Desolate World

Ace shook his head. Of course, he knew what they were thinking. As they thought they must die, so they could come back to the Laketown, it was didn't matter whether they died in battle or suicide. At least, by dying in the hands of a lord, they had stories to brag, when they came back.

But, he was sure, they would regret not listening to him. And he didn't have time to explain to them his real intention. As they were in a boss fight. 

So, Ace felt pretty hopeless here, as he couldn't refuse their wishes. He just promised in his heart to compensate them with some free quotas to enter the heroic tower, if it was successfully built.

'Don't blame me, okay. I have warned you,' Ace said in his heart.

Ace then heard Cloud's voice from the guild channel, <Andrea said, it's okay. She could protect the shadow priests and all supporting guardians. She said you don't have to worry about it.>

Ace nodded. If Andrea had said that, then it would be okay. He stopped being worried about it and focused his attention on Vesper. His HP had gone down to 15%. As there were no further drastic changes in the ghoul lord's behavior, it meant, his ultimate skill would be launched when his HP was below 10%. 

Geo also had taken Silver and Torch into his ring. It must be Cloud's instruction. As they were just ordinary pets. And with they could only on the ground, they were at risk of being affected by Vesper's ultimate skill. After all, the ghoul lord was a close combat fighter. It was natural for Cloud to be worried about their safety. As for Red and Blue, they were flying creatures. So it was normal for her to not be too worried about them.

Ace warned everyone once again to be ready. He also clenched his hands, as he was pretty nervous.

A few minutes later, Vesper's HP went down below 10%. 

"Here it comes," Ace said

Doom, who was beside him, also seemed to wonder what Vesper's ultimate skill was. 

Then the beaten-up ghoul lord roared suddenly.

*ROAAARRR*

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…

In an instant, many guardians who surrounded him became fragments of light. They were dead just like that.

Above their heads appeared the damages that they had received. Only Peter and Sampson, the tanks who hadn't died. However, Sampson's HP also decreased by almost 70%. Only leaving a little more than 30% of his HP. 

With the attack, all close combat guardians were whipped out, leaving only the shadow knight and the warlord. The ranged attackers behind them also didn't have better fates. As all guardians died, leaving only Hunt, Uriel, and Varel, who were elites.

The only relief was that the support team in the back was saved. A cracked black barrier was in front of Andrea, who was in the front at the moment. It was enough to tell Ace, even Andrea's means just barely withstood the attack.

The other worrying thing was all flying pets were falling down after Vesper roared. Even Erica and Eric were the same. They hit the ground pretty hard.

It seemed the roar did not only deal a massive amount of damage to everyone that was close to Vesper, but also caused a stunned status to all of the people who were injured by the attack.

Vesper then attacked the stunned Sampson that was near him. And with a slash of the ghoul lord's sword, he was done. Becoming fragments of light.

Ace could see that his brother was so shocked, he couldn't even close his mouth after his HP became zero.

It also shocked Ace. He was also petrified, as it happened so fast. It seemed Vesper's strength and agility had increased tremendously after he roared. Then he saw the ghoul lord's HP was decreasing slowly even though he didn't receive damage from anyone. So it was clear, he was burning his life to get a powerful strength. It meant that even if he was left alone, he would surely die.

However, he couldn't idle anymore, as Vesper looked at some falling guys, especially Erica, whose HP was below 75%. Red and Blue also were in a dangerous situation, but as their locations of falling were a little far from Vesper, they temporarily hadn't become a target.

'Crap!!! He wants to attack Erica," Ace felt a crisis. He felt he needed to do something.

However, The healers who weren't affected by the roar took the first initiative. They bombarded Vesper with healing spells. However, the ghoul lord only grinned. He wasn't provoked by their actions. He then ran towards the female dragon who was still in a stunned condition, like everyone else.

As Vesper was only a few meters from the stunned Erica, he then approached Erica at a high speed.

Ace couldn't stay still anymore. However, he knew that it would be too late for him to run there, as he was a few hundreds meters away from them. Erica could have already been killed before he came. 

Although Erica was a difficult to handle subordinate, he had treated her as one of his disciples, besides Eric and Uriel. So he didn't want the female dragon to die.

In fact, he had thought of a countermeasure to stop Vesper. That was by telling Geo to order Jumpy to jump to the ghoul lord and hold him for a few moments. But, he knew that it would be too late if he explained it now. As Erica could be killed in a few seconds. He then only had one way. It was by shooting his ice bullet.

Not wanting to waste any time. He then activated magic boost skill to boost his magic stats five times for five seconds. In an instant, his magic stats became 3,650 from 730. He then prepared his ice bullet by stretching his right hand and creating a sharp lump of ice. He took a deep breath to calm his rapid heartbeats and then aimed at Vesper's head.

Ace knew that it must hit his head, so Vesper could be stopped. So it would deal critical damage, which was two times the damage of an ice bullet. If not, Vesper could end the life of the female dragon by landing a few fast attacks on her.

In fact, the ghoul lord had landed his first attack on her.

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Taking around 15% more of Erica's HP. Although Erica was a dragon who had a large amount of HP, she was not an elite creature. So, her HP even was not comparable to an elite skeleton.

Not wanting to drag any more time, he shot his ice bullet. It only took less than a second for it to hit Vesper's head. 

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The lump of ice exploded his head like a watermelon after being hit. The ice bullet's inertia even caused the ghoul body to be thrown off a few meters. The life of Vesper then ended just like that as his HP was empty.

[You have level up to level 36]

[You have level up to level 37]

[Congratulations for successfully assisting Eric, Erica, and Uriel to kill an undead lord.]

[You get a 'master pyromancer's ring', 20,000 experiences, and 1,000 reputations in the Laketown town.]

[You have level up to level 38]

He was surprised to get so many from defeating Vesper. After killing East, he also got a massive amount of experience. But it was still not enough to make him level up. But, dealing the last damage to a lord surely was a great deal of achievement as it made him level up two times, and still leaving him enough experience to level up after finishing the mission that he had gotten from Mars.

But, he was surely not the one who had harvested the most. It should be some healers and support-type guardians who survived the battle. He could imagine the guild members who had died in the last battle would cry hard after seeing the settlement guardian ranking. 

He was sure everyone that survived the battle had leveled up a few levels in a row. It wasn't impossible for them to reach above level 20 in one go.

'Once again. Don't blame me! I have warned you,' Ace said in his heart again while smiling.

He also got a 1,000 reputation in Laketown and an accessory. For the reputation, he was pretty indifferent, as he was already an elder in the town, this additional reputation wouldn't give him anything, as it was impossible for him to get any higher position in the town. 

It was impossible for Ace to overthrow Mars, as he had a good relationship with the dragon lord, and a guardian seemed to be impossible to lead a settlement. As only people in this world could become elites and then lord. And only a Lord could lead a settlement.

For the ring, he really wanted to check its properties. But, he must wait until he finished all of the matter here. After all, he didn't want to appear too excited. As he had a reputation that he had to keep. 

The turn of events made anyone that had seen it astounded. It couldn't be helped. A few seconds before Vesper's head was hit, he still had around 8% HP. It meant, Ace's ice damage dealt equal or even more than 8% of a lord's HP. It meant that if Ace's previous attack hit any ordinary template creature, it would instakill it. 

Everyone could only look at Ace with admiration. After all, any person who had such ability deserved such respect.

"Geez… You make my job harder, you know. Such a mess! You exploded his head for good," Doom then said beside him.

***