FB: Chapter 107 – Mud And Blood

Baron Hayfield looked incredibly concerned about recent developments. “Are you planning to depart?” he asked nervously.

“How many war merits have we earned?” I asked.

“Only a couple hundred,” Kill Blade answered. Fire and magical gunfire continued to rain down on the forest and monsters along with the actual rain. Whiterose had pulled back completely.

“She is fighting defensively. We can’t win.” This was the kind of black zone I wanted to avoid previously. Getting stuck in a place like this against someone with Whiterose’s skills was pure suffering. Our contract was open ended, but leaving would also damage our reputation, since the job wouldn’t have been completed. My mind raced trying to figure out a solution.

“We could execute a diversionary strike on their rear. You force Whiterose to engage you while we move a force of Champions in from behind. Or we could bring up cannons,” Kill Blade suggested. It was an interesting tactic, but the problem was moving through the Rampant Growth. The entire jungle was one massive death trap.

“At 10 plat each time one of them fires, it isn’t cost effective. The best option is the slow advance and clearing out chunks of the Rampant Growth. Triple the width of the planned advance, so a flanking attack can’t happen from two sides at once,” I explained.

“We don’t have the numbers, and we aren’t going to stay in force here that long,” Kill Blade replied. Baron Hayfield was giving me a nervous look.

“Even with an excessive number of consumables, I don’t believe we can break stalemate easily,” I said and there was silence as the battle continued to rage.

“We need support!”

“Concentrate fire!”

“Shields! Shields!”

I turned my head to look at the commotion that was occurring. Several mud golems had risen up. “Those aren’t normal monsters for this black zone,” I stated while watching the battle.

“Mud golems, no. It isn’t a standard skill our forces our mainlining and I haven’t seen it before either,” Kill Blade said.

“Well, we know at least one back up of Whiterose. A summoner or earth mage was not what I was expecting, but they would have good synergy,” I replied. The mud golems were tanking a tremendous amount of damage but were eventually collapsing under sustained magical gun fire.

“We will have to use up MP potions at this rate of consumption,” Kill Blade said.

“Rotate our troops in and out of combat more often. Once the pressure is too much, we can withdraw to the star fort,” I said while looking out over the battlefield. “High level named NPCs are incredibly troublesome to fight.”

“Don’t they all have names?” Kill Blade asked me.

“They do, but once an NPC is over level 200 their name carries a level of renown with it normally. I will also remember their name,” I explained as best as I could. Being called a named NPC was a sign of respect and warning. It wasn’t an exact unit of measurement.

I wouldn’t be forgetting the name Whiterose Everbloom any time soon. It was similar to the Dark Saint Gamabuturon or the Human Emperor. That was when I noticed a high level NPC emerge from the forest. They were around level 220. The woman was incredibly large and well armored.

An enemy team of the dark gods. While their teamwork was often lacking, their high levels and powerful skills made up for such things. The woman was wielding a large vine whip. They were probably all Dark Heralds of the Forest God. None of them had earned enough merits to become a Dark Saint. At least three people, but possibly more. None of these NPCs were as strong as the Dark Saint Gamabuturon, but they were more annoying and were a team.

Their infighting would be both more and less. More since they were in competition to earn their god’s favor. Less, since they wouldn’t allow outsiders to interfere in whatever challenge their dark god had set.

“Ahhhh!” The vine whip ripped through one of my guild members, bisecting them. I noted the warrior woman had reduced the force behind the attack, so her target didn’t shard. The corpse then transformed into a plant monster. Or they had an activate on kill type skill tied to their weapon that might have negated the guild member from sharding.

“Order a general retreat to the star fort,” I stated calmly. Others might have rushed out there, but that was a trap. They wanted me to go out there so I could be killed by all three of the high level NPCs. The warrior woman wasn’t creating the mud golems since they were coming out of another part of the Rampant Growth. There could be some weird combination of skills, but it was unlikely for a summoner and a whip build to part of the build of the same NPC.

High level NPCs all had themes. I had a theme too my fighting style as well. There would be no need for a corpse transformation skill if they could summon mud golems. Whiterose was still out there as well. A team of at least three NPCs that were at the very edge of the absolute level range for myself. The whip warrior was leaving herself completely open and tanking a large number of attacks.

It was clearly a provocation to draw our forces into combat. If they wanted us to attack, we wouldn’t oblige them and retreat instead.

The enemy forces didn’t pursue us either as we gathered at the newly constructed star fort, inside the command bunker. “We are outmatched,” I calmly stated.

“Outmatched?” Baron Hayfield asked in confusion. I noted several of his guild members look at me with concern.

“There is a high level NPC team on the other side. This falls under the clause of forces we can’t counter of our contract,” I said.

“You aren’t planning to renegotiate or leave?” he asked nervously.

“They have at least three high level NPCs as part of their team, but it could be as high as five. I can counter one, maybe two. But Whiterose is a direct counter to direct combat builds like mine. The dark gods and NPCs aren’t idiots,” I tried to explain. I was still debating on what I wanted to do.

It would be easy to retreat, but I didn’t like retreating. Unfortunately, even with how I could trample on other players and monsters, high level NPCs weren’t idiots. They wouldn’t just rush in mindlessly. They would also use skills and teamwork in an effective manner. It wasn’t their level or their skills, they helped but weren’t the main issue, it was their teamwork that was a problem. The power of teamwork was a very real thing.

The problem was Whiterose Everbloom. She was a hard counter to any powerful close combat build. She could dodge attacks, put status effects on me, and put a bit of pressure on me. Without her presence then I could easily push forward and break the battle lines. There was a golem summoner NPC and most likely a DPS waiting to strike once I became disabled enough.

There was no way we could maneuver in this zone. The Rampant Growth was horrible for this very reason and the kind of zone I didn’t want my guild mobilized to. “You think they will attack?” Kill Blade asked.

“Most likely no. My presence acts as a deterrent quite a bit. The NPCs, especially the high level ones, aren’t idiots and are capable of working out chances of success. They won’t gamble unless they are forced to,” I let out a sigh as I kept thinking about this situation.

I was out of easy to use tricks and had to battle far above my level. My initial surge of knowledge and exploits was finally starting to run empty. It wouldn’t take long before players developed better counter builds as well. They were getting quite close. That was why I had stopped fighting in the coliseum. While I had suspected this black zone would be a nightmare, a high level enemy NPC team was a major counter.

“I need to think for a bit,” I said and stepped away from the planning table and went outside. Looking over the wall at the Rampant Growth, I could tell things weren’t going to be easy. My reputation was on the line here. The myth of the invincible Foxy Blight was about to fall.

Quant Z walked up next to me, looking out over the muddy battlefield as rain fell down on us. This black zone and hell zone was the absolute worst. “I have a plan, we can win, but it will be costly. We might lose a bit of money,” Quant Z said. He really didn’t know how to read the mood. But despite his horrible personality, he was a pillar of support I could count on. Even back in the super guild, he was forthright and someone that could be trusted to think outside of the box and accomplish stuff.

“Thank you,” I said softly. It wasn’t his thought about a plan. I had no doubt he could figure something out. It was his poor attempt to comfort me. I wiped away the rain from my eyes.

“Well, I quite like the guild. And you aren’t that bad of a boss. But you should make your character have bigger tits, to make yourself more attractive,” he said. This man must have had connections in real life to not get kicked out of the top-level management in a super guild. Probably some top-level corporate parent if I had to guess and he was their son.

“I should send you into battle as punishment for sexual harassment,” I said.

“I am just pointing out facts. If facts are offensive, then that is a you problem, not a me problem,” Quant Z declared. I knew better than to challenge him on the facts. He would whip out charts and surveys highlighting the ideal physical appearance. He was never one to go into a battle of wits unarmed.

“What are you thinking of to get enough war merits?” I asked.

“A strategy you mentioned in an earlier meeting. Dog piling. It would be risky, but it would allow us to pin down the high level NPCs, allowing you to kill them,” he replied.

“The death toll and consumables needed would be catastrophic,” I casually replied, while thinking about the cost.

“We can mitigate the damage. As for the cost. Well, it is either that or break the contract. I mean it is just money,” he replied. I had been an idiot. The answer to my problem was always money. I was just thinking too small.

“Dog piling is distasteful, but I suppose it is necessary here. Let’s call up reserves. Once we break the high level NPCs we will need to make a massive push before they are resurrected. Get the war merits we need and then depart. Also, we can send our Champion teams to attack another location during this operation. Let them earn their salaries,” I declared and looked over at Quant Z.

“I know I am brilliant, handsome, and perfect, you don’t need to stare at me,” Quant Z said. I walked over to him and gave him a hug. He patted me on the back, clearly uncomfortable. I didn’t say anything else as I let him go. He had given me a solution to a major problem I had been thinking about for quite a while.

“I should complain about your sexual harassment,” he said stiffly.

“Don’t change Quant Z. You are great as you are, no matter what others might say. Since you have my back when it matters, I have your back,” I said. Nothing more needed to be said as I went back into the command bunker. For someone like him, he had probably heard complaints his entire life about his personality. While it was an acquired taste, he was trustworthy and he didn’t scheme.

More than that, he was willing to think. Unlike the rest of the people in the guild so far who just went along with what I said, but didn’t really think about situations. He didn’t exhaust me and was someone I could count on. Now he had inspired a solution that would solve a complex problem.