(Central room, Leo's POV)
Leo had no way of knowing how the other guardians were holding up. Once Andheri fell and the north path opened, he was faced with a near-constant stream of adventurers.
The first wave he encountered had fewer than 80 rankers, but the next ones arrived in full groups of 100, making it impossible for him to check on the performance of other rankers.
Occasionally though, he encountered smaller groups, and it was during these moments that Leo understood that perhaps another guardian had fallen, leaving him as the sole defender of the treasure.
Naturally, he was neither immortal nor without limits.
The bold claim that he could single-handedly take down 10,000 opponents, though impressive, was far from the truth.
He certainly couldn't defeat 10,000 rankers on his own, and this became clear during the fifth wave of challengers that he faced, as it was then that he sustained his first injury of the day, when a mage on the opposing side unleashed an AOE spell, recklessly sacrificing his own teammates in a desperate attempt to damage Leo.
Fortunately for her, the attack succeeded, catching Leo in the explosion, however, unfortunately it also killed 7 of her own allies.
Quickly getting back on his feet, Leo regained his composure as he saw that he had lost less than 3% of his total HP.
However, this injury served as undeniable proof that he wasn't untouchable, and it emboldened his opponents to adopt a more aggressive stance.
Up until that point, the psychological pressure he exerted had caused many to hesitate, second-guessing their actions in fear of being humiliated. But once they saw someone land a hit on 'TheBoss,' their hesitations diminished, and their confidence grew.
It was as if the single hit had flipped a switch in their heads, as their restraint suddenly vanished and was replaced by reckless aggression, as though they had sensed his vulnerability, however small it may be.
Before the hit, the rankers would approach him hesitantly, focusing on casting defensive spells or dodging his every move, terrified of engaging him head-on, however, now, that caution seemed gone.
Leo noticed this change almost immediately as a mage, who before would have summoned a barrier to protect himself from Leo's attacks, now stood firmly in place, chanting an offensive spell with fire in his eyes. Leo watched as a torrent of flames erupted from the mage's staff, aimed directly at him, as the mage didn't seem to care whether Leo would dodge or counter, as he only wanted to land a hit.
Leo sidestepped the flames with ease, his mind racing as he analyzed this changed psychology of his opponents.
Unfortunately for them, as soon as he dodged the attack, it meant that someone else behind him was hit with the same, as the mage's spell instead of killing him, killed a tank class player behind him.
'Oh wait, this might not be too bad….. if I play my cards right, I can turn their recklessness to my advantage,' Leo thought, as while at first he was worried about the change in the fighting style of his opponents, he soon realized that this change in their fighting style actually made them even easier for him to take down than they already were.
Leo's realization came with a slow, creeping grin.
As the mage's fireball exploded against the unfortunate tank behind him, Leo took a moment to observe the chaos his enemies were inflicting on one another.
They were so desperate to land a hit on him, so eager to exploit what they perceived as weakness, that they weren't paying attention to their own positioning or their teammates. It was no longer a coordinated effort but a frenzied rush, and Leo could see the cracks forming in their ranks.
He pivoted to dodge another strike, watching as the swordsman who had aimed for him stumbled forward, overextended and vulnerable. With a quick motion, Leo drove his blade into the man's side, not even breaking his stride as he pulled it free. The swordsman fell, clutching at the wound, but Leo's focus had already shifted to the next group of attackers.
Another mage cast a chain lightning spell, the crackling energy arcing through the air toward Leo. But the spellcaster hadn't accounted for the two warriors rushing toward Leo from either side. With a well-timed leap, Leo vaulted over the lightning's path, letting it hit one of the advancing warriors square in the chest.
The second warrior stumbled in confusion, caught off guard by the sudden elimination of his ally, and Leo capitalized on the moment, cutting him down in a swift, fluid motion.
'They're doing most of the work for me', He thought, almost amused at how little effort he was expending compared to earlier waves.
Where he once had to break through their defenses or bait them into making mistakes, they were now practically handing him opportunities for free.
'Hahaha…. What a bunch of losers' Leo thought, as a group of archers took aim at him from the backline, their arrows flying in towards him in quick succession, however, they were too slow to pose any real threat to him.
Leo ducked and weaved between them, knowing that even if he didn't block or deflect every shot, there were plenty of targets for those arrows to hit, and sure enough, a few unlucky rankers in the fray took hits from their own teammates' arrows, one of them falling to his knees, clutching the shaft embedded in his shoulder, while the other had his man parts pierced in the most unfortunate of battle incidents.
Leo couldn't help but smile as he dodged a pair of attackers. One swung a massive warhammer, the other wielding dual daggers.
Before, they might have circled him cautiously, testing his defenses and waiting for an opening. But now? They charged in headlong, oblivious to each other's presence, and all Leo had to do was sidestep the warhammer's wide swing, and the hammer's momentum sent it crashing into the dagger-wielder instead, knocking him off his feet.
'Woohoo! Let's go–' he thought, as he seemed to have cracked the code to survive in this competition for a bit longer.