The fourth duck variant was called the [Derpy Mallard].
[Derpy Mallard] - Level 39
HP: 40,000,000
Physical Attack: 1
Physical Defense: 10,000
Magic Resistance: 10,000
Its movement speed was abysmal—a sluggish 3 yards per second. It would take 167 seconds to cross the 500-yard gap to the magic circle.
But the mallard boasted 40 million HP, double the health pool of the previous ducks. Worse, it was shrouded in an irritating shield: [Enhanced Resistance]. Any crowd control, slows, or debuffs cast on it evaporated after a mere 0.1 seconds.
Panic rippled through the raid. Lila quickly calculated the DPS across their four fronts. With only a hundred players, they lacked the raw damage to burn the mallard down before it breached the circle.
She issued immediate orders. "Glytter, Hazel, Grace, Peppa, Starbloom—pull your bosses to the front line. Drop your AoEs. If you don't have AoE, focus down the Derpy Mallard. Everyone else, business as usual. Target the other three duck variants."
"On it!"
Norlun and the four ant bosses lumbered into the fray. Lila hoped their high damage output would tip the scales, though she still doubted it would be enough to stop the mallard completely. The magic circle could still absorb 100 hits. That would buy them some time.
However, once the allied bosses engaged, the situation shifted dramatically.
Glytter commanded Norlun to cast [Swarm Rush] ahead of the ants, dealing 1.5x Physical Attack damage per second to the target area. With Norlun's 40,000 Attack Power, the base skill damage hit 60,000. Factoring in level suppression, the beast consistently churned out 120,000 damage critical hits—all of it AoE.
But the sheer damage wasn't the saving grace. The real relief came from a mechanical interaction: the allied bosses' crowd control actually worked on the Derpy Mallards.
Norlun’s [Tongue Lash]—which rooted two targets for 3 seconds while dealing damage—managed to hold the duck in place for over two seconds. The ant bosses’ slows and stuns were equally effective. It bought the raid a massive window to dish out damage.
This wave had looked terrifying on paper, but the mobs collapsed 200 yards from the circle—a shorter distance than the previous wave had managed.
The fourth wave added a [Docile Land Duck]. The fifth brought an [Agile Teal]. The sixth introduced a [Skittish Fowl]. With each wave, the mob line pushed twenty to thirty yards closer to the barrier.
Finally, the seventh wave spawned another [Derpy Mallard]. The raid threw everything they had at it, finally killing the last duck just 10 yards from the circle.
A notification chimed.
[System: Congratulations. You have successfully defended against the monster invasion.]
Lila received a private prompt.
[System: Morren has successfully repaired the magic circle. The formation is now (Relatively Stable), but further repairs are possible. Do you wish to continue assisting him? (Warning: The upcoming demonic beasts are extremely powerful. Proceed with caution.)]
"Yes."
Lila didn't hesitate. She had complete faith in Norlun.
The magic circle's golden barrier flared, expanding its radiant domain to a 1,000-yard radius. The guild moved forward, repositioning at the very edge of the light.
The endless waves of ducks had exhausted them. The usual banter died down as the players slumped to the ground to recover their stamina, silently bracing for the next assault.
The countdown hit zero. This time, there were no massive herds of cows, sheep, or waterfowl. Instead, four massive, fifteen-foot-tall demonic hounds lunged into view.
Their base stats weren't absurd. As long as the raid played perfectly, they wouldn't wipe. But one specific stat made everyone grimace.
[Three-Eyed Hound] - Level 40
HP: 250,000,000
Physical Attack: 28,000
Magic Resistance: 28,000
The girls of Crimson Bloom averaged Level 35—a full five levels below the hounds. Just like Kael when he first faced Vorlag the Toad Father, the level suppression would heavily penalize their damage and survivability. If they engaged directly, a single AoE from the boss could wipe out half the raid. Logically, a Level 35 team couldn't hold off four of these hounds.
Yet, instead of panicking, the girls breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Thank God, normal mobs."
"I thought we'd get another horde of ducks with broken aggro."
"Killing ducks is exhausting."
"Let's sit this one out. We'll just cheer on the giant polar bear."
"I keep telling you, it's an anteater, not a bear."
Norlun, the Rock Ant Chieftain, the Fire Ant Chieftain, and the Leafcutter Chieftain alongside the Worker Ant Captain formed four distinct groups. Each group squared off against a respective hound.
The hounds were only Level 40, but they charged the Level 45 allied bosses without an ounce of fear.
-15,478 (Hound Physical Attack)
-58,745 (Hound received Critical Hit)
-21,457 (Hound Magic Attack)
-67,897 (Hound received Magic Critical Hit)
Aside from Lila and Starbloom, the rest of the raid essentially halted their DPS. They did, however, maintain perfect uptime on their healing, buffs, and debuffs.
Norlun and the ant bosses firmly held the upper hand. At first, the girls stayed at the edge of the fight, cheering their summons on and tossing out the occasional damage skill. But as the fight dragged on, boredom set in. They gathered in small clusters on the grass and started gossiping.
The bosses boasted a massive 250 million HP, while Norlun and the ants peaked at around 70,000 to 80,000 DPS. The battle dragged on for over an hour. By the time it ended, the ground was littered with sunflower seeds and peanut shells from the girls snacking and trading secrets.
When the system notification finally chimed, they actually sounded disappointed.
"It's over already?"
Grace and Peppa, who had been sweating bullets micromanaging the allied bosses, practically blew a gasket.
"We've been fighting for our lives on the frontlines!" Grace snapped.
"And you guys were back here shooting the breeze!" Peppa added.
"If you do this again, we're ignoring you," Grace threatened.
"You didn't even invite us to the gossip circle!" Peppa complained.
"Hmph!" they huffed in unison.