Chapter 132: Discovered

"The Dark Legion, all the way out here?"

I frowned, a flicker of tension rising within me. The Fly Valley was a long way from Greenleaf Town, the nearest settlement. Even for someone as familiar with the terrain as I was, it would take at least half an hour of traveling at full speed to reach this place. A standard party would never venture into such a remote, distant location.

So, when I heard the clamor of many voices outside, my unease was immediate. A group coming here at this hour could only be the Dark Legion. As for how they tracked me down, I suspected it had to do with Dr. Ye’s recent supply delivery, though the long distance meant they couldn't have pinpointed my exact location. They couldn't have searched every blade of grass in the valley, but finding this place at all was no small feat.

My heart tightened, and I slowed my pace. After spending a few seconds observing the mouth of the passage to ensure no players were nearby, I carefully pressed myself against the moss-covered rock wall and crept toward the entrance.

"Hold the line!" "Archers, move up! Warriors, keep holding!"
"Second Mage squad, second Archer squad! Follow up!"
"Reinforce the outer perimeter, clear out those Snow Deer!"
"Pick up the pace! Hurry! Don't let the boss unleash its power!"

Amidst the urgent shouting, I began to piece together what was happening. There was a level 25 boss in this valley: the Ice-Snow Giant Deer. Were they actually fighting the Deer King?

"They aren't here for me?"

I was slightly surprised. With this question in mind, I gently parted the green vines that draped across the cliff face and peeked outside. While I didn't know how the Dark Legion had found the valley, their presence in such numbers couldn't be a coincidence. I was intensely curious about how many of them had come—enough to brave the journey and challenge a level 25 magic-type boss.

To be fair, raiding a magic-type boss in such a remote area was incredibly dangerous. A level 25 boss had 5,000 HP, not to mention formidable attack and defense. With the help of the numerous Snow Deer in the valley—all adept at water-based magic—even if they won, the casualties would likely be heavy.

As I pondered this, I caught sight of the situation through the gaps in the vines. Fifty meters away on a small hill stood the Ice-Snow Giant Deer, a massive white magical beast over four meters long and three meters tall. Surrounding it, dozens of players wielding two-handed weapons or shields had trapped the creature in a specialized formation. Further back, over a hundred mages and archers were raining spells and arrows down on the beast.

I was deeply impressed by the warriors dancing around the Giant Deer. They were clever; they had split into groups, forming a multi-layered circular formation three to five meters away from the boss. They didn't strike the Deer directly, leaving the damage to the ranged units. Instead, they only moved to block whenever the boss grew enraged and charged toward a specific mage or archer, effectively preventing it from reaching the backline. As soon as the ranged attackers were threatened, they would retreat to recover, while the warriors took the heat.

On the periphery, dozens of loose players held the line against the surrounding Snow Deer, clearing them out systematically and denying the boss any support. The battle was under total control, the rhythm impeccable. The mages and archers fired in waves, giving the Giant Deer almost no room to counterattack. Every time it tried to summon help, it was struck by dozens of spells and arrows, and the lesser deer were unable to break through the third-tier players.

Honestly, this was the first time I had witnessed such a mature and meticulous operation. Nearly two hundred people were perfectly coordinated, maximizing their output while keeping the situation firmly under control. Even with my experience organizing combat scenarios at the Mecha Academy, I couldn't help but be impressed. The commander of this operation was a master.

I had never seen a team take down a boss so effortlessly. Even when I watched the Supreme guild take on the Gale Demon Wolf King, it hadn't been this clean. Back then, there were over a thousand people; two hundred mages and archers would have decimated the wolf in a few volleys. But here, they were doing it with only two hundred people.

What shocked me most was that they were clearly here for the first time and had likely never faced the Ice-Snow Giant Deer before. To decipher the boss’s mechanics and execute such a flawless strategy on the fly was incredible. My eyes locked onto the knight at the rear, who was issuing orders—a "Blood Lion Knight."

Just as I peeked, an archer beside the knight seemed to sense something. His sharp eyes, glinting with a cold, piercing light, scanned directly toward me.

"Damn it!" My heart skipped a beat.

"What a sensitive guy!"

I didn't know what had given me away, but I knew he had noticed something. I instinctively pulled my gaze back, keeping my hand perfectly still against the vines. Even so, I felt those two eyes linger on my hiding spot for several seconds. An uneasy sensation swelled within me: I had been discovered.

I struggled to believe someone could be that perceptive, but my intuition screamed that the archer was no ordinary player. A voice in my head warned me to leave immediately. Yet, I hesitated—a Town Portal Scroll cost 200 gold coins. It pained me to spend it. While I had mixed feelings about converting gold to real-world credits, that didn't mean I could waste game currency recklessly. After talking to Dr. Ye, I knew many people made a living buying and selling gold. 200 gold was worth 3,000 credits—enough to buy several decent second-tier pieces of equipment.

I hovered my hand over my backpack, glancing one more time at the Blood Lion Knight and the archer. The archer now seemed indifferent, his gaze fixed back on the deer, as did the knight. However, I noticed several other archers nearby scanning my direction with strange, focused expressions. I hadn't fooled them.

Just as the tension reached a breaking point, I heard a sound—the faint, rhythmic tread of someone walking on grass. It was almost inaudible under the noise of the battle, but I caught it. The sound was too close, and it was getting closer. The air felt heavy with an unprecedented sense of danger.

"An assassin!"

The thought had barely crossed my mind when I caught a glimpse of two footprints appearing on the grass less than ten meters away. The blades of grass slowly rose as another footprint formed even closer, creeping toward me.

What a sinister trap! What a terrifying opponent!

Heart pounding, I reached into my bag for the Town Portal Scroll. If this was a snap judgment made by the archer and the knight, their tactical minds were truly formidable. If I had been even a second slower to notice the archer's gaze or the footprints in the grass, I would have been finished. If I died, I would lose the progress of the last ten hours, and my struggle against the Dark Legion would take a massive turn for the worse.

As the thought flashed through my mind, I yanked the scroll from my bag. Just as a shout of surprise erupted and a rush of wind signaled an attack, I tore the scroll open.