Deep beneath Shadow City, atop a broad black stone platform.
A massive teleportation array roared deafeningly as Darkling elite forces drove vast quantities of supplies and ordinary Darklings designated as sacrifices steadily back toward the interior.
The players' main vanguard had just pushed onto the outer stone steps.
At the center of the platform, a Tier Three Darkling guard coldly raised his staff. A viscous ripple of shadow swept out along the ground. There was no stalemate whatsoever; the shields, defensive skills, and high resistances that Tier Two players took pride in were as fragile as thin paper before that ripple.
The shadow swept through, instantly vaporizing dozens of players at the front. Not even intact corpses remained, while all kinds of equipment exploded directly into scrap metal. The absolute suppression of rank completely erased their numerical advantage.
"Holy shit! A Tier Three AoE insta-kill! Did anyone record that?"
"That damage calculation was insane. I got sent back to the city before I even felt any pain!"
"Quit talking and upload the first-person videos of getting insta-killed!"
In the regional channel, the fallen players were not frightened in the slightest. Instead, they excitedly discussed how they had died.
"Stop! Everyone stop charging and find cover where you are!"
[Great Wall No. 1] immediately called a halt in the command channel. The purpose of his first wave of attacks had been to probe the enemy's deployment and clear a route. Now he could see it clearly: around the teleportation array were not only more Tier Three guards than intelligence had indicated, but also a Tier Four Darkling archmage radiating terrifying pressure.
Even if every Tier Two player threw themselves in, they could never whittle down high-ranking enemies with basic attacks. Great Wall No. 1 would never let his men die meaningless