Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 591: Lady of the Snakes, Leona

“What kind of game is this? Why am I feeling so tense and nervous?”

“I want to live!!! Mom! I miss you!!!”

“Hey, this is just a game. Don’t do that, it makes it look like everything is real.”

“How about you go and try it once yourself?”

The players were hiding all over the place. Someone was holding their breath as they clung onto a tree, while another hid behind a rock. There was even someone from the army that dug the ground and covered himself with fallen leaves.

Meanwhile, there was someone in the Stars’ Path that was very worried about the NPCs.

“René, don’t worry. We’ll be able to come out of here alive.”

“Y, yeah…”

Athenae was a virtual reality game and it was not impossible for players to date NPCs and hold virtual weddings in the game. The player named Panno looked at René, who was trembling in fear. Although the Stars’ Path was filled with plenty of hunting grounds, there were also fishing grounds and places where one could view flowers and the beauty of nature. In fact, no danger would come to the people that visited the Stars’ Path, unless they entered a field or a hunting ground so many people came to see a spectacular view that they could not see in reality. And that was exactly what Panno and René did.

‘René… someone like you…’

A player and an NPC could develop real feelings with each other and form a relationship. Of course, that also included love and making love. Unfortunately, NPCs\' death would also mean an eternal goodbye, just like death in reality. Although Panno was only a Level 350 player, he vowed to protect René.

The couple were hiding behind a rock, both holding their breaths to hide their presence. Leona and her army were passing by in the distance. But then… Leona’s head turned toward their direction and said, “Kill those rats.”

“Hisssssssss—“

“Hisssssssssss—“

The God of Snakes’ army that was led by Leona was only a small force. But they possessed a strength that even Master Archer Miào could only hunt one or two of them at most. And these beings were now charging toward the forest.

“Keuaaaaaaaaaack!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaack!”

“No! If I die then my level…! Keok!”

“Keuhoooooook!”

Screams ran rampant as the people that were hiding died one after another. Seeing this, Panno could not help but gulp dryly while saying, “The moment I give the signal, run as fast as you can toward the other side.”

“But, but… Panno…”

“I’ll be fine. Even if I die, I will still be able to come back to life. But that’s not the case for you.”

René was a young NPC. She was a girl of 20 years old. All she could do was look at Panno in tears while nodding her head. Then…

Shwaaaaaaaaaa—

A man with the face of a snake appeared behind Panno and aimed for his head.

“Sword Attack!!!”

Baaaaang!!!

“Dancing Sword!!!”

Crackle, crackle—

“Billowing Wind!!!”

Panno used all of his skills in that short moment, but none of his attacks left a scratch on the snake man’s body. Rather…

Slash—

…it was Panno that fell down from a single attack of the enemy.

‘René? What about René…?’

Even as he flew back and rolled on the ground, his eyes still followed René’s figure. He saw her running on the other side. However, the bastard that attacked him moved swiftly and aimed for René’s neck. Panno thought that he would be witness to how the love of his life got beheaded. Just the horrible thought alone was suffocating Panno.

“Renéeeeeeeee!!!” Panno cried out as he shut his eyes tightly. But then…

Stab—

A harpoon from who knew where stabbed through the Snake Soldier’s abdomen.

“Hihihihihing!” A black horse neighed loudly as the man riding on top of it tugged on the rope connected to the harpoon before dashing away.

“Hiiiiiiiisssssss!”

The Snake Soldier was dragged away by the rope. There were 1,000 players that ran after the man, all of them keeping their distance and maintaining their battle lines.

“From now on, we will run as fast as we can toward our destination!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Yes, sir!”

The players ran in their battle formation. Their cloaks, with the cross symbol, fluttered behind them.

“The Maserrati Guild…?” Panno murmured as he recognized the symbol and the identity of the charging people. He quickly hugged René and both took refuge in a safe place.

Leona turned furious after seeing one of her soldiers get dragged away, “It seems like these insignificant humans are truly daring. To dare to touch my child like that?”

Leona and her army turned to chase after them. Even though they were just running, they were still able to catch up with the people that were riding on horses. But…

“Ricando!!!”

Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!

A magical explosion shook the ground and stopped Leona and her troops’ advance.

Shwaaaaaaaaa—

However, some of her men were able to break through the flames and caught up with their horses. Thankfully, the archer players that were dashing on top of the trees stopped them by shooting their arrows.

“Hiyaaaah!”

“Hiyaaaah!”

The thousand players turned around and began to surround Leona and her army. For those that saw the Maserrati guild’s force, this was an amazing sight. Then, another of Absolute Monarch Richard’s skills made its appearance in the Stars’ Path.

[You have activated the Absolute Monarch’s Voice.]

[Those that wish to join the hunt to kill Leona, please come to Area A-41. It’s better for Level 450~500 players to come.]

As if Richard was speaking through a giant speaker, his voice rang loudly in the entire Stars’ Path. Richard felt bitter after witnessing the death of 200,000 players. However, if the players gather together, the damage that they could deal with would be greater. Players who volunteered and gathered willingly were different from those that had been sacrificed. For players that volunteered, it was their choice to gather because they wanted to get a share of the rewards and EXP.

‘We need their power to kill Leona.’

Richard continued to run forward as the blood of the rankers that were hiding all over the place began to boil in excitement.

“What are the rewards for hunting Leona?”

For the likes of Leona, Great Demon Verus, or Demigod Asura, hunting them would need a large-scale raiding party. Because of that, even those that had only a small amount of contribution would be able to receive rewards as long as they were participants of the hunt. Of course, the chances of getting better rewards would increase if their contributions were high.

On top of that, all players had a dream, which was to participate and be able to hunt a being comparable to a god one day. Perhaps that being was Leona.

“Let’s gooooooo!!!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

“He said Area A-41, right? Kill them all!!!”

“But you’re Level 92?”

“…Sh, shut up!!!”

Maserrati Guild’s Richard was someone that knew how to use the crowd well. It was all because of him that the people hiding all over the Stars’ Path began to gather at Area A-41.

***

Henry was the Maserrati Guild’s mage. Black Mage Henry was a talented figure that would not necessarily lose against Beyond the Heavens’ Golden Mage Ali. He was also the one that inherited the powers of the God of Black Magic, Veylon, a god whose magic could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the God of Magic Archipelo.

Henry’s lips turned into a thin line, tension evident in his body.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—

The sound of footsteps reverberated loudly in the area.

‘Did Richard’s Royal Decree work?’

Richard had decided that they needed the power of the people to gain more force. Besides, if they could successfully complete this large-scale raid with these people, it would also help them promote the Maserrati Guild. And the ones that appeared as the sound of footsteps grew closer…

“This is where Leona’s Raid would be, right?”

“…”

Henry gulped dryly at the sight of the people that were in the Stars’ Path. Over 100,000 players had gathered in this place. Of course, only 9,700 of them were players at Level 450~500 and only around 200 were players above Level 500. The rest, around 90,000, were players that were below that. However, no one could deny that the number that had gathered was enormous.

“Yes, that’s right. They will be here soon. The mages will prepare for a magic bombing with me while the archers will prepare to use their strongest pinnacle skill. The summoners have to summon all of their monsters and block the frontlines. The tankers have to form a unit and form a huge wall of shields behind the monster troops. The spearmen will be using their ‘throw’ and ‘retrieve’ skills to put pressure on the enemies…”

“Wait. Why should we listen to your orders?”

Of course, there were many proud rankers among them. The Maserrati Guild might be the hottest guild these days, but these rankers could not understand why they had to follow Henry’s words. Then…

“Kyaaaaaaaaaack!!!”

Leona’s bone-chilling cry rang loudly and hit everyone’s eardrums.

“Urkkkkk!”

“What, what the hell?!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaack!”

Shwaaaaaaaaaaa—

The pain ringing in their heads stopped only after Henry brandished his black wand.

“…Let’s do as he says.”

The rankers ended up accepting the orders obediently. They could tell that Henry was a very high-tiered mage. On top of that, the enemies were already near them. In other words, they did not have any time to lose to argue over who was in charge.

The players quickly blended among the troops and fell in line. The trap masters helped set up a trap between two large trees that were facing each other. The others? They moved just like what Henry instructed them to do earlier. Then…

Clip, clop, clip, clop—

The sound of horse hooves running rang loudly in the area. Richard ran at the forefront with the members of the Maserrati Guild following right behind him.

‘All of them are the elites of the guild.’

It was possible with them. No one would be afraid to confront Marquess Leone, when they were with these elites and 100,000-strong troops! This was what Henry believed.

Henry slowly raised his hand. The God of Snakes’ Army and Leona would be engulfed in a series of explosions the moment Henry pushed the button and released the traps that they had laid out in the middle of those trees. Richard and his troops were about to pass by the trees. Just when he tried to stop Richard from stepping on the ground, something unexpected happened.

“Let there be chaos,” Leona said, her hair-raising voice ringing in the surrounding.

“N, no…”

Henry immediately realized that something was wrong. He hurriedly cast a black shield on the ground! At the same time…

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

The traps exploded beneath Richard and the 1,000 Maserrati guild members, devouring their figures.

A trap master was a class that had little to no merit. They were not as fast as close combat classes and could not use magic like the mages. So, why did people still choose it? This was because as long as they installed the traps and set it off, it could devour both close combat and mage players alike. The power of their traps was beyond anyone’s imagination.

Henry’s black shield crumbled under the explosion, the aftermath sweeping away the thousand guild members. The worst part? The 50 Snake Soldiers and Leona began to unleash their attacks.

“A, attack!!!” Richard, despite being devoured by the explosion, gave his order urgently.

Henry immediately pointed forward and shouted, “Fire!!!”

Crackleeee!

Rumbleeee—

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

“Phoenix Arrow!!!”

“Continuous Shot!!!”

“Rampant Arrows!!!”

“Homing Missile!!!”

Nearly 10,000 arrows covered the skies. However, Leona’s yellow eyes turned red and…

[Elizabeth’s Breath.]

[Elizabeth’s Breath protects her child, Leona!]

Shwaaaaaaaaa—

Like someone breathing out, a stream of red air spread out and covered Leona’s entire body. And the magic attacks and arrows that covered the skies…

[The magic’s force has weakened!]

[The magic’s force has weakened!]

[The magic’s force…!]

[The magic’s force has weak…!]

The magical attacks gradually lost their power until they disappeared into thin air, while the arrows speed lost their momentum until they fell down on the ground and snapped.

“…!”

“…!”

That was how monstrous Leona was. That was not even the end of it.

[Leona’s Eyes.]

[Your body will harden and turn to stones once you make eye contact with Leona!]

“E, eye contact…?!”

“Close your eyes…!!!”

The rankers hurriedly shouted. However, it was already too late. Surprisingly enough, Leona’s eyes began to appear everywhere. Thousands of eyes appeared both in the land and in the air. Even the rankers’ weapons and armor were covered with Leona’s eyes.

“Hiiiik!!!”

Crack, crack, crack!

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

Crack, crack, crack!

“What, what the hell!!!”

Crack, crack, crack!

The scene was completely like a page out of the horror books. The ones that accidentally made eye contact with Leona slowly hardened until they turned into stones. In just an instant, 30,000 players had hardened and turned to stone out of the 100,000 strong troops.

Henry took a step back in horror, he mumbled, “How, how can we kill someone like that…”

Henry could tell that the Maserrati Guild and the rest of the people that gathered here today would be completely wiped out.