Is this really a Game?!

As Reign and the others made their way back towards the elven territory through the forest they were surprised by the lack of monsters inside of it. Previously when they started their exploration in the forest they would come across monsters every couple of minutes, but this time there were none, even after walking for more than 20 minutes and getting close to the territory there were no monsters that they had spotted.

"Something is up." Wolf suddenly says as the others nod their heads in agreement, if this had happened any other time they were in the forest perhaps they wouldn't worry, but even after visiting multiple times and hunting monsters here, nothing of the sort had happened. The monsters in the depth of the IronBark Woods mostly lived solitarily, there were only some that lived in packs such as the crocodile from earlier.

Because of that, it was a bit harder to find monsters, but there was still an abundance of them in the huge forest and it was almost impossible not to see one for so long.

As they neared the territory they suddenly stopped as they were able to hear sounds from the distance. Roars, shrieks, and explosions could be heard from the direction of the elven territory, Reign and the others glance at each other with a serious expression as they run towards it. It was apparent to them why they had not come across any monsters so far, it seems like they had actually attacked the elves for some reason.

…

"How bad is it?" Asked the queen as she looked at the person in front of her. An elf was down on one knee as he narrated what had happened to the queen who was silently listening to him. His name is Aelrinder and he was the captain of the royal guards and the commander of the elven troops. He was clad in gray armor that looked more like a bodysuit, of course as he was someone of a high rank he was given the best equipment, the armor he wore was thin but the protection it offered was great, thanks to the way it was created it didn't limit the movement of the elf at all. The elves had a different style of crafting compared to other races, all of their armor was thin and it never limited the movement of their troops, elves were famous for their speed and athleticism, to create a heavy suit of armor for them would simply be dumb.

To create such an armor, however, took a lot of work and the other elves were usually wearing leather armors that were created for them. Not only did the commander's armor give it solid defense, but it also boosted the user's mana and could help them channel it easier.

"There are over 200 monsters currently attacking the spirit dome your majesty, all of our soldiers are currently attacking them from the safety of the dome but more and more are arriving, I, the elite troops, and your royal guard are ready to join the battle at any moment."

"What of the humans."

"We have notified them and they have sent help, unfortunately as the invasion was too abrupt, only a part of their fighting force was in the territory, more are coming back as we speak, also," The commander suddenly pauses for a moment before continuing, "Their leader and his team are out and are currently not in the range of their communication devices, nobody knows if they will be able to join."

"Tch, those creatures really picked the perfect time to strike." The queen clicks her tongue in frustration as she looks out from the windows, an army of monsters was besieging their territory, they were hammering the protective dome relentlessly as they were getting bombarded by magic and arrows from the elves.

Many players from Reign's territory have also joined the fight, with Neil and Cameron's team arriving just a couple of seconds ago, unfortunately, most of the players were simply not strong enough to deal any significant damage to the monsters that were all level 30 and above.

"What do you think of them?" The queen suddenly turns around and asks the commander.

"Your Majesty?"

"The humans, what do you think of them?"

"As of this moment, they are too weak." The commander speaks out.

"But the progress they have made since we have become allies is truly great, of course, most of that is thanks to their leader, but still, there are multiple individuals that have great talent amongst their ranks, I think it won't take long before they become a powerful ally for us."

"I see, it seems that we need to continue working hard, we don't want to become the weak ally that has to depend on others do we?"

"Of course not your majesty." The commander answers with a smile before getting up and bowing to the queen. "I will join the battle with the others now your majesty."

"Yes, and Aelrinder, don't take too many risks, if the worst comes I will take action personally." The queen's demeanor changes suddenly as a chilling expression was on her face.

"But your majesty-"

"We can't lose too many of our men now, there is no reason to worry, interfering once won't be too much, the system will give me a small penalty, it's nothing I can't handle."

"Yes, I understand." The commander says with a heavy look before turning around and leaving.

'We've only been here for a short period of time and yet something like this has already happened, we can't falter now.' The queen silently thinks to herself as she goes out and stands on top of the giant tree, looking down below she could see the battle that was still continuing.

​ Hundreds of elves and players were attacking the monsters from inside the safety of the dome, but only a small portion of them was able to deal any significant damage to the monsters.

The elves were on average a couple of levels higher than the players, while the players had improved drastically and the average level of the players was 20 now, the elves however had an average level of almost 30 while their strongest hunting party was at level 40.

The difference between the players and elves was obvious as the latter were able to deal a significantly larger amount of damage to the monsters. Amongst the players only a couple of teams were being efficient in killing the monsters, of course even for the strongest two teams like Neil's and Cameron's, it was no easy task and after fighting for almost 10 minutes they could feel their mana being dangerously low.

Tens of monsters had died but it made no difference as more and more monsters had joined the battle, thankfully it seemed that this was all as they couldn't see any more coming from the forest.

The commander had joined the battle, he was the most powerful elf after the queen, currently, he was level 45 and he was able to deal with a couple of monsters by himself, unfortunately, the monsters were not dumb and a couple of elites were constantly appearing at the place he was and shielding the other monsters whilst attacking the dome with intense killing intent.

The royal guards and the elite soldiers joined the fight as well and used their magic and arrows to bombard the monsters from afar, each of them was at least level 38 while the strongest was level 41, and even the strongest elvish hunting party was below them.

They were rarely seen and would usually accompany the commander to the depths of the forest where they would hunt monsters in order to increase their level, since they rarely ever fought in front of others the elves had started thinking of the strongest hunting party as the strongest fighters they had, today they were once again reminded of the power of the elite soldiers and royal guard, even the level 40 members of the hunting party were still below them when it came to power and skill.

Even though the elves and players were doing everything they could, more than 500 monsters were currently besieging their territory and the situation was looking bleak. The danger didn't come from the number of monsters, however, but from the tens of elite monsters amongst them, most of which were above level 40.

Even the commander of the elves could only deal with 3 elites at one time, and even that would be pushing it. The long-range attacks that the elves were sending the monsters way were not enough to deal with the powerful elites and if things continued the way they were, the monsters would end up destroying the dome and entering their territory.

The queen was preparing to join the battle, with a simple swipe of her hand she could kill all of the monsters that were currently attacking them, of course, that would be followed by penalties that she would have to face.

Before attacking however she stopped and smiled as something had happened at the back of the monster horde.

Boom!