331 High Ground (2/2)

Behind a tiny hillock, a Bandit hiding under the cover of Stealth pulled his eyes away from a sparse little grove of trees in the distance. He alerted the seven Demon Faction players behind him, each one clad all in Dark Gold.

Someone came in? Arranged in a formation, which allowed them to keep a lookout in all directions, the eyes of the seven other players lit up.

At last, fresh meat!

Without asking, they already knew that the new arrivals were Angel Faction players.

They had found this spot by chance—the little grove a hundred meters away was actually an entry point for players from the Angel Faction.

By staking out nearby, they had managed to ambush and kill several enemies in a row: some were alone, some in a party, and among them was even a Field Commander or two.

Having been able to gain some experience in such matters, they developed a better understanding of how the warp points worked!

As long as they kept a cautious distance of a hundred meters or more from the warp point, the system would not take any extra measures to safeguard the incoming players, such as shunting them off to a clearer location elsewhere.

While observing this condition, they also made use of the surrounding terrain to hide themselves from any players entering the fifth level of the Graveyard of the Gods. That way, when they struck, success was all but guaranteed!

Particularly now that they had eight Champions who were on par with Field Commanders, their victories came one after another. And in this way, they had been picking up good equipment much more easily compared to hunting those fearsome Tier 6 beasts.

However, no matter how exciting all of it may be, outwardly they were all perfectly calm and serene.

”How many people this time?” The one who spoke was a Titanwraith Berserker. He was wearing the emblem of the Sightless Eye and carrying a broadsword, which pulsed with crimson light along its entire length. As he said this, several others in the party turned to their Bandit, who was scouting out their latest target.

As a Field Commander in the 'Reaper's Gaze' Clan of the Demon Faction League known as the 'Zeus Legion', as well as the only Champion in the party who wielded a Legendary weapon, Black Mask was evidently the mightiest Champion within the randomly-assembled group. He was also their leader for the moment.

Lying flat behind the crest of the hill, the Bandit peered into the distance for a few moments, his eyebrows gradually knitting together.

”This doesn't look good. There are a lot of people this time!”

”A lot?” Black Mask and the others exchanged looks of apprehension. They all understood what that really meant.

They had either sacrificed a great number of players in order to create an opening for themselves to slip past into the fifth level…

… or slew the Boss guarding the warp point!

Whichever one it was, it meant bad news for them. The former would need to be able to draw upon a large roster of elite players—something only a League was capable of; the latter was worse—to be able to defeat a Tier 5 Boss in direct combat indicated that they were too powerful to challenge.

”Find out more!”

”I want to know which League they're from, how many people they have exactly, how many are at least Field Commander-level in their ability…” Black Mask resisted the urge to just pop up and take a look himself. Instead, he instructed the Bandit to keep an eye on them.

However, each bit of new information hit them with the force of an atomic bomb. Each announcement was more surprising than the last.

They were a rag-tag group of mixed allegiances.

They were almost 40 in number.

Although not that many of them were Field Commanders, they had among them two unusually large and powerful monsters.

The most surprising thing of all was that this massive force of people did not immediately set out in a specific direction upon entering the fifth level of the Graveyard of the Gods. On the contrary, they stopped beside a narrow brook just beyond the grove and took up a defensive formation.

***

Just outside the grove, the group waited for Violet Orchid to log back into the game. Then they heard Fateless whisper urgently through the Party Channel, ”There are signs of several recent battles in the area. Everyone stay alert!”

This was followed immediately by Qin Ruo's merry tone. ”At our three o'clock, there are eight Demon Faction players, all Field Commanders. While we wait for Big Sis Orchid to return, shall we go over there and say hello?”

”What? How did you notice them?” Fateless yelped through the Party Channel, his voice strained with annoyance.

Already in Aquamorph form, Qin Ruo was using an invisible rope of water to suspend himself from the top of a tree at a height of 20 m. From his high vantage point, he easily spotted the eight figures hiding behind the slope, their figures outlined in bright red.

Mirthfully, he replied, ”Well, I have the high ground.”