Li Le"s complexion had turned purple at this point. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, their 200-man party lost dozens of people in just the blink of an eye. Their formation was already starting to crumble past the point of no return.
"Hold, hold!"
While Spring Mud was fending off three Bronze Armor Wolves on his own and failing, he shouted, "a.s.sa.s.sins, kill Lu Chen! Priests, heal me! Mages, don"t attack at random and slow Lu Chen down with ice attacks! Archers, I want 20 of you to stun the Bronze Armor Wolves with Shock Arrows and reduce their movement speed and attack speed with Icy Arrows! Don"t use Spiraling Arrow Blades and do your best to reduce their damage for now! The rest of you, kill Lu Chen"s mount with Mountain Stagger Arrows! Hold steady and protect our tactician! His 89% Defense boost is the key to our victory!"
Perhaps I should"ve expected this from the former boss of the Ego workshop, but Spring Mud displayed an outstanding ability to command during the moment of crisis. He did have a couple of years of hard-earned experience under his belt, and in this regard he was way better than his current superior, Li Le. That trust fund baby had almost zero gaming talent unless you counted his ability to spend money like water. It was a tragedy.
Thud thud thud thud...
The Armored Ice Qilin Horse"s mount tenacity rapidly due to the sheer amount of Mountain Stagger Arrows I was receiving, and I was slowed by all the icicle attacks, Freezing Arrows and Ice Arrow Spells flying my way as well. However, I didn"t activate Great Earth Transformation because I wanted to save my Divine Energy Points for later.
This was natural. No matter how well-equipped or powerful a person was, no one was immune to a coordinated a.s.sault. Of course, it was a different story if I activated Great Earth Transformation.
……
I raised my arm and used G.o.d Binding Art!
Swhoos.h.!.+
Four divine weapons fell from the sky and surrounded a certain person. Spring Mud"s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when he saw who it was. "f.u.c.k! He"s trying to kill our tactician! Priests, protect him with a magic s.h.i.+eld now and heal him with everything you got! He cannot die no matter what!"
I smiled and summoned a hexagonal formation next to my feet. A moment later, the Phantom Wolf King appeared and fired Purgatory Storm!
I launched a Dragon Slaying Slash straight at the tactician"s head. Less than 0.4 seconds later, the Cyan Netherworld Sword flew out of my grip and sped toward the tactician as well like a cyclone of death. Both skills. .h.i.t the tactician at nearly the same millisecond, and the guy"s HP had already been reduced by Purgatory Storm. No amount of priests was enough to outheal the damage the pitiful b.a.s.t.a.r.d was about to receive.
"Ugh…"
The tactician groaned as the Cyan Netherworld Sword penetrated his chest.
When my weapon flew back into my grip, he fell to his knees and dropped the red bone fan.
……
I decided to retreat after killing about a hundred people. It was because the Bronze Armor Wolves were getting too close for comfort, and I had no intentions of fighting an entire pack of Level 187 dread-rank mobs on my own. Three Bronze Armor Wolves were tough enough to kill, any more than that and dying was a serious possibility!
Thud thud thud…
The Armored Ice Qilin Horse"s hooves thundered against the ground as I mounted a retreat. Of course, I didn"t forget to kill a couple Flower Room players with well-placed Dragon Slaying Slashes while retreating.
Li Le"s complexion was about as bad as one could imagine. He probably never expected me to be in the vicinity, and that I would use the Bronze Armor Wolves to destroy his party.
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d…" Li Le growled, "I don"t care anymore! Spring Mud, let"s leave ten people to cover our retreat! The rest of you, come with me and hunt down Lu Chen! I"m going to kill him if it"s the last thing I do!"
Spring Mud and less than 50 Flower Room players obeyed his order and chased after me.
……
I never stopped attacking as I ran away from Flower Room. I kept chipping away at their HP with Sword Boomerang and Dragon Slaying Slashes, and left behind Icy Cyclone Domains to stall their pursuit. A short time later, Spring Mud yelled with bulging eyes, "Guild leader, we can"t keep chasing after him like this! That f.u.c.ker has long-range attacks and a fast mount. His. .h.i.t-and-run tactic is going to f.u.c.k us up sooner or later!" (Note: Hit-and-run is somewhat similar to 1v1 kiting. You run for a bit, turn around to fire a long-range attack, before running again.)
Li Le gritted his teeth and uttered, "Archers, where the f.u.c.k are you aiming your Shock Arrows?? Predict where he"s going to move before you release your bowstrings! If we stun Lu Chen even once, we"ll have a chance to take him out! Motherf.u.c.ker, Flower Room has suffered under Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls for too long, and we will not stand this any longer!"
I chuckled as I continued to run in front of the party. Every time I swung my blade, someone would eat a Dragon Slaying Slash and lose a chunk of HP. Dragon Slaying Slash was far less accurate than any archer skill, but my prediction ability was hundreds of thousands of light years ahead of these fools. They were practically committing suicide.
That being said, Spring Mud did remind me that hit-and-run was a very famous tactic a long time ago. It was a tactic many experts employed successfully and left an important mark in many cla.s.sic battles. Back in Spirit of Grief when Candlelight Shadow fought the USA at the ruins of Saint Helm City, Candlelight Shadow had used that exact tactic to achieve a perfect victory over their main army!
Unfortunately, hit-and-run"s usability was too limited today. For starters, we were in the era of mounted players right now, and warriors, magic knights and wanderers all had incredible movement speed. Hit-and-run was useless against them unless you had both great movement speed and long-range attacks.
……
During the time I was waiting for Lin Yixin"s account to recover, I saw in the news that archers could obtain a mount pet slot through certain ways after they reached Level 180 and completed their seventh promotion quest. When that happened, archers would be reborn as a whole new troop type, mounted archers. A mounted archer"s mobility and killing power was top-cla.s.s, and it might even give birth to whole new tactics in future Nation Wars. I was pretty sure that mounted archers would become many guilds" top choice in guerilla warfare!
I could only imagine how amazing Beiming Xue would be if she could ride a Dragonlight Armored Horse and devastate all those who attempted to chase after her with Spiraling Arrow Blades and Evil Spirit Volleys. She would be almost invincible as not even a mounted player would be able to catch up to her anymore. And if we could create an entire troop of mounted archers, then sweeping entire armies would no longer be just a pipedream!
But of course, no one knew how an archer was supposed to gain a mount pet slot as of now. And even if the method was known, they still had to reach Level 170 and complete their seventh promotion quest. The grind past Level 160 was already hard enough, but to grind all the way up to Level 180 where the seventh promotion quest awaited? That was a G.o.dd.a.m.n myth as of now. It would take at least a couple of months before anyone could reach that point.
……
Suddenly, a group of hundreds appeared at the distance down the direction I was retreating. Their armor looked clean, and their guild emblem was shaped like a cathaya leaf. The well-armored female fighter leading the party looked at me and asked, "Oh, Little Cheat! Why are you here?"
That"s right, it was Lin Yixin and Snowy Cathaya! I didn"t see Purple Marquis, but Zi Chuanyu, Lifetaking Sword and everyone else were present. Over half of them were elite Purple Dragon Cavalrymen, and I had no doubt that there were few enemies who could pose a threat to them.
I was about to answer her question when an arrow suddenly pierced through the air!
Thud!
The first arrow hit me squarely on the shoulder. Half a second later, my entire back was covered in arrows. I almost looked like a porcupine.
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
Enraged, Lin Yixin unsheathed her weapon in one smooth motion and declared, "Purple Dragon Cavalry, charge! I don"t care who it is, kill everyone behind that f.u.c.king corner!"
A "yes ma"am!" from Zi Chuanyu later, the group of cavalry charged forward and rammed into Flower Room. Their party was already partially destroyed by the Bronze Armor Wolves and I, so of course they were no match to the Purple Dragon Cavalry. Under Zi Chuanyu"s leaders.h.i.+p, Snowy Cathaya practically ran over the remnants of Flower Room.
……
After pulling an arrow stuck to my head, I smiled at Lin Yixin like nothing was happening and asked, "How did you get here, dear?"
Lin Yixin blushed and shot me a wary look. "b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I"m the one who should be asking that. Many of our players including me were teleported around this area, but what about you? How did you get into a fight with those idiots from Flower Room?"
I shrugged. "Well, Li Le said he"s going to make you his mistress of the fort, so I kicked his a.s.s…"
"That f.u.c.ker said what?" Lin Yixin"s expression turned frigid immediately.
She suddenly bent her sword backward. Then, she let out a "hah!" and tossed the sword in one mighty motion, shouting, "How dare he said such a thing! Well, he"s not going to get any face from me!"
Swhoos.h.!.+
The blade flew past my cheeks with only centimeters to spare. Like a meteor, it sailed toward a certain someone and—!
Bang!
The Great Earth Transformation-empowered sword hit a player squarely on the chest and nailed him to the wall. It was none other than Li Le himself! After the pitiful young master spasmed for a couple of seconds, his head lolled to the side, and he died just like that.
……
"Gulp!"
I swallowed. Holy s.h.i.+t, is this really the Beauty Lin I know? Since when did she get this violent? Is this how our married life is going to be?
Lin Yixin calmed down after Li Le died. A sweet smile appearing on her face once more, she said, "How are you alone, Little Cheat? Did Sister Eve give you up or something? That"s fine, come join Snowy Cathaya! Our vice leaders will be happy to have you…"
I shook my head immediately. "Sorry, but Purple Marquis doesn"t fall under my s.e.xual preferences."
Shadow Chanel immediately glared at me. "Do you want to die, Lu Chen!?"
……
I let out a laugh and was about to say something when i was interrupted by a system announcement—
Ding~!
System Announcement: Player "Vienna"s Sorrow (Hero City)" has successfully defeated the Immortal Rank Boss, Heaven-slaughtering Tiger, and has met the requirement to learn Great Earth Transformation! They have become the first Famous General of the USA! They have gained Luck +5, Tactics +10, and an exclusive Divine General Skill, "Ice Stream Blade"!
Ice Stream Blade: Summon the divine power of ice to possess the user"s weapon. The power of ice-based attacks is increased by 50%, Attack is increased by 120%, and attack range is increased by 20 yards. Skill exclusive to Vienna"s Sorrow.