"Shit! The Black Crow Tribe is here!"

The vice leader of Sacred Oath, the Level 197 magic knight, swore grimly, "We cannot allow them to disrupt our boss fight!"

After slashing the boss's scepter and executing Barrier Break, Hickey said in a low voice, "Take two thousand players with you and kill them all. No one is allowed to disrupt our plans and steal our boss, especially Black Crow Tribe!"

"Yes ma’am!"

The vice leader immediately raised his spear and ordered, "Third legion, follow me! It’s time for some house cleaning! Don’t leave a single Black Crow Tribe player alive!"

Hundreds of cavalrymen immediately charged toward the Black Crow Tribe. They were followed by a not-insignificant number of archers as well.

It was a one-sided slaughter. The Black Crow Tribe guild was utterly inferior to Sacred Oath, so they were taken out in just the blink of an eye. Their dwarven guild leader took one spear hit to the heart and died as well.

……

Time passed quickly, and so did the boss's HP. Less than 20 minutes later, the boss only had 5% left.

Still hiding in the underground, I was stuck between the choice to steal or give up the boss. If I stole the boss, I would be making an enemy out of Sacred Oath. However, metaphorically speaking, I was incredibly reluctant to give up the food in my mouth.

It was at this moment Hickey was sent stumbling toward my position by another Current Blast. While accepting the heals of her priests and drinking a health potion, she abruptly glanced in my direction and smirked knowingly. "I knew it…"

Shit! I hurriedly backed away and prayed that it was just a fluke.

Unfortunately, Hickey really did discover my position. She abruptly charged toward me and cried, "Breaking Slash! Show yourself, Chinese boy!"

Bang!

It was either revealing myself now or taking a sword to the face, so I immediately returned to the surface and clashed swords with Hickey!

Chiang!

Sparks flew everywhere, and neither of us was able to get the upper hand over the other person, at least damage-wise. However, due to the difference in our Strength stats, Hickey and her mount were sent stumbling.

After that, I raised my arm and growled, "Come out, Divine Dragon!"

The Ancient Divine Dragon awoke from my pet space. It appeared with a ton of pretty special effects and in its adult form and pressed its large head affectionately against my arm. The mount seat was literally right next to me, so I grabbed the vine, climbed up my dragon’s back and instantly gained a massive boost of stats.

Hickey stayed her hand after forcing me out of my hiding spot. She stared at me and asked, "I heard you offended a lot of people, Chinese boy?"

I smiled. "Not at all!"

"Hmph!"

Hickey shot a glance at the boss's HP before turning her gaze back to me. "I heard that something big happened at Elephant City a few days ago, and unless I’m mistaken, you are the person behind it. No one else has the power to enrage those Indian experts that much. Still, you shouldn’t have come to Iron Skull Wilderness!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

Hickey replied indifferently, "Your presence will bring chaos to these lands and disrupt our peaceful life."

I shot the boss's HP a glance myself before replying, "Huh. It almost sounds like you’re terrified of the Indians."

"Hmph. It’s none of your business!"

Hickey abruptly backed away from me and ordered, "Stun him with Shock Arrow and focus-fire him now! He mustn’t be allowed to escape this valley!"

A rain of arrows flew toward me. It was too coordinated to be an impromptu order. She must’ve coordinated this in the guild channel while we were speaking!

My eyes narrowed as I locked onto the boss and Charged. Despite the size of the Ancient Divine Dragon, I vanished from my original spot so fast that it almost looked like I had teleported. I hit the boss at the same time I heard the rain of arrows thudding into the ground I was standing at mere moments earlier. Thank goodness I managed to react in time, or not even I with my resistance would be able to avoid getting stunned.

……

Right now, the poor Great Undead Magus Juve only had less than 2% HP left. After I lowered his Defense drastically with Purple Frost Concentration, I executed Universe Break + Burning Blade Slash for massive damage—

221837!

142838!

183773!

1657964!

My super high damage stunned everyone. The last hit of the Burning Blade Slash even triggered the Purple Ying Sword’s septuple damage effect, killing Juve instantly. Although the experience didn’t go to me, a ton of equipment was exploding from the boss's body. Suddenly, a system announcement rang and stopped our hearts temporarily—

Ding~!

System Announcement: Attention all players, Great Undead Magus Juve has been killed by player "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand", and has dropped the Sacred Armament, "Fire God Helmet”. The current location of "Fire God Helmet" is: Zephyr Valley (11277, 2838). The Sacred Armament will drop if the player holding it is killed. If the player logs out of the game, the Sacred Armament will automatically drop. The player with the Sacred Armament also cannot use any invincibility skill, teleport to a city, or fly. Once a player has held onto the Sacred Armament for 10 hours, the item will automatically become bound to the player.

……

It was nighttime, but I was able to spot the fiery red helmet amid the dropped items perfectly. It had to be the legendary Sacred Armament! Haha! What an interesting map this is! I never thought that the final boss would lob a bomb into the players’ laps after he died!

Pa!

I moved like the wind, grabbed the scorching hot Fire God Helmet, and put it in my bag immediately. The action triggered another system announcement—

System Announcement: Attention all players, player "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand" has claimed the Sacred Armament "Fire God Helmet”. Its current coordinates are: Zephyr Valley (11277, 2839). Kill the player for a 100% chance to get the Fire God Helmet to drop!

……

What an abominable system announcement! What should I do with this bomb, I wonder? Flying was forbidden while the Fire God Helmet was still in my possession. For 10 hours, my Ancient Divine Dragon would be no better than a land-bound snake...

Ten yards away, Hickey shouted in an urgent voice after she came to her senses, "Spread out and kill Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand now! Quickly!"

The woman herself rushed toward me again after giving the order. Even if I disregarded the fighting spirit burning in her eyes, the way she zigged and zagged repeatedly on horseback was all I needed to see to know that she was a great threat. Her blade was also glowing a green hue. She was clearly going to use some sort of skill!

I didn’t try to engage her, of course. As the holder of the Sacred Armament, my one job was to run like a rabbit. She was the one who had to force an engagement here.

The Ancient Divine Dragon let out a massive roar before dashing dozens of yards away to the back. After launching 7 Ancient Seals into the archer group, I dove toward the enemy wing and made a break for it. There was no need to be greedy since the boss's best piece of equipment was already in my possession. Also, as long as the Sacred Armament remained in my bag, the system would announce my coordinates to all my pursuers from time to time, so I absolutely couldn’t afford to linger around. This was easily the most annoying part of the entire setup.

The only good news was that the system announcement was restricted to Iron Skull Wilderness only. If this was announced to the entire world, literal armies would cross over the land, the sea and even the sky to chase after me.

……

As the Ancient Divine Dragon slithered toward freedom, my Dragon God Shield shuddered to the bombardment of arrows and magic again and again. Sacred Oath players were everywhere and fully taking advantage of the fact that I couldn’t afford to fight them.

Angry and frustrated, Hickey tried to catch up to me, but the harder she chased, the bigger the distance between us grew. There was nothing she could’ve done. It took a very special mount to even catch up to the Ancient Divine Dragon’s movement speed, much less surpass it.

In less than half a minute, I managed to break out of the encirclement with 27% HP. One Saint Spirit Potion later, I was one minute away from returning to full health due to Regeneration of the Undead. Now that I was temporarily free from enemy fire, I opened my bag and examined the Fire God Helmet carefully. I wondered if the legendary Sacred Armament was as good as a Divine Armament.

My heart raced as I stared at the fiery red item. When its stats appeared to my eyes, my heart almost stopped beating—

Fire God Helmet (Sacred Armament, Outstanding★★★★★★★★)

Defense: 12500

Magic Resist: 11700

Strength: +1950

Stamina: +1900

Agility: 1850

Tactics: +195

Passive: Increases user’s max HP by 90000

Passive: Increases user’s Defense and Magic Resist by 45%

Slots: 17

Outstanding: Rise of the Guardian Dragon. By summoning the power of the Hidden Dragon and making a seal with one hand, awaken a slumbering divine dragon and attack all enemies within 100 yards with the power of the rising dragon. Costs 1000 gold per use. Cooldown: 6 minutes.

Introduction: During the ancient times, an excellent youngster born from a fallen noble family cultivated single-mindedly and obtained the Fire God’s inheritance as a result. In the end, he became the new Fire God. The Fire God Helmet is one of the ultimate armaments he possessed. Tens of thousands of years later, when miracles were a thing of the past, the Fire God Helmet suddenly reappeared and awed everyone. It contains the power of the Fire God, and legend says that its wearer will inherit a portion of his divine power, the Rise of the Guardian Dragon.

Level Requirement: 205

Reputation Requirement: 700000

Class Requirement: Fighter class

Note: Item not bound to any player yet.

……

I nearly wept with joy when I saw the stats screen. Screw my life or my Reputation, I’m going to protect this helmet if it’s the last thing I do! Self-appropriation is the best appropriation!

It wouldn’t be an easy thing to do though. A black sea of players was chasing behind me. Motherfucker, just how many Sacred Oath players had come to this valley today? This was one of the reasons I didn’t want to engage them in a fight. It would be never-ending.

"To the right, little dragon!"

After I exited Zephyr Valley, I immediately steered the Ancient Divine Dragon to the right. It was where the high-level mobs were operating. I was high-level enough that the chances of the Level 240+ fiend-rank mobs one-shotting me was fairly low, but the players behind me couldn’t claim the same thing. It took more than just courage to survive in a map like this, much less pursue another player.

However, I quickly encountered another group of unaffiliated players. One brawny axe-wielder howled on top of his lungs, "Look, it’s Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand! He has the Sacred Armament halo above his head! Kill him now! We won’t ever have to become robbers again if we get the Sacred Armament!"

I nearly threw up some blood. Is this the kind of trash I will have to deal with until the 10-hour period is over?

I changed directions and escaped yet again. This wasn’t Final Duel Valley, killing these rotten potatoes wouldn’t give me any experience. Right now, my first priority was to keep moving and survive for 10 hours. Once that period of time had passed, no one would be able to take this Ancient Divine Armament–level item from me anymore!

……

Sacred Oath didn’t give up and kept chasing after me.

Unfortunately, my grand escape screeched to a sudden halt when I abruptly realized where I was. I had accidentally run into a dead end valley where the only way out was the entrance I passed through a moment ago. Could the Ancient Divine Dragon climb up the tall mountain ranges surrounding me? I had no idea, but it looked like the only thing I could do right now!

Some distance away, Hickey giggled at my predicament and said, "Give up, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand. I promise it won’t hurt too much!"

I grinned back. "Come to me, baby!"

Her players turned purple at the tease, but Hickey barely reacted to it. She was a gorgeous and accomplished woman. I was hardly the first person to have flirted with her.

……

Suddenly, a Sacred Oath archer ran up to Hickey while shouting, "Enemy attack, guild leader! A huge group of enemies just appeared behind us..."

"What? Who are they?" Hickey exclaimed in alarm.

Before the archer could reply, a blood-red sword pierced through his neck and silenced him.

A young warrior rode up to the corpse and pulled out his weapon. Then, he waved his elite cavalry forward with a lazy smile on his face, "It’s time for some house ncleaning, brothers and sisters!”

……

Hickey shook all over as she glared hatefully at the young warrior. "Is bullying unaffiliated players the only thing you can do, Breeze and Rain? You already swept us last month, and now you show your face again? What the hell do you think we are?!"