384 Chapter 384 - Trapped (1/2)

The moment Young Master Han said this, he tossed away the fish he had been feasting on and stoppered the bottle of liquor in hand. Standing up, he casually wiped his hands off and took out his weapon. The players from Luori City had already left to get credit for the mission in their hurry, and the Eternal War mercenary group was no exception. Those who were a little slow may have heard what Young Master Han said, but it was apparent no one had bothered to remain behind to assist Southern Lone Blade.

Southern Lone Blade naturally knew he was at a great disadvantage now that he was down to just four men, but the issue was that they were down to a Thief, Warrior, Mage and Priest; while the Thief might find a chance to flee, the same could not be the said for the other three job class, leaving them no choice but to fight their way out if they hoped to escape.

Moreover, Southern Lone Blade spared not even a single thought trying to explain his way out of this quagmire. He knew his opponents this time were certain of what he had planned, which meant any attempts to hide his intentions were essentially futile. Even if he told them his true target was the Video Mage and unrelated to them in the least, there was truly no point in saying such stupid things. They were most likely all friends, so why would they idly sit by and watch him hunt that Mage to loot that man's dropped equipment? They would truly be worthless friends, had they really stood by and done nothing.

As such, despite Southern Lone Blade's squad of seven having been reduced down to four, he and his men resolutely stood directly in a straight line before their opponents and locked their gazes.

Brother Assist and Southern Lone Blade were originally friends, but any words exchanged right now would only make things more awkward than it stood as both sides knowingly avoided communicating with one another. With weapons already drawn, this situation had devolved to the point where only their blades would be the ones doing the talking.

”Be careful!” The first one to shout was actually Drifting. Living up to his name as the top Mage of Parallel World, he quickly warned everybody the moment he discovered that the enemy Mage had been silently mouthing a spell incantation.

The others were combat veterans as well, so they were deeply aware of the method of attack Mages demonstrated when they subvocalized their spells. It was comparable to the sneak attacks Thieves or Archers would attempt at the start of battle, and seeing that their opponents had no Archers while the Thief was standing there in all his glory without activating his Stealth, it made perfect sense that it would be the Mage who picked up this role this time.

”But no one has to move!” Drifting extended out his hand to stop the others as he finished his sentence.

Mages could not simply just move their lips; where they pointed with their fingers would naturally decide where the spell was going to be unleashed. The expert Drifting had noticed where the enemy Mage was pointing the moment he discovered the spell being cast, almost instantaneously discerning just where the spell would be positioned.

A glorious BOOM sounded, as a Blazing Tree of a Thousand Infernos erupted a few steps before everyone. Flame Singed Clothes sighed audibly and said, ”No doubt you deserve to be called the number one Mage!”

Now that they were in the valley like this, since their opponent had their backs against the wall, the only way for Young Master Han and the experts to avoid any incoming spell would require them to step forward. Thus, he tossed his spell several steps ahead of them, so as to contain the enemy within his AOE spell the moment they attempted to evade the attack. However, how would Drifting not be aware of such a commonly used tactic? He easily saw through it and informed the rest accordingly.

That Blazing Tree of a Thousand Infernos became the signal for the battle to start, as Royal God Call drew his bowstring and released a whistling Snipe that raced through the air, directly targeting the enemy Mage.

Southern Lone Blade had already expected this Archer to habitually target their Mage in an attempt to insta-kill their weakest link. He had already positioned himself beside Flame Singed Clothes in defense of this, and a satisfying metallic thunk could be heard when he caught that arrow with a lift of his shield.

The damage from Royal God Call's Snipe shocked Southern Lone Blade greatly, definitely worthy of his title as a top expert. Their Priest immediately got to work and reactively bestowed a heal upon Southern Lone Blade.

Meanwhile, Young Master Han and the rest were rather taken aback themselves, though it was not due to their reaction or coordination they demonstrated. Just like Gu Fei had been initially, they were instead surprised that Southern Lone Blade had a sword in his right hand and a shield in the other.

Brother Assist was the most sensitive to this strange set-up, quickly using his Appraisal for a look. But he had forgotten a crucial fact in his excitement: The Appraisal skill would be useless when used against a another player of a higher level than the user. Southern Lone Blade was one of the Five Unyielding Experts, and he was now about to reach 42; Brother Assist was still working his way to level 41, so Southern Lone Blade was literally up another level on him.

However, there were other players among Young Master's Elite that were level 41, namely Sword Demon and War Without Wounds. Brother Assist hurriedly asked Sword Demon to help him check, seeing that his proficiency with his Appraisal skill was about the same as his. Sword Demon shook his head upon usage, ”I'm only getting question marks from the shield on his left hand.”

”Quick dodge! A spell's coming!” Drifting shouted out once more. Flame Singed Clothes had unleashed another spell the moment Southern Lone Blade came forward to defend him. And since the members of Young Master's Elite had the wall behind them and the still raging Blazing Tree of a Thousand Infernos was right before them, the burning damage from the latter was much easier to bear than the new spell coming their way.

The rest of the experts had made the same judgement call as well, stepping into the flames in unison even as a fiery light flashed in the sky above them and a Descending Wheel of Flames came crashing down onto the ground they had been standing on moments ago.

”Why didn't you cast that on top of the Blazing Tree of a Thousand Infernos?” The Thief Blackwater knit his brows after realizing Flame Singed Clothes had changed his fighting style quite a bit for this battle.

”Drifting has too much experience when it comes to Mages; that trick would not fool them in the least, so we are better off forcing them to step into the sea of flames in earnest, and take what little damage we can do!” Flame Singed Clothes answered.

”Get out quick! This burning effect lasts for quite a long time!” A Blazing Tree of a Thousand Infernos originally had a five seconds sustained burning effect. These experts had reckoned the effect would soon finish after they stepped into the flames, so were in no hurry to move once more, yet Drifting had immediately shouted this nugget of information to them. None of them cared to wait for an explanation as they made a break for it, with Royal God Call saying as he ran, ”The damage from the burn should reduce in time, and this should have been the final second of the supposed five seconds. Considering the actual amount of burn damage we're taking now, it's clear that it will last longer than we expected!”

Royal God Call was also an expert when it came to the Mage job class, so he was able to analyze this fact as well. But more importantly, given how Drifting had time and time again displayed his level of expertise with the Mage job class, Royal God Call could no longer stand it and instantly snatched this chance to explain the matter instead.

Drifting had indeed had the same thought, so when he saw how Royal God Call rushed to grab this chance to explain the matter, he merely smiled and said nothing more.

Flame Singed Clothes had also heard all that was said and could not help but deeply sigh in awe of their enemy's experience with Mages. The moment that Archer realized the underlying implication of the burning damage, he immediately thought of a name: Royal God Call. The enemy did have an expert with this name, and Southern Lone Blade had already mentioned him, yet he never would have guessed that such a renowned Mage expert would actually change his favored job class to an Archer in Parallel World.

While Flame Singed Clothes might have been preoccupied with his thoughts, his hands did not stand idly by, quickly jerking his magic staff upwards. He had already begun the incantation the moment he cast the Descending Wheel of Flames, so the next spell he was about to release followed quickly, causing a row of flame to shoot up towards the sky and abruptly seal off the path those seven men were running towards.