Chương 452: Chapter 422: Strategic Planning, Followed by Immediate Disaster

"I think that approach is wrong. The fighting group should be as large as possible to draw the most attention. The other two groups shouldn't have more than four people each—one trying to get behind the enemy to attack from a different angle, while the other focuses on securing the fruit of the Golden Lotus," the healer Sophie explained. They were all standing in a wide circle, engaged in a lively discussion about what to do next.

At the beginning, they had gone through a long round of introductions, just to get to know each other at least a little. The people Thalion wanted in his team were Emma, a lightning mage with excellent mobility, and Andrew, who had the Bladewalker class. Andrew fought with long swords, much like Kaldrek, and possessed exceptional movement skills. In Thalion's mind, this was the perfect group—everyone was lethal and fast which would make it extremely difficult to pin them down.

There was only one healer, Sophie, and her place was clearly with the largest fighting force. By now, hours of discussion had already passed, though some progress had been made. They had all agreed that splitting into three groups was the best approach and had mostly settled on who would be in each group. Ryan had tried to force Thalion into the main fighting group, but Thalion had smoothly evaded that by pointing out that, as a blood mage, he didn't function well in a team.

That argument had shut down further debate on the matter. The only unresolved issue was what exactly the two smaller groups should do. In short, there were two opposing opinions. One side wanted both smaller groups to attack the enemy from behind, allowing the main group to secure the lotus with ease. The other side argued that there wouldn't be time to retrieve the lotus if everyone was engaged in combat. Thalion firmly belonged to the latter group.

It would be better for everyone if his curse didn't come into play—a secret he wanted to keep hidden for as long as possible. In his human form, he was probably at his worst when it came to teamwork, especially with his curse and bloodline. He had already restricted himself to using Crimson Gaze and his claws for close combat. Any other abilities might be too dangerous for his allies, and he should still be able to contribute significantly this way.

He wasn't entirely sure whether his stats were still sufficient to fight trained E-grades in melee without his other advantages. Sacrament of the Blooded Templar might also work well. Draining his enemies' blood would be safe for his teammates and would apply psychological pressure at the same time.

"We've all made our points. Let's vote and get this over with. I want to prepare for the battle ahead. If this mission is worth a million points, it won't be easy," Thalion said, trying to finally put an end to the argument. He'd had enough of it. They were a team now, and as long as someone brought back the fruit, they would all succeed. Still, several people were clearly unhappy. One of them was, of course, Ryan—who opposed any idea that hadn't come directly from him, which was becoming increasingly annoying.

Unfortunately, the Chosen was also their most valuable fighter. Thalion was fairly certain that the First Daughter would have no trouble dealing with Ryan, but that didn't make him weak. In fact, his aura was quite dangerous, and if Thalion was being completely honest, he would likely lose against Ryan if the man didn't make mistakes in combat. If Thalion had already evolved, things would have been much easier. As it was, he had to rely on others.

Someone like the First Daughter could probably complete missions alone without relying on a team at all. Thalion wondered whether the insectoids were only a group of two, given that they were the only ones of their kind high on the leaderboard. If so, this stage would be a massive opportunity for them to speedrun mission after mission and rack up points. Thalion hadn't yet seen the First Daughter fight, but he had seen the Second—and she had been terrifying.

Given that the First Daughter ranked higher both in name and on the leaderboard, she was likely even stronger. If there was a group of Chosen elves, they would probably have a similar opportunity to gain an enormous amount of points. After this stage, only one remained—where everyone would have to search for a pirate chest. This stage already offered an absurd number of points, which suggested that the next one would be even more extreme.

Given how things were escalating, whoever found the final treasure would likely win the entire hunt. The only question was whether the next stage really was the last one. No—didn't the bloodslave mention having no information about the final stage? Thalion thought. That means there has to be at least one more after the ninth stage. Meanwhile, the others continued arguing about whether it was already time to vote. Ryan, once again, had his own very loud opinion on the matter.

"There's no need to vote. You're just cowards who don't want to fight." Ryan already had a group of hardcore supporters who immediately agreed with everything he said. Still, there were other voices.

"Come on, Ryan. They're not just going to hang back and wait for the lotus to bloom—but I think they're right," Sophie said.

"The objective is to secure the fruit. You can't expect fighters who are struggling for their lives to keep an eye on the lotus at the same time. If we lose that fruit, we're all dead." Sophie was respected by most—probably because of her class—and that seemed to be enough to sway the majority. Thalion was once again reminded why he hated teamwork so much. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. At least things were settled now.

The only thing left was to see what the island with the lotus actually looked like. They had already passed a large number of floating islands, each with its own vegetation. Some were covered in dense jungle, others looked more like deserts. There were even several towns, likely belonging to the same kingdom they were currently working for—at least they flew the same banner. There were also many other skyships in the air, all far larger and better equipped than theirs.

To be fair, their own ship was little more than a transport vessel. Eventually, the islands thinned out, and they flew into a white curtain of clouds. A few people on board began to panic, but once Thalion pointed out that the cloud layer was clearly marked on the map, everyone relaxed. Beyond the clouds lay another cluster of islands and at their center was the target. The islands were close enough together that cultivators might even be able to jump between them.

Thalion immediately concluded that they should be ready for a fight the moment they exited the cloud layer. His suggestion, however, was quickly shut down by Ryan, who—unsurprisingly—claimed to know better.

"You really think something will happen this early? You're just showing what you're really made of—and that's cowardice and stupidity." Thalion swallowed the comment. He was too annoyed to start another argument. What mattered was that Emma and Andrew followed him, and the three of them moved up to the larger crow's nest.

"You really think we could be attacked this early? We're still pretty far from the lotus," Emma asked, concern evident in her voice.

"It could be anything," Thalion replied after a moment's thought.

"But I don't think they'd send over twenty Trialtakers if this mission was easy. The million-point reward only reinforces that. If we're attacked, it's important to put as much distance as possible between ourselves, the ship, and the main fighting force—so be ready to follow me."

"I agree," Andrew said with a nod.

"It's very possible multiple factions are waiting on the surrounding islands. They might all be waiting for the lotus to bloom before making a move." They didn't have to wait much longer. As the ship emerged from the clouds, what they saw was far worse than expected. The air above the islands was crowded with skyships—massive vessels, heavily armed, all dwarfing theirs. The islands closest to the Golden Lotus were fortified with towers and even full castles. This wasn't a single faction.

There had to be at least ten different factions already fighting each other. The Golden Lotus itself was enormous. Its leaves had to be over a hundred meters wide. They were still kilometers away, yet it already looked impossibly massive. Great. This is even worse than I thought, Thalion frowned—just as the first charged lightning bolt slammed into their hull, fired from one of the nearest enemy ships. The skyship had no real resistance. Wood splintered, and the vessel immediately tilted forward.

The attack caught the others completely off guard; they had been sitting in a loose circle, listening to Ryan boast about his strength. Thalion didn't hesitate for a second. He activated Mistform and shot straight up into the air, two teammates following close behind. Getting out of the danger zone was the priority—let the others handle the chaos below.

"This looks horrible," Emma said as she reformed beside Thalion, her body shifting from pure lightning—clearly her movement skill, strikingly similar to his Mistform.

"Do we even have a chance to reach the Golden Lotus? There are so many people around level one hundred fifty."

"Wait," Thalion said, staring at her in disbelief.

"You Identified them?"

"Uh, yes—why shouldn't I?" Emma said, clearly surprised that anyone would object.

"Well, we don't want to draw too much attention, and tapping everyone on the shoulder with Identify isn't exactly helping. It shouldn't make much of a difference right now…" Thalion cut himself off, holding back his frustration as he was hit by multiple Identifies in rapid succession. Yep. Sneaking up on anyone is impossible now, he thought as more than ten warriors in silver armor leapt off the nearest skyship and soared toward them.

"Let's give those fuckers a warm welcome!" Andrew roared, drawing his two sabers and unleashing his aura. Emma immediately followed, releasing her own—equally impressive—presence. Looks like I'll be going on a solo mission very soon, Thalion thought, barely restraining himself from rolling his eyes. So the plan was: stay back and let others to most of the fighting. Instead they Identify everyone and released their aura? What is wrong with these people?

"Yes—ATTACK!" Emma shouted, lightning crackling in her hands and arcing outward. Thalion began drifting to the right, deliberately putting distance between himself and the other two so they would draw most of the attackers. More than eight enemies rushed toward them, while only two went after the lowly F-grade who was steadily falling back. Below them, Ryan erupted with power, his aura eclipsing everyone else's as he charged straight toward two opposing ships, the rest of the group following him.

It looked like the battlefield had split into only two forces now—Thalion's tiny group and Ryan's massive one. The others must have forgotten their own plans after the lightning bolt struck their ship.

"This isn't going very well…" Thalion muttered, observing the chaos from his elevated position. On the bright side, Ryan's overwhelming aura might actually keep attention off him. There didn't seem to be anyone who could match the furious Chosen in raw strength. Thalion had to admit it—Ryan was strong. Probably a bit weaker than Kaelir, but still dangerous. He likely had some absurd bloodline as well. Thalion began to wonder how long Ryan could keep that level of output going.

The lotus still needed hours to fully bloom, judging by the golden energy flowing through its massive leaves. In retrospect, that wasn't entirely bad. They would need plenty of time just to fight through the military forces blocking the way. The first silver-armored fighter reached Thalion, swinging a bone blade studded with jagged, wretched teeth. Another followed close behind, wielding a similar weapon. Thalion responded with what could only be described as extreme violence.

He struck the first attacker with a fully empowered Crimson Gaze, the backlash strong enough to sting his own eyes. The pain was nothing compared to the way the man's soul shattered. The claws of the Blooded Templar formed around Thalion's head as he blurred forward at a speed that completely eclipsed anything the soldiers had shown so far. The first fighter was cleaved in two. Thalion shot forward straight into melee with the second.

He slipped beneath the incoming blade and drove his claws deep into the man's stomach, unleashing multiple vines of the Sanguis Impera. Flesh shredded, blood was drained in an instant, and the body collapsed—so fast the soldier never even had time to scream. Eyes burning, Thalion turned toward the fighters attacking his two teammates.