Just as Fang Senyan was the first to charge forward and became the target of a thousand fingers pointing, Reef violently burst forth at this very moment, drawing the vast majority of the incoming fire. However, the pressure Reef endured was likely somewhat less severe than what Fang Senyan had shouldered previously, because the mixed unit, at that time, could fire leisurely from hundreds of meters away, unconcerned about the prey's counterattack, able to reload and aim methodically.

Now, Reef was being focused upon, and the attackers mostly suffered from soul-tearing negative statuses; more critically, Reef had already closed the distance to them! Unless one was a marksman with supremely strong mental fortitude, the mindset when firing at an enemy two hundred meters away versus firing at one two meters away would undoubtedly fluctuate significantly, consequently affecting shooting precision and power.

Even so, Reef’s health points were relentlessly declining. Although the rate of decrease was exceedingly slow, it was precisely this downward trend that instilled even greater dread in the opposing force! More importantly, Reef's current positioning differed from Fang Senyan's earlier stance. Fang Senyan could only silently absorb the enemy's assault, whereas Reef now possessed the privilege of striking back!

A blinding flash of light erupted from his shield, sweeping outward like a supernova explosion, surging in and then retreating; that dazzling luminescence nearly monopolized the vision of everyone nearby in an instant! A string of horrific screams immediately followed, men and horses tumbling in chaos!

This was the innate ability of Reef's Dark Gold Shield: Blinding Radiance, instantly projecting dense Sun Crystals outward from around the shield, inflicting astonishing area damage within a ten-meter radius of the holder. This damage dealt fire damage equal to ten times the holder's Stamina to enemies and blinded the holder for ten seconds (the blinding effect vanished upon being attacked).

For Reef at this moment, the damage was secondary; the ten seconds of blindness was the crucial factor. With this ten-second window of respite, the frequency of attacks against him would drop by at least half, and ten seconds later, his teammates should have arrived, not to mention reinforcements from the Blue Light Team and the Maritime Alliance?

Onlookers were struck dumb by the spectacle. They had never imagined that the coordination between two main tanks (MTs) could achieve such a tremendous synergistic effect! Charging headlong into the fray, carving open the enemy's heartland, throwing the entire enemy formation into utter disarray!

The combination of Fang Senyan and Reef provided the others with a severe lesson: while a battle might proceed without an MT, any side confronting another that possesses an MT would be at an absolute disadvantage! (This was quite true; anyone who has played DOTA or League of Legends would understand that in equally matched teams, the side lacking a frontline tank suffers significantly.)

Once Reef pulled Fang Senyan to his side with Divine Grasp, Fang Senyan unceremoniously hurled Curse Potions everywhere. Patches of sickly green fog began to emanate throughout the mixed unit, enveloping most of their area. The pressure on the two men, instead of increasing, actually lessened, because the entire mixed unit had clearly sensed that things were going gravely wrong; the wolf-like, tiger-like Dark Contractors surrounding them were now baring their vicious fangs and closing in madly!

At this moment, Fang Senyan suddenly felt a strong magical fluctuation emanating from a certain location. He couldn't help but turn his head and saw, amidst the utterly chaotic battlefield, a colossal phantom of a monstrous butterfly slowly rising.

The Butterfly Effect had taken hold!

MCDH’s beloved, ROSE, was a rather rare support mage, specializing in nature-based spells. Though her damage output was low—besides casting Foxfire, she only had Magic Fang—her attack power was only moderate. However, her greatest strength lay in support.

Whether it was Bear’s Endurance or Bull’s Strength (granting +4 Strength to the recipient), or Cat’s Grace (granting +4 Agility to the recipient), all were highly welcomed by teammates. With her in the team, her first priority was naturally to protect her beloved. To safeguard MCDH, she had to either directly look after his safety or eliminate any factor that might pose a threat to him.

ROSE had already spotted an enemy: a woman who had maneuvered close to MCDH, her red cloak billowing like a fiercely burning flame—it was LiLiSi.

The Phoenix Feather worn on her head was already grasped in her hand, and where she passed, flames surged, seemingly poised to ravage the earth! Although LiLiSi was already held in check by two other contractors, she still possessed enough reserve strength to be effective, evident by the fire serpent flicking its tongue behind her, ready to devour someone.

More crucially, the Kurut Fruit was already a focal point on the battlefield. MCDH's earth-shattering shot earlier had left its fate unknown, meaning MCDH had undoubtedly become a universal target. Thus, ROSE keenly sensed that LiLiSi was allocating, at most, five parts of her focus to the two contractors in front of her, with the majority of her remaining energy concentrated squarely on MCDH.

That, naturally, was ill-intentioned!

Not only that, but ROSE also sensed a mass of dense, almost tangible darkness rapidly approaching nearby—a darkness cold and merciless, imbued with an imperial majesty, focusing all its killing intent directly upon MCDH!!

The person she sensed was none other than Zi.

San Zai usually called Zi "Sister-in-Law" intentionally or unintentionally, and while Zi outwardly feigned annoyance, she inwardly quite relished it. Now that San Zai's strength was severely compromised, she certainly had to step forward to seek justice!

Therefore, ROSE was acutely aware of the perilous situation. Without hesitation, ROSE unleashed her most powerful spell: Magic Fang.

This spell involved tempering the teeth of powerful creatures with natural energy and then shooting them out to harm enemies. The principle was simple, but the damage inflicted by this spell had a peculiar dependency on two factors: first, the velocity at which the magic fang flew, and second, the material composition of the fang.

The velocity was determined by the spell's Level, but the material could be chosen. Theoretically, this meant that even at LV1, the spell could deliver the astonishing effect of a LVMAX cast—provided the beast teeth used as material were sufficiently high-quality—which was the fundamental reason ROSE chose this spell.

So, to save her beloved's life, she now deployed a fang she had cherished for a long time: a tooth from a Red Dragon, which had been steeped in a mixture of badger oil and lizard blood. When retrieved, it shone with a faint, ghastly reddish glow.

ROSE then began chanting the spell with unprecedented focus. The only drawback of Magic Fang was the inability to lock onto a target; like shooting a gun, if the target moves away when the trigger is pulled, the shot will certainly miss. Thus, the timing of the release was vital. However, ROSE chose LiLiSi as the target because she knew the abilities of LiLiSi's two current opponents—they specialized in slowing and stunning, and should quickly create the perfect opportunity for her!

The Red Dragon tooth shot out instantly, trails of flame igniting along its trajectory—the effect was astonishing! Perhaps the only regret was that LiLiSi specialized in fire control, and the Red Dragon tooth, being an attack of the fire attribute, might have its damage efficacy slightly diminished. However, this was only a possibility; there was no reason for expertise to guarantee immunity, right? One never saw a sharpshooter take less damage when hit by a bullet!

LiLiSi failed to evade ROSE's calculation. A flash of red light, and she instantly staggered backward, vomiting blood, immediately followed by a violent explosion! But precisely at the moment of the explosion, a Fireball spell LiLiSi was chanting managed to release, its trajectory slightly disrupted by the Red Dragon tooth, causing it to deviate sharply from its intended area.

Fireball was an area-of-effect spell, plainly put, similar to throwing a canister of napalm onto a spot. The flames in that area roared up furiously!

Since LiLiSi’s Fireball was disrupted, it missed its mark widely, and the area where the spell took effect was a patch of ground churned into a mess. But as the blaze descended, a fiery, humanoid shape appeared in that clearing.

As this figure made of flame materialized, MCDH, who had been guarded closely, gradually vanished into thin air. This unexpected development stunned everyone. In truth, it wasn't a huge deal: MCDH possessed a potent escape technique, allowing him to leave an illusion at his original spot that even his allies couldn't detect, while his true body slipped away unnoticed.

Had ROSE not been intent on saving MCDH, she would not have unleashed her most powerful Magic Fang. Had she not launched Magic Fang, LiLiSi's Fireball would not have missed. Had LiLiSi's Fireball not missed, MCDH would have escaped successfully.

Alas, the powerful Butterfly Effect, in this instant, acted with the cold ruthlessness of fate, exposing his technique—and through the hands of MCDH’s most beloved woman!!! How heartless! How cruel!

Simultaneously, Aziz's sharp, eagle-like pale yellow pupils instantly locked onto the figure of MCDH enveloped in flames, and he coolly pulled the trigger. (To be continued)