Asskickers United had many high level players. This was a well known fact. Not to mention the butterfly effect produced from having so many top experts gathered together wasn't as simple as adding one plus one. There was a saying that went, "Even a world-class athlete can't do anything about an awful teammate." A team was only as strong as its weakest link. Often times, the members who weren't skilled enough would end up dragging the rest down. However, Asskickers United didn't have that problem. More than half of all the top talents and experts in the Viridian Empire had been recruited by Nie Yan. The strength of their main team was far beyond players' imaginations. A line-up like this had unlimited growth potential. So, they had long since pulled far ahead of the competition.
Even though Angel Corps was an enormous leviathan capable of sweeping through the entire Satreen Empire, their peak players were far too lacking compared to Asskickers United's. Furthermore, after seeing how powerful flying mounts were, Soaring Angel had poured all his efforts into acquiring them. Only after seeing Master Class players emerge from Asskickers United did he realize his mistake. It turned out that the most powerful assets weren't flying mounts but rather Master Class players. So, he could only start turning course now. After all, even a wealth of riches couldn't buy foresight.
The Monet Financial Group was the same. Even though they had amassed enormous power, bringing God Executioner Sword, Penumbra Empire, Divine Protectors, and dozens of other guilds together, they still hadn't produced a single Master Class player. They were destined to fall behind Asskickers United in this respect.
Nie Yan was blessed with foresight. For Asskickers United to have taken the lead under his leadership was no coincidence.
Qin Han was harassed endlessly by Nie Yan's group of 33. His skeleton army received attacks from all sides and suffered heavy losses. With them popping in and out erratically in different locations, a single bone dragon wasn't enough to keep them in check. Even though his forces were still rapidly expanding, their growth had been hindered quite a bit.
Located within the Shadow Forest was an enormous clearing. There were few monsters in the vicinity. So, not many players came here.
Qin Han and Matchless Divine Sword appeared on the outskirts of the clearing.
"Boss, are you really sure about this? I'm worried the Monet Financial Group will be implicated," Matchless Divine Sword voiced his concern. He couldn't help but feel apprehensive and fearful of the plan Qin Han was about to enact. If Qin Han failed, God Executioner Sword would be done for. The Monet Financial Group had nothing to lose. If they lost, they could simply withdraw from Conviction. On the other hand, Matchless Divine Sword would be lucky to receive a bit of compensation after the guild he had painstakingly built up was destroyed.
Matchless Divine Sword thought for a moment. The Monet Financial Group had acquired God Executioner Sword anyway, and he had personally received a lot of benefits. If Qin Han wanted to destroy his guild, there was nothing he could do to stop him.
"The victor is king, and the loser is a villain. If my plan succeeds, who in the entire Viridian Empire would dare to touch our Monet Financial Group? If it fails, we can simply withdraw from Conviction. Then what can they do to us?" Qin Han patted Matchless Divine Sword on the shoulders. "Don't worry. I don't mistreat my own."
Matchless Divine Sword nodded with an ingratiating smile on the surface, but inwardly cursed his heart. Qin Han had a hypocritical personality. He was allowed to turn his back on others, but others weren't allowed to turn their backs on him. Right now, since he had a use for Matchless Divine Sword, he naturally behaved amiably. Later on, when Matchless Divine Sword was no longer useful, Qin Han wouldn't hesitate to toss him aside like a wet rag. So, Matchless Divine Sword resolved himself to fish up as many benefits while he still could. While Qin Han wasn't paying attention, he would carefully siphon away the guild's funds to his own personal bank account. Quite a few people in the Monet Financial Group's alliance shared similar mindsets.
Qin Han was so focused on frantically raising his strength, he had neglected the dangers brewing in his own camp.
They patiently waited. About 15 minutes later, more than 20,000 players from Crimson Moon arrived on the scene. They organized themselves into an orderly formation.
"Evil Dancer reporting in, everyone is here and accounted for."
Evil Dancer was a Mage in black robes. He looked around and said, "Everyone, wait here. Others will be arriving soon."
Before long, another 20,000 players arrived in the clearing. They were from Sky Renders. They were led by their guild leader, Streaking Dumpling.
Evil Dancer and Streaking Dumpling greeted each other. The two started a quiet discussion.
"Say, Dumpling, my brother. With how things are going, who do you think will win at this rate, the Monet Financial Group or Asskickers United?" Evil Dancer asked.
"Hard to say, it has nothing to do with us anyway. All we have to do is play our part, and the Monet Financial Group will keep giving us money. Speaking of which, the terms they put forward this time are really generous, don't you think?" Streaking Dumpling replied.
Evil Dancer gave a meaningful smile and no longer lingered on this topic.
Time ticked away. One guild after another arrived in the clearing. There were more than 20 altogether, numbering an astonishing 500,000 players. They were all brimming with anticipation. Qin Han had promised them extremely generous terms for merging them all together into one super guild. They felt the Monet Financial Group was really going all out. With so many guilds gathered together, they would become a leviathan-like existence in the Viridian Empire. Combined with God Executioner Sword, Divine Protectors, and Penumbra Empire, they outnumbered Asskickers United more than three to one. Qin Han's bid for hegemony appeared all the more feasible.
Some guild leaders learned from certain channels that the Monet Financial Group was behind the Vengeance of the Undead event and that their target was Asskickers United. After the skeleton army chipped away at their strength, the Monet Financial Group would swoop in and deal the killing blow.
Someone had done some rough calculations. Qin Han would have to pay an absolutely frightening sum to carry out a merge of this scale. However, from their point of view, an oligarch like the Monet Financial Group didn't lack money. Even though some people doubted Qin Han's intentions, they quickly discarded their doubts. Given how large the Monet Financial Group was, they were probably trustworthy. Not to mention they weren't acquiring and merging a single guild but more than 30 large guilds. The guild leaders believed even the Monet Financial Group wouldn't dare to make an enemy out of so many powers. So, they heeded Qin Han's call.
The clearing was filled with players stretching out as far as the eye could see. Some God Executioner Sword players were in charge of maintaining order. They informed the leaders of the various guilds that Qin Han would be making an appearance soon and to please wait patiently.
Matchless Divine Sword gazed into the distance. He couldn't see an end to the players.
"Q-qin Han, are you really planning to slaughter all these players...?" Matchless Divine Sword asked, his voice slightly trembling, unable to calm his heart down.
Qin Han remained expressionless.
Matchless Divine Sword felt his blood freeze over. Qin Han's lack of response was an answer in itself. He could imagine what kind of bloodbath was about to take place here.
"Boss, then what about my own guild members in God Executioner Sword?" Matchless Divine Sword asked. There were still roughly 6,000 God Executioner Sword players in the clearing in charge of keeping the order.
"Sometimes, sacrifices are necessary for the greater good. Give them some compensation. All of this is the doing of Necromancer Vorderman. God Executioner Sword and the Monet Financial Group have no part in it," Qin Han replied in an insipid tone, then turned around and walked away.
Watching Qin Han's back disappearing behind the trees, Matchless Divine Sword clenched his fists before letting out a deep sigh and letting go. If his own guild members also ended up being killed, his prestige in God Executioner Sword would plummet to rock bottom. If he couldn't even protect his own subordinates, what kind of guild leader was he? However, Qin Han was a fellow who was willing to employ any means to achieve his goals. He didn't dare to go against Qin Han. If he did, the consequences would be unimaginable. In the end, he could only compromise on his own beliefs.
After more than half an hour, the guild leaders were starting to get suspicious, wondering why Qin Han still hadn't come out yet. At this moment an enormous bone dragon appeared in the sky. It flew down toward the clearing. Standing loftily atop its head was a Necromancer in black robes.
Vorderman waved his staff, causing bone spurs to instantly erupt from the ground, covering everything within a 1,000-meter radius. Tens of players were instantly killed, drenching the earth in blood and drawing a scene straight from hell.
"Foolish humans! Cry out in despair! Wail in anguish! Let the darkness engulf you, and become my eternal undead servants!" Vorderman cackled heinously, his piercing laugh ringing out through the clearing.
"It's that Necromancer and the bone dragon!"
"We've been tricked!"
"Son of a bitch! Monet Financial Group, you won't get away with this!" Streaking Dumpling cursed. "Everyone, retreat!"
These players were both shocked and furious. They didn't expect the Monet Financial Group to lead them into a trap, planning to massacre them all. They fled in every direction. But to their dismay, they discovered they had already been surrounded. Countless skeletons were flooding in from everywhere, cutting off their paths of escape. They were faced with an endless sea of skeletons. The fallen players on the ground quickly revived, becoming powerful skeletons, and started attacking their former allies.
After receiving a tip from Guo Huai, Nie Yan, Xie Yao, and Tang Yao hurried over and hid behind a remote hillside. Seeing this scene, their hearts were filled with shock.
"Damn! Qin Han is really ruthless, massacring 500,000 players all at once. Isn't he afraid of them taking revenge?" Tang Yao asked with a pale face.
"He's bringing about his own demise. He's already lost all trust. In a few months, he'll know the consequences of his own actions," Nie Yan said. Not only had Qin Han offended these guilds, but God Executioner Sword, Divine Protectors, and Penumbra Empire would be wary of him from now on as well. The strength the Monet Financial Group painstakingly gathered was fated to collapse from within.
With the death of so many players, the undead army instantly broke past 1,000,000 strong. This was truly a frightening force.
"Nie Yan, I'm worried Qin Han will launch his attack on us after this," Xie Yao said in a concerned tone.
Nie Yan nodded. "This was bound to happen sooner or later. If Qin Han thinks it'll be easy to destroy Asskickers United, he's got a whole another thing coming."