A hectic battle was playing out in the open space below the mage tower, with players of every class scattered all over the place. The area near the back was packed with Mages. Some of them even resorted to standing on top of the branches of the trees surrounding the area. With the glow of magic pulsing from their staffs, they sent a steady stream of spells forward.
A group of several dozen Warriors surrounded the withered old Warlock wearing red robes. His beard frayed from anger, and his entire body ignited with a burning, white soul fire.
He still had a fifth of his health bar remaining. Even so, it would still take the players from Victorious Return more than ten minutes to finish him off.
"Unquenchable Fire of Sodom, your devoted believer beckons you to the distant continent of Atlanta! Let your destructive power consume this land in flames! Wretched heretics, enjoy the embrace of death!" the Warlock let out a cruel, maniacal laugh.
The Warlock waved his staff and summoned a torrent of raging flames that poured forth like a waterfall, instantly engulfing over twenty players. The torrent grew into a giant pillar of fire over three meters high. It was as if it came from the depths of hell. Strings of impressive damage values rose up above the heads of the players caught in the spell. Within three seconds, they were all burnt to a crisp.
Disorder spread among the remaining players. The pillar of flame fiercely burned for five seconds before finally dying down, leaving nothing behind but piles of ash.
The area around the Warlock was immediately cleared of all players.
"What powerful magic!" The person in charge, Skinny Dog, drew in a breath of cold air. Without delay, he adjusted the formation and ordered the Warriors on standby to come up.
"Stay alert!"
"Be quick on your feet!"
A dozen Warriors rushed forward to re-engage the Warlock.
The Warlock unleashed wave after wave of spells that bombarded the surrounding area. The Priests frantically cast Heals as a curtain formed by numerous streams of light gently fell from the sky. There were practically several Priests on one Warrior at all times. The health of the Warriors fluctuated violently, causing anyone who saw them to feel extremely tense.
At their current level, Asskickers United couldn't dream of employing a reckless tactic such as this. They simply didn't have that many high-level players to spare. This, too, separated the fledgling guild from an established guild like Victorious Return.
Nie Yan inched over to a tree just outside the battlefield. The closest player to him was a mere two meters away. It was an Arcane Mage, but they didn't notice his presence. If a Thief could get within two meters of a Mage unnoticed during a battle, that Mage was guaranteed death.
"This Warlock's a real pain to deal with. Knife Scar, get your group ready!" Skinny Dog shouted at the players to the east. Even at such low health, the Warlock still attacked with terrifying ferocity. Skinny dog would have to use that tactic.
"Boss, we're ready!" A tall, robust fellow with a scar across his face yelled back.
Nie Yan looked on, bewildered. Just what were they planning to do?
"All Warriors in the center, retreat!" shouted Skinny Dog.
The Warriors tangling with the Warlock hastily disengaged, while Knife Scar's group each unfurled a scroll. Myriad rays of brilliant light blossomed outward.
Crippling Curse!
Darkness Curse!
Freeze Magic!
....
There were over a dozen scrolls, all of which were Intermediate rank. Seeing so many used one right after another was like watching money being flushed down the toilet. Even Nie Yan felt a pang in his heart as he watched this scene unfold.
Victorious Return was rich and imperious. They didn't care about the cost. As long as they could kill this Lord-class monster, expending these scrolls was well worth it.
While Knife Scar and his group were wantonly using scrolls on the Warlock, the Mages in the rear all began casting their most powerful spells.
Meanwhile, a familiar figure entered Nie Yan's vision. It was a Mage that had met death at his hands, Tangerine! She was chanting her spells in a low tone as magical energy rapidly converged at her position. Even after chanting a full set of incantation syllables, she still hadn't completed casting.
For it to take so long to cast, it had to be a very powerful spell.
An onslaught of debuffs pummeled the Warlock. His stats were in shambles, and he was bound by the spells from the Intermediate Scrolls.
All of a sudden, the attackers withdrew. Every single Warrior and Mage backed away from the Warlock, leaving the area surrounding him clear.
Not a moment later, the magical energy in the sky rapidly combined and surged forth.
Layer upon layer of falling ice chunks struck the Warlock and the ground around him.「Bang! Bang! Bang!」Each chunk left a layer of frost after shattering, causing the temperature to plummet. The Warlock himself was encased in a thick block of ice.
Elemental Hall Ice Magic, Frost Hail!
As soon as Frost Hail ended, wave after wave of deep violet fireballs came crashing down. This blazing storm relentlessly struck the Warlock, devastating him and everything around him.
Obscurus Magic, Firestorm!
Immediately after that was a round of Elemental Hall Fire Magic.
These three Mages, capable of casting Elemental Hall Magic or Obscurus Magic, were one of Victorious Return's hidden cards. Each one had passed through harsh trials in order to learn such magic. They were rewarded with these massive spells that could ravage any battlefield, and were especially deadly during a guild battle. Unfortunately for Nie Yan, Asskickers United didn't even have one such mage.
This battle served as a powerful reminder. Asskickers United still had a lot of work to do before it could catch up to Victorious Return.
Under the barrage of destructive magic, the Warlock's health rapidly fell.
17%, 13%, 9%...
Surrounded by raging flames, the Warlock let out a mournful howl. Just as his health was about to hit zero, his body suddenly began morphing irregularly He rapidly grew in size. When his transformation ended, he was a five-meter tall Savage Bear. Covered in crimson fur, he resembled a giant primordial beast of the past. The bear's health began to shoot upwards.
"It's transformation magic! Everyone, be careful!" Tangerine nervously shouted. She activated Arcane Reset, allowing her to unleash a deluge of spells at the Savage Bear.
The Savage Bear got up on its hind legs and sent a Warrior flying with a swipe of its paws.
Warriors rushed forward, brandishing their swords, and hacked at the Savage Bear.「Clang! Clang! Clang!」But each and every attack registered as a miss, despite landing square on the giant bear's body.
"It's immune to physical attacks! Warriors, retreat!" Skinny Dog immediately shouted after discovering his own dagger had no effect on the Savage Bear.
"His movements are slow! Everyone, create some distance!"
The Warriors surrounding the Savage Bear promptly disengaged.The Mages also made a quick retreat, while still casting spells and dealing damage as they ran. The Savage Bear incessantly roared, but it was too slow, only gradually moving towards the trees.
「Bang! Bang! Bang!」
The Mages kept falling back while releasing spell after spell. All manner of energy flew at the bear, causing sparks to fly everywhere.
A string of damage values floated up above the Savage Bear's head. Although they were only dealing small amounts of damage, Victorious Return had many Mages. The accumulated damage from several hundred Mages had a major impact on the bear's health bar.
The battle was gradually shifting backwards. It now happened that the crowd of retreating Mages were moving in Nie Yan's direction.
Some of them even passed right by Nie Yan. But their attention was completely focused on the Savage Bear, so they didn't notice him hiding behind a tree.
The surroundings were filled with Victorious Return players. Nie Yan's situation seemed to be extremely dangerous, but actually, he was quite safe. On top of his stealth, he had also worn a black garb that concealed his appearance. Despite there being so many people, such chaotic circumstances ensured that a vast majority of them wouldn't be able to notice him.
It never even crossed their minds that there was a non-guild member amidst them! With so many Victorious Return players patrolling all around the place, how could someone possibly sneak past them! Besides, even if someone did sneak in, with so many Victorious Return players surrounding them, weren't they simply courting death?
"It's almost dead! Everyone, give it your all!" Skinny Dog excitedly yelled.
Tangerine stopped attacking to drink a Mana Potion before continuing to fire a torrent of spells at the Savage Bear.
"I'm out of mana!"
"I'm out too!"
Even after drinking Mana Potions, so many were still low on mana. They hastily disengaged from the battle and drank Spring Water to replenish their mana.
The Savage Bear's health fell to two percent. It waved its arms furiously, and with a single swat of its paws it snapped a large tree in half, one that would take three full grown men to wrap their arms around. The half went flying, crushing six players to death when it landed.
Although they suffered disastrous casualties, the Victorious Return players didn't stop fighting.
A crowd of Warriors attempted to approach the Savage Bear. Although their attacks had no effect, they could act as a human wall, blocking the bear's attacks. But soon after, the Savage Bear's powerful swipes sent a few of them crashing into trees. They instantly died, and the rest ran away with their tails tucked between their legs.
Nie Yan closely followed from a safe distance. He was only about five meters away from the Savage Bear. While hidden behind a tree, not a single player could notice him!
His excellent camouflage abilities allowed him to completely blend in with the tree bark.
Skinny Dog, Tangerine, and the rest would never imagine that Nie Yan was right by their sides, so close that he was practically breathing down their necks.
Only Tangerine felt that something was off, as if something or someone was close by. But she automatically assumed that the sense of danger was coming from the Savage Bear.
They were all focused on this intense battle with the Savage Bear. Who'd have the time to think of other things in such a situation!?
A final wave of ferocious spells struck the Savage Bear. It let out an anguished roar before falling heavily to the ground. Its body rapidly shrunk and turned back to the form of the Warlock.
"It's finally dead. How many did we lose?" Skinny Dog asked. In the final phase of the battle, many comrades died in quick succession. He felt quite regretful.
"Didn't count, I'd say at least thirty or forty!" said Tangerine as she gazed at the corpses strewn across the battlefield. Prior to the Warlock's transformation, they had lost about twenty or so players. Adding that to the people who died afterwards, then the death count definitely exceeded thirty.
With the battle over, players slowly came out of their respective hiding spots.
The place was a complete mess. Several players ran over to collect the equipment.
Nie Yan activated Shadow Waltz and dashed over to the Warlock's corpse. He was clearly faster than the Victorious Return players. He set his sights on the Warlock's corpse. Beside it were some tantalizing pieces of sparkling equipment!