Faceless Phantom 40 Chapter 35 - Distraction 2

Middle part between Kovelack and Baradran Mountain Range, there was a vast prairie which was located at north of narrow mountain path to Crystal Crater.

On the green and golden field, a group of eighteen players were gathered. And they were about to do a livestream about their activity.

A light armored elf, with unique curly moustache, lightly threw a round device upward, and then it began to float on its own.

"Aaaaaannd record!"

Because of the great popularity of Heallance, there were multiple sites which fully supported livestreamers and content creators. They were collaborating to provide recording feature within the game system. And so they released a special device called 'Virtual Life Cam', VLC for short. Of course, players needed to buy the device to unlock the feature.

The price was a bit expensive, but it was worth buying. The easily learned UI made players who barely knew about video recording or editing left impressed. They could choose if their video was just a normal 'Recording', 'In-Game Livestream', or 'Real World Livestream'.

Since in-game time was faster than the real world, some players could edit their recording inside the game to make their stream more entertaining. They could do it efficiently without disturbing the real world livestream.

As for In-game Livestream, only people who logged in could watch the video. But once the stream finished, the video would be immediately uploaded to the respective sites.

This was one of the reason that made Heallance popular. Some players were vlogging within the game, reviewing items, testing equipments, or even tasting in-game culinary. They could also get profitable earnings by making contents beside selling items or in-game currency via RMT. Regardless, there were also some players who made videos for self entertainment between friends, acquaintances and family.

"Heyyyy what's up everyone! Tacobelf25 is here!" The light armored elf greeted the viewers once the recording started. "Today we are going to do a mini boss raid! As you can see, there... Behind me."

Behind Tacobelf25, his seventeen guildmates were standing ten meters in front of four legged elephant-sized lizard that was sleeping on the green bed. The lizard had dark brown scales with reddish hues.

Without the players around them, the scenery would be worth taking and people would appreciate the picture. Alas, the lizard would be killed soon, and the majestic picture would never be made.

"The monster's name is Pet.i.te Earth Drake. And the lizard has an average stats of 240-270 points! It is surely equivalent of the strange beast that tamed by the Dark Army in Aradun's video, right?"

The raid members began to prepare their weapons, casting buffs, and eating foods. Once everyone was done, someone began to command them.

"I will pull the aggro now!" A heavy armored Gigant with big heavy s.h.i.+eld shouted. "All of you! Prepare to attack once the boss target me!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Everyone answered in unison.

As the Gigant began to move toward the drake, the rest of the party lifted their weapons.

"Alright, we will show you how easily we, The New t.i.tans, will defeat the drake!"

Tacobelf25 said as he lifted something on a brown table in front of him.

"With this taco! My Special Delicious Taco!"

In the background, the Gigant swung his s.h.i.+eld and bashed the sleeping drake right on their head.

BAM!

The drake's eyes glowed red as they woke up, angry at the one who just disturbed their sleep.

And the drake immediately roared.

GROOOAAAAAAAA~~~!!!

[Dragon's Cry's effect can be felt]

Every raid members marked with the debuff which decreased their Attack and Defense, both physical and magical, by 30%. Furthermore, it also buffed the drake with the opposite effect.

The healers immediately chanted a spell after seeing the debuff.

"Ma.s.s Cleanse Body!"

[Dragon's Cry's effect has worn off]

The Gigant knight bashed the drake again with his s.h.i.+eld.

BAM!

The drake became more angered by the Gigant. They immediately swung their claws.

Swooos.h.!.+ Clank!

The Gigant smiled as he blocked the claws.

"ATTACK NOW!"

All the DPS and nukers attacked in unison. Swords and daggers were swung, Spells and debuffs were casted.

While his guildmates were busy doing raid, Tacobelf25 began to explain to the viewers about how to make his Special Delicious Taco.

"First, you need to TACOut all these ingredients, which I already prepared here on the table."

The camera s.h.i.+fted focus on top of the table. There were multiple bowls with different size. He showed and named the content one by one to the viewers.

"This is B quality ground Kattlemoo beef. Of course, you can also use any other meat or even A quality meat or above. But, I recommend you using this meat because Kattlemoo is easy to defeat, and the market price is affordable for anyone of you who low on money."

Clank!

Swoosh~ Slash

Swoosh~ Slash

Clank!

Fwooosh~ Boom!

"Next is shredded Slada's Lettuce and Delun's Leaf, chopped Bunions and Matto, Jyornel's Seeds, Timin Paste, Crabel Salt, Hukk Pepper, Katambur, Bellpin Powder."

BAM!

"Giant's Guard!"

Slas.h.!.+ Slas.h.!.+ Slas.h.!.+

Zzzaaap! Krakaboom!

"And then, the most important ones: Taco Sh.e.l.ls and Taco Sauce. You can buy these from El Mucho Macho, he is a very nice player."

And then the camera was s.h.i.+fted back to him, with the raid battle as background.

"If you Taco bout the sauce recipe, maybe you wanna make them your own. You can watch it in my other video or his. I'll give you the links in the description below, so check that out."

He clapped and smiled.

"Alright, now let's begin the cooking!"

Tacobelf25 took out portable stove and any other kitchen utensils from his bag. He turned on the stove and placed the pan on.

"Step one. Cook one chopped Bunion with Livio Oil until transparent."

He poured a small amount of Livio Oil, and then put the chopped Bunions inside the pan. Hissing sound could be heard. He stirred them until the color changed from white to brown.

"Hmmm..." He inhaled deeply. "Once you can smell the pleasant scent, ready to put in the ground beef."

He threw the ground beef inside and the hissing sound became louder. As he stirred the ground beef, the drake was roaring.

Grooooooaaaaaaa~!!!

Within two minutes, the raid had entered the second phase. The drake shook the ground and anyone within ten meters radius was damaged. The green carpet instantly became rocky terrain. Some players backed off to the rear to get healed, while the Gigant Knight kept the drake's aggro.

They were the members of one of Top Ten Guild indeed. They read the situation and executed their plan professionally. They knew what they were doing.

Despite the mess behind him, Tacobelf25 kept his calm as he continued cooking. It was already planned that his location was out of the drake's AoE radius, so he didn't have any worries at all.

And the battle continued as Tacobelf25's cooking video background.

"Next. Add all the seasonings." He said as he threw and named them one by one. "Crabble Salt, Hukk Pepper, Katambur, Bellpin Powder. Aaand, stir 'em until everything is mixed well. If you like it hot, you can add Flare Palpica or any other kind of chillies you can find in this game."

Clank!

Zzzaaapp!

Fwooosh~ Booom!

Slas.h.!.+ Slas.h.!.+ Slas.h.!.+

A few minutes later, he stopped stirring and began to talk to the camera again.

"Now pour the Taco Sauce, and simmer it in medium heat for five minutes."

He poured the Taco Sauce and then put the lid on.

"While we are waiting, let's prepare the vegetables."

He took out a big bowl and threw chopped Matto, Jyornel's Seeds, shredded Delun's Leaf, and Timin Paste inside. And then he stirred them until they mixed well.

Once he was done, he looked back at the meat. Steam flew out as he opened the lid, exposing the reddish brown meat.

"Alright. The meat is cooked well!" He smiled happily.

Within just another five minutes, the drake's health was already down below 30%.

GROAAAAAAAA!!!!

The terrain shooked frequently, and each pulse damaged everyone. It was a troublesome AoE, and that made this boss hard to beat.

"Keep hitting!" The Gigant Knight shouted. "Put him down! Slay the drake!"

The enraged drake was strong, but it was not a challenge anymore since New t.i.tan's raid members already knew the drake's patterns. They fought the lizard easily without effort.

"Now, it's time to fill the taco sh.e.l.ls!"

Tacobelf25 took one taco sh.e.l.l and began to fill it.

"First, put in the meat. And then the vegetables. And lastly, Slada's Lettuce for the topping."

He then lift the taco near his face.

"That's how you make my Special Delicious Taco!" He smiled widely.

"Now let's see if this is a success!"

He began to open his mouth and eat the taco.

Chomp! Krauk... Krauk...

"Mmm...hmmm... Yummmm... Delicious!" He said with his eyes closing and inflated cheeks.

Once he was done eating, he continued with his speech.

"Now we can say that, today's cooking...is a success! It's all done within ten minutes. Moreover, you will be surprised by this taco's buff. But, I'm not gonna tell you. Make it and feel the buff by yourself."

Behind Tacobelf25, the drake cried as their body fell on the ground.

It was already another two minutes of the third phase, and the drake was finally defeated.

Everyone let out a joyful shout. How could they not? Pet.i.te Earth Drake was known to be one of the tankiest mini bosses that ever found in Heallance. And they defeated it in just around twelve minutes, with only seventeen players which buffed by Tacobelf25's Special Taco. It was truly an amazing achievement for New t.i.tan Guild. And they were satisfied as their stats and skills were improved.

"Good job, everyone!"

"Nice! My stats increased!"

"At last, my skill leveled up!"

The raid was successful, and Tacobelf25 was about to do the outro and ended the livestream. However, something was happening.

Suddenly, a group of seven people appeared out of nowhere and began to attack them.

"Guaaaarghh..."

"What the f.u.c.k!"

"Who are they!?"

"It's f.u.c.king Skythrone!"

"s.h.i.+t!"

"Yoh b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I'll f.u.c.k you up!"

Among the panicked players, the Gigant Knight calmly looked at the situation. And he quickly commanded his guildmates to counter attack the ambush.

"Party two! Secure the loot! Party one! Gather near me! Don't be scattered! Let's counter attack them!"

"Sir, yes, Sir!"

Hearing his leader command, the New t.i.tan Guild finally got their composure.

However, it was not going well for Tacobelf25 who was rather far away from his guildmates.

"Nooooo!! My tacos!" He screamed in agony. "You'll pay for this! I'll at-taco you with my best kni- Uaarrrghhh..."

Someone back stabbed him and he was down on the ground instantly.

Thus, Guild War couldn't be avoided.

Five minutes pa.s.sed, some New t.i.tan's members were dead. It was unbelievable. Although Skythrone only had seven players, they could push them back without any casualties. However, New t.i.tan didn't want to be ashamed. Their pride wouldn't allow them to give up against Skythrone. They wanted to show them the power of New t.i.tan members who would persistently fight until the last drop of their blood.

KABOOOM!!!!!

But suddenly, an explosion was heard.

The war immediately stopped. Everybody was frozen as they turned their head at the source of the voice.

Within the western forest, a big mushroom cloud could be seen. And then, they could hear faint voices. Everyone became quiet, trying to catch what the voices were saying.

"They a....to....."

"Le.....ret...."

"Wha...I can't....."

"s.h.i.+.....s.h.i.+t....."

"Run....."

"Noo.... Be.... my...."

Then everything went silent.

After a few heartbeats, multiple people were coming out from the forest.

"f.u.c.k!" Cursed a heavy armored gigant who was running while carrying a female dwarf on his arms.

Behind them, another group of people appeared, chasing them with wide smile on their face.

Everyone's jaw dropped almost in unison. They disbelieved of what they were seeing.

"Dark Army!?!"

"f.u.c.k! What should we do?"

"Isn't this a jackpot?"

"Yeah let's just attack!"

"s.h.i.+t! But it's the worst possible situation ever!"

"Everyone follow me! Kill the dark army first!" The Gigant Knight shouted.

"Sir, yes, Sir!"

All New t.i.tan Guild members began to rush toward the dark army. While they were running, the Gigant Knight whispered something to the person beside him.

"Pa.s.s my command. Tell party one to watch Skythrone's movements. Hold them if they're trying to attack. And lastly, send one back to report this to Guild Master."

"Yes, sir!"

Meanwhile, Skythrone Guild members were thinking differently. They gathered and discussed what they were going to do.

"What about us?"

"Shall we pursue them?"

"No, let them."

"What?"

"We will secretly give the dark army buff to get rid of the New t.i.tans."

"Ahahahahah... That's a good idea."

"You, go teleport back and report the situation to Guild Master. And you, ready to send the signal to the other party."

"Alright!"

"Let's go."

Thus, it was the beginning of a pandemonium.

・・・

"Anyway, I'm Nuyi, a flame fairy." Nuyi stopped midair while lifted her skirt lightly. And then she pointed at the skeleton. "And this is Skelly the skeleton undead."

"Clack clack!" Skelly clacked his teeth and saluted Bonnie.

"Ah. I'm Bonnie. Nice to meet you!" Bonnie saluted Skelly back.

"Me too! And Skelly too!" Nuyi smiled. Then her face turned concerned. "Ummm... Miss Bonnie... Do you really want to help us?"

"Yes, of course." Bonnie answered without any hesitation. "Can you tell me the details? I mean... How did your lantern get stolen?"

"Alright." Nuyi nodded. "We were exploring and realized that we went too far from home, so we decided to go back. But, on our way back, we saw a group of goblins ambushed a merchant's wagon on the road. The humans were unharmed but the goblins plundered everything in it. We tried to pa.s.sed through them secretly, but then, they ran to the forest after they did their bad doing. We tried to fasten our pace. However, one of them saw us. We ran as fast as we could, but still, they eventually got us too. Then they stole our lantern."

"Clack clack clack!"

"Yes, Skelly. It's a group of eight goblins. And the leader is a Goblin Magician. They're so scary."

"I'm sorry..." Bonnie sympathized. "I'll try my best to get your lantern back. Don't worry!"

"Thanks, Miss Bonnie. Nuyi feels better."

"Clack clack!"

"Skelly is glad too! Ehehe..."

Bonnie felt determined to help them. She couldn't hide her smile. She recalled her memories about some anime she watched a long time ago. And the situation made her looked like the heroine, so that was why she was very happy to help them.

"Look! There!" Nuyi shouted in whisper.

Eventually, they spotted a fire. And it was the group of goblins they were looking for. The goblins were chilling by the bonfire within the forest clearing, laughing while looking at the stolen items.

Bonnie, Nuyi and Skelly hid behind bushes, stalking the oblivious goblins.

Nuyi and Skelly felt concerned again once they saw the goblins. They had to think of a strategy to get their lantern back easily without any risk of confronting the goblins.

"Clack clack!" Skelly clacked slowly.

"Skelly says he can distract them. Then Miss Bonnie can attack once they are lowering their guard." Nuyi said while looking at the goblins.

"Clack clack clack..." Skelly clacked his teeth again.

"Ah yes Skelly. Nuyi think that waiting for them to sleep is better idea." Nuyi smiled at Skelly.

However, there was no answer from Bonnie. So Nuyi and Skelly turned their head to look at where Bonnie was.

"What do you think Miss Bonnie?"

But Bonnie was nowhere to be seen, she was gone. They both were surprised and immediately looked around. When they spotted her, she was already rus.h.i.+ng toward the group of goblins.

Surprised, they instantly followed her.

"Aahhh! Miss Bonnie!?!" Nuyi shouted.

"Clack clack clack!!?" Skelly put his hands on his skull.

Once Bonnie got close, she stopped and began to chant.

"O' the night's brightest star, please grant me your power to eliminate my foes."

The goblins were surprised when they heard Bonnie's chanting.

"Intruder!"

"Attack!"

They immediately shouted at each other and began to rush toward Bonnie. When they were almost getting closer to attack her. Something stopped them.

Multiple small lights were s.h.i.+ning above them. Their number increased slowly, creating a beautiful scenery above them. As they were frozen looking at the beautiful lights, Bonnie then shouted.

"Stardust Fall!"

The countless lights began to fall, pouring down like a rain. And the goblins who were hit by the Stardust Fall instantly got holes on their body.

"Aaaaaahhhhh!!!"

"d.a.m.ned witch!"

"Nooooo guaaarghhh!!!"

Within just a moment, Bonnie killed all the goblins. Bonnie turned and looked back at Nuyi and Skelly, raised her chin proudly.

"Easy peasy! Ehehehe..." She smiled as she made a peace sign.

When Nuyi and Skelly was about to smile back, suddenly, a ball of lightning was coming to Bonnie at an amazing speed. Nuyi immediately warned her.

"Miss Bonnie! Watch out!" Nuyi shouted.

Bonnie turned around and saw the electric orb was already close. She knew she couldn't avoid it, so she could only cover her face with her arms. However, before she closed her eyes, she saw Skelly was jumping in front of her. Bonnie's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped as Skelly blocked the thunder bolt.

KRAKABOOOM!!!

Clatter... Clatter...

Skelly broke into pieces.

Some of them turned black and unrecognizable anymore. Only small pieces remained on the ground.

Bonnie and Nuyi were shocked. Witnessing the unexpected event, Nuyi fell and her tears rolling down on her cheeks. She shouted in sorrow.

"Skellyyyyyyyyy!!!!"

Bonnie's eyes sharpen, burned by anger. Once she spotted the culprit, she immediately chanted a spell in angry tone.

"From the darkness of sky, within the ocean of everlasting lights. O' beloved star, please grant me your power. Stardust Blast!"

As she shouted the spell's name, she pointed her staff toward the Goblin Magician. And then, multiple lights appeared swirling around the goblin.

The lights were pulled and absorbed into the goblin's body. Once all the lights got inside them, the body exploded. Sparkling lights escaped from the goblin's body, as if they completely consumed it, nothing remained but a small crater. Then, the blasted sparkling lights slowly dispersed.

Once Bonnie was sure the goblin magician was dead and no more goblins around the area, she turned back to Skelly remains.

She saw Nuyi was crying beside the scattered bones.

"Skelly.... hic.. sobs..."

Bonnie felt guilty. She realized her carelessness could bring sorrow to others.

"Huwaaa... Skelly..."

She only listened to Nuyi's cry silently. She bit her lip and grabbed her robe tightly. Her sad memories began to flash one by one. It made her becoming more and more sad. As she closed her eyes and was about to cry, someone appeared from the forest.

It was an old woman with hooded black robe.

"That was really amazing."

Bonnie and Nuyi were startled. They immediately turned their head toward the owner of the voice.

"It has been years I saw such talent in someone."

"W-who are you!?" Bonnie stuttered.

"Oh... I'm sorry... Let me introduce myself." The old woman smiled. "I'm Eilene Hexanne. A magic researcher."