337 Chapter 337 - Street Figh (1/2)
”Scoundrel!” This anger-filled shout came from Sakurazaka Moony.
Many people were affected because he had fallen for Deep Waters' ruse. Sakurazaka Moony might be reprehensible, but he still felt regret for causing that debacle. In fact, he was so embarrassed by it that he could not look others in the eye. All the members of The Great Hunting mercenary group were equally sheepish about it, and only Fireball looked unperturbed by all this. He could probably be crowned as the King of Shamelessness within The Great Hunting.
Sakurazaka Moony fired off an arrow toward Deep Waters as he was cursing the latter. He strongly wished this shot could behead Deep Waters right at this moment, so he could acquit him and his brothers from their sin. His emotions must have overwhelmed him and caused his shoulders and fingertips to stiffen, as that Snipe he had fired off was way subpar, missing Deep Waters by at least three paces.
”Everyone, hold your fire!” Seeing the other Archers and Mages intending to follow suit and send their own attacks at the enemy, Oathless Sword hastily stopped them with a raise of his hand. At this crucial moment, he had shown an unexpected level of cool-headedness. This was only but a game at the end of the day; killing Deep Waters would not leave his guild leaderless. Besides venting a bit of their pent-up frustration, Oathless Sword knew that this kill would not truly affect the overall situation of the quest.
”What are you trying to do?” Oathless Sword stared at Deep Waters, who was still sitting on the rooftop, as he addressed him.
”He he… Nothing much. I just wanna see how many of you are still alive.” Deep Waters chuckled. ”It's a lot more than what I have expected.”
”It's not that easy to completely wipe us out,” Oathless Sword replied evenly as he privately instructed on the guild channel, ”Thieves, use your Stealth and check our surroundings.”
Deep Waters, for his part, quickly noted those Thieves that had disappeared. Laughing, he said, ”Don't worry; there's no ambush this time.”
”And you would be kind enough to let us go?” Oathless Sword did not believe a word he heard.
”Of course, not.” Deep Waters laughed again. ”I've simply changed my tactics this time. We're going to directly face you all in combat.”
Saying that, Deep Waters' comrades suddenly flooded the entrance to this street in a grand fashion. All their Archers had their bows with nocked arrows, ready to fire at the drop of a hat.
”Your guild's archer formation is pretty lethal,” Deep Waters said, ”But don't forget; we Hunters can fire arrows as well.”
Just as Deep Waters said these words, all his Hunters released their bowstrings together.
The arrows flew like a sudden downpour. With some Hunters firing from a squatting position and the others while standing, the arrows sailed in an arc quite similar to Traversing Four Seas' archer formation. Although the enemy Hunters' coordination was not comparable to Traversing Four Seas' archer formation, the Yunduan City's players were still on a street that did not give much room to maneuver or provide much cover. With the lack of any road to salvation and the gates of Hell opening wide for them, succumbing to this arrow assault was almost a guarantee.
”Guardians, quickly come forward and block the attacks! Charge onward!” Oathless Sword issued this order swiftly. This was actually the correct command. Turning around to flee in such a situation would only expose their backs to the enemies' arrows. And with the clear disparity in movement speed between the job classes, it was unlikely that anyone besides Thieves with Fleetfoot could safely escape from this assault.
Nevertheless, the firepower that the enemies possessed was truly high. Traversing Four Seas' archer formation was only consisted of about one hundred fifty players. Meanwhile, due to Linyin City's skewed job-class composition, a majority of the players in it were Hunters. Deep Waters almost had over four hundred Hunters in his guild alone. As a result, it did not take long before white lights flashed intermittently within the ranks of Yunduan City's Guardians who had come forward with the support of Priests from the back.
”Don't rush in foolishly! Archers, get in position and return fire!” Oathless Sword bellowed.
This move proved to be very effective. While the Archers from Yunduan City might not be as numerous as those from Linyin City, they had the protection of the Warriors in front of them while the Archers from Linyin City were essentially defenseless. Faced against Yunduan City's retaliation, the Linyin City's Hunters were clearly more affected and their ensuing shots were no longer as rapid as before.
However, the assault that Deep Waters' guild was currently mounting was not only limited to that. More players began to appear on the rooftops, and these new arrivals were far more fearsome than the Archers standing before them – Mages.
Mages filled the rooftops of the houses lining the street on both sides. Raising their staves in the air to cast spells, they could quite possibly wipe out Yunduan City's entire army if they were to bombard them just like what they had done back in the jungle. People cried out in alarm to draw everyone's attention to the Mages. Following this, the Archers, who had been providing cover for the Guardians' forward charge, turned over to begin firing over on the rooftops where the Mages were, instead. The enemy Mages' opportunity to cast spells was hampered by the Archers' barrage of arrows on them.
However, although the Archers' volley of arrows successfully interrupted some enemy Mages' chanting, the rest of the Mages managed to avoid their attacks altogether. Flames began to explode on the street and on the rooftops. People died, and others survived....