"Shield mechs! Hold the line!"
Wild Gale's expression darkened as he shouted the command.
The nine Titan Mechs that had been standing by suddenly roared to life. Five of them moved in unison with mechanical precision, raising their massive tower shields into a defensive formation like a steel fortress.
BOOM!
The Golden Dragon's breath slammed into their shields. The force of the impact shook the air, and magical currents exploded outward like waves.
The Titan Mechs held firm against the brunt of the Dragon Rider's frontal assault. But the lingering percentage-based damage from the dragon breath was impossible to completely negate—each mech was losing over 200,000 HP per second!
The Golden Dragon Knight roared again, clearly not expecting these strange constructs to hold out this long. He flared his wings and closed in for a second barrage.
"Damn it! Hold formation!"
The flight packs on the Titan Mechs blasted at full power, spraying shockwaves through the sky, but even so, they were pushed back dozens of meters.
This was the terror of a high-tier dragon—overwhelming force even against five-on-one odds. Burning through Titan shields was only a matter of time.
"Burst rifles, fire at will!"
Wild Gale didn't panic. He calmly raised his explosive rifle and locked onto the dragon.
A moment later, a dark beam of energy shot down through the clouds, aiming straight for the Golden Dragon's skull.
"Golden Dragon Form!"
Danosh, the rider, wasn't a pushover. He immediately halted the dragon breath and cloaked his mount in radiant gold.
The Golden Dragon entered Body Domination mode—a state of near-invulnerability to prevent backlash from its own magic.
"Board and kill the rider! Break the bones!"
Wild Gale's eyes sharpened. This was the moment they were waiting for.
According to inside intel, Golden Dragons were nearly invincible in Body Domination, but that came at a cost: severely reduced mobility.
And with dragon breath on cooldown, now was the time to strike.
Plus, the dragon might be untouchable—but the rider wasn't.
Four assault mechs dove from the clouds, smashing down onto the dragon's back.
CLANG—
Frost greatswords were drawn from their mechs' hips. Danosh's eyes widened.
Four Godslayer warriors landed on the dragon's rear and instantly split apart, launching a flurry of coordinated attacks—enhanced by the mech's high HP and defense.
CRIT - 90,000!
Armor Shred!
Bleed - 15,000!
-50,000!
...
Damage numbers kept rising. The five shield mechs continued suppressive fire from afar.
Danosh was powerful—but cut off from his dragon, he was fighting with one arm tied behind his back.
Nine Titan Mechs working together didn't care how elite you were.
Even with over 100 million HP, Danosh lost a quarter of it in under a minute.
"You dare challenge me with enchanted toys?!"
Danosh roared and lashed out. His spear glinted with icy light and pierced a weak point on one of the mechs—instantly killing the pilot.
But as the mech collapsed, a glowing cross appeared inside the cockpit.
Resurrection!
The Titan Mech climbed back to its feet, and the pilot cursed Danosh's mother with colorful language.
Eight Godslayer clerics swooped in on raptor-like mounts above. The lead priest laughed smugly.
"Yo, Blondie! You really thought we weren't here?"
Absolute Kid: "Let's clean this guy's face up."
Awakening: Divine Twilight!
Awakening: Divine Twilight!
...
The priests raised their staves. Spears of holy light rained down in a circular formation, lighting Danosh up like a golden porcupine.
CRIT - 40,000!
-22,000!
Physical Defense Down!
Magic Resist Down!
Immobilized!
...
Slaughter Spree: "What the hell? Since when do priests deal this much damage?!"
Even other Dragon Knights were stunned. The mechs being broken was one thing—but priests dishing out this kind of DPS?
They didn't even heal their allies when HP dropped. Instead, they were nuking the boss?
What kind of twisted logic was that?
Weren't priests supposed to be merciful?
"Merciful my ass!"
Absolute Kid snapped. He was a self-proclaimed battle-cleric—high DPS, low dignity.
Normally, the Godslayer priest corps were the bottom of the barrel—even weaker than crafters using mana rifles and grenades.
In a guild this bizarre, their even more bizarre healing build got them constantly ignored.
Whenever a boss was near death, they'd have to jump in and go all-out—otherwise, they'd get zero loot credit.
"Die, you insects!"
Danosh roared, shaking off the crowd-control with Body Domination.
Dragon Knight Art: Golden Sky Slash!
A line of death shot out from his lance—like it could split the sky in half.
"Celestial Soul Seal: Hand of the Angel!"
Absolute Kid's face went grim.
All eight priests raised their glowing left arms and chanted: "Holy Trinity—Activate!"
Triple Holy Radiance!
Triple Divine Twilight!
Triple Moonlight Blessing!
...
Their expressions were calm. Shields, heals, and attack buffs exploded in every direction.
This was the active effect of the Celestial Series: Hand of the Angel.
One cast triggered multiple spells at once.
It required at least eight players with the same Soul Seal to activate.
The more casters, the more spells. At maximum, Holy Nonet could unleash nine skills simultaneously.
For 30 seconds, during Angel's Mark, all holy priest spells had zero mana cost. Cooldown: 2 minutes.
CRASH!
Over twenty B-tier shields stacked up and shattered the supposedly invincible golden slash.
Danosh stood dumbfounded. His A-tier Dragon Knight technique—blocked by a bunch of "squishy" priests?
"What the hell is this guild made of...?"
Even Godslayer's own players looked surprised.
Godslayer had a notorious internal hierarchy.
The rogue corps looked down on the warrior corps for being lady magnets.
The warriors dissed the knight corps for being drunken gamblers.
The knights mocked Raven's group for sniping from a distance like cowards.
The mages? They were the sweatshop workers in the guild armory.
Orgod was a mage, so people showed them some respect.
The priest corps?
Their leader, Female Dorm God, was so out of favor even girls pinched his cheeks like a mascot.
Nobody expected priests to heal, revive, or even be useful.
If you couldn't dominate through mechanics and stats, you were a loser.
That's how Godslayer saw things.
So priests were a sidelined, overlooked group.
And yet now? The spotlight was all theirs.
Absolute Kid, after getting the Celestial Soul Seal, discovered something wild.
Every priest could be a tank, a ranged DPS, or a melee brawler.
"The bullied finally get their moment."
Bradley chuckled, half bitter.
With Angel's Mark, they had endless shields, damage reduction, heals, and defenses.
Eight maxed-out Godslayer clerics were basically unkillable.
Who still thought priests were weak?
As long as they didn't get wiped instantly, they could keep reviving each other and popping every possible buff.
Who needed knights or warriors?
Priest squad had it handled.
"Respect, man!"
Wild Gale grinned at Absolute Kid.
The priest scoffed. "If Stewart were here with his mutant goat, we'd already have turned this dragon into kebab. You guys are just showboating."
Previously, in the Dark Empire territory, the priests got sick of being overshadowed.
So they went solo.
A hundred priests wiped out a beastman-occupied dark city, purging everything with holy light.
They even solo'd seven Domain Master bosses—causing huge waves inside the guild.
Of course, Madman later seized all their loot, citing "unauthorized operation."
"What are you all gawking at? Keep hitting it. Speed run this bitch!"
Absolute Kid barked, eyes shining with pride.
The squad rushed forward again with renewed fury.
The Golden Dragon, sensing its rider's peril, shook violently. Body Domination wore off. It tried to shake off the attackers.
Fatal Bite!
Fatal Bite!
...
Just then, eight other giant dragons swooped in—having just finished their own fights.
They bit down on the Golden Dragon's limbs and wings, pinning it in place.
Titan Mechs followed up, launching a flurry of frost sword strikes and gunfire—targeting the joints and weak spots.
The Golden Dragon screamed in agony, unable to move.
Blood sprayed everywhere. Chunks of flesh and bone rained down.
It was a beast, yes—but enough ants could kill a lion.
The dragon was dragged from the sky and slammed into the ground.
And then the real butchery began.
Even with 400 million HP, the dragon was shredded.
Its limbs were mauled, its wings hacked clean off.
"You filthy mongrels!"
Danosh, desperate, used Life Link to save his mount.
But his meager HP barely made a dent.
"Savage... This is too brutal. I'm kinda scared!"
"Why is that wind dragon going for the crotch?! Jesus!"
"Yep, this is definitely 16+ content. And I love every second of it!"
"Can we still join the Godslayer Alliance? Our guild wants in—bad!"
...
Right in front of over a hundred million live viewers, the Godslayer Alliance butchered a Golden Dragon like it was a pig at a festival—spilling dragon hearts and livers across the field.
The broadcast crew went dead silent.
One thought echoed in everyone's mind:
"When the hell did this country get so... uncensored?"
"Dragon's dead! Gate's down! CHARGE!!"
Wild Gale raised his fist high.
The Godslayer troops surged forward, leaving corpses in their wake.
Bradley led the charge—Light-Dark Greatsword flashing as he cleaved Riftrock City's gate wide open and stormed inside.