63. Crushing Superiority

The performance of the Reality-Illusion Boundary was somewhat underwhelming.

Instead of the total domination the audience had anticipated, they instead witnessed a rather clumsy defense against the Shadows of Nightmare.

"Is this the top PVE guild they've been hyping up for so long? The PVP phase hasn't even started yet, and once you strip away their high-end gear and levels, they're struggling this hard?"

"Their command is mediocre at best, and their judgment is abysmal. They didn't even realize what the true entity of the monster actually was."

Since bad blood already existed between them, members of the Dream Sovereign naturally would not pass up any opportunity to sneer and ridicule.

Besides, they were far from the only ones who disliked the Reality-Illusion Boundary.

Having a rare chance to watch a smooth, steamrolling run, the voices that had previously remained hidden suddenly burst forth in a wave.

"However, several other top-ranking guilds in the Temple progression race are getting battered too."

Someone happened to switch their viewing interface to a different world bubble and discovered that renowned guilds such as Comedic Tree and Bottled Water Shinra were also sweating profusely upon their first encounter with the Shadows of Nightmare.

Due to their aggressive onslaught, these well-trained guilds had instantly descended into chaos after the Shadows of Nightmare transformed and launched a fierce attack, focusing solely on dealing with the illusions while entirely forgetting about the real bodies wandering not far away.

Although a few people had realized the role of the primary body right from the start, charging straight for the main body at the outset caused the illusions to continually circle and fight around it, making the situation exceptionally tricky.

Comparing the status and actual performance across multiple factions, the Reality-Illusion Boundary looked stellar no matter how one analyzed it.

The viewpoints of both sides collided fiercely, making the spectator world bubble exceptionally lively.

Realizing that the true body of the Shadow of Nightmare moved slowly and possessed a fragile physique, the hunting campaign of the Reality-Illusion Boundary officially began.

Under the influence of the trial rules, quite a few Shadows of Nightmare were wandering across the map in the dead of night.

Zhong Zemo protected three fragile backline babies while casting spells in place to draw the attention of the Shadow of Nightmare, allowing Jiang Heyi and the other two active members on the outer perimeter to effortlessly bypass the unkillable "nightmare" and strike the true body directly.

Once they grew familiar with the attack patterns of the Shadows of Nightmare and learned how to bait them, these deformed monsters were barely any better than stationary wooden stakes.

Their physical attacks, transitioning from illusory to corporeal, all required direct contact, making them not particularly difficult to handle.

The only variable was when a projection morphed into an exceptionally bizarre entity, catching Zhong Zemo and his two companions completely off guard with a major trick up its sleeve.

For instance, transforming into a wyvern and bringing down a heavy tail swipe.

That immensely powerful blow almost shattered the barrier, hammering Zhong Zemo deep into the ground.

+100

+100

+100...

Having encountered zero danger at the start of the game due to sheer good luck, the Reality-Illusion Boundary began frantically racking up points.

Before other guilds in the arena could fully recover their wits, the last-place Reality-Illusion Boundary saw its score skyrocket like a rocket ship, soaring straight to first place.

Reality-Illusion Boundary: 1883 points

Calcium Oxide: 909 points

The lead changed hands in an instant.

The Shadows of Nightmare did not possess a strong desire to fight; as long as targets moved far enough away, the illusions would return to their main bodies without pursuing relentlessly.

Quite a few guilds discovered this detail. After realizing during their initial engagement that these entities were not to be trifled with, many chose a strategic retreat.

According to the system prompts, this was merely a randomly triggered "Astral Fortune" mechanic within the guild war, and things would return to normal once the timer expired.

Since there were no special drops anyway, there was no need to take unnecessary risks.

That was precisely what the commanders of many guilds were thinking.

However, this ultimately boiled down to a question of advancing versus retreating.

If they sat out the current "Astral Fortune," would they participate in the next one?

How would they deal with the guilds that secured points first, visited the merchants, and completed their combat power upgrades?

To take a step back was to fall behind everyone else everywhere.

The grind-heavy performance of the Reality-Illusion Boundary left the guilds currently in the lead with no time to rest; they even abandoned the NPCs they had already discovered and the pending commissions, scouring everywhere for Shadows of Nightmare.

Acting like a catfish introduced into a tank, the Reality-Illusion Boundary single-handedly forced numerous guilds into overdrive mode.

"Where are the haters now? Speak up."

"What happened to the Dream Sovereign folks? Why aren't you barking anymore?"

"Sigh, guilds that bully the weak and fear the strong are always like this. They never fight when they're at a disadvantage."

The mowing-down performance of the Reality-Illusion Boundary elicited cheers from numerous players.

The panic from their initial clash with the Shadows of Nightmare was long gone; having adapted to the rhythm of the guild war, the members of the Reality-Illusion Boundary swept through the monsters along their path with practiced ease.

Compared to their high-efficiency mob-clearing rate, the scoring speed of other guilds was practically glacial.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves. Being good at PVE means nothing. Let me remind you people of something."

"Half of the points owned by a fallen character go to the killer, and the deceased loses all of their remaining points."

"With that rule in place, the ultimate core of the guild war remains PVP."

"Those who can't beat others will simply still be unable to beat them."

The person delivering this lengthy speech was not from Dream Sovereign, but the arrogant undertone woven throughout the words remained deeply unpleasant.

"Players who acquire points first can seek out guides to exchange for needed items and boost their combat power. PVE does affect the final outcome," someone retorted.

"Hahahaha, it only affects things on the premise that they can actually safely find the guide. Why don't you open up the map right now and take a look?"

People immediately opened the map from their respective spectator light screens.

The guides on the map did not remain fixed in a single location indefinitely; after a certain refresh period passed without any transactions taking place, they would teleport to other coordinates.

Consequently, on the spectators' maps, the glowing points representing the guides constantly flickered out of existence and instantly lit up in other positions.

Even though the stationary trading posts were marked for all players, who could guarantee that someone wasn't already waiting nearby with the advantage of rest, ready to ambush the arrivals?

At this moment, the Reality-Illusion Boundary had fallen into an awkward predicament of sitting on a mountain of points while being unable to convert them into combat power.

On Jiang Heyi's map, aside from the distant fixed trading posts, the only known contact was the plague doctor encountered near the beach.

That area was already shrouded in the "Resource Exhaustion" state; surely they couldn't retrace their steps?

Furthermore...

After working together with Original Flavor Potato to eliminate the main body of a Shadow of Nightmare, the two of them stood panting and exchanging speechless glances.

Not far away, Pocket, who was on guard duty, voiced the doubt lingering in all their hearts.

"Are these Shadows of Nightmare getting stronger?"

Shortly before, they could cut through them like vegetables, but after crossing a certain threshold in time, the main bodies of the Shadows of Nightmare ceased to be fragile human husks.
Multi-scaled semi-draconians; sea sirens possessing magical scales capable of releasing soul-words when weeping; sprites that fluttered through the air and inadvertently guided flora to launch attacks...

Their physical attributes were exceptionally stellar, and while tough to cut down, they had also acquired the power to counterattack.

The tactics of the Shadows of Nightmare were no longer reckless; it was as if they had summarized experiences from their battles against players, leaving the illusions to guard the main body while the physically enhanced main body closed the distance rapidly before unleashing a coordinated assault all at once.

Not only that, but the Shadow of Nightmare Jiang Heyi had just slain was actually capable of brewing magic within its illusory form, catching Tangerine Tea off guard by launching a beam of light that could curve mid-air through the sky.

Had it not been for Four-Element's miraculous shield-casting speed, Tangerine Tea would have transformed into Hot Tangerine Tea.

"Potato." Original Flavor Potato wiped the bloodstains from her face, panting heavily. "They're getting harder and harder to deal with."

She was already too exhausted to complete a full sentence.

The total score of the Reality-Illusion Boundary stood at 4337.

That last Shadow of Nightmare alone had yielded a whopping 216 points.

The increase in point rewards granted for slaying Shadows of Nightmare was obvious, and what such dynamic scaling implied required no elaboration.

They led the second-place guild, Calcium Oxide, by a full 2,000 points, towering over the entire competition.

Sustained combat combined with intense mental pressure meant that fatigue had surfaced on everyone's faces.

Jiang Heyi hurriedly instructed Tangerine Tea to take out the coconuts from her backpack and distribute them. Conditions did not permit making a fire to cook and enjoy buffets, so eating whatever was on hand to avoid hunger penalties would suffice.

"Potato, Potato, this one's yours. I picked out a big one for you and Potato—you've worked hard."

Tangerine Tea's smiling face was genuinely healing; in a sense, this too was a form of support effect.

"Remember to save the biggest one for Pocket."

"Of course, of course, I've already picked it out."

Because she was in charge of keeping watch, Pocket had to eat last, so receiving special care was only natural.

Using magic to slice open a coconut, Jiang Heyi, whose throat felt like it was smoking, raised the coconut toward his mouth.

Every hair on his body stood on end as the flow of mana was severed by an anomaly. Driven by a mage's intuition, Jiang Heyi abandoned the nectar about to fall past his lips and slashed his blade backward toward Original Flavor Potato's blind spot.

The wind of the blade was biting as an arrow piercing through the shadows emitted a crisp *ding* sound, knocked flying into the ground.

The rest of the group, holding their coconuts, were already exhausted and had lowered their guards entirely, completely unprepared. However, Four-Element pulled off another stroke of genius, casting an earth elemental shield upon herself and utilizing the passive effect of an elemental mage to actively interpose herself in front of the group.

The next second, dangerous light flashed within the distant darkness as mana churned, and two scorching dark-red beams of light erupted forth, surging like an unyielding river crashing against a giant boulder blocking a riverbed.

The quick reaction of Jiang Heyi and Four-Element bought time for the others, who hurriedly tossed their coconuts aside and rose to meet the enemy.

These weren't monsters, given this style of spellcasting...

"Pocket, hide!"

Jiang Heyi let out a sharp shout, freezing Pocket in her tracks just as she intended to reveal herself.

Having been assigned to look out, only to let someone sneak up nearby completely undetected, Pocket was desperate to make up for her lapse in judgment.

Hearing Jiang Heyi's roar, she suddenly remembered that for a [Shadow Stalker], remaining hidden was her greatest contribution to the team.

Sure enough, that shout also caused the group of hidden ambushers to freeze in their tracks. After Zhong Zemo pulled Four-Element out of the direct line of the spell's trajectory, one side stood in the light while the other hid in the dark, confronting each other.

The silence persisted; the enemies lurking in the shadows had been locked onto by mana perception, but they showed no immediate signs of attacking or fleeing.

One of them kept tossing and catching a glass bottle, producing a solid, muffled thud.

Like two beasts crossing paths in the jungle, having completed their initial probing attack and gaining no effective intelligence, the attacking party cautiously retreated to a safe distance.

The sound of the glass bottle being tossed back and forth served precisely as baring their teeth to issue a warning growl.

Prisoner Brother let out a disdainful chuckle. He picked up a coconut dropped on the ground, imitated the opponent by tossing and catching it, and matched the rhythm of the opposite side.

That action actually caused the movements of the opposing side to gradually slow down.

Prisoner Brother had successfully baffled the enemy.