I am the Holy Poisoner, the Empress advised me to calm down

The air suddenly became quiet, and all the members exchanged glances, forcing themselves to suppress the doubts and anxieties deep within their hearts. Right now, there was truly no other choice; only by grasping at this last shred of hope could they escape this desperate situation.

Just as the monster entered the field of vision and almost everyone tensed up to prepare for a new round of attack, the man suddenly raised his staff and shouted, "All firepower covers the designated area! Activate core skills in three seconds! Don't stop!"

As soon as these words came out, the surrounding players responded in unison: "Got it!"

Boom!

Fire, ice, wind blades, electricity, and other elemental attacks erupted simultaneously, sweeping densely toward the enemy. Just before the attacks were to impact, the man swung his arm, creating a golden barrier that blocked the enemy's path, shielding them from any incoming damage. Instantly, the air was filled with dazzling light, and a piercing roar echoed throughout the space.

A moment later, when the smoke cleared, the dark shadow that had once covered the entire world actually began to show obvious cracks! Countless tiny cracks were spreading, as if its defense system was on the verge of collapse.

The crowd went wild!

"Oh my god, this is such a cheating performance! The new reinforcements actually have such a powerful move!" A passerby wailed in the background, covering his face. "I was just about to quit and go see a movie, but now I've completely changed my mind, hahahaha..."

Another person was so excited that he was incoherent: "This is a truly amazing development! Who would have thought that the previous twists and turns were just foreshadowing! It's so cool! Plot fans can always trust this kind of classic plot with twists and turns!"

Zhao Li wiped the sweat from her forehead and breathed a sigh of relief: "Finally, we succeeded in causing critical damage... What should we do next?" She looked at the man with a hint of vigilance.

However, the man's answer still piqued people's interest: "The next step is to eliminate the roots...but it will require someone to pay a special price."

Qin Yifei frowned when he heard this: "What do you mean? Do you want us to sacrifice someone?" His question aroused the vigilance of others.

The man didn't respond directly. Instead, he turned his head and looked in a certain direction, saying meaningfully, "The answer may not be far away. It's just up to you to judge for yourself."

Just as everyone was perplexed, a crimson beam suddenly appeared in the sky, shooting straight towards a corner of the ground. There, stood a young man, fighting alone to exhaustion—he was Player A, a temporary addition to the team!

"Oh no!" the girl with the bun suddenly cried out, "So the real breakthrough condition is sacrificing a non-core player... This is too much! Even though it's for the sake of clearing the level, this is so unfair~!"

The bespectacled classmate next to him shook his head and muttered, "Ah, a typical tragic hero setting, sacrificing one person to save the entire team... But why choose him? This plot is too heavy..."

The fat man also showed a rare look of worry: "Speaking of which, do you think that boy knew he was going to die soon? If I were designed to be a cannon fodder, I would definitely be crying and making a fuss... hehe."

However, before all the speculation and complaints had subsided, an unexpected situation occurred!

Player A, who had been thought to have lost the ability to resist, suddenly staggered up, his eyes crimson, and an indescribable powerful energy surged throughout his body...

The crowd was boiling again!

"Oh my god? This guy's hidden attribute has been triggered!!!" A passerby exclaimed in ecstasy, "This is the biggest foreshadowing, hahahahahahahahaha - it turns out that every NPC has potential waiting to be tapped, right, guys?!"

But Zhao Li and the team members' expressions changed slightly, because she vaguely heard A whisper a name that made people's backs shiver...

——[Void Devourer]!

The next second, the world suddenly fell into dead silence, with only the man's hoarse voice breaking the balance: "Interesting... Has the plan really gone off track..."

The fat man pointed tremblingly into the distance and stuttered, "Boss... Boss, what are you talking about? How did that guy get associated with the villain's name... Are we going to be finished this time?"

No one answered, because even the new reinforcements showed a rare solemn expression.

So the young boy timidly pulled his companion over and asked, "Hey, hey, hey, you understand the rules, so tell me what's going on in this situation? I'm feeling terrible right now..."

Before the other party could answer, another sentence slowly floated down from the air:

"Don't worry... the game isn't really over yet... it's just that the second phase has officially begun."

"Phase II?!" The fat man's eyes suddenly widened, his throat seemed to be stuck, and his voice became hoarse. "Damn it! Wasn't that battle just now enough to make us suffer? What do you mean by 'Phase II'? Can it be any more perverted?!"

Before he finished speaking, the passers-by around him started to explode.

A little girl with twin pigtails hugged her companion in panic. "Wow—isn't this already terrifying? Is there anything more ferocious than this giant monster? God, please take me away! I can't bear this emotional blow anymore!"

The uncle standing nearby sneered and waved his weapon vigorously. "Stop rambling, little girl! This is the highlight moment that online novel protagonists should experience! One wave after another, that's the fun! If it was resolved in a dull way, then there's no point in paying to follow it, right?"

"That's right!" another passerby shouted, gathering his gear for battle. "Did you see that? Player A's eyes aren't even human. They're like possessed by an evil spirit. I have a feeling there's going to be some seriously exciting fights coming up, maybe even a clichéd redemption ending... Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, the writers are really going off the rails this time."

However, as the crowd chattered, Qin Yifei's expression grew more complex as he stared at Player A. Puzzlement and uneasiness filled his brows, and he couldn't help but turn to the man and question him, "You knew all this was going to happen, right? If so, why did you wait until now to discover this trap? If we'd stopped it a step later, wouldn't everyone be doomed?"

The man looked at him expressionlessly and replied, "Plans always come with uncertainty, but that's precisely what makes them so appealing, isn't it? A story without surprises is ultimately just a stagnant pool of water."

"Huh?" Du Fan rolled his eyes, not believing him at all. "Stop giving us chicken soup, okay? You're a new recruit, sure, but you look like the mastermind behind all this, right? How else can you explain your 'everything is under control' look?"