The Grand Finale

Coordinates: Liver - H-124

Led by the three major guilds, followed closely by numerous smaller guilds, and with countless solo players observing from the periphery, over ten thousand players had gathered, every one of them above level ten.

"BOOM--!!!"

Following ten minutes of continuous bombardment by the Imperial Dynasty guild's mage corps, the calcified outer wall, long corroded by acid, finally buckled under the pressure and collapsed with a deafening roar, leaving a fifty-meter-wide breach.

Amidst the billowing dust, the interior of the H-124 fortress was revealed to the players for the first time.

It was a terrifying labyrinth constructed from countless blood vessels, hardened nodules, and the remains of unknown creatures. Behind the breach, dense clusters of red light points flickered like ghost fires.

"ROAR--!!"

Without giving the players a moment to catch their breath, as the wall collapsed, the elite guards stationed inside surged out like a floodgate opening.

Charging at the very front were three full phalanxes of [Crystallized Executioner (LV.22 Elite)].

They stood over three meters tall, their bodies covered in heavy purple crystal armor, dragging two-meter-long decapitation axes that made the ground tremble with every step.

Behind them, dozens of [Corrupt Mother]s, bloated like balls of flesh and responsible for wiping out the Dawn Second Regiment, were writhing frantically. The holes in their backs spat out countless fist-sized [Blood-Sucking Liver Leech]es, instantly forming a green cloud of insects.

"Prepare for contact!!"

Long Zhan Yu Ye stood at the very front of the line, clad in shimmering golden armor, his greatsword held high.

This armor was a custom piece Long Zhan Yu Ye had crafted using a vast amount of top-tier materials, which he named [Magma Beast King Armor]. He had spent an astronomical sum to have high-level Flesh Artisan players and NPCs providing crafting services process and refine the materials, reinforcing and enchanting it multiple times to grant it terrifying resistance to fire, poison, and acid.

"Dawn Guild! Show these monsters what a wall of steel looks like!"

In an instant, the battlefield became a meat grinder!

The two sides collided violently.

The tactical proficiency of the Dawn Guild was average; although they had begun hiring professionals for training, the results were not yet apparent, and they still lacked discipline. However, in the face of absolute numerical superiority, what did technique matter?

The hundred players in the front row had all advanced to the Divine Guard sub-class--[Steel Bastion].

They activated their class skill [Immovable as a Mountain], planting their tower shields side-by-side in the ground to instantly construct a defensive line that shimmered with a metallic luster.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Dozens of giant axes slammed into the shield wall, sending sparks flying. The immense impact caused the web between the thumbs and forefingers of many front-line players to split, their health bars dropping by a third instantly, but the defensive line did not retreat a single step!

"Well done! Second row, move up! Third row, provide fire support!"

From the gaps in the shield wall, hundreds of Berserkers wielding two-handed heavy weapons and burly men wreathed in flames leaped out--these were the other main advancement path of the Divine Guard, [Berserk Behemoth], and the well-known hidden path, [Flame Prison Guard].

The [Berserk Behemoth]s sacrificed some of the Divine Guard's tankiness in pursuit of extreme trade-off damage. They roared as they activated [Blood Frenzy], their greatswords glowing red as they hacked fiercely at the Executioners' crystal knees, sparking wildly!

"Break for me!!"

"Bang!"

Someone went flying backward, but it wasn't a Crystallized Executioner. It's hard to guess who that was.

On the flank, the Imperial Dynasty guild's phalanx displayed astonishing crowd control.

"Thunder Lord corps, Chain Lightning, target the front-row knees. Fire!" Tian Ce commanded calmly with a wave of his hand.

Zzzzt!

Hundreds of blue electric arcs wove into a giant net, and those Executioners preparing to swing their second axes stiffened, falling into a state of brief paralysis.

"Venom Ranger corps, Corrosive Arrow Rain, cover the rear Mothers. Fire!"

[Venom Ranger] was the other main advancement path for the Hunter, but few players played it. Firstly, because the server's top player, Feng Xing Tian Xia, was the first to advance to Ghost Blade, and secondly, because the class relied on damage-over-time and traps, making it better suited for battles where one could set up in advance.

A sky full of green arrows arched through the air, landing precisely among the monsters in the rear. The corrosive toxins rapidly softened the thick fat layers of the Mothers, significantly reducing the frequency at which they spat out toxic insects.

Even poisonous creatures fear poison!

But the monsters were, after all, elite-grade.

"Watch out for the leeches!"

A stray Corrupt Mother suddenly contracted its body, spraying out a dozen toxic insects that bypassed the shield wall and landed in the rear of the Dawn Guild.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

This batch of leeches didn't just suck blood; they could actually self-destruct!

The violent acid explosions instantly cleared a section of the area. A dozen mages in the middle of casting didn't even have time to scream before they turned into white light.

"The breach is about to be overrun! There are too many monsters!" someone shouted in terror.

"Who dares to retreat! Everyone, hold the line for me!" Long Zhan Yu Ye's eyes were bloodshot. He relied on his [Keratinized Skin] to tank the acid, hacking a leech to death with his sword, "Where is the Dawn Guild? If you don't cut into their rear soon, we're going to wipe!"

"We're looking for an opening!"

A calm voice cut into the battlefield channel.

The core group of the Dawn Guild, which had been lurking on the edge of the battlefield, finally bared its fangs.

The Dawn Guild had always followed an elite path, with fewer members but higher levels, and their equipment configuration and technical skill were top-tier. After a three-party discussion, it was decided that they would be the ones to find an opportunity to strike the rear.

Feng Xing Tian Xia, bolstered by his dual talents, transformed into a black phantom. Ignoring the meat grinder directly in front of him, he utilized the height differences of the ruins to sprint across the tops of the monsters' heads at high speed. The Crystallized Executioner could barely even touch him.

Behind him, Dali Chu Qiji charged forward like a bulldozer, his entire body wreathed in flames—

"Feel the passionate wildness of the server's number one Flame Prison Guard!"

Unlike ordinary Divine Guards who raised their shields for defense, he used his tower shield as a battering ram. He slammed into the densest cluster of monsters like a burning meteorite.

"Clear a path for me!!"

BOOM!

This Savage Collision knocked over two Crystallized Executioners, forcibly tearing a hole through the impenetrable monster defensive line.

"Good chance!"

Thunder King, who had been ready and waiting, knelt on high ground, the Thunder Magnetic Floating Cannon on his shoulder already overloaded and charged.

"WHOOSH!"

A blinding bolt of lightning pierced straight through the gap torn open by Dali, striking with precision into the mouthparts of a low-health Corrupt Mother in the back row.

SPLAT!

The mother creature exploded instantly, its fluids vaporized by the lightning before they could even hit the ground.

"Holy cow! Are level 20 damage dealers this fierce?"

"Is this the damage output of the server's top-tier players?"

The surrounding casual players watched in a daze. Only the guild leaders of Dragon War and Imperial Dynasty had reached level 20, allowing them to move with relative ease on the battlefield, while ordinary players were still struggling to hold on. How were these few from Li Ming cutting through the enemies like vegetables?

"Don't space out! Keep up!" Yun Zhong You waved her staff, and strings of Life Chain connected the assault team. Her group healing never faltered, forcibly maintaining a lifeline amidst the acid rain.

The battle entered a white-hot stage.

The three major guilds paid a price of nearly fifty percent casualties to finally slaughter this wave of gatekeeper elite monsters.

"They're down! The last Executioner is down!"

As the final behemoth crashed to the ground, the players couldn't help but cheer with joy.

By now, the allied player forces had pushed into the interior of the fortress, arriving at a vast, empty plaza.

Everywhere here were pipes emitting a ghostly glow and massive reaction vessels, with thick, ink-green liquid flowing across the ground. Although they had successfully cleared the outer obstacles, an inexplicable sense of oppression weighed on everyone's heart.

It was too quiet.

Why were there no monsters inside?

And logically speaking, with so many of its minions dead, the boss should have come out to fight for its life long ago.

"Something's wrong..."

Data Maniac frowned, his expression suddenly shifting. Reacting in sync with him was Tian Ce, the guild leader of Imperial Dynasty—both were Mind Hackers, highly sensitive to abnormal energy.

"Energy readings... off the charts! Retreat, now!!"

Before anyone could react.

"HUMM—"

The ground of the entire plaza cracked open without warning. Three pillars of green light erupted from underground, instantly sealing off all retreat routes.

A suffocating, terrifying pressure weighed on the shoulders of every player like a physical force. That feeling wasn't just the numerical suppression brought by level differences; it was an instinctive trembling from the depths of their souls, as if ants had stumbled into the feeding ground of giant elephants.

A harsh whisper, sounding like countless bones rubbing against each other, echoed out, followed by the hissing of liquid boiling under high heat, finally converging into a dull, echoing roar.

A withered figure floating in mid-air tilted its head slightly, remaining silent, its gaze filled with a cold, scrutinizing indifference.

Immediately after, a massive figure emerged from the ground, emitting incoherent grunts from its mouth—a pure, mindless greed:

"Meat... more... high-quality meat..."

Three distinct yet equally malicious wills echoed across the empty plaza, overlapping like the funeral bells of hell.

[Server-wide Warning: Lord-level units have awakened!]

[Warning: High-risk biological signature detected at LV.28! Extremely dangerous!]

The light pillars dissipated.

Three massive figures stood in a triangular formation, slowly revealing their true forms from the shadows.

On the left was a moving mountain of flesh, dozens of meters tall, its body stitched together from rotting fat and Hardened Gallstone, dragging a blood-dripping, rusted meat cleaver in its hand.

On the right was a hydra-like creature half-buried in the ground, its body fused with the bile pipes of the fortress, its nine hideous heads dripping with venom capable of corroding steel.

And in the air behind them floated a shriveled humanoid monster, wearing tattered priestly robes and holding a bone staff embedded with a purple evil eye. Visible chains of souls extended from its body, connecting to the two behemoths below—

[Gluttonous Meat Mountain (LV.28 Lord)].

[Venomous Touch Hydra (LV.28 Lord)].

[Plague Priest (LV.28 Lord)].

Level 28 bosses!

And there were three of them!

Tank, mage, healer—a perfect iron triangle.

Unlike the time we raided the Heaven-Burning Flame Demon in the A7 District of the Lung, there were no high-level Silver Wing Sentinel to help us now, nor were there any buffs to reduce the boss's total stats!

"Three bosses..." Dragon Fighting in the Wild stared at those bottomless health bars, his greatsword clattering to the ground as his throat went dry, "And... they actually know how to coordinate?"

The Plague Priest gently waved the bone staff in its hand.

Two green chains of light instantly connected the two behemoths below.

[System Notification: "Symbiotic Link" activated. Health points shared, recovery ability tripled.]