693 Chapter 693 - The Turning Point Amid the Chaos (1/2)
When Oathless Sword appeared back in the encampment, he was both astonished and fuming. Just from the fact that Young Master Han had helped him counted down the final five seconds was already enough evidence for him to believe that Young Master Han must have had a hand in what just happened. Oathless Sword did a quick check of himself, his equipment, skills, level, experience and everything else. Nothing. He did not seem to have lost anything from everything he could check. But what about his Traversing Four Seas? Oathless Sword quickly opened his guild tab and looked through the level of his guild, the prestige, number of members… Similarly, nothing changed from all the visible data.
I must have lost contribution score… Oathless Sword thought to himself. The contribution score for the City Wars! The amount they had accumulated had never been shown all this time, so he was certain this death must have deduced the contribution score he earned.
”Why?” Oathless Sword had sent this message to Gu Xiaoshang. He was disgruntled and feeling very aggrieved.
”That was to help you,” Gu Xiaoshang replied.
”Help me?” Oathless Sword was now confused.
”At the end of the day, you didn't die by Thousand Miles Drunk's hands, did you?” Gu Xiaoshang answered.
”Ah….” Oathless Sword was astonished. There were no penalties for dying, so players ending their own lives had become the newest method to teleport. Oathless Sword was not afraid of death, but he was afraid that his death might result in quest failure for this event. Now that he had not died by Thousand Miles Drunk's hands, what was there for him to be afraid of?
”So that's how it is… Oh yeah, why have I not thought of it myself!?” Oathless Sword's frown was turned upside down as he sent that message to Gu Xiaoshang.
”But, how was that done?” Oathless Sword still had trouble understanding how he had suddenly died in that last moment.
”I'm not too certain either,” Gu Xiaoshang was also confused, so she curiously turned to ask Young Master Han about it.
Young Master Han let Gu Xiaoshang take a look at his magic staff, ”Phantasmic Lifeforce. Instantly fills the target's HP to full. But all that HP is just an illusion, so the HP that was healed back would be deducted after 30 seconds, so…”
”Now I get it,” Gu Xiaoshang finally understood, but that skill was still just a skill. The fact that Young Master Han was able to accurately cast this in the moment of pause in between Gu Fei's rotating Twin Incineration. The control required for such precision was not something everyone would possess.
Even as he was explaining everything to Gu Xiaoshang, Young Master Han was still giving out orders over the party channel. Sometimes, what he ordered left the men from Colored Clouds feeling perplexed, but after several such instances, everyone began to see the effect of his orders.
Gu Fei and Sword Demon were currently in quite the state; they want to make a break for the east, but there would suddenly be a sea of flames raging to welcome the two men. They then thought to head west, and a thick cloud of arrows came flying over. Even if they managed to avoid it all, the speed by which the two advanced would be severely reduced, which meant they would very well be enveloped in that firestorm behind them. Helpless, the two men turned to the north, only to find two rows of Guardians formed, with a row of Mages right between, forming a neat row of Great Wall. This sort of formation meant neither Sword Demon's Shadowmist Assault or Gu Fei's rotating Twin Incineration would be able to insta-kill and make a breakthrough.
By the time they turned around, they discovered that the area covered by the Mages' spells had already increased, and the ensuing firestorm created even looked like it had the intensity to level mountains and dry up oceans…
”This combination of job classes would be the most appropriate method to deal with those two,” Young Master Han chuckled as he spoke to Gu Xiaoshang.
Gu Xiaoshang had started picking out the players for this operation beginning from the elites in her guild. Young Master Han did not say a word at the start and only reorganized the teams afterward. The squads in front of them mainly consisted of Mages, Sharpshooters, Guardians, and Light Priests, while the Thieves were completely relegated to reconnaissance duties. The moment the battle began, Young Master Han did not give these other job classes any further instructions. Berserkers would often be used as the vanguards during this sort of attack, but Young Master Han had actually thrown them all the way to the back. Meanwhile, the Knights were in an even worse state, as Young Master Han's command for them was just ”do as you please”.
Hearing such an order was a miserable reminder that essentially meant nothing these players did mattered in the current situation. As for the Fighters… There were not even that many players to begin with, with even fewer experts among their ranks, and none of them had even heard a word of command from Young Master Han this entire time.
These job classes that did not receive any useful orders naturally struggled with plenty of emotions, but their guild leader Xiaoshang was also a Berserker too, and she was currently standing right beside Young Master Han doing nothing as well, so what more could they say? They were all the more helpless especially given how Gu Fei and Sword Demon both had already been successfully restrained.
”What do we do?” Sword Demon asked Gu Fei. A pair of hands would have trouble fighting against two opponents, and a hero would have trouble taking on many; this saying finally rang true here on this occasion. Gu Fei and Sword Demon could see these players' triumphant show of force right in front of their eyes, but neither were able to do anything about it since the two men did not have the chance to charge right up in their faces. Others might not have any idea what was the distance Gu Fei's Blink afforded, but how could Young Master Han not be aware of the fact? Everything was already calculated and accounted for, including how much HP both had. Young Master Han knew everything that he needed to know and Sword Demon was completely convinced that no matter which direction they tried to attack, there was no doubt the enemy would possess the ability to kill them off in just a wave of attack.
”Teleportation scroll!” Gu Fei shouted to Sword Demon. He had already used up all the scrolls he had on hand, but Sword Demon should still have some on him.
”I've already got it in my hand. Is there really no chance here?” Sword Demon was no longer holding onto his daggers and had been clutching onto a scroll for quite some time now, but they were being attacked continuously. Teleportation scroll needed a few seconds before it could activate, and dying right before they could be teleported away would really be too much of a waste.
”Give me one, and we'll split up!” Gu Fei hollered.
Sword Demon tossed one scroll to Gu Fei, and the two men suddenly broke off and ran in opposite directions.
”Team 1, XXX,XXX.”
”Team 2, XXX,XXX.”
”Team A, XXX,XXX.”
”Team B, XXX,XXX.”
”Team 3 and 4, 4 o'clock; Team 5, 7 o'clock; Team C, 9 o'clock; The other teams, turn in a counterclockwise direction.”
Young Master Han was not in the least bit flustered as he casually gave out his commands. Gu Fei and Sword Demon had both ran in separate directions, and that split up the enemy's firepower. However, the encirclement they were in held strong, and not one of the expected attacks were out of place.
”Someone's around,” whispered a player beside Young Master Han.
”I've already instructed you to finish off anyone who comes over. What are you telling me about this for!?”
”I'll go!” Gu Xiaoshang was a little bored as well. After the man informed her which direction the interloper was coming from, she Charged right out and immediately transited into a Cyclone. Everyone saw as Yan Xiaozhu's figure suddenly popped out as she dodged the attack, leaping to the side in her panic. Young Master Han glanced over and laughed, ”Little girl, it isn't that easy to just casually succeed in ambushing someone!”
Gu Xiaoshang stopped her Cyclone and continued her attack on Yan Xiaozhu, while those Thieves, Berserkers, Knights, and Fighters, all of whom have been relegated as extras to this operation, had languished in their loneliness and boredom for too long. These people all swarmed right over to Yan Xiaozhu, giving the lady a taste of something she had never experienced before. She immediately gave up on the thought of fighting as she turned tail to run.
”Don't bother with the rabble,” Young Master Han saw that people were looking to give chase, so he casually intoned this to those men.
”You're the rabble!” Yan Xiaozhu came to a stop and shouted this out as she pranced about.
Young Master Han did not even bother to look at her as he chuckled with disdain, ”Are you thinking of luring some men away? Fine, I'll send off some guys for you to play around with!” With that, he waved his arm, ”Hustle up some randoms to keep her busy.”
Even ignoring if this order from Young Master Han was relevant, the tone in which he had given this order really made everyone feel disgruntled. Even those people who had originally planning to have a go at the female Thief for interfering did not want to be relegated to the role of just being 'some randoms to play around with' when they heard him say that. The moment Young Master Han saw everyone came to a halt just as he wanted, he helplessly shrugged at Yan Xiaozhu, ”See, nobody wants to play with you.”
Yan Xiaozhu was crying as she sent a message to Slyris, ”Sis, there's nothing we can do, that guy's too cunning.”
Slyris was feeling rather powerless as well. Her movement speed could not be compared with Gu Fei, so she arrived much later in the fight than him. Seeing there were so many players to fight against, she had the heart to fight though she lacked the strength to succeed. That was why she had thought to ask Yan Xiaozhu lure away a portion of these people, so she can use that opportunity to throw out some AoE spells of her own and help Sword Demon and Gu Fei escape from the encirclement first. Unfortunately, she had not expected Young Master Han to actually see through this little plan of hers. The Berserkers and all the other job classes that he had positioned were of course not for show, and what they served to do was precisely to safeguard against outside interferences. How could Yan Xiaozhu lure them all away so easily?
All we can do is clash head on… Slyris gritted her teeth as she thought this, hoping to be able to lend a hand after confirming the direction Gu Fei and Sword Demon would be charging toward. It was at that moment when a sharp and urgent sound of a flying arrow was heard. The more expert Sharpshooters could feel their soul leave their body when they heard the sound, for they knew that the attack power in this one shot would be extremely potent.
Young Master Han had already staggered and nearly fell to the ground. He knew he was in trouble when he heard that sound of the arrow. Even though he had thought of it, he lacked the sort of reaction time that Gu Fei possessed, so he was still a bit slow in dodging the attack. The arrow managed to dig into his shoulder, and the force of impact the projectile contained demonstrated just how disruptive it was, nearly causing Young Master Han to fall over as a result.