Witch's Hill, Barbarian Hammer Town.
Thanks to its proximity to the Myriad Woods, Barbarian Hammer Town enjoyed convenient access to the Otherworld Gates connecting to the forest. Combined with heavy investment from several major conglomerates, the town had grown into a guild city boasting over six hundred thousand players. Its streets were packed with shops, and it housed numerous virtual storefronts — a level of prosperity that even small NPC cities couldn't match.
Furthermore, with the Starlight Alliance growing increasingly powerful by the day, more and more merchants, players, and adventuring parties flocked to Barbarian Hammer Town. It was quietly becoming the de facto gathering hub for all players in the Myriad Woods.
Although monster sieges occurred from time to time, the Starlight Alliance had fortified Barbarian Hammer Town to an impressive degree. Despite being merely a basic town, it had been fitted with towering walls, over a dozen turrets, and more than ten arrow towers that covered every approach. The permanent garrison alone exceeded twenty thousand players. It looked and functioned like a military fortress, leaving the monsters utterly unable to make headway.
On top of that, since the Starlight Alliance housed over a dozen guilds, Barbarian Hammer Town also served as a temporary base for all of them. Should the town ever truly come under threat, more than a hundred thousand players from those guilds could be mobilized to provide immediate reinforcement. By every measure, it was the safest town in the entire Star Moon Kingdom.
The rich resources of Witch's Hill combined with the ironclad security had rapidly transformed this seemingly ordinary town into the thriving hub it was today. Rumor had it that Barbarian Hammer Town was on the verge of being upgraded to a mid-tier town.
As the sun sank toward the horizon, its fading glow began spreading across the turrets at the town gate, blanketing the earth in amber light. In the distance, the encroaching darkness stirred from its slumber.
A broad-shouldered man with a silver longbow slung across his back walked up to one of the turrets and gazed silently toward the distant forest. The moment he appeared, the six-player guard squad stationed at the turret shifted from their previous listlessness to a state of tense alertness.
Although this Tier 2 Ranger was only Level 57 — hardly a noteworthy figure for a major guild like Knight's Judgment, where numerous Tier 2 players had already surpassed Level 58 — the six guards stared at him with undisguised envy and admiration.
He was one of only six players in all of Knight's Judgment who had obtained a high-tier class advancement. More importantly, he was the only one in the guild who had cleared the Tier 2 class advancement quest on Hell Difficulty.
He was the one they called "Soul Chaser" in the Star Moon Kingdom — Eight Feathers.
Everyone who had undergone a class advancement understood just how grueling those quests were. Even on Normal Difficulty, most elite players needed a vast amount of preparation. At the current stage, the majority of players still hadn't even completed their Tier 2 advancement. Hell Difficulty was the stuff of legend. Yet Eight Feathers had cleared it.
He had even clashed with the seven great experts of the Sin Domain guild at the height of their power — and while he hadn't won, he hadn't lost either. Those were the Sin Domain's top seven, figures who ranked among the very best in the entire Wisteria Kingdom. And Eight Feathers was barely in his twenties, with enormous room for future growth.
"The forest has been quiet today," Eight Feathers said after watching the treeline for a while, a trace of disappointment crossing his face. "Looks like there won't be a monster siege after all."
The six players on guard duty nodded in agreement, equally let down.
A monster siege was a nuisance, sure, but it was also an opportunity to score rare loot and sharpen one's skills.
"Man, yesterday's guard shift was incredible. They just happened to catch a monster siege. How come we never get that lucky?"
"I heard Captain Eight Feathers scored big time yesterday — pulled a Level 55 Mithril equipment piece and over twenty Ancient Crystal Fragments."
"I heard that too. And the guys on guard duty with him walked away with two or three Ancient Crystal Fragments each. Must've been nice. Once you collect enough Ancient Crystals, you can upgrade your guild mount to Bronze Rank. The speed and the prestige — now that's what I'm talking about. No idea when I'll manage that."
"No rush. Zero Wing is about to clash with our Starlight Alliance. Once Zero Wing falls, all the resources in Witch's Hill will belong to the Starlight Alliance. Getting Ancient Crystals after that will be a breeze."
"Exactly. Zero Wing thinks they're the number one guild in the Star Moon Kingdom and treats us like we're nothing. They have no idea times have changed. This is the age of Tier 2 Classes — they're everywhere now. With Zero Wing's measly handful of Tier 2 players, how could they possibly hope to suppress over a dozen guilds in our Starlight Alliance?"
…
The players on the turret couldn't help but snicker at the mention of Zero Wing, mocking the guild's ignorance and its stubborn clinging to past glories.
Just as the turret guards were debating where to farm Ancient Crystal Fragments the next day, a spatial rift suddenly tore open in midair inside the town gate, introducing an unnatural streak across the crimson sky.
As the rift widened, it quickly formed a spatial vortex. From within that swirling darkness, one shadowy figure after another launched outward, landing directly on the crowded streets of Barbarian Hammer Town.
"A monster siege?"
From the distant turret, the details weren't entirely clear, but the shapes were unmistakably massive — far larger than the players on the street. Monsters seemed like the only possible explanation.
"No! Those emblems are… players!"
Eight Feathers, whose eyesight was exceptional, shook his head, his gaze growing solemn.
A towering figure standing over four meters tall, its entire body radiating a bestial aura of pressure — that was not an opponent to be taken lightly by any standard. What was more, this player's level had reached an astonishing 60, the absolute pinnacle of every player currently in the Divine Realm. It spoke volumes about the caliber of the individual.
And as the first Giant player emerged from the spatial vortex, a second followed, then a third, then more — within moments, dozens had poured onto the streets.
Most critically, every single one of them bore the Six-Winged Emblem of the Zero Wing guild.
"Zero Wing dares to storm our Barbarian Hammer Town? They've got a death wish! Captain, let's just blast them!"
Players were still players, no matter how strong. Facing turret fire, a bigger body just made for an easier target.
"The turret blast radius is too wide. That's a packed street — too many civilians. Leave these guys to the NPC guards and patrol squads on the ground," Eight Feathers ordered.
The turrets didn't discriminate between friend and foe. Stray shots that hit innocent bystanders would be terrible for Barbarian Hammer Town's reputation.
Any decent guild town boasted several thousand defending players and over a thousand hired NPC guards. Barbarian Hammer Town, treated as a strategic stronghold by the Starlight Alliance, was no exception. Add in the occasional wild monster raids in Witch's Hill, and the permanent garrison regularly exceeded twenty thousand.
Having a few dozen players charge directly at Barbarian Hammer Town was essentially suicide. Turret support was completely unnecessary.
But just as the Knight's Judgment patrol squad rushed toward the Zero Wing Giants, the Giant players — each gripping a massive battleaxe — unleashed their Tier 1 Whirlwind Slashes. In a single heartbeat, over a dozen members of Knight's Judgment were sent flying more than a dozen yards. Those among them without heavy armor were instantly obliterated, transforming into streaks of white light.