"It has over one million HP!" Halls said bewildered by the fact. It was the first time he had seen a boss monster with such a massive amount of HP. Also, the boss monster itself was huge compared to other bosses he had faced!
"We've already defeated quite a few normal and elite monsters, yet we have not come across anything that even resembles a Returning Shard." Valentine said with a frown on his face. "Could it be that defeating a boss truly is the only way to obtain it?"
"There's still the possibility that the story I told before and this Returning Shard have nothing to do with each other. After all, it's only mere speculation with very little information provided. In fact, the Returning Shard the voice mentioned may not even be a real shard. There's also the chance that the voice was speaking metaphorically. We have too little to go on." Zi Yi said with a slightly frustrated voice.
There had to be something they were overlooking. Let's stop for a moment and say that Zi Yi was correct. How could anyone else who reached this point and had not been to the library within Amaharpe know about it? The system would not be that unfair, even if it was an SS-ranked quest. Therefore, there must be something that they were overlooking. The question was, what are they missing?
"Whether or not this boss will grant us a Returning Shard, we will find out once we defeat it, right?" Guan Yu said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He felt that they were overthinking and overcomplicating things.
"It's not that simple. We still are unsure of-" As Zi Yi was speaking, she was cut off.
"He's right." Izroth said which surprised everyone.
"I am?" Guan Yu said as he blinked a few times with a slight look of confusion on his face. Most of the time, he just said whatever was on his mind without thinking about it.
"We have no other leads at the moment. Second, guessing ourselves at this point will only lead to more confusion and hesitation. Also, we will indeed receive an answer to our question after defeating the boss. Be it a favorable or unsatisfying answer, it will nonetheless be an answer." Izroth said in a carefree manner.
"You- Of course we'll receive an answer. But, what about the other guilds and players? They won't just sit back and let us freely claim a rare boss. If one of the top guilds decides to make a move, then we can only dream about claiming that boss." Zi Yi said.
Zi Yi felt that she was being realistic. She knew that everyone within this party was strong, especially Izroth. However, she felt that even Izroth would not be able to face a top guild who had hundreds or even thousands of players, most of which were either veterans or at an above average skill level. It was simply impossible for them as a party of six to go against a top guild by themselves.
"Hmph, so what about top guilds? My brother nor any of us are afraid of some top guild." Halls said.
"It's not about being afraid, it's about having common sense!" Zi Yi quickly retorted. Honestly, she felt as if she were talking to a brick wall!
"If you have any other leads or plans, I'm open to suggestions. However, we will proceed as planned otherwise. Of course, I will not force anyone to accompany me to fight against the boss." Izroth said as he set his gaze upon Zi Yi. He respected that she spoke her mind and Izroth understood her perspective. She was only thinking about their overall safety and best interest.
Zi Yi looked towards Luna with pleading eyes. If anyone else here had some form of common sense, it would have to be her. She could not think of any other alternative besides continuing to wait, which did not seem as if it would be accepted as a plan.
However, Luna only gave a helpless smile and slightly shook her head as if saying Zi Yi should just give in. This was a party full of headstrong individuals who did not care about any future consequences.
Zi Yi let out a long sigh as she threw her hands up in defeat. "Alright, fine. But don't say that I didn't warn you guys!"
"You say that like you are not going to accompany us." Valentine said with a small grin on his face.
"Who said that I'm not going?!" Zi Yi snapped back which caused Valentine to chuckle.
Izroth nodded, "Then, it's decided. We will proceed as planned."
...
"It's a rare boss!" One of the players on the frontline said with a voice full of disbelief. Majority of the players had yet to see even a single rare boss and now there was one before them. It did not take long before a look of greed flashed through their eyes.
"This is a rare opportunity! We can't let this chance slip away!" One of the guild leaders of a smaller guild said. The guild leader, as well as, the thirty members of his guild started to make their way towards the Brooding Behemoth Basbus.
Just like that small guild, many other players and smaller guilds started to slowly move in the direction of the rare event boss. While there were still monsters swarming towards Amaharpe, some groups of players had pulled away to fight the Brooding Behemoth Basbus. This left various spaces and cracks for monsters to slip through.
However, this sector belonged to Blue Oasis and they were well prepared for a situation like this. The person in charge of this particular area, Minus, had already created a secondary line of defense behind the casual players. After all, a large guild like Blue Oasis had plenty of members at their disposal.
As for Minus himself, he had already given the order to inform Asgard about the appearance of the Brooding Behemoth Basbus. He rushed over to prepare to engage the boss monster with twenty-three other members of Blue Oasis.
"I'll remind all of you that you're within the sector that belongs to my Blue Oasis! Unless you wish to cause yourselves trouble, I would suggest you disperse immediately and go back to your previous position!" Minus voice echoed loudly throughout the battlefield. He used a low-grade magic item to increase the volume of his voice so that everyone within the immediate vicinity could hear him.
When the smaller guilds and random parties heard that statement, their facial expressions darkened. He was asking them to willingly hand over a rare event boss! Not only would this boss drop rare items, but it was also bound to give a massive amount of points towards the event. Defeating this rare boss would give them a chance to compete in points with some of those top players.
However, was one boss worth permanently offending Blue Oasis? There was no guarantee that their party would be the one to claim the boss and, in the end, Blue Oasis still had the highest chance of succeeding. So if they went out of their way just to fail and still became enemies with Blue Oasis, it would not be worth it.
This was even more so for the smaller guilds trying to rise up within RML. Who would want to get on the bad side of a top guild?
Although many of them protested, no one was willing to be the first to make a move after that statement. Even though no one left back to their previous positions, they did not start an assault against the Brooding Behemoth Basbus.
"It seems that your common sense is still intact." Minus said. He knew that such a fear tactic would work on these smaller guilds and random parties, however, it would not work against the other top guilds. Minus was well-informed of the deal made between Blue Oasis and the other top guilds when it came to boss monsters during the event.
The agreement was that all boss monsters, no matter which guild's sector it was in, would be up for grabs by any top guild. Of course, no top guild was willing to go out of their way to compete over regular bosses. However, a rare boss was another story entirely.
The reason Minus sent that message to Asgard was due to the fact that the other guilds definitely had a pair of eyes in everyone other top guild's sector exactly for moments like this. Therefore, it would not be too long until the neighboring top guilds discovered the existence of the rare boss and raced over.
"Alright everyone, we don't have much time until the other guilds arrive. I've already sent word to guild leader Asgard regarding the current situation. However, it will be up to us to secure this boss since we were assigned to this area." Minus said a red glove on his right hand with a small red orb embedded into it began to glow.
"Let's-" Just as Minus was about to give the order to engage, he heard a voice sound from in front of him.
"Captain Minus, a party has just engaged the boss monster!" One of the tanks from Blue Oasis said with a hint of shock in his voice. Who had the guts to openly deny a captain of Blue Oasis some face?
Minus frowned, "Impossible... The other top guilds should not have been able to arrive at this location so fast." During the event, one had to send messages on foot. Hence, it would be a while before anyone could respond.
"It's unlikely. Instead, they seem to be a normal party. I don't believe that they belong to any particular top guild." One of the Blue Oasis members who was well informed about the rosters of the top guilds said.
Minus was surprised. However, he knew that there might still be one or two idiotic parties that wanted to test their luck and did not care about the consequences of their actions. So even though he was surprised, it was not something he did not account for.
Minus shook his head, "One party trying to take on a rare event boss by themselves? Foolish!" Minus believed that they would not last even thirty seconds against the Brooding Behemoth Basbus. After all, rare bosses were already on another level, but rare event bosses were even more challenging to deal with if you did not have a larger group of players.
Minus knew this would be the case because of how powerful the normal event boss from the previous wave had been. In fact, the bosses were the number one reason the number of casual players had been shaved away. They had gotten too greedy and wanted to bite off more than they could chew.
"Should we clear them out before we begin?" One of the players of Blue Oasis asked.
Minus, however, shook his head. "No, let them fight. This will serve as a good example for the other players who wish to interfere as well. That even if they wanted to claim this boss, it isn't within their power to do so. According to my estimation, they won't even last thirty seconds." Minus said with confidence in his voice.
If this was just another party, Minus would be correct with his prediction. However, what he did not account for was a party that would completely shatter his so-called estimation.
...
Meanwhile, in the Cross Haven sector...
Ewan had already returned to his guild's sector before the sixth wave had begun. He was currently racking up points and was currently ranked 3rd when it came to individual points for the event.
"Guild leader, sir!" One of the members of Cross Haven who was assigned to the Blue Oasis area as a scout had returned with a vital piece of information.
Ewan did not stop fighting as he spoke and said, "Report."
"Sir, a rare boss has appeared within the Blue Oasis sector!" The scout reported.
"Oh?" Ewan narrowed his eyes as if he were contemplating something. It had happened a lot faster than he expected. "You are to inform only General Wang Qiang and proceed as planned. I trust you'll follow your orders." Ewan said with a commanding aura about him.
"Yes, sir!" The scout left immediately after giving a proper salute.
"Now, will you be able to resist such a perfect opportunity?" Ewan said to himself with a slight grin on his face.