The Occult Summoning Array would take a long time to complete. Summoning the Molelord would also require a lot of time. In preparation for that, Yao Yao and another Great Mage worked together to construct a barrier to conceal their presence from the outside world and protect against attacks.
With the perimeter secured, they could begin.
In the meantime, the 1,000 players in the main group had organized into their respective ranks and hid themselves in another region of the mountain. They weren't allowed to approach the Occult Summoning Array, so they had no idea what the players on Nie Yan's side were doing.
For the sake of preventing information from leaking out, Nie Yan had no choice but to take such drastic measures.
As a Level 100 monster with 2,000,000 health, the Molelord was an unstoppable behemoth. The only thing capable of posing a threat to it on the enemy's side were the three Armoured Catapults. That was why, before the Molelord was summoned, they had to be destroyed at all costs!
Without anything capable of threatening its existence, the Molelord could rampage freely on the battlefield!
Under the bombardment of the Armoured Catapults, the outer walls of the Cripps Strongholds were already starting to show cracks. The players stationed nearby also took heavy losses. The situation was chaotic, with loud explosions constantly rocking the walls.
The higher-ups of Bloodlust Blades, Alliance of Mages, Divine Protectors, and Angel Corps were observing the siege from atop a hill some distance away. Even they couldn't help but feel their hearts tremble at the destructive power of the Armoured Catapults.
"Why has there still been no movement from Asskickers United's side?" Mad Blade frowned.
"Relax, they're probably just turtling since they don't have a good way to deal with our Armoured Catapults. No matter how many players they send out, we'll slaughter them like livestock!" a tall youth declared with a confident smile. He looked to be in his twenties and had an air of grace and aloofness about him. He wore leather armour covered in elven totemic runes which shimmered with an azure glow and carried a two-meter longbow on his back. Surrounded by a fiery aura, one could even see a flaming bird dancing along the shaft and string.
It was the Ichabod Ocean Star Set and the Palente Phoenix Longbow, both of which were Sub Legendary-grade!
This sort of equipment didn't lose out to Nie Yan's in any way! But while he focused on quality and raw stats, Nie Yan focused on more special items.
He was the guild leader of Angel Corps-the Elven Demon Hunter, Soaring Angel!
Some of the people here were evidently Soaring Angel's confidantes. Angel Corps was without a doubt the most powerful guild in the Satreen Empire. They had far more influence than Bloodlust Blades, Divine Protectors, and Alliance of Mages combined.
Thanks to the backing of Cao Xu's Century Financial Group and two other hedge fund firms, Angel Corps was provided the best environment to grow. Situated in King City, there wasn't a single enemy capable of posing a threat to them, to the extent they had become an unstoppable leviathan in the entire Satreen Empire. Constantly waging wars in other cities in a bid to expand their own domain and sweeping away everything in their path, they already controlled a total of 17 strongholds.
Even though Angel Corps was based far away in the Satreen Empire, their influence could even be felt here in the Viridian Empire. Add in Soaring Angel's background on top of that, and Mad Blade along with the guild leaders of Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors could only blindly follow.
Despite most of the players on the battlefield belonging to Bloodlust Blades, Soaring Angel was actually the person calling the shots.
"We just received word from our intelligence that Nirvana Flame along with a large group of elites are setting up an ambush for us in the mountain forest to the north," Mad Blade said after checking his chat.
"Send people to watch them and report all of their movements," Soaring Angel calmly ordered. With 500 elites from Angel Corps, and the elites from Bloodlust Blades, Divine Protectors, and Alliance of Mages, he felt they had the power to look down on any guild. Although Asskickers United also had a large number of elites, they simply weren't on the same level as Angel Corps.
The development of Asskickers United and Angel Corps were different. Asskickers United had grown from weak to strong, from nothing to something, slowly climbing up bit by bit. Since they were established, there had never been a time they weren't at war. Many times they were even pushed to the brink of collapse. Their journey was full of hardship. On the other hand, Angel Corps had a smooth ride, rapidly growing in strength and never lacking in gold. Their top ranked players were much higher level than Asskickers United's, and they had many more class advanced players too.
Asskickers United was only so-so in Soaring Angel's eyes. He couldn't imagine for the life of him how Bloodlust Blades ended up in such a sorry state.
"Have the Armoured Catapults aim at 3 o'clock!" Soaring Angel said to Mad Blade after observing the situation on the battlefield.
The three Armoured Catapults slowly rotated, taking aim at an area inside the Cripps Stronghold with many watchtowers concentrated together. He could tell at a glance this was a weak point.
The three Armoured Catapults resumed their bombardment. The thick and solid beam at the center suddenly sprung up, launching red-hot explosive shells at the Cripps Stronghold.
More than a dozen metal shells bombarded the targeted area, collapsing one of the watchtowers instantly.
Guo Huai was anxiously giving out commands from the highest point on the wall. Thousands of players charged out of the stronghold gates toward Bloodlust Blades' forces on the plains.
Swords clashed and magic flew through the air, like this the skirmish ended.
During a guild war, the players participating couldn't be revived. If someone died, they couldn't contribute for the remainder of the battle. So, Guo Huai was afraid of losing too many players.
Asskickers United's forces had tried several times to destroy the three Armoured Catapults, but they were repelled every time. Especially when they got too close, the traps set up on the ground would show their worth as blasts of lightning energy sent countless Asskickers United players to their deaths.
The stalemate continued.
Asskickers United had a certain advantage since they were on the defending side. Under ordinary circumstances, they would be fine just turtling it out. But due to the unrivalled destructive power of the Armoured Catapults, they were forced to leave the safety of the stronghold and charge straight at the enemy's forces.
The players guarding the Armoured Catapults were all powerful elites. They didn't lose in the slightest to the top elites from Asskickers United.
The events on the battlefield were all reported to Nie Yan.
「What's the progress on the Goblin Magic Cannon. Is it finished?」
「Not yet. We're barely holding on. If this continues, the walls will collapse long before we can get the Goblin Magic Cannon out!」Guo Huai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He could truly feel the might of the Armoured Catapults, especially when the explosions from the falling shells shook the walls violently like an earthquake.
Under the concentrated bombardment, the weak defenses of the watchtowers simply couldn't hold up. They collapsed one after another into piles of rubble.
Time! They needed to buy more time!
Nie Yan thought for a moment. Looks like it's time to really fight back, or else they'll start thinking Asskickers United is really easy to bully!
A Junior Group Teleport Scroll could teleport up to 30 people. Nie Yan picked out 30 people among the elites. Since the Great Mages were preoccupied with summoning the Molelord, he could only take his pick from the Warriors, Thieves, Priests, and Paladins.
The 30 people were divided into two ranks.
Nie Yan looked at the line-up.
For the Warriors, there was Bladelight, Smoke Stub, Lofty Shadow, Yi Yan, Monochrome, Edgeless, Natural Fiend, Forthright...
For the Priests, there was Young Seven, Black Heaven, Painted Muslin, and Moon Child.
For the Paladins, there was Paladin of the Elegy, Taotie, Blue Yarn Thread...
For the Thieves, there was Sun, One Strike Vow, Hapless Frog, Tyrannical...
There were 30 players total, most of whom were Warriors, some Paladins and Thieves, and only four Priests. However, it would do.
Nie Yan gazed at the group. These 30 players were the strongest in Asskickers United. They possessed some of the best equipment currently available in the game. And many of them, Nie Yan personally knew.
"I'll go first. You guys will teleport to my coordinates. Wait for my word," Nie Yan said. Although this group of players weren't powerful enough to deal a fatal blow to Bloodlust Blades, they could at least give them a huge headache.
"It's only just begun. Let's go for a couple of rounds with Bloodlust Blades, and see who comes out on top in the end!"
Monochrome, Edgeless, Forthright, and the others all grew excited once they heard Nie Yan was planning to take action. The flames of war were raging. They had already waited for so long.
"You should choose a spot with plenty of people!" Bladelight chuckled. He was one of Nie Yan's closest confidantes. Even though this operation was dangerous, he remained calm. This was only the start of the battle. There was also the climax to look forward to as well.
"Yeah! The more, the better! We'll slaughter all of them!" Tyrannical chimed in.
"Have all of you got your Unknown Transfer Scrolls? Each person should have at least one. Those who don't, you can get one from me now," Nie Yan said. They were going to ambush Bloodlust Blades' forces together. This was an incredibly dangerous task. But given the skill of these players, as long as they had Unknown Transfer Scrolls, they could at least preserve their lives.
"Everyone has one."
"We need to watch out for the Shackles of Strife from Shadow Priests. We can't escape if we're caught," Hapless Frog reminded. After slowly assimilating into Asskickers United, he had also climbed up to become a core elite. Aside from always searching for treasure chests, he had also greatly improved his skills. With so many top ranked players in the guild, he benefited greatly from them sharing their knowledge and experience.
"I'll be leaving first, wait for my word," Nie Yan said again. He entered stealth, then dashed off toward the battlefield outside the Cripps Stronghold.