Chapter 2033 – Breaking Through?
Dark Night Empire, Silent Canyon:
A 1,000-man team from the Hundred Flowers Palace rose through a rugged mountain path atop the Guild’s Black Panther Mounts. The team left kicked up clouds of dust as they pa.s.sed, the sound of the Black Panther’s footfalls echoing throughout the valley. Players that encountered the army of Black Panthers stepped aside and made way for the beasts.
In the lead, Crimson Heart rode atop a pitch-black drake, unlike the rest of her team. She wore a suit a silver armor and carried a dark-purple spear across her back that radiated a frosty aura. Holding her Mount’s reins in one hand, she looked like a heroic Valkyrie riding into battle. Independent players who saw her were awestruck, and many unconsciously followed the army of Black Panthers in hopes of catching another glimpse of Crimson Heart.
“Who is she? Since when has the Hundred Flowers Palace had a member like that? She feels so powerful! I only caught a glimpse, but I can’t help my desire to submit to her!”
“You’re new to the Dark Night Empire, so it isn’t unusual that you haven’t heard of her. She’s the Hundred Flowers Palace’s First Vice Guild Leader. With her strength alone, she established a Branch Guild in the Holy Hill Kingdom and developed it into one of the kingdom’s two overlords in a short time. She’s strongly opposed to entering her name on the G.o.d’s Domain Expert List, so the Secret Pavilion ended up giving her the t.i.tle ‘Shadow Spear.’ She’s even stronger than the Hundred Flowers Palace’s Frostflame G.o.ddess, Cleansed Rue.”
“A t.i.tle from the Secret Pavilion?! Amazing!”
“That’s not all. The Dark Cloud Legion under her command is frighteningly strong. The legion once defeated an army of tens of thousands of elite and expert players in the Holy Hill Kingdom. The legion isn’t any weaker than superpowers’ trump card legions. I’ve heard that Starlink has blocked off all paths to Moon Creek Town and intends to lay siege. She probably plans to reinforce the town by crossing the Silent Canyon.”
“A siege battle? I have only seen siege battles in videos. Why don’t we follow her and watch? The battle between Starlink and the Hundred Flowers Palace is definitely going to be an interesting show!”
“You’re right! We don’t get many chances to watch siege battles in person. Once the battle is over, we might even get to make a little profit.”
The independent players quietly discussed the situation as they watched the Dark Cloud Legion dash by.
Although Starlink’s siege on Moon Creek Town had been a tight secret, it was very difficult to keep the a.s.sault under wraps when mobilizing such a large force.
As some experts watched the imposing Dark Cloud Legion ride by, they began to grow even more interested in the upcoming battle. Unable to help themselves, they climbed on their Mounts and chased after Crimson Heart and her team.
“Big Sis Crimson, quite a few players are following us. Should we deal with them?” a female a.s.sa.s.sin with a devilish body asked Crimson Heart as she glanced at the players behind the team.
“Ignore them. With the commotion we’re causing, hiding our actions is impossible. Let them tail after us,” Crimson Heart said, shaking her head. “Any news on the Starlink forces blocking this path?”
“A report just came in. According to our scouts, Starlink has dispatched particularly powerful forces to guard the two shortest paths to the town. The Guild must have guessed that we’d focus on these paths, so it sent two Vice Guild Leaders, each with an army of 15,000 elite and expert players, to block the paths,” the female a.s.sa.s.sin replied grimly.
Starlink was a new Guild that had only established after G.o.d’s Domain had launched. It had become a superpower so quickly, even rivaling Unyielding Soul, after annexing plenty of Guilds, adventurer teams, and famous experts.
Meanwhile, Starlink’s Vice Guild Leaders had either been Guild Leaders of first-rate Guilds or commanders of top adventurer teams. They were all famous experts that had shaken the virtual gaming world in the past.
Not only were these players incredibly strong as individuals, but they also had a large number of capable experts under their command. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have qualified for the positions as Starlink’s Vice Guild Leaders.
Since Starlink had sent two of its Vice Guild Leaders to guard the two closest paths, breaking through would be even more difficult
Crimson Heart couldn’t help her frown. Although she had expected Starlink to establish a tight blockade, she hadn’t expected this much trouble. She then asked, “Do you know who the Vice Guild Leaders are?”
After taking a deep breath, the a.s.sa.s.sin replied in a soft, serious tone, “Starlink’s Seventh Vice Guild Leader, Desert Tiger, is guarding the path we’re on now. He has earned the t.i.tle ‘Hundred Fist Tiger.’ The other path is guarded by Starlink’s recently promoted Fourth Vice Guild Leader, Three Kills!”
“Three Kills? He actually joined Starlink? How did Starlink manage to recruit him? I thought he decided to retire a long time ago?” Crimson Heart’s expression darkened when she heard the name ‘Three Kills.’
Ordinary players might not know the name, but as an upper echelon of a first-rate Guild, Crimson Heart was quite familiar with Three Kills. The name had once shaken the virtual gaming world’s apex over a dozen years ago.
Three Kills had been the Guild Leader of the Super Guild, Jormungandr. He had been one of the only geniuses that appeared in the Guild once a decade. However, for some unknown reason, Three Kills had announced his retirement one day, leaving the virtual gaming world alongside a large group of experts. Less than five years later, Jormungandr had disbanded and faded from the virtual gaming world, and other Super Guilds and super-first-rate Guilds had poached its abandoned members.
However, when Three Kills had led the Guild, Jormungandr had nearly become one of the top four Super Guilds in the virtual gaming world.
“We don’t know the exact reason, but we’re certain that this player is the real Three Kills,” the female a.s.sa.s.sin said, shuddering.
Ordinary players would a.s.sume that a Super Guild’s Guild Leader only played a management role in the Guild, but Crimson Heart, a first-rate Guild’s upper echelon, knew that the position was proof of one’s strength in Super Guilds.
With a bigshot like Three Kills defending the blockade, why wouldn’t she shudder in fear?
“Hopefully, Zero Wing can buy us some time,” Crimson Heart said as she examined the map. “Let’s increase our speed! We need to break through the blockade before Zero Wing clashes with Three Kills!”
She had planned to show off the Hundred Flowers Palace’s strength to Zero Wing in this operation, proving that the Palace was no weaker than Zero Wing, perhaps even stronger. Once Zero Wing realized its inferior position, it would give up on trying to lay claim to the Palace’s Shops and Lands.
However, she had lost her previous certainty.
Even a super-first-rate Guild would likely struggle to get past a blockade led by Three Kills, not to mention Zero Wing.
Right now, she needed to put as much distance between her team and Three Kills’ as possible before he annihilated Zero Wing’s small force. If she had to fight both Desert Tiger and Three Kills at once, she’d never reach Moon Creek Town.
Following which, Crimson Heart and the Dark Cloud Legion members increased their pace to reach Starlink’s blockade before the agreed-upon time.
Meanwhile, on another path through the Silent Canyon, Cleansed Rue’s group had arrived a short distance away from Starlink’s blockade.
“Elder Ye Feng, the situation has changed. I’ve just received a report stating that Three Kills is leading the force ahead! He was the Guild Leader of Jormungandr, a Super Guild from several years ago!” Cleansed Rue reported grimly. “Breaking past them is no longer possible here. However, I’m hoping that you can help me delay Three Kills for some time. If we can hold him off for four or five minutes, it will be enough.”
“I see. I understand, but since we’ve agreed to prove Zero Wing’s ability to resist Starlink to the Hundred Flowers Palace, we cannot go back on our word. Zero Wing would become a laughingstock among the other Guilds if we did. We’ll make sure you and your team make it to Moon Creek Town,” s.h.i.+ Feng calmly declared.
“Three Kills is a monster of an expert! Do you really think that you can break through his blockade?” a Tier 2 female Cleric from the Hundred Flowers Palace asked when she heard s.h.i.+ Feng’s confident tone.
“If the path is only guarded by one monster like him, we shouldn’t have any issues,” s.h.i.+ Feng said after giving the matter some thought
“Big Sis Rue, this person is insane!” the female Cleric whispered to her leader, flabbergasted. She very nearly failed to control herself and shot s.h.i.+ Feng a disdainful look.
Zero Wing had only sent them fourteen players.
Although the narrow mountain terrain didn’t allow large-scale combat, only suitable for a small number of players to fight each other at a time, getting past a force of 15,000 elite and expert players with such a small force would be nigh- impossible. Furthermore, Starlink’s force was led by the former Guild Leader of a Super Guild.
The female Cleric sent a hopeful glance at Remnant Cloud and his companions behind s.h.i.+ Feng. She hoped that they would stop such a mentally disturbed leader, but when she saw one of Zero Wing’s members open their mouth, a.s.suming that they would indeed dissuade s.h.i.+ Feng…
“Boss Feng, can you leave Three Kills to me?”