"Kalis! You're right on time! The east wall is under the heaviest pressure right now. Please, we're counting on you!" The moment Seren saw him, the tension on his face melted away instantly. His eyes lit up with ecstatic joy as he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Kalis nodded firmly, then turned to his two companions beside him. "Lenore, Eira, let's move out!"
Before the words even left his mouth, the three of them pushed through the crowded throng and sprinted toward the east wall.
"Finally! I get to fight side by side with Kalis and lay waste to our enemies!" Lenore clutched her Holy Tome tightly, her eyes sparkling with excitement, her voice brimming with anticipation.
"He'll be the main damage dealer. Our job will mostly be to top up heals and stack buffs..." Eira's tone was calm, but her fingers tightened slightly around the hilt of her sword, speaking with a clear sense of self-awareness.
"Pfft, there are so many monsters out there, why should he get to hog all the glory?" Lenore turned to her, grinning. "Just activate your Dragon Form and go down there to show off a little, too!"
The residence was packed with people, but it wasn't exactly large. In no time at all, the three of them reached the gate of the east wall.
BOOM!
A deafening crash rang out as a colossal monster slammed its body into the four-meter-high wooden wall. The structure groaned violently, and splinters of wood flew in every direction.
"Level 105 Epic Boss—the Minotaur King! That's a high-tier Epic monster!" Lenore glanced at the monster's info panel and yelled in shock.
No sooner had she spoken than a bolt of lightning came crashing down from the sky out of nowhere.
CRACKLE!
The lightning struck the Minotaur King's head dead-on. The monster, which had been ramming the wall like a mad beast just a second ago, let out a bloodcurdling scream. Its massive body crumpled to the ground with a thunderous thud.
The members of Spheres Crusaders nearby all turned to stare, their voices rising in a chorus of gasps. "Holy crap! What kind of magic was that? The power is insane!"
In the next instant, everyone's eyes locked onto the very top of the city wall, where a male mage clad in a deep blue robe stood tall and proud.
"Level 85 Celestial Mage—Kalis!"
"It's Kalis! Our ace reinforcement is here!"
"Hahaha! Die, you monsters! Charge!!!"
"He soloed a Level 200 Mythic Boss! These low-tier trash don't stand a chance—one hit, one kill! Two hits, two kills!"
Kalis's arrival triggered an immediate chain reaction. The members of Spheres Crusaders, who had been demoralized by wave after wave of deaths, suddenly had their spirits lifted. Their fighting will blaze anew.
"Quick! Stack all the buffs on Kalis!"
"Blessing of Courage!"
"Empowerment!"
In the blink of an eye, dozens of buffs washed over Kalis like a tide, boosting his already formidable stats by a huge margin.
But then...
BOOM!
Just as everyone's attention was fixed firmly on Kalis, a deafening roar shook the very ground beneath their feet. A section of the wooden wall on the far right of the east wall was struck by a devastating blow, splitting open to reveal a gap a meter wide.
"AWOOOOOO—"
Shrill howls filled the air as a pack of demon wolves poured through the breach, charging into the residence in a frenzy.
"Oh no! Hold the gap! Don't let them through!" The legion commander on the wall paled, shouting urgently.
"That's a Level 125 Legendary Boss, the Five-Colored Giant Python!"
Everyone followed the voice, and their eyes widened in horror. The creature that had shattered the wall was a python over fifty meters long and thicker than a water tank, its scales shimmering with an eerie cold light, its forked tongue flickering in and out of its mouth.
With a single whip of its tail, it could send several players flying. Even when NPC soldiers landed hits on it, they barely left a white scratch on its scales, completely unable to drive it back.
Faced with such a terrifying boss monster, the average players, who were only around Level 42, stood no chance at all.
To make matters worse, thousands of low-tier monsters were still battering the walls relentlessly. They simply couldn't spare enough manpower to take on this Legendary Boss.
The sound of splintering wood echoed on and on. The entire residence's walls shook violently, as if they would collapse completely at any moment.
Seeing the desperate situation, Kalis knew he couldn't hold back any longer. He raised his Celestial Staff high and shouted at the top of his lungs. "You lot hold the walls and focus all your fire on clearing the small fry! This boss is mine!"
Without another word, he pulled out a Swiftness Potion and downed it in one gulp. His movement speed instantly skyrocketed to six times that of a normal person.
His figure blurred into a streak of light as he charged straight for the Five-Colored Giant Python.
"Kalis is making his move!"
"Quick! Do as he says, clear the mobs first! Don't let them breach the line!"
"Priests, pay attention! Prioritize shielding and healing, Kalis!"
The crowd reacted swiftly, adjusting their tactics immediately. They concentrated their fire on wiping out the incoming low-tier monsters, and the chaotic battlefield suddenly fell into order.
At the same time, Kalis covered the distance to the Five-Colored Giant Python in just a few strides. His Celestial Staff trembled slightly, ready to unleash an attack. He glanced at the monster's info panel:
[Five-Colored Giant Python (Legendary Boss)]
Level: 125
HP: 2356892/4800000
The boss was already down to less than half its HP. Thanks to the 50% difficulty reduction for this Residence Defense Battle, all the monsters' HP, attack power, and defense stats had been halved accordingly. Even so, the massive level gap made it an insurmountable challenge for ordinary players.
"Magic Missile."
Seeing the python's low HP, Kalis didn't even bother with high-tier skills. He lifted a hand and cast his basic attack.
ZIP!
A missile shot forth with a sharp whistle, blending in seamlessly with the colorful array of skills being unleashed by the surrounding players, completely unremarkable.
But the moment it struck the Five-Colored Giant Python's vital spot dead-on, the monster, which had been thrashing around and smashing the wall just a second ago, let out a piercing shriek. Its enormous body went rigid instantly, convulsed violently a few times, and then slumped to the ground motionless.
[System Notification: You have participated in defeating the Legendary Boss Five-Colored Giant Python. You have received 198560 split experience points and 1950 reputation points.]
The Legendary Boss had already been whittled down by attacks from countless players, so the share of experience awarded to Kalis wasn't very much.
But he didn't care at all. In a defense battle like this, the experience from bosses was just the icing on the cake. The real goldmine of experience lay in the endless tide of low-tier monsters!
"Meteor Shower!"
Having taken care of the boss, Kalis didn't wait for the members of Spheres Crusaders to cheer. He lifted his hand and unleashed an area-of-effect skill.
With a single wave of his staff, the sky darkened abruptly. Countless meteors converged into a rain of fire and slammed down onto the horde of monsters outside the city walls.
The massive 60x60-meter area of effect instantly covered a huge swathe of the monster-infested zone outside the east wall.
Wherever the meteorites fell, whether they were normal monsters or elite ones, they dropped dead instantly. Not a single one lasted even a second, vanishing into a shower of experience points and loot.
[System Notification: You have defeated a Demon Wolf. You have received 2380 experience points.]
[System Notification: You have defeated an Elite Monster—Corrosive Worm. You have received 49680 experience points.]
[System Notification: You have defeated...]
System notifications flooded the screen nonstop. One single skill had wiped out over a hundred monsters! And this was just the beginning!
"Kalis is invincible!!!"
"He's too strong! One skill wipes out a whole group—this is the power of a top-tier player?"
"Insane damage and massive AoE range! This is ridiculous!"
The clean, effortless way he had taken down the boss and cleared the mobs en masse sent the members of Spheres Crusaders into a frenzy. Cheers of elation rang out on all sides.
"Ice Lance!"
"Fireball!"
"Armor-Piercing Slash!"
"Gale Blade!"
Kalis ignored the cheers of the crowd. He pushed off the wall with the tip of his foot, leaped down, charged straight out of the residence, vaulted over the line of knight players outside the walls, and dove headfirst into the heart of the monster horde.
"Kalis, be careful! The monsters deeper inside are higher level and hit like a truck!"
"Priest squad, follow him! We have to keep Kalis's HP topped up at all costs!"
Seeing him charge fearlessly into the fray, everyone panicked, scrambling to follow and provide backup.
But Kalis's voice echoed from the edge of the monster swarm. "Don't worry about me! My defense is more than enough to hold. Just focus on dealing with the monsters about to break into the residence!"
With that, he increased his speed once more, vanishing instantly into the dense sea of monsters.
"Good grief, Kalis is such a daredevil!"
"This is what confidence born from absolute strength looks like? This is insane!"
Watching his figure disappear into the horde, everyone stared in stunned disbelief.
At that moment, Lenore and Eira, who had been watching Kalis's display of power, could no longer contain themselves.
"Dammit! Kalis is hogging all the action again! Eira, activate your Dragon Form right now! I'll cover you with buffs and heals!" Lenore tightened her grip on her Holy Tome, her voice tinged with a hint of competitive stubbornness.
"Got it!" Eira replied without hesitation. Before she finished speaking, blazing red light erupted from her body. She let out a low shout and activated her innate skill—Dragon Form.
"ROAR—"
A deep, resonant dragon's roar shook the heavens. Eira's height surged to over two meters. Her body became covered in a layer of crimson dragon scales, and the long sword in her hand glowed with faint dragon flames. Her stats underwent a qualitative leap.
"Here I come!"
Following Kalis's example, she leaped down from the city wall and charged straight into the monster horde.
"Whoa! What kind of skill is that? That form is so cool!" The nearby members of Spheres Crusaders gaped at her dragon-human form, letting out exclamations of envy.
Eira plunged into the fray, sweeping her sword in a wide arc as she unleashed her Dragon Warrior-exclusive skills in a relentless barrage.
Four-digit damage numbers popped up above the monsters' heads one after another. While she couldn't one-shot them like Kalis, she could easily mow down swathes of monsters that were already wounded or at half health.
"Die!"
A Level 100 Elite Monster, a one-eyed giant wielding a massive battleaxe, spotted Eira's figure. It roared furiously, raised its axe, and charged at her, intent on cutting her down. But when its axe slammed into Eira's dragon scales, it only let out a loud clang, dealing a measly 486 damage points.
"Minor Heal!" Lenore's reflexes were lightning-fast. She lifted her hand and cast a healing spell immediately. A faint blue barrier enveloped Eira, restoring her HP to full in an instant.
"Hmph, my turn!" A thrill of excitement curled Eira's lips upward. She spun around, raised her sword, and charged straight at the one-eyed giant, ready to take on the elite monster single-handedly.
Just then, a collective gasp went up from the crowd.
"Look over there!"
"Is that... a tornado?!"
"It's Kalis! He's unleashed his ultimate move!"