The moment Li gave his order, Shuyi and Hidden Pulse entered into stealth. The seven players charged towards Reilei and her party and were closing the distance fast, therefore, they had to make sure they made use of every possible advantage or else they would end being overwhelmed with the difference in numbers.
"Stay behind me." Two Tons said to Phoenix as he stepped forward with his shield and sword in hand. Phoenix gave a small nod in response as she fell back a few meters to a safe distance. Two Tons took a deep breath as the enemy players were approaching. However, when the other players rushing forward saw that Two Tons had stepped forward by himself and that two of their party members disappeared leaving their weak HP ranged members to fend for themselves, they started to grin and smirk at the clumsy order of things.
"Heh, those two rogues probably ran away in fear before our might!" One of the players from the Headhunter Syndicate said with a smirk on their face. Who knew such a great gift would fall into their laps so easy?
"Hahaha, this will be the easiest hunt we've ever done. Boss Li will surely reward us once we make them beg for mercy!"
"Look at that newbie magic caster not even retreating back. At least the healer has enough sense to fall back a bit. Well, not that it matters. She was probably just putting on an act earlier and is actually frozen in fear!"
"What do you expect? We have the Blood Tiger Li on our side who was personally recruited by the guild leader himself once he saw his potential. If not for Boss Li, then we would have never been able to get into an esteemed top guild like the Headhunter Syndicate."
The players from the Headhunter Syndicate appeared to be extremely relaxed about things as they casually spoke to one another. One could tell that they were not taking Reilei and her party seriously. Even if their Boss Li and Broken Fists did not join the fight, it was still seven of them and only five people to deal with. If they took something like this too seriously, then they would be a joke.
Besides, according to the information they received beforehand from Broken Fists, the only two people they had to watch out for was the tank Two Tons and the rogue Shuyi. As for the other players, he said they were not any threat whatsoever. Though he did mention something about a summoner with strong physical attacks. However, they simply saw that as a joke and started laughing when they heard that. After all, no matter how strong a summoner's physical attack was, in the end, it would not be enough to deal with them.
Two Tons exhaled and released a battle cry that rung inside the eardrums of the approaching players. He used the skill Weaken Battle Spirit which allowed him to lower the agility of enemies within a cone out in front of him that spanned a total of 10 meters in range. It also temporarily decreased the damage of those affected by a certain amount. His main goal was to even the playing fields out even if it was just by a small amount. In the end, they were still outnumbered.
However, Two Tons knew that his party had an advantage. For one, their teamwork had improved drastically during the full clear and so they all understood each other's weaknesses and strengths much more than when they first entered the dungeon. Also, from the relaxed attitudes of the players headed in their direction, he could see that they were being underestimated.
Though there was one hidden trump card in their hand that the players from the Headhunter Syndicate did not seem to know about. With all these pieces in place, Two Tons believed that their chances for victory were an actual reality!
While Two Tons' Weaken Battle Spirit took effect, the players from the Headhunter Syndicate began to noticeably slow down.
"Just an annoying slow skill! How can this stop us?!" One of the players from the Headhunter Syndicate roared as he was the first to arrive before Two Tons. He had a hammer in his hands and was wearing light plated armor. He swung the hammer down mercilessly towards Two Tons, however, it was blocked and one symbol appeared on Two Tons' shield. Soon after the first player reached Two Tons, his other companions arrived.
"That summoner is mine!" One of the rogue players from the Headhunter Syndicate said as he ignored Two Tons and went directly for Reilei.
"Heh, that guy still has that nasty habit of his when it comes to toying around with weak players."
One of the players also broke off from the group and targeted Phoenix who was at the back. It was impossible for Two Tons to hold all of them off alone, fortunately, he was not alone.
All of a sudden, two players from the Headhunter Syndicate that were about to assist their companion by teaming up against Two Tons had their movements sealed as a thin yet powerful rope could be seen bounding their legs to the ground.
"What the heck is this?! Why can't I move?!" While their skills and attacks were not disabled, it might as well have been considering that both players were melee range classes. If they were not able to move into attack range, then how could they be of any use?
"I've seen this before... It's a rogue's trap skill! We've been caught in a trap!" One of the players who were unlucky enough to be caught in the trap cried out. But, how did they manage to set up a trap so fast?! Just how high was their Trapworking skill to pull something off so fast and discreetly? Not only one trap but two traps!
Woosh!
Two daggers swiftly came out of nowhere and struck one of the players who were not caught by the traps. That player had their movements sealed, however, they were stunned instead of simply immobilized.
"I'll be your opponent." Shuyi said as his stealth had dropped when he made his attack. At the moment, his daggers were stabbed into the back of the player he just attacked. However, this still left an additional player that eventually ended up going after Two Tons. This meant that Two Tons would have to deal with those two players by himself for the time being.
As for the player charging towards Phoenix, he was intercepted by Hidden Pulse before he could reach Phoenix.
"Tch, a bunch of useless..! Whatever, I'll just deal with this frail-looking summoner and then go help them out. Hehehe, Boss Li is sure to give me a bigger piece of the reward if I help kill more than one of them." The player who targeted Reilei said.
"Hurry up and die for me!" He roared as he swung his saber down towards Reilei. However, just before his saber made contact with Reilei, he felt as if his body had just somehow become lighter.
"Eh? What? Why can't I move?" At first, the player from the Headhunter Syndicate was confused and lost. However, he soon noticed that the world around him was spinning. No, it was not that the world was spinning, but it was he himself who was spinning out of control!
By the time he stopped spinning and crashed into the ground, he had already begun to dissipate into particles. The right side of his face had been completely smashed through! What a brutal and barbaric method!
"Interesting!" Li said as a smile appeared on his face. However, it was not one of kindness, but one that gave off a feeling of ruthlessness. The players he had under him were not all that skilled, however, they were much better than most casual players. For one of them to be done in so quickly was unexpected. Though the reason for his increase in anger was not due to the player's death. It was due to the fact that someone dared killed someone under him right before his eyes.
"Realistic, take care of the two players that are immobilized!" Shuyi called out. It felt strange for him to call out to Realistic, but he could not allow this chance to pass them by. They had to even the playing field as fast as possible before the other two that stayed back decided to join in on the fight.
"Yes!" Reilei responded as she dashed forward. However, the players from the Headhunter Syndicate, as well as Broken Fists were dumbfounded by how fast she was moving. How could a magic caster have that kind of movement speed?!
Of course, Reilei did not stay at level 27 after performing a full clear and defeating the Ouroboros. By the time they completed the dungeon, she managed to reach level 30. Normally, one level per run was already considered good for a level 30 dungeon, but since they lacked a party member and defeated the Ouroboros, the amount of experience they received was plentiful.
Since Reilei's Orb of Creations was a growth weapon, naturally its strength increased along with her. This not only made her attack power more frightening but her agility as well!
"Don't come here! Stay away!" One of the players whose movements were sealed by Shuyi cried out, but it was already too late.
Reilei followed Shuyi's instructions as she slammed her summoner's orb into the face of the two individuals who were locked in place.
Bang! Bang!
Just like their companion, both players were sent flying back by an overwhelming force and ended up being killed in one-shot. At the moment, unless one was a plated user or a high health fighter, it was practically impossible to survive a blow to the head from one of Reilei's attacks.
In the blink of an eye, the seven players that charged forward had dropped down to four players. At this rate, they would be wiped out!
The remaining members of the Headhunter Syndicate were dumbfounded. What just happened? Did a summoner seriously just kill three of their members that fast with a single attack? Impossible! All that summoner was doing was swinging the orb in their hand! Wasn't this supposed to be an easy fight?
"Where are you looking?!" Two Tons roared as he used Shield Furnace: Backlash Blow on the two players who had diverted their attention away from him. It allowed him to land a direct hit and deal heavy damage to their HP in the process.
As for Phoenix, she was simply maintaining a safe distance and healing any of her party members who received an injury. Though things appeared to be looking on the upside from how events were unfolding. At this rate, they could win! They could actually defeat those members of a top guild! This was the result of the teamwork experience they gained inside the Lair of Serpents.
"I'll deal with you later for hiding this. Honestly... When did I get such useless underlings? It looks like I'll have to deal with this myself ." Li said as he glared at Broken Fists before he stepped forward. His gaze instantly landed on Reilei. How could he sit back and allow her to roam around freely killing his underlings?
Broken Fists wanted to correct Li, but he did not dare to do so after seeing the fury in his eyes. He had warned them about that summoner's physical attacks and now he was being blamed for their carelessness? He began to regret getting the people from the Headhunter Syndicate involved in this matter, however, it was no longer within his control to do anything about it.
"Little summoner, you should feel honored! I'll personally play with you a bit!" Li said as he charged forward at incredible speeds! His class was a fighter-type and he immediately used a movement skill to rapidly close the distance before Reilei could deal any more damage than she already had.