Wizard Of Cosmos

290 - Boss Mode

 ‘This is bad. This is very very bad.’

Jason stared at the crack on the ground with a frown. He thought the corrupted land was beneath the spider mines, Brood’s lair. However, it seemed to be extended beyond his scope of imagination. 

He felt the pulsating mutated life roaming beneath the ground, and he had to use a lot of willpower to suppress himself from roaring. The mutated monster within him smelled the delicacy. Still, alerting them wouldn't be a good thing for them at the moment. Only two Grandmasters were at Light Shone while the others followed the bandit exterminators in secrecy. Only a Grandmaster could face a hunter, and anything above would be too much for this world.

The red mist leaking through the crack corroded the mana in the surroundings.

‘Is there a way to stop it from spreading? Should I repair the crack? But we better deal with whatever is inside first.’

Jason didn't feel like angering Amelia anymore.

‘I better see Brood. She must know what happened here before.’

He had no idea who or what brought these mutated lives to Yuriel, and he had no idea how long it was left down there. 

‘Can’t we break in from here? Eh… can Brood survive Amelia's anger?’

He shook his head before standing up. Better to understand what exactly happened in this place in the past, and what happened to the so-called Wizard King. He had a nagging feeling that the perishing of the kingdom of the wizard king had something to do with the terror hidden beneath the ground.

…

“How is security?”

Dane pressed on as he awaited in front of Amelia’s house. 

He saw Samson looking tense with the sudden outburst from Amelia, and Jason’s guards assembled in full gear in front of the house. Their priority was the safety of Jason’s family, on paper. In reality, the guards only had to protect Hanna while they were on Yuriel. The anger they saw from Amelia was something beyond her normal annoyance, and everyone became tense.

It was obvious that something about the wounded player bothered Amelia a lot, and Amelia Irwin was supposed to be the most reliable person in the Crystal Pulse. Even when Jason ignored certain matters, they could rely on Amelia to deal with them. 

‘What could possibly make this woman worried? I don’t feel easy at all.’

Dane wiped the sweat off his forehead.

He knew Amelia was much more powerful than their understanding, and he didn’t know the scale of trouble that challenged her. 

‘This is the worst timing.’

Most Grandmasters followed Xanders to ensure the safety of the new soldiers, and most of their trained warriors were on the mission. With a majority of their forces out of the village, they didn’t have enough manpower to arrange the security on a whim. 

Scott and Amanda also left to aid them in strategy, and this lowered their strategic coordination even more. With Bruce leaving to cover their first mass operation, Dane felt a lack of communication. While Bruce went everywhere to record their activities, his people played a vital role in the immediate coordination between various groups.

“Everyone is in full gear, Dane. We are setting up a defence line. But… I don’t think we have people….”

“I know… Do whatever you can. Let’s deal with whatever we miss, later.”

He directly closed the communication line with no time to spare. 

‘These damned players.’

He cursed at the players trying to catch a glimpse of the fallout. They couldn’t chase them away permanently, and the players weren’t like the native of Yuriel. They didn’t fear death, and curiosity was their main driving force. 

Even though Amelia threatened to imprison them, there were many who didn’t know the true value of The Endless. He knew some of them took hefty sums to uncover some details on the Crystal Pulse, and they were not afraid to lose their freedom on Yuriel for that. 

“Hey! Kid! How is the situation?”

“Huh?”

He saw Xanders’s face appearing on the hologram. Apparently, the agents he assigned to find Xanders had reached him.

“We are establishing the security, Grandmaster Xanders. Jason is in the forest, and Amelia is in the house.”

Dane earnestly reported the situation to this experienced fighter. In the end, this village was Xanders’s home, and the lives of the villagers mattered equally to them.

“Should I rush back?”

Xanders looked worried.

“I am not sure what exactly is the situation, Grandmaster. I will….”

“There is no need for that old man to come. Tell him to run as far as possible if we fail today. There won't be anything left to come back.”

A familiar third voice interrupted them.

“What are you talking about? I am coming back right now!”

Xanders started yelling at the screen, trying to peek through to see Amelia’s face 

“For what? Everything down there is stronger than you.”

“What are you talking about, little girl? Are they all Grandmasters? Or… Perhaps… Wizards?”

Xanders had a frown on his face.

“Monsters. Unclean abominations. If you get corrupted by them, you become one of them. So, don't come here.”

“What are you….”

Xanders started yelling at the screen, again, but Dane disconnected the line with his mouth wide open.

Amelia was standing out of the house in a silver-red armour. It gave off a metallic lustre and was fit to her body. She had Hanna in one arm and a gigantic sword in the other hand. It was at least two metres long with the grip and had a width of around thirty centimetres.

Amelia swung her sword, sending a wave of air across the field. She then brought it to her back, but Dane saw no sheath for the sword.

Then he saw weird-looking mechanical arms coming out of the armour and gripping the sword, acting as the sheath.

‘Wow! Lucky Jason.’

Dane fixed his gaze, wondering how Jason managed to score a woman like Amelia. He no longer questioned the source of Amelia's armour as they had an advanced robot with them. His mind rushed back to the odd behaviour of Hanna’s pets. 

The weird-looking fairy she had was hissing at everything. Before today, it would fly cheerfully around Hanna while flashing its creepy grin at everyone. Also, Hanna’s ‘Fluffy Kitty,’ stood beside Amelia with its body size of a bull. Unlike its lazy attitude, the tiger’s eyes darted around with caution.

The giant bear, who usually stood behind Amelia's house followed them behind, which was unusual for its behaviour.

‘Luckily they didn't bring the PX-5.’

Dane thought in relief.

They still had to conceal the fact that they had technology beyond the level of Yuriel; or above the level of technology on Earth.

“Let's move.”

Amelia's words were directed at Samson.

Everyone looked amazed by Amelia's armour, and it looked very advanced for Yuriel.

“Yes, Madam Amelia.”

Samson signed the others to take positions. 

“Let's move.”

David called out to the others who were there to take action. 

They had to mobilise both players and natives to fill the numbers.

‘I might have to answer about Amelia's armour.’

Dane cursed himself, looking at the curious eyes of independent players in the surroundings. If there were anyone who hadn't recorded them before, they would be doing it right now.

All the independent players looked excited while he and the others of the Crystal Pulse felt immense pressure.

“Look at that sword. It is taller than her. This must be Amelia's boss mode. Guys, we might be able to witness a Boss fight.”

Dane heard someone whispering from the side.