Qin Han was in trouble if the Viridian Empire had decided to dispatch their troops against him.
「Boss, what do we do?」Matchless Divine Sword asked anxiously.
「How long until the Royal Griffon Corps arrives?」
「I estimate 20 minutes at the latest.」
Qin Han checked the time. There were another two hours before the servers would shut down.
「We have to take down the Cripps Stronghold within the next 20 minutes.」Qin Han said in a heavy tone.
As the battle progressed, Qin Han’s army had been whittled away to only 2,000,000 skeletons. But with Necromancer Vorderman and the bone dragon wreaking havoc inside the Cripps Stronghold, Asskickers United’s losses were also rapidly adding up. Their casualties already exceeded 700,000. The 300,000 players still standing were bitterly holding on.
Necromancer Vorderman was simply too frightening. He was far too strong for any player in the game, and under his command the fallen would rise as skeletons. Asskickers United could only try and preserve the guild headquarters, hunkering down on the surrounding buildings. There were several dozen arrow towers in the vicinity, which could offer some firepower. As for the catapults, they had all but been destroyed.
After receiving word from Qin Han, the green flames in Vorderman’s eye sockets throbbed intensely. Brandishing his staff, he chanted out an incantation. He was preparing to cast Forbidden Magic! A thick miasma surrounded his body, no one could get close to him.
“Shit! It’s Forbidden Magic!”
“We can’t get close to him! The spells aren’t reaching him either! We can’t stop him!”
With Necromancer Vorderman’s overwhelming magic power, his Forbidden Magic could easily transform the entire Cripps Stronghold into ruins.
「Guo Huai, activate the Divine Radiant Bastion! Now!」Bladelight shouted in the guild chat.
「Guo Huai, hurry! Before it’s too late!」
…
Everyone anxiously shouted. At this moment, a golden membrane of light slowly enveloped the guild headquarters and the surrounding buildings. Asskickers United’s players, including even the masters like Bladelight, hurriedly retreated into the barrier.
This was one of the rewards for the Cripps Stronghold reaching Advanced rank.
Necromancer Vorderman slowly rose up into the sky. One set, two sets, three sets, the syllables escaping his lips appeared to herald the imminent judgement of hell. A powerful death miasma spread out.
「All Mages and Priests, supply the barrier with your mana!」Guo Huai anxiously ordered.
Of the 300,000 remaining troops, about 180,000 were casters. They closed their eyes and started chanting. Mana flowed out from their bodies into the Divine Radiant Bastion.
The mana supplied by these casters reinforced the barrier.
30 seconds later, Vorderman chanted out the last syllable. FWOOOOOOM! The heavy sound struck at the hearts of all of Asskickers United. A heavy pressure bore down on their chests, making it difficult to breath.
Death God Tempest!
Necromancer Vorderman waved his staff. Everyone suddenly felt dread welling up from the bottom of their hearts, almost as if the reaper were breathing right down their necks.
10 enormous pillars of whirling death energy manifested. They were like black tornadoes, sweeping up everything in their path. Nothing was safe, as the buildings, walls, and even skeletons were sucked into it.
The 10 tornadoes converged on the guild headquarters. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! They repeatedly rammed into the Radiant Divine Bastion.
The barrier trembled violently.
The players hiding within the barrier could no longer see what the situation was like outside. They could only see the whirling tempest of death energy, carrying rubble, trees, and even entire buildings into the air. The tornado was like an enormous serpent, repeatedly striking at the Divine Radiant Bastion.
All the casters felt the mana rapidly leaving their bodies.
「Guo Huai, what do we do? The barrier won’t last much longer!」
If the Divine Radiant Bastion collapsed, everyone here would be wiped out by the Death God Tempest.
“Lowly ants!” Necromancer Vorderman roared out in fury. If he were in perfect health, any one of his Forbidden Spells could wipe out the Cripps Stronghold from the face of the map in an instant. There wasn’t even a need to resort to Death God Tempest. However, Karsi had dealt him serious damage and he had yet to recover. Forcefully casting this Forbidden Magic only worsened his injuries, not to mention damaging his very soul. But he had no choice. He couldn’t ignore Qin Han’s command. So, with what little power he had, he had cast the incomplete Death God Tempest; wielding about a tenth of the power of the complete version. This was why it couldn’t destroy the Divine Radiant Baston even now.
Time ticked away. The Divine Radiant Bastion kept shuddering intensely. With the barrier’s powerful defensive capabilities, even if no players were supplying it with mana, it could still defend against Forbidden Magic. But right now, even with 180,000 casters reinforcing it, it was barely holding out against the Death God Tempest.
「Guo Huai, what do we do?」
Guo Huai thought for a moment.「Screw it! Everyone, take out all your Magic Bombs. Bladelight, get some people to attach some of the Magic Bombs onto the arrows and shoot them into the tempest. Everyone else, listen to my command. Throw your Magic Bombs into the tempest!」
In the real world, the detonation of a bomb could create a powerful shockwave, which could disrupt the airflow of the surroundings. Conviction mimicked reality. So, many of the laws of physics applied here as well!
「We can try!」Bladelight said. It wasn’t like they had any better options.
Necromancer Vorderman’s might far exceeded everyone’s imaginations. Even Nie Yan had never clashed against a legendary figure this powerful. They had vastly underestimated the opponent’s strength. If the guild headquarters were destroyed, Asskickers United would be done for.
Everyone brought out their Magic Bombs, then tossed them outside of the barrier with all their strength.
The several dozen arrow towers in the vicinity also fired out arrows attached with Magic Bombs into the tempest.
Some of the Magic Bombs collided with the rubble in the air. Others were sucked up into the air alongside the other debris.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A cacophony of explosions rang out as countless shockwaves battered at the tempest from the inside.
Asskickers United put great effort in developing their Tinkerer business. Where at first only a few Tinkerers could craft Magic Bombs, over time this number increased exponentially. Nie Yan had them mass produce Magic Bombs, planning to provide them to powerlevel players with potential to level 100. However, after they were produced, they were never used. They gathered dust in storage, until the by now more than 800,000 were taken out by Guo Huai in preparation for this war. One could imagine the effects of so many Magic Bombs being thrown out all at once.
The sound of explosions kept coming like firecrackers.
Under the powerful shockwaves, the Death God Tempest came to a screeching halt. Necromancer Vorderman seemed to have taken a heavy blow as he staggered several steps back on the bone dragon’s head.
All debris swept up in the air came crashing down to the ground. The Death God Tempest had been stopped!
「We did it!」
「We stopped the Forbidden Magic!」
...
Asskickers United broke out in cheers, overwhelmed by an indescribable excitement.
「How are things over on your side? Did you activate the Divine Radiant Bastion? Is it helping?」Nie Yan anxiously asked.
「I’ll show you the video,」Guo Huai said, his voice still trembling with excitement. Asskickers United had just barely escaped a brush with death. Thankfully, they had managed to stop the Death God Tempest.
Nie Yan watched the video Guo Huai sent him. Seeing the enormous tempest, endless waves of shock battered at his heart. So this was the might of Necromancer Vorderman’s Forbidden Magic? Too frightening! He had vastly underestimated Vorderman’s strength. He believed the Divine Radiant Bastion with its formidable defensive capabilities could hold out for at least a few hours. As long as they could reach the end of the day, victory was theirs. He didn’t expect the Death God Tempest to nearly break the barrier. If it wasn’t for Guo Huai’s ingenious idea, all would’ve been lost.
Necromancer Vorderman already severe injuries seemed to have worsened. He was lying flat on the bone dragon’s back, gasping in pain. The bone dragon circled around the barrier, occasionally striking at it. However, it was unable to break through.
「Nie Yan, what do we do now?」Guo Huai asked, still trying to calm down the excitement in his heart.
Even though Necromancer Vorderman was badly injured, he was still an unrivalled existence. Not to mention the bone dragon. Everyone knew how powerful it was.
「Right now isn’t the time for the finale. I’ll have the Royal Griffon Corps remain on standby. We’ll end everything tomorrow!」Nie Yan said. If the Royal Griffon Corps attacked right now, it would definitely provoke Qin Han into doing something drastic. Besides, he wasn’t sure if Qin Han had anything else up his sleeve. Without being able to guarantee the safety of the guild headquarters, he wasn’t willing to take the risk. If it was destroyed, he risked losing everything he’d worked so hard for; the penalty was that serious.
After today, the guild headquarters would be moved to Okoron. Like this, even if the Cripps Stronghold was destroyed, it would have no impact on the foundation of Asskickers United.
After a long time, the dust and smoke cleared up. When the players from Asskickers United saw their stronghold again, they were dumbstruck. The buildings within the Divine Radiant Bastion were still intact. However, everything outside, including the walls, were completely flattened. There was nothing left behind.
What a frightening Forbidden Magic!
After receiving an update on the state of the Cripps Stronghold, Qin Han stamped his feet in anger. Even after Death God Tempest was used, the guild headquarters was still standing. Asskickers United was as resilient as a cockroach!
At this moment, Yallop and his men were still fighting the skeletons in the plains outside the Cripps Stronghold. These NPCs were extremely valiant. Yallop also seemed to be well versed in battle tactics, never allowing his troops to be surrounded. Any time the Lord-class skeletons started circling in on them, he would immediately call a retreat. He was a real thorn in Qin Han’s side. In this short amount of time, they had killed 100,000 skeletons.
Back in the Cripps Stronghold, Necromancer Vorderman was completely spent. Meanwhile, Yallop’s group was having their way with the skeletons. Not to mention there was no telling when the Royal Griffon Corps would arrive. Qin Han was extremely anxious.
The last remaining two hours flew past in the blink of an eye. It was almost time to log out.
Nie Yan checked the clock. The countdown for the servers to shut off was already starting, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 3 minutes...
These last few moments would be an unforgettable memory for the players of Asskickers United!
After this last hurdle, victory was theirs!