The sky cracked in the middle of the day and both teams looked up at it. The half-dragon came out and looked down at them.
"You all are making this game become boring by not doing anything. It seems both sides need motivation to make this game more fun. So, how about I give it to you?"
She snapped her fingers and a loud roar was suddenly heard around the map.
"I have added a boss at this stage. The one who kills it will get a level up and an exclusive buff for this game. Good luck taking the boss down."
The half-dragon disappeared, leaving behind a tense silence.
"Andrew, what are we going to do? Are we going after the boss?"
Lilianna asked and Andrew smiled at her.
"Of course we are. It is a good time for leveling up and also catching the other team."
Everyone nodded and followed him. Clara kept an ear out for the other team and tensed once they got too close to the boss.
"I can hear the other team. They are close by. I think they might be waiting for us to weaken them before they attack the boss and steal our win."
Clara quickly summarised the other team's plan and Lilianna got angry.
"That is not fair. What should we do now? At this rate, we might lose our boss…"
She complained, only for Emperor to scoff and stand up. His sword was held at his side, ready to take action.
"If those fools think it is so easy for them to steal my win, then they are welcome to try. I am not going to waste any more time here."
He walked toward the boss and Andrew followed him.
"Clara, Lilianna, you both should help Emperor out and earn a lot of exp here. I will…go and take care of our dear uninvited guests that want to crash our party."
Andrew stood up and the three split up.
"We are here to help you out."
Clara declared to Emperor, who only gave them a single glance before his attention went back to the boss.
The boss noticed them as well and smacked its tail on the ground in anger before attacking them. Emperor blocked that attack with his sword and attacked back.
He was at a disadvantage since the boss was level 18, the same level as the highest level person in this game currently (Andrew), but that did not stop him from fighting, despite the 4 level disadvantage.
The monster's tail collided with his sword and he was pushed back. But at the last second, he felt his power returning and growing.
"I will boost you and heal you for now. Since Andrew asked us to help you out, we will do what we can."
Lilianna assured as she increased her output.
Emperor wanted to tell her that it was not necessary, but he had to admit that the boost was helpful.
The boss tried to move, but veins suddenly held it in place, making sure it won't move much.
"Hurry up and deal with it. I can only try and hold it in place for a few seconds at a time. You need to hurry."
Clara told Emperor as she used her powers as well. They were taking a strain on her body but she wanted to contribute.
Emperor turned away from them both and focused on the boss instead. The quicker he ended this, the better.
__________
"Are you sure we can do this? That boss is massive and dangerous. I don't think we should get involved with it."
Monkey Thief commented as he looked at the struggle Emperor was having against the boss. His words caused Queen to smack him in the back of his head.
"Don't say such useless things. Of course we should get involved. Our opponents will be too tired after harming the boss. Not only will it allow us to steal the boss, but also finish the game in one shot. Aren't I right, Thief?"
Queen asked Thief like a love-sick girl wanting validation from her crush.
But Thief did not agree with her outright. He quickly noticed that there was something…or rather, someone missing from the line-up of people fighting.
"Hey, something is wrong. Where is Mark Dawson…?"
Thief questioned seconds before Queen was suddenly attacked. The attack colliding with her caused a small explosion and before anyone knew what happened, another spell blasted Queen.
"Queen, what happened—"
Monkey King tried to shake the smoke off, but he felt cold metal against his neck and a second later, a gunshot was heard.
[You have eliminated Player Queen]
[You have eliminated Player Monkey King]
[Only one player is left on the opposite team]
The system reminded Andrew as he walked out of the smoke. He kept his gun at the ready and aimed it at the player in front of him.
"Looks like you did not see this happening in the future. It makes me wonder if you just got lucky in the last game when you came in first…"
Andrew asked Thief as he held the gun against his neck.
"L-Lucky? There is no such thing. I planned it all out—"
"Then, you must have sacrificed a few people to get that first place."
Thief went quiet before he started making excuses.
"T-That is…it was necessary for survival. Isn't it better for more people to survive, even if some had to die? A-And those weaklings would have died anyway. At least, with this, their deaths were for a noble cause."
It seemed like Thief was convinced that he was in the right. Not that Andrew knew what was right or wrong.
After all, he had also hijacked the body of some random person on Earth. The original soul in here was long gone, so Andrew could not pretend that he was innocent as well.
"You are right. Sacrifices made for the greater good are necessary. That's why it's time to say goodbye."
Andrew told him before he shot Thief point blank. The opposite team's flag fell softly on the floor but he did not pick it up.
Picking the flag up would mean the end of this game. But Andrew didn't wanted it to end. At least, not until he knew that he could not extract any more advantage out of this game.
"I better go and help the boss. I do want a small share of the boss's exp and level up."
Andrew quickly pushed himself up and noticed how the boss was almost done for.
The boss made one last attack, using all its remaining strength to go against Emperor and Andrew immediately created a shield to absorb it. At the same time, Emperor attacked for the last time and the boss finally fell.