Of course, it was a little tougher. The tanks, who just warmed up in Round 1, charged at the wounded scorpions and blocked them easily. Of course, there was little damage. So, Round 2 also ended very easily.

[Round 3 has started.

-Scorpions will now appear.]

Finally, real normal scorpions, with no modifiers like "damaged" or "cursed", appeared.

"Okay, now is the real beginning. Wizards, please make sure to lay the grid down in advance. Way to go!!"

"Let's go get them!"

Now, those who were relaxed until now because of their prior experiences began to feel tense and adjusted their posture.

Of course, I know the grid that user No. 1 mentioned because I heard it frequently during the closed beta. It referred to AoE skills such as Ice Field. They called this a grid. Like user No. 1 asked, several grids began to spread ahead.

"Fire Field!"

"I will let the ignorant enemies enjoy the fear of death. Death Field."

"Create a swamp!"

"Ice Field!"

Although seven damage dealers were assigned to each party, there were a total of 21 dealers here anyway. So, there were various skills that could be called grids. I also spread Ice Field on the spots where the Scorpions charged so that it could touch the Ice Fields from the other ice-type wizards.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Scorpions soon moved over multiple grids, inflicting damage on the way. Then several skills were poured over the scorpions. Unlike round 1 and 2, this time they used AoE skills, and I joined them right away.

"Pouring Hailstones!"

The scorpions were slightly larger than bulls, so they were open to our indiscriminate attacks which ranged from their heads to backs and tails.

Then another wizard used the same skills as me.

"Pouring Hailstones!"

It just so happened that the hailstones were pouring in the same area where I had already used the skills, so it was difficult to determine who used what skill. Of course, I could figure it out because the hail produced by my Pouring Hailstones were a bit bigger, and only mine decisively crushed the scorpions' hard shells. There were two types of hail, namely one that could inflict damage powerful enough to crush even the scorpions' outer shells, and the other one far inferior to the former.

Besides, mine had a wider range than the others. Anyway, AoE skills were fired at the scorpions on various grids, but some of the scorpions were approaching the tanks resisting them at the forefront.

"Engrave it on my body! Indomitable will!"

"Impregnable Shield!"

Soon the tanks also used their skills to block the scorpions. And then close-range damage dealers that used weapons such as swords and bayonets began to move.

Puk! Puk!

Bang! Bang!

Healers and supports helped the tanks hit it off together, perhaps because all of them were close to Level 400. Even though they met here for the first time for this quest, they could beat the scorpions without any damage. Round 3 then ended.

"Wow, Taichi. I was really impressed by your ice-type skills."

"Yeah. I'm sure Taichi's grid was a big hit. In my opinion, the scorpions that passed over it died the fastest. Some of them died on the spot without even getting out."

The Level 384 wizard named Taichi was the same ice-type wizard as me. He would certainly know that it was not his skills that killed the scorpions because the skills he witnessed far exceeded those he used to know until now. If he didn't realize it, he must be an idiot because he must have used such skills a lot so far.

To my surprise, Taichi didn't deny the other users' praise of his skills. He even waved his hand, saying humbly, "Haha, I'm flattered. I think I did not contribute much. I got them because everyone here worked together."

At that moment I could not help but giggle secretly because I knew that he lied right in front of me. But nobody seemed to notice his lies. Of course, I could understand them because the gap between Level 384 and Level 131, which was well over 250, was big enough to hide the truth. Then one healer shouted, "Wow! We're currently 3rd place!"

At the healer's shouting, everyone's gazes to the sky. So did I.

[Current defense scoreboard.

-1st place: 24th Defense Unit (455,781 points)

-2nd place: 116th Defense Unit (452,911 points)

-3rd place: 79th Defense Unit (449,699 points)

The 79th Defense Unit was the unit I belonged to. And the score gap between the 1st and 3rd place was not big.

"Wow! If we do well, we can eat the bonus Scorpion King! Way to go!"

"Yeah!"

Everyone was full of high morale.

Then a message rang.

[Round 4 has started.

-Scorpions will now appear.]

"Round 4 is not much different from Round 3 except that there are more monsters. You can just keep doing what you did in Round 3."

"Yeah!"

Certainly, there was no special modifier for these scorpions. However, the scorpions, which seemed to be twice as many as before, were approaching through the sand. And they were coming at a formidable speed. Of course, they didn't stand idle, looking at them. They spread grids everywhere and used all the available skills to block them.

I also used my skills immediately, ignoring the Level 384 ice-type wizard Taichi who was checking my expression at the moment.

"Ice Field!"

Ice Field spread wide in front of our third party. And then another voice followed.

"Ice Field!"

It overlapped mine again on purpose, and Taichi furtively did it. I shot a glance at him.

As if he was conscious of me, he said to me right away, "If the Ice Field overlaps, the effect of slowing them down will not increase, but the damages caused by the Ice Field itself will increase."

He had a point in that respect, but I felt it was ridiculous. I was not foolish enough to discern his lies. Without responding, I just smiled at him, then looked straight again.

After all, my efforts here will be materialized into scores anyway, and he would know then that he made a big mistake by bringing trouble onto himself.

"Multiple Ice Arrow, Ice Ball, Ice Bolt."

In the meantime, I used single-target skills constantly. Of course, I had one more, namely the AoE skill called Ice Blast. But it was a bad move to break the current Ice Field that was working very well. So, I didn't use it. But I used one more faster than anyone else.

"Ice Field!"

I spread another Ice Field next to the one I had already cast. Until now I never used more than two Ice Fields because I didn't need to. In fact, the link between Ice Blast and Ice Field or Pouring Hailstones or Ice Blast was more than enough to kill the monsters that I confronted until now. But this time I used it because the situation was different.

"Huh?"

"Already?"

Some who felt something strange about my skills looked at me. Of course I knew this because even though I used the Level 2 Ice Field, there was a big obstacle called a cooldown in order for me to use it again.

Ignoring their attention, however, I used the Pouring Hailstones on the Ice Field that I spread on my own.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

They were focusing on me for a moment. There was the noise of the scorpion's thick shells being smashed by the Pouring Hailstones I used. And that noise lasted quite a long time. Of course, there were quite a few scorpions facing death amid the noise, for which I could only claim credit for. While using Pouring Hailstones, I didn't stop firing Multiple Ice Arrows, Ice Balls, and Ice Bolts. Then I slightly turned my eyes to the side and told them looking at me blankly, "Aren't you attacking the scorpions?"

***

"Soar, Pillar of Fire!"

"Oh, Earth, shake according to my will! Shaking Earth!"

"Power Shot!"

"Triple Shot!"

"Summon, Spirit of the Wind!. Spirit of the Wind!"

"Giant's Strike!"

So far, their plan worked out smoothly, including their attack, defense, and rear support.

Although more than twice as many scorpions as Round 3 charged at them, not one of them broke through the tank's tight defense.