Players were equivalent to immortals in the Divine World because even without anyone casting revive on them. They would still respawn in a nearby town or city after a certain time.
As for the penalty, it was just some debuff and loss of experience points. It wasn't a big deal as opposed to NPCs.
The NPCs were often labeled as native, given that they were born in the Divine World.
Revival also worked differently on them. Some NPCs were eligible to be revived, while some weren't.
Additionally, they would never be respawned if no one cast a revive spell on them. And once a certain set time had passed, the NPCs would cease to exist forever.
In other words, the NPC had received their true death when that occurred.
And precisely so that these NPCs would never dare to slack off in a real battle. Their meaning of death was different from the player's meaning of death after all.
"I've already instructed the Guard Captain to kill anyone who dared to pass a certain line when the monster wave arrived." Xu Feng calmly said. Aside from that, he also prepared many things to demolish any players who had nefarious intent.
"Should we have deployed more members in the guild to come over here then?" Zhao Kai asked. He had been informed beforehand by Xu Feng why most of the cities had fallen so quickly.
It was because of players who had chosen the Dark Side and purposely destroyed the city's core. The core that provided the necessary supply of the defensive formation and structure to defend against enemies.
Therefore, Xu Feng made sure to inform the NPC and remind the Guard Captain to remain inside the core's location using his Baron status.
His Baron status was under the Aetheria Empire, so if he made some formal request, it would be enough to influence Dawnshire City as well. That was the difference between his noble status as opposed to these players who held a city's noble status.
"There's no need to deploy more." Xu Feng answered. The truth, however, was that there was not enough manpower within the guild itself. The worthy ones were all deployed already, leaving only the numerous Junior Members and Recruits Rank members.
"Then I guess I have to take on another Colossus alone, right?" Zhao Kai pursed his lips. Although he had accomplished the feat once, to do it again was another difficulty.
"Of course, but you should learn to control your micro and macro movement more." Xu Feng said. "This time, I'll be tackling one Colossus myself, so I won't be able to provide you ample support. If you aren't confident, then run to your eldest sister and ask for a healer to support you."
Zhao Kai remained silent when he heard that he wouldn't receive support from him secretly.
To be fair, he did anticipate that this battle was going to be a true solo. Back at Evershade City, no one knew about the Vanguard Guild being involved, so there wasn't much scrutiny.
However, the players at Dawnshire City had long been informed that the Vanguard Guild was taking the lead.
Without a doubt, there would be tons of attention placed on them. In other words, Xu Feng couldn't possibly have tried to support Zhao Kai and claimed it as a solo without being exposed.
"What? Are you not confident despite having experienced what it's like before?" Xu Feng chuckled when he noticed his silence.
Almost immediately, Zhao Kai snapped out of his daze and snorted. "Hmph, if you're going to solo one without any previous experience, then why would I be unconfident?"
"Good, then let's see how fast we each dealt with the Colossus as a challenge. Loser must pay for dinner later." He suggested.
Naturally, Zhao Kai was not one to back down from a challenge. This was especially so when he was against a healer.
'Heh, you are indeed a great healer, but how could you possibly have enough DPS?' Zhao Kai sneered inwardly. Sure, he was a Gun Knight, but with his Hidden Class, he was no longer just a tank.
He was a bona fide Tank Dealer.
A tank who was not only durable and full of defense, but also someone who could output damage equivalent to a damage dealer class.
For this battle, Zhao Kai shall make Xu Feng regret ever suggesting a challenge and stuff his arrogant grin away.
Time quickly went by since the arrangement was made, and the looming monster wave finally revealed itself in the vicinity.
"Didn't the intel report that there were only 3 Colossuses?" Herald Fist's eyes widened in shock when there were 2 additional Colossuses.
"Just what was the intel doing?" He screamed in anger.
It wasn't just Herald Fist losing his cool, even Gentle Wind, Dango Tiger, and Night Coin were fuming at the failure of their respective intel department.
"How come I didn't receive any news?" Dango Tiger hurriedly went to his message and demanded an explanation from those responsible.
"I swear they're going to get an earful from me." Night Coin chimed in and swore to make them pay for slacking off at critical times.
However, it was at this moment that they noticed the online status of the players turned gray, followed by a change of status offline.
Startled and astonished by the change, the three players glanced at each other. It was evident that they all witnessed the same thing.
"Your people also went offline?" Herald Fist was baffled by the situation and asked.
Both Night Coin and Dango Tiger nodded slowly in response, clearly unable to comprehend the situation.
As they turned their gaze to the person who remained silent the entire time, Gentle Wind. They were all bewildered that her complexion turned ugly.
"The last message received was 10 minutes ago." Gentle Wind sighed and responded honestly.
"I've been trying to contact them since then, but there was no response. I thought something was amiss, but their health bar still showed zero change." She continued.
To ensure she wouldn't miss out on anything, the intel players she sent partied with her. That way, she could constantly check on them.
Yet the result was that they were all green in health. But in the blink of an eye, all members suddenly went offline simultaneously.