Chapter 107: Guardianship

“Long Zhan! I’m entrusting this boss to you; it should be no problem. Xiao Xi, let’s move.” With that, I summoned Long Zhan.

“Yes, master!” Long Zhan responded crisply.

“Brother Long, can we just stay out of this?” Xiao Xi said hesitantly.

I replied, “When have I ever stayed out of things?”

“No time at all.”

“Then come with me.” I grabbed Xiao Xi’s hand, ignoring the boss completely, and dashed forward. The boss, realizing it was being disregarded, turned in anger and roared at me. It tried to pounce but found its massive tail caught firmly by Long Zhan. The boss looked at Long Zhan, who was smiling at it, and what happened next was predictable.

—

We quickly passed through the corridor ahead and entered a small thicket. Although we were close enough to see each other clearly, running made the distance feel much greater. Amaterasu was invisible beside me, and Sonic Wolf trailed closely behind.

After running for a while, we finally spotted the figures ahead. Xiao Xi and I didn’t rush forward but took cover behind separate trees. Leading the group was a woman clad in shining silver armor that hugged her form tightly. Were it not for the whip at her waist, one might easily mistake her for a warrior.

Behind her were five pursuers—four men and one woman. Among them, one was particularly swift, steadily closing the gap with the fleeing woman.

The closest pursuer was a level 37 Stalker male player. Seeing that his target was within range, he gave a sharp cry and raised his hand. A large, earth-toned bow materialized, and he swiftly fired an arrow.

The fleeing woman screamed as the arrow struck her back. The force lifted her into the air, and she tumbled several times before barely managing to get up. In the short time it took for this to happen, the five pursuers had spread out to encircle her.

Realizing escape was impossible, the trapped woman drew her whip. The original black whip shimmered silver—she was ready to fight to the death.

Each of the five surrounding players bore a half-palm-sized emblem on their chests: a black background with a white snowflake, marking them as members of the Snow Night faction.

—

“Despicable woman, you take our kindness for weakness. No wonder we have to be ruthless,” sneered the Stalker with the large bow, his voice cold and sinister.

I activated my fiery vision, scanning their details thoroughly. The leader was a level 43 Berserker, equipped with a black-gold greatsword (purple rarity), a Lion King helmet (green rarity), and a black-red battle armor set (purple rarity). The others were a level 37 Stalker, a level 38 Knight, and a level 37 Swordsman. The female player at the rear was a level 40 Priest, dangerously equipped with a silver-hued Sage’s Scepter—her healing capabilities were assuredly high.

The fleeing female summoner was level 46, a Beast Tamer, wearing Laser Whip (green rarity), Saber-tooth Thunder Armor (silver rarity), Gundam Armguards (green rarity), Thunder Tiger Helmet (green rarity), and Lightning Photon Boots (gold rarity). Other gear was unknown.

Beast Tamer—that was the Guardian class from the Heaven Ranking, wasn’t it? Could this woman be the Guardian? Quite possibly. Her gear was impressively good, but two fists rarely overcome four hands. She hadn’t summoned any beasts, probably because they were dormant. No matter how great her equipment, summoners generally lacked much offensive power—except me, of course.

“You filthy scum, you steal the boss I worked so hard to defeat, and now you shamelessly covet my gear. If my beasts weren’t asleep, I wouldn’t even bother looking at the likes of you,” the encircled summoner spat furiously.

The Berserker leader smiled faintly and said softly, “I invited you to join our team, but you refused. I kindly asked you to step aside, but you ignored us. How can you blame us? In this world where might makes right, who else can you blame but yourself?”

“Nonsense! You’re just a bunch of trash. If my beasts were here, I wouldn’t fear even your main Snow Night team!” She cracked her laser whip hard against the ground.

“Black Bro, don’t waste time with her. She’s stalling. Let’s take her down together...” The Knight gestured a diagonal slash with his longsword towards ‘Black Bro’—a clear sign they intended to kill and loot.

Black Bro smiled lightly and said, “Yes, we can’t delay any longer. Bamboo Stick, be quick and precise.”

At those words, the others nodded knowingly. The Knight named Bamboo Stick grinned ferociously, stepped forward twice, and shouted, “Woman, blame yourself. You should have listened to Black Bro.” He clasped his longsword with both hands and swung it down at the female player.

The woman snarled, “Beasts, may you all meet a miserable end!” She lashed out with her laser whip, striking the Knight’s head hard—321 damage appeared on screen. The Knight staggered back, laughing bitterly, “You’re quick, woman.”

Simultaneously, the Swordsman silently lunged forward, swinging his blue greatsword at an angle.

Startled, the woman raised her whip to block. At the same time, the Knight launched a flurry of strikes against the Guardian’s back armor. Damage numbers spiked wildly; had her gear not been so formidable, she would have surely fallen.

“Brother Long, should we intervene?” Xiao Xi whispered.

I replied, “Wait a moment. Anyone ranked in the top ten on the Heaven Ranking is no pushover. Let’s assess the situation first.”

“Brother Long, at one o’clock direction, more are coming—about thirty or forty,” Amaterasu relayed what she saw.

Hidden behind the tree, I wondered why the woman didn’t use a town scroll to escape. Didn’t she have any? Everyone carries a few for emergencies. I pulled out a town scroll myself and noticed a new line: “Can only be used six seconds after leaving combat.” That explained it—the Guardian was constantly in combat and thus couldn’t use the scroll.

Suddenly, the Priest waved her scepter gently, casting a beneficial buff on the pursuers. “Finish this quickly!” Black Bro shouted.

“Got it!” The three male players roared and charged. The Stalker raised his earth-toned bow; a blinding light burst from it as a radiant arrow struck the Guardian. Simultaneously, the Knight plunged his greatsword into the ground, fracturing it like a spider web. From the cracks, sword energies shot forth, slicing everything in their path.

The Swordsman joined the fray, swinging his glowing longsword fiercely at the Guardian. Though her equipment was formidable, she was heavily outnumbered and had the Priest’s healing to contend with. She relied solely on potions to recover, putting her at a grave disadvantage.

The Guardian fell to the ground but struggled to rise. On her face, alongside anger, there was a hint of joy. Watching from the shadows, I felt something strange—was she insane?

Yet her next actions proved she was not. She pulled out a metallic orb and declared, “I have waited a long time for this moment. Scum like you will pay a heavy price.”

“Stop bluffing, you vile woman! Bring her back to town!” Black Bro bellowed.

“Hmph, going back to town? The ones going back are you!” She hurled the metallic orb and shouted, “Come forth, Electronic Dragon! Kill these beasts for me!”

Electronic Dragon? Was I hearing things? This isn’t a card game... But my eyes confirmed it. The orb exploded, emitting a white light, and a mechanical beast descended—a long, silver dragon without limbs, with a dragon’s head and a sleek, metallic body.