Infinite Realm

"Activate the array."

Just less than two seconds after Sato had spoken, bright yellow lights illuminated certain spots in the valley. The lights started out dull before they slowly intensified in brightness and intensity.

Maybe due to its instincts and natural fear to the unknown or maybe it was because Sato had kept on unleashing different surprises on it, showing it the world outside its well[1], the kobold chief had slowed down in its footsteps, coming to a halt within two seconds. A slight sense of apprehension passed through the kobold chief's thoughts as it tightened its grip on the bone spear. But after waiting for more than 5 seconds, apart from the lights brightening up till they reached a limit, nothing else occurred...or so it thought.

[[ System Interface :

[Low Class Earth Suppression Array] activated.

[Low Class Earth Suppression Array] :

Has 3 functions;

Reduce target's abilities by at least 5-10%. Effective on all creatures under level 15. Has little effect on level 15 monsters.

Shields all energy explosions and activities rated under level 15 Elite rank for monsters and level 15 beginner rank for other life forms.

Creates an illusionary field so that those outside can't see nor sense what is happening inside. Illusionary field has its limits.

Duration : 10 minutes. ]]

[Low Class Earth Suppression Array] was a very impressive array formation that cost a lot. Unlike the other subclasses and jobs that were easy to find, the Array/Formation guild[1] didn't have a true branch in any of the towns. The reason why the word 'true branch' is used is because even though there exists a building named 'Array Guild Branch', this was more like a a shopping mart than a real branch. They didn't accept any apprentices or pursuers of Array arts but instead only sold their goods. The same went for the Engineering Guild's branch and the Rune branch. As for the reason why, that's unimportant for now.

[Low Class Earth Suppression Array] was one of the top formations under level 10, to the point that it even affected creatures above level 10 but under level 15, and even still had a slight effect on level 15 monsters. For such a powerful scroll, the price wasn't one bit shy, reaching up to 30 silver coins! Luckily for them, it was worth the price. Just the main attributes reduction was enough for this array to be valued by most players much less the fact that there were two other functions attached to it.

The two functions were easily understood but their use was underrated. The energy shielding function was really important as it would prevent their battle from alerting the others. Even more amazing was the fact that it could actually handle energy attacks under level 15. The Kobold chief was already outrageously strong with its attack being capable of modifying the terrain. Despite this, it wouldn't be able to make a scratch, much less a dent, on the terrain anymore due to the effects of the array. As for the illusionary effect, this was very important for the team.

If before it would take the kobolds horde 3 minutes to find this spot after defeating the alliance, with the aid of this function in the array, it would take them even longer. This was because the array would mimic the environment in its original and natural form with the absence of any living creature. Unless Sato's team's luck was really bad or the kobolds had a lucky figure amongst their numbers, it could even take them an entire day to discover this location.

[[ System Interface :

Due to the level and ability of the target, Main attributes are reduced by 7%. ]]

"???" The Kobold chief was surprised as it felt that familiar feeling of its strength slowly waning till it reached a particular point.

Having its attributes reduced twice -with the first being a 5% reduction and the second being a 7% reduction- together with its attack power reduced to 7% of its original value, the kobold chief wasn't as dangerous as before. Though it was still a difficult foe, the constant reduction had made it so that Katsuo would be barely able to tank it with his level 7 attributes.

Sato used the brief period that the kobold chief was in shock to widen the gap and escape further.

"Hold it back for Sato to recover!" Fudo suddenly yelled.

By this time, the kobold chief had recovered from its stunned state and pursued Sato once more. Ever since these weaklings had intruded on its homeland, it had been infuriated for God knows how many times. It just couldn't wait to kill them off especially the swordsman in front. The Kobold chief felt that apart from the pudgy figure with the red staff, this little 'creature' was the most dangerous.

"Your target is me now!" Katsuo roared as he moved in front of the kobold chief from the side. He had imbued the skill [Taunt] into his voice, turning his simple roar to a skill.

Back when he had to face the two [Guardians Golems] with only Yato, Seiichi and Fudo backing him up, Katsuo had once made a slight mistake in attracting the monsters' aggro. Rather than a mistake, it would be more accurate to say that he discovered a flaw in his abilities. Because he was way weaker than them, at one point in time, the [Guardian Golem] had actually ignored his [Taunt]. Katsuo realised at that point, that the [Taunt] skill wasn't as supreme as in other VR games; monsters could ignore it and this was even more so if the monster was way stronger than he was or way smarter than usual or even both. In the case of the Kobold chief, it was both.

Katsuo knew that he couldn't risk failing to draw the monster to himself, so he positioned his body right in between the pursuing kobold chief and the retreating Sato. Though this was no different from suicide, it would increase the chances of him successfully drawing the monster to himself.

"[Block]!" Katsuo roared as he placed his shield in front of himself with both hands. With his sword hanging behind him and his shield held in front, Katsuo looked like a legendary warrior who was facing a demonic dragon. Well, though the real thing wasn't exactly the same, it wasn't that far from it.

For this mission alone, Katsuo had placed 3 of his recently attained 5 attribute points into [Endurance] and left the rest in [Vitality]. For this mission, his job was to tank the kobold chief and not reduce its HP. With his Mid-tier Mortal rank armour and shield, Katsuo had faith that he would be able to pull it off.

As the kobold chief saw Katsuo in its way, with the effect of [Taunt] added to its rage, the kobold chief didn't ignore him but stretched out a claw and slashed at him. Even though this attack wasn't performed with the bone spear, the power behind it wasn't a joke.

*Bang*

"Ugh!"

A small dust cloud, barely reaching one's ankles, spread out as the kobold chief's claw clashed with Katsuo's shield.

The force behind the claw was mighty to the extent that despite blocking it with a shield, Katsuo suffered a bit from it. His arms were shaking from the impact but Katsuo still stood still without any feeling of worry or frustration. On the contrary, a slight smile traced his lips. He had blocked the attack without taking a single point of damage. One should recall that this was a level 10 Elite monster. Even though it attacked with its bare hands instead of its weapon, the might behind the strike was something no player could resist cleanly. Though he didn't do so cleanly, Katsuo was able to stand up to the strike without losing a single HP. For a non-pro gamer, this was an impressive achievement.

While the kobold chief could easily tower over everyone, Katsuo was the only one to have managed to reach its shoulders being able to barely compare to it. With his current stance of blocking the kobold chief's claw, Katsuo looked heroic, comparable to those legendary figures of old. But with the team being in a race against time, no one bothered to admire Katsuo's figure now. Instead, they all began attacking.

Before the Kobold chief could be surprised that Katsuo was still standing, an arrow had already closed in within the metre mark. At the same time, Yato approached from the left, where he hacked out with his sword. This was a pincer attack set up by both Seiichi and Yato. Surprisingly yet not, they both had faith in Katsuo being able to handle the kobold chief's strike and decided to counter just a millisecond later.

Though surpassing them in strength, the kobold chief didn't plan on tanking their attacks. It was still injured from [Kōjin's Arrow] so any regular attack would be of harm to it.

Taking a step back, the kobold chief moved backwards and dodged the two attacks. This wasn't all that difficult for it since it was faster than both the arrow and the swordsman. But at this moment, something else happened.

Fudo and Xue Yan had actually been waiting for an opportunity and as they saw Yato and Seiichi both make their moves, the two had reached a conclusion and aimed at the only open spot left. This spot happened to be behind the kobold chief, just exactly where it retreated to. The kobold chief had unknowingly left the wolf's lair just to jump into the tiger's cave.

If that wasn't enough, a small ripple occurred in space as Lu Zhen, who had stayed hidden all these while, suddenly appeared from behind. This wasn't a two-pronged assault but a three-pronged one. The kobold chief had unknowingly entered a three-way assault and what was worse was that because it had just moved towards the position, it couldn't dodge the attacks.. It looked to be in dire straits from here on out.