Might of Players

---Third POV---

The thrill in his heart turned into overwhelming doubt and unwillingness. Yet his body continued to be swallowed by the blood mist conjured by the magic circle, now reaching his knees. At that moment, Hassan finally realized the inevitability of his fate, his eyes filling with deep-seated fear of death.

"No!! I... I won't accept this!"

He roared, his hands clawing into the ground like iron talons, blood streaming from his fingers. But no matter how he resisted, he could not counteract the vortex-like suction of the magic circle.

His ten fingers were torn apart, leaving ghastly bloodstains, unable to grasp anything anymore.

Still, he struggled.

Before his body was entirely consumed, he desperately raised his head, fixing his gaze on the players above. As if engraving his unwillingness and hatred into their very souls.

With his last ounce of strength, he cursed, "The Great God of Fear... will take my place... and make all of you pay the pri—ugh!"

Before he could finish, his body was completely engulfed by the surging blood.

Silence and shock were all that remained.

Above, the players exchanged bewildered glances. Whether due to the lingering effects of the crimson glow or not, it took a long moment before anyone spoke.

"That... animation effect was a bit too realistic."

It felt as though a real person had been struggling for their life. The desperate yearning for survival was so vivid it stirred a sense of empathy in the players.

One of them swallowed nervously. "Well, it is a goblin shaman. A higher intelligence and more human-like behavior is normal."

"But now that the shaman is dead, what are we supposed to fight as the boss?" another player asked.

True enough. They had been having a blast earlier, but after the secret chamber exploded, the storyline became increasingly bizarre.

Clueless about the bigger picture, they were left utterly confused.

Below, in a spot unnoticed by the players, the crimson glow began to dissipate quietly, as if being devoured by some unseen force lurking in the night... The swirling blood mist vortex, after "eating" the goblin shaman, turned from red to black.

The vortex churned faster and faster.

In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a ferocious crimson tornado!

A sudden gust of wind howled! Debris from the secret chamber was swept up. By the time the players noticed, those standing too close to the edge were almost dragged into the chaos.

Luckily, someone nearby reacted quickly and pulled them back.

"Careful! There's still something down there!"

As soon as the words were spoken, a massive claw, covered in deep cracks and terrifying patterns, shot out from the depths of the blood mist! In an instant, it crossed the space and struck down violently on two players.

"Whoa—!"

The speed was terrifying!

The two players didn't even have time to cry for help before being crushed into bloody pulp by the overwhelming force.

The ground cracked, and the surrounding area began to collapse.

The others only had time for a fleeting glance before they all turned and ran for their lives. But their foe didn't seem inclined to let them go so easily. Another claw, radiating an apocalyptic aura, crashed precisely into the fleeing crowd!

Screams and shouts echoed into the heavens! And yet another claw landed. It struck directly at a dense group of fleeing players.

For a moment, the air was filled with gut-wrenching screams.

"We're doomed! My magic isn't working!"

"Where's the bomb? Who the hell hid the bomb?!" Desperately running, Lux frantically rummaged through her game inventory amidst the chaos. Her anxiety peaked as she distinctly remembered having a bomb stashed away.

But she couldn't find it!

Boom!

Another unlucky soul was pulverized into a mess of flesh right in front of her, the scent of blood and despair saturating the air.

As she scanned the chaotic scene, the number of surviving players dwindled. Whether in one-on-one or group fights, they were no match for the massive monster.

"What do we do?! What do we do?!" Lux skidded to a halt, spinning on her heel with a deft maneuver akin to a stylish drift around a corner.

But she didn't have the luxury to admire her move. She was too busy swearing in frustration, stringing together an impromptu curse-laden ditty.

"Are we supposed to fight this thing?!"

With so few players left, they probably wouldn't even make a decent snack for the monster!

She gnashed her teeth in anger, filled with regret. If only she'd interrupted the cutscene earlier, preventing the goblin shaman from summoning the final boss.

Why had everyone just stood there gawking at the boss's entrance?!

Tears of regret streamed down her heart.

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"Stupid developers! Terrible developers!"

Great graphics, lousy balance!

As if cursed for mocking the developers, the next second, she tripped over a random stone. The world spun around her.

Danger!

This was her last thought before closing her eyes. But the expected pain and disconnection didn't come.

Lux opened her eyes little by little, stunned to find herself floating midair!

Not just her—the dust in the air and the colossal claw behind her were all frozen in place.

It was as if time itself had stopped!

Clack! Clack! Clack!

Ahead, an eerie sound of bones colliding echoed.

Viktor pulled back his hood, his gaze piercing through the shroud to the massive claw blocking out the sky.

"Stop yelling. Look carefully. The range of the red glow and the claw's mismatch with the magic circle—none of it makes sense." His voice shifted from clear to faint, like a whisper transcending time and space.

"Everything is an illusion. Wake up..."

Lux jolted awake, gasping for air like she'd just escaped a nightmare.

"Hah, hah, hah..."

"Lux, you're awake too!" a nearby player said, delighted.

Sitting up in disbelief, Lux muttered, "This, this is..."

She found herself safe and sound on the edge of the ruined plaza. Surrounded by a crowd of players, there was no trace of the earlier chaos.

Not far away, the members of the Lucky Stars Team, who had been missing, were now rushing over.

"Perfect timing—look below!" The same player spoke again.

"The final boss has appeared. Viktor is here too. It looks like we're off the hook!"

Lux followed his gaze, holding her breath.

The secret chamber below was still chaotic, but the suffocating blood-soaked atmosphere had diminished significantly. No longer a terrifying sea of blood, it was now eerily calm. Standing atop the strange blood-drawn patterns was a figure.

A long-haired, bare-chested "woman."

No, to be precise, it was only the upper half of a woman's body. Her lower half was deeply submerged in the magic circle, hinting at a far larger form beneath—a mere tip of the iceberg.

At that moment, the woman slowly turned her head, locking eyes with Lux.

A chilling wave of terror gripped Lux's soul.

The woman's face was stunningly beautiful, yet her eyes were unnaturally large, with no whites—only endless darkness.

A dizzying vertigo overwhelmed Lux... but before fainting, she decisively slapped herself.

Slap!

"I can't faint!"

The crisp sound echoed loudly, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

Including Viktor, who was standing in front of the woman, locked in a standoff. He glanced up, momentarily speechless.

"..."

She reacted quickly and managed to shake herself free from the nightmare's grip.

Through the earlier exchange, he had discerned the opponent's nature: A fully grown Level-3 Terror Beast.

Its three talents were: mimicry, sonic hypnosis, and nightmare manipulation.

All illusion-based abilities.

If it were a Level-3 magical creature that relied purely on brute strength, Viktor might find it tricky to deal with.

But this?

A creature whose nest was nowhere nearby, only projecting a fragment of its mimicry while focusing on emotional manipulation, just a fragile beast relying on tricks?

That was a whole different story...

He chuckled softly. "When it comes to fear, who can surpass the undead?"

All around, magical energy surged toward him like rivers converging at his feet. The ground began to quake violently.

Crack! Crack!

The blood-red patterns on the earth twisted like living creatures, then shattered with a thunderous sound. In the terror beast's mimicry form—its wooden doll-like eyes flickered with a frantic light.

Its throat, poisoned silent by Viktor, let out a soundless roar. No longer willing to fight, it thrashed wildly, trying to burrow underground. But its escape route was already sealed by him. Now, the path was a one-way street—no entry, only exit.

Aboveground, the fire magic players had instinctively lit their torches. The flames illuminated their faces—nervous yet exhilarated.

"Look! Something's coming up from underground!"

"And there's a lot of it! It's—it's bones!"

The shout came from one player, and soon the rest saw it too.

Countless bones burst out of the earth like bamboo shoots after rain. Human remains, elven skeletons, fragments missing arms, legs—or consisting of only limbs—each radiated an aura of death.

They scrambled forward, swarming toward the panic-stricken terror beast. The beast struggled desperately, but against this tide of death, its efforts were futile.

Suddenly—

A goblin skeleton latched onto the terror beast's burrowing "head." The other skeletons swarmed atop it like ants, working together to yank the creature out of the ground.

Exposing its massive, ant-like lower half.

"Game over." Viktor calmly announced.

With its true form fully revealed, the next steps would be straightforward. Incidentally, all these skeletons were remnants of lives lost in the ruins. Being able to summon this many could only make Viktor sigh in admiration at how reliable goblins were.

In a flash, his figure vanished, reappearing on the surface the next second.

Behind him, the skeletons compressed together into a sphere, drawing stunned looks from the surrounding players. The ball shrank smaller and smaller, nearing its limit—

Boom!

As he fully stood, the bone sphere exploded, scattering shards of bone in every direction.

But just as the fragments were about to hit the ground, an invisible barrier blocked their descent, forcing them back.

The chaos subsided, and all fell silent.

After a brief moment of silence, the players rushed toward Viktor, surrounding him entirely.

"Viktor, I love you!"

"This is so awesome! I'm out of adjectives!"

"That was sick! I knew you would deliver!"

"Isn't this better than any 4D movie out there?"

"Maniacal villain vibes, so good!"

"Ha! That's what it gets for trying to use dreams to mess with me!"

The flood of praises poured out unabashedly. The celebratory atmosphere reached its peak in an instant.

Viktor's response? In full view of everyone—his form collapsed, scattering into a pile of bones. Yes, bones. Just like the ones underground, but cleaner.

The lively cheers froze in an instant.

Then, panicked screams erupted one after another.

"Viktor!"

"Crap! Viktor's gone again! Wait—why did I say 'again'?!"

"Bone-reassembly team, mobilize!"

As players prepared to piece his skeleton back together, the skull on the ground suddenly turned of its own accord.

Viktor's familiar, calm voice emerged:

"Stop! This is just the aftereffect of overusing magic. I'll recover in a bit."

Regarding the players' tendency to mix up left and right bones during their "help," he preferred to handle it himself.

Glancing at the system panel displaying a freshly updated three-digit survival timer, he couldn't help but feel a touch of helplessness.

Constantly watching the number yo-yo like this was starting to concern him about his body's limits. But since this was the first "main storyline" of Chronicles of Aeltia, it had to be big.

Otherwise, they might really think this was some caveman evolution simulator…

---

After a while, the reassembled Viktor scanned the remaining players. Their numbers were higher than he had expected.

The terror beast's nightmare ability drained mental energy, but most players only seemed sluggish. Only a few unlucky ones, dragged into the nightmare too early or caught in the battle's crossfire, had perished.

He resumed his role as an NPC, delivering his pre-prepared lines, "The shadow of the terror beast has lifted, but the war is far from over. The real challenge lies in restoring this battlefield from despair to hope! The next tasks are yours to handle."

As soon as he finished, players enthusiastically responded.

"Don't worry! Loot—uh, I mean, cleanup is our specialty!"

"Yeah, we'll even scrape the paint off the walls if needed!"

Fresh off the high of Viktor's performance, they were brimming with energy.

Players spread out in all directions, each claiming tasks. The forum posts boasting about goblin warehouse loot had already whetted their appetite. Now, it was finally their turn to raid!

Upon seeing the sheer treasure trove inside the goblin storage, they realized just how accurate those posts were—and how satisfying it felt to tally up their gains.

"Holy crap, refined iron!"

A row of sharp weapons gleamed coldly under faint light. One particularly fine longsword made of refined iron had a player so excited, they nearly dropped their torch.

"We can finally replace our shoddy weapons!"

"Salt! It's salt!" Another player hugged a massive salt crystal, ecstatic.

"Are these the attribute gems Viktor mentioned?"

"These have runes on them—they must be valuable!"

"…"