"An... an Epic Lord?"
A player's voice trembled. The sword in his hand had sliced through monsters with ease moments ago, but now it shook beyond his control.
"How can a signal tower be an Epic Lord?"
"How are we supposed to fight that?"
The morale that had burned with the thrill of slaughter froze in an instant, then rapidly collapsed.
The 50% stat boost from [Holy Armament] seemed laughably useless before the hundred-meter-tall behemoth.
Roderick's heart sank.
He had expected the tower to be difficult to deal with, perhaps guarded by a powerful elite monster. But he had never imagined that the tower itself was a LV100 Epic Lord!
"Everyone! Fall back! Keep your distance!"
Roderick roared himself hoarse, trying to rally the troops as chaos spread through their ranks.
But it was too late.
The Wailing Signal Tower moved.
It raised one of its deformed metal legs and brought it crashing down.
The massive foot came down on a defensive position that more than thirty Shield Warriors had formed on their own.
They raised their shields, strengthened by Holy Armament, and tried to withstand the blow.
But they had overestimated themselves and underestimated the terror of an Epic Lord.
The ground caved in like soft mud. The thirty-odd players did not even have time to scream before they were driven deep underground, their bodies, equipment, and shields crushed into powder too fine to distinguish with the naked eye.
Instant death!
More than thirty fully armed Shield Warriors, killed with a single stomp!
The sight shattered what remained of everyone's nerve.
"Run!"
"We can't fight it! There's no way!"
"We were tricked! It's a trap!"
Panic spread like a plague.
The players abandoned all thought of formations and orders. Screaming and crying, they scattered like headless flies.
All they