Chương 134: B2 Chapter 39 - Guild War Part Three

Particles of frost spread across the ground. Sharp, tiny shards of ice spun in the globe, trapping the Eon Covenant in a violent [Frost Storm]. At first, Renlia shouted to power through. The spell famously didn't do any damage. Then another [Hex Of Dawnbreak] hit, and everyone noticed their health bars rapidly falling. Defensive spells replaced the bombardment toward Zenith Protocol as mages cast [Elemental Barrier] to block the shards of ice from scraping their health bars.

Ranger players huddled in their cloaks and tried to escape, only to find their movements sluggish with [Heaven's Taint] applied to all of them from Veyra's mythic boots. CinderLight was the first to spot Veyra and began casting [Infernal Blast]—only for another [Hex Of Dawnbreak] and [Ray Of Time] dual cast to hit him in the face, shooting him flying against Renlia. Veyra followed with another hex, and with it, [Greater Moonlight] cast the spell thrice more.

I could hardly see what happened in the chaos of the storm, but the purple curse on everyone was clear. The fifth cast procced, and everyone's resistances could now fall below zero. Each shard of ice cut like a dagger, health bars rapidly dropping inside. A grin appeared on my face. [Frost Storm] was such a simple spell, usually not very good, but holy shit, I'd never seen it do damage like this. Renlia's mana bar dropped rapidly as she focused on healing everyone at once.

Zenith Protocol used the opportunity to pounce, pushing straight at the tanks who desperately held on. Around five seconds had passed. The ambush was over, and The Celestial Order were running at Veyra. I stayed near, watching for VeilShot's arrows, but DJmikolele was the first to cast [Warlock's Territory] and [Mana-draw Puppet], their ranger player firing at her. Annath's eyes were of pure hatred as she sprouted wings from [Touch Of Godhood]. She hopped, then slashed at Veyra from a range. Not yet, I thought.

She can deal with this. VeilShot is the issue. In the meantime, Syntrix's and Eon Covenant's support mages were casting [Spell Disrupt]. Spell Disrupt: Focus anti-magic on an active spell to shorten or cancel its effect. 1000 Mana shortens a spell by one second. Multiple users can cast Spell Disrupt at a spell simultaneously. [Frost Storm] finally disappeared, and Veyra was forced to defend. She cast a thick wall of free-handed ice magic, blocking both the arrow and Annath's swing. The wall cracked, then broke.

The next attack would kill her. Veyra began channeling [Time Freeze] with a portal next to her. The back-line -hadn't yet had time to [Cleanse] themselves from the effects of [Hex Of Dawnbreak]. Their resistances were still low. Veyra switched the mode of her boots and dipped in just as the next half-dozen spells fired at her. [Time Freeze] blew up. Slash.

With a pop, her spell spread a thick wave of frost across the back-line, and a deafening slash of eight players getting one-shotted simultaneously sent me shivers. One of them was SoulShadow. Veyra's level shot up to 318. Holy fuck! Thirteen others stayed alive, protected by a wall of free-handed dark magic. The wall disintegrated, revealing Renlia's [Shardshot] immediately countering Veyra with almost no time to react.

Veyra managed to get an [Elemental Barrier] up, but cracks immediately appeared, the shield too low level. The Spirit Of Impenetrable Bulwark glowed around her—the stupid spirit that buffed defensive abilities—but its effects only applied when protecting an ally. Her portal was on cooldown, and her back was open. Another [Warlock's Territory] landed under her feet, locking her in place. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. There was no better place to assassinate her.

Something flew through the air, toward her, and I knew my turn had come. I [Shadow Dashed] to the air, behind Veyra, and swung my sickle at the [Silent Arrow], cutting it cleanly in half. I landed, and grinned when I spotted the particles of [Shadow Dash] chasing whoever had shot the arrow into the forest atop the cliffs. Dragrath hadn't betrayed his promise. That was two gods out of the fight, clashing against each other. I quickly picked up a few gear pieces nearby, into my inventory.

Behind me, Veyra focused everything she had into defence, pumping thousands of mana into barriers and freehanded ice magic. Her health was at 25%, shields just barely holding on. A grey glow enveloped her now, and since I was behind her, [Impenetrable Bulwark] thought she was defending an ally, which buffed her shields just enough to survive. This whole thing was chaos. I tried to seek a target amidst the formations trying to desperately reform, when [Funeral Sun] blew up on Eon Covenant's front line.

Two slashes came as the formation was blown open. Zenith Protocol pushed through, and was about to overwhelm the last members alive. My eyes drew to the other direction, expecting to see The Celestial Order attacking us or coming in for support. Instead, Annath threw a ranged slash at Renlia from behind. Oh shit! I thought. A betrayal!

"Retreat!" I shouted to Veyra. We needed to reassess. She drank a health potion, bringing her health back to 33%. [Warlock's Territory] finally ran out, and she retreated to me. For a moment, nobody had time to focus their firepower on us.

"Oh my god, I'm alive!" she said through a heavy breath.

"I thought they'd have to support their front line!" She then noticed that the front line was dead, with Lrekk desperately holding off Creator, but losing. We picked up all the gear pieces from the eight dead members and reassessed the field. Eon Covenant and Syntrix were both being crushed. Zenith Protocol was perfectly fine, looking like they'd suffered no casualties at all. Renlia gritted her teeth in the middle, realizing no matter what she did, her guild was dead. And Annath saw that the raid was a failure.

Zenith Protocol wouldn't be broken. Her eyes were on Renlia as she charged in for the kill, first reaping through [Syntrix] MindHat and [Eon Covenant] MoonTurtle. She tanked spells and fire from both sides with Prancer healing her, grabbing gear pieces along the way.

"Target Annath's backline!" I said, knowing I'd die if I attempted to go for Renlia's gear piece. I ran around, relocating. The Celestial Order's backline wasn't just Miko and Prancer this time. The most dangerous top players were ForgetNot, their ranger, SpiceGod, the second support, Renata9, their dark mage, and Michelangelol, a tank player stationed to protect their backline, loaded in full enchanted mithril armor.

Veyra once again initiated the battle with her overpowered dual casting, as a [Frost Storm] broke in the middle of their formation. Staves flicked to her as half of the backline focused on Veyra, the other still supporting Annath. SpiceGod began casting [Spell Disrupt]. ForgetNot released a [Phoenix Arrow], and Michelangelol rushed straight through the storm with [Charge]. Not so fast! I thought, intercepting him.

He grimaced, swinging, while Veyra placed an [Elemental Barrier] behind him to block Renata9's [Discharge Of Night]. Michelangelol didn't use the [Swing] system, but his greatsword was slow and heavy. I slipped into his range and hit him in the chest. Finally, I could put Arcana Mimic Dagger to the test. With all of my spirits active, I dodged a counter-attack and hit him again, this time activating [Eviscerate] to stack [Haunt]'s health drain faster.

Against tanks, saving evisceration stacks for a one-shot wasn't efficient, not unless I knew I could land a fatal hit through their visor. Michelangelol wasn't nearly stupid enough to allow that to happen. I'd researched him in the past, as I did with all players, and I'd deemed him too good to be a target to assassinate. He took another heavy swing, fearlessly hoping to kill me. I kept stacking [Haunt] on him. That bit through armor, and once the health drain ate him to zero, it would execute him.

SpiceGod cast a simple [Wisp Of Greater Healing], which Veyra tried to cancel, but Miko's [Mana-draw Puppet] ate [Absolute Zero]. Micholangelol healed back to full as I gritted my teeth, continuing to apply [Haunt]. It felt good. Really good. I saw my practice in effect. I landed hits faster than he could take swings. As long as they don't cleanse the Haunt stacks, I'll eventually win! Still, the rest of the Celestial Order was fully prepared to stop Veyra's nuke, to the point that she didn't even attempt it.

[Frost Storm] was canceled without any casualties, and [Mana-draw Puppet] was a hard counter to her other spells. Veyra spammed the hex regardless, not having much else to work with. With their defense perfect, the Celestial Order could freely focus on offense. Renata9 began casting an ultimate—what looked like the casting animation for [Spectral Desecration]: one of the oldest and simplest spells in the game, yet still one of the deadliest AoE spells to ever exist.

Spectral Desecration: Fire a homing skull of dark and spectral magic at a target. Upon contact, the skull explodes into lost souls, dealing True Damage. I suddenly had an idea. I just needed a little bit of help. I equipped Soul Orb Of Rathax, and shouted, "Veyra!" I [Shadow Dashed] straight through Michelangelol, straight into Renata's staff just as the spell went off.

I tanked [Spectral Desecration] to the face, and the spectral scream of lost souls exploded in the middle of The Celestial Order's resistance-deprived backline.