One by one, the players from the Salamanders and Sylphs began respawning at their respective revival points in each of their territories. The nearby players who witnessed this were stunned, seeing an entire raid party that was supposed to challenge a Field Boss suddenly respawn all at once.
'Is the Field Boss so strong that all of them died?'
Everyone was thinking the same thing, it was an unbelievable sight to see players reviving one after another like that.
However, what they didn't know was that the one who wiped them out wasn't the Field Boss… but something far more terrifying.
...
"Eh? What happened to you guys?"
Leafa asked, staring speechlessly at Recon and the other players she was acquinted with. Although she hadn't joined the raid herself, she was well aware of their plan to challenge the Field Boss in the Dragon Valley. However, she never expected to see them reviving at the revival point just as she was about to fly back to Yggdrasil City.
This left her completely stupefied, and she quickly jogged toward the revival point. There, she saw the defeated players letting out deep sighs and wry smiles, though oddly, some of them looked strangely excited.
That was when she spotted Recon, a friend of hers, emerging from the revival point while shaking his head helplessly.
Recon also notice Leafa who was coming his way, Recon felt that someone would comfort him, yet what he recieve was a smack on his head which made his laugh awkwardly.
"...That hurts, Leafa-chan," Recon said pitifully, rubbing his head as if he were on the verge of tears, even though it didn't really hurt.
Seeing him act like his usual childish self, Leafa sighed and crossed her arms. "Enough fooling around. Tell me what happened. Weren't you guys supposed to be challenging a Field Boss? How come you all came out of the revival point one after another?"
Recon instantly grew awkward at Leafa's question. After all, even though Shido was strong, being completely wiped out by a single player was kind of embarrassing, especially since most of their race's top players had been defeated effortlessly.
Still, he didn't hide anything from Leafa and told her everything that had happened at the Dragon Valley.
Leafa didn't interrupt Recon as he recounted what had happened, but her expression shifted multiple times as she listened. She knew Recon wasn't lying, especially with the clear proof before her eyes, as Sylph players continued to respawn one after another.
Even so, it was hard for her to fully believe his story. After all, the idea of a single player annihilating the combined armies of two fairy races was something that sounded almost impossible.
"Do such player actually exist?" Leafa said disbelief.
Recon found Leafa's expression somewhat amusing, but he nodded nonetheless. "Yeah, I know it sounds impossible, but it's the truth. Even Eugene, the second-in-command of the Salamanders—was completely helpless against him."
Recon paused for a second before continuing "It wasn't just his strength. His speed and swordsmanship were on a whole different level. And the scariest part? He didn't even use his full power or his OSS. Sigh... I really wonder if anyone could ever beat him."
Seeing him sigh as he said all of that, Leafa fell silent and wonder how could such a player exist while not being known. He might even be stronger than her brother, who she had always considered the strongest.
However, as she was thinking to herself, she suddenly remembered something important.
"Sakuya! Where's Sakuya, Recon?!" Leafa grab Recon's collar and shook him fiercely.
Leafa's panic grew as she realized she hadn't seen Sakuya yet. She was worried that she would also be killed, after all, if a leader of a race was killed, there would be a dire penalty they would receive and it was too great for them to bear, especially when the previous leader of thier Sylp race was also killed in a battle which made their position quite weaker.
"...Ah!" Recon, as if just realizing it himself, widened his eyes in disbelief. If something had happened to Sakuya, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Yet, just as the two began to panic, a blue light suddenly appeared behind them, and the woman they were worried about materialized before their eyes.
Sakuya wore a confused look on her face as she looked at Leafa and Recona and said "...What are you two causing commotion about?"
The two were momentarily dazed to see Sakuya return through teleportation instead of respawning at the revival point. However, Leafa quickly recovered and leapt into Sakuya's arms, surprising her.
"Sakuya!"
Sakuya-san!
"...What's wrong with you, two?"
While Sakuya was surprised, she didn't push Leafa away and instead gently patted her back.
Recon, who was left behind by Leafa also finally reacted and walk towards them hurriedly. But unlike Leafa, he didn't jump into her since he knew he would be beaten if he tried that.
However, Recon was also curious about how Sakuya managed to escape from that player they had faced, so he asked, "Sakuya-san, are you okay? How did you escape from that demon?"
Recon couldn't help but ask, after all, in the face of Shido's terrifying might, he was certain they would have been killed before they could even teleport away. The Salamanders' second-in-command hadn't lasted even five seconds before being defeated, despite wearing high-grade armor and wielding his prized weapon, the <
That just showed how terrifying Shido's strength was, so how could Sakuya, whose forte wasn't combat, possibly escaped?
Leafa, still clinging to Sakuya, also felt curious and looked up at her with questioning eyes. After all, according to Recon, a powerful unknown player had suddenly appeared, someone strong enough to defeat a Field Boss alone and wipe out the combined forces of two fairy races. There was no way someone like that would simply overlook Sakuya. Especially when the rewards of killing a leader of another race was very tempting.
Yet, when Sakuya heard the words of the two, she recalled what happened back then and her cheeks suddenly reddened like a bashful maiden's.
Seeing this, while Recon looked confused, Leafa felt something was definitely wrong with her expression.
Sakuya also noticed that she was showing the wrong expression again, which made her even more embarrassed. However, she managed to regain her composure, returning her face to its usual calm and said, "...Well, we actually made a deal."
"A deal?"
Leafa and Recon said in unison, both turning to Sakuya with curious expressions. When they asked what kind of deal she had made, Sakuya slowly began to explain. The deal was simple, and that was to support Shido becoming the next Imp Leader. However, unbeknownst to them, she onlytold they a part of the deal and didn't told them the other more personal deal that they made.