOOM*

*FSHAAARRRRKK*

Critical! 22,126!

A lightning sword in Sasha's hand beheaded another kobold, reducing its HP to zero.

Then, as usual, a black slime jumped into her mind s.p.a.ce.

Sasha had already steeled herself, waiting for the intruder. Upon seeing the black slime soldier, Sasha locked her s.p.a.ce, turning it red.

Afterward, red lightning struck the soul.

*BOOM*

Without mercy, Sasha killed it in one strike. She did not bother absorbing the soul fragments, but the demi-fairy immediately returned her conscience to the real body in-game.

As soon as Sasha's avatar opened her eyes, she leapt backward.

>

>

>

Sasha ignored the game notification.

*BOOM*

A sword wave landed at the place she had stood. The attack exploded upon hitting the stone wall, shattered the walkway into rubble.

The shockwave of the attack caused a cloud of whirlwind dust, which covered the surrounding area around Sasha.

Yet, the girl's eyes locked onto the new enemy before her.

A kobold soldier plunged at Sasha's direction, appearing at Sasha's 9 o'clock.

"FORCE FIELD!!"

Similar to Misha's [Flame Field], Sasha's force field created a shockwave and knocked back the kobold.

The shockwave did not cause damage-over-time like Misha. However, it stunned the kobold, as it had the same attribute as her favorite skill, chain lightning.

Not missing this chance, Sasha summoned a lightning sword and wielded it like a lightsaber. She slashed at the kobold horizontally, cutting its neck.

*FSHAAARRRRKK*

Critical! 23,006!

Whenever Sasha attacked a kobold with her lightning sword, she never slashed it once or twice.

Critical! 21,777!

Critical! 22,632!

Critical! 22,951!

The shockwave only stunned the kobold for 2 seconds, but it was enough for Sasha to get a good attack at its neck 4 times.

*AWOOOO*

The kobold had less than 60% HP left, but its body glowed in red light, getting into a frenzied state. All of its attributes got boosted, and the speed of the boss got faster.

At the same time, Sasha summoned a lightning ball as she backpedaled, keeping a distance from the boss. She planned if the kobold pursued her, she would stun it with a lightning ball. Then, she would repeat the same attack sequence.

Still, it was only a backup plan.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

In this battle, Sasha's 3D sense was always active. She knew that players were coming to support her from behind, but they could not shoot or use their skills because she was too close to the boss. Everyone was afraid of the friendly fire.

555!

467!

999!

Bullets of various sizes punctured through the kobold's body, making it staggering backward.

Unfortunately, they were not enough to kill this kobold. It gathered its strength into its sword and weaved it at the supporting players' direction.

*BOOM*

A sword wave sliced through 5 players, who were a.s.sisting Sasha.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Five more explosions occurred and killed 20 more players.

The counterattack of the kobold was troublesome. Yet, five more kobolds climbed on top of the battlement where Sasha was protecting.

"Ugh!"

Even Sasha groaned in frustration as her section suddenly got overrun.

Suddenly,

"Firestorm!"

A fire tornado engulfed the five kobolds, taking it to the sky and burnt it alive.

200!

200!

200!

As usual, the damage was minimal, but it kept on nibbling the HP of all kobolds in the storm as well as carrying them away from the city wall.

Shurka, who managed to clear the enemies in her sector, was flying as she cast her spells at any kobold she saw. Coincidentally, she rescued Sasha without realizing it.

She did not bother tanking for other players as her PF was limited. Spending all of it for generating barrier HP was not efficient.

Besides, her eggcat partner, Mii, had other ideas.

From time to time, Shurka swooped down and knocked a kobold off the wall. While she was at it, Mii's tentacles, which extended from Shurka's back, collected all dropped items from players and dead bosses into her inventory in secret.

*Mii

Although Mii was doing all the dirty work, Shurka was not idle either. In the past, she usually talked to Crystal during the close-beta when she had free time. Afterward, Shurka learned many things from Crystal, including the latter's traits.

"Another 3-Star item over there!"

*Mii!* (Got it!)

"A batch of upgrade stones at 3 o'clock!"

*Mii!* (Taken!)

Like a looting machine, the two coordinated, grabbing as many items they could whenever they landed on top of the wall. Once they emptied the place, Shurka flew and continued fighting against kobolds, maximizing her gain in both EXP and items.

Moreover…

"Get over here!"

Twenty flame tentacles extended from Shurka's skin as if she were a porcupine. All extra arms latched on all dead bodies and pulled them toward herself so that all items on them could be looted.

All of Shurka's feat was unnoticed by the players as the battle was too chaotic. However, it did not escape Sasha's eyes and her 3D sense.

'That girl is going to loot me penniless if I die here! Did she pick up Crystal's cheapskate housewife trait!? No, she's more like a bandit now.'

Sasha dreaded the consequence if she died by a kobold. Sasha could see that Shurka did not pay attention to her party members or the overall situation but the loot and nearby kobolds.

.

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"NYAHAHA!!"

Moo was jumping around in joy as he killed another kobold. As soon as he confirmed that his target's HP was zero, he dragged a clueless player from another guild as his s.h.i.+eld.

"HEY! LET GO!"

The player panicked as he was in the middle of shooting a kobold with his rifle. But his struggle lasted for a second before a black slime entered his soul s.p.a.ce.

As soon as the player's concentration and movement stopped, another kobold lunged at him as if they knew that he was vulnerable.

"Gotcha, nya!"

Thrown from Moo's hands, a spear flew toward the kobold and penetrated its head.

Critical! Armor Break! Penetration! 75,352!

Moo's damage output was the most eye-catching among all players as he had obtained the soul hunter subcla.s.s from the previous quest. Combined with the felionian's perks of ignoring the enemy's defense, any ordinary attack from Moo was always devastating. 

"Hey! That's my prey, nya!"

Non was around the area as well. The kobold that Moo had attacked was the boss that she was targeting.

In anger that her the aggro was stolen by Moo, Non plunged at her target. A spear in her hands thrust forward and entered through the kobold's b.u.t.tock, punctured through its stomach. Then, the spear tip exited through its mouth.

This was one of Non's personal skills.

Brutality! 99,999!

Similar to Moo's performance, Non's damage output was off the chart every time she aimed for a nasty finis.h.i.+ng blow.

The HP of the kobold became zero.

Again, Moo dragged the dazed player as his s.h.i.+eld, placing him between Moo and the dead kobold.

As Moo had predicted, another black slime entered the unfortunate player's mind s.p.a.ce.

Seeing the action of her teammate, Non screamed in anger, "Not again! That slime is my kill!"

"Slowpoke doesn't get a kill, nya!" Moo laughed at Non.

"What kill? You always dragged a bystander as a s.h.i.+eld. How can you kill a black slime when you don't fight in the mind s.p.a.ce battle?"

"Nyahaha! This genius me doesn't need to wait for a black slime to invade my soul s.p.a.ce, nya! All I have to do is … watch this!"

Moo pulled the dazed player toward the others, who were in a trance because of soul battles in their mind s.p.a.ces. The apathy syndrome patients gathered into a large group.

Non realized what Moo was trying to do. She turned around and got into a fighting stance.

Soon, ten more kobolds rushed at them.

"As I thought, nya. These doges can detect soul battles."

"So you bait them? Why don't you kill them if you can do it, nya?"

"Do you think it's that easy!? I almost died the last time I fought that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, nya!"

*BOOM*

As the two cats were bickering among themselves, Des, a leporian who dressed like a ninja, appeared behind the ten kobolds and backstabbed them in a flash.

5,555!

5,555!

5,555!

The damage was not comparable to Moo or Non's output, but they added up.

"Pay attention, you two kittens! We're in the middle of combat!"

The two cats turned around and meowed in protest, "I KNOW, NYA!"

.

.

Although Misha's elite party managed to stop the invasion in their zone of protection, other players did not have as much experience dealing with multi-dimension battles like them.

If kobolds killed the players, they would resp.a.w.n and come back to fight. There was no problem with that.

However, what would happen if they died in the soul s.p.a.ce battle?

Soon, as the battle expanded, players began dying in their soul s.p.a.ces.