To be honest, I’ve never been a fan of holy light.
Whether it was as a Dark Verbal Mage in my past life or now as a vampire, restrained by holy damage.
Or maybe it’s those slightly indecent things—like wanting to kick out whichever Paladin keeps showing up uninvited. I’ve never had much fondness for the Bright Faction’s churches.
Maybe that’s why I ended up tied to the Demon King role.
But all that aside, what I really want you to understand is—
I absolutely don’t want to take another holy blast to the face from those clerics!
“Seriously, don’t your doctrines forbid sneaky attacks without warning? That hurt so much, I could cry!”
Before the surrounding players could react, I shot into the air, rapidly closing the distance to the distant clerics.
“I’m terribly sorry…”
I didn’t expect such a polite response from them.
If it weren’t for the gathering glow at the tip of their staff, I might’ve been fooled by their sincere attitude.
“Your words and actions don’t match at all!” I narrowly dodged the incoming attack and couldn’t help but retort.
The female cleric who attacked averted her gaze, as if too ashamed to meet my eyes. Her odd behavior sparked some suspicion in me.
But before I could think further, a golden figure charging toward me interrupted my thoughts.
I was about to use my flight advantage to evade the two Paladins’ pursuit when my peripheral vision caught two streaking shadows.
Hammer of Judgment.
I recognized it instantly—a non-targeted skill Paladins learn at level 30, one of the longest control skills in the early game.
“Are you guys from the national javelin team or something?!”
Normal Paladins can barely throw five yards, but twenty? Are you training for the Olympics, or is this just the strength of Elite NPCs?
I couldn’t help but grumble, but my movements didn’t slow. The [Eternal Night] behind me transformed into a swift whip, fiercely knocking the two incoming hammers away.
“Let’s see you stop me now.”
Easily shaking off the two knights, I was feeling smug when it suddenly hit me.
Wait, where’s the third knight?
No teacher answers a careless student’s questions. The only response was the whistling wind behind me.
BANG.
Struck hard on the back of my head, I plummeted from the sky. I managed to land somewhat steadily, but it was still quite the embarrassing tumble.
“Ow, ow, ow, ow! You jerks hit way too hard! QAQ”
Clutching my head, I was about to wait out the stun and escape when I looked up to see three towering figures closing in.
“I’m terribly sorry…” The averted gaze, the sincere tone—it was eerily familiar.
Just as familiar was the heavy hammer descending with the apology.
“I told you, stop saying one thing and doing another!”
Even a fallen tiger gets bullied, let alone a fallen loli—whose delicate appearance only seems to fuel others’ desire to pick on her.
The players, suppressed for so long, seized their chance to vent, following the three female Paladins and unloading their attacks.
But many felt a strange twinge in their hearts.
“It kinda feels like we’re helping a third party steal our own wife.”
“Then why’re you still slinging [Fireball] so eagerly?”
“If it wasn’t for the quest, I wouldn’t be bullying my wifey like this. It hurts my heart.”
When I triggered the special quest [Radiant’s Defeat], all players in the Forest Ruins also triggered their own event quests. Unlike mine, they got two.
One was [Glory of the Brave], assisting the knights in attacking [Lament of Eternal Night – Lilina]. The other was [Resolve of the Guardian], protecting the clerics from harm while clearing nearby Dark Bats.
Though players in the Forest Ruins had been doing similar things before, the event quests gave their actions clearer purpose and better-organized teamwork.
“Their attack frequency’s getting stronger.”
Dreamweaver, watching the increasingly frenzied Dark Bats, pulled three sharp arrows from her quiver, nocking them onto her bowstring and aiming at a nearby Dark Bat Elite.
“It’s probably being directed from over there. Otherwise, this quest would be way too easy,” Zhenmo said with a slight smile, clearly referring to [Resolve of the Guardian].
The two clerics had split the players into two groups: one with Starry Myth, Roseheart, and Eternal Spire, and the other with Stormwind, Ares, and Epic of the Empire.
Their side was protecting Him, a female cleric specializing in Priest abilities, with buffs for stats and HP regeneration. She periodically cast group heals to save players on the brink of death.
The other side protected Biri, who wielded powerful holy magic, clearing nearby monsters with a wave of her hand. The remaining low-HP Dark Bats were naturally picked off by nearby players.
Each side had its own advantages.
Of course, Biri and Him only occasionally supported the backline. Their main focus was the front, where most of their healing went to the three knights, and most of their holy magic targeted the petite figure in the encirclement.
“It’s not just a little easy—with these NPCs helping, it’s almost too easy,” Dreamweaver said, satisfied with the damage numbers popping up above the Dark Bat Elite’s head. She prepped her next attack while adding sympathetically, “Poor little Lilina hasn’t even had much time to shine before getting shut down.”
“This BOSS has high intelligence and likely plenty of tricks left. We haven’t even dropped her below half HP yet, so don’t get cocky,” Zhenmo said, shaking his head. He sniped a nearby Dark Bat with a condensed [Wind Dove].
“Haven’t reached half HP yet? What’s the situation up front?”
“Butterfly says the BOSS is about to drop below 60% HP,” Zhenmo replied, checking the comms channel.
Starry Myth wasn’t about to miss out on the frontlines’ rewards. They’d assigned a third of their members to [Glory of the Brave].
Other guilds were likely doing the same, though the exact numbers varied by guild strategy.
With the three knights tanking most of the damage and the buff auras in play, the contribution points players earned up front were comparable to—or even higher than—those in the back.