When Serpent Boss was dealing with Gridhacker's tracing beams, Ronald never stopped moving because he knew an unseen sniper was around. He wanted to retreat to where the other World Ruler's members were fighting but he was harassed by Serpent Boss' Abyss fox.
The Abyss Fox had the flash step ability. When Ronald shot at it, it shifted its position and dodge the bullets. When it got near, it suddenly turned into a shadow and zoomed with incredible speed. This was its offensive skill, Dark Rush.
Ronald's reflex allowed him to move to the side, but the abyss fox still scratched him as it passed by, inflicting dark damage.
Ronald threw his smoke grenade to the ground and created smoke that obscured him from the enemy's view. Several gunshot sounds were heard. The abyss fox used Flash Step again to dodge, but it was hit after he completed the flash step. Ronald had made predictions about the direction the abyss fox was dodging.
The abyss fox decided to tank the bullets since it couldn't see the attacker. It had a passive ability that nullified every fourth hit. It ran toward the smoke and intended to look for Ronald inside. But when it got near, a burst of flame washed over it from inside the smoke.
The abyss fox was immune to all physical ailments, so it didn't worry about getting burn status. However, the flame dealt fire damage continuously. Even when every fourth hit was nullified, the other continuous three hits still caused large damage if it insisted to charge forward. It had no choice but to retreat and escaped the flaming zone.
After the abyss fox retreated, Ronald came out of the smoke and rose into the air. He was standing on his flamethrower drone, just as he did in the tournament. He was retreating from the air. All the while, he shot at the abyss fox and the others below.
David, who had just killed Gridhacker, tried shooting at Ronald who was in the air. But Ronald's bullets came first and prevented him from making an accurate aim.
Even though Ronald seemed to be in control of the situation by shooting from the high ground, he was actually concerned. The reason was that he had lost sight of Serpent Boss. He couldn't seem to find the veteran soldier as he surveyed the ground below. The man had somehow vanished after escaping Gridhacker's tracing beams.
A sudden gunshot sound was heard, and Ronald felt his foothold was gone.
Ronald's drone lost its flying ability after being hit by Serpent Boss' skill, Pull of the Earth. Serpent Boss had sneaked into Ronald's blind spot and fired at the drone when he least expected it. Ronald and his flamethrower were now under the mercy of gravity, falling to the ground.
Serpent Boss didn't let this chance go. Ronald was unable to dodge when he fell. Serpent Boss rushed forward while firing consecutively at Ronald's back.
Feeling the bullets hitting his back, Ronald's two arms bent to his back and opened fire. He was aiming by estimation based on the impact on his back.
Despite not looking, Ronald's accuracy was still high. Serpent Boss veered slightly to dodge the shots. This caused his offensive to stop.
Ronald's defense was high because of his set gears. He survived Serpent Boss' back attacks but his HP had fallen to a dangerous level. Once his feet touched the ground, he immediately swiveled and aimed his twin revolvers, but what he saw was a grenade. The grenade exploded with a very bright light.
Serpent Boss' Flashbang caused temporary blindness, but Ronald could still sense Serpent Boss' position from his killing intent. Unfortunately, Serpent Boss purposefully utilized this ability to finish Ronald. When Ronald aimed and fired in Serpent Boss' direction while blinded, Serpent Boss' drone and abyss fox struck from the opposite direction.
Serpent Boss watched Ronald fall to the ground with zero HP. A set of gloves dropped beside him.
Serpent Boss continued observing Ronald. He knew some players had some sort of life-saving tools or equipment, but Ronald didn't move. Ronald's HP remained at zero. He turned to where Ronald's boom hound was tussling with the Barghest a while ago. Only the barghest was there, the boom hound had been forcefully unsummoned once its owner died. He turned back and looked at the gloves beside Ronald.
This gunslinger was dead already. The body should disappear once the battle was over.
Serpent Boss picked up the gloves, it was rare-grade. Serpent Boss stored the equipment and walked away. A loot had dropped and he also didn't see Ronald wear an Amulet of Rebirth. The gunslinger was too proud to wear one. Ronald should drop to level 1. With such a low level, it would be easy for his members to hunt and capture this man.
Serpent Boss planned to let this man spend the rest of his life inside their headquarters' jail.
Serpent Boss walked away. He would organize the hunt later. He had no idea where Ronald would be spawning. The important thing at the moment was fulfilling their contract and destroying the enemy's command platform.
He looked in the direction of the enemy's temporary base. Heavy fighting was occurring there. Reinforcements had suddenly arrived. This caused World Ruler members to pull back and defend the command platform. That's why nobody came to aid Ronald who had rushed in too deep.
"Congratulations for having taken your revenge," David came to Serpent Boss' side.
"It's not over yet. This is not our old world. He will come to life again somewhere. After we capture him and locked him in our jail, then only can we consider it over," Serpent Boss said.
"We will do that. By the way, here," David gave the God-eye monocle he had taken from Gridhacker to Serpent Boss.
They had gathered intelligence about this item, partly from Jeanny's info. So, they knew this item's function.
"You wear it. I have reliable field awareness. That tool won't give me much advantage. It will be more useful for you," Serpent Boss rejected the offer.
David didn't refute the statement. "Okay, I will–"
*BANG!*BANG!*BANG!*BANG!*BANG!*BANG!*
Rapid gunshot sounds were heard. David's head was punched forward by consecutive shots. The cumulative critical damage depleted David's HP. He died without realizing what had happened.
Serpent Boss had sensed the abrupt killing intent from behind. His body moved by instinct, dodging the six bullets that should have hit his head as well.
He turned back and saw Ronald on a black horse. Black mists revolved around the horse's legs.
"Hahaha. So long, suckers…!!" Ronald scoffed. The black horse then carried him away at a very fast speed, leaving a trail of black mists.
Serpent Boss took out a rifle and used snipe, but Ronald had been riding his horse backward. Ronald fired and his bullet hit Serpent Boss' bullet in the air. Serpent Boss could see Ronald's grinning face as he and his horse disappeared between the rows of trees.
"Damnit!" Serpent Boss cursed. He called Valenza, the sniper who hid and provided them with backup. "Can you hit him?"
"I'm sorry, boss," Valenza replied. "I thought he had died. I diverted my attention to helping Zero push toward the command platform. I can't see him anymore. How is he still alive?"
Serpent Boss didn't know as well. The fact was that Ronald had a sacrificial dummy in his bag and had also used the Fake Death skill. This skill was the same as the one used by Oswald when he tried to trick Jack and Grace in the past. This skill was learnable by any elite classes that branched out of Ranger. The skill was very rare, though. Ronald had gotten it as a gift from Master.
The sacrificial dummy kept him from dying from a fatal attack. Ronald used the Fake Death skill at the exact time the sacrificial dummy was activated, masking his HP to appear as 0. He also unsummoned his boom hound and intentionally dropped a piece of rare equipment to make his death look more convincing.
Serpent Boss sighed. He at first wanted to chase after Ronald, but the steed Ronald used was unusual. It was faster than his rare-grade steed. Ronald's black horse should be at least a super rare grade.
Serpent Boss turned to David who was laying on the ground. Luckily, David wore an Amulet of Rebirth. He would just be losing one level.
He picked up the God-eye monocle beside David's body. He would keep it and give it to David later. He then ran toward where his other members were still fighting.
*
Some of the reinforcement from the eight guilds came to where the World Ruler's command platform was located. Coordinating with this reinforcement, the Dogs of War returned to destroy the command platform. Sergeant Zero was at the head as he cut and sliced the enemies using his daggers.
The protective shell was gone already. World Ruler was now depending on their members to defend their command platform. Mistress was not sitting idle anymore. She cast spells and her soul orbs healed allies in a large area, keeping them alive and fighting. However, they were outnumbered. The Dogs of War members were all experts. Mistress could see that they were losing.
"Hmph!" She harrumphed angrily. She then cast the Soar spell and flew away just like that. She was too proud to announce a defeat.
Lead Designer watched her leave with apprehensive feelings. He was sure he was in for a scolding once they were back at headquarters.
He sent a message for everyone to retreat. He stored the command platform. The guild army that was still fighting in front of Wicked Witches' headquarters vanished abruptly.
With the other members, Lead Designer fled the area while getting chased by the enemies.
