"Dream Avenue. The final challenge begins. All of you will be candidates participating in: Bridal Dance!"
"The rules are simple: Defeat Venuoav while protecting the statue!"
As the rules rang through the battlefield, the players were confused. What statue was C talking about? However, their question was quickly answered as a burst of smoke suddenly exploded in the centre of the stronghold.
After the smoke dissipated, everyone could see a tall statue of a radiant bride in a flowing white dress. Her smooth skin and sunny smile appeared extremely lifelike.
"Wow, she's beautiful!"
"I swear to defend her with my life!"
[Bleary Mirage: The fight has already started! Full focus!]
Just as Liam warned his guild members, Venuoav floating in the sky let out a piercing scream. The zombies outside the stronghold froze for a moment before suddenly forming orderly rows and advancing like a disciplined army. The melee players sticking close to the stronghold's walls realized that the difficulty was about to increase considerably. The difference between a chaotic crowd and a somewhat orderly army was not small.
The ranged players standing on the walls attacked without pause. Under their relentless fire the zombies would take a while until they reached the wall. But as their numbers increased constantly it was only a matter of time.
[Cyclone: Expert, what's the plan now?]
[Liam: It's time to stop holding back. We have a stockpile of potions so let the players use all their skills! We also need to spend our points. Build a solid defence for the statue and buy two ballistae.]
[Cyclone: Should we get a magic cannon?]
[Bleary Mirage: Hmm, I think that's too expensive. Perhaps we can save the points. Don't forget that we have a large lead. We are not pressed for time. Let's do this steadily!]
[Balm: Mayve we can use Lekraxc's spell?]
[Bleary Mirage: Definitely!]
The players discussed a bit more before getting to work. While Cyclone took care of the construction, creating a small temple-like building made from solid stone around the statue, Balm activated Lekraxc's skill.
The old troll shaman stood together with the other NPCs in the centre of the stronghold, not far from the statue. He had been calmly watching the fight when he suddenly received a signal.
"Oh, my turn already? Well, let me move those old bones."
Lekraxc stretched his body and lightly tapped his feet. He slowly floated into the sky. Suddenly he felt a piercing gaze. He looked up, staring at the world boss. Venuoav shivered and swiftly averted her eyes. Balm noticed the exchange and sighed. It was a pity that Lekraxc couldn't attack freely, or the Dark Bride wouldn't stand a chance.
Unfortunately, Lekraxc could only use one spell in the guild war. He stopped after floating above the stronghold's wall and waved his heavy staff while muttering incantations. Quickly, a massive magic circle formed in the air. It shone in a violent blue light giving one the impression of facing a raging ocean.
After absorbing a massive amount of mana the magic circle fell silent for a moment. Suddenly a huge torrent of water began to flow out of it. Crashing into the ground it spread over a large area, creating towering waves which washed away everything in their path. The zombies stood no chance and were pushed to the bottom of the hill where the spell reached the limits of its range.
As Lekraxc revealed his might about a fourth of the battlefield was covered in a violent ocean making it impossible for the zombies to attack from that side.
Having done his job Lekraxc slowly floated back down to the ground. The magic circle remained, keeping up the raging torrent for a long time. Thanks to Lekraxc Dream Avenue could pull away the players defending that side, concentrating fire on the other three sides. Although the number of zombies increased as well, for a while they couldn't prevent themselves from getting pushed back.
Meanwhile the other three guilds watched with great interest. They were considering whether it was worth it interfering with Dream Avenue's fight. Unfortunately, they didn't know about the statue. They thought that the content of the last challenge was defeating the world boss.
"Even if we send them a few spells, do you think it's enough to cause them to lose?"
"Well, I could give a better guess if I knew how strong that boss is."
"I say we just watch. I think we shouldn't be concerned about the ranking anymore. Let's finish this guild war and then make use of the information I got from the library."
"Sure."
The discussion between Fat Tiger and Glorious Sunrise ended quickly. However, Sevrance and Miss I never Miss were more reluctant. Eventually they had to come to the conclusion that their points were too precious. They couldn't waste them here.
Mountain Lord had a similar thought. Yet he still harboured hope of snatching first place. He decided to wait until his guild would start the fifteenth challenge and act according to the strength of the boss. Yet right then he had to watch with a solemn expression as Lekraxc blocked a quarter of the battlefield with his spell, realizing that Dream Avenue still had tricks up their sleeves.
While the other guild leaders were watching Dream Avenue, Cyclone and Balm wore wary expressions. They glanced between the boss floating in the sky and the other battlefields.
"What are we supposed to do? That stupid boss isn't coming down! We can't reach her!"
"I know. And the other guilds might attack us any moment now. We need to end the fight swiftly!"
[Cyclone: Expert! How do we get that boss to come down?]
[Bleary Mirage: Be patient for a bit. There should be a change soon.]
[Silent Acacia: That boss is a cheat. She just stays in the sky and sends zombies. Not even my arrows can reach her.]
It was not only the friends who became impatient as the seconds ticked by. Their fellow guild members were also frowning as they dully mowed down hordes of zombies.
Finally, there was a change. Incomprehensible whispers suddenly came from Venuoav's mouth, spreading through the battlefield. Some zombies when perceiving these whispers had their eyes light up with blue flames. Their bodies grew stronger, and they forged towards the stronghold with renewed vigour.
[Bleary Mirage: Focus on them! Melees be careful. They will explode before dying!]
There was no need for more explanations. Everyone knew who Bleary Mirage was referring to. Immediately there was a shift in the attack patterns. Countless skills rained down on the new kind of zombies.
However, those proved to be extraordinarily resilient. Those in the lead almost made it all the way towards the stronghold before finally dying.
Boom!
Heavy explosions shook the entire hill. Blue flames erupted and shot towards the sky, incinerating the surroundings. The zombies caught in the explosion were flung away at best and directly turned to ashes at worst.
"Damn, get away!"
"Careful!"
A few of the melee players underestimated the explosion and got caught in the flames, swiftly losing hundreds of HP. However, this was nothing compared to what the Dark Bride had to deal with. Every time one of the awakened zombies died, she would suffer a backlash, losing 500HP.
"AH! Insolent mortals! Know your place!"
Venuoav screeched angrily as her HP were reduced by more than 5000 points within a single minute. Suddenly she vanished and reappeared amidst the zombie hordes.
"Careful! The boss is coming!"
"Finally! Quick, focus her!"
[Bleary Mirage: Stop! Only those directly facing the boss attack her! The rest keep focusing the zombies with blue flames!]
Liam quickly brought some order into the guild. They kept focusing on the zombies as this was a more efficient way to hurt the boss. Meanwhile he himself climbed on top of one of the towers where Cyclone had placed a new ballista. Liam manned the strong siege weapon and began sniping the zombies. Each shot was a kill, dealing another 500 points of damage to the world boss.
"AH!"
Venuoav let out an angry screech. Like a spectre she weaved between the zombies and rushed towards the stronghold. A moment later she appeared in front of the players. The Dark Bride raised her skeletal hand high and swiped in the direction of the stronghold. Black rose petals appeared out of nowhere, shooting towards the players. When they touched anything, they crumbled into fine powder which dealt continuous damage to those it adhered to.
"Careful! Don't crowd!"
"Make some space!"
"Gnetic, let's go!"
Immediately there came movement into the crowd. Two tanks stepped forward. One of them, a towering orc called Gnetic, used his skills to draw the boss's aggro while the other, a petite woman called Swirling Waves, protected the other players.
Under the lead of the two tanks the other melee players also fearlessly rushed towards the boss, drowning her in skills from all sides. However, as the boss demanded so much attention, she made it easy for the zombies to push forward. Soon, the players were in danger of being overwhelmed and could only retreat towards the stronghold.