The gap between two bosses of the same level 30 was just that enormous.
Shi Feng knew he couldn't possibly tank the Blade Demon, so he immediately activated Wind Walk, turned around, and fled, trying to break free from the combat zone as quickly as possible.
He ran over a hundred yards, but the Blade Demon remained hot on his heels.
Although Shi Feng's movement speed was faster than the Blade Demon's, the countless swords raining from the sky kept hindering him, preventing him from pulling much ahead. The distance between them hovered at roughly thirty yards.
The Blade Demon looked like it would chase him to the ends of the earth, never giving up. If it caught up, Shi would face a double assault from both the falling swords above and the demon below. The outcome needed no explanation.
"I have to find a way to deal with it. If it catches me, I'm in serious trouble."
Shi Feng glanced at the surrounding terrain — a completely flat plain stretching to the horizon with nothing to exploit. There was absolutely no tactical advantage to be had.
But as he moved farther from Sword Summit, more and more swords dropped from the sky, as though warning him not to stray too far.
Still, Shi Feng couldn't afford to stop now — that meant certain death. Gritting his teeth, he pushed on. After covering a bit more distance, the Blade Demon behind him suddenly made contact with the dense carpet of swords on the ground, and damage numbers of 100 popped up above its head. Its speed dropped slightly.
The frustrated Shi Feng immediately cracked a smile. With Wind Walk about to expire, he pulled an Acceleration Scroll from his backpack and veered away from Sword Summit. This time, however, he ran in an S-shaped pattern — any attempt by the Blade Demon to close the gap meant stepping on the swords littering the ground.
This not only slowed the Blade Demon further but also inflicted continuous damage.
That said, defeating the Blade Demon was no simple task. Three hundred thousand HP, with combat regeneration restoring 1% every five seconds — that meant 3,000 HP per tick. The swords on the ground alone weren't enough, so Shi Feng occasionally launched Flaming Star attacks. But the demon's defense was too high; over nine out of ten Flaming Stars were blocked.
Still, an occasional Thunder Flash or Earth Splitting Slash could deal over a thousand damage, just barely outpacing the demon's regeneration. Finishing it off would take quite a long time.
"Looks like I just have to grind it down like this," Shi Feng said helplessly, though spending some time to take down a boss like this was still a decent outcome.
Time trickled by.
While Shi Feng was engaged in this merry game of chase, White River City was abuzz with excitement — the Zero Wing Guild had finally begun its recruitment.
All the solo players who had been waiting to join Zero Wing were thrilled.
When they saw the recruitment location Zero Wing had announced, no one knew what expression to wear.
The Purple Sun Ancient Mansion — the largest and most prime piece of real estate in White River City — was actually Zero Wing's guild headquarters. Could anything be more outrageous?
"Am I seeing this right? Isn't that the Purple Sun Ancient Mansion? Since when does Zero Wing get along with other guilds?"
"Holy crap, Zero Wing's guild hall is way too fancy. Holding a few thousand people would be a breeze, right?"
"That's nothing. I've got a buddy in Zero Wing. He says the inside is even more impressive. The ground-floor lobby has a high-end bar, and a bunch of NPCs hand out guild quests — way better than anything from the Adventurer's Guild. More experience, better rewards, even Mythril-rank items. On top of that, resting in the hall gives you double XP, and you can even rent private rooms."
Everyone rushed to sign up. A line snaked in front of the Zero Wing headquarters — over thirty thousand people by rough estimate.
High-level quests, double experience, private rooms — these perks drove the solo players wild.
And as soon as news of the Zero Wing headquarters spread, every major guild in the Star Moon Kingdom was thrown into chaos.