698 Chapter 698 - The Ugliness Between Guilds (1/2)

Skygazing Under the Tree stood staring at the sky in the cavity and was feeling very despondent. Gu Fei had managed to turn what had been a perfect encirclement into a total mess, and the man himself had unexpectedly made his escape in the wake of the chaos. His indomitability was truly impossible to grasp with conventional understanding. Who else would have been able to step on people's heads and escape from an encirclement in such a fashion? It was far too unreasonable.

But now, this was the second time that Gu Fei had launched an attack on them, and he used plenty of spells each time. However, as he was able to send a good number of players to the spawn point with each attack, there were not many people left from Skygazing Under the Tree's guild, Disembodied Spirits under the Tree. They were unable to withstand Gu Fei's repeated attacks, and it seemed like two more rounds from him would essentially wipe them all out.

However, Skygazing Under the Tree was not afraid of death. What he was feeling crestfallen about was that he had no way to kill Gu Fei. He felt that Gu Fei was contesting so fiercely mainly because his quest had directed him to be here, which was why the man had the patience to keep coming back fighting. If they managed to kill Thousand Miles Drunk, and his quest failed as a result, he would merely be venting his anger even if he were to return for revenge a couple of times. Would he really have the heart to keep going on and on? To put it plainly, he was convinced that it was the system's arrangement of this Competitive Quest that led to what was happening here. Even if everyone was trying to outplay and outwit one another, they should at least have a mutual understanding of circumstances! Only an immature gamer, much less an expert gamer, would end up causing so much trouble to the point where both sides end up with heavy losses.

This was how Skygazing Under the Tree understood the situation at hand, which was why he was a little at a loss at what he could do right now. There were no more traps that he could lay to suppress Thousand Miles Drunk's martial prowess; it was not easy for Skygazing Under the Tree to successfully play the emotion card on Gu Fei the first time around. Acting like a deferential coward the whole time had left him feeling nauseated, and in the end, his act had all been for naught. Now, they were all being killed off like they were insignificant weaklings that Skygazing Under the Tree felt extremely aggrieved.

”Guild Leader, he's back again!” An underling reported as he came running in all dejected.

This was Gu Fei's third trip in, and he dove into the enemy with great relish. Disembodied Spirits under the Tree no longer had any Assassins Stealthed beyond the cavity, and Skygazing Under the Tree was unable to position any sort of battle tactic to contend with Gu Fei. All he could do was grit his teeth and bellow, ”Drag it out for another round! Let's not charge at him all at once.”

Everyone heeded the order, so they watched as Gu Fei charge right into the side of the cavity as they scattered in every direction. This made it seem like they did not want to fight but were just waiting for Gu Fei to come over and slaughter them when they stood at a distance. Gu Fei would have to use his Twin Incineration to slay these people, but now that they were standing so far apart, at most he could kill was one at a time, but if he were to use his spells to attack, the Priests would immediately begin casting their Heals and they would only end up expending each others' mana.

”How shameless!” Gu Fei was indignant.

”Let me help you,” Flux Bead bravely stood out this time. He had quite a lot of combat experience under his belt, and when he saw how Gu Fei's targets were always getting Healed by a Priest, he could tell at a glance just where the Priest was positioned. As such, he immediately went over and attacked the Priest, so he could interrupt the Heal from being fully cast. The men from Disembodied Spirits Under the Tree were all angered as a result. Just who does this little Assassin think he was!? Was he pretending to be someone of outstanding repute and skill as well? At that moment, several of these people could not stand it, and they came rushing over with their weapons drawn, every intention to shred this gatecrasher into pieces. In the end, Gu Fei Blinked over, brandished his sword out with a Twin Incineration, and killed them all at once.

”Don't move around unnecessarily!” Skygazing Under the Tree growled out his command. ”You, Heal him.” Skygazing Under the Tree pointed to a Priest. This was to create a Healing link, so as long as there was a Priest's support to Heal the players unless the difference in strength was too great, there would not be any way to kill targets off.

Skygazing Under the Tree clearly wanted to carry on in such a shameless manner, even as he was feeling vexed deep down. Why did I not do this two rounds ago? Truly, Thousand Miles Drunk had come in and out too quickly that even my thoughts can't keep up with him! Furthermore, I reckon this method still isn't enough to prevent how destructive that man can be!

It was very obvious what Skygazing Under the Tree's battle plan here was. Since he had already positioned everyone thusly, it was an open invitation for Gu Fei to come and kill whomever he wished, though he would not be able to accomplish that without the use of his mana. Due to Gu Fei's mana limitations, the most he could do was kill four men at any one attack. Seeing Gu Fei's expression of helplessness, Skygazing Under the Tree suddenly found a bit of what it felt like to be a winner, loudly yelling, ”Brother Miles, don't mind this! I've got no choice. It is all the competitive quest's fault for forcing my hand. We are all compelled to act our parts.”

”I'll compel your mother!” Flux Bead shouted back. He was feeling disgruntled as well. When he followed Gu Fei to charge into the cavity, nobody even spared a glance over at him. All of them had kept their eye on Gu Fei without straying even a millimeter, watching Gu Fei's every move. Even though he was irritated to the point that he wanted to attack them, it also highlighted his lowly status in the standoff. Even Gu Fei did not even dare to make his move despite standing so high on the totem pole! When that the guild leader had given the d*mn*d order to not make any rash move, Flux Bead had really ended up becoming somewhat transparent. This allowed him to head up and stab a Priest moments ago, yet all that Priest did was glance at him with the corner of his eyes. It was insulting! Utterly insulting!

When Gu Fei came to the conclusion that he was no longer able to carry on slaying them with impunity, so he had no choice but to stay his hand. He heard what Skygazing Under the Tree had shouted, and figured what he said made sense. The man had initially sought to trick him entirely for the sake of completing his quest. The system's Competitive Quest was the real culprit here. Everyone wanted to complete the quest they had; Gu Fei relied on violence, and when the enemy knew that they were unable to match his combat prowess, all they could do was rely on their wits to even the playing field. Even though it was a little repulsive, they had done so for the same reason.

Gu Fei contemplated over this as he nodded toward Skygazing Under the Tree, ”Then you can't blame me either.”

Skygazing Under the Tree chuckled, showing an expression of deep understanding.

There were several simple tents set up in the cavity. Gu Fei walked among the crowd of players without giving these people any regard whatsoever. He began shuttling from tent to tent. But what he found strange was how Skygazing Under the Tree, as well as his men, none of them made a move and merely smiled and watched him search.

Gu Fei was skeptical even as he continued to walk through all the tents. That was when he understood: Guillermo was no longer here.

The tent that Gu Fei had Blinked to before had been the one that Guillermo had stayed in the last time, but there was nobody there. Gu Fei had thought that Guillermo might be the sort of NPC that would move about randomly and could be found doing things in the other tents, but now that he searched through them, it seemed like Guillermo had not even changed his tent at all. Skygazing Under the Tree was also very certain that people knew which tent Guillermo would be in, which was why he had set such a trap. Everything set up in this cavity was nothing more than for show, and it was essentially an empty fort strategy. The real Guillermo had already been moved to somewhere else as the quest progressed, and it must definitely be relevant to the quest content that Skygazing Under the Tree and his men were looking to accomplish. However, Skygazing Under the Tree had intentionally set up such a defensive perimeter here so conscientiously, all just to redirect everybody's vision right here, when in fact, their quest would not be progressing here in this cavity…

”Marvelous. This move of yours is truly marvelous!” Gu Fei commended Skygazing Under the Tree.

Skygazing Under the Tree smiled, ”I've got no choice, I was forced to take such measures. We are but a small guild. There's no way we could hope to complete our quest without resorting to a bit of schemes and trickery.”

Just as he said this, the sound of a growing crowd could already be heard from outside the cavity. Flux Bead instantly perked up as he told Gu Fei, ”My people are here.”

Saying that, Flux Bead suddenly became a dispirited once more. Why? Why was I so excited now that my guildmates are here? Was I really looking forward to the strength of my guild coming and support me? Wasn't it my intention in Parallel World to become an Assassin that could take on the world alone?

Flux Bead was conflicted as he discovered that his intentions seemed to have been shaken quite a bit. He searched for a reason, before finally coming to the conclusion that it was because he had found someone he could compare against, but what made it painful was the fact that he was no match at all; not now, not ever.

Flux Bead blankly stared at Gu Fei, a mix of envy and admiration in his eyes.

More men continued to appear from outside the cavity, before the edge itself was filled with men. Gu Fei lifted his eyes and soon spotted Brave Surge.

”Where's Wind Seal?” Brave Surge acted in an imposing manner that befitted him, directly asking for an answer to his question without even sparing a glance to search for him among the crowd below.

Skygazing Under the Tree chuckled, ”So it was guild leader Surge that had made his way over here.”

”And who might you be?” Brave Surge asked.

”The name's Skygazing Under the Tree,” Skygazing Under the Tree said.

”Oh, you're Skygazing Under the Tree.” Brave Surge had also heard of the name, and what he had gathered about Skygazing Under the Tree was the version that Brother Assist had initially quoted: Skygazing Under the Tree was a guild leader of a small guild that had quite a sizeable capability, and was suspected to be a pay-to-win player.

”That's me,” Skygazing Under the Tree laughed. ”I wonder just what might guild leader Surge be looking for, bring so much of his men over here?”

”Where's Wind Seal? Call him out and speak to me,” Brave Surge said.

”Wind Seal? I don't know the name. Who's that?” Skygazing Under the Tree asked.

”Are you acting dumb?” Brave Surge laughed mirthlessly. ”We're all clever men here; let's not speak in riddles. I'm now asking you: Did Wind Seal bring that quest into your guild?”

”Oh? Did such a thing actually happen? Let's not talk about Wind Seal first; guild leader Surge, you don't seem to have gotten a good study of the rules in this game! How can a player still have a guild quest after they quit from a guild?” Skygazing Under the Tree posed the question.

”Don't you nitpick on my words,” Brave Surge warned. ”Wind Seal had discovered the quest but did not pick it up first. He only did so after he quit my guild and joined yours. Am I wrong in my assessment of what happened?”

”Oh, that's a lot more logical,” Skygazing Under the Tree nodded.

”So where is Wind Seal?” Brave Surge asked.

”I've already told you I have no idea. Guild leader Surge, just how many guilds are there in Yunduan City, why must you look toward me now that one of your guild members has left your guild? Don't you think a large guild like Traversing Four Seas would be all the more suspicious?” Skygazing Under the Tree wondered.

”Looks like you intend to deny this till the end,” Brave Surge cooly lifted his magic staff. Countless staves were also raised above their heads in a circle around the cavity.

”Wait a minute!” Someone suddenly raised his hand and shouted from inside the cavity.

Brave Surge turned to look in the direction of this voice and was shocked, ”Miles bro?”

Gu Fei was the textbook example of interpersonal relationships: As long as someone is strong enough, anyone would affectionately call them a brother.

”It's me,” Gu Fei said.