The Monsters Gather

September 13, 1375, Sky Era - Nightwhisper Village - midnight.

The autumn sun had long since sunk behind the mountains, and a silver moon hung high in the sky. Most of the adventurers who had gone out to level had already returned to the village, and most had logged off. Only a handful still lingered in Nightwhisper Village's tavern, flirting with its beautiful proprietress or telling one another about their gains and adventures that day.

The casual civilian players, meanwhile, took advantage of the moonlight to admire scenery rarely seen in reality. Night Whisper Forest was beautiful at night. Whether it was the star-filled sky, the picturesque moonlight, or the night view of Nightwhisper Village dotted with glowing lights, it was all as enchanting as a landscape painting. For men and women deep in love, it was an especially ideal place for a tryst. Couples could be seen embracing on benches beside the stone-paved road and in the grass beneath the moonlight. Although unlocking the 00XX function cost quite a few coupons, it had always been one of the services civilian players in Sky World were most likely to pay for.

Amid all this romantic charm, however, the forest not far from Nightwhisper Village presented an entirely different scene.

Goblins, gnolls, kobolds, human bandits, and all manner of miscellaneous monsters crowded every gap between the trees. They had begun gathering here at eleven, and now, an hour later, they numbered in the hundreds. That might not have sounded like many at first, but seeing them in person was another matter entirely. The dark mass made a spectacular sight.

Several monster leaders stood on a raised patch of ground in the forest, gazing at Nightwhisper Village in the distance. Suddenly, a white light flashed, and a goblin player logged in. It was Killer Codename 38.

"How is it? What's happening in the village now?" Xiao Yu asked impatiently.

"I've checked it out, boss. Most of the adventurers have logged off. There are no more than ten in the village now. There are quite a few civilian players, but they can hardly fight, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Mm, good." Xiao Yu nodded in satisfaction and glanced at the black panther beside him. "Brother Death, why haven't those friends of yours arrived yet? If they don't come soon, we'll have to attack on our own."

The black panther stretched leisurely. "Don't be impatient. Aren't there still a few minutes until midnight? Huh, look, aren't they coming over there?"

Xiao Yu looked in the direction the black panther indicated and saw a group of white shapes flitting through the bushes like ghosts. Only when they drew closer could he make them out: a pack of white wolves, led by a giant wolf as large as a calf.

Beowulf (Forest Wolf King) - level 16 rare elite. He was actually one level higher than Deathclaw.

"Good evening, everyone!" The frost wolf rushed straight to the raised ground and leaped lightly up onto it. The seven or eight white wolves behind him stopped instantly, as orderly as a well-trained army.

The white wolf sat down beside the black panther. "So this is the army you mentioned. It certainly looks impressive."

"And those are?"

"My pack. Don't worry, they follow my commands completely," Beowulf explained. "Compared to other beasts, we wolves are actually relatively weak in combat. We're at a disadvantage one-on-one, so after advancing to wolf king, we can recruit followers. These white wolves are all members of my pack."

"I see. That puts my mind at ease. By the way, is there anyone else?" Xiao Yu had barely finished speaking.

Thump, thump! A series of heavy, earth-shaking sounds rang out, punctuated by the occasional crack of breaking trees. Amid the commotion, a gigantic beast emerged from the undergrowth.

Teddy (Enraged Giant Bear) - level 16 rare elite.

"Good evening, everyone. How could you have a fight without me?" Teddy's voice was as imposing as his build. He crawled up beside the little mound but did not jump onto it, because he was nearly as tall as the mound itself.

"So that just leaves the old bird. He couldn't have been too scared to come, could he?"

"Hey, you big dumb bear, talking behind someone's back isn't a good habit." A hoarse voice descended from the sky with a rush of wind, landing on a branch. It was a giant eagle with a wingspan of two meters.

Ace Pilot (Gale Black Eagle) - level 14 rare elite.

"All right, all my friends are here now."

Xiao Yu looked at the four beasts before him and thought, Could this be the legendary ears of the wolf, eyes of the eagle, strength of the bear, and speed of the panther? Well, he had to admit, the combination looked pretty cool.

"Since everyone's here, let's begin. We'll follow the original plan!" Xiao Yu readily took charge of assigning the battle tasks. As he spoke, he picked up a branch and drew a simple map on the ground. "First, we'll concentrate our firepower to blast open the gates, then swarm in using our superior numbers. The strongest defenders in Nightwhisper Village are an ancient of war and two ancient protectors. When the time comes, we must immediately concentrate our firepower and destroy those three ancient trees."

"The ancient of war has 3,000 health and is a melee unit. The ancient protectors have 1,800 health and can fight in melee or throw boulders. They're all heavily armored units with high defense, but they have one weakness: fire. So we need to gather all our troops capable of fire attacks.

"Big Gold Tooth, don't you have some kobold diviners under you? Have them attack with fireballs. Together with my Flame Missiles and Black?Rod's Defias Pillagers, we should be able to take down those three big guys quickly. Then we can swarm in and destroy as much of the enemy's remaining strength as possible.

"Derek, your gnoll army is the strongest, so you'll attack the temple in Nightwhisper Village and kill the archdruid inside.

"Black?Rod, lead the human bandits and wipe out the remaining forces of Nightwhisper Village's garrison.

"Big Gold Tooth, have your kobolds infiltrate the village as much as possible, kill civilians, and stir up chaos.

"Deathclaw, you and your friends will work with some of the human bandits and take responsibility for the tavern. There are some mercenaries and adventurers there, and you'll be in charge of taking them out. Also, Ace Pilot, fly overhead to scout and guide us. If anything unexpected happens, notify us immediately. Does anyone have any questions?"

"Wait a minute. What gives you the right to command us? And since we've all got assignments, what are you going to do?"

"Well..." Xiao Yu deliberately pretended to be evasive as he explained, "I'll be in charge of occupying the respawn point, of course. There are bound to be lots of adventurer players who hear about the monster siege and log in. I need to hold them off there."

The monster bosses thought it over, and dissatisfied expressions immediately appeared on their faces.

"Damn it, why do you get all the good stuff while I get the tough job?" Derek complained. It was obvious that the adventurers would not all log in at once, but would pop out one by one. With preparations in place, they could easily be ambushed and killed. How much experience and equipment would that be?

Not only was it safe, but the rewards were plentiful. By comparison, attacking the temple was a real chore. After all, night elves lived in a theocracy and had no town hall. The temple was the political heart of Nightwhisper Village, and the village leader, the archdruid, lived there too. It was easy to imagine that it would be the hardest place to attack.