Chapter 143 – The Hellfire Stallion (1/2)

What does a free-for-all among several tens of thousands of people look like? Although it had happened once in Bat Cave and again in the underground levels of Mass Graves, neither could compare to this chaos. The players initially worked together to fight the boss; but, in the blink of an eye, they turned to slaughtering each other. Players weren’t pk-ing just for the sake of it, but for the chance to get a share of the boss drops. The moment dozens of guilds frantically issued the notification ”Almost dead!” regarding the boss's status, players who had been fighting monsters nearby were killed before they could even react. Randomly cast skills flew so fast and thick as to blot out the sky. Except for close acquaintances, everyone else was considered an enemy.

“Da heck?!” The instant Fatty emerged from his secluded dimension, he could only blurt a short curse before all sorts of skills poured down on him. Luckily, his destination was pretty finicky, allowing him to slide under the giant turtle.

“Money Grubber!” TenStepOneKill, who had snuck into the spot earlier, shouted when Fatty crept in as well. Meeting his enemy again, TenStepOneKill’s eyes blazed with fury. He pointed a finger, and a white light burst from his Yin Yang Manual and shot toward Fatty.

The rogue was quick to react. He nimbly sidestepped the attack and fled. He didn't use Stealth because the skill couldn’t be activated in the area under the effects of both the Kingdom of Darkness and Black Tortoise Nation.

Whoosh! In his flight, Fatty raised his left hand and shot an arrow at TenStepOneKill. The man dodged effortlessly as well. Thus, their first confrontation ended in a draw.

Noticing Lei Ting on the verge of death, TenStepOneKill said grudgingly, “After I get the Guild Establishment Token, I’ll find you to settle our debt.”

“Any time.” Fatty was in no mood to engage in combat with TenStepOneKill since it was more important to get the boss drops.

As Lei Ting’s health was slowly sapped away, his Kingdom of Darkness became weaker and weaker. The spell’s resistance to attacks drastically decreased, causing Lei Ting’s health to drop more quickly. He would die any moment now.

Fwip! Fatty raised his bow again, and another arrow accurately impaled Lei Ting’s body. If a player attacked at least once, they qualified for a share of the drops. So Fatty had to attack; otherwise, he would be left to only gawk at the rewards when they dropped.

Crash!

Under the combined attacks of NPCs and players, Lei Ting could no longer hold on. He fell from his horse and hit the ground, erupting noisily in a hoard of treasure.

The Hellfire Stallion let out a tragic neigh before weathering a wave of attacks and charging headlong at the giant turtle.

“Eyy, you need to learn to move on!” Fatty crept out and kicked at one of the stallion’s legs. Since the mount hadn’t expected a surprise attack, its negligence sent it tripping and sliding over ten meters along the ground. This single slip was so devastating as to almost wipe out the little that remained of the horse’s meager health. And, surprisingly, the beast ended up right under the giant turtle.

“Hellfire Stallion?” TenStepOneKill’s eyes instantly gleamed. He glided over in a blink and held down the Hellfire Stallion instead of attacking, hoping to subdue the horse.

“F*ck! How dare you steal Lord Fatty’s treasure?!” Fatty grew furious. He shot an arrow at TenStepOneKill’s neck and, in the next instant, flashed before the man to swing his dagger.

“Damn Fatty! I barely take even Purple Bell seriously; who the hell are you to mess with me?!” While still subjugating the Hellfire Stallion, TenStepOneKill cast all sorts of attacks. The Hellfire Stallion struggled and wailed loudly, but it was too injured to rise.

“Wheat, attack!” Fatty flung out an arm. His pet, having apparently grown larger since its last encounter, appeared out of thin air. Blasting a Howling Bullet from its gaping mouth, Wheat simultaneously tapped two paws on the ground to cast Scatterstone Rain. After two successive attacks, the rodent’s body shrank rapidly, then disappeared.

“F*ck! You think I don’t have a pet as well?” After being flustered by Wheat’s display, TenStepOneKill instantly released his own golden-haired monkey. The monkey snarled and sprinted toward Fatty.

“TenStepOneKill, why are you fighting over a horse instead of the Guild Establishment Token?!” shouted Fatty as he evaded pet and owner.

TenStepOneKill snorted. “Hmph, you think I’m an idiot? Going out there now is the same as seeking death.” He ordered his monkey to hold off Fatty and poured his efforts into taming the Hellfire Stallion.

All of a sudden, dozens of stalagmites rumbled through the air. Striking TenStepOneKill, they sent him stumbling. With a loud whinny, the Hellfire Stallion took the chance to flip itself upright and stamped TenStepOneKill to the ground in the process. The Hellfire Stallion was a mid-rank yao beast, so its attack power couldn’t be looked down upon despite it being nearly dead. Fatty and TenStepOneKill stopped attacking one another and raised their guards against the beast.

“TenStepOneKill, the Guild Establishment Token will be taken any time now,” Fatty stated, staring unblinkingly at the Hellfire Stallion.

“Whatever! This mount is the true gold!” TenStepOneKill spared not even a glance at the surrounding battle, and stared down the horse as well.

“Are you stupid, TenStepOneKill ? How much do you think a horse could possibly be worth? How can it compare to a Guild Establishment Token?” Fatty said angrily.

“Yeah, no shit! Why don’t you go grab the token yourself?” rejoined TenStepOneKill sarcastically.

“That’s because… the Guild Establishment Token will be mine in the end. No one will take it away.” Fatty cackled.

“Hmph, we’ll see about that after we’re done with this horse.”

While the two exchanged verbal blows, the Hellfire Stallion had already resolved to die. As a mid-rank yao, it possessed a fairly advanced AI. The steed no longer cared for its own life with its master dead; so, the horse charged directly at Fatty.

“Well, we’re here after all.” Fatty wasn’t scared in the least; he was actually happy about the circumstances. He fixed his eyes on the Hellfire Stallion. As the creature neared, he sidestepped its attack, then flipped easily onto the horse’s back.